7 A Lullaby

CHAPTER 7

A Lullaby Lucas slung the lute across his back with a leather strap. Then he showed Will around the palace gardens. Ruskin followed close behind, sniffing shrubs and snapping at a low-flying dragonfly. Will told more stories about how he had used his wooden pipe to lead knights into battle and to play wedding marches. "In all my travels there is one thing I know to be true," Will said. "What's that?" asked Lucas. Will looked at his pipe fondly and said, "Music matters." Lucas sighed. "I wish it mattered to me," he said glumly.

Will tousled Lucas's hair and laughed. "You have to give it a chance," he said. Then he sat down on a stone bench and motioned for Lucas to join him. "Let's have that lesson I promised you," Will said. Lucas did not want to play music, but he pulled out the lute.

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"Now hand it over," Will said with a wink. Lucas handed his lute to the bard. "I'm going to teach you a very simple lullaby," he said. "There are only three chords. Watch carefully." Lucas watched the bard play the lullaby. He used the same three chords the prince had learned the day before. "Now it's your turn," said the bard.

Lucas held the lute, and Will reminded him how to press his fingers on the strings next to the frets, the little wooden ridges on the fingerboard. Lucas strummed the first chord. "It sounds like a sick fly," he said. Will smiled. "Be patient. You'll get it." Lucas tried again and again. The strings buzzed