The day of the birthday party arrived and Togalo concocted some Ari-is-picking-up-some-plow-stuff-from-a-town-faraway story and Helga bought it. That left me all morning and most of the afternoon free.
That morning I left the house in full view of all the members on Hotspur. Lucille's dress was folded and safely tucked in a pack supposedly containing my lunch. Togalo had slipped me some weird looking piece of metal in case Helga questioned me upon my return.
As soon was I was out of view of the house, I changed directions and rode directly to my willow tree. There, under the cover of its draping branches, I changed into Lucille's dress and tucked my maid's attire back into my lunch bag. I slipped off my ugly holey shoes and slipped on a pair of sandals I had borrowed from Beth, with a few well chosen words. Apparently, Beth loved romance as much as Hanna did and she thought the reason I was absent so much was because I was currently seeing some peasant boy. Oh Ari. She had said. I always knew you wouldn't stay single for long. Who is this friend of yours? I pretended to blush and walked away, barely containing my laugher. At least I could sneak in late without getting in trouble and borrow clothes with explanations. Lucille had better shoes, but she, like Helga and Greta, was cursed with abnormally big feet. I would never fit in them.
I changed the saddle on Hotspur to a sidesaddle I had hidden at the base of the willow tree. I wrapped the regular saddle in waterproof paper in case in rained and left it on the ground. I climbed onto the saddle and, disliking the uncomfortable feeling of a sidesaddle and understanding now how Lucille could slip off the saddle that day in the meadow, rode away.
Derek was waiting for me at the front of the manor with Ortizo and Rameses. He jogged up to me and helped me off my horse. A stable boy came and took Hotspurs away.
"You look nice." Derek said.
"Thank you." I replied, blushing. In the background, Ortizo and Rameses grinned. Derek led me into the entrance hall. It was magnificent. The hall was about 20 feet wide extremely long. The floor and walls were polished marble. It was lavishly decorated with paintings, statues, and gold trim. Glass chandeliers hung from the ceiling and sparkled tin their own light. A row of crystal lights was strung on both walls, ending at the end of the hall. Derek pulled me into another corridor just off the entrance. This one was much more poorly decorated; the walls and floors were made of wood and the decoration was limited to plants and a few paintings. We walked to the end of the hallway and out a door that led outside. A short stroll on a paved sidewalk led to a pavilion. A table set with candies and sweets was set up. Balloons and colorful streamers decorated the pavilion. Paper lanterns hung out of reach of little hands completed the look. Already, three little children had arrived. As we climbed the stone steps leading up to the pavilion, two of them ran to Derek crying, "Derek! Derek!" Derek scooped them up and hugged them. He set them down where they peered shyly at me.
"Thomas, Gertie, this is Ari. Ari, this is my brother and sister, Thomas and Gertie."
"Hello." I said, smiling as sweetly as I could. Thomas waved shy and Gertie only stared at me. Silence followed. "How old are you turning?" I asked, hoping to break the silence. The children stared at me.
"They're turning six." Derek answered when Thomas and Gertie did not reply.
"That's nice." I said. Thomas and Gertie looked at me nervously. More silence ensured. Finally, Derek bent and whispered something to them. Thomas nodded and left, taking his sister with him.
"They're usually more talkative. They'll get use to you in time." Derek apologized.
"That's alright. They're sweet." I replied.
"More children should be arriving soon." Said Derek. He led me to a corner of the pavilion where we could sit and watch the children. True to his word, people began bringing in children until the pavilion contained about fifteen little kids. Derek and I simply sat in two chairs placed a little outside the pavilion occasionally stopping children from throwing candy or playing too rough. It was the nursemaids' job to make sure everything went smoothly, but a few extra pairs of hands didn't hurt. Besides, I had time to bond with the little children, the little brats. They weren't all bad. There was just this one kid, Lord Deaver of something. He was the devil reincarnated. He found me incredibly amusing, fun to throw food at or just to point at and laugh hysterically. He had a trick of holding his breath until he was blue in the face. As much as I wished to let him suffocate himself, I couldn't help but worry when his face turned a particular shade of purple. I would beg him to let out his breath, and he would, just to laugh in my face. He tried the trick several times, and I fell for it every time.
