Ever So Lightly- Book 1

18

The countryside finally began to take on the shapes of hills, and Saria knew they were at last getting close to their destination. Until then, she hadn't really believed that she was actually going home. Her family had come to visit her in Bremerton, so she had seen them plenty over the last few years, but Saria hadn't seen Faron, her real home, since she had left years ago. She felt her pulse rising, excitement building inside her as she and Gretchen crested a hill that the sun had dipped behind just a few minutes earlier. Saria felt tears pricking her eyes as she looked at the city expanding below her. Home.

With a flick of the reins, Saria sent her horse galloping toward the outskirts of the city. She had taken to calling the wretched beast Spud after she realized just how much his face resembled a potato. An ugly potato. After a few days of referring to him that way, the name finally stuck. Saria felt that it was almost beginning to sound endearing.

As Saria tore down the hill, Gretchen let out a yelp of surprise and began to follow behind at a slower pace. Saria didn't slow until she reached the first few buildings, and even then she continued through the city in a rushed manner. She tried to absorb everything around her as she passed through the somewhat crowded cobblestone streets. The brightly painted storefronts, with their equally eye catching signs hanging out over the road. Spud trotted past a bakery that Saria recognized from her youth. Her mouth began to water at the memory of all of the sugary sweet treats she had enjoyed there day after day. Tempted as she was to stop and sample, she didn't allow herself to pause for even a moment.

Nearing the heart of the city, Saria entered the residential district. She passed all of the small cottages and townhomes, making her way through the streets by memory, as if she had only been away for a day. Then she saw her childhood home and was glad she wasn't standing, for surely her knees would have buckled out from under her. Saria hadn't anticipated that the sight of the small, crowded green cottage with the white rose bushes would affect her so.

As soon as Spud was close enough to the front of her old home, Saria pulled him to an abrupt halt, leapt from the saddle, and ran toward the house, not even bothering to tie the horse. She knew Gretchen wouldn't be too far behind and would take care of the creature for her.

Saria didn't bother to knock on the paint-chipped front door. She burst in through it without reservation, and her breathe caught the moment she was through the threshold. She had entered a wide, spacious room, with a table situated in the far right corner. At that table sat Frederick Deveraux. A handsome man, Saria's father had dark auburn hair that curled slightly, though he kept it trimmed short. Grey had begun to show around his temples, and there were slight wrinkles spreading across his brow, as though he had spent many of his fifty something years in deep thought.

"Father," Saria said, smiling broadly. Frederick stood abruptly, rushing to greet her where she stood in the open doorway.

"Oh, Saria," he said as he stepped toward her. As soon as he had reached the place where she stood he pulled her into a tight embrace. Saria finally let herself fall to pieces. She began to sob into his in chest, staining his white dress shirt with her tears that were now falling relentlessly. She was finally allowing herself to grieve for Zephyr, for Agitha, for the life she had left and would never get back. She finally had someone to hold her up after days of leaning upon her own strength.

Frederick held his weeping daughter for a long time, saying nothing as he allowed her to cry in his arms, lightly brushing her hair away from her damp cheeks as she finally looked up at him.

"Is she safe? Do you know?" Saria's voice was barely a whisper, as though she were afraid to finally ask the question aloud. She could see by the sadness in her father's eyes that she wasn't going to gain any relief after hearing his answer.