by D. J. Holmes
* * *
All of this confusion normally annoyed me, but today the sun was shining and I had just won my Criminal case. Of course, I wouldn’t even have made it to the Court House on time, if it hadn’t been for Jennifer, my paralegal.
I have come to depend on Jennifer a great deal. With her around, I don’t worry about things getting done, as far as documents being mailed in a timely fashion, or making sure that I get to court on time to defend my clients.
As an example, earlier this morning, I was leaning back in my chair relaxing, feeling free from all of the stress I had been under recently. Images began formulating in my head. The more I relaxed, the clearer and more life like the pictures became. I was riding a horse as a young boy, dressed in Victorian Era clothes. To my surprise, I actually felt the wind blowing through my hair, when Jennifer walked into my office and said “Jon, are you still here? I thought that you would be on your way to the Court House.”
“What time is it?” I asked.
“It’s 9:15 a.m. I thought that you had a Preliminary Hearing at 9:30 a.m.?”
“What the heck?” I was surprised the morning had gone so quickly. My feet immediately slid off my desk, as I sat up. Jennifer helped me to throw all my papers into my brief case. I ran down the stairs, got into my car, driving as quickly as I could to the Court House. The judge was a little annoyed at me for being late. During the hearing it was determined that the evidence wasn’t sufficient enough to hold my client anyway and he was set free. “Yea, another win for the best Criminal Lawyer in the City of Los Angeles,” I said to myself.
After I arrived back at my office, my planned celebration was cut short when the phone rang. “Jon, would you stand in for me at a felony arraignment today at 3:00 p.m.?”
“I don’t know, Tom. I don’t know anything about your client’s case, and I don’t have time to prepare for it.”
Tom broke down. “I have a family problem. If I don’t go home, I don’t think that my wife is going to stay with me.”
“It’s that bad, Tom?”
“It is, Jon. Look, there’s nothing to this arraignment. It’s just letting the judge know our plea, and setting a Preliminary Hearing date to determine if there is sufficient evidence against my client. I wouldn’t ask you if it wasn’t an emergency.”
“Ok, Tom. I’ll help you out. But remember, you owe me one.”
“I’ll owe you forever, Jon. Thanks a million.”
“Good luck with everything, Tom. See you later.”
“Later, Jon…. Good-bye.”
Walking out of my office to where my paralegal was, I said, “Jennifer, I have a Felony Arraignment at 3:00 p.m. today. Don’t let me forget it, ok?”
“When have I ever let you down, Jon?”
Laughing, I said, “Never. That’s why I’m letting you know.”
While I went into the library to research for an upcoming trial, Jennifer continued typing out memorandums. Time goes by quickly and finally the clock chimes 3:00, the exact time that, Jon is expected to be at court. Jennifer looks up at the clock.
“You have got to be kidding!” Getting up from her desk, she runs to Jon’s office.
“Jon, Jon! Oh I hope that you are already gone.” She looks in my office, and just like this morning, I was finally taking a short break, sitting with my feet up on my desk, dreaming away.
“Jon!” she screams, “here’s your suit coat. Get up. Run Jon. Run to your car, and put the pedal to the metal, like your life depended on it.”
I scrambled out of my office, half dazed, kind of knowing what I was doing, and where I was going. By the time I reached the Court House, I ran up to the court room and looked in. “Crap! It’s the same Judge that was here this morning when I was late,” I mumbled to myself.
Walking into the court room, the Judge looks at me, smiles, and quips, “Well, I see that you have finally arrived. Shall we start calling you Jonny-come-lately?”
“No Sir. I apologize for being late. I’m filling in for a colleague of mine.”
“Have you had time to talk to your client yet?”
“No Sir. Would you mind if I took a few minutes now?”
“That would be fine, Jonny-come-lately. I’m in the middle of another arraignment now anyway.”
“Thank you, sir.”
I went down the hall to the holding tank and spoke to the officer in charge. “Hello, I’m looking for Larry Eagle.”
“Right over here, sir,” as he points to a gentleman.
I walked over to him. “Are you, Larry?” I questioned. “That’s me,” he says, giving me a restless look.
“My name is Jon. I’m representing you today. Would it be all right if we talked for a few minutes, about your case?”
“Sure. All I want is to get out of here!”
“Officer, could we go into a conference room where we can both decide on his plea?”
