12

3

"I thought you said this'd be the front," Danny said.

With assurances from the old woman atop Barley, they had reached the side of the fortress where they expected to find the entrance gates. Instead, a wide wooden bridge lay across a murky moat leading up to a formidable stone wall with no door in it. A sign read: TRESSPASSERS WILL BE EATEN.

"It is," the old woman said, "and this is where I get off."

"Let me help you, m'Lady," Francis said. I'd say he was laying it on a little thick if he wasn't so darned sincere.

She sort of tipped off the saddle and let him catch her. He handed her back her lumpy sack.

"Thank you gentlemen. I'd like to give you both something for being so kind to a fragile old bird like me."

"Nonsense," said Francis.

Danny stepped in. "We're not supposed to accept gifts, but I can see how happy it would make you so..."

She reached into her bag and pulled out a dusty cloak and a thin tin whistle on silver chain.

"Aw, you shouldn't have," Danny said, trying to hide his disappointment.

"For drafty castles big enough to get lost in," she said, handing them to him. She reached into her bag again, this time digging so deeply her ear and shoulder disappeared. At last she found what she was looking for, a small key. She pressed it into Francis' hand.

"Will this get us in?" he asked.

"Ha! This fortress was built by the White Witch. There isn't a key in world that can get you through those walls!"

"Then, forgive me for asking, but what is the key for?"

"I don't know, but it could be the key to the whole thing."

"I'm sure it will have its uses. Thank you."

"Good luck, boys. It's been a pleasure."

"Who needs luck when we have a blanket and a whistle?" Danny said.

"Happy travels," said Francis.

They watched the old woman waddle away and turned their eyes back to the bridge and its warning.

"This must be that bridge we cross when we get to it," Francis said.

"Yeah, well you first. Make sure it's sturdy."

"Looks solid enough."

"I'm sure the tombstone engravers will appreciate your last words being so short."

Francis took a few first cautious steps. Satisfied it was safe, he confidently made his way across the remainder of the bridge. Danny followed, praying the moat wasn't the dragon's bathtub.

Faced with the great stone wall, Francis was the first to notice the hole in it at shoulder height. Etched into the rock above it were the words, "SPEAK HERE".

Danny wasted no time. "Here goes," he said, and then shouted into the hole, "I'll have the roast chicken and dumplings with the gravy on the side. Francis, what'll you have?"

Some voice did answer back, but so faintly they couldn't make it out. "These things never work," Danny tsked.

"I say, hallo down there! What's your business?"

The boys looked up to see Frederic's distant figure yelling at them through some kind of horn.

Francis called up, "Good afternoon, Sir! We have two purposes today."

"First, you must place your arm in the hole," Fred blared through the horn. "If you speak the truth, I may let you enter. If you lie, you will lose it."