Sword of the Silver Knight (7 page)

“And what do you think he was talking about—the movie contract?” asked Violet.

Benny unfolded the newspaper Mr. Chase had handed him. “Local Actor Chosen for Starring Role in
Noble Knights of the Round Table
,” the headline read.

Jessie looked at the article over Benny’s shoulder. “It’s about that movie they’re making,” she said. As she began to read it to herself, her eyes widened. “Now I see …” she said to herself.

“What is it?” Benny asked.

“Just a second,” Jessie said, taking the newspaper and flipping the pages. “It’s continued on page 10.” She opened to page 10 and turned it around so the others could see. There, in the center of the page, was a picture of Jonathan. The caption underneath said, “Jonathan Fairbanks will star in movie.”

“I don’t get it,” said Benny. “Why is Jonathan’s picture in the paper?”

“He got the leading role in that movie,
Noble Knights of the Round Table
,” said Violet.

“So that’s why he has an agent,” said Jessie. “That must be the movie contract Steven Chase was talking about.”

“Now we know what Jonathan meant when he said his plan was working and he was going to be rich,” said Henry. “He wasn’t talking about stealing the sword at all. He was talking about getting the part in the movie and becoming a star!”

“I knew he hadn’t stolen the sword!” Benny cried.

“I bet that’s why Jonathan was working here—to get practice playing a knight so they’d hire him for the movie,” said Jessie.

“He knew everything about knights,” said Benny. “I asked him if he’d learned it all to work here and he said no, that he’d learned it for something else. Now I know what!” Benny thought for a moment. “He mentioned this movie, too. He said, ‘Here I come,
Noble Knights of the Round Table.
’ But I didn’t know what he was talking about.”

Just then another car pulled into the lot. “Look, there’s Hannah!” cried Jessie. Leaving the newspaper on Hannah’s desk, she picked up the sword, still wrapped in the cape, and ran toward Hannah’s car. The others followed.

“You’re here bright and early,” Hannah said, getting out of her car.

“We found it! We found it!” cried Benny.

“Found what?” Hannah asked. Then slowly, a look of hope spread across her face. “You found the sword?”

“Yes, look!” Jessie handed her the bundle.

Hannah placed the bundle down on the hood of her car and began to unwrap the cape. When she saw the sword, her eyes filled with tears. “You found it. You really did.”

Hannah hugged each of the Aldens. “Where was it?” she asked.

“It was in the haystack,” said Henry. “Out behind the stable.”

Hannah frowned. “Whatever was it doing there?”

The children shrugged.

“Someone must have taken it and hidden it there,” said Henry. “We don’t know yet who or why.”

“Well I’m just glad to get it back,” Hannah said happily as they walked toward her office. When they’d reached the office, Hannah went to the safe beside her desk. “I’m going to put this sword in the safe right away.” When she had shut and locked the door she turned around and looked down at her desk, where the morning newspaper lay. “What’s this?” Her eyes widened when she saw the picture of Jonathan. “He’s going to Hollywood?”

“His agent stopped by earlier and left that,” Henry explained.

“That’s great news,” Hannah said. Then she sighed. “Great news for him. But I’ll have to find someone new to wear the armor of the Silver Knight!” Hannah headed for the door. “I’m going to see if Jonathan’s arrived yet so I can congratulate him.”

When Hannah left, Jessie turned to the others. “We found the sword, but we still don’t know who stole it.”

“I don’t get it,” said Benny. “I know it wasn’t Jonathan, but we did see him that night with this bundle.”

“No,” said Violet slowly. “We saw the Silver Knight.”

“That’s what I said—” said Benny.

“No,” Violet said again. “What Hannah just said made me realize there’s a difference. She said she’ll have to find ‘someone to wear his armor.’ That night, we saw someone in the armor of the Silver Knight—but that doesn’t mean it was Jonathan.”

“You’re right,” said Henry.

“It could have been Richard Worthington or Annie or anyone!” Benny said. “How will we ever know who it was?”

The Aldens were silent for a moment, stumped.

“Let’s go back to the haystack,” said Jessie. “Maybe there’s a clue there we missed.”

The Aldens walked quickly back behind the stable to the haystack. They looked all around, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

“I wish I knew what we were looking for,” said Benny.

“So do I,” Jessie said.

Just then, Henry spotted something shining in the haystack, near the spot where they’d uncovered the sword. “Wait a minute …” he muttered, hurrying over. He pushed some hay out of the way and then stood back. “Look at this.”

There, partially buried in the haystack was a suit of armor—just like the Silver Knight’s. Jessie helped Henry pull the armor out.

“After they used this disguise, whoever stole the sword hid the armor here, too,” Henry said.

Jessie was holding the armor upright beside her. “But look how small it is,” she said. “It’s barely as tall as me!”

“Who would fit in this armor?” said Henry.

Suddenly Violet realized there was only one person it could be. “It must have been Annie.”

“You’re right,” said Jessie. “She’s the only one small enough.”

“I can’t believe it,” Violet said sadly. “How could she do something so terrible?”

“It’s a valuable sword, and she said she needed money for college,” Jessie recalled. “And the bank refused to give her a loan. That doesn’t excuse what she did, but at least it explains it.”

“And the sword is still here,” Henry pointed out. “She hasn’t sold it or anything. So maybe she realized what she did was wrong and changed her mind.”

The children walked slowly back toward Hannah’s office, carrying the armor. Jessie held the head, Henry the feet.

When they reached Hannah’s office, they found a crowd gathered there. Annie, Jonathan, Hannah, and Mr. Worthington all stood around Hannah’s desk. Everyone was admiring the picture of Jonathan in the newspaper.

