Chapter Twenty-Two
THE FIRST SECTION:
William could not help but to get as close as he could to his crying mother. He knew that he was being selfish and that he should be there to help her calm down, but he could not keep his eyes off an area of the cell where he could hear squeaking noises emanating. He wanted to stay as far away as that corner as possible, but when he saw the shadows move he jumped into his mother’s arms and buried his face into her chest.
“William,” his father pleaded, “be strong for your mother. She is upset.”
But William was not thinking of being strong for his mother, father or anyone for that matter. All he wanted to do was to get out the horrible place where he was stuck and away from what he surely thought were rats. But his father’s strong fingers pried his mother from William’s clutch and he found himself facing the corner once more. He refused to move out of his mother’s lap despite his father prodding him to move.
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“It is alright,” Penelope said, “he can stay here.”
While he should have been feeling warmth from his mother’s acceptance, instead he felt relief and took full advantage of her protection by curling up even deeper in her embrace. But this time he refused to take his eyes away from the corner. The stillness of the shadows frightened him even more than when they moved. He felt that if the rats remained motionless then they were watching him and waiting for him to look away. He feared that if he even blinked that the rats would take advantage of what seemed to be a wonderful opportunity to scare him. And he knew that they were there because while the shadows had ceased moving, the squeaks persisted by the hundreds every minute.
On the other side of the wall where the three of them sat, William also heard the heavy boots of a guardsman pacing back and forth. When he dared to look away from the corner and glanced out of the small, barred hole in the heavy, iron door he could see the shadow of the guard flickering against the wall opposite the cell door thanks to the candle he had placed on a nearby table. So that is why the rats are over there, he thought to himself. They are afraid of the guard. William tried to time the guard’s footsteps with the movement of the shadows in the corner but could not tell if there was any meaning to it. At first he thought that the closer the guard came to the cell that would push the rats deeper into the corner. And when the guard walked away from the cell the rats would move a few steps closer. This comforted William a great deal because now he knew that the guard was actually protecting him from the rats. As long as he is there, he thought, the rats will never dare to come close. William relaxed and closed his eyes. His parents were speaking to each other and he listened.
“Why are we here Christopher?” Penelope cried, “What did we do to deserve this?”
“Calm down,” Christopher pleaded. “Everything is going to be alright. We are going to be freed soon.”
“How can you be so sure?” she asked. “We should be here at all.”
“That is why I believe,” replied Christopher.
“But why are we here?” she asked again. “To be let go is not enough. I want to know why we are here.”
“You heard the man,” Christopher answered. “He said that William had killed that woman.”
Penelope burst into tears, “But that cannot be true. He could not have done it. It must have been an accident.”
“I know,” Christopher said, “but that is why we are here. Because they think William did it, even though we know he did not.”
Just then a door opened on the other side of the cell door and another man entered the cell block. The guard greeted him cheerfully and the man who had just entered did the same.
“I need some help out here with this table,” the new man said. “Can you give me a hand moving it?”
The guard affirmed that he would help and soon the door slammed shut and silence fell over the block. This did not mean anything to William at first as he was slowly drifting off to sleep in his mother’s arms. But as soon as he noticed the silence his eyes popped open and he searched the room with his eyes as though he were trying to regain his sense of direction. And then his eyes landed on the corner of the cell and he noticed that there was a lot of activity going on over there. The shadows were rapidly moving from one side of the corner to the other and soon they were running back and forth across the opposite wall. His first reaction was to try to jump even further into his mother’s arms, but that was impossible.
“William,” his mother scolded him, “what is your problem.”
William pointed to the corner and his mother sighed. “You must not be afraid of them William. You are becoming a man. Remember what I said the other day? That you will conquer them someday? Well, today is as good of a day as any.”
She then pushed William so that he stood straight up. He turned around to jump back in his mother’s arms but then saw the look on her face; it was the same one that he feared more than the rats. For a few moments he did not know what to do. He stood there, staring at his mother who refused to let him come back to her lap. At the same time, the squeaks increased in intensity and the shadows now seemed to encompass every wall except for the one his parents were leaning against. It was then that he had a thought, What if the rats are not just afraid of the guard but are actually afraid of everybody? This notion shook his body free of the shivers that were running up his spine. His eyes widened and a sense of confidence came over him. He turned around and gave a stern look at the rats and became determined to chase them all away. The first step toward the corner was not as difficult as he thought it would be and with each step closer to the corner he charged ahead more forcefully, right up into the corner. And when he got there he noticed that there were no rats there at all. In fact, the entire corner was completely empty. I did it, he whispered, I chased them all away.