However, Derek's brother and sister was incredible sweet, Gertie especially. Once she got over her shyness of me, a formidable task that required much coaxing on Derek's part, she became extremely fond of me. She brought me bits of food or toys and loved to sit on my lap. I think she felt out of place at the party; most of the guests were males and they were getting rowdy, a bit too much for quiet Gertie. Thomas liked me, a little. He was somewhat genuine when he talked to me, even though Derek made him be nice, but he ignored me most of the time.
At around one in the afternoon, when the sun shined hotly and the children were drowsy, the nursemaids came and took away all the children. Gertie was the last to leave. When she was taken off my lap she unexpectedly turned around and gave me a kiss on the cheek. That was absolutely the sweetest thing I had ever received. I completely regret calling the children brats earlier.
Derek seemed pleased with Gertie's attachment to me. When I recovered from the shock, he led me to the front of the building where Hotspur was waiting.
I entered the manor through the kitchen. Beth was standing by the stove cooking today's dinner. I placed the bag with her sandals on the kitchen counter beside her, brightly murmuring a word of thanks. She didn't reply; she only glanced once at the bag, once at me, and then hurriedly returned to her cooking. I immediately sensed that something was wrong in the house. It was too quiet. The servants were all busily and seemed determined not to meet my eyes. They made not a sound as they worked and were constantly glancing around nervously, as if afraid something would spontaneously explode. What would explode, I soon learned, was Helga.
I found Helga and Lucille in the sitting room drinking tea quietly. When I appeared, Helga motioned for me to enter and close the door behind me. As soon as I did so, Lucille appeared out of thin air and snatched my bag from my surprised hands. She dumped its contents onto the floor unceremoniously. I quietly thanked the gods that I had returned the sandals to Beth right before I entered.
"Ah ha!" Lucille cried triumphantly. "This is my dress! You stole it." She seized the pink bundle, shook it in my face, and then returned to sit by her mother, tossing the dress carelessly onto an empty chair.
When silence was restored, Helga said coldly. "Where have you been, Ari?" I said nothing, only returned her gaze levelly. "Let me answer that for you." Helga continued. "You were off making frivolous trips with Prince Derek. You lied to us. There was no trip to pick up plow supplies. I suppose Togalo was in on the scheme too. I'll have to do something about that."
"Wait!" I cried. "Togalo didn't know anything. I did pick up the plow supply." I couldn't let Togalo get fired because of me. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the freaky metal piece Togalo had given me this morning. "I did pick up the plow supplies. Here it is. The trip took less time than Togalo intended. I stopped by the party instead to going home early." I handed Helga the piece of metal. She examined it carefully.
"What is it?" She asked me, eyes narrowed.
I shrugged. "I don't know. I think the man at the store said it was part of the moldboard plow bottom, whatever that is." Helga seemed convinced. Obviously, her knowledge of plows was as limited as mine.
"Well." Helga said. "This absence is inexcusable. Not only were you dallying from your chores, you were interacting with Prince Derek. This shall not happen again." I glanced at Lucille. She was smiling smugly at herself.
"Like you could stop me." I muttered quietly.
"What was that?" Helga demanded.
"Nothing." I said quickly.
"Are you sure, because I could have sworn I heard something along the lines of try and stop me. Really, Ari. I'm quite sad that we have come to this, but you leave me no choice. I shall send you away."
"Away?"
"Yes. Away. We can't have you here ruining Lucille's chances with the prince, can we? No. I shall send you to a boarding school for girls. I know a lady who is headmistress at one. I'm sure she is in need of another servant. You leave tomorrow morning." With that, Helga swept out of the room. After shooting me with another haughty smirk, Lucille followed. I sat down on the couch, cursing my misfortune. The only girls who could afford to stay in boarding schools were the rich noble ones. This was probably going to be a finishing school like the one my mother wrote about in her diary. My days would be filled with the incessant chatter of air-headed idiots like Lucille. It would be like when Lucille's friends came over for dinner, only a thousand times worst. I wouldn't be able to see Derek, Beth, Yvette, Hanna, Togalo, or Hank. What would I do with Beryl?
