"Look sweet pea, our house is made of stone now." Says Bartley to Elsa.
"Hm, looks awful pa. I prefer yah put in some wood." She replies with a grin.
"Oh sweet pea, come here." He says holding her tightly and tickling her. "I'm the best builder yah hear." He adds ruffling her hair.
"Oh pa, stop! It's a good thing the king agreed to take us in otherwise we'd be gonners for sure. Who woulda known the queen was so evil?" She asks thoughtfully.
"Oh yah really don't wanna know sweet pea." He says then throws a rug at her which brings her back from her thoughts.
"Hey! Throwin stinkin' old cleaners at me are yah?" She says defensively.
"Well nobody's gonna clean that stinkin' old horse lass." He says laughing at her and her expressions.
"Diablo is not old or stinkin'!" She says and takes her brush to brush down her horse's mane. The horse that she had rescued and made her bestfriend for all these years.
Before Bartley can speak up, Elsa gets on diablo and decides to take a ride through their new home. Ofcourse Lady Afric would appreciate a nice big farm full of bitter herbs and her teacher would prefer a small barn.
Just as she rounds the royal stables, she slows down and walks diablo to a familiar cite. A white horse drinking water from the stream. She pats the white horse and to her surprise, diablo starts playing with it.
This brings back a memory where she had seen diablo doing the same actions not to forget her pa telling her that her horse was in love. "Oh you poor thing diablo!" She says as she laughs.
It is then that she sees someone standing next to a tree at the far end of the stables. What frightens her even more is when the person starts walking towards her.
Her immediate instinct is to get on diablo and ride away as fast as she can, vowing to herself never again to ride in that direction.
She doesn't notice how fast she is riding till she almost tramples on her father.
"Whoa there lass. What's gotten into yah?" Says Bartley tying the horse to a tree.
Trying to pull herself together, she tries to explain what she had seen in between breaths and after she finishes, he laughs at her and she looks at him in disbelief.
"Oh sweet pea, that was probably the caretaker. No need to worry yourself yah hear." He says.
She throws water on her face and sits down next to her father and lets out a sigh of relief
YOU ARE READING
Destined Hope
Historical Fiction"Go! They will surely have our heads if they know of this!" She says handing the baby to him. The guards are catching on and there is no time left. With one last look, she says, "Promise me you will never let her out of your sight." "But..." he sta...