But as William smiled from his victory, he turned around without looking around him. Instead of scattering to other corners, the rats merely scattered around him and were crawling around right behind him. As he startled them with his sudden move, so did they startle him as they ran across his feet and their tails brushed against his legs. William screamed at the top of his lungs.
“William,” both of his parents exclaimed. They ran over to him to calm him down, but like any other time he was scared by the rats he screaming did not stop. His mother tried to bury his mouth in her stomach and she wrapped her arms around him while Christopher moved behind him to press his head further into Penelope’s stomach. Neither of them could calm him down despite their combination of pleas and orders. What they did not know was that his confidence had been falsely raised by the specter of success of conquering his fears. Behind his cries were the thoughts of ‘never again’ rolling over and over in his mind.
“What is all the commotion in here?” the guard asked as the cell door flew open. “Quiet that kid down.” He stepped into the cell toward the Calloway family. When William refused to stop crying, the guard grabbed a hold of him and said, “You are coming with me young man.”
Penelope and Christopher tugged on William’s arm and pulled him back toward them. Neither wanted to let him out of their sight but the guard was too strong. With help from the other guards, who were able to push Christopher and Penelope away, the guard dragged the screaming William out of the cell, down the hall and on the other side of the cell block door. Once on the other side, the guard dragged William into a cell that was in the front of the jailhouse. It was open on all sides except for the one side that had an exterior wall to the jailhouse, as it was used for keeping prisoners that the Constable wanted to keep a close eye on. The guard shoved Willie into the cell and squeezed his neck. William stopped crying not because he wanted to, but because he could no longer breathe well enough to do so.
“You listen to me you little scum,” the guard threatened, “you are going to sit there and not make another sound. Do you hear me?”
Willie nodded his head the best that he could and the guard set him down before locking him in the cell. William could here his parents yelling for him on the other side of the wall. The guard sent in to other guards to quiet them and Willie soon heard these guards beating his parents until they were quiet. William curled himself up in as tight of a ball as he possibly could in the most remote corner of the cell. He was now too afraid to make noise and wished that he were back with his parents.
“He quieted down quickly,” one of the guards said. “My kids scream like that too. Where did you learn that trick?”
“My father did it to me,” the guard replied. “It cuts of your breathing. You can’t cry without being able to breathe.”
“I will have to try that out,” the other guard said.
William could not help but to get as close as he could to his crying mother. He knew that he was being selfish and that he should be there to help her calm down, but he could not keep his eyes off an area of the cell where he could hear squeaking noises emanating. He wanted to stay as far away as that corner as possible, but when he saw the shadows move he jumped into his mother’s arms and buried his face into her chest.
“William,” his father pleaded, “be strong for your mother. She is upset.”
But William was not thinking of being strong for his mother, father or anyone for that matter. All he wanted to do was to get out the horrible place where he was stuck and away from what he surely thought were rats. But his father’s strong fingers pried his mother from William’s clutch and he found himself facing the corner once more. He refused to move out of his mother’s lap despite his father prodding him to move.
FOR FULL TEXT CLICK READ MORE BELOW
“It is alright,” Penelope said, “he can stay here.”
While he should have been feeling warmth from his mother’s acceptance, instead he felt relief and took full advantage of her protection by curling up even deeper in her embrace. But this time he refused to take his eyes away from the corner. The stillness of the shadows frightened him even more than when they moved. He felt that if the rats remained motionless then they were watching him and waiting for him to look away. He feared that if he even blinked that the rats would take advantage of what seemed to be a wonderful opportunity to scare him. And he knew that they were there because while the shadows had ceased moving, the squeaks persisted by the hundreds every minute.
On the other side of the wall where the three of them sat, William also heard the heavy boots of a guardsman pacing back and forth. When he dared to look away from the corner and glanced out of the small, barred hole in the heavy, iron door he could see the shadow of the guard flickering against the wall opposite the cell door thanks to the candle he had placed on a nearby table. So that is why the rats are over there, he thought to himself. They are afraid of the guard. William tried to time the guard’s footsteps with the movement of the shadows in the corner but could not tell if there was any meaning to it. At first he thought that the closer the guard came to the cell that would push the rats deeper into the corner. And when the guard walked away from the cell the rats would move a few steps closer. This comforted William a great deal because now he knew that the guard was actually protecting him from the rats. As long as he is there, he thought, the rats will never dare to come close. William relaxed and closed his eyes. His parents were speaking to each other and he listened.
“Why are we here Christopher?” Penelope cried, “What did we do to deserve this?”
“Calm down,” Christopher pleaded. “Everything is going to be alright. We are going to be freed soon.”
