The Prisoner of the Tower

The Prisoner of the Tower


The room faced a stone courtyard in the front. It was was flanked by dense forest on both sides and on the back there was the open field. The views from all the four sides were great. But the one on the back was most tempting. The carpet of green grass meeting the blue endless sky at the horizon was a blissful sight. Ferdinand wondered how magnificent it would be to walk on that grass. He could almost reach out to it. But there was one problem. His room was on top of a tower, at least seven stories high, and the only door out of it was locked from outside. It was the only tower in the castle. He could see the soldiers marching, training, playing, merry-making all day. The only thing he could do was watch and wait. There were soldiers on guard outside round the clock. It’s been six months that he was held captive in the tower. Doing fair business in that land turned out to be a crime. All he had asked for was the price for the entertainment he had given them. He was an entertainer, a magician with numerous tricks up his sleeves. In return, they gave him a room with four windows and a door. They gave him food, but no freedom. For company he had his tools of trade that he kept neatly stacked in the corner. He should perform whenever they feel it right.

It was sometime after sundown when the cook came up with his dinner. He unlocked the door, entered the room and looked around. The bed stood empty, neatly made, pressed against the wall. Boxes and stuffs that the prisoner carried were placed carefully in the corner. The torches burned silently on the walls. Cool air blew through the rear window. Only the prisoner was missing from the scene. Then his eyes caught something and he rushed towards the window overlooking the courtyard. Tied to the bedstead was a rope made from bedspreads and it was hanging out of the window. He peeped over to find the broken body of the prisoner lying in a pool of blood in the courtyard.

The alarm that he aroused brought every soldier on the courtyard to stand in a circle around the body. No one wanted to touch him. The sight was grotesque with arms and legs bend at odd angles at odd places impossible for any human being to attain naturally. He had obviously run short of the rope and tried to jump the rest of the way.

A heavy voice sounded behind the huddled overenthusiastic soldiers and they clicked into attention. The captain stepped into the center. He knelt down in front of the body and turned it around. A pillow stuffed inside a man's clothes looked up at them. There was humming all around. The captain stood up and declared a manhunt. No one would be allowed food until the prisoner was found. The soldiers dispersed in any direction they hoped the prisoner to be. The captain caught hold of one of them and ordered him to ready his carriage. He was getting late for his meeting with the viceroy. The soldiers turned the castle inside out in search of the prisoner, but he seemed to have simply vanished into thin air.

The captain would be back the next morning. The tension in the air was almost tangible. But when the sun rose early in the morning, instead of the captain his empty carriage came back drawn by its faithful mare. Coupled with the reign was a key. There was a note too. It read:

Captain’s office, second cabinet.

The astounded soldiers ran pell-mell up the stairs into the captain's office. Stuffed in the second cabinet was the Captain himself, sleeping peacefully in his pyjamas.

About fifty miles away, on the other side of the forest Ferdinand took off his helmet and dropped the captain's gears. He was a free man, again.