The Castle in the Attic

On Monday afternoon, William bursts into his house, eager for the surprise. Mrs. Phillips leads him up to the attic, where she presents him with “the enormous stone and wooden castle she had told him about ever since he was little” (9). It’s now his to keep as a goodbye gift. He refuses it and turns away. She says all the years of her reading King Arthur stories to him shouldn’t go to waste: To her, William has a “gentle soul” that understands chivalry. She says that wouldn’t give the castle to anyone else. He relents enough to ask for a tour of the castle.

She shows him the lever to lower the drawbridge and the chain to raise the portcullis gate within. He pulls on the chain, and the portcullis rises up. Using their fingers, they explore the gatehouse towers, the open courtyard, and the stable. Mrs. Phillips opens the door to the armory: Inside, hanging on the walls, are swords, lances, and shields.

They inspect the kitchen and the great hall. All rooms have fireplaces. Corner towers contain stairways for getting upstairs to the master bedchamber and to the walkways atop the outer walls. Attached to the great hall is the chapel; metal wheels control its door. Mrs. Phillips removes a portion of the roof so they can see the bedrooms and look down into the great hall, with its minstrel’s gallery. William is delighted. He asks if there are knights. Mrs. Phillips says there’s just one. She hands him a box that contains the “Silver Knight,” saying he must open it later, on his own. 

That evening, William’s parents are out, and he and Mrs. Phillips have dinner together. He asks where the castle comes from. She says it’s been in her family for generations. She found it when she and her brother cleared out their parents’ home in Stow-on-the-Wold, England; they had it sent to America. As a child, she played with the castle and heard it once contained many toy soldiers, but the only one she found was the Silver Knight. She learned a story about the Silver Knight and tells William, “He was thrown out of his kingdom long ago by an enemy of some sort, and it’s said that one day he’ll come back to life and return to reclaim his land” (15).

William asks if, in the future on nights like this, he’ll have to eat alone. Tears in her eyes, Mrs. Phillips says his parents will spend more time with him, and they need to. William says that, despite the castle, he’ll still try to make her stay with him. 

Lying in bed, holding his teddy bear, William hears his mother come home late from her pediatrics clinic. She checks on him, but he pretends he’s asleep. She kisses him gently on the head and leaves, and her perfume lingers. His dad gets home, and there are house noises for a while, and then everything’s quiet. He takes Bear and a flashlight and sneaks up to the attic.

At the castle, William opens the box containing the Silver Knight. It’s two inches tall and has a shield and a knife, but the sword is missing. As he holds it, it feels warm. Suddenly it moves, and the boy feels a pinprick. He yelps, drops the soldier, and runs from the attic. He stops, berates himself for imagining things, and returns.

The knight, lying in the courtyard, suddenly sits up. He says something, but it’s faint, so William asks him to talk louder. The knight holds his ears, and William realizes that, to the knight, he’s shouting. The knight calls out, “What have you done with Alastor?” (20). William whispers that he doesn’t know who that is. The knight struggles to stand but can’t. Pointing his knife upward, he tells the boy that he’ll fight him if he must. William assures him that he’s a friend.

He extends a finger, and the knight leans against it to stand. He dusts himself off, works the stiffness out of his limbs, and announces that he’s Sir Simon of Hargrave, also known as the Silver Knight. William introduces himself in return. Sir Simon asks if all people in the boy’s land are friendly giants. William says he’s a small one, and not all are friendly, but only he and Mrs. Phillips know about the castle.

William adds that Mrs. Phillips used to play with him, but he never came alive for her. Sir Simon says William must have broken the entrapment spell. He says he had a magic token that can counter Alastor’s magic, but it’s not on him. He describes it as a medal with a man’s face on one side. He and William search the courtyard, and William finds it. It’s the size of a baby aspirin. He inspects it, then hands it to Sir Simon, who puts it away in a pouch.

The knight decides to go to bed, so William slides open the kitchen door and points out the stairway in the corner that leads to the bedchambers. The boy promises to return the next afternoon. As he leaves the attic, William wishes someone else witnessed his encounter with the toy knight. That way, he’d know he isn’t dreaming.

In the morning, William’s parents ask about his studies. He says in science they’re working with microscopes, which is boring because he’s already done that with Mrs. Phillips. He’s also studying the Southwest Indians. To distract them, he asks how his father’s work is doing, and his dad describes the piece of land where a new house is being built. This starts a conversation between his parents, and William uses the moment to hide away some food for the Silver Knight.

He sneaks upstairs, delivers the bits of bread and bacon to the castle’s kitchen table, and announces the food but hears nothing in reply. He wonders if he dreamt the encounter with the knight.

He gets to school early as always, where he meets his friend Jason, a bespectacled boy who—alongside William, the shortest boy in class—together make a natural team of outcasts. Jason asks about Mrs. Phillips’s departure; William says she’s still leaving but left him the promised gift. He describes the castle, and Jason asks if he can see it after school. William hesitates: He’s not sure whether to show Sir Simon to anyone else. He makes an excuse and postpones it until the next day.

At home, he puts off the usual gym practice with Mrs. Phillips so he can play with the castle. He brings an apple to the attic. Sir Simon stands guard on the castle’s wall walk. William slices small bits of apple, which the knight quickly eats. William lowers the drawbridge, and the knight joins him outside. William lifts him onto an attic trunk and asks about his past. Sir Simon sits and begins his tale.