“Yes. Here’s one right here.”
Walking into the conference room, I explained to, Larry “Today isn’t your trial. It’s what is called an arraignment where we enter a plea. If you plead guilty you will go directly to jail. If you plead not guilty, then a trial date is set for a Preliminary Hearing to see if the state has enough evidence to prove that you are the one that did what they said you did. Then a jury trial will be set, and the evidence heard. Do you understand the procedure that takes place here, Larry?”
“All I want is to be able to leave this jail today. I want to be outside. I want to feel the sun and wind on my face. I want to drink from a mountain stream, and eat venison,” he answers.
“I understand everything that you are saying. But I want you to understand. There is no way that you are going to be set free today. Just do what they ask you to do and you’ll get out sooner, rather than later.”
“I want to get out today,” Larry insists.
“Ok, buddy. I’ll do my best. But just remember, that’s not how they normally do things around here,” I cautioned my client.
Looking up, the officer nodded in my direction, “It’s time to go. Are you ready?” I asked Larry.
“Yes. I’m ready to get out of here,” Larry retorts.
I kept my mouth shut, but looked at him thinking, “I wish you luck buddy.”
We went into the court room, and sat down until the clerk called our case.
“Ah, Jonny-come-lately…. Are you ready?” the judge continues his ribbing.
“Yes, Sir,” I said smiling.
The judge looked at my client and said, “Larry Eagle, you have been charged with murder in the first degree. Do you understand the charges made against you?”
“Yes, Sir….”
Larry was advised of his constitutional rights and then asked, “What is your plea?”
“Not-guilty, Sir….”
“Ok. We’ll make a date for a preliminary hearing for one month from today. Does that work for you, Sir Jon?” the judge continues his humor, looking directly at me with a smile.
“Yes, Sir….”
Continuing, the Judge says, “Because of the extreme brutality of this case, bail is set at one million dollars.”
“Thank you, Judge.
Larry asks me, “Does that mean I get to go home now?”
“No, Larry. It means that you are remanded to custody. You go back to jail. In one month you will have your preliminary hearing. After that hearing, if they have enough evidence to hold you, then a jury trial will be scheduled for about a month to two months later.”
Larry responds anxiously, “I have to stay here two or three more months?”
“Probably, if they have enough evidence against you at the preliminary hearing then that’s the soonest that the court will have time to hear your trial,” I answered sympathetically.
“I can’t be in jail for that long,” Larry insists.
“I’m sorry, but you don’t have a choice.” I warned him. “They’re coming to get you now. Do what they say, so that you can get out of here someday, ok?”
The officers walk over at that moment, to escort Larry back to the holding tank.
“Ok, Larry. Slowly stand up,” he is instructed.
Suddenly, a very loud “YOU -----YOU KILLED MY SON. YOU DESERVE TO DIE THE SAME WAY YOU ----------” is heard in the court room and pandemonium erupts.
Turning around to find out what is happening one officer becomes distracted. The defendant takes this opportunity to push Jon, and the other police officer down.
“No one is going to keep me here!” Larry yells. He has somehow freed his feet from the restraints around his ankles, and sprints toward an open court room window and jumps out, breaking his fall by grabbing the branch of a nearby tree. The moment he hits the ground, Larry, rolls forward into a full front roll, lessening the impact on his body. Quickly standing up, his wrists still hand cuffed, he runs down the street.
“What happened?”
“This newbie got distracted!”
“You knew that he was a newbie. Why did you let the defendant push him down?”
“Are you blaming this on me? I wasn’t the one who was looking at the audience.”
“Listen, newbie get over to the window and see if you can see what direction he is going in before he gets away.”
Other officers also run to the window, but decide not to shoot, because of the civilian public walking on the ground below. Alarms begin to ring; all of the officers throughout the building scramble up the stairs to Court Room 303. Questions, answers and orders could be heard in succession.
“Why was the window open?”
“I didn’t think anyone would jump from a three-story window!”
“You….” Pointing to an officer, “clear the court room,” the Judge orders.
“Take all of the defendants back to their cells.”
“Search the grounds.”
The judge finally tells Jon, “If he gets a hold of you, tell him to turn himself in.”
“I will, Sir.”
I was more than glad to get out of the court room after that experience. When I returned to my office that afternoon, there was a message from my girl friend, Karley.
