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Billy legs were becoming tired. His little head buzzed with the riddles Marzurka had left for him. He was confused. Was this test? He thought to himself. What did mean? Billy knew he needed to rest and think about what he had been told. He looked for a tree to rest against. He gasped, there were no trees around him anymore. He was walking on a cobbled path now with fields either side of him. He gazed ahead at where the path was leading him. The sun had fallen from the skies and the stars were parading above his head. In front of him loomed the towering walls of the castle. The moonlight gleamed against the damp stone structure. There were merely a few windows scattered across the walls. His feet followed the path under them, but his eyes could not draw away from the impressive dwelling.
The doors to the castle were tall and broad. They looked worn and crumbling. Splinters of wood were flaking around the hinges and the knocker. Billy thought about knocking, but the door was slightly ajar. With all his strength, he pushed the door inward. It rattled on its hinges and Billy was nervous that someone might have heard him. The vast entrance hall was in darkness. The high windows above him filtered in the light from the moon. The air was dense with smell of must. Every surface was dusty or broken, as if nothing had lived here for years. Portraits of forgotten nobleman hung on the wall, their faces scratched and worn away. In front of him, a large staircase curled up to the upper floors. There were large stone gargoyles on each banister. They look angry and seem to be snarling. A loud piercing scream echoed through the wall. It disturbed some of the resting dust. Billy immediately thought of Matthew. He ran towards the staircase, his feet pulsed at the stairs as fast as he could. |