His father, Lord Aquila, became very ill, his limbs shaking weakly. Doctors near and far could make nothing of it. A ragged mendicant, Alastor, appeared at the castle, and Lord Aquila took him in. Alastor was a wizard; much of his power lay in medallions around his neck. Two of the medals had faces of Janus, the god who looks forward and backward in time. One face, when aimed properly, causes things to shrink; the other face restores them.

Alastor also brewed potions, one of which helped Lord Aquila recover, but it also shortened his life. Young Simon realized that Alastor was killing his father, but Aquila was enthralled by the wizard and gave him great power. Alastor sent away the lord’s councilors, and his spell on the surrounding forest prevented them from returning.

Simon’s only remaining ally was his lifelong nurse, Calendar, with whom he tried to devise plans to rescue Aquila, but none proved useful. After his father died, Alastor presented Simon with a proclamation, signed by Aquila, that gave the castle to the wizard. Simon and Calendar attacked the wizard, but he used one of his medallions to turn Simon into lead. Just before he became completely leaden, Simon grabbed at the medallions and tore one away, the one that shrinks things. The last thing Simon remembers is Alastor aiming a second medallion at the knight. That, apparently, is how he came to be in a toy castle.

William asks if the medallion that shrinks things still works. He finds a pincushion, and Simon aims the medallion at it, but nothing happens. The knight tries saying various words, like “small,” as he aims the token, but the pincushion stays unchanged. Sir Simon suggests they try it on something alive, staring at William. Alarmed, William jumps up and says making him tiny would prevent him from bringing food to Sir Simon, and it would anger Mrs. Phillips. Instead, he says he’ll find a bug for the test.

At that moment, Mrs. Phillips appears and calls William to dinner. The boy grabs the knight, hides him in his fist, and promises to come down at once. She leaves, and William sets Sir Simon on the wall walk, where the knight gasps for air for minutes, then protests: “My dear sir, more gently, if you please. I am no longer made of lead” (40).

William apologizes and explains that he had to act quickly. He says he’ll knock three times on the attic wall if he enters with someone else, so Sir Simon can hide. The knight agrees.

At school, Jason asks again about seeing the castle. William agrees, but only after gymnastics practice. Jason tags along. In part because of his short stature, he’s the team’s best gymnast. The routine he’s working on contains a dive roll at the end that frustrates him; he and Coach Robert work on it continuously. Jason says the routine looked good to him, but William assures him that he was off, like when Jason practices the piano and misses a note. 

At William’s house, Mrs. Phillips gives the kids a snack. William pockets a cookie, and Jason notices. On the way to the attic, he says Mrs. Phillips must be sad to leave, but William cuts him off. At the attic door, he knocks three times on the wall. Jason asks why; William says the light switch is loose and knocking seems to help.

Jason is impressed with the castle. William shows him how to work the drawbridge and portcullis, but he’s antsy about revealing Sir Simon, so he says he wants to be alone. Hurt, Jason says okay and leaves. William feels badly, and he blames Mrs. Phillips. He gives Sir Simon the cookie, finds an empty box for holding a bug, and goes downstairs.

Outside, working in the flower bed, Mrs. Phillips comments that Jason left quickly. William says, “He had to go home” (47), then asks if there are any bugs in the garden for his science class. Mrs. Phillips hands him a trowel, and he digs up a couple of sow bugs and places them in his box.

He stays and works alongside her. She asks about the Silver Knight, and William says the soldier told him a long story about his history. She wonders if it matches the legends she heard about the toy. William says, “Maybe.”

Late that evening, William sneaks up to the attic. Sir Simon asks if the boy can leave him a candle so he can work at night without a moon. William plugs in an old lamp, explains that electricity has replaced candles, and switches on the lamp. The knight is impressed.

William pulls out the insect box, a magnifier, and a plastic container filled with dried foods—“dried fruits, granola, cracker crumbs, and crumbled potato chips” (50). He places the container in the kitchen; the knight picks out several items and puts them on his plate. He gets William to put the kitchen table out on the courtyard, so he can talk and eat. He also asks for venison and ale, amusing William, who replies that he’s not good at shooting deer.

William borrows the knight’s Janus-head medallion and examines it under the magnifier. The carved head has an evil smile. William returns it, then places the sow bugs on the table. As they crawl to the edge, Sir Simon aims the medallion at the bugs—this time, he says, “Janus”—and the bugs disappear. Sir Simon points to two dots moving slowly on the floor. He pulls out his knife, spears the dots, and eats them. He pronounces them “dry but tasty” (52).

William is upset. Sir Simon says they’d never have survived at their size, and that the boy is too squeamish. He announces that he must return to his training. William asks its purpose; the knight says he intends to retake his kingdom. William asks how he expects to get there, and Sir Simon points him to a riddle inscribed over the castle door. William uses the magnifier and reads it:

When the lady doth ply her needle

And the lord his sword doth test,

Then the squire shall cross the drawbridge

And the time will be right for a quest (53).

William doesn’t understand it. The knight says they’ll figure it out. He begins sword practice, expertly thrusting, parrying, and shouting.

William’s father appears suddenly, and the knight hides in the stable. William explains that he couldn’t sleep and came up to play with the castle. His father, who helped haul the huge toy to the attic, asks for a tour. William gives him a quick overview, avoiding the stable, but his father finds Sir Simon’s shield lying near it. William’s mother calls from below; his father says they’ll be down shortly. He helps William close the castle entrance, then notices that the fortress lacks a moat. He offers to build one, and William accepts; he knows that his dad’s enthusiasms often fade quickly.

The boy quietly places the shield on the table. His father switches off the lamp. William says he likes to keep it on, but realizing he has no good explanation for it, he says he’s “just kidding.”