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Saving Maidens

by Katelynn from Holland, Manitoba, Canada, Age 15

The horse was white, but you wouldn't have known it from the mud. It was raining hard, and the road was a river of brown sludge, covering Champion from head to hoof and Sir Thomas from the shoulder down. Perhaps galloping full speed through the forest had perhaps not been the best idea, but Sir Thomas was in a hurry. He was always in a hurry, it seemed, for Sir Thomas was always late. As a matter of fact, he was late so often that today he had decided not to delay for the weather, and therefore he had set off that morning despite the torrential rainstorm.

As he rode along the forest path, he pulled Champion to a stop suddenly and looked up ahead of him. The rain stung his eyes but his gaze did not waver. In front of him stood a giant stone tower. Floating from the window of the tower was perhaps the sweetest voice he had ever heard.

He sighed and looked wearily at the tower. Oh the irony of it all! It seemed that whenever he was late for something, he came across a maiden to be rescued! Of all the times to be in distress, she had to choose this one! He nearly turned Champion around and ran as fast as he could in the other direction, but he knew that he was behind on his weekly maiden saving, and the other knights were beginning to tease him about his low success rate. He grudgingly swung his leg over the horse and plopped to the ground. His boots sunk into the mud straight away, but all he could do was lift them as high as he could and trudge towards the tower.

"Ahoy up there!" he shouted, reaching the base of the tower.

The singing stopped and a pale, golden head appeared in the window. "Oh. Hello."

Sir Thomas unsheathed his sword. "I am here to rescue you."

"Rescue? Why would I need to be rescued?"

Thomas sighed and put his sword away again. "Well, I just assumed that anyone who lived alone in a giant tower needed to be rescued. That's what they taught me in knight school."

The girl tucked her hair behind her ears and leaned on the windowsill. "Well I suppose that’s up for me to decide, isn’t it? Maybe I don't want to be saved. Maybe I'm quite happy in my tower."

Thomas shrugged. "Well, I suppose that's true, although I've never heard of it before. I guess the question is do you want to be saved or not?"

"Well," she began, staring thoughtfully into space, "I can’t say for one thing that I chose to live up here. That was the witch’s doing. It is rather cramped and boring and sometimes a little mildewy. But I also can’t say that I’d rather be down there either. The last time I was down on the ground a witch kidnapped me and put me up here. The way I figure it, if I stay up here, the witch can't possibly put me in any more towers."

"Are you not lonely up there?"

"Oh, of course. But I have my thoughts, and my thoughts are all I need," she replied, drumming her fingers thoughtfully against her lips.

Thunder boomed overhead like a million rocks falling to the earth. Sir Thomas winced and drew his cloak more closely around him. It seemed to him that this maiden had spent a little too much time alone for her own good. It happened from time to time, usually around Christmas when most of the knights were home gorging themselves on roast duck and plum pudding and didn't much feel like going out to rescue maidens.

"Well, with all due respect, madam," Sir Thomas shouted, teeth chattering, "it’s rather cold down here, and I have places to be. So I’d appreciate it if you’d hurry up and decide whether or not you wish to be rescued."

"Now, now," chided the girl, "you really must see things from my point of view, dear knight! Do you not think I’ve had adequate time to ponder my rescue? I always hoped I would be saved by a dashing young knight such as yourself, but I never thought it would happen. This tower is so far away from all civilization, since the witches seem to be getting more and more clever in making sure no one ever finds us." She paused and frowned. "As a matter of fact, in all the time I've been in this tower I've never been able to figure out why the witch put me here in the first place."

Sir Thomas shrugged. "She's a witch. It's what she does."

"That's true," she replied. "You're quite smart, you know? I'm glad you've come to save me. I never actually thought I would be rescued by anyone, so I’ve set my mind into thinking that I would remain here for the rest of my days. It was a calming thought, once I accepted it. It’s rather nice here, when it’s not raining. Very peaceful. Lots of birds."

"That’s very interesting," Thomas muttered, his teeth clenched, "but I really need you to make a decision now! It's significantly colder and wetter on the ground than it is in your tower."

"Please, bear with me for just a little longer," she said, obviously distressed. "I need to think this over for a little while. I am just terrible with decisions. Let me consult my magic mirror."

"You have a magic mirror?"

"Yes, the witch gave it to me. I'm not sure why, really. Might've gotten her fairy tales mixed up." The girl disappeared from sight, and Thomas had nothing to do but wait. So he unstuck his boots from the mud and clomped over to a tree, where he sat with his cloak wrapped around him. He was wet, he was cold, he was hungry, and he was tired. Sir Thomas was really not in the mood to rescue maidens today. Especially one as exasperating as this one. The only thing he wanted to do was mount Champion and ride far, far away. Didn’t she know he had places to be? Didn’t she realize how hectic the life of a knight was? Didn’t she understand that however comfortable it may be up in that tower, he was still wet and muddy down on the ground? Perhaps she was a little loopy from being alone for so long. Who knew? It happened from time to time. He just wished she’d hurry up.

Finally though, her head reappeared in the window. "Knight! Sir Knight!"

Thomas stood up and trudged back to the window. "Have you decided, m’lady?"

"Yes, I have," she answered. "Upon careful thought and reflection, I have realized just how long I have been in this tower. It totals up to three years, seven months, and twelve days. A very long time to be alone. I do believe I would like to once again taste the fruits of civilization. So please, sir knight, do save me!"

Thomas looked up at her skeptically. "Are you sure? You’re not going to ask me to put you back once you’re down here?"

"No. Of course not. Not when there are the fruits of civilization to taste!"

"All right then. I shall save you then." He went to his saddle bag and drew out his maiden-saving rope. "Stand back," he ordered the girl. She stepped away from the window, and he threw the rope up. It hooked securely to the ledge, and he began his slow, weary climb up the side of the tower.

When he finally pulled himself over the windowsill, gasping for breath and realizing how long it had been since he’d climbed a wall to save a maiden, the girl was sitting calmly on her bed.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Do you have everything you need?"

"I am positive."

"Fine. Then let’s go." He slung her pack over his shoulder and picked the girl up by the waist. Holding her securely under one arm, he began to repel slowly down the wall. The girl, who was hanging precariously from Sir Thomas’s armpit, saw the ground looming below and began to scream and kick. One of her kicks landed in Sir Thomas’s ribcage. He cried out and nearly lost his grip on the rope, which was quickly becoming slippery from the rain. But he held on with every ounce of his knightly strength and they eventually made it to the ground. He set her down and rubbed his side sorely. She took her pack from his shoulder and began rifling through it. Then she lifted her head and looked at the gasping Thomas sorrowfully.

"I forgot my hairbrush."

Thomas opened his mouth in shocked rage, but before he could saw anything she turned on her heel, walked to the tower, and opened a door that was hidden in the vines covering the tower wall. She trotted up a flight of stairs and appeared a few moments later in the window, waving the hairbrush. "Got it!" Then she turned, walked down the steps, and closed the tower door behind her. Tossing the brush into her pack, she slung it over her shoulder and kissed Sir Thomas on the cheek.

"Thank you for saving me." Then she turned and trotted off into the forest.

Thomas stood there, holding his side and wondering what he had done to deserve such punishment. It was on days like this that he hated being a knight. Let them laugh, he then decided, for he knew then and there that saving maidens from towers was really very overrated.