Chapter 1: Ash 1882
I've dreamt about her every night since that day. Her long fiery hair, those rosy red cheeks. Most of all though, her eyes. Her stunning emerald eyes. It's been ten long years since I've seen them. After my father and I found our way to our new home, I began to visit her. I would spend time with her in the meadow where we met. We would tell each other stories and chase butterflies through the fields. One day though, my father found out where I had been spending all my time, I had originally told him that I was in town with other children, but it didn't fool him for long. He had taken away my horse and banned me from ever seeing her again. Of course, being myself, I still tried. I never got very far before he caught up to me. I've yet to see her again. I plan to, and nothing shall stop me.
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"Wake up Ash! Wake up!"
I stirred groggily, who would wake me up at this hour? I had my answer. Amelie. My little stepsister. She was jumping on my chest yelling at me to get up. Of course it didn't hurt, she only weighed 25 pounds, if even that much.
"Get up! Get up! You don't want to sleep through your birthday do you?"
Oh right. How could I forget. Today was my seventeenth birthday.
"Come on! Mummy and daddy are waiting!" I could see she wasn't going to let me sleep any longer. Oh well, the day has to start eventually.
"All right, all right Amelie I'm up. Are you happy now?" I started to tickle her and she laughed.
"Stop! Stop! Ash!" She couldn't stop giggling.
"All right, go tell mother and father that I'll be down in a minute." She left the room, still laughing.
When I was about thirteen, my father met a woman named Cornelia. She had just had Amelie when her and my father got married. She was always very nice to me, I never had a problem with her. As for Amelie, well shes the sweetest thing you could ever imagine. With her dark brown hair and big blue eyes, she was a little angel. I quickly dressed in a white button-up shirt and black pants, I did nothing with my hair. The black strands just found their way back in front of my eyes no matter what I did. I looked at myself in mirror, always wondering what other people saw. I saw a sturdy figure with pale skin, black, shaggy hair, grey eyes, and a dull, bored expression. I lifted my lips into a smile, I should be happy, I'm finally seventeen! I walked out of the room and down the old, wooden stairs that led to the dinning room.
"Happy Birthday Ash! I was greeted with loud shouts from my father, Cornelia, and Amelie.
"Thank you very much, this means a lot to me you guys." I smiled Amelie came up to me and gave me a small box with a little red bow on top.
"This is for you, I made it with all my heart." She smiled up at me "Happy Birthday."
I opened the lid to reveal a bracelet made of colorful string. On the side of it, a small wooden charm hanged from one of the stings, a heart.
"See, thats my heart, filled with all my love. If you're ever scared or lonely, just look at it and know that I love you no matter what." Tears started to fill her eyes.
"Oh Amelie, this is beautiful. Thank you so very much. Oh don't cry angel, come here." I scooped her up into a big bear hug. "I love you little angel."
Cornelia looked at my father. "Oh look James, how sweet. Such a loving family we have raised." She smiled at all of us lovingly, her brown hair covering her pale blue eyes. "Well come on, lets eat, I didn't slave over a hot stove for nothing."
We all sat down and began to eat. I decided now would be a good time to bring up my plans.
"Father, I wanted to tell you that I'm going to make a small trip to London today. I was thinking of leaving as soon as possible, I might have to spend a night there, if its alright with you." I was a little nervous, lying to him like this, but if I told him the truth, that I was really going to go find Winnie, well he just might have a stroke.
"Why do you need to go to London?"
"Yes, and why on your birthday?" Cornelia added.
"Well, its just that I haven't been there in some years and I wouldn't mind going on my own, just a small taste of the city." I waited for their answer.
"Well as long as your back some point tomorrow, its fine with me."
"Thank you father, I'll bring you some of that special herbal tea you and Cornelia love so much."
Amelie squeeled."Ooo! Could you bring some of that hot chocolate as well Ash? Oh Please?"
"Of course Amelie, I'll bring you a whole bag of hot chocolate." I laughed at her excitement.
"Yay!" She sang.
"Alright, enough talk. Its time to eat." Cornelia said. We rambled about unimpotant things as our meal went on.
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"Do you have enough to last you through the night?" My father seemed a little worried about me going off on my own. Not that he didn't trust me -though he shouldn't- its just that I've never been on my own for this long of a time before.
"Yes, I'm sure I've got everthing. Thank you for letting me do this father, it means alot to me."
"Well your not a boy anymore. Your a man. So you should be treated like one, I trust you to make it back safe. Have a great time son." He gave me a pat on the shoulder and stepped back to join Conelia and Amelie. I gave one last wave to my family, climbed onto my horse, Pistol, and I was off.
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It felt good to be free. The wind in my hair, the sun warming me from head to toe. It was wonderful. I had been riding for awhile now, maybe a half hour or so. My plan was to find Winnie, spend the day with her, go to London and go home. It was a stretch, but I knew I could do it. I hadn't been on these roads since i was eight years old, before my father took Pistol away from me. I began to see familiar things. Trees, hills, streams and ponds. I began to feel great, open and free. I was eager to find her, the princess that roams these landscapes. My princess. A thought occured to me. We were both older now, I had just turned seventeen, and she must be around sixteen by this time of year. What if thigs have changed? Would it be good change or bad change? Would we feel different towards each other? Have we maybe grown appart? No. That wasn't possible. Was it? Now I was nervous. What if she didn't want anything to do with me? No, that wouldn't happen. We were the best of friends. And no one could really replace me, the only other friend she'd had was Nellie. A small, thin girl with straw colored hair and dull blue eyes. A nice girl, "Always there for someone when they need her." Winnie had told me. I kept pondering this as I went on. After awhile I came across a meadow. Our meadow. I couldn't see anyone, maybe she wasn't here, maybe she had moved. A large pain twisted in my stomach at the thought. I was about to turn to go when I saw movement in the trees. I began to panic, until I saw something else. A movement of bright color, like a flame flickering behind the trees.