Sighing, I dragged myself to my room. Hank was waiting outside the window. I let him in and relayed to him today's events.
"So you got yourself sent away." The hawk said dejectedly.
I scowled at him. "It's not like I went out of my way to get myself into trouble. And I know I screwed up. Must you point it out?" I snapped irritably.
"Gosh, Ari. I didn't mean anything bad by it."
I rolled my eyes. "Ugh. I've just had it with Helga and Lucille. I'm glad I'm sent away. At least don't have to deal with them anymore." My tone was nicer this time, which was as close to an apology for my crabbiness as Hank was going to get. He accepted it nevertheless.
"Seems like I'll be moving." He said.
"You're coming with me?"
"Of course. I'm your guardian. I have to come with you, to keep you out of trouble."
"Thank you!" I reached out and hugged Hank. He scowled and preened the feathers I had ruffled.
"What will I do with Beryl?"
"I'll arrange for a pickup to take her back to her own country. It was about time she left anyways. She can't stay here. She doesn't belong in this country. When do you leave?"
"Tomorrow morning."
"Than I better go contact the wizard now. I'll get you in the morning, Ari." Hank hopped out the window and left.
I watched Hank disappeared into the darkness and then turned back to my room. I dragged the cardboard box with Hank's feathers which I had been collecting out from under by bed, along with another the pack I used to carry Lucille's dress in. Lucille had carelessly left both the dress and the bag in the sitting room and I had retrieved the bag on my way out, thinking it would help with the backing. I carefully took out my mother's wine stained gown and the glass slippers and laid them on my bed. I stood pondering what to do with them. I couldn't carry such finery on the road for fear of being robbed and I might be accused of having stolen them at the school, but I certainly couldn't leave them here in the grasp of Helga and Lucille. Suddenly, I seized my pillow and striped it of its case. I placed the dress and shoes inside the pillowcase and sealed the opening as best I could. Then, I buried it into the box with the feathers. I sealed the box as well. This I would give to Togalo for safe keeping. Next, I opened my cloth bag and stuffed into it all my shifts except for the one I was currently wearing. After that came all my other belongings. I didn't have much. In went a hairbrush, some leather strips for tying my hair, my dirty old apron, a sash, a couple of handkerchiefs, and my most prized possession besides the ball gown and slippers, my belt knife. It was plain-looking, but its blade was keen and was probably more expensive than it looked. Togalo had gotten it for me when I was young, when I showed signs of being a tomboy, he claimed. I tied the mouth of the bag shut and dropped it beside the foot of my bed. I climbed into bed and promptly fell asleep. Those children at the party must have worn me out. Helga would probably be looking for be at dinner, but I didn't care.
The next morning, Helga met me at the front door. A wagon with a man pulled by a tired looking horse was waiting beside her. Without a word, for I had done all my goodbyes, I tossed by bag inside the wagon and climbed on beside it. I expected to be driven off right away, but Helga had some last words.
"Ari, Lucille and I had a talk last night. We decided that Lucille would need a lady-in-waiting when she appeared in court, so you shall be her future lady. Now you shall attend lessons at that school and return in time for the first major ball of the season."
"You know lessons cost money, right?" I replied.
"Of course. That's why you will earn your keep with the chores you will do." Helga smirked coldly and walked inside. The man in the wagon drew his whip across the horse's back and the horse started walking.
The ride was bump and boring. The driver was as taciturn as humanly possible. The only thing he said to me was 'several hours' when I asked him how long the ride would take. I sat in the wagon bed with my back to the driver, staring listlessly at the scenery as we past. Towards midday, when the driver showed no signs of stopping for a rest, I seized my bag and dug inside for a bag of cheese and bread I had hidden, correctly guessing that Helga would not provide me with lunch. I untied the bag and peered inside. Suddenly, a white ball of fur popped out. I bit back a scream as the ball of fur meowed softly.
