Chapter 3
Thomas awoke early and looked around the bunk house. The sight hit him as it always did. He always awakened thinking that he would once again be back in his own bed. He would jump from his bed, throw on his well worn house coat and run out to the kitchen in his parents run down trailer and stand in front of the kerosene heater until the morning chill was gone. He remembered the strong distaste he had for the smell of the burning kerosene and how it made his clothes stink, but now he yearned for it. That morning never came though.
Thomas caught a tear about to run down his cheek and quickly wiped it away.
The other boys still lay sleeping peacefully, though it would not be long before Chris came in and woke them all up. He placed his hands behind his head and he laid back relaxed and listened to the birds sing their beautiful morning song. Spring was in full bloom in the city of Sanquim as he’d learned it was called.
Sanquim was a large city, even very civilized and modern by these medieval standards. The city and all surrounding lands were ruled by King Grable. The King was a middle-aged man that looked pretty normal except for very fancy robes, a crown, and a very large entourage. The boys had peeked over the large wooden gates of the training compound one day when the King was making a round through the city streets. At first, Thomas was sort of disappointed. He had imagined the King as a wonderous looking person, doves flying behind him, enchanting music following him wherever he went. Later, Thomas realized his notion was based on too many kings he had seen on television and read about in fairy tales. The disappointment faded quickly and soon he was fascinated by the man. A real-life king.
Thomas caught himself often after that daydreaming about being a knight in the King’s royal army fighting dragon’s, rescuing damsels in distress, and winning big gladiatorial battles. Again, television played a big part in his thoughts of what it must be like to be a knight.
His thoughts turned back to his friend Grady and his excitement about being a knight. He dreamed of Grady almost every night. The dreams came mixed up and chronologically out of order. Last night he dreamed he and his friend were running down an alleyway as an old lady yelled after them shaking her broom threateningly. “Bring back my pies you darn heathens! Rotten scoundrels!” she kept shouting until they were out of sight. The boys stopped and sat on the back steps of one of the buildings and ate their freshly baked apple pies. They ate and laughed as the warm apple filling messily ran down their chins.
Thomas chuckled to himself quietly so as not to disturb the others. He’d never had such vivid dreams before. He resigned himself to thinking that these were past memories that he and Grady had shared together before he awoke in this new land. He hoped one day to spend some more time with Grady and learn if any of these dreams were actually true.
Thomas sat up in his bunk and looked around. Time in this land was not measured accurately in hours and minutes, but Thomas had learned to roughly tell the time of day by the position of the sun and Thomas new that it was well past the time that they are usually awakened for the their morning exercises and training. He stood up and looked out the window and noticed the older trainees walking around and headed for the main gate of the complex.
“What’s goin on?” Clayton asked sleepily as he rolled over to face Thomas.
“I’m not sure,” Thomas said. “They should’ve come to wake us up by…” he trailed off as he noticed Clayton was fast asleep again. Thomas continued to get dressed and headed out into the main courtyard.
“Chris!” he called out as he jogged over to the older boy. “Are we not training today? We usually start by now, I believe,” he stopped to look upward and double check the position of the sun.
“Very good, Thomas. We aren’t training today. Today is Spring Seeding Day,” Chris looked curiously at him. “Did you forget?”
“Oh, yeah,” he returned trying to think if he’d heard of this holiday or whatever it was. “Spring Seeding Day. So what are we going to do today?”
“Today is a day off to relax and play,” Chris chuckled. “You boys have the day off to go into the city and have some fun. I didn’t come wake you up because I figured you would like to get some extra sleep for a change.”
Thomas smiled. Extra sleep sure would’ve been nice, but he was slowly getting use to getting up early. For the last month he’d been getting up a few minutes before Chris even entered the barracks to wake the boys up.
He walked away acting like he new what this day meant. “I’ll go tell the others then,” he walked back towards the bunkhouse.
“Ya’ll don’t have too much fun, if you know what I mean,” Chris called after him. “You guys don’t get in too much trouble or Braddock’ll have your skins. Also, be back before nightfall.”
