Frank and Joe traded a high five.
“We jumped the muck pit!” Joe cheered. He waved Adam’s bag in the air. “And here’s our prize!”
“Well?” Frank said with a smile. “Open it and take out the ring!”
Joe was about to pull the string on the bag when another voice growled, “Why don’t you let me do it, Hardy-Har-Har?”
Joe gasped as the bag was yanked out of his hand. He turned and muttered, “Great.”
Holding the bag was Adam. He was dripping from head to toe with mud—and anger!
7
A Blue Clue
Like I said earlier,” Joe said as he looked Adam up and down, “what this fair needs is a mud monster.”
Adam opened the bag and pulled out the ring. He waved it and said, “Is this what you’re looking for?”
The brothers stared at the gold ring in Adam’s hand. It didn’t look like Chet’s ring at all!
“That ring has colored stones on it,” Joe murmured. “Chet’s didn’t.”
“Yeah, but that ring looks familiar,” Frank murmured back. “Where did we see it before?”
“What are you whispering about?” Adam said with a frown. He held the ring in the air, until another hand reached out and—
“Gotcha!” a girl’s voice said.
Frank and Joe smiled. The girl was Chet’s sister Iola. Standing next to Iola was a tall man wearing a star-shaped badge on his medieval costume.
“This is my crown, Sheriff,” Iola said, placing the gold ring onto her head.
“So that’s where we saw that ‘ring’ before,” Joe said. “It wasn’t a ring—it was Iola’s crown.”
“The Morton that Adam was talking about was Iola,” Frank said. “Not Chet.”
The sheriff of the fair pointed to Adam and said, “Is this the boy who took your crown, Iola?”
“That’s one of them,” Iola said. “I knew it was Adam and his friends who snatched the crown right off my head.”
“Whatever,” Adam mumbled.
“Why don’t we find your friends, Adam?” the sheriff said. “Then we can talk about proper behavior at the King Arthur Fair.”
The brothers watched as Adam trudged off with the sheriff.
“Thanks for trying to get my crown back,” Iola said as she straightened her crown. “I saw you chasing Adam through the Medieval Maze.”
“No problem, Your Majesty,” Joe joked.
Iola smiled as she walked away. Frank and Joe began walking away too.
“I guess Adam’s clean,” Frank said.
“Are you kidding?” Joe joked. “He was dripping with mud!”
“Adam was innocent, Joe,” Frank said. “And we still don’t have Chet’s prize ring.”
“But we did get to run through the Medieval Maze and jump the muck pit!” Joe said with a grin.
All that running had made the brothers hungry, so they headed straight to the Zamoras’ pizza stand. There they saw Chet walking away with a slice on a paper plate. Chet glanced at the Hardys, then kept walking.
“He’s still mad at us,” Joe said.
“He’ll be mad at us until we find his ring,” Frank said. He looked at his watch. “And we’d better find it soon, because the joust is in less than two hours.”
Frank and Joe still had two suspects: Matty and Scotty, the Zamora twins. They didn’t see the twins around the pizza stand, just Daisy helping her parents again.
“Hi, Daisy,” Frank said. “Do you know where your little brothers are?”
“Do I have to?” Daisy joked.
Daisy’s mom turned around from cutting a fresh pie into slices. “I know where the boys are,” she said. “I just dropped them off at the medieval playground.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Zamora!” Frank said.
“So, do you guys want slices?” Daisy asked. “We just took a pepperoni pie out of the oven.”
“Yes!” Joe said.
“No, thanks,” Frank said. “We’ll be back later.”
“Aw, Frank,” Joe said as they headed toward the playground. “Why couldn’t we get pizza first?”
“Like I said, time is running out,” Frank said. “We have to talk to the twins now.”
The brothers reached the medieval playground. Kids were playing on a dragon slide and a small unicorn merry-go-round.
“Where’s Matty and Scott?” Joe asked.
“There!” Frank said.
Joe turned to see where Frank was pointing. The two heads of Matty and Scotty were bobbing up and down inside a colorful bouncy castle.
“We’re going in,” Frank said.
