Free Harrowing Hats by Joyce and Jim Lavene

any better.
    I was surprised to find my very large friend, Bart Van Impe, headed in the same direction. I hadn’t seen him since I got to the Village this summer. He’d traded his formal garb as one of the queen’s protectors for a simple shopkeeper’s outfit. It suited him.
    “Hello, fair lady,” he greeted me. “I haven’t seen you for a while. Did you just get here?”
    “I’ve been here a few days, kind sir. How goes the sword business?”
    “Very well.” He held up a long, narrow box that looked small in his large hand. “You see? Daisy and I finished a new sword for the king. He’s going to love it. Perfect balance!”
    “I have a hat for the queen,” I told him. “Maybe we should trade. Can I see?”
    His heavy features puckered up and he rubbed his chin. “I think you could do that. But don’t tell anyone or it could be off with my head.”
    “I won’t tell anyone. Let’s duck into one of the alleys between the houses at Squire’s Lane and take a look. You can see Livy’s hat, if you want.”
    “Sure. But I’m with you. I’d rather have the sword.”
    We showed each other what we carried. The sword was amazing. The balance and weight of it was fantastic. It also had little rubies in the hilt. I had definite sword envy.
    The hat, on the other hand, was different. It was a very nice white silk hat, lots of red roses and white silk trailing down from it.
    Bart and I both shrugged and closed the hatbox again so we could admire the sword together. That got old after a few swishes, too.
    “Have you heard the news?” he asked me as we started walking toward the castle again.
    This was my chance to share a little gossip. “I heard that Livy got some news today.”
    “So it’s true! The queen is pregnant.”
    “How did you hear?” I don’t know why I bothered asking. The whole Village must know by now.
    “I don’t remember. I’ve heard it so many times.” He shrugged his massive shoulders and laughed. “It’s good news, right? A baby is a good thing.”
    It was hard to realize, looking at Bart, that he had the soul of a butterfly. He might be a giant in stature but he was like a little boy in his heart.
    “A baby is a good thing,” I agreed. “I hope Livy thinks so, too.”
    “I heard there was a murder. One of those chocolate men. I never liked their costumes. Too flashy. I heard one of his brothers might’ve killed him.”
    “Really? Which one?”
    “I don’t know. I can’t tell them apart. Daisy says it’s because I’m allergic to chocolate or I’d remember them like she does.”
    I laughed at that. Daisy Reynolds, sword maker, thought all the men in the Village were hot. But at least for now, Bart seemed to be her main man. “Did you hear why one of his brothers supposedly killed him?” I thought I might as well get the scoop from everyone. You never knew where the truth might lie.
    “The new fortune-teller next to Wicked Weaves told me Phil from the Sword Spotte told her he saw Cesar and the tart lady arguing by the Swan Swing one night. He told her she had to give back some expensive jewelry she got, and she told him she’d see him dead first. The brothers argued over everything. It makes sense one of them gave her the jewelry.”
    “Jewelry, huh? And now everyone thinks it was from one of the brothers.” I nodded. It made Village sense and probably hit the grapevine like the madmen in the Village hit their spoons on their pots to get attention.
    “That’s what I heard. But, then again, I heard she got the jewelry from one of the new knights.”
    Could the Knights Templar be involved in this? If this were one of those crime-solving TV shows, I’d say yes. The knights had been quick to come up and see what was happening after we found Cesar. And murderers always returned to the scene of the crime.
    “What makes you say that about the knights?”
    He shrugged. “I don’t know. Everyone is blaming them for everything else. And they are a little annoying,