Free The Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop

under the roof. They had disturbed Sir Simon’s dinner. His plate spilled off the table and rolled across the courtyard while they were pushing the platform into place with their feet.
    â€œAll right, let her down, William. There, that’s perfect.” Mr. Lawrence lowered the outer wall over the castle. “Drop the drawbridge and we’ll see how it fits.” The drawbridge settled easily into the notch in the wood.
    â€œThat’s terrific, Dad.” William was trying desperately to lure his father back down the steps, but he was pacing around the castle, sniffing the air.
    â€œOdd smell. I don’t remember it before. I’d better have a smoke alarm installed up here. Oh, one more part. I have it in my pocket.” Mr. Lawrence pulled out a triangular wedge of wood and connected it to the end of the drawbridge. “Now the returning victorious army can get up the ramp.”
    William stopped worrying about Mrs. Phillips and Sir Simon for a moment. He sat down on the top stepand looked up at his father. “Dad, that’s the first time you’ve ever finished a project for me.”
    â€œIs it really?” his father said.
    â€œRemember the treehouse that we half built together? And the dog kennel? Well, that wasn’t your fault.” They both smiled. They’d gotten halfway through the kennel one weekend. When William proudly showed it to Mrs. Phillips on Monday afternoon, she told him she was allergic to dogs.
    â€œAnd the bookshelves in the cellar,” his father added a bit sheepishly. “Never mind. I finished this one.”
    â€œThat’s right. You finished this one and it’s great. Just what my castle needed.” William stood up.
    â€œBetter lift the drawbridge for the night,” his father said, leaning over the castle again. “Where is that lever? Oh, here it is.”
    Please, nobody move
, William prayed. The drawbridge seemed to take forever, but at last it was in place.
    â€œIt’s a very special castle, isn’t it?” his father said, looking down on it. “I almost feel as if it’s magic in some way.”
    â€œIt is,” William said.
    His father didn’t ask him to explain. He rested his arm on William’s shoulders. “Nice legacy for Mrs. Phillips to leave,” he said. “As if her spirit lives on in the attic.”
    William had a funny feeling in his chest. He knew if he tried to say anything he would start to cry. They stood there a moment longer without speaking.
    When William sneaked up later to see if the lord and lady were all right, Sir Simon was pacing back and forth along the wall walk.
    â€œImagine how you would feel, my boy, if you were sitting down to a nice meal of roasted mouse legs and your entire castle were lifted up and banged about like a mere piece of kindling. I doubt you would take it too kindly. I barely had time to gain the safety of the stable. And Lady Elinore is not herself at all this evening. She has gone to bed early.”
    â€œI said I was sorry, Sir Simon. I had no idea my father was coming up here. You have to admit, it’s a pretty nice moat and ramp he made.”
    â€œA useful contraption, I daresay.”
    After apologizing a few more times and rearranging the disturbed furniture, William started downstairs. Halfway, he remembered something and came back. The knight was still standing on the wall walk.
    â€œSir Simon, tell me again about the token. If the person wants to be made small, then time isn’t taken away from him, is it?”
    â€œNo. The person would return to his world at the same moment he left.” The knight looked at Williamwith a strange expression, but he didn’t ask any questions.
    â€œOkay, thanks,” William said. Their words hung in the air for a moment while neither one moved. William wanted Sir Simon to promise him that if he joined them, he would be sure to come back again. But he knew it was a