The Castle in the Attic (9 page)

William stopped worrying about Mrs. Phillips and Sir Simon for a moment. He sat down on the top step
and looked up at his father. “Dad, that's the first time you've ever finished a project for me.”

“Is it really?” his father said.

“Remember the treehouse that we half built together? And the dog kennel? Well, that wasn't your fault.” They both smiled. They'd gotten halfway through the kennel one weekend. When William proudly showed it to Mrs. Phillips on Monday afternoon, she told him she was allergic to dogs.

“And the bookshelves in the cellar,” his father added a bit sheepishly. “Never mind. I finished this one.”

“That's right. You finished this one and it's great. Just what my castle needed.” William stood up.

“Better lift the drawbridge for the night,” his father said, leaning over the castle again. “Where is that lever? Oh, here it is.”

Please, nobody move
, William prayed. The drawbridge seemed to take forever, but at last it was in place.

“It's a very special castle, isn't it?” his father said, looking down on it. “I almost feel as if it's magic in some way.”

“It is,” William said.

His father didn't ask him to explain. He rested his arm on William's shoulders. “Nice legacy for Mrs. Phillips to leave,” he said. “As if her spirit lives on in the attic.”

William had a funny feeling in his chest. He knew if he tried to say anything he would start to cry. They stood there a moment longer without speaking.

When William sneaked up later to see if the lord and lady were all right, Sir Simon was pacing back and forth along the wall walk.

“Imagine how you would feel, my boy, if you were sitting down to a nice meal of roasted mouse legs and your entire castle were lifted up and banged about like a mere piece of kindling. I doubt you would take it too kindly. I barely had time to gain the safety of the stable. And Lady Elinore is not herself at all this evening. She has gone to bed early.”

“I said I was sorry, Sir Simon. I had no idea my father was coming up here. You have to admit, it's a pretty nice moat and ramp he made.”

“A useful contraption, I daresay.”

After apologizing a few more times and rearranging the disturbed furniture, William started downstairs. Halfway, he remembered something and came back. The knight was still standing on the wall walk.

“Sir Simon, tell me again about the token. If the person wants to be made small, then time isn't taken away from him, is it?”

“No. The person would return to his world at the same moment he left.” The knight looked at William
with a strange expression, but he didn't ask any questions.

“Okay, thanks,” William said. Their words hung in the air for a moment while neither one moved. William wanted Sir Simon to promise him that if he joined them, he would be sure to come back again. But he knew it was a promise nobody could make to him.

“Good night, William,” Sir Simon said at last. “Sleep well.”

“Good night.”

He had decided he would join them at 4:15 the next afternoon, one week from the moment Mrs. Phillips had been standing on that flagstone looking up at him. He went upstairs right after dinner to pack.

When he'd finally assembled everything on the bed it looked like a very odd assortment. One recorder, one bear, one box of candles, one toothbrush, one jar of Marmite (as a peace offering to Mrs. Phillips), one box of tea bags, four loaves of bread, two bottles of water, one pair of hiking boots, one large box of matches, one pair of binoculars, and a change of clothing. He stuffed everything into a backpack and went to bed.

His mother came up to kiss him good night. She had been on call all weekend, which meant he had barely seen her. She leaned against the headboard with
her arm along the back of his pillow. They often took this time to talk at the end of the day.

“Where's Bear? He's usually in on these conversations.”

“Down at the bottom of the bed. He's cold.” William sighed. Another lie.

“I hear your father gave you the contraption he made for your castle.”

“Yes. It's neat.”

“How did the practice go this afternoon?”

“All right, I guess. I'm having trouble with the last part of my floor routine. I haven't been able to do it correctly since Mrs. Phillips left.”

His mother shifted position to look at him. “I know this week must have been hard for you, adjusting to Mrs. Phillips's being gone.”

William looked at his hands. How much easier it would be if that was all he had to adjust to. “I'm tired, Mom. Big day tomorrow.”

“All right,” she said. “Good night.” When she hugged him, he held on to her a moment longer than usual. “You're a great hugger, William,” she said as she let him go.

The next day William tried hard to concentrate on his classes so he wouldn't think about what was going
to happen to him that afternoon. When he said goodbye to Jason at the end of the day, his friend frowned at him.

“You look kind of funny,” Jason said. “You feel all right?”

William nodded. “I guess so. See you.”

When he looked back from the corner, Jason was still standing there, his bike leaning against his hip, staring after him.

“Sir Simon,” William called softly from the top of the attic steps.

The knight appeared in their customary meeting spot on the wall walk near the south tower. He looked a little weary.

“Good afternoon, William.”

“Have you got the token? I'm ready to come.”

The knight looked startled. “Ready?”

“Yes. See, I've brought my backpack. I hope I thought of everything.”

“But this is wonderful news, William. I must go tell Lady Elinore at once.”

“Sir Simon.” William put his index finger across the tower door, bringing the small man up short. “Please don't say anything to her. Please just work the magic quickly before I change my mind. I want to do what she asked. I want to go and see her myself.”

The small man turned with a new look in his eye. William liked to think it was respect. “Yes, of course. I understand.” He reached into his belt pouch. “I'll meet you at the drawbridge.”

“Why there?” William asked.

The knight smiled up at him. “At your size, from where you're standing, you can reach the drawbridge with one step. But when you're small, it will take you considerably longer.”

