2._____________
My heart was fluttering as I headed out into the courtyard. How could this happen to me? I had promised my father I would stay away from all men until I came of age. Whenever I spent time with Peter I forgot everything, he was so easy to talk to. Time flew by naturally with him; it felt like we could talk for hours about something as simple as the weather.
I kept walking. When I saw him, my heart sunk like a stone in my stomach. Just my luck. I would happen to be walking through the courtyard when he came, Jonathan. I have heard all about him, my father was constantly warning me to watch out for people like this. The obnoxious, arrogant, cocky people of the world. The people like Jonathan. He was just dubbed a knight and there was not a person alive who did not know it. Everywhere he went, that was the first thing he said. He would puff out his chest and stand erect, using his deepest voice he would announce, "You are now speaking with Sir Jonathan, what do you have to say?" I seemed to be the only person that he treated with any respect, besides my father of course. This bothered me to no end, I wish just once that someone would treat me like I was not royalty, just a normal human being. Just a girl.
Finally he noticed me standing there, staring like an idiot in his direction. I hated how I froze up when I got nervous. He surely was going to come and speak to me now. As predicted, he started to march over. Ugh... He already was eyeing me in a way I did not want to think about. He looked at me like a trophy – that drove me insane. I was the prize.
"So what is a fair lady like you doing walking about the courtyard by yourself this morning?" he asked arrogantly.
"If you feel the need to know, this girl is getting her breakfast." I emphasized the word girl. Just a girl.
"That really is too bad, I was hoping you would join me for breakfast. Dinner will have to make do instead; you don't have plans tonight."
The audacity of him to assume that I did not have plans tonight! It made me furious, I glared up at him focusing with all my might on staring daggers. Who knows, maybe looks could kill. I figured it was about time to find out.
My eyes bored into his. "And if I do have plans tonight?" I was careful to keep my voice nonchalant. He didn't need to know how angry I was, it would only add to his large ego. I seriously contemplated how much trouble I would be in for ripping his head off...
"Plans? You are a young lady, and who else here is worthy of you? Most all the young knights have been called to the capital, leaving me the only one here to spend your leisure time with, correct?" He said the last part as a statement not a question. That made me even more furious then before. He had pushed my last button. So much for holding back.
"For your information," I hissed, "I do have plans tonight; I will be having dinner with Peter." I spit the last word in his face, it did not seem to phase him.
"Why on earth would you spend time with that horrid boy?" Jonathan asked incredulously. "He is a baker's son." He made baker's son it sound like some sort of curse.
"He is a sincere, kind and funny boy. Three things that somebody has obviously learned nothing of."
"What?" he demanded. "You don't think that I am a good enough man to spend your time with?"
"No, as a matter of fact I do not. Oh, and did I forget to tell you?" I asked innocently. I recovered my mask of calm, uncaring self-control. "Peter and I are going to go have lunch and a morning ride together. He said that he enjoys spending time outdoors."
"Like I do not? He is a peasant's son, he's probably never ridden a horse in his life."
"I am leaving now to go get ready, our time is up," I said crisply. "I am thrilled you care so much for me that you would check who I spend my time with. Thank you again and good day." I spun on my heel, walking away as I finished my dismissal.
"How dare he," I muttered under my breath. "Damn knight, thinks he owns me. Won't he be in for a surprise?" I chuckled under my breath.
I pretended to be walking back to the castle until Jonathan was out of sight and then swung back to the bakery. I came back through the red wooden door and went to the kitchen counter.
"How can I help you, Emma?" Peter's father, Stephen, asked.
"I have already had breakfast, but would you be as kind to let Peter go on a morning ride with me?" Putting on my best please-give-me-what-I-want face I added, "Don't tell Peter, I really enjoy spending time with him... So if you wouldn't mind?" He understood my not so discreet signal.
"Sure, sure," he eagerly agreed. "I will tell him to get cleaned up and pack some food."
I nodded my head in thanks, then he ducked into the kitchen. To pass the time waiting on him, I sat down on the old plaid couch. Its soft cushions sank under my weight.
I remembered that Peter did not know about today's surprise trip. For some reason, I doubted he would mind. I looked around the room and took in the familiar sight I cherished. The red wooden door with the peeling paint and the small heart shaped window that has a permanently foggy covering on it. Then the deep brown wooden counter with the glass show case for fresh pastries. Beside it, everybody ordered their food. The tables scattered about all had freshly picked daisies on them each morning. Some had two chairs and others four. My favorite table was right beside a big open window that overlooked the stables. It had two chairs, one for me and one for Peter. Each morning we had breakfast there. I was wondering what was taking him so long to get ready, finally he showed up.
