Lost but Loved

Chapter Nine: Knight Marcus

Lucy snuck outside and to the barn where the horses were kept. She went to the back and, with the help of a stable hand, picked out a young fresh stallion with a white hide and a pink nose. He wasn't rode often and the lord wouldn't miss this stallion. The creature flicked his ears back and nuzzled Lucy's hand. She fixed him up with reins and a saddle which was difficult considering he had only worn a saddle and a bridal twice before. With help from the stable hand, they managed to saddle him up.

Lucy led him outside, swung on and gently gave him the command to go. Whistling, she called Alec who bounded to her horse's side. The stallion sidestepped away and Lucy yelped for she wasn't expecting that. "Calm down, calm down!" She turned to the stable hand. "Does he have a name?" He shook his head. Lucy patted the neck of the horse, his eyes large and staring around himself. "I'll have to give him a name then."

She rode out of the gates without accident, the guards opening the gate for their lord's visiting lord. The ride was soon a galloping run with Alec running behind, keeping his distance from the horse to show he wasn't a harm to it. Lucy rode to the forest where the brook was. She met no one on the road but a family of peasants, Ma and Pa in the wagon seat, the children riding in the back. Pulling the wagon were old and tired mules. Lucy stopped and turned around after passing them, having taken pity on them. They stopped, surprised to have attracted the attention of a rich lord. The parents were scared that they were in trouble, and dreaded what Lucy had to say as she rode her new stallion up to their run down wagon and old mules.

"Greetings. Wonderful day today, no? Where are you going and what is your name?" Lucy tilted her head to them and tipped her hat. Alec sat at the horse's hooves, his pink tongue lolling and his chest heaving after having to keep up with a horse. Lucy's horse shuffled under her as she stared at the father.

"It is a wonderful day. We are traveling to a new home and our name is Marken, my lord." Lucy laughed and waved her hand. She slid out of the saddle and hit the ground. Alec's ears perked and he rested at Lucy's feet. She petted his head.

"Friends, do not call me 'my lord'. I find it amusing. I am Luke."

"Are you not a lord? You ride such a fine horse," the father asked. Lucy smiled sadly and shook her head.

"I am, but I have no riches of my own. I gave it all to my uncle for his farm. Besides, I have no need of it. This horse is Lord Benjamin's that I have taken for the day. Do you like Lord Benjamin?"

The mother and father looked at each other, not sure if they should trust this young man. The children, two boys and three girls came out of the wagon and went to see the wolf or what they thought was a dog. The youngest, a dirty boy, put his hand out to pet Alec when Alec snapped at his hand, catching a bit of the boy's fingers.

The boy started crying, and clutching his hand to his chest, he ran to his mother. "I am so sorry! Alec isn't good with people, especially children. I am so sorry!" Lucy apologized as she walked to the wagon. She grasped the mother's hand and looked into her green eyes.

The mother looked back. A stirring of warmth and love filled Lucy's chest. "You remind me of my mother. She was pretty too, had brown hair exactly like you and green eyes. She was a good mother." She grasped the man's hand and looked into his face, seeing her father. "And you like my father. I lost them when I was five. I hope none of you must go through the pain I went through."

Lucy backed away, opened her pouch and produced a couple of silver coins. She dropped them in the mother's trembling hands. "For good luck," she replied when she saw the unbelieving look on their faces. She bowed to them and swung herself on her horse. Tipping her hat, she rode off, Alec at the horse's heels. As she rode away, she heard the father say, "There goes Lord Luke, Giver to the poor."