Peter Rakoczy: The Music of My Life

Chapter 9: Bartholy Castle

As they approached the towering structure, Peter asked the girls:

"Are you sure about this? It looks pretty deserted."

Bartholy Castle resembled an impregnable fortress. It was built from massive grey stone blocks. Its corner towers rose aggressively up, as though they were trying to pierce the sky. The fortified parapet had obviously been used in the past to prevent attacks from invaders. Some of the upper parts of the walls had slit windows from where archers could shoot at an incoming army. It looked nothing like the famous Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany - the typical fairytale princess castle. The overall impression Bartholy Castle gave was that of a dark, forbidding structure. The surrounding grounds, heavily covered with snow, appeared overgrown and unkept. Sinister looking trees stretched out their gnarly branches like skeleton arms warning strangers to keep out. The snow bank by the main entrance was a couple of feet high, since nobody had bothered to shovel it.

Even in the bright morning sunshine, Bartholy Castle emitted a malevolent aura that chilled Peter to the bone.

"I'm not sure how much closer we can get," Peter said, hoping to dissuade the girls from further exploration.

"Let's just stop the sleigh here and walk," Nina suggested as they neared a grove of trees.

"Very well," Peter reluctantly acquiesced, though he didn't have a very good feeling about it.

They stopped a few hundred feet away from the main structure. Peter tied the horse to a large oak tree and gave him a bag of oats to chew on. He then helped the girls out of the sleigh, one by one. When he held Lisbeth's hand in his, she blushed, but gave him a charming smile.

Nina was already purposefully striding ahead with the twins right behind her. They hitched their skirts up as far as they could, but the snow still rose more than half-way up their shins. They trodded awkwardly, trying to maintain their balance. Luckily, they all wore heavy winter boots that prevented them from slipping and falling.

"Be careful," Peter shouted. "You can't tell what's under all the snow! It might be deeper in places!"

Nina waved a hand dismissively behind her back.

"It's fine! Don't worry so much." But she heeded his advice and slowed down.

Nina suddenly stopped and turned around. "I think I see a path! Somebody must still be here!" She pointed to the side, just a few feet away from where she was standing.

Peter and Lisbeth caught up to Nina and the twins. Peter saw the little path that Nina pointed out. It started at what had probably been an old guard's post and snaked toward the back of the castle. It looked like it had been fairly recently shoveled, although there was already a fresh layer of snow on top of it.

"Let me check it out. Wait here," Peter instructed the girls.

He left them by the dilapidated little building and carefully made his way down the narrow path, looking around for any signs of life. So far, there was nobody around.

'Hello!" Peter called out. "Anyone here?" No answer. It was eerily quiet. Not even the birds were chirping.

Peter walked back to the girls. "I don't know about this," he muttered. "I think we should just go back home."

"After we made it this far?" Nina exclaimed. "No way! I want to find a way in!"

"Nina," Peter grabbed her wrist. "I don't think it's a good idea. Who knows who made this path? Maybe it's a criminal hiding from the authorities."

"Don't be silly! Why would a criminal hide here?" Nina shook her arm loose. "Are you scared Peter?" She gave him a teasing look. "If you're afraid, I'll go in by myself."