Thedrawbridgefellintothe
river.Thebridgewastheonly
waytoreachthelandsonthe
otherside.Thosefieldssupplied
allof thecastle’sfood.
Nooneknewwhattodo.
“I haveanidea!”saidthe
king.“I’llusemycanoe.”Heput
thecanoeintotheriver.Butthe
canoeleaked.Theprincesshad
tothrowa rope to the king to
rescuehim.
Thekingtriedtousea ladder
tocrosstheriver.Buttheladder
wastooshort,and it crashed
intothewater.
Aftera weekwithouta
drawbridge,the kingdom was
introuble.
“Theonlyfoodleftis twojars
of myfamouspicklesandthe
princess’sapplesauce!” said the
king’scook.
TheBraveKnightthought.
Heknewof somethingthat
couldreachacrosstheriver.
Hegulped.“Wait here,” he
toldeveryone.
Heneededa peaceoffering.
I hopethiswilldo,hethought,
takinga jarof thecook’s
deliciouspickles.
Heclimbedthemountain.His
stomachf lip-f lopped. He tiptoed
tothecave.
Thedragonwasawake.He
lookeddirectlyattheknightand
openedhismouthwide.The
BraveKnighttrembled.
CRUNCH!
TheBraveKnightcouldn’t
believehiseyes.Thedragonwas
chewingona treebranch.
Thedragonburped.
“So,you’renota peopleeater!”
whisperedtheBraveKnight.
“Here,trythis.”TheBrave
Knighttookoutonepickleand
placed it on the ground.
Thedragonateit.Heate
another.TheBraveKnight
pettedthedragon’sbumpyskin.
Thebeastgavehim a slimy lick
onthecheek.
“Weneedyourhelp,”saidthe
BraveKnight. “Will you come
withme?”TheBraveKnightclimbed
backdownthemountain. The
dragonfollowedhim.
Whentheyenteredthecastle
gardens,peoplescreamed.The
otherknightsmountedtheir
horses.“Begone, beast!” shouted
theking.
“Wait!Hecanhelp!” said the
BraveKnight.
The Brave Knight held out apickleforthedragon.He
whisperedintothedragon’s ear,
“Canyoubeourbridge?”
Thedragonbobbedhisscaly
head.Hestretchedalltheway
acrosstheriver,wherethe
drawbridgeusedtobe.
TheBraveKnightclimbedup
onthedragon’stailandwalked
alongthedragon’s back. “Thank
you,”hesaid.
Whenhereturnedfromthe
othersideof therivercarrying
food,thepeoplecheered.
Thentheyallcrossedthe
river.Firstthekingandthen
therest.Theyallreturned
tothecastlewithmorefood.
Thatevening, the king’s cook
madea feast.
TheBraveKnightsatwith
thedragon,feedinghimpickles
onebyone.Maybe,hethought,
Iam a little bit brave afterall.C
“Wait! The dragon
can help!”RUNC
H!
NOVEMBER 2019 37