The Whispering Flowers

Stolen Goods

The carriage jostles me awake and I open my eyes. Across from me is Rosemary and Magnolia fast asleep, Rosemary's head on Magnolia's shoulder. My green cloak, which I had packed first, is strewn across me to keep me warm. The sun is starting to fall towards the West and I peer out of the window of the carriage. We are passing by large fields of sunflowers, going on for miles. I take the cloak and put it around my shoulders. I turn around to knock on the small window where I can see Peters back and he pulls the reins to stop the horse. I climb out of the carriage carefully and come around to the front, seeing the horse for the first time.

We are on a dirt road, surrounded on both sides by sunflowers, all facing the sun. Up ahead, the road leads to an oak forest, where I suppose we are heading. I come up to the horse and pet his large figure. It is a black shire horse, with long white hair near its hooves and a white face. "What's wrong?" Peter asks, looking surprised. "Oh nothing, I was getting bored just staring at my sisters," I say. I walk over and step up onto the bench next to Peter. "Well keep going," I say smiling at him.

He pulls the reins and the horse begins to trudge on. "Soo.." I begin, "Where are we?" He turns his head towards me and smiles. "We have traveled for nearly three hours now, so on the other side of this forest should be the town of Hillwood," he says. "Wow," I say sarcastically, "So, where are we camping out?" Peter points his finger at the forest up ahead. "Most likely in the forest. There should be a river so we can all bathe and collect water," replies Peter. We sit in silence for a bit, rocking back and forth over the bumps in the road. The sun is starting to create an orange glow over the sky, having the sunflowers cast long shadows over the road.

We begin to enter the forest, sunlight trickling through the branches, creating shapes on the ground. He takes the carriage deep into the forest, to the point where I can not see the sunflowers anymore, and suddenly Peter pulls the carriage to the side of the road. "Why are we stopping?" I ask. "This is where we will camp," he says. I climb down and open the carriage. "Oi, Rosemary, Magnolia, were stopping for the night," I shout into the carriage. They awake and sleepily climb out. Peter is retrieving the cases from the top of the carriage and placing them on the ground. "Magnolia, Rosemary, there is a river nearby, could you collect a bucket of water," says Peter, throwing a bucket down to the two of them. They nod and Peter points to the left, showing where the river was. They scurry off giggling into the woods. "Be fast the sun is setting!" I shout after them.

Peter throws down a few tarps and the rest of the baggage and starts to set up the three tents we had taken. "Hey, could you keep putting up these tents? I've got to use the restroom," Peter says. I nod to him allowing him to go into the forest and I try to put up the tent in front of me. I hear a rustling in the bushes nearby and I get a bit worried. "Peter?" I say towards the sound.

A wicked chuckle comes from the bushes and two men creep out holding daggers. I gasp and stumble back onto my poor excuse of a tent. "Hello pretty," says one of them slowly walking towards me. He was towering over me, with shaggy dark hair, deep brown eyes, and a wicked smile plastered on his face. "We're not gonna hurt you if you do what we say," says the other man. He is short and unhealthy skinny with yellowing teeth and unkempt hair. Both of their outfits tattered and dirty.

I get myself up and they slowly back me up against the carriage, the tall one holding a knife to my throat. "Look what we have here, a royal," he says, lifting the end of my cloak to reveal my family emblem. The second one laughs in my face. "We're gonna be rich Barty, the King will pay us a large ransom for her," he says, spitting in my face. The short one, Barty, pulls a sack out of his pocket and starts to pack up our food and one of the tents. "You're not allowed to-" but the tall one puts his dirty hand over my mouth, and pushes his body against mine. "Shh," he sneers. I bite his fingers and he pulls his hand away and groans in pain. "You filthy scum!" he says slapping me. I fall to the floor clutching my burning cheek and he laughs down at me.