“Fancy a game, Alf?” asked Ellie. “Harder for him to win against both of us.”
Alfie looked at his watch. “I’d love to but…”
They waved him away.
“All right, super-brother, you go do your thing,” sighed Ellie.
“Careful out there,” added Richard.
Back in his room, Alfie rubbed Herne’s belly as the dog sprawled, snoring on his bed, then headed into the secret tunnel and down to the underground State Coach. It had taken weeks to rebuild it and he was under strict instructions from Brian never to tamper with the brakes ever again.
Alfie was surprised to find the Keep in darkness. He squinted against the gloom, but couldn’t see anyone there. All was quiet.
“Hello?” His voice echoed through the hall, but there was no reply.
Alfie’s hand went to his belt, but of course his sword was not there. He started to edge towards the Arena, hoping he could find the regalia cabinet in the dark, before— Suddenly the whole place burst into light. Alfie shielded his eyes and spun around, just as the beefeaters sprang out from behind their desks, cheering.
“GOD SAVE THE KING!” they chorused.
Startled, Alfie looked to the wall to see LC and Brian unveil a huge new tapestry. It depicted Alfie as the Defender on Tower Bridge, doing battle with Guthrum the Viking giant.
“Whoa,” was all Alfie could muster.
“Is that it?” said Brian. “I was up all night stitching that!”
Alfie laughed, catching his breath. “Nice to see you, Brian. How was the holiday?”
“Rained every day, sir. We were stuck indoors the whole week. It was bliss. The family says hello, by the way.”
“How was your day, Majesty?” asked LC.
Alfie thought about the hours of travelling, the dozens of hands he’d shaken, the dull speeches he’d delivered, the ache in his cheeks from smiling constantly.
“Do you know what? It was good. Thanks for asking, LC. Or should I say, Cuthbert?”
The beefeaters stifled giggles and pretended they hadn’t heard. LC frowned and trotted after Alfie as he headed for the Arena to start training.
“You did promise you wouldn’t call me that again, Majesty,” he muttered.
Suddenly a shrill alarm sounded. Yeoman Box, back manning the ops table, yelped in surprise. “Ooh, I nearly dropped my scones!” she said, putting down her plate and blowing crumbs off the map as she looked for the source of the alarm.
“It’s the Exeter burgh!” she announced.
“I’d say the Beast of Bodmin’s found his way home,” said Brian.
“Ready, Majesty?” asked LC.
Alfie nodded. “Sorry all, tea break’s over. Let’s get to work.”
Wyvern was flying low over the Devon countryside when Alfie’s radio crackled into life.
“Call for you, boss,” said Brian in his ear.
“Oh, right. Put it through,” said Alfie, unsure who it could be so late.
“Hiya. Is this a bad time?”
It was Hayley’s voice.
“Er, no, fine,” said Alfie. “Got a few minutes before we land, I reckon.”
“I couldn’t sleep. Big trip tomorrow.” Hayley was booked on a flight to Jamaica the next morning.
“Yeah, sorry,” Alfie said. “I was going to call you, but you know…”
“You’ve been busy? Oh, and boys are useless and have no idea how to do a simple thing like ask a girl out?”
Alfie was so surprised he almost slipped off Wyvern’s back, sending her into a steep dive straight through the branches of a tall oak tree, emerging from the other side with a face full of twigs and leaves before she levelled out again, whinnying in irritation.
“Everything OK out there?” asked Hayley.
“What? Yeah. Spot of turbulence,” squeaked Alfie. “You were saying?”
“Listen, Alfie, I’m not sure what the protocol is for asking a king out, but I thought it might be nice to see each other later. If you’re not too busy, that is?”
“Wow. I mean, yeah, cool.” Alfie was wincing for England inside his armour. “Got some business to take care of first, but I could pick you up, say, tenish?”
“It’s a date,” said Hayley. “Just do me a favour and don’t get killed or anything before then. See you later.”
He heard the click of Hayley hanging up the phone. In that moment Alfie thought that even if he hadn’t been sitting on a magical flying ghost horse travelling at a hundred miles an hour, he’d still feel like he was flying.
“Mind on the mission, please, Majesty,” said LC over the radio.
“Oh, let the boy have some fun, you old killjoy,” said Brian.
Alfie had forgotten that everyone in the Keep would have heard his whole conversation with Hayley. But he didn’t care. He steered Wyvern into a dive, rocketing towards the bleak moorland below, ready for whatever awaited him there in the dark.
“OK, Wyvern, let’s make this quick,” said the Defender. “I’ve got a date to keep.”
Once more, we need to thank our publishers, Scholastic, especially the tireless Linas Alsenas, Rachel Phillipps, Peter Matthews and their brilliant teams. Cover designer Tom Sanderson deserves a special mention – thank you. Thanks also to our agent, Cathy King at 42 Management, for her everlasting support, and last but not least to our wives, Melanie and Anna – for their event-managing, proofreading and everything else. Finally, we want to thank YOU, the reader, for taking a chance on something new and for accompanying Alfie and Hayley all the way to the end of their journey. And if you’ve told a friend or written a review or put this book in another’s hands, then we thank you all over again.
Is this the end for the Defender? We hope not. But it is the end of the trilogy we first had in mind all those years ago. A story we first told to each other, then to our families, then to our first editor and good friend, David Stevens, and now to all of you. We wanted to recapture the feelings of wonder and excitement we first experienced reading the fantasy adventure novels we loved as children, and we hope we’ve succeeded. What we didn’t expect was the journey we would go on ourselves as new authors, and the firm friends we would make along the way, from publishing professionals to fellow authors, teachers, librarians, booksellers, children, parents and at least one real-life beefeater. Thank you all and see you soon.
Mark & Nick
Photo courtesy of Sarah Weal.
Nick Ostler and Mark Huckerby are Emmy-winning and BAFTA-nominated screenwriters best known for writing popular TV shows such as Danger Mouse, Thunderbirds Are Go! and Peter Rabbit. They are currently head writers on Moominvalley, a new adaptation of Tove Jansson's classic novels coming soon to TV screens everywhere. Defender of the Realm is their first book series.
Follow Nick on Twitter @nickostler
Follow Mark on Twitter @Huckywucky
Visit their website
www.ostlerandhuckerby.com
www.instagram.com/defenderoftherealm
Scholastic Children’s Books
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SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
First published in the UK by Scholastic Ltd, 2018
Text copyright © Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler, 2018
The right of Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them.
ISBN 978 1407 18666 5
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, incidents and dialogues are products of the author’s imagin
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