“Jon, I hope that you are packed, because the plane leaves at 9:00 tonight.”
I really didn’t want to go to England, and would much rather go to my cabin for a week, but my girl friend had dreamed about this vacation for several months and I had promised that I would take her. Time had simply gone by too quickly. I had forgotten that this was the day that Karley and I were to leave for England.
I called Karley back. “I’ll meet you at the airport, ok? What time do we have to be there?”
“We need to be there no later than 7:00 p.m. They need to check our baggage and have time to load it on the plane.”
“Ok. I’ll be there.”
Karley and I have been together for the last two years. I was attracted to her from the first moment that I met her.
Added to that, we have a lot in common. We both like Chinese Food, hiking, all types of music, reading books and going to the theater. We have all of this, and much, much more that we like to do together. But for some reason, I just didn’t want to go to England. Nevertheless, I arrived on time at the airport and everything went smoothly. Our flight to England was uneventful. We passed the time talking about everything that we wanted to see.
“I was thinking about going to see Windsor Castle, Canterbury Cathedral and Stonehenge. I really want to see the Changing of the Guard. Did you know that there’s a hike that we can take around the Lake District?”
“…A hike? Now that’s something that I’d really like to do, Karley.”
“Oh, and I really want to take the Thames River Cruise also. Is there anything that you would like to do, Jon?”
“Yes, I’d like to have lunch at a Roman Bath. Doesn’t that sound like a unique experience?”
“It does. Is there anything else, my sweet man?”
“I think that I’d like to see the Buckingham Palace also.”
“It looks like we have a lot of things to get done in the week that we’ll be in England. But it should be a lot of fun.”
“I’m glad that we’re going to England together. I’m really pleased that you talked me into going, Karley.”
“I’m glad too, Jon,” she said.
Because of the time change, we decided to sleep for the rest of our flight. We had decided what we wanted to see on our vacation and we didn’t want to suffer from jet lag.
We finally landed at London’s Heathrow Airport. From there, we caught a bus that took us to our hotel in Kensington. In the morning we purchased a bus pass with unlimited travel, boarded a red double-decker bus and toured the city.
London is a lot bigger than I expected it to be. One of our first stops was Buckingham Palace. I wasn’t aware that the palace was on 40 acres of ground. We went to a Roman Bath House for lunch and to Stonehenge just as the sun was lowering in the sky. I would have loved to have been in England when they put those huge stones up, just to see how they were able to accomplish that daunting task.
The next morning we went to see the changing of the guard, and later we went for a cruise on the Thames River. For some strange reason, I felt the balmy weather, suddenly turn icy, along with a chilly wind that felt like it blew right through me.
Karley and I had been having a lot of fun, but all of a sudden a deep sadness enveloped my very soul. The river, the rock of the boat, and the weather all seemed too familiar.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, after we pass under London Bridge we have the distinct pleasure of being the only boat that is allowed to go through Traitor’s Gate, to enter the grounds of the Tower of London. Is there anyone that would rather go on another boat?” the tour agent asked.
I was apprehensive. “Karley, I don’t know about this. I don’t know if I want to go through this gate, and go up on the grounds.”
“Jon, it will be fun,” she coaxes. “Please, let’s stay on this boat. I really want to go to the Tower of London through Traitor’s Gate. Katherine Howard came by boat this way to stay in the Queen’s apartments, until she was beheaded on the Tower Green. Her first cousin, Anne Boleyn, also stayed at the Queen’s apartments and was beheaded on Tower Green. Think what we could tell our friends when we get home?”
“Who are Anne Boleyn, and Katherine Howard?”
“Anne Boleyn was Henry’s second wife. She was only able to give birth to a little girl, so she fell out of favor with Henry.”
“Henry? You mean King Henry?”
“Yes, Henry VIII, King of England.”
“Didn’t he have several wives?”
“Yes, he had six wives. Since his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, could not give him a son, he wanted to divorce her. They were both Catholic and divorce was not allowed, so he set up the Church of England so that he could get a divorce and marry Anne Boleyn.”
“When Anne Boleyn, fell out of favor with the King because she couldn’t give him a son either, he had her beheaded and married Jane Seymour. Jane did give birth to a boy, but she died unexpectedly, soon after his birth.
The King then married Anne of Cleves and divorced her within 6 months because he had met Katherine Howard.”