"What are you doing here?" I hissed softly, glancing back at the driver. He did not seem to notice the noise. I shifted the bag containing Beryl onto my lap, where Beryl would be hidden from the driver.
"I didn't want to be left behind." Beryl complained.
"Hank arranged for a pickup."
"But I don't wanna go home. I wanna stay here." Beryl cried in her whinnest voice.
"Beryl, you can't stay here. You don't belong here."
"But Uncle Hank is here."
"But Hank was sent here. This isn't like back home, Beryl. I'll probably be sharing my room." The driver must have heard something, for he made a noise. I turned my head. The driver looked at me, and then shook his head as if brushing this incident off as a crazy girl talking to herself. I lowered my voice. "I can't speak to you like I did back in my room." Beryl pouted. "And I don't even know if they allow cats at wherever I'm going." I added. Beryl sighed dejectedly. "But it can't do any harm to let you stay a little while longer." Hearing this, Beryl's ears perked up. "But you have to promise to go home soon." I added sternly. "Do we have a deal?" Beryl nodded happily. "Into the bag again." I ordered. Beryl obeyed. I tied the bag loosely and set it carefully down.
At sunset, a large mansion came into view. It seemed very old and fancy. As we drove down the road leading to the mansion entrance, I read on a large sign the words, Winston Academy. This was the school my mother attended. I was suddenly eager to enter the academy. The driver pulled up in front of the mansion. He got out and knocked loudly, while I slipped off the wagon and picked up my bag of belongings gently. A moment later, a tall stern woman with graying hair answered the door. She was wearing a deep purple dress with a high collar and tight sleeves down to her wrist. The driver handed the woman a letter. The woman opened the enveloped and read its contents. She scanned me with a pinched look on her face. Then, she swiftly beckoned for me to follow her and swept into the mansion. Cradling the bag in my arms, I followed obediently. The stern woman led me to a fancy wooden door and signaled me to wait. She entered the room and returned a minute later. She held the door open. I ducked inside and heard the door close behind me. I found myself face to face with an even sterner looking woman. She was seated behind a colossal wooden desk in a well furnished room. The woman—I recognized her as headmistress from the name plate on her desk—also had graying hair. She wore it on a bun on top of her head. Her dress, of a brownish black color, consisted of many layers and was more intricate and expensive looking than the other lady's, with the same high collar and long tight sleeves. Lace lay bundled at the hollow of her neck, fastened with an ivory and gold brooch.
"I am headmistress here, Madame Buquey. Your ride was well, I trust?" She spoke, her voice as cold as ice. I nodded. "Do you understand the conditions in which you are to stay?"
"Not really." I answered.
"No? Well I better inform you of them. You will earn your food, room, and board with work. Six hours are to be completed per day. Perhaps you will need to rise or stay up a few extra hours. Or both. You may do your hours in advance if you desire. Report your hours of Madame Matilda. We wear uniform here, Arianna. You will pay for your standard day wear, nightgown, and shoes with extra hours, 20 to be exact. Do you understand?"
"Ok." I said. Madame Buquey looked at me expectantly. I looked at her back, not knowing what I did wrong. "Yes Madame?"
Madame Buquey accepted this. "Matilda!" She called. The first stern woman in the purple dress poked her head in.
"Yes?" She said.
"Take Arianna here to her room. The girls should be finishing dinner soon. She can begin her chores tomorrow." Matilda nodded and led me silently out of the room. She marched me across a beautiful marble entrance hallway, down several winding corridors and up several flights of stairs. Finally, she stopped outside a room. Matilda opened the door and I peered in. The room was longer than it was wide, with a long row of identical beds down one side. Trunks lay at the foot of each bed and a row of corresponding wardrobes opposite each bed, with wicker chairs and tables set randomly. The room was completely covered in various shades of pink and white. The walls were a pure white and a large window at the opposite side of the long room was decorated with white curtains with pink trim and shiny hanging beads. The beds were white, with a pink throw and pink pillows. The trucks and wardrobes were white with pink knobs, as was the floor. All the wicker furniture was, predictably, white with pink cushions. A white nightstand stood beside each bed and on the nightstand rested a pink reading lamp. There was no personal items in view, nothing that suggested that anyone lived here, but somehow, I suspected that all of these beds were occupied.
