Things Just Disappeared
Chapter One
Things just disappeared
King Oswy turned over in bed and shivered. He felt remarkably cold. Without opening his eyes he felt round for the sheets and blankets thinking that they had somehow slipped off in the night. No, they were still in place, nicely wrapped round him. Puzzled he opened his eyes. It was summer and his bedroom should not be cold. He stared upwards and thought to himself that he had no right to be cold on such a beautiful, clear summer's morning. Looking up there was not a cloud to be seen in the clear blue sky.
Then he gasped. He should not be able to see the sky. He was in bed, in his bedroom, in the Palace. The Palace had a roof that hid the sky. That is to say, that it used to have a roof. Quickly he got up, put on his dressing gown and ran along the corridors and into every room until he finally finished up in the throne room. To his horror, he found no sign of a roof in any of the rooms. He dashed out into the garden and looked at the Palace. Not one slate, rafter, chimney pot was left. It had all disappeared. The sparrows which usually nested in the chimney stacks were flying about chirping their distress.
Oswy fainted. Of course, his panicked running about had raised all the members of the royal household. They too can running out and stared horrified at the roofless Palace and the unconscious king.
Now, if you think that waking up to find your roof had disappeared while you were asleep, was the worst possible thing that could happen then you will feel more sorry for King Oswy than for Prince Hildebrand. He ruled the neighbouring country. He woke early the same morning because he felt a draught. If there was anything in the whole world that Hildebrand hated it was a draught. He had spent a fortune making his Palace draught proof, with cavity wall insulation and double glazing. He claimed it was the most draught proof building in the world.
Now, lying in his bed, he felt a definite draught. It was not to be put up with. If it continued for any length of time he may well catch a chill. He opened his mouth to shout for a footman to find the source of the breath of wind and deal with it. He opened his eyes and looked around him. Instead of the beautiful wallpaper that had been especially made for him, he could see straight out into the gardens. Twisting round in bed he looked the other way. There he could see the Forest that stretched away in the distance behind his Palace.
He began to throw off the sheets to get out of bed. Then, he remembered. Since the Palace was so well insulated and draught free, he did not need to wear pyjamas. If he could see out into the garden, then people could see in to his bedroom. I would never do for people to see their ruler in his birthday suit.
He looked up at the ceiling and wondered what he was going to do. Suddenly it dawned on him that the ceiling was still there. That decided him. He did not care who saw him. He was not going to stay under a ceiling that had no walls to hold it up. He dashed into his fortunately large wardrobe and began throwing on clothes, all the while shouting for his servants to come. The noise brought them from their beds. They too did not feel safe under a ceiling without any walls. Very quickly all the Palace occupants were stood outside gazing at the rather odd sight of a roof floating in mid air.
Count Robert was perhaps a little more fortunate than either King Oswy or Prince Hildebrand. When he awoke he still had a roof over his head and walls to keep it up. What woke him was the silence. Normally he was awakened every morning by the sound he loved the best, the sound of happy birds singing in his gardens.
Robert’s gardens were not only his pride and joy, they were famous through all the countries around. His flowers were grown to perfection. The lawns were perfectly flat and as green as grass can ever be. His vegetables were all prize-winning specimens and fruit from his orchard was as delicious as any fruit can ever be.
The Garden was not only loved by human beings, but also a haven for the birds which spent their day there, doing whatever it is that birds do in the day. It was their singing that normally woke Count Robert. He used to lie in bed and listen to their happy twittering and chirping. Not this morning, though, there was total silence.
Robert thought it was strange and wondered if there was a cat in the garden or something. He got out of bed and went to the big picture window in his bedroom. He had had this fitted so he could admire his gardens as he got dressed in the morning. He had to pinch himself to make sure that he was awake and not having some hideous nightmare. The Garden in front of the Castle had completely gone, all of it. There was nothing there but brown earth, no flowers, no trees, no shrubs, no green grass, no summer house, no Pergola, nothing but bare empty soil stretched out before him.
For a few minutes he was too horrified to move then, he ran to the back of the Castle. The Gardens there had gone too, all his lovely Fruit trees and rows of vegetables had completely vanished. On every side of the Castle it was the same, just bare soil, not a plant not even a weed was there to be seen He went down on his knees and began to sob.
Duke Simon had a very uncomfortable awakening. His hobby was collecting furniture, not just any old stuff, he collected only the very best. Craftsmen from every country round the Dukedom were flattered to be asked to make a piece of furniture for the Duke as it meant that they were considered to amongst the finest makers in the world.
The Duke’s awakening was unpleasant because of the position in which he found himself. He awoke feeling very stiff and sore. He felt as if he had been sleeping on the floor, instead of on his super soft, pure down, luxury, double quilted, guaranteed comfortable, mattress.
He swung his legs round to sit on the edge of the bed, ready to slip his feet into his slippers. To his horror, he discovered that he was, indeed, lying on the floor. Both the mattress and the superbly crafted bed had gone. From the floor he gazed round the room, it was completely bare, not a cupboard, dressing table, wardrobe, not a stick of furniture in sight. He leapt up and raced into his dressing room next door. It too was empty, except for his clothes, neatly piled on the floor. As he ran from room to room he discovered that it was the same all over the place, every piece of furniture had gone. Duke Simon lost his temper.
The poor servants of each of these rulers had a terrible time. Firstly, they were blamed for the losses. Secondly, they had to go round finding new roofs, new walls, new plants and new furniture.
Since news of such great misfortunes as these spreads very quickly, it was not long before each of the victims found out about the others. Exactly one week after their horrible experiences, the four rulers met to discuss their losses.