“Katherine was his fifth wife and Henry was about thirty years older than she was. He showered her with wealth, jewels and expensive gifts. Katherine was Catholic when she married King Henry, and held her religion dear to her heart. But there were people in power that didn’t want to have England go back to the Catholic faith.”
“They created a story, against her, based on circumstantial evidence, and took it to Henry. After hearing this story from people that he trusted, Henry, became enraged. He felt like she had made fun of him. A King…. The King of England was being made fun of by a woman, so much his younger. Because of his own pride and his consuming love for Katherine, he became very jealous, quickly signing an order to have her beheaded.”
“I remember reading that Katherine died with more poise and courage
than she had displayed throughout her short life.”
Karley continued. “Both Anne Boleyn, and Katherine Howard, were buried at the Royal Chapel of St. Peter, in a corner of the Tower of London.”
“Wow, it was dangerous being married to a King in those days, wasn’t it?” I said.
“Yes. All of his wives either died, were beheaded or he divorced them. Well, except his sixth wife, Katherine Parr. She was widowed.”
“How do you know so much about this?”
“I wrote a paper on it in college. You can read it when we get home if you would like. So please, please, can we stay on this boat?” Karley said with a sad puppy-dog look that I couldn’t resist.
“Yes,” I said hesitantly.
As we got closer to the Tower, an overwhelming sadness continued to fill my soul. We passed through the gate, got out of the boat, and walked to Tower Green. From the very moment I stepped out of the boat, I began to see pictures flash over and over in my mind. I saw hundreds of people on the grounds around me, looking at some sort of stage, covered with straw. They all began to turn in the same direction, looking at a group of people approaching them, and began to jeer. Their yells were loud and very angry.
Then I saw a beautiful young woman walking through the crowd. She walked with dignity and poise, unafraid of the crowd. Her guards, and her servants, helped make a path through the people, so she could make her way to the stage. The woman was dressed in black velvet, while her servants were all in pale yellow dresses. She must have been royalty, because only people of higher stature could wear black. It also must have been a sad occasion, because pale yellow was worn as a mourning dress.
All the while she was walking toward the stage her eyes desperately searched the crowd and the stage, back to the crowd, then to the top of the walls that surrounded Tower Green. She was earnestly trying to find someone. This beautiful, dignified, noble woman seemed familiar, yet I couldn’t place her.
I watched this scene for a short time, and then I couldn’t stand still. I went up to the woman to let her know that I would help, if she needed me. I wasn’t afraid of her guards, or the crowd. I approached. No one seemed to care that I was getting so close to her. I reached out to grab her hand, but my hand went right through her hand, like it was water. I tried several times, and each time the same thing happened.
They continued walking. I could see them, but for some reason they couldn’t see me. They passed by me on their way to the stage, leaving me with the rest of the crowd, on the Tower Green.
What was happening? My mind was swirling. This trip was turning into a nightmare. Though at the same time, I had the distinct impression that I had been in this exact spot before.
Suddenly, I heard, “Jon, come over here.” I had walked off by myself and was in my own world. But, Karley was still with the tour group.
“Jon, come over here please. We’re going to see the Queens apartments,” Karley requests.
I pulled myself from Tower Green and joined the tour group. We walked up the stairs to the Queens apartments. As we entered the room, to my right there was a big open fire place for warmth. The windows to my left were wide and tall, and the floors were made of wood.
Our tour guide said, “Anne Boleyn, and Katherine Howard, the second and fifth wives of King Henry VIII, were housed in these very apartments until they were beheaded.”
For some reason I couldn’t leave the apartment. My body froze the moment the tour guide said “Beheaded” and my body doubled over in pain. It felt like a knife had been put through my heart and twisted.
“Are you ok, Sir?” the tour guide asked.
“No. I don’t know what’s wrong. I can’t breathe. Is there anywhere that I could lay down for a moment?” I asked.
“Come with me, sir.” Walking into a nearby room the tour guide states, “I’m not supposed to do this, but I can see the pain that you are in. Why don’t you lie down on this bed while I finish the tour with the rest of our group?”
“Thank you, Madame. I appreciate your thoughtfulness. Karley, I’ll just lay here. Why don’t you go with the rest of the group? When you’re finished, come and get me, ok?”
“You don’t mind if I go?”
“No, I want you to finish the tour. I’ll be alright.”
