“Yes, uh . . . I fell off my horse.”
“And you don’t remember where you live?”
“No, I’m sorry,” I said, not trusting her even though she seemed kind. What if she was an acquaintance or accomplice of Theresa?
“I wonder if we should take you to a doctor,” the woman suggested. She bent and lifted my hair to examine the huge lump on the back of my head. She stood, pursing her lips and nodding to herself. “Yes. I think we’d better. You could have a concussion.”
If they took me to see a physician, they would discover my lie, so I said, “No, I’m feeling much better. I’m sure my lapse of memory is only temporary.”
After studying me for a moment, the woman smiled and said, “Well then, young lady, you’re welcome to stay here as long as you need.”
“Thank you.” I almost wanted to end that phrase with a question. She seemed to be genuine about helping me, but what was the interrogation all about? And what was a concussion?
“I see you’ve already met my nephews,” she said. “I’m Aunt Em.” She held out her hand. I stared at her palm for a few seconds before she grabbed my hand and gave it a firm shake. “I’m glad there will be another female on the farm with us.”
She gave my hand one last shake and then released it. Her odd greeting perplexed me.
“Come, I’ll show you around the place.” She held out her hand again to help me up. “Depending on how long you’ll be here, you can help out on the farm.”
Is she kidding? I’d never done manual labor before. Images of carrying heavy food and water for animals filled my mind. Even worse, what if this aunt Em ordered me to clean out stalls, groom the horses, or milk the cows?
“You look terrified,” she said. “I take it you’ve never worked on a farm before.”
I shook my head.
“Or maybe you just can’t remember if you did or not.”
“If working with smelly animals is part of my life, I would be grateful to completely forget that part.”
Aunt Em laughed, and I couldn’t help but smile at the joyful sound. “Yes, I guess you’re right,” she said. “I’d probably want to forget that portion of my life too if it weren’t so fulfilling to make those around me happy. Hard work is good for the soul. I think it has also made great men of my nephews. Maybe it might be good for you as well. Are you up for a challenge?”
Suddenly I realized that although people had waited on me all my life, I didn’t necessarily enjoy it. And I loved a challenge. I smiled at Em. “I am, actually. Show me how.”
“Good girl. First we’ll need to get you something more appropriate to wear.” She motioned to my nightgown and winked.
I pulled my cloak tighter around me. “Sorry to trouble you.”
“If you went outside wearing that, my nephews might be distracted from their work.”
My cheeks flooded with embarrassment.
Aunt Em chuckled. “I’m teasing you. The boys will be distracted by you, no matter what you’re wearing.”
When my cheeks grew even warmer, she laughed again. “I’m sure we can find something in my closet. I have lots of clothes.”
She showed me to her room, where she went to the closet and handed me a button-down white shirt, brown pants, and boots. Then she closed the door, leaving me alone to figure out how to put on the unusual clothes. Never having worn pants before, I was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable they were. As a bonus, since I had left the castle at night in my nightgown, I wasn’t wearing my wretched corset. Though it felt strange and a little unfeminine to move without the hindrance of big petticoats and a full gown, it was also freeing.
I met Aunt Em outside the front door. She looked me over and said, “That’s more like it.” Gently she grabbed my elbow and guided me forward. “You won’t have to worry about doing any chores in there.” She motioned to the barn. “The boys have those taken care of.”
We walked around the barn to a large field filled with rows of green stalks that reached as high as my shoulders. “This is our corn crop,” she said. “Besides watering and weeding, the busy time doesn’t come for about another week or so when we harvest.”
Movement caught my eye in the middle of the field. A young girl skipped between the rows, her head bobbing up and down.
“Ma’am, who is that girl?” I asked.
“Please, call me Aunt Em.” She patted my arm and then looked toward the girl. “That’s Dorothy, my niece, the youngest of my sister’s children. She’s eleven and full of energy.”