They had to meet in Duke Robert’s castle because while the view was rather dreary, at least he had a roof, walls and something to sit on.
Not one of them had even the faintest idea of what had caused the disappearances and even less what to do about getting their possessions returned to them, if indeed it was even possible to do such a thing.
They argued this way and that, but in the end the decided that the only thing they could do was to offer a reward to the person who could solve the problem for them.
Oswy offered a Castle and some land. Hildebrand was to decorate and draught proof it, Robert would design and plant up the gardens and Simon would provide the furniture. The proclamation was put in all the newspapers and magazines. Then, they sat back and waited for the results.
The proclamation ought to have sent all the Princes and knights and adventurers from all the surrounding countries, rushing to search. However, unfortunately for the four sad men, the week before King Bertram of Moronia had also issued a Proclamation. His beloved daughter, Princess Lucy, had disappeared. This terrible thing had happened right in the middle of her eighteenth birthday ball. Her hand in marriage was being offered to the person who returned her safely to her grieving parents.
Most would be heroes had set off to search for her. Only those who did not want, or already had, a wife were left behind. One of these was Prince Rupert of Arconia.
He did not really want a wife just yet. There were lots of things he wanted to do before he settled down, but he felt sorry for King Bertram and a little guilty. He had been the last person to see Princess Lucy at her party. In fact, he had been dancing with her just before it happened. He was not very good at dancing and had trodden on the hem of her dress and ripped it. He was on his knees trying to pin it up for her when she had disappeared in a puff of mist, leaving him holding a piece of her hem and the safety pin.
It had taken him a week to persuade King Bertram that he had nothing to do with the disappearance. The King had released him on condition that he went and looked for the Princess.
Over breakfast before he set out, he read the Proclamation from the four rulers. Now he did not really need a decorated, furnished Castle with well laid out gardens either. However, as the youngest son, he was not going to get much when his father died either. Anyway, he liked to travel and there was a lot of the world he had yet to see. A castle would also be useful as a place from which to start out and return. Either quest would mean that he was doing the thing he liked he enjoyed most and he did not have to decide which quest he would go on. He could go on both and enjoy himself and see what he found first.
The difficulty was that he had no idea which way to go. To the East were the mountains. They were full of nasty bandits, fully capable of stealing a princess, or anything else for that matter. Mind, they usually left some sign that they had been around, like dead bodies and things. They also would probably have left a ransom note for the Princess too.
To the South was the Dark Forest, the home of many horrible creatures, but especially the Witch. She definitely could steal the Princess and bits of buildings without any trouble whatsoever. Rupert did not like the thought of meeting her. She had a nasty habit of turning Princes into frogs or toads, depending on the mood she was in at the time.
To the West lay The Wild Sea, rough and dangerous and full of unknown reefs and strong currents. There were rumoured to be Pirates too. Rupert was not a very good sailor. Before one reached the Sea there was the Sand Waste. Rupert had never like beaches, even as a child. He always got some in his eyes
To the North lay the frozen wastes of the Icy Desert. That was supposed to be the home of the Ice Wizard.
Rupert could not make a decision. None of the directions seemed very welcoming. He had to choose though, King Bertram was sat watching him from the other end of the breakfast table. Rupert took out the piece of ball gown. He would let that decide. He threw it into the air. It floated down to the North. That settled it, the Icy Desert it would have to be.
He picked up the piece of cloth and announced his decision. He was given some warm clothes and food and off he set.
The journey through the lands to the North was really very pleasant. All the rulers were friendly and made him welcome. They all knew about the Quests. Their own sons, if they had them, had gone searching, or other visitors had told them. Most had read about it anyway in the Newspapers. None of them could help though. They know no more than Rupert about any of the disappearances. As one Count remarked over lunch, "A new palace with lovely gardens would soon be noticed. You mark my words, it will be very well hidden where ever it is. And as for the Princess, she could be anywhere."
However, before long the pleasant hills and welcoming Castles gave way to cold moorland with few people and even fewer places to stop. Rupert did not hang about. He rode on. Soon even the moors were gone and he rode out onto the snowy wastes of the Icy Desert.
Each time Rupert was unsure of the direction to take, he threw the piece of cloth into the air and watched it drift to the ground. It seemed as good a way of deciding as any. It led him consistently North, as far as he could tell and deeper into the Icy Desert.
Just as he was beginning to wonder if he should turn round before he got so far into the Desert that he would have to camp for the night, he saw what appeared to be a castle in the distance. The closer he got to it, the more it did look like a castle, but one made of ice rather than stone. He rode right round the walls. There was a sort of shelter that was big enough for his horse to stand in, out of the cold wind. Rupert could see neither doors nor even any windows. Leaving his horse in the shelter, Rupert set out to walk round the walls.
Looking at them closely for some signs of a way in, he noticed that there were snow covered ledges going in a spiral round the walls. He cleared the snow from the first one. It was just wide enough for him to stand on. The next one was only a stride away and a little higher, so he cleared the snow from that. Soon he found himself high up the Castle wall. To his horror he realised that there were no more ledges. He turned to go back down and was even more horrified to discover that the ones he had so carefully cleared of snow, had all disappeared too.
Panic began to set in. It was a long way down to the snow and the wind was getting stronger. Carefully he examined the Castle wall He gave it an experimental tap. It sounded hollow. So, he banged on it again. It really did sound hollow. So, he banged on it as hard as he could. The wall swung open, fortunately for him, inwards. If it had opened out it would have pushed him off the ledge. With a sigh of relief Rupert entered the passage way that stretched out before him. He gave a nervous jump as the door behind him slammed shut. Like it or not he was now well and truly inside this Ice Castle.