"The one at the far end is yours and the dressing room is across the hall." Matilda said and left before I could reply. When she disappeared, I entered the room and shut the door. I drifted to the bed that Matilda said was mine. It was the one closest to the window, and also had a dress and a nightgown lay neatly on the bed. A pair of shoes was set on the floor beside it. I opened my bag and let Beryl clamber out. As she investigated the room, I examined my dress. It was pink, long sleeved, and made of some type of shiny material. It was long enough to brush my boot tips and rather puffy. The dress was embroidered with pink embroidery in the shapes of flowers, leaves, and curling vines and contained far too many pink bows. A matching pink sash accompanied it. It seemed just like the kind of hideous dress Lucille would wear. I dropped the dress and examined the nightgown. It was white and lacy and covered with bows, perhaps even more than the dress. It had a high collar and long tight sleeves. I wonder how someone would be able to sleep in this; the bows on the back must be uncomfortable. Disappointed, I inspected the shoes. These, like I anticipated, were just as hideous as the dress and nightgown. They weren't serviceable boots, but black shiny slippers. They had a rounded toe and half an inch heel. They reminded me of ballet slippers, except the material was harder and it had a black strap that went over the top of my foot. However, the thing that repulsed me the most was the repulsive pink bow glued to the top of each shoe. Was it not bad enough that bows littered the dress and nightgown, but they had to invade the shoes as well?
Groaning, I deposited the pink dress and my bag carelessly into the trunk and snatched up the nightgown. I opened the door and peered out. Seeing no one, I tiptoed across the hall on to the door Matilda had said was the dressing room. Inside, I locked the door and turned on the light. Quickly, I slipped out of my dress and into the white nightgown. I tiptoed back to my room. Arriving at my bed, I opened my trunk and tossed this dress in as well. Suddenly, I heard loud shrill voices coming from the hallways. Realizing that the girls must be done with dinner now, I quickly stuffed Beryl under the bed despite her indignant cries, turned off the lights, and dove into bed, turned my face away from the door, and pretending to be asleep. A moment later, I heard the door open and all the lights snapped on again. The girls streamed in talking loudly. Spontaneously, all the voices stopped. They must have spotted me.
"What is that?" I heard a girl say. Already I could label her as the Lucille type. Only she could have a voice that shrill.
"I think it's a ghost." Another girl said. Great. Another Greta.
"It's absurd." The first girl said distastefully.
"Come on. Leave her alone." A different voice said. "She's sleeping, as you can see."
"Melissa! How—." The girl with the shrill voice was interrupted by Matilda's sour voice.
"Girls!" Matilda scolded. "Do not waste your time with chit chat. Get changed and go to bed."
"Yes Mistress." A chorus of girls said softy. Matilda swept out of the door and closed the door loudly.
The girls immediately forgot about me in their haste to get changed. I slowly opened one eye. No one noticed me. The first girl, the one that reminded me of Lucille, was blond, tall, and anorexic-looking, with a slightly hooked nose. The stupid girl was blond as well, but shorter and rounder. The nice girl, Melissa, looked normal. She didn't exactly have that willowy figure the first girl had, but at least she looked like her parents fed her. And healthy. Melissa saw me observing everyone and winked. I, caught, blushed and turned away, sleep for real this time.
A/N: At long last, the next chapter. It probably wasn't worth the wait, but I tried to update and make it good. I really did. Please forgive me and REVIEW! You can show you forgive me with those! And they'd encourage me to update sooner!
And I know the whole school thing seems like stalling, but it really does add to the plot...