The girl had vibrant curly red hair. Her voice carried over the light breeze in a happy song. I smiled as I watched her skip.
“She’s already been through so much in her life, but she’s brought great joy to all of us. As you know, she’s got seven unruly brothers.”
“Dorothy,” Aunt Em called. The girl stopped and looked toward us. “Come here, I want you to meet someone,” hollered Aunt Em.
The girl ran over to us. “You’re beautiful,” she said, grinning up at me.
“Uh, thank you.” People usually said I was sweet or helpful. If they called me beautiful or pretty, it was usually because they’d been told to say it since I was a princess. Yet Dorothy, just a child, had given the compliment without coaching.
“I hope I can be as beautiful as you when I grow up.” She bit her lip and reached up to one of her red curls, twisting it between her fingers. Her genuine comments brought tears to my eyes.
Remembering how sad I felt when someone, especially Aleck, criticized the way I looked, I leaned down so I could speak to Dorothy at eye level. “Don’t ever change or try to be like someone else. You’re beautiful just the way you are.”
The girl shook her head, her brilliant curls shaking with her. “No, I’m not. I wish I had dark hair like you.”
I reached up and smoothed my hand down her head. “I’ve never seen anything like your hair before. It’s a prize you should be proud of. All my life I wished my hair wasn’t straight and boring.”
“But you’re gorgeous.”
“You are beautiful too, Dorothy. And sweet.” I placed my hand under her chin. “Don’t ever think otherwise.”
She gave me a big smile and wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. “I like you.”
“I like you too,” I managed to say.
Aunt Em pulled Dorothy away. “Run along, sweetheart. Let the girl breathe.” She handed me a rag and a cylinder with a little knob on top. I looked at it in confusion.
“What’s your name?” Dorothy asked. She must have seen me staring at the object in my hand. “That’s furniture polish. You’ve used it before, haven’t you?”
“My name is Sara. And I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“I know we’ll be friends, Sara,” Dorothy gushed.
“That sounds wonderful,” I said.
She led me to a table on the front porch, then took the cylinder from me and pushed the knob on top. A stream of liquid sprayed onto the table. Next, using the rag, Dorothy polished the wooden surface until it shone. As she returned the rag and cylinder to me, she offered, “I can show you how to do other chores if you’d like.”
Aunt Em frowned. “Dorothy, stop trying to pawn off your chores.”
“Bye.” The girl waved and then skipped away.
“She sure keeps us on our toes,” Aunt Em said with a wry grin when Dorothy was gone.
I smiled. “I think she’s wonderful.”
“Thank you for saying what you did to her.” Aunt Em grabbed my hand. “That was very kind of you.”
“It’s something I wish more girls would believe.”
“Me too, sweetie.”
I glanced up. The brooding Maddox stood by the barn grasping the handle of some kind of farming device, but staring at me. From his intense expression, he seemed to be mulling over something.
Maybe he is trying to figure me out.
A stiff breeze stirred the tops of the trees and tossed the laundry hanging on clotheslines
next to me. Startled, I jumped back and tripped over a rock.
“Ouch!” I rubbed my rear end. A few of the boys working nearby snickered.
Aunt Em helped me up. “Careful, dear.”
“Thank you for letting me stay,” I said. “I promise not to be a burden.”
“It’s no problem. We’re all glad to have you.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Maddox kicking the dirt with his boot. Aunt Em was wrong. Clearly this kid couldn’t wait for me to leave.
“Even Maddox,” Aunt Em said as if reading my thoughts.
I looked at her in surprise.
“It’s no secret he’s the grumpy one,” she said. “He is a little moody, but he’s harmless.”
“I don’t think he likes me very much.”
“Nonsense. He just doesn’t know you yet.” Aunt Em led me back toward the house. “Besides, his six brothers seem to like you just fine.”
She nodded her head in the boys’ direction. Five of them smiled and gave a little nod before going back to work.
