The Battle for the Castle (18 page)

“Sir Simon tells me you rode well,” William said. “We knew you would. Go, get something to eat and we'll come to say good-bye.”

“But, boys, you must stay just one more night,” Sir Simon roared. “I have planned a great banquet. A victory feast to celebrate your brave deeds and the defeat of the dark enemy.”

Jason and William glanced at each other and shook their heads.

“We're ready to go, Sir Simon,” William said.

“More than ready,” added Jason, who had been riding his bicycle in frenzied circles around the courtyard since dawn.

It was decided that Tolliver and Gudrin would escort the two travelers to the edge of the forest.

“You can take my bike,” William told Tolliver. “After all, where I live, I can ride a bike every day. I want to ride Mandrake one more time.”

Tolliver's face lit up. “Great. That means I can race against Jason.”

The small group of soldiers in the castle turned out to wish them good-bye. Jason and William went down
the line, saluting each of them while Gudrin held the two horses at the ready and Tolliver balanced the bikes. When William came to Brian, the old soldier grabbed him in a crushing hug.

“I will not forget your courage,” the man whispered in William's ear.

“Nor I yours,” William replied.

He bowed to Dick and then shook his hand. “We did it, didn't we, Dick? We saved the castle.”

“That we did,” said Dick. “I will not say goodbye, young William. Only Godspeed.”

When Sir Simon opened his mouth to deliver one of his speeches, William put his finger up to his old friend's lips. “Please don't,” he whispered. “We've said all we need to say to one another.”

Sir Simon grunted. “Except farewell, my boy. Until we meet again.”

“Whenever and wherever that might be.” One last time, the man's thick arms encircled William and they hugged.

William swung up onto Mandrake and settled himself into the saddle. Jason and Tolliver led the way across the drawbridge, followed by Gudrin on Sorrel. Finally, William touched his heels to his horse's thick belly and Mandrake broke into an energetic trot. For the last time, William heard the pounding of thick hooves on the planking, but
he did not turn around or allow himself to look back until his horse had topped the first rise. Then he reined her in, twisted in his seat, and lifted his arm. A row of arms saluted him from the wall walk and he spurred Mandrake to a gallop to catch up with Gudrin.

When he pulled up beside her, she slowed Sorrel to a walk and nodded at the two bicyclists who were already beating their way up the next hill.

“They're determined to race,” she said.

“Let them,” was all William said.

They rode in a comfortable silence for quite a long time. William glanced at her once or twice, but as usual, the expression on her face was blocked by her thick hair. The two of them had barely spoken since their release from the dungeon, and he wondered how she felt about everything that had happened to them. His time with her was coming to an end and he had a million questions to ask her but at the same time he liked the silence too.

“I want to tell you about my mother,” she said suddenly, still staring out at the road ahead of them. When he opened his mouth to speak, she raised her hand. “Don't talk,” she said. “Just listen.”

She told him about the color of her mother's hair and the songs she sang when Gudrin was a baby and the
way she liked to lie down in the middle of a field with her arms spread out and stare at the sky. As Gudrin's voice rolled out in front of them, the road rolled past under their feet. William had the feeling that she wanted him to take all this away with him and hold on to it, so that on the other side of the forest in his world, there would be someone helping her with the remembering.

He listened very hard, almost as if he were taking notes for a test, and when her voice finally ran down and they had gone some distance in silence again, he said, “I won't forget anything you told me.” She nodded her thanks and spoke no more about it.

William thought back on all they had gone through together.

“We're a good team,” he said.

“We are?”

“Sure. If anyone needs a boat burned or a rat shrunk, they should call on us.”

She put back her head and laughed, and he liked the free, silly sound of it.

“Race you,” she cried, and was off before he had time to answer. He dug his heels into Mandrake and spent the rest of that wild ride trying to hang on and keep up with her at the same time.

Jason and Tolliver were waiting for them at the edge of the forest.

“Where have you been?” Jason shouted as the two horses slowed to a walk in the tall grass.

“Racing,” William said.

“And I won,” Gudrin said.

William shrugged. “She's right. She was ahead of me the whole way.”

“I almost beat Jason,” Tolliver said proudly.

“The kid's good,” Jason admitted. “Of course, he's had the best trainer around.”

William swung down off Mandrake and gave her a pat on the nose. “So long, old girl.” He handed the reins to Tolliver and took the bike from him. They both mounted, and for a minute they all sat in a circle and looked at each other.

Jason was the first to move. “We'd better get going. Thanks, guys. Wouldn't have missed it for the world.”

And then, before they could even answer, he had pushed off with one foot and was quickly swallowed up by the shadows of the forest.

“He really wants to get home,” William said. “Take care of yourselves. And everybody back there.”

“Will you return?” Tolliver asked.

“Who knows?” William said.

“Keep the token in a safe place,” Gudrin said, looking down at him. He knew it was her way of saying, come back.

Then all at once, as if it had been planned, the three of them turned at the exact same moment and rode away from each other. William was deep into the forest before he stopped and looked back, but by that time they were out of sight. The only sign of their passing was the cloud of dust their horses had kicked up, hovering in the air above the road.

“Jason,” he called out as he pushed off again. “Jason, wait up.”

One Saturday morning, two weeks later, William and Jason were riding home from town when William took a right-hand turn.

“Where are we going?” Jason called, but William didn't answer until he had pulled off the road on the hill above the train station.

They stood in silence for a while with their bikes resting against their hips. In the distance a whistle blew.

“That's the ten-seventeen,” Jason said. “Freight.”

William scanned the side of the tracks as the engine slowed down for the station. Nobody was jumping today.

“I'm not ever going to jump the trains,” William said slowly, half to himself. “It's a crazy thing to do.”

Jason didn't say anything for the longest time, and William wondered what he was thinking. They watched the train until it had moved on through. Sunlight glinted off the tracks.

“Guess there's more than one way to jump the trains,” Jason said to the air. He finally looked over at William. “Are they still all back there somewhere? Six hundred years away on the other side of the forest. It gives me an eerie feeling. Maybe it never happened.”

“That's what I thought the first time I came back,” William said. “But there are signs.”

“My muscles,” Jason said. He stuck one leg out and turned it this way and that to admire it. “Dad thinks I've been going out for secret training runs at night. He can't figure it out.”

“And the crack in your glasses.”

“Mom wasn't too happy about that.”

And the letter I discovered in the bottom of my backpack when I got home, William thought. It said: “Dere Wilyem, Here are herbs for your mother the baby docter. Rue for mouth sores. Mentha for the grip and akes in the head. Be well. Gudrin.” Pressed between two pages of rough paper, he found a little pile of flattened green leaves that smelled musty and ancient. He put the packet and the token in a small wooden box and took it up to the attic early one morning before the sun rose. He dropped the castle drawbridge
and raised the portcullis. Then he sat in the darkness and waited for the sun to come sliding through the eastern window. It traveled across the floor toward the castle and then made its way into the courtyard where it lit up the covered passageway on the far side. He hid the box in that spot.

Jason swung his leg back over his bike. “The token?” he asked.

William nodded. “It's in a safe place. In case.”

Jason grinned. “In case.”