Chapter 8 - City of the Seasons

After the carriage ducked the rock, the horses went very fast. Jane talked about comic books with Rachel, and Leo talked about all kinds of herbs and trees he had read in the books. They reached the gap between the mountains at about half past twelve and ate lunch there.

“What’s for lunch?” asked Jane.

“Bacon and cheese sandwiches. Don't let breadcrumbs fall all over the floor,” said August, smiling. “The time on this mountain is magical. One day here is equivalent to a normal month,” he added.

After lunch, Jane saw the piece of paper about the tasks on her seat. She suddenly saw a word on it: SEPTEMBER.

“What’s September like?” asked Jane curiously. “Is September a woman or a man?” she added.

“A woman,” answered August, “You’ll find out at the Autumn Corner of the City of the Seasons.”

The carriage began to move after Derek pulled the reins. Jane looked out through the side windows. She saw a deep green expanse – a forest! Within the deep green, there was a patch of light green – a meadow! In the meadow, there was a sky blue lake, and in the lake, there was something beige. What could that be? An island? Jane thought it might be important to their journey. She felt a bit tired. She shut her eyes and fell asleep.

After she woke, they had already arrived the forest under the mountains. Jane looked at her watch. Three twelve. Leo was rubbing his eyes. Rachel was looking out of the windows. Jane looked out, too. She saw the meadow, the lake, and the island on the carriage’s left. And on the island, there was a huge castle.

The castle looked like a light brown one that Jane had once seen in a picture book. It was rectangular. It had four towers at its corners. On each tower, there was a flag standing on the colorful roof. The first flag was light blue with emerald green grass pattern. The second one was grass green with a turquoise tree pattern. The third one was golden with a red pattern that looked like a maple leaf. The last one was silver with a dark green pine tree pattern. Above the gates, there were a few words saying: 

City of the Seasons

The carriage came to a halt beside the lake. “We’re here,” said a bottle carrier. She put her bottle on a corner of the carriage. The other bottle carriers put down their bottles, too. The driver boys jumped off the carriage immediately. They removed the harnesses from the horses and pulled the horses into a horse shed near the lake. Derek carried a lot of hay and some undying branches to the horse shed. Another driver boy fed the undying branches to the horses. Meanwhile, Derek was carrying a silver bucket of water to the shed.

“Ah,” murmured Mr. Summer quietly. He pushed open the left door of the carriage.

“Now,” said August loudly,“yeah, we are here. Girls, don’t break your glass bottles like Rachel. Leo, Jane, you two, get out of the carriage with us, please.”

Jane and Leo climbed out of the carriage and stepped forward. Jane jogged towards the lake.

“Wow,” gasped Leo. His mouth was half open. However, his squinted eyes remained emotionless.

Rachel looked straight at Leo with a contemptuous look. “Have you ever been anywhere?” she whispered coolly.

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 eagerly 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 were used in old castles to avoid enemies from entering.”

“Ah – drawbridges – I’ve read a book about them – 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 which was standing behind the tower suddenly fell. And there was also a tower like this on the island. The board in front of it was also falling, but, the boards had iron chains holding themselves. They kept falling until the chains were absolutely straightened. There was no gap between the boards. It was a bridge!