by Maggie Joan
The Golden Winged Horse
By
Maggie Joan
Copyright © 2020 Maggie Joan
www.maggiejoanauthor.co.uk
All rights reserved.
Cover Designer: BZN Studio Designs
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
For my Aunty Margaret and my dear Grandma Joan.
Love you always xxx
Chapter 1
I stared out of the kitchen window, focused on the odd shaped cloud hovering above me in the bright blue sky. The more I looked at the white puffs strangely arranged into the figure of a dragon, the more alive it seemed, as if it was almost breathing.
Within seconds, my imagination was running wild, envisioning this creature coming to life, swooping down to earth and laying before me, inviting me to take a ride on its featherlight back, soaring through the sunny skies to worlds I had yet to discover.
A sharp smack whipped across my butt, jumping me from my daydream instantly.
“Ow!” I said, turning around with a deep frown creasing my forehead.
My best friend, Macie, stood grinning at me with a white tea towel in her petite hands. “Come on, Princess Pan, time to get back to reality. Roy is moody as hell and I need help out there.”
I stuck my tongue out at her and sighed. Taking one final glance out of the window, I was disappointed to see my dragon cloud slowly dispersing into small wisps.
“Faye!” Roy yelled. “Get in here!”
I trudged through to the main cooking area, shouldering the two metal swing doors to get through. The little utility room at the back, where I’d been peace free only a minute ago, was my little escape. Used for washing up, peeling veg, and preparing desserts, it was a small space nearly everyone who worked at Roy’s Diner absolutely hated. Except for me.
“Yes, Roy?” I said, rounding the corner of the sheet steel work surface where he was hammering mincemeat into round burgers.
“Come and make these damn milkshakes of yours. I can’t do everything.” He flashed me a smile, showing his pearly white teeth. “Not today, anyway.”
I laughed and skipped past him to the fridge. “Which shakes?”
“Your unicorn ones,” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t get it but whatever. Your fantastical ideas bring in money every time.”
I’d been working for Roy and his wife, Barb, for nearly two years. When I first started, my constant daydreaming and far off wonderings had almost cost me my job. However, when in desperation I shared some of the weird and wacky things my imagination brings to mind, Barb’s eyes lit up.
“We should use her ideas to spice things up with the menu, Roy,” she’d said. “Have themed days or nights, new drinks, new food.”
Roy had been sceptical at first, but Barb convinced him to give it a trial run. When the very first ‘fantasy creatures themed food day’ brought in as many customers in twelve hours as what we normally see in a week, Roy had agreed to let me use my imagination for the good of his business. He’d never looked back.
Every day held a different themed special milkshake, but some of them Roy had made a permanent fixture on the menu because of pure demand. Unicorn, rainbow, alien, and galaxy shakes were the firm favourites. Today’s special of sunshine and strawberries was right on the edge of becoming a permanent feature too.
“How many shakes do you need?” I asked Roy, my hands full of milk, whipped cream, and multi-coloured sprinkles.
He glanced up at the wall in front of him, looking at the hooks where all the new orders were pinned. His brown eyes skipped along each piece of paper covered in Macie’s scrawled handwriting.
“Sixteen unicorn’s, five rainbow’s, six alien’s, and ten sunshine and strawberries.”
I raised my eyebrows and let out a low whistle. “Wowzers.”
He nodded. “It’s getting real busy and it’s not even lunchtime yet. Barb is on her way in to give Macie a hand out there. I need you in here with me.”
Being the first day of summer vacation, we’d expected a slight increase in custom, but not this much before the midday rush even hit. I settled down and got to work. Making the milkshakes didn’t take long, what took the time was all the decoration and final embellishments, but even then, it was a maximum of a minute or two per drink. When corroborated with Roy and whose order came first, everything went smoothly and left our customers not waiting very long at all.
When all the orders were caught up with, I made myself and Roy a unicorn milkshake—his favourite.
“Thanks, Faye. You really are the best at knowing when we need these,” he said, grinning.
“Who could not need a unicorn milkshake?” I said, chomping on the white chocolate wafer that acted as the horn.
“Are you looking forward to college in the fall?”
I froze. My mind raced with various lies and excuses but after several seconds of Roy staring at me, waiting for an answer, I figured my window of plausible stories had firmly closed.
“I…I decided to take a year out. Do some travelling, figure out what I want to do.” I shrugged my shoulders, hoping to appear nonchalant. “Usual stuff for people my age.”
Roy raised a bushy brown eyebrow. “But didn’t you get accepted into Penn State?”
“Yeah…” I pulled my lips into a thin line “…don’t mention that to my dad. Bit of a sore subject still.”
Roy chuckled. “My lips are sealed. I’m guessing he’s a little mad?”
I giggled. “Oh no, not mad.” I lifted my hands in the air and used my fingers for quotation marks. “‘Disappointed’.”
“Oh, the worst word an elder can use against the younger generation. Ouch. Did it burn?”
“Just slightly. Pretty much over it now. He’s invited me out for dinner tonight though so I’m taking that as the first olive branch.”
