The Story of William: Part 3

CHAPTER 3

             William was in the forest.  He was beginning to feel very discouraged when he remembered the words that the King’s servant said to the King.  “Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.”

            William repeated the words.  “A lamp to my feet” he said, “A light to my path” he repeated. 

            William bowed his head and lowered himself to his knees.  “O King,” he said, “Help me out of here.  I cannot find a way out.  Help me, O King.”  William felt a peace surge through his body.  He felt at rest.

            Suddenly, he could see a path in front of him.  “Is it my imagination?” he wondered.  He walked over to it.  It was not!  He had a way laid out in front of him!  He could get out of the forest and on with his mission!

            William did get out of the forest.  He then slept long and hard.  When he awoke the next day, it was late morning.  He took a little bit of food from his pack, and started on for the Castle of Anthropoly, where he supposed he would find the king. 

            Before long, William was at the gates of Anthropoly.  He approached the gates, where a steady stream of people moved in.  William joined the crowd.  The throng of people was in a hurry to get inside the city gates to their homes.

            After a while, William came out of the crowd.  He stayed on the main road, instead of going on a “less traveled path”.  He saw a man outside of a building, and asked him for directions to the castle.

             “’Ollow that road, m’ boy, and ye’ll see a row of ‘eautiful houses.  Af’er abo’t a mile you’ll see the cas’sle o’ the king.”  William thanked the man and hurried on.  “I could have figured that out myself,” he thought, since by now, he could see soldiers marching to the castle.

            He passed the row of beautiful houses that the man had told him about, and after that, he saw the castle.  A double moat protected it, just as the other moat protected the city.  He walked up the drawbridge, and the soldiers briefly examined him. 

            The soldiers did not take away William’s sword.  William wondered why, and he decided that he was young and harmless in the eyes of the soldiers.  He grinned. “The Shrieks thought that too,” he remembered. 

            He was now in the courtyard, and saw a door.  Seeing that many people went in and out, he decided that he would enter there.  William walked in the door and saw a man bending over a counter.  The man turned around, and with a bloody knife in his hand, walked over and shut the door.