Page 28 of Last Knight (Knights Through Time #7)
The next morning, Ashley practically jumped out of bed, washed, and was waiting for Gwen to help her dress. The girl blinked at her.
“You’re up early.”
“Am I? Lots to do. Can’t waste the day.”
Gwen looked at her as if she was losing it, but didn’t say a word. Once Ashley was dressed, she basically inhaled a bowl of porridge—or as she still called it, oatmeal—then took her place in the hall.
Where were they? A giggle sounded, and Ashley saw them. The three cute little girls were squatting down in between two of the tables that had been pushed back against the walls.
Soon enough, the garrison soldiers stomped into the hall, dark expressions on their faces. Ashley put a finger to her lips and the girls stopped giggling.
Christian stomped into the hall, bellowing.
“What is the meaning of this?” He brandished his sword, which now sported a pale pink ribbon around the hilt.
The men held up their swords, all tied with pretty ribbons. Ashley knew that bundle of tattered ribbons would come in handy. Those girls would make excellent spies.
Christian saw her and narrowed his eyes.
A squeal escaped from one of the girls, and soon all three of them were shrieking and giggling.
That was it—she lost it, laughing so hard that she wiped tears from her eyes.
The men glared at them and grumbled as they removed the ribbons.
Quinn and the scary guard—she blanked on his name—touched the ribbons and left them on their swords.
The girls snatched up the ribbons then froze, like baby rabbits hoping the hawk would keep flying and ignore them.
“What is the meaning of this?” Christian flicked the ribbon as if it were a dead thing.
Ashley straightened her spine. “We thought all of you would like them, that it would be pretty.”
She purposely tried to look sad, wiping the smile from her face.
“Don’t you like them? The girls and I worked so hard to pick out the perfect ribbons for each of you.”
A couple of the guards looked sheepish and held out their hands to put the ribbons back. And the scary-looking one—that’s right, Bryce—touched the ribbon on his blade.
Christian scratched his head. “’Tis rather fetching. I shall leave it. Will that please the lot of you?”
“Yes, my lord.” The little angels said together, giving him their most innocent smiles. The ones Ashley knew they used right before they did something awful to the little boys of the castle. She covered her mouth with her hand as Christian and the other guards stalked out of the hall.
“To the lists, before we all turn into women.”
Okay, so that didn’t go as she’d planned. Ashley tapped a finger against her lip, thinking. A servant passed by wearing a length of rope as a belt around his hose. Of course—why hadn’t she thought of it before?
“Girls? Might you know where we could get rope? ”
Quinn spoke up. “Rope, mistress?”
“Yes, I need it for my lessons.”
He looked dubious, but nodded. “Follow me.”
Ashley gathered the girls close, whispering, “Meet me in the classroom and I will tell you what we’ll do next.”
The little girls ran from the hall as Ashley followed her guard. Once he had the rope, she led him to the classroom.
“Perfect. Now I need it cut into four pieces about this long.”
Quinn shrugged and cut the rope. The girls had slipped in, and inched closer to the table, watching, so full of curiosity that Ashley thought they would burst. When he left they gathered around, touching the rope.
“What is it for, mistress?”
“Are we going to tie someone up?”
Another said. “Nay, we will trip them.”
She grinned, making a note to stay on the good side of these bloodthirsty kids.
“We’re going to jump rope.”
There were blank looks all around. Ashley took one of the lengths of rope.
“Back up.”
She gave it a couple of twirls, and after a few false starts—she wasn’t used to jumping rope wearing a long dress—she got the hang of it. Like riding a bike. She threw in a few twists and crosses as the little girls cheered. When she stopped she was panting, sweat dripping down her ribcage.
“Would you like to learn?”
“Aye,” they all said.
“Then this is what we shall do.”
The next morning, Ashley and the girls were the first ones up.
They’d eaten and hurried out to the lists.
She had them practice some more, and hoped they’d at least get a few turns before the men came out to practice.
She knew jump ropes had been found in ancient Egypt, Australia, and China.
She didn’t think it had hit Europe until somewhere around the 1600s or so, but she wasn’t really sure.
In the overall history of the world, what was a few hundred years?
It wasn’t like she was going to start a jump rope craze.
She and the girls had tied the leftover ribbons around the ends of the rope so it wouldn’t chafe their hands as they jumped.
“Remember, elbows close to your sides and make small circles when you turn the rope, like I showed you yesterday.” She demonstrated with her wrists.
The girls practiced making circles with their hands and the rope, but not jumping yet.
“Good. Now make sure you’re looking straight ahead, and don’t jump really high, just enough for the rope to go under your feet. It should hit the ground as it goes under. Ready?”
Ashley thought she saw white-blond hair at the window above, but when she looked again the face was gone. Refusing to think about the impending nuptials, she showed the girls how to add a cross.
By the time the men appeared in the lists to practice, they were all jumping and laughing.
Some men gaping, others cursing, and one went running, obviously to get the lord of the castle.
Ashley ignored them and kept jumping. She hoped he would show up soon, because she thought she was going to have a heart attack. Whew, she was out of shape.
“Bloody hell, what is the meaning of this foolishness?”
Ashley turned to him. “Chrissy-poo, I’m showing the girls how to jump rope. Want to join us?”
He blinked. “What is Chrissy-poo?”
She smiled sweetly at him. “You are. Christian is Chrissy-poo. Isn’t it sweet? ”
Several of the men coughed and laughed. The grins disappeared when Christian scowled at them.
“All of you will pay for laughing.”
A few of the men paled. Christian whirled back around, a scowl on his face.
“Nay, ’tis not sweet. ’Tis dreadful. The men needs train. You will move.”
“No.” Ashley shook her head. “This is the most open space. We will be done soon. It’s very good exercise. Perhaps some of the men would like to try?”
Bryce stepped forward, the yellow ribbon already grubby on his sword. Christian let loose a string of curses. Ashley was glad she wasn’t fluent in Norman French.
“Cover your ears,” she said to the girls, their eyes huge.
The guard stepped back, hanging his head.
“Nay, none of the men will do this jump rope. Begone,” Christian thundered.
“You shouldn’t swear so much in front of the girls.” She coiled the rope around her arm. “Girls, come along. We’ll find another place to practice. Let mean ole Chrissy-poo steal our fun.”
As she turned away, Ashley bit her cheek to keep from laughing. She thought her plan was working. He looked incredibly annoyed with her.
“Mistress, you shouldn’t vex him so. ’Tis not wise.”
Ashley turned her most sugary smile on Quinn. “I’m going to make him wish he never laid eyes on me. By the time I’m done, he’ll wish he’d never fished me out of that river.”
“Ah.”
“Ah?” She arched a brow. “Ah what, Quinn?”
The girls followed behind her, whispering to each other as they left the castle gates, crossed the bridge, and found a spot that wasn’t too muddy.
Her guard looked wiser than his fifteen years. “You care for him, and as he is to wed another, you want him to despise you and send you away.” He looked at his feet. “It will not be as you wish.”
“How do you know?”
“I too wished someone to no longer care for me. It did not go as I wanted.”
He looked so dejected that Ashley felt like the queen of the mean girls. She touched his cloak. “I’m sorry, Quinn.”
“He cares for you. We all know ’tis so.”
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Want to jump with us?”
As Ashley showed Quinn how to jump, she thought about how she’d acted. Maybe one of his brothers would hire her to teach people to read? They’d be coming for the wedding and supposedly to tell her how she might go home. She’d find out about both. Then she’d decide. Should she stay or should she go?