“Oh, no, we’re not!” Joe said. “That thing is for little kids!”
“Stop acting like a little kid, and let’s go!” Frank insisted.
“Okay,” Joe said. “But I refuse to bounce!”
The castle itself was bouncing with kids when the brothers walked inside. They went straight to Matty and Scotty. The twins were throwing foam balls at each other as they were bouncing.
“Can we ask you something?” Joe said.
“Ask us what?” Scotty said.
“Where did you go after the Junior Joust?” Frank asked. “The one where our friend Chet won the big prize.”
“The prize that should have been ours!” Scotty said.
“How can we forget where we went?” Matty said. “Those blueberry pies were yummy-yummy-for-the-tummy!”
Joe remembered what Daisy had told them before. “You mean you were at the pie eating contest?” he asked the twins.
“Where else?” Matty said.
The twins stopped bouncing to do somersaults. When they rolled out of earshot, the Hardy brothers discussed the situation.
“Daisy told us the twins were at a pie eating contest,” Joe said. “Right around the time I hung the ring on the tree.”
“How do we know Matty and Scotty really went to the pie eating contest?” Frank said.
Joe gave it a thought, then smiled. “Did they say they had blueberry pie?” he asked.
“Yeah, so?” Frank replied.
“So, watch this,” Joe said. He turned to the twins and shouted, “Hey, Matty, Scotty!”
When the twins looked over, Joe stuck out his tongue and yelled, “Blaaaaaaah!”
Matty and Scotty traded surprised looks. They then narrowed their eyes, stuck out their own tongues, and yelled, “Blaaaaah!”
“Frank, did you see that?” Joe hissed after the twins began bouncing again.
“Yeah, their tongues were blue,” Frank said. “Probably from eating all those blueberry pies.”
“I just thought of something else,” Joe said. “Those kids are shorter than me.”
“So?” Frank asked.
“So they couldn’t have reached that tree branch,” Joe explained. “Even I had to stand on my toes.”
The brothers left the twins, still bouncing. The Hardy boys squeezed through more kids until they were finally outside the castle.
“Matty and Scotty were the last of our suspects,” Frank said. “What now?”
CLANG, CLANG, CLANG!
Frank and Joe spun around. The mysterious knight with the red plume was walking straight toward them—fast!
“Sir Thanksalot is coming after us!” Frank said.
“Sir Thanksalot?” Joe exclaimed. “You mean Sir Creepalot !”
8
Knight Fright
The brothers ran as they looked for a place to hide. They heard heavy footsteps behind them and the sound of clanging armor. Sir Thanksalot—or Creepalot—was chasing them!
“In there,” Frank said. He pointed to a small stone tower with colorful banners hanging from its walls.
Hoping to lose Sir Creepalot, Frank and Joe darted through the door. A woman sat behind a table filled with booklets about the King Arthur Fair.
“Welcome to King Arthur’s Information Center,” the woman said with a grin. “Would you like a map of the fair?”
Joe spotted a spiral staircase le
ading up. He shook his head and said, “No, thanks. I think we know where we’re going!”
Frank and Joe raced up the winding staircase. At the top was a door that led to the rooftop.
“He’ll never find us up here,” Joe said when he and Frank were outside. They looked down over the stone wall that surrounded the roof.
“I don’t see him,” Frank said. But just when he and Joe thought they were safe—
CLANG, CLANG! CLANG!
Frank and Joe both gulped. Sir Creepalot was coming up the stairs. Before they could look for another way out, the door swung open.
Sir Creepalot stood in the doorway, before noisily stepping outside.
“Who are you?” Frank demanded.
“What do you want?” Joe asked in his bravest voice.
The knight reached up. He lifted his visor to uncover his face. Frank and Joe gasped. His face was her face.
“Aunt Gertrude?” Frank and Joe exclaimed.
“Hi, guys!” Aunt Gertrude said, grinning inside her helmet. “Surprised?”
Frank and Joe stared, openmouthed. All this time the mysterious knight had been their aunt?
“Why are you dressed up as a knight?” Frank asked. “And why were you following us all through the fair?”