Thomas waved a hand in agreement and walked into the bunkhouse.
Clayton was beginning to stir again. “You’re up early today,” he said to Thomas through half shut eyes.
“We don’t have training today. Did you forget? It’s Spring Seeding day,” he said, trying to sound excited as if he knew what was going on. “Chris said that we have the day off to do whatever we want, as long as we’re back before nightfall.” Thomas barely got the words out of his mouth. Clayton was leaping from his bed and yelling at the others as he quickly got dressed.
“Wake up you knuckleheads!” he shouted.
Brandon rolled over in his bunk, “What’s got you so get go this mornin’?”
“It’s Spring Seeding Day, ya dolt,” Clayton said as he put on his last shoe and ran to the window. “It’s already starting! Come on an’ get ready!” He began running around the room tossing clothes at the other boys as they all jumped from their bunks.
Thomas just sat on the edge of his bunk watching the boys as they eagerly got dressed. They excited on their faces began to take hold of him and he found himself getting excited even though he didn’t know what was in store for him. “So what are we going to do first?” he asked.
“I’m gonna get me one of them candied apples and then a beef stick,” he stopped and licked his lips. During the last few months, Clayton had trimmed down considerably. He had lost the weight in his stomach and face and no longer looked overweight but his appetite remained.
“That’s not surprising,” Jonah said half sarcastically and half jokingly. “I’m gonna visit my brother and let them games begin.”
They left the training compound and walked out onto the main street leading into the heart of the city. Thomas looked around in amazement. He had thought he was getting use to this new era. Being stuck at the compound had given him a false sense of security and a belief that he belonged in this world. The strangeness of this land came rushing back to him as he ventured out towards the city for the first time since he had been chosen by Braddock and secluded away.
Brandon, Clayton, and Jonah were all laughing and joking together as they walked down the rough cobblestone street. Thomas lagged behind as he gawked from side to side like a tourist. He glanced down an alleyway were a group of kids, obviously more orphans, played a game similar to kick the can.
“Watch out, kid!” a large voice shouted as Thomas hurriedly jumped out of the way. He fell back and stared in awe as four knights on the biggest horses he had ever seen rode past him.
“You’re gonna get yourself trampled, dummy,” Jonah teased. “I’ll catch ya guys later. I’m gonna go see if I can find my brother.”
“We’ll be at the races later,” Clayton said.
“See ya later,” Brandon waved.
“You guys be good,” Jonah said as he waved and ran down a side street.
“The races?” Thomas caught himself again. “Sounds like fun!” The three boys regrouped and ran towards the city square.
After gorging themselves on the various foods and sweets the festival had to offer, they set off to play some games. Boys of all ages gathered in one area to play different knightly games. There was a balancing beam where two boys tried to knocked each other off, tug-
of-war, wooden sword fighting, and even jousting complete with ponies for the young boys to ride.
The whole scene had a very surreal feel about it. Some of the games looked straight out of some summer camp movie and the others looked like a juvenile medivel festival. Thomas hung in the background and watched and listened.
He was able to pick up on some of the meaning of the festival itself. Many years ago, the people of Sanquim had a festival to relax and play before the it came time to plant their crops. Even after the village grew into the more urbanized city, the festival remained even though the farms moved to the outskirts of town. The farmers were replaced with more merchants, guild members, politicians, and students, but the people stilled enjoyed the farmer’s traditional Seeding Day.
He and Brandon walked along until they came across a game that Thomas was familiar with, tug-of-war. They were just choosing sides for another battle. Back home, Thomas would have shied away from such displays of strength, but his training had given him muscles he’d thought he would never have. “Wanna play?” he asked Brandon.
“Nah, you go ahead though. I’ll watch,” he answered. The training hadn’t done much for the smaller boys physique or confidence.
“Ah, come on! Those boys could sure use the help,” Thomas pleaded.
“I don’t think I’d be much help, Thomas. I’m just gonna head back and watch