The Travelers of the Tree

Chapter 21 - The Doppelganger

The well dressed man, whom Tommy found out was just called Master Servant led the way into the first room of the castle. It was a large room, with a chandelier of torches lighting it from above. Tommy followed the two men to a stairway. This stairway, unlike the one at that Hard Labor Camp, had a banister. It seemed to be made of gold. Red carpet, made of the same material that had lined the inside of the Director's carriage lined the stairs.

When they got to the landing above, Tommy could see that they were in a hallway. Every ten feet in the hallway, there was a wooden table, each beautifully crafted, with golden candle holders on each. Candles burned within the holders, illuminating the room with a soft light. Paintings of men lined the hallway. They were very important looking men, and Tommy could tell that all of them were related, because they all had the same large nose and beady eyes. Tommy assumed that these were the men who had ruled this area through the years. It seemed as if power was handed down from generation to generation.

They walked down the hall, and entered a large room. There were several people inside it, gathered around a table. They were sewing together a shirt. It was white, fluffy, and seemed to be made of a silky material. Tommy wondered why it would take three people to make one shirt. The tailors hardly looked up as they walked by. Past this room they came up to another doorway.

"Wait here please." Master Servant went inside. He was gone one minute and then he came back. "The Acting Regent will see you now." He looked down at Tommy. "You will wait on the couch in the first room." He looked up at the Director. "He wants to talk to you first." The Director led Tommy into a big room that looked like a living room, without a T.V. or CD Player. There was a large couch, which was surrounded by shelves that had various books on them. The books seemed to be bound by leather. The Director told Tommy to sit on the couch. Then he went into the next room, and closed the door.

Tommy was worried about what was about to happen next. He wasn't scared. Too much had happened already for him to be scared. But he was nervous. At the moment he was incredibly far away from the other boys, and Katy. What if he was sent even further away? He felt guilty because he knew that he was the only one who could open the doorway to their own world. Even if they escaped, they'd have no way of getting back if he was stuck hundreds of miles away.

The Director came back out of the other room. He had a slightly confused look on his face. "The Acting Regent will see you now," he said. Then he walked out the other door, into the room with the tailors. Tommy stood up. He walked to the doorway. He took a deep breath, and told himself to be ready for whatever happened. He walked into the next room.

Sitting at a large desk, with his head down, was not a man but a boy. He was wearing a shirt that matched the one that Tommy had seen the tailors sewing. His hair was well brushed, and it fell lightly onto his face, and curled slightly at around his mid-cheek. With his head down, the hair blocked Tommy from seeing his face. Then the boy looked up with a big smile.

Tommy had the sensation that he was looking into a mirror. The boy had his exact face, although at the moment Tommy wasn't smiling. He was shocked. The boy stood up.

"Who are you?" Tommy stammered.

When the boy replied, Tommy heard what seemed like his own voice coming out of him. "Can't you guess? I'm your twin brother!"