Now that we've gotten that serious stuff over with, where is a chapter loaded with comic relief. Aha! Enjoy :)
"Good morning miss" Meggie blinked groggily. She hadn't heard those words for so long… "Or should I say, afternoon?"
"Huh?"
"It's four in the afternoon. You have…slept." A blurry outline of Dustfinger's face appeared in front of Meggie. It took her several moments for her to remember where she was. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
"All night?"
"And most of the day" chuckled Dustfinger.
"Well that's news." She yawned and stretched. "I'm hungry" at that second her stomach grumbled loudly. Dustfinger laughed.
"That you are. Why don't you go downstairs and pester Tessa for some food?"
"Tessa?" Meggie wriggled out of the warm bed.
"She's the house keeper." Dustfinger winked. "She reminds me of your aunt."
"Greaaaat." Meggie laughed. But as she walked down the stairs, she was surprised at how much she missed her aunt. On the main floor, Meggie noticed a lady cutting apples at the long table. "Hello" she said. The woman looked up and smiled.
"Good day to you miss."
"Call me Meggie" the girl sat down across from Tessa. "Would you like a hand?"
"No that's alright." The aging lady smiled sweetly before looking back down at her pie-in-progress.
"Ok." Meggie cast one last glance at the food and then wandered outside. The golden sunshine caressed her skin like warm honey. She wasn't surprised when she saw Kitten riding a prancing appaloosa horse across the yard. "HI KITTEN!" Meggie called and waved. The woman atop the horse looked over and waved. The horse reared up on his hind feet, his mane rippling in the breeze. Then the sound of laughter caught Meggie's attention. She turned to the garden, where she was Caity and two other girls crouched around something. Meggie had a hunch on what it might be. She crept towards the girls, and laughed aloud when she heard an angry Frenchmen expressing his hate for his capturers. "Is that Napoleon?" She giggled.
"You betcha" chirped the girl Meggie didn't know. She had silky chestnut hair and a freckled face. "I'm Emily. Pleased to meet you acquaintance." The girl was cute. She must have been only eleven, yet she had so much attitude and spunk. The other girl was grinning like a maniac. "This is my accomplice, Crystal." Emily winked.
"Hi" Crystal grinned.
"Are you guys tormenting Napoleon again?" Meggie wanted to sound stern, but her voice broke and wavered with giggles.
"In a way." Crystal turned to face Meggie, holding the little man in her fingers. Meggie nearly wet herself she began laughing so hard. They had dressed Napoleon in a miniature dress.
"LET GO OF ME!" Cried Napoleon in his accent. Meggie had tears streaming down her cheeks from laughing so hard.
"I don't think that will be happening any time soon, Mr. Bonaparte!" Meggie was so busy laughing that she didn't really realize the silence that followed her comment. The blank stares of the children killed her laughter. "What?"
"Who's Bonaparte?" Crystal blinked.
"He's the….um… oh, oops. Did I say Bonaparte?" Meggie laughed nervously. How stupid that was. Caitlyn turned to Crystal and whispered in her ear:
"Told you she was odd." Meggie blushed bright pink. But luckily, Kitten got everyone's attention.
"Who wants to go for a ride?"
"ME!" Cried the girls in unison. They dropped Napoleon and ran towards the woman holding the lead ropes of 4 horses.
"You wanna come Meggie?" Kitten's horse nibbled her hair.
"I've never ridden before…"
"No matter. You will learn." Kitten smirked. "Come." Meggie tentatively stepped towards the snorting horses. Kitten's was the tallest. He was a beautiful animal with a fiery attitude and copper-y coat. His haunches were snow white though, and spotted with dark brown. His made and tail was silky blond. He was beautiful. "Meggie, meet Oliver." She pointed at a small horse with dark brown fur.
"Hi, Oliver." Meggie timidly stroked his grey nose.
"You ride him." Meggie nodded and let Kitten help her onto the pony's back.
"What's your horse's name?" Asked Meggie, collecting the reins in her hands.
"Mr. Pink." Kitten stroked the animal's mottled pink nose. Meggie could see the bond between the two was very strong. "Ain't that right, Blondie?" Kitten spoke lovingly to the animal. The horse nudged her chest. "Oof. Ok, let's get going." She giggled and watched as Emily climbed atop a medium sized bay horse, and Crystal and Caity doubled on a palomino. Meggie soon learned that Emily's horse was named Nikki, and the palomino's name was Sun Dime. Every one chatted lightly as they wandered out of the ranch and out onto a dirt road.
"Can we not ride in the field?" Asked Emily. "Nikki likes to eat grass there."
"Alright." Kitten chuckled. "We'll stay on the road." Meggie heard talk of an apple pie for dessert, and a meal consisting of bread and stew. Her stomach promptly reminded her of her starvation.
XxXxX
Dinner was delicious. All the members of the ranch except for Emily and Crystal sat around the table. Meggie ate like some kind of beast, but she wasn't the least bit embarrassed. She was HUNGRY!
"Some one has an appetite" giggled Kitten, munching on an apple slice. Meggie nodded with gusto. "My kinda girl" Kitten winked. Milo kept Dustfinger busy with questions about business and commerce, whilst Caity chatted to Kitten about her encounter with Napoleon. "Damn that little Brownie" laughed the blue eyed lady.
"Yeah. He's a little stinker that's for sure." With a twist of her mouth, Caity shrugged. "What I do want to know is why he keeps coming back."
"Who knows" said Tessa. "Perhaps he loves you?" Kitten snorted. Tessa fixed her with a cold glare. "Don't be jealous Kitten. We all know you've never had a lover."
"And I'm quite proud, thank you." Kitten shrugged.
"She's 19 and a virgin. Can you believe it?" Tessa raised her eyebrows at Meggie. The girl saw that Kitten was blushing a spectacular array of reds and pinks. Milo coughed loudly, as if to dismiss the topic.
"Don't worry Kitten, you'll find your man." Meggie smiled.
"Thanks hun." Kitten made a weak attempt at a grin.
"AHEM." Milo coughed again.
"Sorry." Meggie twisted her lips and an effort to stop from laughing. They finished dinner and dessert, and it wasn't long before everyone said their goodnights and head up to bed. For one reason or another, Meggie was excited to go to sleep. She followed Dustfinger up the narrow staircase and into their room. She was about to open her mouth to speak with Dustfinger, when she heard the faded ringing of a cell phone…
"OMIGOD MY PHONE!" Meggie shrieked and pounced on the rucksack. She frantically dug through the bag, when out tumbled her little pink Motorola. The screen said Mo. "MO!" Meggie began sobbing with joy. She flicked the phone open, and screamed into the receiver. "I LOVE YOU!"
"Meggie? Where in heaven's name are you?" His voice sounded like a cross between horror, relief and worry.
"I don't know! Dustfinger and i… well, we're in a place that I wrote about…"
"WHAT?"
"I'm so sorry Mo, I'm so sorry." She sobbed and sobbed and sobbed into the phone, the mere sound of Mo's voice made her feel warm and teary.
"Oh Meggie I've been worried sick." Mo comforted Meggie, assuring her that everything would be Ok. "We'll figure it out Meggie. Don't you worry." Beep beeEEEP!
"MO! My phone is dying!" Meggie wanted to reach out to her father, but he was no where to be seen. The only sign of him was his fading voice.
"I love you Meggie……cuuuuushhhhh" The phone died.
"You just spoke to Silvertongue?" Dustfinger sounded incredulous. Meggie nodded and sniffed back tears.
"I'm so confused" she sniveled.
"Me too, Meggie. Me too." Dustfinger wrapped the girl in a hug.