Apples of Gold (complete)

Part 3 - Under the Apple Tree

Joseph arrived in the orchard, just outside the city wall. He knelt under the apple tree, where a wooden cross marked the place his mother was buried. He prayed aloud for his friends, by name; for Liliana, for his acquaintances and dependents and for the king and queen. All the while, he felt the unnerving, continuing sensation; he was being watched.

He prayed, "Dear God, bless those who watch me. Keep me from harm."

Standing, he mused as he often did here, of the mother he never knew. He pictured her with golden hair like Liliana's; holding him in her arms, laughing with him, her baby son, giving him love; of her lifting him and swinging him in the air as he had seen young mothers do with their toddlers. He imagined himself giggling and enjoy this as other children did.

"I'm sure you prayed for me, Mother, that I would be good and have a worthwhile life. I wish you could have stayed here longer... I don't remember you, but I miss you very much..."

He walked around to his place near the wall where he slept under a ledge. Feeling around in the darkness, he discovered the small, sheltered space to be empty. His blanket was missing. On warmer nights, he used it as a pillow beneath his head, but this night felt cool with the hint of dampness in the air. Joseph knew it would grow colder. He couldn't sleep here without his woolen rug since his tunic was too thin and he would shiver from cold. Perhaps he would catch a chill. He sighed. This had happened before. Someone needed the blanket. He would go to the place he slept in winter when snow covered the ground and it was much too cold to sleep outside.

The kitchen chambers in the royal castle were warm as toast and Joseph entered as though he owned the place. Castle guards knew him and the work he did here. Today they had allowed him passage further inside to take the herb roots to the doctor. He often felt he was looked upon in a manner the same as the castle cats that also came and went as they pleased. They caught rodents, and he fetched wood and coal.

The chief cook, overseer of the kitchen chambers, allowed him to sleep there as payment for keeping the fireboxes full. Even in summertime, Joseph did this chore and the cook allowed him to gather scraps and leftover food to feed his friends and often himself. Although he knew that this 'payment' cost the cook nothing, he didn't murmur or demand something more. Often, there were large pieces of meat and bread leftover from the king's banquet.

Curling up by the massive hearth, away from the feline creatures and their fleas, Joseph slept until three a.m.

All was still and dark in the castle. Even the guards slumbered. Joseph placed a candle in a holder and lit the wick. The stone floor under his bare feet was cold and he shivered as he traversed a dark, empty corridor and walked up a narrow spiral staircase.

Soon he entered the chamber he often visited when he woke early. It was the royal library. Sometimes, in the winter, when it was too inclement to work, he would spend all night here, after which he slept most of the day.

Joseph lit the large oil lamp in the library and drew the Bible from its place on the shelf. He liked to read from the book of the Proverbs because much of the advice given there, he could apply in his daily life. Many of the warnings could be passed on, and Joseph often quoted verses he had learned from this book. This morning he discovered a verse that was new to him, "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver."

I'm known as Apples, and I live in this kingdom of Justiceburg that some people call the 'Kingdom of Gold.' I must make sure that every word I speak is like gold, valuable and worthwhile. He thought of Liliana; She's like gold in a picture of silver. —I'll share this verse with her next time I go to Chester Castle.

Joseph sat thinking about Liliana, watching the dawn lighten the thick glass window at the other end of the library chamber. People search after gold; it's very precious. I'd like my words to be precious, like gold.

"What are you are doing in here?" a deep, stern voice questioned.

Joseph turned in dismay. Never had he been interrupted whilst reading in this library. His eyes grew wider when he saw it was that man, his watcher, his personal spy. Perhaps one of the guards had reported him for being in the library... The tone of the man made him feel out of place as if he committed a heinous crime.

The old curator had often warned, "Although no one comes to the royal library before breakfast, you must always return to the kitchens at dawn, Apples." He had also told the lad, "Before King Lemuel comes to his library, castle attendants and guards always precede him to make sure the library is dust free, tidy, and unoccupied. All will be well, so long as you're very careful with the books and don't stay after dawn."

Standing, Joseph bowed low, then said, "Please Sir, I came here to read... but I always leave before dawn..."

"You came to, to, —read? —Who, on earth, taught you to read?"

"Brother Stephen, Sir. He taught me many things, but he's in heaven... now..."

"And who gave you the right to come to the king's library?"

"Sir Howarth did, Sir."

"Sir Howarth?"

"Yes, Sir. He's the castle curator."

"I'm quite aware of Sir Howarth's position, boy!" The man stepped closer, staring intently in Joseph's eyes. His brown eyes narrowed as he said, "King Lemuel will be surprised..."

"The king?" Joseph said, alarmed.

"Before I tell him of this irregularity, perhaps there's something else you might like to divulge about your activities, boy." He waited, but Joseph did not speak, so he said, as though summarizing, "You have no given name but are known as 'Apples'. You sleep in the king's kitchens and you read books in the king's library. Have you anything else to add?"

"No, Sir," Joseph said, then blushed and added quickly, "Except perhaps, Sir, I believe I pay my way well. I keep the king fed all the year around, and warmed in the winter."

"And how do you do that?"

"I fetch wood and coal, for the kitchen fires; all year. In the summer, I fully stock the courtyard bins with both wood and coal. If the winter is longer than usual, as it was this year, Sir, I restock the bins."

"You do, do you?" The man said. He grinned suddenly, from ear to ear as though he found the matter amusing. Then he extended his hand in a friendly manner, saying, "I am Sir Pippin. And you are ...Apples..."

Joseph shook Sir Pippin's hand and bowed. "As you have said, Sir, 'Apples' is the name people know me as, Sir; but I privately call myself Joseph."

"Joseph? —why —Joseph?"

"I read of Joseph in the Bible, Sir. Next, to Jesus, I like him best of all. Although he spent a long time as a slave, and in prison, he never lost his faith in God."

"I'd like to know more about you, Apples —Joseph. Sit down." The two sat together at the small desk and Joseph found himself telling Sir Pippin things he'd never had the opportunity to tell anyone before. It seemed to Joseph that Sir Pippin was interested, as he asked many questions and listened intently to the lad's answers.

When Joseph descended to the kitchens, it was late. He ate leftover cold porridge and hurried off to do his chores. He was troubled, because Sir Pippin had told him that King Lemuel would be hearing about him, and the king would most surely want to speak with Joseph himself.

"Stay within the castle perimeters today, boy. This means not going outside the outer wall. I'll come for you myself when the king finalizes a time."

It was impossible for Joseph to understand why the king would wish to speak with him; what was it that he had done wrong?

Joseph tried to picture King Lemuel. He rarely saw the royal person. Paupers like Joseph stayed much in the background. Never had he been close to the king. He recalled the few times he'd seen the king and queen at a distance, riding in the royal carriage, in a royal procession. Soldiers in bright uniforms in front and behind the carriage. The immaculately groomed horses were decked out in polished leather and seat-covers beneath the saddles sporting golden fringing. Joseph had often found himself too busy to stand and watch for long on such occasions.

Now he was to meet the king and perhaps answer to him about his intrusion into the royal castle.