The Castle Wall

The Castle Wall



Jessica Higgins was a little girl who lived a long time ago in a little village called Blackrock.

Down the road from Jessica’s house there was a huge castle called Blackrock Castle.  Every morning Jessica would put on her dress and shoes and go down by the castle to play.  She loved to sit on the wall and watch all the boats and ships go by on the water.



One day as she sat on the wall her favourite ring which her mother had given her fell off her finger into the the water below.  It plopped and sank  and though she tried and tried, Jessica just could not find that ring.  She knew her mother would be upset if she said that her ring was lost so she decided to go and ask a little old lady who lived in a cottage near the castle.



As she walked to the cottage feeling sad she wondered if she should visit this old lady at all because everyone said she was a witch but when she thought of her mother’s face she decided she had better go to see her.



Jessica knocked on the cottage door and it creaked open to show the dark room behind it.  From inside an old shaky voice called “Come in, little girl, where I can see you”.  Jessica walked inside slowly and there sitting by the fire sat the old woman who did’nt look at all like a witch.  “What can I do to help you child?” she asked Jessica who stood scared and silent in front of her.  “I lost my ring in the water and I’m afraid to go home without it because my mother gave it to me” she said.



“Oh dearie me”, said the woman, “that really is a shame”.  “Well,” she said, “I really cannot help you unless you give me some money first as I have no money for milk for my tea”.



Jessica thought quickly and remembered the sixpence that her father had given her was still in the pocket of her dress.  She had wanted to buy toffee  from the village shop but she decided to give it to the old lady just to get her ring back if she could.  So she gave her only sixpence into the wrinkled hand held out to her and waited to see what would happen next.



“Many people in this village think I am a witch”, said the old lady, “and maybe I am a little good witch, but let me tell you something child,  I shall live by the castle for a hundred years more, when all those people are long dead in their graves”.  “Now go to the river again, child and on the wall where you sat while ago, you shall find your ring, under a flower,”  “Thank you” said Jessica gratefully.  “You are very welcome child because you gave me all the money you had just to make your  mother happy”, said the lady, “you shall be rewarded for that”.



Jessica was walking out the door of the cottage when she turned and said “you don’t have to give me back my money ever”.



The old woman smiled and told her that one day in a different place she would give her the money back.  Jessica wondered what she meant.  “How will you give it back to me”?, she asked.

“In a hundred years from now, another little girl will walk by my cottage”, the old lady said with a smile.  “She might not look like you do but inside she will be exactly the same for our souls do travel through time, and one day we will meet aiain”.



Jessica thought she was mad now and she ran out the door quickly and back to the castle.  There on the wall like the old lady had told her was her ring under a flower.  She put it on and quickly went home as she was very hungry after her strange adventure.

Many years passed and the people in the village got old and died.  Jessica herself married and had c hildren and in time she too died and left earth to be with the angels in heaven.



The village got bigger and schools and more houses were build around the lady’s cottage.  That stayed the same and children used to pass it on their way home from school.  The old lady sat inside the window and watched the children pass but could not see Jessica’s soul in any of the childrens faces.



Then one day as she watched a very lonely little girl passed by who looked too small to be walking home by herself so the old lady got up from her chair and went outside.



“I will walk home with you” said the woman to the girl.  The child smiled and walked along happily beside her.  They talked as the went and the old woman asked her name. “Jessica” she said.  “What a lovely name” the woman said.  She brought her to her house and as Jessica started to walk away, she put money into her hand. “Thank you very much” said Jessica and said goodbye to the lady.  Jessica ran home delighted with herself and wondered why the lady had given her the money.  Now she could buy sweets in the shop.



The old lady walked back and as she walked she said to herself, “I told you I would give you back the money someday Jessica”.  “Now I can be at peace”.



Jessica went hurriedly to the shop happy and skipping and not knowing why the lady had been so kind to her, but we do.



Julieanne O’Shea  (My daughter used to walk home alone every day.  She was very shy and one day an old lady in one of the cottages on her way home from school did befriend her and gave her the 50p so I made up this story for Jessica as a gift when she was 9 on the 18-06-1994