He looked thrilled as he leaped through the door. "So what are we doing today? My dad said that I had the day off, thanks for that!"
"I was thinking that we should go on a ride. You can ride, right?" Peter opened his mouth but the look of fear written on his face answered my question. I cut him off, "Don't answer that. If you don't know, I can teach you. You grabbed us some lunch, right? We will probably want to eat something, it could be a long morning."
"Yeah, I grabbed us some fresh pumpkin bread, ham slices, and milk. Is that enough?"
The way he said us made my hear flutter. "Sure, that sounds great. I love everything you and your dad bake here." I laughed, "I don't think anything I've ever been disappointed."
He gave a mock bow and blew kisses to an imaginary crowd, "Thank you, thank you very much. I will be here all week for your baked good needs."
I laughed in the careless way only Peter could pull out of me. "I hope you will stick around longer then a week." This made him blush. He was so sweet and modest. "Come on," I said lighting up the conversation. "If you leave where would I go for breakfast every morning?"
"Well, if you put it like that, I guess I can't leave, can I?"
"Of course not, now can we get started? Let's head out to the stables." I walked over to the door. Of course, Peter hurried in front of me to open it, always the gentlemen.
"Ladies first," he said, pushing the door open. I rolled my eyes and walked through.
There were only a handful of people left in the courtyard, obviously stragglers that were going to be late to work. One was lying sprawled on his back in front of the local bar with a spirit bottle in hand. It looked like he had had a long night.
When we got to the road that leads to the front gate I pulled Peter to the side and made my way to a small ally between two stores.
"Where are we going?" he demanded. "The only way out is through the front gates and this is not them," he persisted, motioning to the blank gray wall we had arrived at.
"I know. If you would be patient..." I said walking up to a stone that protruded a small bit from the wall. "You would see what I am trying to show you."
I put my hand on the stone that stuck out from the wall and pushed my body weight against the door to make it budge. With a groan, the door slid open inch by inch. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard listening to the screeching sound the stone made. With one final shove, it was open. I let Peter through and then followed behind.
"I'll close it, can't be too hard."
He placed his hand on the stone protruding from the opposite direction, he leant his whole weight into the rock, grunting with the effort. There were no results, so he shoved harder. Sweating bullets, he finally got the door to slide shut. Well, sliding is not an adequate way to describe it. That is much too graceful a word for the jerky movement I was witnessing. After watching him for a few minutes, I decided it was time to help.
"Here," I said shoving him out of the way, "this is how a real woman does it." I leaned in and gave the door a small shove. That did it – the door bumped the last little way in, completely shut.
I turned around to see Peter gazing at me in dropped jaw awe.
"How did you do that?" He asked drawing out each word, he could not seem to wrap his mind around the fact a girl had just outshone him in a physical endeavor.
"Easy," I said, casually walking down the dirt road. "Practice makes perfect."
"So you do this often," he assumed.
"You could say that."
We started up the hill that led to the stable. It sat on top of a green hill in the middle of an open field. The barn was as bright as an apple with white stripes bordering the doors and windows. I came up to the large front door and slid it open; the smell of fresh hay, oats and horse washed over me like a wave. This instantly made me feel at home, I loved everything about the barn. It was my home away from home, my happy place.
"Are you ready to ride?" I asked.
"Not really," he admitted. "The only time I have ridden before was a small pony, I was very young, and..." he trailed off.
"What? It can't be that bad."
"Actually, it can. I was riding a very small pony – it probably would not be as tall as my hip now. Everything went well for a while, then I swear to you, that little pony bucked sky high and, well... I went higher," he paused. "Please don't laugh," he begged.
I stifled my laughter, a smile was still playing at the corners of my lips. "Of course not, there is absolutely nothing funny hearing about how a pony the size of a rat launched you sky high. No," I finished sarcastically, grinning at him. "Most definitely not funny."
"Ha ha, you're hilarious. Well, lets get on with this if we're going. We are going, right?" He looked at me hopefully, as if I would let him out of this one.
"Yes, obviously we are going. How else do you expect for us to get away from the castle? Walk?"
"Well, actually, that's not too bad, walking is always nice and-"
"Stop your groveling and be a man. We are going, and you are going to deal with it. I promise it won't be terrible, you might even have some fun."
I headed to the back of the long row of stalls, looking for my black stallion, Kicker. He was in his stall, second from the back. He put his head over the wooden door to nuzzle my shoulder. He is a huge black work horse, but for being so big, he is such a baby.
