Wakey Wakey Rise and Shine

CHAPTER ONE

‘Girls, it’s the bell. You know what that means. I’m so sorry you didn’t get more time today, but come on in now, my loves’.

Cera and Jess both noticed the old familiar anxiety that their Aunt Vera tried to hide beneath an overly cheery voice.

They looked at each other, their smiles fading, and both sighed deeply.
They had been enjoying a few moments of freedom outside in the garden of the Castle where they lived. Some downtime and fun in the warmth of the Spring sunshine. It was a rewarding freedom after finishing a day of laundry chores.

They bent down and each took a handle of the large wicker laundry basket. It was piled high with the newly folded clean laundry that had blown dry in the fresh air.

‘Coming, Auntie Vera!’ they both chimed whilst looking longingly at the Castle garden with its array of pretty flowers and sprouting vegetables. As they stole one last glimpse of the open space in front of them, the feeling of freedom within dimmed. They knew they wouldn’t be able to come outside again for a while, hopefully not longer than a day, depending on what happened.

‘Can you see anything yet?’ Cera asked Jess, her younger sister.

Jess always felt responsible for her sister, even though she was just two years younger than her. After what Cera had been through, Jess understood why Cera worried so much.

‘No. All clear, so far – no fiery breath felt yet!’ Cera winced at Jess’s words and the image it conjured in her mind.

Jess caught it and quickly tried to make her feel better.
‘Good thing is, though, we have the best hiding place though, don’t we? And always take the nicest food, too. Auntie makes sure of that. Besides, the vault door is made of cast iron – no dragon is getting through that!’

‘Cera still looks worried and for good reason, too’, Jess thought, as she tried to hide her own distress of what was coming.

‘We always make it really fun, don’t we, hey? And … it’s sooo nice having some time off from chores and duties. I quite enjoy invasion time … get to spend time with everyone’.

Jess hugged her sister, whilst turning her gently away from the open space of the outdoors.

‘I suppose’. Cera allowed Jessie to lead her, as they started walking towards the Castle’s large kitchen door. At this time of year, it was framed with the Jasmine nearby and its heavenly perfumed white flowers.

Jess took an almost comically loud sniff, taking in the fresh garden air. ‘Ohh, it smells sooo nice! Make the most of it because, after a few of us are all inside the Castle, people’s feet can really start to hum’.

Jess then used her finger and thumb to peg Cera’s nose.
‘Uncle Donald’s feet, yuck!’ they both exclaimed together and laughed.

Jess was relieved she had made Cera feel a little less anxious, which made her feel a little better, too, about the impending invasion. At least they had some warning this time. Sometimes it just happened out of the blue. Now that was truly terrifying. Jess shuddered just thinking about it.

‘Aw, here you both are, my loves. Let’s get settled in. I’ve put clean socks out for Uncle Donald’. Auntie Vera winked at the girls as she hugged them both to her, a little too tightly perhaps.

Just at that moment, Uncle Donald walked in with fresh food supplies from the garden and pantry. Taking off his old, battered garden boots he’d been wearing all day, he looked at his beloved girls and smiled warmly at them.

‘I heard that – could wound a man deeply’, pretending to be stabbed in his heart and moaning in mock pain, whilst the aroma of his newly released feet filled the room.

‘Uncle Donald! Eww!’ the three girls laughed as they clapped their hands over their mouths and noses.

‘I think we are the wounded ones, having to put up with those pongy old toes all these years’, Auntie Vera ducked as Uncle Donald walked over and tried to give her a kiss. ‘Clean feet, then kisses – you know the rules’. Auntie Vera looked down at her husband’s freshly exposed feet.

‘What on earth is that?’ she exclaimed.

Uncle Donald was brandishing huge bunions on the side of both his big toes, as he raised one foot in the air, wobbling as he tried to balance on one leg.

‘It’s a new monster I’ve been growing to take on Dragon!’ Uncle Donald winked with a big smile.

Both girls laughed and could feel the deep affection between their aunt and uncle.

For not being their parents, they were treated very much as if they were and felt no less loved for it.

Anyone walking in and seeing them together would have easily mistaken them for parents and children, not just by the closeness and warmth shared but by the close family resemblance. All had a mop of curly brown hair of varying lengths, hazel green eyes and a gentleness and warmth about them.

Uncle Donald was on the tall side with more of a red hue to his hair, and the girls were much more on the petite side.

‘Beautiful things come in small packages’, Uncle Donald would often say fondly to his wife.
He would cheekily pat the girls on their heads as he measured how far up they came on his chest.

‘Mm, may need more compost, top-grade horse and cow poo, to get you growing, hey!’

Uncle Donald was the head gardener for the Castle and was proud of it – a very responsible job feeding all the Castle inhabitants and not one he took lightly. Aunt Vera was one of the Castle cooks who did wonders with all the produce.

