A Hero's Heart (Noble Heart Book 7) Read online

  The highwaymen realized it was hopeless to resist. They dropped their weapons without a fight.

  “Once again, good work, Sir Noble!” the king said as the highwaymen were led away. “And now let us get back to good Master Locke’s fine inn and find our beds! I feel that I could sleep for three days on end, but we must be on our way to Caernarfon tomorrow. We have these fellows to dispose of, a new life to begin for my cousins, and a son to return to his mother. But it has been a good day, Sir Noble—a very good day, indeed!”

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  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

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  Hail the Conquering Hero!

  The king sent most of the Guard and the prisoners back to Caernarfon the next day, but in the end he decided to wait another day or two before going back himself. Peter was not quite ready to travel for one thing and William—well, William was the other.

  “Please, Father!” his son had pleaded. “Thomas and I have not yet had a chance to go riding together. You said once the highwaymen were captured we could go riding, and they are captured and on their way to the dungeons! What could be safer than that?”

  King Stephen laughed. “You are correct, William, and yet somehow trouble always seems to follow you wherever you go. Would you and Thomas have any objections to having Sir Noble ride with you?”

  “No, of course not! Sir Noble is my very best friend. The only problem in having him ride with us is that we are constantly getting confused between Noble, the knight, and Noble, the horse!”

  “Well, William, if you cannot tell the difference between a knight and a horse, then I cannot do much to help you!” his father teased. William laughed. “Let me speak to Master Locke and see if we cannot get William a full day off from his work,” the king went on. “He deserves it. I will see if we can hire someone from the village to come in and help Master Locke for the day.”

  “Thank you, Father!” William ran off to tell Thomas and Noble the good news.

  The king went down to the common room to join Juliet and Peter. It was Peter’s first time out of his room and down the stairs, but he seemed to be handling it just fine. The color had come back to his face, and though he still stood slightly hunched over, he was much stronger and moving better.

  Juliet sat next to her brother in a chair near the fireplace. She was brushing Hero. She had surprised Noble that morning with a freshly bathed and brushed dog. “It is the least I can do. He is truly a hero,” she said when Noble thanked her. “He was smart enough to track us all the way to the cave, and then he did a very brave thing when he went after those huge dogs! Very foolish, but also very brave!” She scratched him under the chin and he looked up at her with adoration in his eyes. He loved being brushed. This girl could brush him any time! “And then to think how he tried to defend us in the cave! I still laugh when I think how frightened that big ugly man was of this sweet little pup the next day!” Hero reached up and licked her ear. “And besides, I love spending time with him. He reminds me so of Freckles!”

  Now she was brushing him again and stroking his head. “Ahhh…It felt so good! He was beginning to fall asleep when delicious smells from the kitchen began floating, beckoning under his nose. Ummmm…What was that? One eye popped open. Lunch would be served soon. Maybe he ought to go out to the kitchen to see if that fat man needed any help. Hero jumped off Juliet’s lap, shook his head and sneezed, and trotted past the king and off to the kitchen.

  “Good morning,” the king greeted them as he sat down to join them. “How are you feeling, Peter?” he asked.

  “Much better, Stephen. I think I will be able to travel tomorrow if you would like to return to Caernarfon.”

  “We will see…” the king smiled. “And you, Juliet? Have you recovered from your harrowing experience yet?”

  “I think there are some wounds that take longer to heal than physical wounds, Stephen,” she said. “I fear I will have nightmares for some time to come. I must tell you, though—William truly helped me through it. He is a remarkable young man.”

  The king nodded his head. “Yes. I could not agree more. Ah, Sir Noble!” he said as his young knight entered the common room. “I believe William is looking for you!”

  “He found me, Sire. We are to go riding tomorrow.”

  “I hope that is agreeable to you?”

  “Of course! The only problem is that William and Thomas both keep confusing me with the horse!” The king laughed.

  “Good morning, Juliet…Peter,” Noble greeted them. Peter started to rise to shake his hand but Noble waved him down and sat down next to him.

  “Good morning, Sir Noble. I was just telling my cousin how William helped me through the kidnapping,” Juliet said. “I owe you my thanks, as well. Both of you,” she said looking gratefully at the king. “And little Hero, too, of course!” she added with a smile.

  “Juliet, there is one to Whom you truly owe your gratitude,” Noble dared to say. “You know of Whom I speak.”

  The girl slowly nodded her head. She finally admitted, “Yes, I have been thinking about that. You are right. I owe Him my gratitude, and my love— and my life.” She paused and looked around at them. “You may have noticed, I have a bit of a temper.”

  Peter, the king and Noble looked at one another, trying not to smile. Oh, yes—they had noticed!

  “Mother always said my prickly nature came because I was a Hawthorne. Father said it was because of my red hair, but I think even as a little girl I knew those things weren’t true,” she went on. “Look at Peter. He’s a Hawthorne and his hair is as red as mine, but a sweeter temperament you never saw. No, I knew my temper was simply sin,” Juliet said softly. “When Father and Mother died, and all those other awful things happened, I simply got angry with God. Furious with God! I raged at Him and even shook my fist at Heaven! But through it all, even when I refused to trust Him, or obey, or even love Him, He never quit loving me!”

  Noble nodded. “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

  “I have asked forgiveness of God for my sin,” Juliet confessed, “and He has forgiven me! I have asked Him to help me to overcome my temper. And I have asked Him to help me to learn to trust. I am a new person, and I owe Him all my gratitude and love!”

  “That is wonderful, Juliet!” Noble said. “Praise God!”

  “A new person on her way to a new life!” the king said.

  Juliet nodded and then bursting into tears of joy, she turned to her brother and threw her arms around his neck. Peter patted her back, too overcome with joy himself to be able to speak.

  The moment was broken when suddenly there was a shout from the kitchen. Noble and the king jumped up and ran to see what had happened. There was Master Locke—his face red and what little hair he had standing up all over on his head. He was holding a huge ham in his arms—and from the other end of the ham dangled Hero!

  “My ham! My ham!” the innkeeper was howling. “Let go of my ham, you—you dog!”

  Hero looked up at them with his big puppy-dog eyes. Determination was in those eyes, but this time, not a shred of guilt! He was the conquering hero, after all! And to the victor go the spoils!

  Apparently the king agreed with him. “Let him have it, Master Locke!” he commanded. “He has earned it! I will send to the butcher immediately and buy you another ham—a bigger one!”

  Locke hesitated. Surely the king did not mean to give this entire, beautiful ham to this—this dog! But finally, seeing his ruler meant what he had said, he let go of the ham and it thudded to the floor.

  Even then Hero did not release the ham. He began to pull and yank and tug the hunk of meat which was bigger than he was toward the back door. Inch by inch, the little dog made his getaway, until finally he and the ham disappeared out the door while the king, the knight and the innkeeper stood there watching in amazement.

  Hero settled down in the sunshine with his ham and took the first bite. Oh yes! It was a wonderful day!

  The End

 
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