I took his black leather halter, then opened up the door and slipped it behind his ears. Smugly, I thought about how Peter was in for a surprise. He probably was not expecting this. I led him through the stall door and walked back to where Peter was standing by to the wire cabinets that held the grooming brushes. I brought Kicker over and tied his lead rope, attached to his halter, onto a thick metal rung. This way Peter didn't have to worry about Kicker escaping while he brushed him.
"Here are the brushes," I pointed to the wire rack holding the brushes of all shapes and sizes. "Clean him up and I'll be back."
"W-wait," he stuttered as I walked away. I turned around to see that his face was blanch. "Do you mean I am to ride this?" He pointed up at my boy, Kicker, like he was a monstrosity.
"Well, of course," I said. "You would not enjoy my other steed nearly as much, quite a view from Kicker that Lucy could never give you." The corners of my lips twitched up into a smile yet again, "I would hate for you to miss that. It really is something, feels like you're a mile high." His face fell even more than I thought possible, so I decided I had scared him enough. "Don't worry, you'll be fine," I reassured him with a final glance and jogged off to get my other horse, Lucy.
She was already peering around the edge of her window waiting on me. She chuckled deep in her throat by way of greeting.
"Hey, Lucy," I crooned, patting her nose. She playfully nudged it aside, her personality was astounding. It seemed to have no limits. Sometimes I swear she could understand what I said. I grabbed her brown leather halter and went into her stall to get her. I still marveled over her splendor. She is of average height and has a magnificent chestnut coat that gleams in the sunlight. Her tail, mane, and forelock are all thick and soft as silk. I love every bone in her body.
After slipping the halter over her head, I went back to see how Peter was managing. To my surprise, he seemed to be whispering in Kicker's ear as he brushed his face off. They looked like a young children whispering secrets about there next big adventure. The previous fear in his eyes had all but vanished, replaced by something I couldn't name. It was a mix of happiness, awareness and possibly even friendship. This was something I had thought to be impossible, but he very obviously had proved me wrong.
"Wow, I'm impressed. Kicker looks great, you cleaned him up nicely." His face beamed with pride at my observation, he was pleased. I waved my hand towards Lucy, "This is my other horse, Lucy. I will be riding her today."
"She is something," he said looking her over. Then confusion washed over his features and I wondered what he was thinking. I did not have to wait long before he asked me, "So are we riding with a saddle? I think that I would fall off if I tried otherwise."
This made me laugh. "Don't worry, you are definitely not ready to ride bareback yet. I'll go and grab our tack now. While I do, would you mind brushing off Lucy for me?"
"Sure," he said eagerly. I could tell he was enjoying this. I went to the closet stall on the right where we kept our saddles, bridles and other important tack. I grabbed a rather large saddle for Peter; I knew Kicker could handle it. It seemed to weigh a ton as I picked it up and slung it over my arm along with his bridle and girth. I lugged it out to Peter. He took the girth and bridle from me and then I placed the saddle on Kicker's back. He didn't even flinch under the weight of it – his strength astounded me even though I have seen him carry much heavier loads.
"Peter, the girth please." He handed it to me and I attached it tightly to both sides of the saddle so there was no chance it could slip off. Then I went back to the tack room to get my saddle and bridle. The saddle I use for Lucy is much lighter, and made of tanned leather. I grabbed a girth and her artfully crafted bridle. I shrugged under the weight of it, even though it was not nearly as heavy as the other. I stumbled to Lucy, her coat was gleaming. Peter had done a fantastic job of cleaning her up; she looked as though she had just been given an extensive bath.
"Thank you for cleaning her up, Peter, " I said as I sat the saddle lightly on her back, "she looks great, you really have a natural sense of horsemanship."
"Thanks, this isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, almost enjoyable." He got that nervous look in his eyes again, "But I'm still not so sure about the riding part."
"Don't worry, it will be easy. Kicker really seems to like you, and that will make it even better. And don't forget, I will be there if you need any help." I nodded my head at him and he smiled. Oh... my mind went blank. How could I think when he smiled, it was the face of an angel.
"Uh... Emma, snap out of it," he said snapping his finger in front of my face.
"Oh, sorry." I pulled out of my day dream and grabbed the bridle. "Let me put that on for you," I said, slipping the bridle over Kicker's velvety charcoal ears. Then I slipped the reins over his neck. "You can go ahead and walk him out the back door, I'll meet you there." With that, he steered Kicker away. I quickly finished putting on the bridle and followed the trail of dusty footsteps. Then I slid through the door and was dazzled by the beautiful sight. It was autumn, so all the leaves were changing from their gorgeous, lively greens to more subtle tones of gold and crimson. The valley stretched ahead for a solid mile and then was cut off by the breathtaking forest that now looked like a waterfall of colors.
