Knight Life Read Online Free PDF

pull at the thick leather straps that held the armor on.
    Â Â Â Â  “Do you have experience in this sort of thing?” asked Arthur as he pulled his helmet off.
    Â Â Â Â  “Well, I took shop once,” offered Quigley.
    Â Â Â Â  “Metal shop?”
    Â Â Â Â  “No. But I made a baseball bat with a lathe.”
    Â Â Â Â  “Ah. Well ... I suppose you’ll do.”
    Â Â Â Â  Passersby were glancing in the windows of the store as they went about their business. Some looked at the destroyed door while others focused their interest on the man in armor who stood in the middle of the store, arms extended out to the sides, while the young assistant manager worked busily removing the heavy plating. Quigley’s glasses kept sliding to the end of his nose, and his longish hair was constantly falling into his eyes, but piece by piece he got the job done. He staggered and grunted under the weight of each component of the armor and muttered at one point, “How do you wear all this stuff?”
    Â Â Â Â  “With as much dignity as I can muster,” replied Arthur patiently. “I can readily assure you of that.”
    Â Â Â Â  By this point Sidney Krellman had long since dispensed with the notion of contacting the police. The last thing he wanted to do was draw the attention of the store-owners to this bizarre turn of events. The shattered door he would be able to chalk up to vandals. Quigley he would be able to swear to secrecy. Then Sidney looked up and saw the pedestrians looking in through the window, and with a frown he walked over and pulled closed the folding shutters that ran along the inside of the windows. This was enough to discourage most of the idly curious.
    Â Â Â Â  Sidney turned and was astounded to see the knight now clad in a simple tunic and a longsleeved and -legged white undergarment, the assorted pieces of armor scattered about the store. In the armor he’d seemed immense, even threatening. Here he was under five-and-a-half-feet tall. For a moment Sidney entertained the thought of throwing the unarmed and largely unclothed man out of the store. As if Arthur sensed what was on Sidney’s mind, he turned his gaze on the clothing-store manager, and Sidney felt something within him wilt. It wasn’t just that he was suddenly concerned about the man’s physical prowess. He had a feeling that Arthur might very likely be able to wipe the floor with him. But it was more than that. There was a quiet, confident sense of command about him, one that made the notion of laying hands upon him simply unthinkable. Sidney dropped his gaze to the floor, the brief fire of rebellion easily extinguished, and said, “So why don’t we try that suit you had your eye on?”
    Â Â Â Â  Some minutes later Arthur was clad in an outfit more in keeping with the period, and from the look of him, one would have suspected that he was born to wear three-piece suits. The dark blue pinstripe fit him as if it had been tailored for him, except for being slightly tight across his broad shoulders. His hair, which was a shade lighter than his beard, hung in the back to just below the jacket collar. He had picked a cream-colored shirt and a dark red tie to complete the ensemble. Although they did not carry a wide selection, the store also provided a variety of shoes, and a pair of black Oxfords now adorned his feet. He admired himself in the mirror, turning first right and then left, and decided finally, “They are cut quite nicely. Not at all what I’m accustomed to wearing, but—”
    Â Â Â Â  “Clothes make the man,” burbled Quigley, “although in this case I’d say it’s more the man making the clothes.”
    Â Â Â Â  Sidney cleared his throat loudly, but the moment Arthur’s gaze shifted to him, Sidney felt an abrupt weakening of nerve. He pursed his lips,