Eddy was chopping wood. His rolled-up sleeves revealed his tan skin, and I couldn’t help but admire the muscles in his arms as he swung the ax high above his head. He stopped for a moment to smile at me.
“Yep, the rest of them like you just fine,” Aunt Em said.
I lifted my hands to cover my cheeks, which I could tell had instantly turned apple-red.
“Oh, this is going to be fun.” She let out a happy giggle. “Come, let me feed you some breakfast. The boys aren’t going to get any work done with you out here.”
What have I gotten myself into? I had no idea where I was or who these people were. I was surrounded by a bunch of enthusiastic teenage boys, one of which wanted me out of there.
Oh dear.
Chapter 8
Rapunzel’s Favorite Flower
Hummingbirds love honeysuckle with its flowers of orange, red, yellow, or white. The plant blooms from spring to midsummer. Vining forms, such as trumpet honeysuckle, grow well on fences, trellises, and walls for support. Most shrub honeysuckles grow six to fifteen feet high, while vining types can grow even taller.
Honeysuckle vines grew up the side of Rapunzel’s tower. As the years went by, she watched the tendrils creep up, getting closer to her window, five stories above the ground. She couldn’t wait until the vines reached her window. Sometimes she dreamed about using them to climb down from the tower.
The Note
Dear Snow,
The following Saturday, I finally got to go outside. I had my mask in hand, so as not to delay leaving the tower.
I forced myself to walk at a normal speed down the path to the bench in the garden. Fifty-three footsteps in all. My heart beat furiously against my chest.
As I got closer, I thought I might faint. What if the children took my note to the wrong person and the men trying to kill me found out where I was?
My breathing came in small gasps. I put my hand on my chest to calm my racing heart, wondering why I hadn’t thought this through.
I searched beneath the bench and in the weeds nearby, but nothing out of the ordinary caught my eye.
“Are you looking for this?” my guardian asked.
She had found the note!
I was devastated.
I’ll tell you more later. I need to go.
Rapunzel
Failed Contact
I almost toppled to the bench when my guardian thrust my green note into my face.
“How could you, Rapunzel? The reason you’re safe in the tower is because nobody knows you’re here. Why did you do this?”
I sighed. “I have to go home.”
“You’d rather be dead?” she asked. “That’s what will happen if they find out where you are.”
I shook my head. “No, but I don’t want to be locked up anymore. It’s time for me to go back to the castle.”
“There is still danger there.”
“How do you know? I want to go back to my family!” I yelled. “My father’s sick. I heard some of the servants talking about it. Would you keep me from seeing him before he dies?”
“Hush!” ordered my guardian.
“I don’t care who hears me anymore.”
“What has gotten into you, Rapunzel. I thought you understood the seriousness of the danger.”
My vision blurred with an onslaught of tears. “I don’t believe staying here is my only option. Until now I’ve relied on what you’ve told me, but I need proof.”
“So you’re going to go back to the castle by yourself? How will you find your way? The kingdom is half a day’s journey from here, and you don’t even know which way to go. If you ask the wrong person for help, you could fall into the hands of those I’ve been trying to protect you from all these years.”
I bowed my head. It was true. What was I thinking? My guardian had sacrificed so much to keep me alive, and I’d turned into an ungrateful wretch.
“Rapunzel, I promise when the time is right, you can go home, but not now,” she told me. “Your father is not as ill as they say.”
Keeping silent, I played with the hem of my sleeve.
“I’m sorry you have to be locked up all of the time, but it’s for your own good.”
I nodded. “I know.”
Standing nearby, my trainer cleared his throat and said, “How about we work on your hand-to-hand skills? I want to see how you’re coming along.”
Without a word, I followed him to the field where we usually practiced. First, I ran my usual laps around the gardens and did some stretches. Then, we went through our weekly skills routine.
Time passed quickly as I practiced defensive moves with my trainer. My guardian sat nearby, occasionally giving me hints or a little hard-earned praise.