“And why didn’t you let us know it was you, Aunt Gertrude?” Joe asked.
Aunt Gertrude chuckled at all the questions.
“I wanted to keep an eye on you after I dropped you off here at the fair,” Aunt Gertrude explained. “I didn’t want you to know, so I rented a suit of armor as a disguise!”
“Wow,” Frank said, shaking his head in disbelief. “I never pictured you as a knight, Aunt Gertrude.”
“Well, I always wanted to be a knight!” Aunt Gertrude laughed. “Do I look like a damsel in distress to you?”
The brothers shook their heads.
“Thanks for scaring Adam away at the Junior Joust, Aunt Gertrude,” Joe said. “But did you have to chase us all the way up here?”
Aunt Gertrude nodded and said, “I wanted to tell you about a neat scavenger hunt here at the fair.”
The brothers watched as Aunt Gertrude pulled a rolled-up piece of paper from her armored glove.
“Here’s the list in case you want to play!” Aunt Gertrude said, handing it to Frank.
“Thanks, Aunt Gertrude,” Frank said. “We already knew about the scavenger hunt from our friend Phil.”
“Good!” Aunt Gertrude replied. “Now if you’ll excuse me—I’ve got a few dragons to slay!”
Aunt Gertrude dropped her visor over her face. She turned noisily toward the door and left the castle roof.
“Bye, Aunt Gertrude!” Joe called. He turned to Frank, who was studying the list.
“This does look pretty cool,” Frank admitted. “Phil has to find a pirate’s eye patch, a cookie shaped like a dragon, a gold ring—” Frank stopped midsentence. He looked up at Joe, who was staring back at him.
“Frank?” Joe said slowly. “Did you just say gold ring?”
9
Spin or Lose
It’s right here on the list,” Frank said. “Do you think somebody in the scavenger hunt took Chet’s ring?”
“Phil’s the only one we know in the scavenger hunt,” Joe said. “He came around when we were trying to pull the sword out of the cheese!”
“That was when Chet’s ring was hanging from the tree branch,” Frank said. “He could have walked over to it while we were busy.”
“It’s not like he did anything wrong,” Joe said. “He couldn’t have known it was Chet’s ring.”
Frank and Joe looked at the scavenger hunt list again.
“There’s something else Phil had to find,” Frank said. “A bell!”
Joe remembered the bell they’d found underneath the tree. “I think we found some pretty good things on this scavenger hunt too, Frank,” he said.
“What?” Frank asked.
“Clues!” Joe said. “Now let’s find Phil.”
“Where?” Frank said. “Phil could be anywhere in the fair by now.”
Joe knew Frank was right. But as he looked at the scavenger hunt list, he had a thought.
“The last thing Phil has to find is a ticket stub from the Spinning Barrel ride,” Joe said.
Frank knew the Spinning Barrel at the fair. The barrel-shaped ride spun around so fast that everyone stuck to the sides.
“It’s a long shot,” Frank said. “But let’s see if Phil is at the Spinning Barrel.”
“Okay,” Joe said. “But no way am I spinning like some sock in a washing machine!”
Frank looked at Joe as if to say, We’ll see. Then they ran down the winding stairs and out of the tower.
The Spinning Barrel wasn’t hard to find. It was with most of the other rides from the fair.
Frank and Joe saw a line of kids filing into the giant barrel. One of those kids was Phil. The brothers called Phil’s name. When he didn’t hear, Frank said, “We’re going in there too.”
“But I’ll lose my lunch!” Joe complained.
“And if we don’t go on the ride, we’ll lose Phil!” Frank said. “Will you come on, Joe?”
“Great,” Joe groaned under his breath as he followed Frank to the ticket booth.
After quickly buying tickets, they raced to the gate. When the ticket taker saw Joe, she raised an eyebrow and said, “Are you tall enough for this ride?”
Joe stood on his toes and said, “I am now!”
The brothers hurried into the barrel in the nick of time. Joe gulped as the heavy wooden door slammed shut behind them. There was no turning back!
“There’s Phil!” Frank said.