Auntie Vera was their mum’s younger sister, and Uncle Donald was their dad’s best friend. They hadn’t given it a second thought after what had tragically happened and gladly took both Jess and Cera in as their own. Though consumed by grief and sadness, Aunt and Uncle did all they could, considering the situation they were all in, to ensure both girls felt loved and safe.

It worked, too; the girls adored them both equally.

‘Right! Clean socks on’, Aunt Vera winked over at the girls, wiping her hands on her large crisp, white apron. ‘Let’s get this show on the road, my lovelies. Right, Jess and Cera, my sweethearts, can you manage the hamper between you? Your Uncle and I will bring spare hampers … just in case’.

People started coming into the large stone-floored kitchen and collecting the pre-packaged food hampers all lined up along the long, wooden table.

Although the room was getting busy with people coming and going, it was pretty quiet with no one really saying much.

The odd jovial and reassuring comments could be heard from a few trying to uplift those around them. However, people’s pale and pinched faces were saying so much more than words.

Jess picked up one of the food hampers and smiled at a girl who was her own age. She only got to see her when they had school lessons a few days a week together. At age 12, Jess always thought the girl looked older than her years and had a serious nature. ‘Not surprising really’, Jess thought.

Despite the threat of Dragon always hanging over them, they had gotten to enjoy some lighter moments in the classroom over the years.

Once some of the piglets had escaped from the pens outside on the farm – running amok through the Castle halls and rooms, causing absolute mayhem. It had been an afternoon of much laughter trying to catch the wayward, squealing little piglets and return them to where they belonged. Jess loved animals and had thoroughly enjoyed a fun afternoon from lessons, chasing and cuddling cute piglets.

The children of the Castle didn’t have much playtime together as it was normally all-hands-on-deck to maintain the Castle with various chores and help with the farm and fields. This also helped ensure they were always prepared for an invasion – well, as much as they all could be.

‘See you in school’, Jess smiled at her fellow classmate.
‘Oh, right, yes, thank you’, the nervous girl answered, looking very uneasy. ‘See you in lessons. Hope we get to some experiments again next week … the exploding sulphur was great fun’, she attempted some light humour to cheer Jess, then her face fell again. ‘… unless I see you in the, um … you know … hiding place’.

Jess noticed that the girl didn’t seem to want to say the word vault, and her eyes filled with tears as she lifted her hamper and walked out of the kitchen and was gone from sight.

Jess knew what her tears were about and what she was thinking.

Like everyone else, she was scared Dragon may take her family or herself, and she wouldn’t live to see another day or, indeed, anyone else for that matter, ever again.




CHAPTER TWO

Head count. It was the next morning, and all who lived in the Castle were lined up in the Great Hall. A tall, wide-shouldered and kind-looking man called James, was calling out names from a scrolled register.
He oversaw the managing of the invasions, both before and afterwards.

He somehow always kept very calm and level-headed, even though Jess knew he must’ve been just as scared as the rest of them. He was very well-liked and a respected source of counsel should anyone need to talk about any issues or problems.

‘So far, so good’, Jess thought. Everyone had said ‘here’ to their name. Parents were speaking for their babies and toddlers.

Jess looked around the room; the post-invasion head count was one of the few times they were all together, apart from festivals and celebrations.

They all seemed to be present, but it was always a relief when you heard everyone say ‘here’. All faces looked exhausted and anxious, keen to hear that all was well with everyone. Parents were hugging their children, keeping them close by.

They were all wearing very similar practical working clothes made from simple woven cloths and wools. Dyes to colour the clothes were made from various flowers and vegetables growing around the Castle.

Although not always easy to add colour to people’s outfits, most people still liked to try to add some colour to their attire, using all manner of coloured scarves and plaited cloths to tie up their hair and adorn themselves in various manners.
It was a constant challenge for the Castle cloth weavers and dressmakers to keep up with demand, so most people’s attires showed various levels of repair, wear and tear. No one really seemed to mind, though, or complained; they had far greater things to occupy their minds.

‘May we be blessed – all here!’ James announced and blew out a long sigh of relief. A huge grin spread across his face, and he let out a long whistle.

The silence in the room was suddenly broken as all cheered and whooped very loudly – Jess, Cera, her aunt and uncle included.

Cera covered her ears at the explosions of noise but was laughing as she joined in. There was a lot of hugging, and excited chatter began to fill the hall … tales of survival, close encounters, escapes and some very close calls.

Auntie Vera and her team of cooks disappeared through the Great Hall doors and returned, astoundingly quickly, with food and drink, including celebratory wines and ales.

