The knight smiled grimly beneath his moustache. “So, he dost desire to be a knight?” he mused. “Tis a noble profession. His father dost resist his wish?”

The prior hesitated. “Three years agone his father left him here for sanctuary – and never returned. If, as we fear, the lad is an orphan and a ward of the monastery, he must prepare himself to take the vows.”

“Three years agone!” echoed Sir Strephon. “Lad, what is thy name?”

Surprised out of his shame, Walter raised his face to the knight’s, and an involuntary start betrayed Strephon’s recognition. “I am Walter,” said the boy simply.

“Walter! Walter who? Who was thy father?”

“He knoweth not,” the prior interjected hastily. “He was but four or five years old–”

But Walter, his warm brown eyes still fixed on the knight’s rugged face, answered without hesitation. “He bid me not forget, Sir Knight, and I have not. He is Geoffrey – Sir Geoffrey Cusack.”

Three years ago, after the fall of York, Sir Geoffrey Cusack disappeared. His family has been scattered among relatives, friends, and places of refuge. Now his enemies are determined to wipe his name and blood from the earth. His wife is powerless, his sons are in danger, and his daughter about to be married to a cruel knight many years older than her. Can a few old friends prevent their destruction?

128 pages. Paperback