The alchemy of progress
After our break, we go back into the car and I drive it over the lowered drawbridge and through the castle's outer gates. The portcullis is raised, and the tall, iron-bound doors are open.
I feel like we are entering a trap, drawing right into the mouth of an awaiting beast.
And from inside its walls, the White Castle is much weirder than from the outside. I take in the sight of the courtyard. It's empty, and the rains have turned the ground into a mass of dirt and puddles, but like the walls, the building inside looks only recently abandoned. I spot a well and think that at least I and Zeke will have fresh water.
But this is a fleeting thought, immediately taken away by a loud clang behind us. I gasp and turn around.
The portcullis had fallen down, cutting us from the outside world. There's no other movement I can see from the back window of the car.