Summarising main ideas

Alfred sighed and stared into the flames and wondered for the thousandth time what he should do now. He felt a complete fool. Guthrum's trick had worked and it seemed that his Viking warriors had won. The Saxon army was scattered, their king, Alfred, a fugitive, hunted throughout the land that had been ruled by his family for generations. Maybe he should just give up.

Perhaps he could join a monastery. At least there he might be able to read. He reached beneath his damp cloak and pulled out a small book, the only one he had been able to bring with him from the palace. It was a book of old poems, tales of heroes fighting monsters, the last stands of warriors against overwhelming odds and sad stories of loss and longing. Alfred sat reading, deeply engrossed, and didn't notice the smell of burning bread that gradually began to fill the hut. But the old woman did.

She dashed over to the hearth and pulled the blackened loaves out of the ashes. But it was too late. They were ruined.

Tony Bradman and Tony Ross: from The Orchard Book of Heroes and Villains (Orchard Books, 2008)