“Ok. I’ll be back in a little bit.” Walking out the door,
Karley looks back. “Don’t go anywhere,” she says with a smile.
Smiling back at her, I put my head on the pillow. A few minutes passed and the gloominess that I had felt left. My soul filled with calmness and love. Opening my eyes, and looking at the rafters in the ceiling, I noticed a white piece of paper, stuck where it could barely be seen. Getting up from my bed, I continued to look at the paper, wondering what it was.
“Is it proper for me to even be thinking of getting that paper? I mean I’m here in the Queens apartment.”
Dismissing my caution, my curiosity took over. I stood on a nearby chair, stretching as high as I could, finally grabbing the paper. It turned out to be an envelope with the name of, Jon, written on the front of the envelope. I was taken back!
“Why would an envelope have my name on it?”
Looking at it closely I realized that this paper didn’t have the same texture that we have in our paper today.
“Do I turn this over to the tour guide, or do I open it and then decide if I want to give it to the guide or not?”
My heart seemed to be shouting, “OPEN IT, OPEN IT!” The voices that I heard in my head, and felt in my heart, made me feel like they had waited for a long time for this to happen. The next thing that I realized I was doing was that my fingers were opening the envelope. I pulled the letter out and began reading it:
13 February 1542
Jon,
Though I leave my body today, continue to look to our stars my love. They brought us together once they will bring us together again.
I will always be with you.
With all my Love, Katherine
“Katherine? 1542? Could this letter have been up there all this time?”Hearing the front door open, I quickly put the letter into my coat pocket and sat down on the bed.
Walking into my room, the guide asked, “How are you doing, Jon?”
“I’m better, but I still don’t feel very well.”
Looking at, Karley, I said, “Would you please take me back to our hotel?”
“Sure, Sweetheart,” she replies.
The tour guide helped us find the fastest way to get back to our hotel and called a taxi so that we wouldn’t have to go on the red double-decker bus with all the other tourists.
When we arrived at our room, I said, “I think that I will sit on the lounge chair on our patio.” As I walked out to the patio, I noticed that the weather had changed. “It’s warm now, Karley.”
“Yes, it is.” She answered, looking like, what are you talking about?
“Did you notice how it got really cold when we were on the boat?” I asked.
“What are you talking about, Jon? It’s been nice and warm all day long.” she stated.
Looking at her intensely, I said, “Karley, did you see any people other than our tour group, when we were on the Tower Green?”
“No. I only saw our tour group.”
Looking at her, I said “Ok. Now I want to say something to you, but I don’t want you to think that I’m crazy.”
“Ok…,” she said, her face showing that she was very concerned.
I started talking slowly, continually watching her expressions. “When we were on the boat, just after we went under London Bridge, the weather turned very cold. So cold, that I felt a chill go through my bones.”
“Ok….” she said again.
“After we went through Traitor’s Gate and walked to Tower Green, I saw hundreds of people standing there, looking toward a stage and talking to each other. They weren’t dressed in regular clothes that we wear today. In fact, I thought that they were putting on a play for the tourists, because t
hey were dressed in clothes like they use to wear in the 1500’s.”
“There was a beautiful woman with guards and servants, who were walking with her to the straw covered stage, in the front center of the grounds. She walked with a poise that only royalty displayed, directly toward the stage, unafraid of the crowd.”
I looked at, Karley, and slowly grabbing both of her arms, I said, “Didn’t you see any of that, Karley?”
“No, Jon, I didn’t.”
Continuing I said, “And when we were in the Queens Apartments, I felt that I had been there before. Every time we came to a new room, I knew what it was used for before the tour guide ever told us.”
“Jon, how could you see people that I didn’t see?”
“I don’t know, Karley. I just know that I saw them. I didn’t ask to see them. They were just there!”
“How could you know what the rooms in the Queens Apartments were used for, Jon?”
“I don’t know that either. I just felt that I had been there before. Look, I’m just trying to be honest with you.”
“I know that you are, Jon, and in this same way, I want to be honest with you. You’ve been under a lot of stress lately and I think that this trip has been too much for you. Maybe you should go home.”
“You want me to go home?”
“No, I don’t want you to go home. But I think that it would be the best thing for you right now.”
Looking at her expression, I began thinking, “Was I out of my mind? Why was I experiencing things that Karley wasn’t experiencing?” I didn’t understand what was going on. I became very confused as to what was real, and what wasn’t. So I agreed, “I think that you’re right. I’ll see if I can leave tonight.”
