The Lost Girl

Chapter Nine

Skylar's Perspective
    I got up in the dead of night. I suddenly knew I needed the letter. I wanted to show it to James. And to Luna. I had to show her and ask her what she meant. She couldn't be a queen? She couldn't explain why she couldn't come home? I snuck through the hallway.
     I opened her door. I picked the letter up from where I had left it. On the floor. I felt bad that I hadn't kept it safe. I looked over at the jewelry box.
    Suddenly I remembered two years ago. I had seen Luna riding off in the storm. I raced out to the barn and found William crying. I had never confronted him. I had never had the courage to ask him what he had done. He always acted as if he knew nothing. Something changed within me. I was ready for the morning. I was finally ready.
   In the early dawn I met James in the courtyard. The sun was starting to rise. He smiled at me and held my hand. I knew I could trust him to help me.
    "James. I remembered something. Someone helped Luna run away." I said.
    "Who?" He asked.
    "You'll see." I said.
    "Who?" He demanded.
    "The stable boy." I said.
     I pointed towards the stables. There he was. William was standing in the doorways of the barn smoking a pipe. I breathed in deeply. I gathered courage. I grabbed my skirts in one hand. I tugged James' hand with the other and began running. We raced up to the young man.
I cornered William against the barn walls. Two years ago I ran through the rain and lost Luna. I had wanted to stop my sister from whatever fate had happened to her. She had rode away before I could. Nobody had ever found her. I glared at William as I pushed him into the wall. He coughed and dropped his pipe.
    "What did my sister tell you when she left?" I asked him.
    "What do you mean?" He replied dumbly.
   "I know you saw her when she left. I saw you two." I spat out.
    "Why did you wait two years to interrogate me?" He almost laughed.
    I pressed him harder. He coughed, and glanced over at James. James had his arms folded. He regarded William with a royal glare.
    "I don't know where she went or where she is." William insisted.
    I didn't believe him. He stared at me with a wild look in his eyes. He knew something. James stepped closer.
    "You believe she's alive?" I asked as I grabbed his ear.
    "Ouch. Of course I do." He said.
    "She better be." I said.
    "Which way did she go?" James asked.
    "She left from the valley and headed West." William groaned.
    "We're going to find her. And you're going to help us get away now and not say a word." I said.
    He nodded. I let him go. He rubbed his ear as I grabbed Stella from her stall. I glanced outside at the sun. It was already near noon. The sun had risen high.
    William hastily brushed our horses. Prince Snow glowed. Then the stable boy saddled our horses. James impatiently tapped his foot as he waited. When the horses were ready James helped me into Stella's saddle. His strong arms hoisted me up.
I rode off. We passed through the Brookfield meadows.To me it was mere meadows with a small brook. Nothing special. It was a treasure to our castle and kingdom, but I thought of it as just my playground. I glanced around to take in my last look of the familiar landscape. I was leaving home. I couldn't believe it. We were really leaving. I looked at James upon his horse. He looked confident. He looked ready.
         "I don't know where to head." I said weakly.
     "We head towards the valley like William said. The valley is near the edge of your kingdom." He said.
     "Lead the way." I said.
    I pushed my horse forward. We rode underneath the hot sun. I wished we had packed water or food. My thoughts wandered to all the things we didn't have. I looked around for signs of any person passing through. I saw none. I sighed in relief. I didn't want to get caught this early on.
    James rode ahead of me. I could tell he was using his training skills. He knew everything about looking for someone as a prince I assumed. He had survival skills. He surveyed the land as we went along. He paused and checked out trees. He ripped a piece of fabric from his shirt and marked a tree limb.
    "Why did you do that?" I asked.
    "In case we get lost." He responded.
    We didn't stop until it got dark. The moon was a small sliver in the sky.
As I was staring up at the star-filled sky I thought back to when Luna had left. The ghost of her haunted me. I had to find her. I had raced after her to the stables that fateful night. I remembered it now like it was yesterday. The day had finally come to find her. The day she left it had been storming. I went to find her in her room, but she hadn't been there. I had rushed through the castle and hurried to the stables. I had seen her as just a speck in the storm. She had raced away on a gray horse.
  "Sister!" I had tried to cry out, but my voice had been stolen by the wind.
  For years I hadn't confronted William. He had sworn that she had stolen a horse. I knew that wasn't true now. He had always done our saddlery. He was the best one who knew how. I swore under my breath as I pieced together a lying servant. I had never asked him, had he been in love with Luna? I wondered why he hadn't gone after her? Was he the reason that she had run away? I felt embarrassed that I knew nothing. She had been my sister. I was almost helpless. I had no way to change my horse's saddlery everyday. I had needed William. I cursed him.
    A hand tapped me on my shoulder. I was being shaken. I blinked away my thoughts and saw Prince James leaning over towards me. He was in front of me in the present. I was pulled out of my head. His blond hair was messed up by the wind. He smiled daftly at me.
  "Princess Sky, it's time to move forward." he told me.
  "Sorry, Prince James. I was just thinking about Princess Luna." I apologized.
   He nodded as he glanced away. I wondered if he remembered that night. Of course he must've. Everyone was supposed to know of their engagement the next day.
  "So, she left from the valley," James recalled once more, "and then she headed West."
    James pulled a compass out of his pocket. I gasped with delight. He had been prepared. I pushed Stella onward. We rode through the valley. I stared into the distance excited to finally find my twin sister.
  "Why did she leave?" I sighed.
  "I never understood why she left," James admitted, "I don't think I really ever knew her."
    "She left this letter about not becoming a queen." I sighed.
    "I don't understand either. Is there something wrong with me?" He asked.
    "Heavens no. I don't think so." I replied.
    "I have to find her so I can understand why she left me, because I feel like it's my fault. If she didn't want to marry me of course she ran away. Besides if what Charming said is right we have to see her. You deserve to know the truth." He said firmly.
    The wind made me shiver. The moon had risen high into the sky. It was shining down upon us to light up our path. It was a dim white light reminding me of my own sister. She had to be out there somewhere underneath the same moon that I now saw. I briefly wondered if she was staring at the moon at the same time as me?
    I pulled the letter out of my pocket. I handed it to James. We paused on our horses as he read it. Tears began to well in his eyes.
    "She didn't just break our arrangement. She broke my heart. She had been my friend and she just left us all with no answers." James said softly.
    "I know. She broke my heart too." I replied.
    "No one should ever break your heart." James said.