Ned tipped his head a little to the left, listening and considering. When the nice lady had finished he bit his lip and looked back over his shoulder again to check on the fighting. The knights seemed to be gaining the upper hand.

"I suppose you're right," he conceded. He knew he wasn't big enough to be a knight yet. He was still waiting for his Papa to agree that he was tall enough for his own pony. Closing his hand around Sir Hugs' paw, he had the bear raise it above his head, wielding his fabric sword.

"Sir Hugs is good at protecting people," Ned told the lady. "It's his favourite thing to do." He leaned into her and whispered conspiratorially, "especially from dragons. Evil dragons fear Sir Hugs. Someone said his name to one once and it screamed." He nodded, as if that settled the matter.

It took a moment for him to remember his manners. His nanny had taught him them very carefully in both English and Spanish. The nice lady, Ciara, didn't sound Spanish, so Ned knew exactly which version to pick.

"It's nice to meet you, Ciara and Nal-Nal-ee-nee" he said carefully, determined to get it right. "My name is Edward, but you can call me Ned if you like." He paused, and considered whether or not he'd missed anything. Deciding that he hadn't he pushed his hand into Ciara's and gave it a squeeze.

"You are very pretty," Ned told her matter-of-factly, "and so is your fammy-lar. I like birds."

A cry went up near the cart, as one of the knights' attackers crumbled to the floor. Ned felt his stomach sink. He didn't think he wanted to be there anymore. He looked up to Ciara for reassurance.

"I think I'd like to go now..." he told her, "but not too far, like you said. Sir Hugs needs to be close by."

He let her lead the way through the houses. More and more people started to leave their homes and run towards the cart, either to watch, shout encouragement or join it. An unrelated brawl seemed to have broken out nearby.

"The knights were going to take me to see the Queen," Ned told Ciara, hopping up onto the bench and depositing his ragdoll horse in her lap. "They thought she might be able to help me find my way back to my Papa." Rummaging in his pocket he pulled out the used hop-loop and held it out for Ciara to take.

"I think I might be in trouble," he muttered sadly to his feet. Ned dropped his voice to a whisper. "I think I stoled it."