1. Chapter 1 (2/2)
other.
"then i'll borrow one from james the builder."
"does james the builder actually exist?"
"why must you always question me?"
"why must your decisions be so questionable?"
the siblings bickered their way home, leaving the tower to be further battered by the autumn winds. throughout the night, all was silent in the tower's leafy grove. its peace, however, was once again disturbed the next morning, when nick, will, and three servants crashed through the woods bearing an enormous wooden ladder. birds, rabbits, and other assorted woodland creatures leapt out of the men's way as they stomped towards their goal.
"set it up!" will shouted imperiously. the men obeyed, grunting and groaning as they heaved the ladder so that it first stood upright, then came to rest against the tower's curved exterior. it was perhaps four yards short of the window.
"it doesn't reach," nick noted. he sounded almost pleased.
will laughed at his younger
other's naivety and revealed the hooked rope he'd
ought along. grinning, he scampered up the ladder like a squirrel scaling a tree. when he reached the top of the ladder, he tossed his rope into the air to hook onto the window ledge. he missed, and the rope's hook narrowly missed his head as it fell towards the ground.
on the ground, nick was swearing, pacing, and muttering, "careful, careful, be careful, you idiot; i'm not a doctor yet; i won't be much help…"
will grit his teeth and began twirling his rope again. he released, and this time the hook fell inside the window. the servants on the ground cheered their master, and will waved to them triumphantly. grabbing the rope with both hands, he climbed the final few yards and tumbled over the window ledge. everyone fell silent.
nick stared up at the unmoving tower for far longer than he would have liked, waiting for some word from his older
other. "will!" he finally shouted. "are you alright?"
after a
ief hesitation, will's voice called back, "yes, i'm fine! i'll just poke around for a little longer."
"what did you find?" nick asked.
there was no reply. grumbling to himself, nick sat down on the grass to wait. the three servants soon followed his example. "sorry for pulling you from your duties for this," nick said to the nearest servant. "we found this tower yesterday on our weekly excursion, and my
other was…inspired by it."
"not a problem, master nicholas," the servant replied in a monotone voice.
sighing, nick placed his hands on the ground behind him and leaned back. "so headstrong," he muttered to himself. "he'd better not be tearing that tower apart. it might belong to someone." he glanced at the ivy growing around the tower and the weeds choking its base. no, it really did look abandoned.
at last, will's head appeared in the tower window. he once again waved to his
other and servants, then began to descend his rope. when he reached the ladder, he attempted to unhook the rope from the window, but ended up failing with a shrug and a grin. he slid down the ladder, and without turning around, said to his companions, "let's get this ladder down."
"what did you find?" nick asked his
other as the servants laboriously lowered the labor back to the ground.
will shook his head in disappointment. "i peered into every nook and cranny, but there was nothing of interest. i'm sorry i dragged you out here." he was just slightly out of
eath from his rapid descent.
"no worries," nick said, clapping a hand on will's shoulder. "everyone has a right to satisfy their curiosity."
"spoken like a true scientist," will laughed. "do you think dr. richardson was very angry that i pulled you out of class early today?"
"i shouldn't think so. we were covering urinary catheterization, which is really a nurse's domain, so as long as i read over the information later, everything should be fine. i'll go to the university tomorrow and practice inserting a catheter into one of the dissection bodies. shouldn't take too long."
as nick spoke, will's face grew more and more uneasy. "that's disgusting," he said decisively as soon as nick had finished. "no wonder mother hates your profession."
they both grabbed hold of the top of the ladder and began leading the way back to town. nick was replying, "mother has no idea what i do. catheterization or not, she's just horrified at the thought of me studying alongside the children of tradespeople."
"rather unreasonable of her, i think," will remarked.
"yes, where would you be without all of your friends in trade? where would you be without james the builder?"
"where, indeed?" but will was now looking over his shoulder at the tower, which was gradually being obscured by the foliage of the woods. his face took on a rather odd expression, one that nick couldn't quite read.
"are you certain you didn't find anything of interest in that tower?" nick asked pointedly.
"quite," will replied, immediately whipping his head around to face his
other. he looked almost guilty. "come, let's hurry home. father is expecting me. he insists that i learn to manage the accounts of the estate."
"like a common tradesman? abominable."
although they continued bantering until they reached town, nick noticed that will seemed rather absentminded. his ripostes to nick's good-natured insults lacked their usual conviction. something was on will's mind, and nick couldn't help but think that it had something to do with the mysterious tower in the woods.