Becky's Doll

Chapter 14

"WAIT! MR MONNER," I cried out loud as the door closed shut on our faces.

"Please! This is important," I shouted as I vigorously banged on the small wooden door.

"Please open the door!" I cried again. Ezra put a hand on my shoulder either to make me stop or to comfort me. It wasn't working anyway. I repeatedly banged on the door.

"Go away stupid kids!" Mr Monner shouted furiously from inside, temporarily freezing my loud banging. But I continued to do so until the skin scraped off my fisted hands. Soon I was convinced he wasn't going to open the door.

"What am I going to do, Ezra?" I whined as I slumped down exhausted on the fresh green grass just outside the verandah.

"We will find out some way," He consoled me as he joined me on the grass.

For awhile, I sat there on the grass ignoring Ezra's comforting words and with my head supported by my throbbing hands.

"James. Come on. Let's go," Ezra urged me. It had been at least an hour since we had been sitting on the grass.

"No! This is the only hope," I resisted. He sighed exhaustedly at my persistence. I was slowly falling asleep, when I felt something warm and wet on the back of my neck. I jumped from my spot and jerked backwards. A horse was nuzzling on my neck. A beautiful grey coated horse with eyes the same colour as his stormy grey fur.

Something about his sad grey eyes, made me want to stroke it. My hands soon found his wild black mane and I felt the beast relax noticeably under my touch. It amazed me. I have never felt this strange connection with any other living creature before. Not even other horses. He neighed softly causing me to giggle. I wondered what his name was. Unlike the other horses, he wasn't saddled. He looked wild and beautiful. Like he was out of some fairytale.

"I think he likes you," Ezra commented as he stood watching us. I nodded.

"Do you boy?" I asked the horse as I ruffled his lovely mane. The grey beauty neither in response.

"Wonder? Where were you?" An astonished voice was heard from behind me. I turned back to see shrivelled old Mr Monner balancing himself on a walking cane, looking even more surprised than he sounded.

Thousands of emotions might have passed through my eyes then, mostly pleading him to help me. Mr Monner lowered his gaze. And I turned my attention back to the grey beauty and began stroking his cheek. The horse neighed happily. I noticed Mr Monner looking stunned at my action or maybe even more at the horse's reaction.

"Wonder was Elizabeth's horse. After she left, he disappeared miraculously and never returned before today," Mr Monner said sadly. He extended a hand towards Wonder but it stepped back aggressively.

"Wonder never allowed anyone else to touch him other than Elizabeth. This is such an amazement that he lets you touch him," He explained as he smiled at me.

"Really?" I asked as I continued to stroke the horse. The old man smiled warmly at me. I stared into the black rimmed eyes of Wonder. It encased so much freedom and remorse making it look striking.

"Why did you name it Wonder?" I asked out of nowhere. I chuckled when the horse nuzzled on my palm. Mr Monner looked surprised at my question.

"It was Elizabeth. Wonder was really a wonder to me. He was born with a limp on one of its forelimb, yet Elizabeth chose him as her horse for all the races. I asked her why but she simply shrugged it off. Despite its limping, he won many horse-racing competitions with her. Every year, he would win the horse of the year title," He concluded, smiling sadly as he reminisced.

"Wonder and Elizabeth had a huge connection unlike any between humans. They were inseparable. When Elizabeth-" The old man's voice cracked with pain. "-left, he couldn't bear the pain and disappeared."

"Mr Monner, I.....You have to help me," I pleaded. He sighed.

"Come in kid," He said as he disappeared into the cabinet. I jumped up and down excitedly. And Ezra smirked at me.

I followed Mr Monner into the small neatly arranged house. It was quite an adorable looking house with quite old fashioned furniture. Driftwood collected from the beach was placed in a neat pile in one corner of the living room. Trophies mostly for horse related competitions lined the shelf above the tiny TV. Fishing rods of all size and shapes leant on the light blue painted walls.

There were very few photographs. But one of Wonder and Elizabeth caught my attention. A fresh faced grinning Elizabeth with her hair looking slightly damp was clinging onto Wonder's neck. They were on the beachside and the sun illuminated their right side and the blue ocean behind them.

A small dining room was attached to the living room and that led to a kitchen. There was another room but it was locked. A staircase built in the fashion of a ladder led to the floor above. Mr Monner gesticulated to the old fashioned sofa set as he sat himself in his rocking chair.

"Do you have any workers? We didn't see any and this place looks so well maintained. So-" Ezra spoke. Mr Monner scratched his scruffy chin.

"Yes I do. They are on leave today," He answered.

"Um," I stuttered not knowing what to say.

"You want to know about Elizabeth? He asked, raising his eyebrows at me. I nodded.

"Sarah and I had no children for fifteen years. Elizabeth was like a guiding star in our lives. So we naturally found it hard to accept her sexuality. Sarah still does. But soon I found out that my child was special. There is no one who could connect with horses like she can. I found it interesting to see how she interacted with the horses. And how she found out what was bothering them-"

"She was such a sweet kid. And I loved her but my wife found it hard. She started abusing her. Finding it hard to accept Sarah's reasoning, I got a divorce and custody over Elizabeth. I knew Elizabeth faced difficulty in school and that she had no real friends. But she soon got over it and enjoyed her time being around with horses."

"Mr Monner, did she hate someone? Or a revenge on someone?" I asked him. He narrowed his eyes at me.

"No. I don't think she hated anyone. People used to avoid her. But that didn't anger her. She used to be a sweet natured kid. But-" He stopped abruptly refusing to continue the topic.

"The fire. Do you know who started it?" I asked him slowly but confusion clouded in his eyes.

"I mean the fire at her school. Do you know what caused it?" I clarified.

"Oh! I really don't know what happened. Many got killed in the fire. But somehow Elizabeth survived it due to god's grace. Even she didn't know much about it either," He concluded, looking slightly confused at my extremely shocked face.

"What? Elizabeth survived the fire?!" I exclaimed while exchanging shocked glances with Ezra who looked equally stunned like me.

"Yes," He replied.

"Then how did she die?" I enquired. Mr Monner looked surprised again.

"I thought you knew. Elizabeth's not dead. She is still alive."

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