Peter must have noticed me admiring the woods. "They sure are something, aren't they? It looks like every tree is a dot, a dot that is only a small part of the portrait. The thousands of dots are all different colors and they all come together to make one big picture, don't they?"
"They do," I agreed, he really had a way with words. "Well, watch what I do, it's time we get started. I raised my foot to the stirrup hanging down from the side of my saddle, then picked up my reins in my left hand and swung my leg up and over the saddle, landing softly on Lucy's back. "Your turn," I added cheerfully, this could be entertaining. I looked at him expectantly and he knew what I thought was coming – a wipeout. My look said everything, but to my surprise he yet again proved me wrong. He picked his foot up to reach the stirrup and slid it right in, then grabbed the reins and slung himself over. It wasn't graceful as I, but it still stunned me into silence. It took me years to be able to do what he had completed on his first try.
He gave me a smug look, "Good enough?"
"Oh, don't rub it in," I muttered and started to walk towards the trail at the end of the field. He quickly caught up; it could not have been hard considering his horse was a full two feet taller then mine.
"This really isn't that bad, and man you were right about the view, thanks," he smirked.
"Yeah, yeah, you can say whatever you want. Now if I say on the count of three we are going to have a race to the big oak tree at the end of the field and you win, then that would be something. Better hold on tight! Three... Two..." I paused, "ONE!" I yelled, and started off galloping through the field. I could imagine his face behind me now, wondering how I could leave him in the dust his first time on a real horse. A huge stallion at that. This may be an unfair race, but feeling Lucy's stride open under me felt amazing. The adrenaline was pumping though my veins and the wind ripped through my hair. I glanced over my shoulder and was surprised to see that Kicker was on my tail with Peter crouched lightly over his neck, urging him on. There was no way he was going to win, not his first time riding a real horse. I kicked Lucy firmly and then clucked in her ear, she knew exactly what I wanted and leapt ahead. It seemed like we had only been galloping for mere seconds when the path materialized before us. To my satisfaction, Peter was struggling a good bit behind me. He had lost a stirrup and was practically hanging off one side of his horse. This sent me into a fit of giggles. Finally, he couldn't be good at everything.
Head held low, he sulked, "I don't see what you think is so funny. Losing my stirrup was terrifying. Must I remind you that I have never ridden before in my life? Or are you determined to make me look like a fool?"
"You have been perfect at everything so far; I had to see when you were going to mess up." Shockingly, he didn't look mad; I think he actually looked pleased. I guessed he had taken it as a complement, and he confirmed my assumption.
"Thanks, I've never been naturally gifted at anything. I have worked hard to gain the skills I have. It is great knowing that I can do something."
"You're welcome, we will have to come back out later." This made his eyes light up with an optimistic flare. "Kicker really likes you, too," he pricked up his ears and whinnied in response. "See what I mean?"
"Yeah, I do. So where are you planning on kidnapping me to today?"
"Well, I had a couple ideas. We probably only have enough time to visit one of them today, so the other two are just going to have to wait until later."
"You said later, didn't you?"
That didn't make sense to me. "Yeah, why?"
"Later as in, we are going on another ride together later?"
"Yes, you didn't think you could get rid of me after one day, did you?"
He laughed, "Quite the opposite – I didn't think I could even get you for one day."
"Good thing you thought wrong," I smiled. "Why did you think I wouldn't give you a chance? Because you're the baker's son, right?"
"Well, yeah. You live in the castle and I live in the village huts. The two don't even begin to compare."
"Good thing there is no comparing going on, then," I said. "There is you and there is me. Two people, nothing more and nothing less."
"Thanks, Emma," he said, playing with a piece of Kicker's mane. I could tell he was using it to calm his nerves, "I just love every minute I spend with you, it feels strangely right." We had been talking for a while under the trees, I noticed the sun was rising higher in the sky.
"Better get going if we are going to make it to one of my spots for lunch." I laughed, "Would you really let a girl beat you again?"
"I guess we'll have to see," he was grinning as he accepted the challenge. "It is a good idea though, we should probably try to get back before night fall. The howling from the woods at night always gives me cold chills. Sometimes I even have nightmares about the coyotes and wolves. Rumor is a small child went missing. Alison was her name. They thought she had been wandering in the woods. These two boys were hunting in the area and brought back her mutilated bloody corpse. " I could tell this was a touchy subject for him, his eyes began to glisten with tear drops I knew he would try his hardest not to shed. Either way, it depressed me to hear about this and see how upset it made him.
"All the more reason to hurry," I said turning to face the dirt path. I breathed deeply in and out then raised my chin to Peter who gave me a reassuring nod. This gave me hope and I headed into the woods to face whatever fate may chose to bring us.