Her own way

Chapter 22

Joshua kept his word and two days later Kate began working for cook, who preferred to be called Miss Lina. The work was tough on Kate's still recovering body but she felt that being able to sleep in Josh's tower room made it all worth it. There was nothing difficult about the tasks she was given: start the fire, stir the stew, clean pots - they were all things that she would do normally back home with her family. So it came as no surprise to Kate that she had worked her way through the simple tasks and was now being trusted to go out into the town for some supplies that could only be bought at certain times of the year.

Kate was bouncing with happiness at the idea of being able to explore the town, even if she had a very small amount of time to do it in. She was a little bit disappointed to not see Josh as much as she had done but it couldn't be helped. His father had become more determine for Josh to be involved in the day to day running of the country even though he would always disagree and do things his own way. In reality Josh was still unable to do anything and this frustrated him greatly. Whenever he managed to get away and speak to Kate, he would tell her what he had been doing before complaining about the actions of the king. Kate found it funny to listen to his issues but she held her tongue and kept that thought to herself. Once she found the courage to ask him what it was he believed the king, his father had done to cause all of the anger and frustration in Josh. The response had not been pleasant. Josh had stared at her, shocked that she would be doubting him and after a few minutes he got up from his seat and started pacing around the room while shouting all the different things the king had done. It was a very frightening moment for Kate to witness, she had never seen a family member so angry and upset let alone someone she would call a friend. This was the first time she had ever been scared of a friend, she didn't want to feel this way especially because she was beginning to care for him as more than a friend.

Walking out of the castle kitchen gave Kate a sense of exhilaration, like a bird being set free. The gardens looked spectacular, the grass was a rich green and the flowers were in full bloom. It still surprised Kate that she had only been in the castle for a few weeks, it felt like she had been there for so much longer. For the first time in many months Kate was happy.

As it was her first time out into the town, Kate was taking her time. The fact that she didn't know her way around worked in favour of her curiosity. She wandered around for a good while just looking at the buildings, they were so different to what she was used to. The biggest difference was that many of the buildings, along with the castle, are made of stone! The building Kate grew up in was made of wood, all the houses in her nearest village were wood, and every other building she had seen on her unfortunate journey were made of wood, so stone buildings were a rather foreign concept to her. They were all shapes and sizes: tall ones with decorations around the roofline, medium ones with big windows to peer through, small ones with only a door on the front. It amused Kate to no end that there were big differences, but also that you could buy things from inside the building! She had never been inside a building to buy something, the only time she would go in was when she was fisiting friends or tending to the horses in the stable!

After a while of staring in awe, Kate began to realise the sun was getting low in the sky and she had not completed her shopping. There would be so much trouble if she didn't get everything she was asked for. Hurrying along, she spotted the right shops she needed to visit - a butcher for several prime cuts of beef, a grocer for a bunch of carrots, potatoes and herbs, and finally to the woodcarvers to collect a specially ordered piece that was to be presented to the King later in the week for one reason or another.

Keeping her fast pace going, Kate arrived back at the castle kitchens huffing and puffing. It took a moment for her to realise that Miss Lina was not in the kitchen, infact there was noone around at all. Worried, Kate put the shopping down on the table and made her way over to the closed door that led inside the castle. Pressing her ear against the door she listened for signs of movement. What she did not expect to hear was a loud booming voice shouting about how poor the staff have been lately, that the food has been cold by the time it reached the table, how everyone was not properly dressed and that the kitchen was always a mess. From the sounds of it, there whole of the kitchen staff was in the room behind the door. Wanting no part of the situation, Kate span on her heels and quietly moved away from the door with the intention of putting her shopping away without drawing any attention to herself.