Blog Tour Giveaway + Guest Post: Gypsy Knights by Two Brothers Metz

Two Brothers Metz, the authors of Gypsy Knights stop by The Fairytale Nerd for the Gypsy Knights Blog Tour!

The Two Brothers Metz are happily settled in the rolling valleys of Western Pennsylvania – where they are hard at work on the second installment of The Gypsy Knights Saga. Now they are here to talk about the greatest animal writer of all time, James Herriot...

You can stalk them here: Twitter and Facebook. 

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Thursday night, we got the call all dog lovers dread. Our Golden, Enzo, with us since I (Rhett) was 15 in 1996 and a highschool Freshman, was in dire straits. The vet informed me that it would get much worse – quickly – and in days he would be in pain. There was only one decision to be made.

In honor of Enzo – whose last collar my wife turned into an ankle bracelet for me – I thought I might introduce your younger readers, and reintroduce your older readers, to the greatest animal writer of all time. He practiced as a Vet in England for decades, before and after WWII, and his stories are based on his incomparable experiences treating Britain’s country-side creatures.

Without further ado, here is an excerpt from James Herriot’s story of Tricki Woo. From his beloved book Dog Stories:

“As autumn wore into winter and the high tops were streaked with the first snows, the discomforts of practice in the Dales began to make themselves felt.

Driving for hours with frozen feet, climbing to the high barns in biting winds which seared and flattened the wiry hill grass; the interminable stripping off in draughty buildings and the washing of hands and chest in buckets of cold water, using scrubbing soap and often a piece of sacking for a towel.

I really found out the meaning of chapped hands. When there was a rush of work, my hands were never quite dry, and the little red fissures crept up almost to my elbows.

This was when some small animal work came as a blessed relief. To step out of the rough, hard routine for a while; to walk into a warm drawing-room instead of a cow house and tackle something less formidable than a horse or a bull. And among all those comfortable drawing-rooms there was none so beguiling as Mrs. Pumphrey’s.

Mrs. Pumphrey was an elderly widow. Her late husband, a beer baron whose breweries and pubs were scattered widely over the broad bosom of Yorkshire, had left her a vast fortune and a beautiful house on the outskirts of Darrowby. Here she lived with a large staff of servants, a gardener, a chauffeur, and Tricki Woo. Tricki Woo was a Pekingese and the apple of his mistress’s eye.

Standing now in the magnificent doorway, I furtively rubbed the toes of my shoes on the backs of my trousers and blew on my cold hands. I could almost see the deep armchair drawn close to the leaping flames, the tray of cocktail biscuits, the bottle of excellent sherry. Because of the sherry, I was always careful to time my visits for half an hour before lunch.

A maid answered my ring, beaming on me as an honored guest, and led me to the room, crammed with expensive furniture and littered with glossy magazines and the latest novels. Mrs. Pumphrey, in the high-backed chair by the fire, put down her book with a cry of delight. “Trick! Trick! Here is your uncle Herriot.” I had been made an uncle very early and, sensing the advantages of the relationship, had made no objection.

Tricki, as always, bounded from his cushion, leaped on to the back of a sofa and put his paws on my shoulders. He then licked my face thoroughly before retiring, exhausted. He was soon exhausted because he was given roughly twice the amount of food needed for a dog of his size. And it was the wrong kind of food.

“Oh, Mr. Herriot,” Mrs. Punphrey said, looking at her pet anxiously, “I’m so glad you’ve come. Tricki has gone flop-bott again.”

This ailment, not to be found in any text book, was her way of describing the symptoms of Tricki’s…”

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Gypsy Knights

Fourteen-year-old Durriken Brishen has lost his parents, his grandfather, and though he doesn't know it, his Gypsy culture's dangerous gift.

Taken in and raised on the rails by the first woman to pilot a freight train, Durriken has one remaining connection to his Romani roots: a small wooden box that hangs from the hammer loop of his overalls.

The last gift he received from his grandfather, the box contains the world's first chess set. But a piece is missing: the Red Queen. According to Durriken’s family lore, the complete set awakens the power of Tărie, a mercurial gift that confers unique abilities on each new Master.

When a suspicious fire erupts in the Chicago rail yard, Durriken's escape produces an uneasy alliance, though not without its silver lining. Dilia is a few inches taller, several degrees cleverer, and oh yes – very pretty. While Durriken is uneasy allying with a girl whose parents were convicted of sedition, there's no doubt she is a powerful partner. And while it's not immediately clear to either, her own Guatemalan culture and family history are deeply entwined with the ancient Romani mystery. Jumping box cars, escaping riverboats, deciphering clues, crossing swords with the brilliant madman Radu Pinch – with great American cities as its backdrop – Gypsy Knights is the page-turning saga of Durriken Brishen and his quest to rediscover his past.



And now for the giveaway...

The authors are giving away a digital copy of their book! Fill out the Rafflecopter Form for a chance to win!