My Own Fairy Tales

The Black Stallion of Nottinshire

The Black Stallion of Nottinshire

          A very long time ago, in the land of Nottinshire lived a farmer and his four children. He had two sons named John and Benjamin and two daughters named Mary and Susan. His wife died a few years ago and he did whatever he could to look after his family. The four siblings helped their father on the farm every day. John and Benjamin would help out in the fields, while Mary and Susan looked after the animals and house.

          One day misfortune struck. The farmer became ill with a weak heart and he couldn't work anymore. His children had to do all the work themselves. He apologized for being a burden to them.

          "Don't worry father," they said "you get better and leave all the work to us".

          The farmer was happy for having such good children and hoped he would get better quickly to help them. Unfortunately he did not get well, his heart became worse and he died. His sons and daughters were heartbroken because of their father's death. After his funeral they each agreed to keep on working hard on the farm. They did not wish to let their father down or let all the hard work he did go to waste.

          That night the siblings were fast asleep in bed, except Susan the youngest daughter. She missed both her mother and father too much to go to sleep. So she went outside, knelt down on the ground and prayed that both her parents had reached heaven safely.

          "Mother, Father" she whispered "I promise you that I will stay strong and continue working on the farm with my brothers and sister. So please don't worry and watch over us always".

          The next day Susan and her brothers and sister carried on with working on the farm. It didn't feel the same without their parents around, but they were determined to continue the work their father left behind for them. Life should have gone well for them, but life was not going well. Actually all was not well for all of Nottinshire. In fact Nottinshire was in difficult times and lived in darkness. All the darkness was because of the lady of Nottinshire.

          The lady of Nottinshire was a cruel woman and treated the people of Nottinshire very badly. She taxed them heavily and didn't care if they were starving to death. Because of that the people of Nottinshire worked nearly all day everyday to pay taxes. No one ever dared to anger the lady of Nottinshire because if they did she would kill them instantly without mercy. The most terrible thing about the lady of Nottinshire was that she sold her soul to an evil witch to process dark magic. The source of her magic was in a dark purple staff she always kept by her side. Because of her dark magic the people of Nottinshire did everything they could to keep her happy.

          What kept the people staying strong was their hope that the true heir of Nottinshire would return. The true heir of Nottinshire was the lady of Nottinshire's brother. He became the new lord of Nottinshire after the old lord of Nottinshire died. But sometime after he became the new lord he disappeared without a trace. The lady of Nottinshire had said that he was dead, but no one believed that he had died. There was no proof or evidence that he was dead, so the people of Nottinshire kept on believing he was alive and he would return someday and set them free from the lady of Nottinshire.