The Travelers of the Tree

Chapter 23 - The Same Face

"Well," the boy said. "Aren't you going to say something?" He smiled widely. "No? Okay, I'll go first. I've always wanted to meet you. You don't know how many nights I have wished for this day." Tommy continued to just stare at him as he spoke. "When the Director came in and told me he had found a boy who looked exactly like me, I was skeptical. What were the odds that you would come here? But when he mentioned that your name was Tommy...." The boy came around the desk, and put his hands on Tommy's shoulders.

From this close, Tommy could see minor differences in their appearance. The other boy was about an inch taller than Tommy. His nose also was slightly curved, whereas Tommy's nose was very straight. Other than that, Tommy could have been staring at his own reflection. But there was something else that Tommy saw in his counterpart's face that his own lacked, and had never had. The look of utter and complete confidence. Finally, Tommy spoke.

"Billy?" The other boy shook his head no.

"I have heard that that was my original given name, but my father chose a new name for me when he brought me here. He named me Ramsey, after him, and his father before him." Ramsey's face beamed with pride.

"Ramsey," Tommy repeated the name. "How... why were you bought here?" At this moment, a well dressed man wearing an apron entered the room. He did a double take when he saw Ramsey and Tommy standing together, but quickly gathered himself.

"Acting Regent, your dinner will be ready shortly in the main dining room, sir." He kept his eyes down as he said this. Ramsey took his hands off of Tommy, and addressed the servant.

"Very well. Set two places Master Cook. And keep the dinner warm. Dismissed." The man did a half nod with his head, and left. Ramsey turned back to Tommy.

"We have so much to talk about. And we will. You will be my dinner guest tonight." He looked down at Tommy's clothes and winced. "You're going to need to change what you are wearing though." Without waiting for an answer, he went to the doorway. "Master Tailor," he called. At once, the Master Tailor, who had been two rooms over entered the room.

"Yes sir?" Tommy noticed that he spoke with his eyes down as well.

"This is a very important guest of mine. I know you servants speak to each other all of the time, even when I order something to be kept secret."

"Oh no, Sir. Never," the Master Servant was adamant. Ramsey rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, right. Let it be known that a relative of mine is visiting me from far away. First, find some old clothes of mine for him to wear. His name is Tommy, and I want you to treat him with the same respect you'd treat any guest of mine." He turned to Tommy. "Go with the Master Tailor. I must ready myself for dinner. He will bring you to the main dining room when you are clean and dressed." He put his arm straight out and grabbed Tommy's shoulder. "I'm sure you have many questions. I have some as well. We will discuss everything at dinner." With that, he turned and left the room.

The Master Servant turned to Tommy. "Please, Sir, this way." Tommy noticed that the man looked right into his eyes. The respect shown by tilting one's head down toward the floor must be something reserved for the family who owned the castle, and did not extend to guests. He followed the Master Tailor through yet another door, this one leading to a smaller hall than the one that he had been in before. Master Tailor did not speak, and Tommy didn't think that the man would answer any of his questions.

But he had so many! His strange journey that had begun when Matt had pushed him into David, (which seemed to Tommy like weeks ago, although it had only been four days), seemed to take one weird turn after another. This latest twist was almost too much for him to contemplate. Billy, now called Ramsey, here? And he was obviously now in a family with considerable money and power in this world. But how did he get here?

Tommy had over the years thought about his twin brother, but he had disappeared when they were only a couple of hours old. Tommy of course had no memory of him. When he was younger, he would day dream sometimes that he would be walking down the street and just run into his twin. After his parents had passed away though, these day dreams had occurred much less often. The part of Tommy that had thought that great things could happen if you wished enough for them, for all intents and purposes, had perished along with his parents on that fateful terrible day.

The Master Tailor led him to a small stairwell that led downstairs. This one did have a banister, but it was definitely not gold. At the bottom was a hallway that was not decorated. They passed rooms that did not have any doors. Tommy could see some people through the doors. They were all dressed similarly to the Master Tailor. Tommy assumed that they were in the Servants' quarters of the house. Anyone who caught sight of Tommy tried in vain to not look surprised. Tommy could tell that some of them even thought that he was his brother, by the way that they would immediately cast their eyes down. This show of ... respect? ... fear?, embarrassed him. At the end of this hallway, the Master Tailor stopped at a small room with a door. He opened it, and lit a small torch that hung on the wall. The light illuminated a small sink, with a wooden bucket underneath it.

"You may use the washroom to freshen up," he said. "I will be back shortly with clothes for you."

"Thanks," Tommy said. The Master Tailor turned and went the way they had come from. Tommy closed the door behind him. There was a mirror above the sink. Tommy couldn't believe what he looked like. There was grimy dirt that peppered his face. His hair was wild, parted in several places. Although he knew that his clothes had been tattered from the grueling couple of days that he had just had, he hadn't thought that they would look this bad. He could have been playing a homeless child in some movie. He found that there was a bar of soap on the sink. He took his clothes off, and put water in the bucket.

He dipped the soap in the water, and rubbed it on his face. He stopped right away, realizing that this soap was much rougher than the ones that he was used to. Carefully, he cleaned his entire body. He felt refreshed. He heard a knock at the door. It was opened a jar, and a hand holding clothing was thrust into the small room. Tommy took the clothes right away, and the door was closed again. The Master Tailor had given him a white shirt that was silky to the touch, black pants that were made out of a shiny material, and black sandals. Although the shirt was a perfect fit, the pants were a little long. When he had put them on and gotten a look in the mirror, Tommy had had to laugh. These clothes might be the best in this world, but he thought he looked foolish in them.

He exited the washroom, and found the Master Tailor waiting for him. He wordlessly followed him out of the hallway, and down another flight of stairs. Now they were back on the first floor. They entered into another hall. This one was decorated with many heads of different animals. Tommy recognized some, like a bear, a wolf, and a moose, but there were some that he didn't recognize. There was one very large head of what looked like the combination of an alligator, and a water buffalo. Tommy knew that he definitely wouldn't want to run into one of those. At the end of the hall, the Master Tailor stopped.

"Past this door, you will find the main dining hall. Enjoy your dinner."

Tommy smiled. "Thank you. Thanks for the clothes." The Master Tailor nodded and moved down towards the other end of the hallway. Tommy opened the door and entered the next room. What he saw amazed him. He was in a room that was at least as long as his grandma's entire house. There were paintings lining the walls. The room was lighted by several chandeliers of torches, and there was gold trimming across the ceiling. In the center of the room was a very long table that could have sat at least forty people comfortably. There was only one person seated now. It was his brother. He was at the head of the table on the other side of the room. He waved to Tommy.