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DROWNED  9' The knight was thought to be drowned

Once upon a time a long time ago, the trumpets sounded the
fanfare with great joy. Then the king stepped to the edge of the
balcony and announced to the crowd below, "It is now official:
my daughter Princess Margaret will marry her one true love whom
you all know as the White Night."

The crowd cheered. Everyone loved the White Knight. He was kind
and gentle to everyone except his enemies who hated him because
he always beat them in battle. But it was the Black Knight who
hated him the most. The White Knight had beaten the Black Knight
several times in tournaments. But the Black Knight hated the
White Knight most of all because they both loved princess
Margaret. And now, she was going to marry the White Knight.

But the Black Knight had a plan to get rid of the White Knight
and marry the princess. He knew that the White Knight would
travel to the wedding on a sailing ship. So, the Black Knight
traveled to the land of the White Knight and hid aboard the
ship. Half way to the mainland where the wedding would take
place, the Black Knight sneaked up behind the White Knight and
bonked him on the head and threw him into the ocean. Then he
looked around to make sure that noone saw him. Noone did.

So, the Black Knight continued on to the mainland and
immediately asked to see Princess Margaret.

But Princess Margaret didn't want to see him, not just because
the Black Knight was naughty, but because she was in the middle
of trying on her brand new wedding dress. But when the Black
Knight sent the Princess a note saying that he had important
news about the White Knight, she ran out to see him.

"Is something wrong with the White Knight?! Did something happen
to him?!" She asked frantically.

The Black Knight pretended not to be happy and said, "I'm sorry
to tell you this, Your Majesty, but the White Knight fell off of
his sailing ship into the ocean and was presumed drowned."

The princess began crying and sank to the floor, "Oh, no! My one
true love. What shall I do?! What shall I do?!"

The Black Knight pretended to be kind and said, "All is not
lost, Princess. You don't have to call off the wedding. I will
marry you."

The princess cried even harder.

Meanwhile back in the middle of the ocean, a farmer on an nearby
island pulled a young man out of the water and dried him off by
a warm fire.

"Where am I?" asked the young man when he woke up.

"You're on an island in the middle of the ocean." Answered the
farmer. Then the farmer asked, "What's your name, lad?"

He answered, "My name is.... My name is.... Isn't that funny? I
can't remember my own name."

The farmer asked, "Where are you from, lad?"

He answered, "I'm from.... I'm from.... I'm living in.... Isn't
that funny? I can't remember."

The farmer pointed at the gold and ruby ring on the lad's finger
and asked, "That's a very expensive ring. Do you know where you
got that ring?"

The lad stared at the ring for a long time and answered, "I...
I'm sorry. I don't know."

The farmer thought for a moment, then answered. "I think I know
what happened to you. I think you must have fallen off a sailing
ship. And while you were falling, you hit your head. When I was
in the king's army, I saw several men who got hit in the head
who couldn't remember things. It's called amnesia."

"Amnesia." Repeated the lad.

"Yes. It usually doesn't last long. In a few days or weeks,
you'll remember again. Right now, you just lay there and rest."

The next day the lad was up and walking around and he began
helping the farmer with his farming chores.

"You don't need to help me, lad." Said the farmer.

"I'm just returning your kindness." Replied the lad.

And so the lad and the farmer were able to finish the chores in
half the normal time. So, in the afternoons the farmer decided
he would use the extra time to teach the lad some skills he
learned when he was a soldier in the king's army.

First the farmer cut two long straight branches from a tree and
handed one of them to the lad.

"Pretend that these sticks are steel swords." Said the farmer as
he poked at the lad with the point of his stick.

The lad immediately showed that he was already very skillful at
sword fighting. Within a few seconds, he turned the farmer's
stick aside and then he knocked the stick out of the farmer's
hand.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" The lad said.

"Don't be sorry, lad," replied the farmer, "We just found out
that you have been in battle. I was very good at swordsmanship,
but you are even better."

"I am?" Asked the lad.

"Yes," said the farmer. "Let's try spears."

The farmer cut a longer, straighter branch from a tree and
showed the lad how to throw a spear. Then he put a watermelon on
top of a fence post and said, "See if you can hit this."

With that the lad through the spear and split the watermelon in
half with the first throw. So, the farmer put up another
watermelon on the post, then he had the lad stand twice as far
away. But the lad backed up three times as far away before
throwing, then split the watermelon in half on the first throw.

"That's amazing!" shouted the farmer. "You have the battle
skills of a knight."