“Did you hear the wonderful news?” Jonathan asked, proudly waving the paper.

But before they could answer, the Aldens saw the smile fade from Annie’s face. She grew pale. “You found it,” she said. They knew at once that they were right about Annie having stolen the sword.

“Oh, yes, I nearly forgot with all the excitement,” said Hannah, spotting the children. “The Aldens found the sword.”

“That’s wonderful news,” said Richard Worthington. “I’m so relieved.”

“And we found something else,” said Henry as he and Jessie carefully put the armor down. “This was buried in the haystack with the sword.”

Hannah looked confused. “That armor?” She came closer to look. “This is one of our smaller suits of armor. I don’t understand.”

“I can explain,” Annie said quietly. “I’ve been having trouble paying my bills for college. I was desperate for some way to make money quickly. When I heard you talking about how valuable the sword was …” Her voice trailed off.

“You stole it?” Hannah asked, her voice full of disbelief.

Annie nodded. “I saw Jonathan leave the sword in Richard’s tent that night. No one was around—Richard was still signing autographs. I didn’t want anyone to see me, so I ran to the costume tent and put on a suit of armor.” She stopped and took a deep breath. “Then I took the sword, bundled it in one of Richard’s capes, and hid it in the haystack. I didn’t want anyone to see me in the armor, so I hid that there, too.”

“We did see a person going toward the stable that night, but we thought it was the Silver Knight,” said Benny.

“But why hide the sword?” asked Henry.

“I had just grabbed the sword without thinking what I would do with it. I figured I’d hide it and come back for it later,” Annie explained. “Then I knew almost immediately I shouldn’t have taken the sword. It wasn’t right. But I was afraid to tell anyone what I’d done. I didn’t know what to do. I have been trying to figure out a way to return the sword without anyone seeing me.”

Everyone was silent. At last Mr. Worthington seemed to step into his role as king. “What you’ve done was very wrong, young lady.”

“I know,” Annie said, beginning to cry. “I’m sorry, so sorry.”

“Stealing a valuable sword like this, one that has been handed down from generation to generation …” Mr. Worthington shook his head.

“I don’t know what I was thinking,” said Annie. “I’ll guess you’ll be calling the police now.”

“Thanks to these good children, the sword was returned safely,” Mr. Worthington said. He then looked at Annie. “And it seems as though you’ve learned your lesson.” He paused, turning to Hannah. “No permanent harm has been done, wouldn’t you agree, Madame Greene?”

“You’re right. No permanent harm has been done,” Hannah agreed. “The sword is safe. I don’t see any reason to call the police. I know you, Annie. You could never have gone through with selling the sword. You would have returned it to me if the Aldens hadn’t. I am willing to forget the whole incident.”

“Thank you,” said Annie, wiping a tear. “I promise I’ll never do anything like that again.”

“What are you going to do with the sword?” Jessie asked. “We looked it up in a book,
The Knights of Old England.
You know the book, Mr. Worthington. The book said a sword like this one belonged to the Worthington family.”

“That is what I have long believed,” said Mr. Worthington. “My family may be descended from those same Worthingtons.”

“I’ve been thinking a lot about this sword, ever since it disappeared,” said Hannah. “When I found it in my parents’ attic, I never realized it was so valuable. I’ve decided the proper place for it is in a museum, where lots of people can come and look at it. I’ve contacted a local museum that handles historic objects. I think I will donate it to them.”

“That sounds like an excellent idea,” said Mr. Worthington.

Annie nodded tearfully.

“How did you think to look in the haystack?” Hannah asked.

“Violet said that finding the sword was like looking for a needle in a haystack,” said Jessie.

“And when I started thinking about hay, I realized that big haystack would be a good place to hide something,” said Henry.

“How clever of you kids,” said Jonathan, who had been quietly listening to everything that was going on.

Everyone seemed to remember that they had originally been gathered to celebrate Jonathan’s movie role.

“Congratulations on getting the lead role in that movie,” said Henry.

“You’re going to be great!” Jessie said.

Jonathan bowed deeply as a knight should do. “Thank you, young lads and ladies. It’s like a dream come true.”

Hannah smiled and shook her head. “I am very happy for you, but I’ll miss you. And now I’ve got to find someone to replace you. Where will I find another knight to take your place?”

While they were talking, Benny had been studying the small suit of armor on the chair. Now he picked up the helmet and put it on his head.

“I know where you can find another knight!” he called out. “Right here!”

G
ERTRUDE
C
HANDLER
W
ARNER
discovered when she was teaching that many readers who like an exciting story could find no books that were both easy and fun to read. She decided to try to meet this need, and her first book,
The Boxcar Children,
quickly proved she had succeeded.

Miss Warner drew on her own experiences to write the mystery. As a child she spent hours watching trains go by on the tracks opposite her family home. She often dreamed about what it would be like to set up housekeeping in a caboose or freight car — the situation the Alden children find themselves in.

When Miss Warner received requests for more adventures involving Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden, she began additional stories. In each, she chose a special setting and introduced unusual or eccentric characters who liked the unpredictable.

While the mystery element is central to each of Miss Warner’s books, she never thought of them as strictly juvenile mysteries. She liked to stress the Aldens’ independence and resourcefulness and their solid New England devotion to using up and making do. The Aldens go about most of their adventures with as little adult supervision as possible — something else that delights young readers.

Miss Warner lived in Putnam, Connecticut, until her death in 1979. During her lifetime, she received hundreds of letters from girls and boys telling her how much they liked her books.

The Boxcar Children Mysteries

T
HE
B
OXCAR
C
HILDREN

S
URPRISE
I
SLAND

T
HE
Y
ELLOW
H
OUSE
M
YSTERY

M
YSTERY
R
ANCH