Luckily, someone had canceled their flight plans and I was able to leave on the red eye. My trip home was very introspective. What in the heck was going on? Why had I felt that the weather had changed? I mean, to me it really had. But, Karley hadn’t noticed anything different. She didn’t see the people walking around, jeering, and watching the beautiful noble woman who was walking toward the straw covered stage, either.
Another thing that I wondered about was the fact that even though I saw these people, they didn’t see me. And when I went to touch the ladies hand, I couldn’t grab hold of it. It was like I was trying to grab something made out of water. And the letter, how could it have been there all this time, and no one see it?
I was so confused! Nothing like this had ever happened to me before. There was no explanation that I could come up with except that I was either going crazy, or somehow I had tapped into another dimension… another time in history.
The flight home seemed extra long, I was glad when the wheels touched down on the tarmac of the airport. I grabbed my luggage, called a taxi, and headed to my apartment. Putting the letter I had found in the Queen’s Apartment in a safe place, I fell on my bed, emotionally and physically exhausted and slept for the rest of the evening.
The following day, I returned to my office where I poured myself into my work, so that I wouldn’t think about England and my experiences there. Working as hard as I could, on several of my cases, exhaustion hit again, and I returned to my apartment. Lying down on my lounge chair, my thoughts automatically returned to my feelings and experiences while I was in England with Karley.
The same questions came to my mind, “Why did I see all of those hundreds of people on the Tower Green? Who was the beautiful woman with her guards and servants and why were they all dressed in period clothing? The letter, was it written by the real Katherine Howard?” I kept thinking about these same questions over and over again, ducking and dodging in my mind trying to pull down the walls that kept me from my answers.
Continually thinking about all of this exhausted me, and suddenly the dreams that I had had in my office before our trip to England, began once again. Yet, after my trip it was somehow different. I was actually part of the dream. I was there. I could feel everything.
I was a young boy riding a horse, wearing 16th Century clothing, with the wind blowing through my hair, feeling a great sense of freedom. I never knew of anything, or even thought of anything outside of the tall walls of our palace grounds, until my father began going on campaigns at the Kings request.
My father’s name is Sir Jon Gage, and is a Knight of the Garter, Vice Chamberlain of the Privy Council to King Henry VIII, and Captain of the Guard, which all means that the King keeps him very busy and he is rarely home. I was named after my father. And like every father, he wants me to follow in his footsteps.
Remembering the first time my father left with his regiment, the huge front gate opened, and for the first time, I saw the beautiful trees and flowers that were beyond the great walls that surrounded our palace. From that day forward, every time the gate was opened, I ran over to look at the outside world.
Each day I was to practice archery by the south inside wall where my mother could look from her upper window and make sure that I was ok. My mother is Lady Barbara West, and her father is Thomas West, 8th Baron De La Warr. My best friend, and boy servant’s name, is James.
One day, after I turned twelve years old, I went to James and told him of a plan that I had thought of.
“James, I need your help.”
“Anything for you, Sir….”
“James, how long have we known each other?”
“Since we were both little ones, Sir…. We grew up together.”
“So, don’t you think that rather than calling me Sir, that you could call me, Jon?”
“If that’s what you would like, Sir, ah, I mean, Jon.”
“That’s what I would like,” I answered with a smile.
“Jon, you said that you needed my help. What would you like me to do for you?”
“We are of the same height and coloring, do you agree?”
“Yes, in fact many people call me, Jon, or Sir, until they get closer and see my face.”
“I want to leave the palace grounds by myself.”
“What?”
“I’m tired of wearing royal clothes and practicing archery everyday. I want to go out by myself and see what is beyond these walls.”
“But Sir…I mean, Jon, do you think that it would be safe?”
“No one outside of this court yard knows what I look like. If anyone asks me what my name is, I’ll tell them it’s, Matthew and I’ll trade clothes with you so that no one will know that I am of royal birth. I should be as safe as anyone else that lives in the village. Would you do that for me?” I plead.
“What if we get caught?” James questions.
“We won’t. My father is gone on campaign and isn’t expected back for three more months. My mother stays in the palace and only checks on me through her upper window.”
“Alright, Jon, I’ll help.”
