Sir Ludar

A printer's apprentice leaves his typesetting to cheer Queen Elizabeth through the streets of London in May 1585. Humphrey, eighteen years old, recalls the day with the pride and swagger of a leader among the city's apprentices. His account moves from Robert Walgrave's shop into a crowd of shopkeepers, courtiers and rival bands of young workers. Talbot Baines Reed gives this historical adventure a first-person voice that mixes youthful excitement with the reflections of an older storyteller.

At Dunluce, the scene changes to a castle threatened by soldiers. Ludar places a young woman in Humphrey's care, while a former opponent from a quarterstaff bout agrees to help protect her. The danger brings competing loyalties into the same room, and the arrival of another company alters the balance outside the walls. Readers of historical fiction for younger audiences can follow a story of apprentices, friendship and armed conflict, told through Humphrey's personal recollections.