The lake of St.James
Being a bachelor noble with no family and with a job of supplying goods to the armies of her majesty Queen Victoria was never an easy job. So i was almost relieved when my friend, the Count of Keitherny, Count William Watson(His modern family name) invited me to a picnic of sort. I immediately jumped at the idea on receiving his letter.
In the letter he had written that our rendezvous point wold be the small tow of St.James in Scotland.
So i packed my bags, made my things, put my business in order and officially closed my castle of 'The count of Tippern' and immediately took a train to Edinburgh. On reaching Edinburgh, i asked around for the location of Saint James for my friend had failed to mention it and I hadn't bothered to buy a better map when i hadn't fond it on my regular one.
When i asked him the location of that particular place, the rail master frowned at me "Its easy to find sir, there is a small lake in Saint James" and he gave me a rough map with its location.
"Thank you my good man" I said and was about to leave when he put a hand on my shoulder in a polite manner, so i turned back.
"Beware sir, i wouldn't go there if i were you" he warned.
I was taken aback and was about to ask him why he had warned so, but then suddenly the rail alarm went off and he ran off to the platform to see. When he failed to arrive after 10 minutes, i decided to ignore his warning and start my journey to the town. Looking back, this must be one of the most biggest mistakes of my life.
When i arrived there, i saw that Saint James was a very little town situated on the lake with the same name and with a racial mix of Scots and Englishmen with a genetical phobia for outsiders like in most English towns. It was more of a village category though.
The only local attraction apart from the usual local cathedral and ruined towers was a ruined fort a quarter of a mile away from it on the banks of the same lake. It was called 'The castle of evil lord'. I vowed to visit it some time later.
I passed by some old houses and the local law house with its 'Fisherman missing'and 'Housewife missing' pictures and then a quaint little old druidist stone carving adjacent to a small garden.
I didn't even need to find my friend in town, he was sitting in the pub of the only lodge in town, sipping Indian tea. On seeing me, he immediately smiled an rose up to receive me.
"David, hope your journey was good?" he asked.
I nodded in agreement and ordered some drink for i was exhausted.
Once my mind had settled a bit, I broke the silence and asked him "So, where are we going and when do we start?" i asked.
"Tonight itself, once it gets dark, we three are going to take a trip to the lake and explore the small swamps near the castle of the evil lord" he replied.
"We 'three' ?" i asked.
"Yes, my cousin Richard is also going to come with us" he said.
I frowned, Richards was William's younger cousin, when William had received his inheritance and the title of count, it had been Richard who was the most upset, he had caused an uproar by drinking too much at a certain party and then blabbering that he would go to any lengths to claim his inheritance, even if it meant hurting William. William had eventually forgiven him, but i was unsure of their current status.
So i asked "Is it okay to take him along, wasn't he upset" .
He smiled an replied "No longer, in fact he himself asked me if he could come along and i said that i would be more than happy" .
Our conversation was interrupted by the bartender who had bought my drink.
Then afterwards William went off to his room for a short nap of an hour and i tried to stir up conversation with the locals. Normally they wouldn't have welcomed me, but seeing my status of Count they spoke a little. I had noticed earlier that there was a painting of two peculiar medival lords or knights in the pub, so i decided to stir up conversation and asked them about it.
It was an elderly man who spoke "Those are the paintings of the two mysterious knights. You see, St.James was ruled by an evil lord called Grindom in the dark ages, he tortured his own subjects and looted them, he acted on his own will. The people suffered immensly from his tyranny and considered rebelling, but they lacked a leader, then suddenly out of nowhere these two knights came and led the rebellion, killing the evil lord in a pitched battle and destroying his castle, then a day later, they went as suddenly as they came, they are the saviours of this place" .
It was an interesting story, but before i could ask more, i heard a call "Hey David, lets go" .
It was William, he was well dressed and had a trunk full of sailing essentials with him. And along with him, dressed as royally but slightly unneat was the cousin who had once vowed to hurt him, Richards Watson.
As we went off to the lakeside and opened our sailing gear and began rowing, i noticed that Richards was the silent sort, the only words he had spoken to me were those of essentiality.
I had no problems with that, many people are silent.
As we began to row, i began to enjoy the cool night air and the bright full moon over us. The soft sound of the rowing was like sweet music to me. Me and Richards rowed with an efficiency matched only by the best rowmen of the Sundarbans while William sat blissfully.
It was he who broke the silence "You know my friends, i have an interesting story to tell about the place we are rowing too" he said.
"Really, what?" I asked.
"You see, when i first arrived in this town a day before, i made some enquiries and i found out something marvellous, it might seem strange to you but hear me out, i asked a local man about the thrilling things to see here and he told me one such thing, he told me that it is unwise to sail near the swamps adjoining the castle of the evil lord at night time because whoever has gone there until now in the above circumstances has never come back, hence i plan to go there, not that i agree with these statements, but it seemed a fun place to visit, who knows, we might become heroes for quelling these rumours " he said.
"Yes, its a perfect setup for adventurers like us " i said.
David also nodded in agreement.
We reached the swamp way a few more minutes later.
"Look, we have reached, now this swamp way is like a narrow lane which goes and ends right up near the castle of the evil lord" said William.
And so we rowed and rowed.
A few minutes later, David shouted "Look, its the old town cathedral, but how is it rebuilt?" .
And as i looked up, i also noticed it, my mouth opened in shock. William stayed silent.
"William how is that cathedral rebuilt?" i bugged him.
"I..........I don't know friend" he said.
David and I asked him the same question three times and every time we agreed that it must be the wrong cathedral.
Then suddenly William shouted "Look, why are those fishermen on that bank dressed in robes of old" .
A minute later i scowled "Heyyyyy, how is that tower rebuilt" .
William turned to me, and at that point a bright streak of moonlight shone through the dense swampy trees and all three of us turned to each other in amazement and shock, for we weren't dressed in coats and ties, none of us could mouth the same thoughts that were flying alike in our minds, we were wearing old nobility knight robes.
We stayed silent for a minute more and then up ahead we saw the castle of the evil lord, but it wasn't the dialapidtade and overgrown with grass structure that greeted us, instead we saw with shock that it was a perfect castle with its towers and flags high and mighty and its battlements shining with perfect stones.
Another minute later we had already arrived on the banks of a perfect mediveal town.
As we were still wondering wheter to get off the boat or sail back the way we had came, William voiced which all three of us were thinking.
"Now that it is clear what has happened to us and which era we are in, i would just like to know one thing, wasn't there two knights who saved the town?" .
"Yes, how come there are three knights?" i asked. By now my body had absorbed the shock.
" I KNOW" shouted the hitherto silent Richards.
"My inheritance, my birthright was snatched from me by my villanious cousin HAHAHAHAHA, now lets see him face his noble fate" said Richards.
Then he quickly picked up his trunk, opened it and took out something, to my horror it was a black Colt pistol. It gleamed in the moonlight.
Aiming it at William, he fired, William went down like a dead weight into the water with a loud splash.
Then he aimed it at me "Don't shoot me" i whimpered.
He took the pistol down and put it inside the trunk again.
Then he said "Come friend, let us fulfill our great destiny, two shining mysterious knights, we can only go back after fulfilling it, and with this Colt, we can take down any paltry medeival army" .
The end.
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Originally Posted by Alwyn
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