Constant

Chapter 9

(LYDIA)

It had been a few days since I had been in to see Peter. I wondered how he was doing but I knew that James would take excellent care of him. The day had been a hot one and so I had all of the windows wide open hoping to catch a breeze. All of the shutters were tied back and the few windows that actually still had glass in them were open as well. I could remember when all of the windows had glass. Many of them hadn't survived my father's fits. 

I wiped sweat off of my forehead with the sleeve at my forearm and continued working on dinner. I heard a noise outside so I glanced up through the window that was in front of me. Ruben was just a few inches away from my face making me jump. 

"What are you doing?!" I gasped as I felt my heart jump up in my throat. 

"Just watching a pretty girl," he replied as he leaned forward to rest his forearms on the window sill. 

I blushed and glanced down to the dough that I had been kneading. It was going to be for dinner tonight. I saw Ruben glance down at the bread too. We didn't have much but I knew that it would be rude to not offer to share. 

"You always make the best bread," He said dreamily and I looked up at him smiling at his compliment. 

"Would you like to stay for supper?" I asked. 

"I would love to!" Ruben said as he reached forward to caress my face through the open window. "I need to go talk to your father about something," he said then turned and walked to the front porch where my father would be sitting. I sighed and continued with my work shaping the loaf so that it would fit into the pan. 

Once it was the correct size and shape I left it in the pan to raise while I went to see to my other chores. With an extra person I would have to stretch the already thin soup even farther. I glanced around at the cupboards that were emptying quickly. I would need to go into town very soon to fill up on supplies. I smiled because it would give me another chance to stop in and check on Peter's progress. 

I could hear the mumble of voices out front which made me want to go listen but I knew that it would be rude so I set to work busying myself with other things. Going out the back door I made my way to the barn. The horses perked up at the sound of my entrance and their large ears twitched as I started talking to them. I knew that they wanted to get out but I didn't have time right now to take them for a ride. Peter's horse looked at me expectantly. 

"Your master should be well soon," I said to the animal as I scratched her ears and stroked her soft nose. "I am sure that you miss him, he is probably a lot more fun than I am." I glanced at the food and water levels making sure that everything was still full. I had a few hours before my bread would be ready so I opened the doors of the stall and led her out into the yard into the large corral. 

She walked around stretching her legs after being in the stall for the day. I wanted to put a saddle on the horse and go for a ride but Ruben didn't like it when I took a horse out. He always said that it was too dangerous and that I could get hurt. He was always worried about my safety. I looked at the horse and then glanced back at my father and Ruben on the porch. They were deep in conversation. I could probably get away for a small ride. I pulled the horse back into the barn and found the saddle. 

Once she was ready to go I climbed up onto her tall back and made my way out the back door of the barn hoping to get away before I was seen. I didn't look back over my shoulder once as I went out of the yard in the direction of town. Once we were on the road I could tell that the horse was impatient. I leaned forward and held tight as we took off at a run. It felt like we were soaring over the ground. The sound of hooves let me know that we were still on the path instead of flying through the air. My hair whipped around my shoulders streaming out behind me. My dress hitched up as I held my feet in the stirrups and gripped the reins.