“Thank you, James. Tomorrow have a horse ready for me on the outer wall by the smaller South Gate. We’ll change clothes there and I’ll ride off, while you practice archery where my mother can see you.”
“I can do that for you, Jon.”
I looked directly at, James, smiled and gave him a slap on the back. “See you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow, Jon,” he replied.
The following day couldn’t come fast enough for me, and as James promised, the horse was ready by the smaller South Gate. We met and changed clothes. I got up on my horse and for the first time in my life, I felt freedom. I was riding with the wind blowing through my hair, all alone, with no one telling me what I could, or couldn’t do.
With the feeling of freedom now rooted in my heart, each new day would become like a breath of fresh clean air.
Returning home, I asked, “James, how did everything go for you?”
“Fine, Jon. How was your adventure?”
“I loved it. In fact, I have never felt so free! Let’s do this again tomorrow.”
“Jon, I don’t know about that. If they catch me taking your place, you know what will happen.”
; Putting my hand on James’ shoulder, smiling, and looking into his eyes I said, “Did anyone bother you today?”
“No,” he answered.
Smiling I said, “Well then, there you have it. Tomorrow it is.”
Leaving my horse with James, I walked smiling to the palace. James just stood there with his jaw as wide open as it could go, wondering if I really understood the consequences of what could happen if we were both to be caught exchanging places.
The second day went just as the first had. And of course, I wanted to go for a third day, and a fourth, and a fifth.
From the first day, freedom had become a part of me. No longer could I be kept within the walls of my family palace.
Though I didn’t know it, my sixth day of freedom would bring to my life, the beginnings of the highest highs, and the deepest lows.
James met me at the small South Gate as usual. Riding away, I went in a different direction and found a beautiful stream. Getting off my horse, I decided to sit under a tree. As I began to sit down, I felt something poke my side. Searching inside my pocket, I found a plain piece of folded paper. It was the perfect size to fold into a small boat.
“I have made many boats at our palace, but there was never a stream to sail it in. We only had the troughs that the horses drank out of to sail our boats,” I said to myself.
What a great idea, to sail a paper boat in an actual stream! Folding the paper into the best boat that I had ever made, I put it into the water. Suddenly, the current carried my carefully crafted boat out of reach.
There was never a current in the horse trough. I never thought of a paper boat moving as fast as it just did.
Running down the side of the stream, I tried to catch it, but there were trees along the shore. “If I’m not careful, I’m going to run into one of these trees,” I said to myself.
The current quickly took the boat out of my sight.
“What am I running in this direction for? I can’t see it anymore! For all I know, it could be at the bottom of this stream.”
Ready to give up looking for it, I saw a girl walking toward me with a boat in her hand.
“Is this your boat?” she said with a smile. “Yes, it is. Where did you find it?”
“Just downstream…. I was sitting there on a log, with my feet in the water, when your boat came floating down. Noticing how fast the current was, I wondered if the boat had sailed too fast for its maker. I thought that anyone that made such a beautiful boat would want to find it so I decided to walk up the shore to see if I could find the owner. And here you are,” she said as she handed it to me.
“Thank you. What’s your name?” I politely asked.
She seemed shocked that anyone would be asking her name, but quickly said, “Mary. My name is, Mary.”
“Thank you, Mary, and yes I was searching for it.” Looking for other children to be with, Mary, I said, “I don’t normally see girls walking the countryside alone. Where are your friends?”
“I don’t know. I was just thinking the same thing,” she said as she looked around, pretending to look for her friends.
“Well, you’ve got me then. We’ll take care of each other, Mary.”
Feeling a very strong connection that she couldn’t explain she said, “That would be fine. By the way, what is your name?”
“Matthew. My name is Matthew.”
“Well, we’ve both got very common names. And we’ve both got blond hair, only mine has a little red in it also,” she said with a smile.
“Your hair is beautiful, Mary. Would you like to sail my boat with me?”
“I would very much. I’ve never sailed a boat before.”
“Here, let me show you how,” I said walking to the stream and putting the boat into the water.
We ran up and down the shore sailing the boat until it got so water logged that it sank. Looking at each other with wide eyes, we began to laugh as it was going down.
“Well, Mary, I think that our sailing day is done. Would you like to meet me here tomorrow? I’ll bring enough paper so that we can both have our own boat.”
“I would love to.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow then, Mary.”
“Tomorrow, Matthew.”