Then the farmer sat the lad on the back of his plow horse.

"Why am I doing this?" Asked the lad.

The farmer answered "Ordinary soldiers never ride horses. If you
know how to ride a horse, we can be sure that you are more than
an ordinary soldier. See if you can steer this horse around the
house and back."

Immediately, the lad expertly got the plow horse running at a
gallop. He was around the house in seconds. So, the farmer
handed the lad one of the stick-swords, then he put another
watermelon on top of the fence post.

"See if you can slash this watermelon with your stick while
running the horse at full gallop."

The lad did as told, splitting the watermelon exactly in half.

The same was true when the lad shot a bow and arrow while riding
at a gallop.

"Amazing!" Said the farmer. "You are definitely a knight."

"I... I have no idea what a knight is," said the lad.

"Here's what we're going to do," said the farmer. I'm going to
buy you a ticket on the next sailing ship to the mainland. I
want you to go to the kings jeweler and ask him if he knows who
made that ring you're wearing. If you find out who made the
ring, you'll find out who he made it for. Then, you'll find out
who you are. And if you are not a knight of the realm, I'll eat
my hat."

So, that's what the lad did. But when the ship arrived at the
capital city, one of the Black Knight's henchmen saw him and
recognized him. He drew his sword and tried to stab the lad. But
the lad was to fast. He picked up a nearby broom and used the
handle as a sword, knocking the sword out of the hand of the
henchman and making him run away.

"What was that all about?!" asked the lad as he picked up the
henchman's sword and slipped it under his own belt and continued
on to the king's jeweler to show him the gold and ruby ring. "Do
you know who might have made this ring, sir?" the lad asked.

The jeweler replied, "Yes. I made it. Where did you get it?"

"I... I don't remember. Don't you recognize me?" asked the lad.

"No. I made this ring for Princess Margaret." replied the
jeweler. "She gave it as a gift to the man she was about to
marry as a wedding gift."

"You mean, I'm going to marry a princess?!" ask the lad.

"I doubt it." said the jeweler. "The man she was supposed to
marry, the one they call the White Knight, fell off a sailing
ship and drowned at sea."

"Well, then, how did I get his ring?"

Just then the church bells all over the city began to ring.

The lad looked out the window. "What do the bells mean?" He
asked.

"It's the princess's wedding day," Answered the Jeweler.

"But you said the White Knight is dead." Replied the lad.

"He is." Replied the jeweler. "The princess is going to marry
the BLACK knight."

The lad shook his head. "The Black Knight!" he shouted as he ran
out the door. Suddenly he remembered everything! It was the
Black Knight who bonked him on the head and threw him into the
ocean.

"I'm the White Knight! I'm the White Knight!" He shouted as he
ran through the streets on his way to the church.

Meanwhile, at the church the pipe organ was playing, the choir
was singing, the bridesmaids and groomsmen were already standing
at the front of the church, and the bride was marching slowly
down the center aisle of the church approaching the Black
Knight.

Suddenly, the double-doors at the back of the church burst wide
open with a loud thud. The choir stopped singing, the pipe organ
stopped playing, the audience gasped and all eyes in the church
looked at the lad standing at the back of the church.

"Stop the wedding!" He shouted.

The Black Knight pointed and shouted. "The White Knight!"

The audience gasped again.

The Black Knight pointed and shouted, "You're supposed to be
dead!"

The White replied, "You should know. You were the one who tried
to kill me."

The Black Knight drew his sword and ran toward the White Knight
shouting, "I won't fail again."

When the Black Knight struck at the White Knight, the White
Knight parried and knocked the sword out of the Black Knight's
hand. The Black Knight sank to his knees and immediately begged
for mercy.

The White Knight shouted, "Take this scoundrel to jail!"

With that, two guards hauled the Black Knight away as Princess
Margaret ran down the aisle toward the White Knight.

"My Hero!" She Shouted as she ran into his arms.

The White Knight smiled and said, "I understand there's a
wedding today. Will you marry me instead?"

"Of course!" The Princess replied.

The pipe organ began to play, the choir began to sing and the
bride and groom walked down the aisle to be married. And they
all lived happily ever after.

©2007 Bob Snook. Conditions for use:
This story is free. Pay no fees or royalties.
Do not sell this story or rewrite it.
You may reproduce and distribute this story freely,
but all copies must contain this copyright statement.
http://www.fea.net/bobsnook/kid  email: bobsnook@fea.net

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