Joe looked to see where Frank was pointing. On the other side of the barrel stood Phil. When Phil saw Frank and Joe, he waved them over.
“I heard this ride is awesome!” Phil said as the brothers took spots next to him.
“Are you sure you don’t mean awful ?” Joe joked.
“It’s a good thing we found you, Phil,” Frank said. “Chet’s gold ring—”
“Around and around we gooooooo!” a booming voice interrupted.
Joe grabbed two handles on the wall at his sides. He squeezed his eyes shut as the barrel began to spin faster and faster!
“Look, guys!” Phil said, letting go of the handles. “No hands!”
“Hey, Phil!” Frank shouted over the yells and cheers. “Where’s the stuff you found for the scavenger hunt?”
Phil shouted back as they stood plastered against the barrel: “I put them in a locker. Why?”
“The gold ring, too?” Joe shouted.
Phil’s hand was stuck against the wall near the pocket of his jeans. He reached under his tunic and pulled out a gold ring!
“You mean this?” Phil shouted.
Frank and Joe stared at the ring. It looked exactly like Chet’s grand prize!
“Where did you get it?” Joe shouted.
“It was hanging on some tree near the pizza stand,” Phil shouted back. “Was I lucky or what?”
“What about a bell?” Frank shouted. “Did you lose a bell there too?”
Phil stared at Frank with surprise. “You found my bell?” he asked. “I knew I’d lost it but didn’t know where.”
“Phil, listen up!” Joe shouted as he got dizzier and dizzier. “That gold ring was Chet’s. It was his grand prize for winning the Junior Joust.”
“No way!” Phil exclaimed. “I didn’t know it was Chet’s prize when I took it.”
“We figured that,” Frank said.
Phil looked down at the ring in his hand.
“Take this and give it to Chet,” Phil said. “I’m sure I can find another ring somewhere around here.”
Joe smiled as he stuck out his hand, as best he could. “Thanks, Phil,” he said. “Put it right there!”
Phil held the ring out to Joe. But before Joe could grab it, the ring flew out of Phil’s hand!
“Noooooo!” Frank shouted. He watched as th
e ring circled midair inside the spinning barrel.
“It’s going to get sucked into a vortex!” Joe screamed, watching the ring. “A bottomless black hole!”
“Sorry, you guys!” Phil said.
The brothers looked across the barrel to the other side. Chet was jumping and reaching to try to grab the ring.
“Gotcha!” Chet yelled. He held up the gold ring and grinned from ear to ear!
10
Fit for a King
The barrel slowly came to a stop. As everyone filed out of the ride, Frank, Joe, and Phil ran over to Chet.
“Good catch!” Frank told Chet.
“It’s all in the wrist,” Chet joked. He held up the ring. “So is this my winning ring?”
“The one and only!” Joe declared.
“Cool!” Chet said. “How did you guys find it?”
“I had it, Chet,” Phil explained. “I didn’t know it was your ring when I took it off the tree branch.”
“Sorry, Chet,” Joe said. “What was I thinking, leaving the ring on that tree branch?”
“Over it!” Chet said with a grin. “Hey, you got me my ring back.”
Frank and Joe smiled. Not only had they gotten the ring back, they’d gotten their friend back. And that was the coolest!
“Now let’s get off this thing,” Joe said. “Before it starts spinning again!”
The boys stepped out of the Spinning Barrel ride. As Phil left to find a new ring, another crier walked past the boys.
“Huzzah!” the crier shouted. “The knights’ joust is about to begin. Come ye all to the brave knights’ joust!”
“What are we waiting for?” Chet asked, tossing the ring back and forth. “The king awaits!”
Frank, Joe, and Chet raced to the royal box that overlooked the jousting field. King Arthur was already seated on his throne. Of course, the boys knew he wasn’t the real King Arthur, but with his bejeweled crown and red velvet robe, he sure looked the part!
“Greetings, Your Majesty!” Joe said. He pointed to Chet holding the ring. “Our friend comes bearing bling.”
The king’s eyebrows flew up when he saw the ring. “Ah!” he said to Chet. “You must be the Junior Joust champ.”
Medieval Upheaval Page 3
