Chapter 7 - The Forbidden Chamber

Jane suddenly saw something like a tower in front of the castle. And then, she thought the castle was strange.

“It’s good, isn’t it?” said one of the driver boys, walking out of the horse shed and looking at Leo and Jane.

“Wait! Everyone listen to me! It—it is strange. How can we get to the castle without a bridge?” said Jane anxiously. “Do we need—something—something like a boat?” she added worriedly and saw that Rachel seemed to be laughing quietly and covering her hands over her mouth.

“Nah.”

A driver boy was looking at Jane curiously. 

“No, of course not!” shouted Mr. Summer, “I really hope you stopped playing dumb.”

“Jane, look,” said August, pointing at the tower, “it is a drawbridge. Drawbridges are used in old castles to avoid enemies from entering.”

“Ah—drawbridges—I’ve read a book about them—and about old castles—that stuff will fall—and it will turn into a bridge!” said Derek thoughtfully.

“August the prince! The eighth prince and Mr. Summer! Send us in! Please!” shouted August in a high voice.

An enormous board-like flat thing which was standing behind the tower suddenly fell. And there was also a tower like this on the island. The board-like stuff in front of it was also falling. But, the flat things had iron chains holding themselves. They kept falling until the chains were absolutely straightened. There was no gap between the flat things. It was a bridge!

“Oh, yes,” said Derek, smiling. “That river is called a moat. Some moats are filled with crocodiles, but I’ve heard that this moat is a normal one, just like the river in front of my home far away.”

“River?” said Jane curiously. “I thought that’s a lake, and the castle is on an island.”

Jane looked at the bridge. It was gray and brown. It seemed to be made of stones. She stepped lightly on the bridge deck as August and Mr. Summer walked onto it with huge steps. She took another step gently as Derek and the other driver boys jumped on the bridge.

“No—stop doing that, please, the bridge will collapse,” said Jane anxiously. “Oh, boys, don’t jump, please! I’m worried! Please be careful!”

“This is sturdy!” said Derek, jumping up and down. He made his way towards the metal castle gates which was between two trees.

As August knocked on the castle gates, Mr. Summer said, “It’s spectacular, isn’t it?”

“Sure!” said Derek excitedly as the gates slid open.

Jane stepped into the hall. It was very large and bright. Its ceiling was high with gorgeous lights that seemed to be made of jewels and gold. There were two passages beside the wall in the middle of the hall. The floor and the walls were smooth.

“Follow me,” said August, pointing at the passage on the right. It was also bright. There were lamps decorated with silver along the way. They saw a bit of sunlight. They were in an enormous courtyard! On the right, was the last tower with a pine tree flag Jane had seen. They walked slowly towards another tower with the turquoise tree flag.

“That is the Summer Corner,” said August. “The Summer Corner is one of the Season Corners. The Season Corner includes the Spring Corner, the Summer Corner, the Fall Corner, and the Winter Corner. See that flag? Remember the things about oak trees? That is an oak tree. Now we are near the Winter Corner. See the pine tree? That is the Winter Logo’s plant. The Summer Logo’s plant is an oak tree, the Spring Logo’s plant is grass, and the Fall Logo’s plant is a maple tree’s leaf. We are from the Summer Corner. Our job is to let summer cover the world in regular times. Fall will go after us. We all use white globular carriages.”

“Um—oh,” said Leo, seizing his sack and finding his notebook. He gazed at the flags.

They walked to the Summer Corner’s hall. It’s even prettier than the first hall, thought Jane.

“Come on,” said August. He led them to see the rooms there. Some of the rooms were spectacular, some of them were gorgeous, some were old and dusty, and some were strange and shabby; some had very high ceiling, some had very dusty walls, and some had pretty or old carpets. When they arrived at the third floor, August said that their bedrooms were in a large room with a sign saying “Season Changers’ Dorms”.

“Those are really good dorms,” said Rachel in a high voice, “just like the rooms in upscale hotels.”

When they passed a pair of great locked doors in the dark corner by the stairs on the fourth floor, August said, “The chamber inside those doors is forbidden. It’s a dangerous place inside, so don’t go in there if you’re alone! And—if you are not alone, you should not go in either!” And then, August led them to a large hall on the fifth floor. It was the dining hall.

“We’ll have a small party tonight,” shouted Mr. Summer after dinner in the dining hall. “We will have it in that hall,” he said, pointing at a pair of huge doors that were standing ajar. “Who does not want to go to the party?”

“Me,” said Rachel coldly. “I hope Jane Carter and Leo those fools will go to that stupid party.”

“Shut up,” said Mr. Summer.

“And me,” said another bottle carrier firmly.

“Us too,” said the remaining bottle carriers together.

“Us,” said two boys behind them. “We need to explore that room on the fourth floor.” They were Leo and Derek.

“You’ll wait outside!” shouted Mr. Summer, jogging towards the party hall. “And don’t go there!” he added strictly, looking back.

Leo and Derek were dashing down the stairs. “Let’s chat together,” said a bottle carrier. “Hmm, what should we talk about?”

“What about—the courtyard?” said another bottle carrier. She looked excitedly at the first one.

“What about the new carriage? It’s cooler than ours.” said Rachel.

“What about Leo and Derek?” said Jane.

“What about them!” said Rachel impatiently.

“No! They’re our friends!” said Jane.

“I mean, we shouldn’t just chat about them, we should see them!” said Rachel loudly.

“Oh, yes!” said Jane hurriedly. So, she ran down the stairs with the bottle carriers.