The celebrations were off with a bang and would go on way into the night. Musicians had collected their instruments, and the merry was in full swing … dancing and singing as dusk fell, and the candles were all lit, illuminating all the happy, laughing faces and swirling.

‘I’m telling you – no word of a lie – as tall as the Castle chimney its shadow was. I don’t know how it got through the Castle corridors, but slither its way around, it did. Thank God we were safe in the hidden nook. Just a small gap in the wooden door to peep through. I am so glad we didn’t actually lay eyes on the terrifying monster – would’ve given my youngest and myself – truth be told – nightmares!’

‘Felt its fiery breath, I did, as I ran down the hall into one of the chambers. Luckily, I noticed the fireplace and scrambled up. Terrified it was going to catch my legs in its long teeth, pull me down and gobble me up. Or worse, cook me first!’

‘Good thing the fires weren’t it!’ someone laughed.

Cera and Jess sat with widening eyes, listening to people’s tales of the invasion. Huddled together on a large, soft floor cushion by the buffet table, they were trying to eat as much cake as they could manage. Cake, biscuits and puddings were a real treat in the Castle, so when they were available – everyone definitely made the most of them.

Jess noticed a big splodge of cream on Cera’s nose from the slab of cake she had just literally face-planted.

‘Lick your nose – don’t let that cream go to waste’, Cera giggled, as she tried to reach her nose with her tongue. Giving up, she wiped it with her finger and smeared it onto Jess’s nose.

Jess pulled back in surprise then calmly scooped it off her nose with her finger and popped it into her mouth, licking her lips in an exaggerated manner. ‘Mm, yum! Like I said, no cream should go to waste!’

‘Oh, you are gross. I think some of my snot was caught up with that!’ Cera giggled.

Jess pretended to gag, sticking out her tongue. ‘ERRRRR, you could’ve stopped me!’ However, within moments, she was eating large mouthfuls of cake again, obviously feeling none the worse by the fact that she had possibly eaten some snot.

‘Does nothing affect your appetite?’ Cera laughed, shaking her head at Jess in mock despair.

‘Look, how often do we get cake? I’m making the most of it. You should, too!’ Jess said, with her mouth overly full and crumbs falling from her lips. She knew this would make Cera laugh. ‘You really are disgusting you know – how are we related?’ she teased.

Jess knew the stories they were listening to all around them were scaring Cera, so it was good that she was making her laugh. Jess could also feel a huge ball in the pit of her stomach. ‘Although the number of cakes and biscuits she had eaten might have something to do with it too’, she thought.

The celebrations seemed to be coming to a natural end as everyone was exhausted from the nightmare of the last invasion and being up so unusually late up after sunset. Normally, everyone had Castle duties and rose with the sun to make the most of the day. People were yawning, rubbing their full bellies and tired feet from all the dancing.

‘Come up, you two party animals. Time for bed. Those seedlings won’t plant themselves tomorrow’. Uncle Donald picked up both girls and swung them over each shoulder.

Auntie Vera moved on ahead of them, saying their final congratulations for surviving another invasion and bidding ‘good night’ to everyone.

Stifling a yawn, she mumbled to one of her fellow cooks, ‘Why don’t we clear all this up in the morning? It’s just washing up – there isn’t a crumb of food left to be seen! Let’s get to bed and start afresh first thing. Sweet dreams’.

As they reached their living quarters in the Castle, Uncle Donald moved into the girls’ bedroom and plopped them ungracefully onto their beds. They bounced as they hit the mattress and giggled. ‘Again!’
However, it only seemed like moments later when their heads hit the pillow, and they were fast asleep.

Auntie Vera covered them with their blankets and gently kissed them on the cheek. Uncle Donald gently ruffled their hair and fondly whispered, ‘Love you, my dears’.

With their arms draped around each other’s waists, they padded out of the room and walked across the small hall into their own bed chamber.

‘Well, another invasion under our belt’, Auntie Vera said, as she climbed into bed.

Uncle Donald sat on the other side of the bed, staring out of the window. He could see the faint candlelight from the windows of the neighbouring Castle Just over the hill.

‘Does anyone know, anymore, how long we have been at war with our neighbouring Castle – or even how it began?’ he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

‘I think it’s been our way of life for so long now, and it’s just how it is.
Anyway, another invasion survived, and both girls are safe and sound in their beds. Something to be very thankful for’.

Auntie Vera gently rubbed Uncle Donald’s shoulder, and he put his hand up and lay it over hers. He was still staring out at the faint lights of the neighbouring Castle.

‘I know, my love, there is much to be grateful for, but I can’t help but feel that there must be so much more to life than this constant threat hanging over us … always on high alert to run and hide. I mean, we can’t even remember what life was like before the dark days of Dragon’. Uncle Donald was still gently stroking his wife’s hand on his shoulder.