Since my main goal was to stop an enemy before he or she could get the advantage of me, I practiced escaping from holds, but also taking my trainer down from a distance. I lunged and danced out of the way of his sword. By the time my trainer said the hour was up, my legs burned and my chest clamored for air. With a smile, he said farewell and departed.
My guardian stepped into my trainer’s place and took my helmet in exchange for a towel and the mask. I quickly wiped my face and slipped on the mask again. I hated the itchy eye holes.
“I’ll try to make it back a little earlier next Saturday so you can spend more time outside,” she said. “Would you like that?” She buckled the chin strap on my helmet for easier carrying.
“Yes, thank you,” I murmured. After we walked in silence a few more steps, I asked, “Why did you come so late last week?”
“Something came up that I had to take care of.”
Sensing that was the only explanation I was going to get, I kept silent the rest of the walk back to the infamous tower.
Just before we reached the door, I tipped my head back and looked up into the blue sky. “One more moment, please.”
The older woman nodded, her gray-streaked hair blowing in the breeze. How I loved and loathed her. She took my sword and helmet inside, then shut the door except for one tiny slit.
I closed my eyes and inhaled the freshness of the outdoors, and the scent of the honeysuckle crawling up the wall. As always, I plucked a blossom and squeezed the sugary nectar onto my tongue.
“Are you ready?” asked my guardian.
I took one last breath and looked into the beautiful sunset, then trudged slowly up the stairs. Back to the drawing board. Perhaps, I can fold the note into an arrow point and fling it out the window next time I see the children.
My guardian and I reached the top of the stone steps. I stood off to the side so she could open the secret entrance to the inner bailey. With a click and a push of the door, I stepped into the room. I felt a gentle hand on my back as my guardian said, “I’m sorry you can’t go back to the castle yet.”
“It’s all right, I understand.”
“Goodbye, Rapunzel.”
As the door closed, I mumbled, “Goodbye, Theresa
.
Chapter 9
Snow White
by the Brothers Grimm
The huntsman obeyed and took the girl out into the woods, but just as he was taking out his hunting knife and about to take aim at her innocent heart, she began weeping and pleading with him. “Alas, dear huntsman, spare my life. I promise to run into the woods and never return.”
Snow White was so beautiful that the huntsman took pity on her and said: “Just run off, you poor child.”
“The wild animals will devour you before long,” he thought. He felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his heart, for at least he would not have to kill the girl. Just then, a young boar ran in front of him, and the huntsman stabbed it to death. He removed the lungs and liver and brought them to the queen as proof that he had murdered the child. The cook was told to boil them in brine, and the wicked woman ate them up, thinking she had eaten Snow White’s lungs and liver.
A Princess on a Farm
}Snow White}
Aunt Em gave me some leftover biscuits to eat while I polished the rest of the furniture in the front room, as she called it. My stomach growled, so I made quick work of them.
“Who else lives here?” I asked Aunt Em, who sat across the table I was polishing. I tried to seem casual so she wouldn’t realize I was planning a way to get home.
“Just my husband and I, and my sister’s children.”
“No one else might be on the property?”
“The neighbors visit, and Dorothy’s friends Alice and Wendy stop by now and then, but for the most part it’s just us.”
“Have you ever seen a stranger here?” I asked.
“Besides you?” Aunt Em chuckled. “No, things are pretty normal around here.”
Well, I’m not your definition of normal, I thought.
She stood. “Ready to get back to work?”
“There’s more to do?”
“There’s always something to be done on a farm.”Aunt Em gave me a wink. “And now it’s time to get your fingernails dirty.”
That’s what I thought I was doing.
I took a big breath and followed her outside.
That first day of labor turned into two and then three. From the first rays of the sun peeking through my window until long past sundown I worked on the farm. Those first few nights, I rolled into bed too tired to even take off the old pair of boots Aunt Em had loaned me.
Rescuing Rapunzel (The Princess Chronicles Book 3) Page 4