“How can you be so sure?” she asked. “We should be here at all.”
“That is why I believe,” replied Christopher.
“But why are we here?” she asked again. “To be let go is not enough. I want to know why we are here.”
“You heard the man,” Christopher answered. “He said that William had killed that woman.”
Penelope burst into tears, “But that cannot be true. He could not have done it. It must have been an accident.”
“I know,” Christopher said, “but that is why we are here. Because they think William did it, even though we know he did not.”
Just then a door opened on the other side of the cell door and another man entered the cell block. The guard greeted him cheerfully and the man who had just entered did the same.
“I need some help out here with this table,” the new man said. “Can you give me a hand moving it?”
The guard affirmed that he would help and soon the door slammed shut and silence fell over the block. This did not mean anything to William at first as he was slowly drifting off to sleep in his mother’s arms. But as soon as he noticed the silence his eyes popped open and he searched the room with his eyes as though he were trying to regain his sense of direction. And then his eyes landed on the corner of the cell and he noticed that there was a lot of activity going on over there. The shadows were rapidly moving from one side of the corner to the other and soon they were running back and forth across the opposite wall. His first reaction was to try to jump even further into his mother’s arms, but that was impossible.
“William,” his mother scolded him, “what is your problem.”
William pointed to the corner and his mother sighed. “You must not be afraid of them William. You are becoming a man. Remember what I said the other day? That you will conquer them someday? Well, today is as good of a day as any.”
She then pushed William so that he stood straight up. He turned around to jump back in his mother’s arms but then saw the look on her face; it was the same one that he feared more than the rats. For a few moments he did not know what to do. He stood there, staring at his mother who refused to let him come back to her lap. At the same time, the squeaks increased in intensity and the shadows now seemed to encompass every wall except for the one his parents were leaning against. It was then that he had a thought, What if the rats are not just afraid of the guard but are actually afraid of everybody? This notion shook his body free of the shivers that were running up his spine. His eyes widened and a sense of confidence came over him. He turned around and gave a stern look at the rats and became determined to chase them all away. The first step toward the corner was not as difficult as he thought it would be and with each step closer to the corner he charged ahead more forcefully, right up into the corner. And when he got there he noticed that there were no rats there at all. In fact, the entire corner was completely empty. I did it, he whispered, I chased them all away.
But as William smiled from his victory, he turned around without looking around him. Instead of scattering to other corners, the rats merely scattered around him and were crawling around right behind him. As he startled them with his sudden move, so did they startle him as they ran across his feet and their tails brushed against his legs. William screamed at the top of his lungs.
“William,” both of his parents exclaimed. They ran over to him to calm him down, but like any other time he was scared by the rats he screaming did not stop. His mother tried to bury his mouth in her stomach and she wrapped her arms around him while Christopher moved behind him to press his head further into Penelope’s stomach. Neither of them could calm him down despite their combination of pleas and orders. What they did not know was that his confidence had been falsely raised by the specter of success of conquering his fears. Behind his cries were the thoughts of ‘never again’ rolling over and over in his mind.
“What is all the commotion in here?” the guard asked as the cell door flew open. “Quiet that kid down.” He stepped into the cell toward the Calloway family. When William refused to stop crying, the guard grabbed a hold of him and said, “You are coming with me young man.”
Penelope and Christopher tugged on William’s arm and pulled him back toward them. Neither wanted to let him out of their sight but the guard was too strong. With help from the other guards, who were able to push Christopher and Penelope away, the guard dragged the screaming William out of the cell, down the hall and on the other side of the cell block door. Once on the other side, the guard dragged William into a cell that was in the front of the jailhouse. It was open on all sides except for the one side that had an exterior wall to the jailhouse, as it was used for keeping prisoners that the Constable wanted to keep a close eye on. The guard shoved Willie into the cell and squeezed his neck. William stopped crying not because he wanted to, but because he could no longer breathe well enough to do so.
“You listen to me you little scum,” the guard threatened, “you are going to sit there and not make another sound. Do you hear me?”
Willie nodded his head the best that he could and the guard set him down before locking him in the cell. William could here his parents yelling for him on the other side of the wall. The guard sent in to other guards to quiet them and Willie soon heard these guards beating his parents until they were quiet. William curled himself up in as tight of a ball as he possibly could in the most remote corner of the cell. He was now too afraid to make noise and wished that he were back with his parents.
“He quieted down quickly,” one of the guards said. “My kids scream like that too. Where did you learn that trick?”
“My father did it to me,” the guard replied. “It cuts of your breathing. You can’t cry without being able to breathe.”
“I will have to try that out,” the other guard said.
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