There is a chapter previous to this also which you might not have read yet.
Lucas had been on the road since Thursday and after two days of walking he was both weary and hungry. The only thing keeping him going at the moment was the thought of arriving at the castle - hopefully later this evening - and being able to finally find something decent to eat and then being able to lie down and relax by the fire. In his mind the image of the castle took on the likeness of an oasis in the midst of a desert of despair. At the castle there was food, and water and comfort and warmth. And Jo too. Perhaps when he got home this evening she would be sitting by the fire quietly reading a book, her hair glowing golden by the light of the flames. And maybe this time he would be lucky and find that she didn't turn away from him when he touched her as she had done last time but perhaps might instead ask how his journey had been and then rest her hand on his arm like she was pleased to see him. He thought that might make his tiredness disappear and make the past two days seem suddenly worthwhile.
He put his head down to shelter himself against the chilling wind that blew from the north and concentrated his attention on continuing to put one foot in front of the other, thinking to himself as he did so that he only needed to keep going a few more hours until he would be home.
**
Inside the castle grounds Jo was entertaining herself by picking apples and peaches in the orchard. In the autumntime fruit was plentiful and there were was far more in the orchard than one person could possibly consume themselves. She had conceived a plan to collect some of the fruit and preserve it for the winter when supplies might be low. She was no expert on the art of preserving but figured there couldn't be that much to it, surely. It was simply a matter of boiling the fruit and adding sugar surely? How difficult could that be?
After half an hour in the orchard she stepped down from the ladder she had found in one of the sheds and looked at her pile of fruit with quiet satisfaction. There must be at least ten jars worth of fruit there and tomorrow she would begin bottling it. But for now, she thought, noting that the light was beginning to fade, it was time to head indoors.
In the kitchen she busied herself by piling the fruit on the table as she hummed to herself. When she turned around to look for a bowl she was pleased to see her new friend sitting on the floor waiting impatiently for his dinner. 'Frisky' as she liked to call him was a small black cat who she had found living in one of the castle stables four days ago. At first she had wondered how he had survived inside the castle without feeding but then she had seen him beside the pond one day, watching intently as the fish swam bath and forth and then seem how, quick as flash he had scooped his paw into the water and brought it back out with a fish. Frisky was clever, there was no doubt about that. She had discovered to her delight that he was also quite friendly and could be enticed out of the stables by the promise of a few choice treats. For the past two days he had been keeping her company inside the castle and helped to make it slightly less intimidating to live in by herself.
**
Outside the castle walls as dusk fell two figures crept closer to the moat that surrounded the structure.
"You say you reckon there's food inside there," one of them whispered.
"I don't reckon, I know it," the other replied sharply. "They used to get tourists in there until right up until the tsunami hit. There was a café and everything. I bet there's still some pickings in there – we just need to get inside."
"Looks like it'll be tricky to get over them walls though."
"Nah – I reckon I'm up for it," came the reply. "You can wait here and I'll have a go. Just see if I can't do it."
"Alright," the other nodded, "go on then, I'm watching. We ain't got nothing to lose."
