Peter in Love

            by Sam Finn

 

            Once upon a time, there was a boy named Peter, who worked in the kitchen of the king’s castle.  Each day he brought steaming plates of food to the royal table, and each day his gaze lingered on the beautiful Princess Gabby.  Each day, she said “Thank you, Peter,” and smiled broadly.  Peter loved the Princess.  He loved her so much that he could see whatever the princess was doing in his dreams.

            One night, Peter was dreaming of the fair princess.  She was lying peacefully on her bed, face illuminated by the soft starlight.  Suddenly, a Tall Man in a black cape entered the room and dragged her out of bed with a gloved hand.  She tried to scream but the Tall Man clamped his other hand over her mouth.

             Meanwhile, Peter thrashed furiously in his bed, but could not wake up.  He could only watch, horrified, as the tall man lead the princess to a black horse waiting in the courtyard.  The Tall Man tied the princess up with rope, threw her over the horse’s back, and walked to the castle gates.  The guards there saw him and moved to block his path with long swords.  The Tall Man ran toward them and from his belt drew a blade made entirely of diamond, shining brightly with moonlight.  He cut through their iron swords as easily as a knife through jam, and sliced off both of their heads with one silent swing.  The Tall Man mounted his black horse with the princess on the back and rode off into the night.

            Peter woke up screaming, but it was too late.  The mysterious kidnapper was already miles away and had left no tracks in the ground.  The good soldiers had no idea where he had gone.  When the King was told that his daughter had not been rescued, he wept; the entire castle wept with him, for the people had great love for the King and Princess Gabby.

            Peter was so miserable that he could not sleep for three days.  When his eyes finally closed in exhaustion, he saw the fair princess tied to a boulder with huge silver chains.  The Tall Man stood beside her and Princess Gabby spat on his black boots.

            “Someone will find me,” she said.

            “Ha!  My horse leaves no tracks, so no one will know which direction I took you.”

            “Someone will sail here,” she said

            “Ha!  This island is surrounded by magical storms so that no ship can approach it.”

            “Someone will kill you,” she said.

            “Ha!  No man can kill me.  My diamond sword is the greatest in all of Rus and I have never been defeated.”

            Peter woke up sad, because it now seemed impossible to rescue the princess.  Nevertheless, he knew he had to try.  Peter put some loaves of bread from the kitchen in a sack and left with it to go find Princess Gabby.

            He traveled tirelessly for days, and did not sleep because it hurt him to see the princess chained to the boulder.  One day, Peter found a dog by the side of the road so thin that its ribs were showing.

            “Please,” the dog begged, “Share some food with me and I will repay you.”

            Now Peter only had a few crusts of bread left, but he took pity on the poor animal and gave it the rest of his food.

            “Thank you, good man,” the dog said.  “How can I serve you?”

            “There isn’t anything you could do,” Peter replied.  “I’m following the trail of a horse that leaves no tracks.”

            “But I have the greatest of all noses!  I will follow the smell of your quarry.”

            And, after Peter had described the black horse of the Tall Man, the dog quickly found the trail.  They followed it for three days until they reached a great stormy sea. 

As neither had eaten any food since the last of the crusts, Peter decided to fish.  After hours of bad luck, Peter finally pulled a small trout out of the water.

            “Please,” the fish begged, “Spare my life and I will repay you.”

            Peter was nearly starving now, but he had a kind heart, and returned the fish to the water.

            “Thank you, good man,” the fish said.  “How can I serve you?”

            “There isn’t anything you could do,” Peter replied.  “I must cross this sea to the island in the middle, but no ship can approach it without being destroyed by the magical storms.”

            “Fear not,” the fish cried, and gave a low whistle.  Within moments, a great whale had appeared at the shore.

            “My brother the whale will carry you in his mouth,” the fish said with a toothless smile.

            Peter bade farewell to the good dog and climbed into the mouth of the whale.  Immediately, the whale dived underwater and began swimming towards the Tall Man’s island.

            Peter was horribly hungry now, and luckily for him, the whale did not keep his mouth very clean.  Stuck between its teeth were the remains of dozens of dead fish.  Peter built a fire on the whale’s tongue with some driftwood that he found in the back of its mouth and roasted a big carp.  As he finished eating, the fire began to die down.

            “Please,” Fire begged, “I am hungry too.  If you feed me I will repay you.”

            Peter had never known that fires could be hungry like people, but he had a kind heart, and fed Fire with more driftwood until its flames rose high again.

            “Thank you, good man.  How can I serve you?”

            “There isn’t anything you could do.  I must fight a man far stronger than I, who has the greatest sword in all of Rus.”

            Fire thought for a moment.

            “I do not know what I can do to help,” it sighed sadly, “But I promise you that I will repay my debt.”

            When the whale finally arrived at the island, Peter got out of its mouth and thanked it.  He turned and started walking towards the only building he saw, a huge stone tower.  The iron gate blocking its entrance did not stop Peter.  He had eaten so little during his travels that he was thin enough to squeeze through its rusty bars.

            Before him lay a single staircase, spiraling upwards to the highest reaches of the tower.  Peter walked up the steps slowly, and several times his eyes nearly closed.  He still had not slept since starting his journey because it hurt him to see Princess Gabby so sad.

            But when he reached the top step, Peter’s eyes flashed open.  There was the princess, bound to the boulder with silver chains, and there was the Tall Man, standing between Peter and the princess with the diamond sword in his hand.  A blazing lantern cast shadows through the room.

            The Tall Man laughed.  “Ha!  You think that you can defeat me, the greatest warrior in all of Russia?  You are a boy with no weapon and I am a swordmaster with the greatest sword in all of Rus!”

            And at that, the Tall Man leapt at Peter, swinging his blade furiously.  Peter ducked and fell to the ground.

            “Fire, fulfill your promise,” he cried.

            Immediately, Fire jumped from the lantern to the clothes of the Tall Man.  He was soon engulfed in blue flame, and when his skin began to melt, he jumped out the window to the sea below.  No one ever saw him again.

            Peter rose weakly from the ground and took up the diamond sword.  He staggered towards the princess, and with his last drop of strength, clove through the silver chains.  His task finally completed he collapsed into a deep sleep.

            Princess Gabby brought Peter home and when he woke up, married him.  They lived happily ever after.