The knight disappeared into the south tower to take the stairs. William went and stood at the front entrance of the castle to wait for him. Why couldn't he take back what he'd done to Mrs. Phillips? Then she'd be on her way to England and the Silver Knight could go on his mad quest by himself.

The knight waved up at him from his position by the lever of the drawbridge. When William saw the token held out between the small man's extended hands, he closed his eyes. The hair on his forehead lifted a little in a sudden breeze.

“Do it, Sir Simon. I can't wait forever,” he cried.

“It's done,” the voice called in reply. William opened his eyes. He was looking up at the gray walls of the castle. He could see the rough lines of mortar between each square stone, the intricate carvings on either side of the doorway, the chiseled letters of the motto above.

Slowly, the drawbridge was lowered, a foot at a time.
William stood watching as the thick planks came down toward him and settled with a thump into the notch of the outer wall. He walked up the ramp his father had made and waited. The bar slid away from its place, and slowly the double doors were opened. Sir Simon appeared at the entrance, his arms outstretched.

“Enter, young William,” was all he said.

William hoisted his backpack higher up on his shoulders and walked slowly across the rough wooden planks of the drawbridge. Sir Simon embraced him at the other end as one soldier embraces another.

“No matter what else happens, my boy, nothing shall erase this. You are a courageous person, a squire with the heart and soul of a knight.”

William nodded. He didn't dare speak yet, thinking that his voice must have shrunk with his size. Sir Simon lowered the portcullis, and William heard for the first time the squeaky clank of the chains and the deep thud of the pointed wooden spikes as they hit the ground.

“Come. I shall take you to her. We can raise the drawbridge later.”

The knight led him across the main courtyard and
into the covered passageway that connected the buttery and the kitchen on one side with the great hall on the other.

“Can we go through this way?” William asked. “I could never see into this room very well from up above.”
My voice sounds perfectly all right
, he thought.

Sir Simon nodded and turned left instead of right. The walls of the large banquet hall were hung with intricately woven tapestries. Animal skins of various shapes and colors were spread about on the floors. A long trestle table flanked by two benches took up one whole wall of the large room. William peered into the fireplace, which was as big as his closet at home. Two enormous black pots hung from hooks on one side. Up above, gaily decorated banners were draped over the balcony rail of the minstrels' gallery, but William didn't have time to stop and study them. The knight had already disappeared up the corner staircase. He led William along the wall walk to the curved door in the opposite tower.

“I gave Lady Elinore the master chamber, as I sleep downstairs on the kitchen floor to guard the fire,” Sir Simon explained as they stepped on to the landing. “Her room is right through here,” he said, indicating the door William was facing. “I shall leave you now.”

William stood there for a long moment, listening to Sir Simon's footsteps retreating down the stairs to the
kitchen. His heart was thudding in his chest. Mrs. Phillips was humming a tune that sounded vaguely familiar, and he stood for a moment more, listening, hoping it would quiet the pounding in his ears. What if she still refused to speak to him? “Get it over with,” he muttered to himself. He knocked.

The humming stopped.

“Sir Simon?” she called.

He didn't answer but turned the hammered metal handle of the door and pushed it open.

She was seated in front of the fire with her back to the door, wearing a long blue robe, covered by some sort of tunic.

“I came,” was all he said.

“William,” she said. She put down her needlework and stood up.

This time there was no Silver Knight in his belt pack, and he hugged her as hard as he could, his nose buried in the rough linen across her chest.

She pushed him away from her and looked at his face for a long time.

“Do I look different?” he asked.

“No, you look the same.” She touched his temple with her forefinger. “It's what's going on here that I wonder about.”

“I did warn you. I said I'd make you stay, no matter what.”

She went and sat down in front of the fire again. “Then why are you here now?”

“Because I know I made a mistake. I have to go back with Sir Simon and find the other half of the token. The half that sets us free.”

He knew she was thinking,
What if you don't find it?
but she didn't say it and neither did he. If he had let himself think what-ifs, he would never have gotten this far.

“Where did you get that dress?” he asked.

“It's actually called a surcoat, and this is a tunic.” She fingered the brown cloth on top. “They were hanging in the wardrobe. The castle is very well outfitted, right down to the pots and pans in the kitchen.”

“I brought you some supplies,” he said, digging through his backpack. He handed her the jar of Marmite, the bread, and the tea bags. The sight of them made her smile for the first time.

They ate dinner together that night on either side of the table in the courtyard. “Not quite under the stars,” Sir Simon said, “but one gets the same feeling.” William looked up past the tower walls to where the attic ceiling should have been, but he couldn't quite make it out.

“I'm glad you remembered to leave the lamp on
when you came around to the drawbridge,” Sir Simon said.

“The light bulb will burn out eventually,” William said, “but I brought candles and matches in my backpack.”

“And Marmite,” Mrs Phillips said with a smile.

“And good bread,” said the knight, tearing off another hunk.

William suddenly felt happy to be there with the two of them, to see them laughing over a joke together at the same table.

“I'm glad I came,” he said. They each reached out and took one of his hands.

“It took courage,” said Sir Simon. “But you will need more for the days ahead.” He stood up. “Tomorrow, my boy, your training begins in earnest.”

The next morning the three of them gathered in the courtyard after a hasty breakfast.

First, William was provided with the uniform and weapons of a squire, which the Silver Knight had found in the armory.