THE KINGSTON CASTLE

                                                             

The story begins……..

“It can't be too far away," said Pamela, looking hopefully out the car window at the British countryside. "We seem to have been driving for ages and ages. Surely we must be getting near the sea."

"It won't be too long now," said her father. "Just a couple of hours."

"That's very long," said Sam, straightening up in his seat. "Two . more . . hours . . and we seem to be seeing the same thing all the time. Trees and fields and trees and fields and trees and fields and-"

"I think the scenery is very beautiful," interrupted their mother. Fay Rosenberg straightened her blond hair against the wind which was coming through the half­

open window. "It's so different from the city."

"Poor Scamp must be so bored, just driving and driving with no birds to chase," said Sam.

"I think he's enjoying the drive," said brown-haired Pamela, watching the dog's ears being blown about in the wind. "He knows we're far away from the city and nearly at the sea."

"But the sea is two hours away," said Sam wearily. "Two hours away."

 "Not the sea," said Mr. Rosenberg. "I said that Kingston, where our apartment will be, is two hours away. We'll see the sea in just over half an hour."

The children pressed their noses to the windows. They could hold out another half hour.,,,,,

172 pages.

ISBN-13: 978-1475001792 (CreateSpace-Assigned)
ISBN-10: 1475001797
BISAC: Fiction / Jewish

When the Rosenbergs decide to vacation in Kingston, it is to get away from the bustle of city life. Little do they know that the town and its famous castle hold in store the adventure of a lifetime. 
The Rosenberg kids become fast friends with the Sandler family. The Sandlers are Orthodox Jews and the Rosenbergs begin to discover a world about which they know very little. 
Meanwhile the children become involved in a terrifying mystery. 

This is the Second Edition of the Kingston Castle, the first being published in 1991 by Hachai Distributions, New York, under the pen name Ruth Abrahamson

CreateSpace eStore: https://www.createspace.com/3819561

……They continued their journey, looking steadily at the sea. At times the road would be almost on the coast. At other times they would turn inland, but the sea could soon be seen again. Each reappearance caused a wave of excitement in the children.

"Brrr . . it's getting colder," said Mrs. Rosenberg, suddenly closing the window and giving her hair a final brushing. "It really is getting a bit late. I hope they've provided us with cutlery and crockery and a fridge and everything else, as the agent said they would. I have everything for supper, but I have to heat it up. Maybe I should have brought our own plates."

"Don't worry, Fay," said Mr. Rosenberg. "You asked the agent several times about that, and he was very emphatic. Don't worry about it. And anyway - here's Kingston!"

They immediately turned their attention away from the sea to the old castle, magnificent among the hills, dominating the area.

"It's beautiful," said Pamela. "I can just imagine a knight on a black horse riding up to it, demanding that the  drawbridge be let down and  he be allowed to cross the moat."

"There can't still be a moat. Can there?" asked Sam, incredulous.

"Oh, yes," said his father. "And with all the rain we've been having, it's probably full of water. This is one of the castles that is still in very good condition. It's a major tourist attraction. But we must find our apartment and organize ourselves before we do any touring."

Three hours later there was silence in the Rosenbergs' vacation apartment. They had unpacked, put away their

things, and found a fridge, an oven, crockery, cutlery, and even sheets.

 

 All Mrs. Rosenberg's fears had been allayed. She had warmed up supper and they had eaten, falling into their beds and being soothed to sleep by the sound of the sea.

AS time goes on….

"Yaakov," said Sam, "I hope you don't mind my asking. But what are those strings which are always sticking out of your shirt? I notice your father has them, and your brother. Is it something religious?"

"These are tzitzis," said Yaakov, fingering the fringes on his left side. "They are mentioned in the third part of the Shma. Do you know what that is?"

Sam nodded. "I learned about it from one of my grandparents."

   

"The Shma also mentions our redemption from Egypt, when we became a holy nation," continued Yaakov.

 

 "When a king establishes a royal regiment bearing his name, he gives each member a special uniform or insignia that he should always wear.

“This gives them distinction as a regiment, but reminds them at all times that everything they do has to be in accordance with what that regiment stands for, because their conduct can bring either credit or shame to the king.

"These fringes are our insignia, to remind us constantly about keeping G-d's Torah."

Yaakov held out the tzitzis to Sam. "Look carefully, Sam. The fringes are white woolen threads, four on each corner, folded in two to make eight threads altogether. One of them, which is longer than the rest, is used to wind around the others. The threads are pulled through the hole in the corner of the garment and then folded and knotted twice. The long thread is then wound around the other threads, and the threads are then separated and knotted again, twice. The winding is continued. In total, each corner has five double knots."

"That's worse than all the knots the Boy Scouts in our class used to practice. Why is it so complicated?" asked Sam.

"I can give you a reason," said Yaakov. "The numerical value of the Hebrew word tzitzis is six hundred. If you add the eight threads and five knots, we have a total of six hundred thirteen. That is also the number of the commandments in the Torah."

"Arithmetic was never my scene," said Sam ruefully.

The Dungeons…

They went into one magnificent building after another, finally going into the dungeons in the main building.

"Imagine being down here for years and years and years," said Sam. "Desperate, but not able to get away." They both shivered as they remembered the escaped prisoner.

      They shone their torch around the dungeon. It was fairly large; the rock walls seemed to be crumbling in places.

"It's pretty strange," said Sam. "We must be under  another part of the castle by now, quite faraway from the keep, and yet the rock that some of these pillars are made of is the same as in the keep and in the outside wall."

"We're probably nearly at the outside wall by now," said Yaakov. "We must be careful. In fact, I think I'm going to daven minchah now - the afternoon prayer. I have to do it before it gets dark, and we can't really catch up with him now."

Yaakov stood in the dungeon, using his torch and a tiny prayer book. Sam was a little impatient at first, but as Yaakov prayed, Sam began to feel glad that Yaakov was doing so.

 Sam somehow wished he could do so as well. Yaakov's praying made him feel safer and not so alone in the dungeons.

"I think we should leave our shoes here," said Yaakov after he had finished. "Let's do that; it'll be harder to hear us that way. And carrying them is such a nuisance."

They flashed their torch towards the front of the tunnel, only to find that there were in fact two distinct entrances to two different tunnels. Where had the prisoner gone?

"Should we split up?" asked Yaakov.  

"I feel safer together, but I guess that's the best idea, if we want to cover more ground. Who gets the torch?"

"You hold onto it, Sam," said Yaakov.

"Your watch has a light on it, right? So does mine. I suggest we walk along these tunnels for exactly five minutes. If we find nothing, we'll walk back again and meet here.”

This book is illustrated by Devorah Shinan