Soon enough, the waves crashing against the shore lulled Ronnie asleep in Lucky's lap. She knew it wasn't a good idea, but she wanted to forget everything that had happened in the past hour. She must have been tired, because shadows were thrown across her as she slept.
An hour or two later, Ronnie's eyes fluttered open, only to see Lucky brush his lips against hers. Startled, Ronnie sat up to Lucky looking beetroot red.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have..." he trailed off. Ronnie gave him a friendly kiss on the cheek, "It's fine, but you know I..."
"Yeah, I got it," Lucky mumbled, "Well, I'd better go," he rose awkwardly to his feet and set off at a run through the acres of fields to the stable, whose spires could just be seen over the hillock. Ronnie hugged her knees to her chest and ran a hand through her cropped hair. God damn it, first Rieva, now him. Unable to sit still, Ronnie picked her way down the French shoreline towards the back of the Villa. Maybe she'd hop on the train to Paris tomorrow, there were always handsome men at the bars there. She rolled her eyes. She was 16, no one was going to up and take her home. No, she would have to find somewhere else to go. Spinning on her heels, Ronnie set off towards the forest. She could get Sagano, her favorite horse, but she didn't think she could handle seeing Lucky again. She would have to run.
Her combat boots made muffled thumping noises as Ronnie bounded towards another fence, intending to leap over it. She took two last steps and hurtled into the air. Just when she thought she'd cleared it, wham! She ate grass as her foot caught on the top rail, sending her to the ground. Holding her pounding head, Ronnie stumbled to her feet. "Oww, jesus.." she muttered, embarrassed and irritated. She didn't think anyone had seen the mishap, but there were always other hands around. Sure enough, "Hey, Ronnie! You ok?" It was Giuseppe, one of the older stable hands. He stepped over the fence and looked at Ronnie, chuckling, "That was a pretty nice smack you had there," he smiled. Ronnie blushed and looked at the ground, "I'll be ok," she mumbled. Guiseppe clapped her on the back, "That's my girl, remember what I told you about Sagano, he misses you." Ronnie smiled, "I know, Gus, thanks." She kept walking towards the woods, resolved to not leap over any more fences if she could help it.
Half an hour later, Ronnie was sitting in her favorite tree, struggling through another German book. No one at the Villa spoke German (as far as she knew, but the estate was huge) but her old teacher, Jacques, had wanted her to learn German and Italian. Italian had been easy, but she hated German, the sounds didn't agree with her tongue. Reading it was slightly better, but it still wasn't very pleasant. Snorting, Ronnie snapped the book shut and hopped out of the tree, wandering back through the woods to her clubhouse she had finished when she was younger. It was actually an old tower from a wall that once stood on the coast, but Ronnie and Lucky had spent over a year cleaning it and putting furnishings in it. The didn't spend so much time there anymore, but Ronnie had put her collection of weapons on the ground floor. She liked North Tower just fine, but the clubhouse was a little more spacious, and no one ever came out there. Ronnie emerged into a clearing and walked towards a shadowy oak door. It creaked when she opened it, and she slipped inside. The stone tower was just two circular rooms and a roof looking out over the sea. When she wasn't going to school with Jacques, Ronnie lived out in the woods. It was quiet and she didn't ever have to worry about seeing anyone she didn't like, namely Rieva. Lucky always made sure she had food, sometimes he spent the night when the stable hands got drunk. Ronnie climbed upstairs and sat by the window, thinking about Lucky. She wondered if she might give him a chance. She loved him like a friend, she saw him as a cousin, but she wondered if she should let him be more. Ronnie respected Lucky, he was her best friend, but she'd always had a huge crush on David, one of the footmen. He was way out of her league though. She loved Lucky, but the thought of kissing him... no. Just no. She couldn't do it, it would never work. Still ruminating about Lucky, and wondering how she could make it up to him, Ronni fell asleep by the window on the eve of her seventeenth birthday.
YOU ARE READING
Hidden Mirrors
ФэнтезиVeronika "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...
