Chapter 1: Hello Dear Mother
"Ronni, your stance, what do I keep telling you?" Jaques clipped as Ronni's bow arm shook dangerously. Ronni's face twisted into a grimace as she attempted in vain to hold the bow straight. Finally, as Jaques continued to stare crtically, Ronni let the arrow fly. With a relieved sigh, she dropped her aching arm and watched, satisfied, as the arrow struck the target with a loud whump. Dead center. Ronni smirked, my stance, ha, look at that shot. Jaques looked dumbfounded as he stared at the quivering arrow. Finally, he seemed to come to himself, and barked at Ronni, "class dismissed." Ronni, her cropped punk-rocker black hair swinging, ran towards the tudor mansion at the edge of the woods, leaving her teacher with his own thoughts.
The house was an odd sort of hybrid between a medieval mansion, complete with spires and a castle-like aura, but finished with white plaster and exposed beams, giving the towering structure a half-timbered style. But Ronni sprinted, not towards the house, but towards a squatter building of the same style (sans the spires) off to the left. White fences stretched out from the building, crisscrossing across manicured green lawns that stretched down the gentle hill at the far edge of the property. Ronni burst into the stables, breathing deeply at waving at Gordon, the stable boy. Slowing to a walk, Ronni approached a door that read 'Blazes' and shoved it open. A Palomino Morgan Stuck its head out, nuzzling Ronni's hand. Reaching into the pocket, Ronni stole a glance to make sure Gordon was out of sight, and pulled out a few sugar cubes. Blazes nickered and lapped them out of her hand. Stroking his forehead, Ronni smiled at the horse, and slipped a halter over his head. Leading him out of the stable building, Ronni swung onto his bare back and urged him towards the woods. Before Gordon could call her back, she and Blazes were weaving through the trees at a full gallop, far away from the mansion. They emerged from a thicket moments later, into a clearing with a sparkling pond scattered with boulders. Ronni swung off of Blazes and let him roam, she knew he wouldn't run far. Pulling off her flannel shirt, Ronni jumped onto a boulder, allowing the slanting sunlight to filter through the trees and warm her bare shoulders. This is how life is supposed to be, She thought.
"Veronika Stante! Your mother wishes to see you!" Ronni jumped off the boulder and threw on her shirt, Oh dear.
YOU ARE READING
Hidden Mirrors
FantasyVeronika "Ronni" Stante has always been a disappointment to her reclusive mother, whose rise to fame came from paintings that were first hailed as "magical" but later became "dangerous." Seven years later, Ronni is 16, and plans to find the works he...