“Nice. Well, if we slow down this afternoon, you can leave off a little early if you like. So you can get ready in plenty of time.”
“Thanks,” I said, smiling. “I appreciate that.”
Macie came running through, her tanned cheeks flushed red. “It’s getting crazy out there.” She took a moment to look at us, lounging back against the work surfaces, drinking milkshakes. “Nice to see you two working hard.”
“We’re entitled to a drink,” I said, rolling my eyes at her. “Want me to make you one?”
A cheeky smile spread over her pretty face, her jade green eyes lighting up in an instant. “If you’re offering, I won’t say no.”
I grinned, she was so easy to sway, predictable. “Which one?”
“Umm…” She poised an index finger to her lips, pretending to look like this was a serious decision. After a few seconds, she said, “Sunshine and strawberries please.”
I got to work making her a super delicious milkshake, complete with extra strawberries and orange segments whilst she slapped three more orders on the counter for Roy. Barb came rushing through then, tearing off two order slips. Her shoulder length blonde hair sat above her shoulders, not moving an inch because of her love of hairspray.
“Hey honey,” she said to Roy, giving him a quick peck on the lips. “Hey, Faye. It’s getting busy out there. At least another four tables ready to or
der and we’ve just seated another eight.”
“Ok, we’ll get right on it, right, Faye?” Roy said.
I nodded and smiled at Barb. “Sure thing. You want a milkshake too?”
“Maybe in a little while, honey. Thanks for the offer.”
I finished Macie’s shake and pushed it across the work surface towards her. Barb disappeared back out front, her slim figure still rocking the blue and white pinstriped uniform we wore here.
Macie stuck her finger in the whipped cream, scooping a huge dollop, complete with strawberry and lemon syrup dripping from it. She sucked her finger clean, complete with the popping sound when she’d finished, and flashed me a great big grin.
“Get out,” I said, chasing her towards the doors. “Before I tip it down the sink.”
She danced through the doors, giggling to high heaven as she ventured out to take more orders. Roy started banging and clattering around, making more burgers. I sighed and got back to work, making all the drinks.
The rest of my shift flew by. By the time four p.m. came around, my feet were almost numb, my back sore, and my neck painfully aching. Tiffany turned up for her evening shift, my cue to finally leave.
“Thanks for your help today, Faye,” Roy said. “Sorry I couldn’t let you go early after all.”
“It’s ok,” I said, giving him a warm smile. “I’m glad to help.”
“Have a nice dinner with your dad. I hope he’s not so disappointed.”
I laughed, picked up my bag, and headed outside. Macie sat on top of one of the outside tables, her legs swinging off the end as she leaned back on her hands and basked in the warm heat baking her skin.
“Can you please stop doing that?” I said, walking over to her.
She looked at me and grinned. “Nope. You know what my mom always says, if you’ve got it, flaunt it. I happen to have the kind of skin that the sun loves.”
I giggled at her as I ran for my car. Two minutes in this scorching thirty-degree heat and I would be a lobster for certain. My pale skin did not tolerate any level of UV rays without a minimum of factor fifty sunscreen.
Macie waved at me as I backed out of the parking lot and headed for home. Dad had told me to be ready for six. We were going out to some fancy restaurant in the city. Today he was busy closing a huge business deal, one he’d been working on for months, so I knew not to bother him when I got in.
We lived in a five bedroomed house in a small town called Liberty. My mom and dad had a strange relationship. They were rarely home at the same time and barely communicated with each other. I got the feeling it was more of a convenience for them to live in the same house rather than a mutual love of one another.
My older brother, Harris, had moved out the day after he turned twenty-one, leaving me alone in this big old house. It was a white historic upright and wing house, dating back some eighty years or something. It sat on sprawling lush green gardens that spread over a couple of acres. Our neighbours weren’t too far away, a few hundred yards, but they were far enough away to give us the privacy my dad loved.
I pulled up on the drive, parking my white Audi in front of the double garage. I frowned as I realised Dad’s Porsche wasn’t there. Unless he’d parked it in the garage, which he never usually did unless he knew he wasn’t going anywhere else for the night.
Jumping out of my car, I fished my house keys from my bag and jogged over to the house. I unlocked the door and stepped through, shouting for my dad as I closed the door behind me. Nothing but silence greeted me.
“Dad?” I said, checking out the living room.
Nothing.
I wandered around the whole house, calling his name, but no reply came. I took my phone from my pocket and sent him a quick text. It delivered but wasn’t read. I frowned and decided to head for the shower. Maybe by the time I got out, I’d have a reply.
The hot water soothed my tired muscles and gave me a renewed sense of energy to get through the night. Reluctantly turning the shower off, I wrapped myself up in a soft fluffy towel and flopped onto my bed. I grabbed my phone, hoping to see a reply from Dad, but severe disappointment met me. Now five p.m., he would be cutting it fine to be ready for dinner if he didn’t come home soon.
I sighed and dialled Macie’s number.
“Hey, hey, hey,” she said, picking up on the first ring.
“Finished sunning yourself yet?”
She laughed. “Yes. I’ve just got home.”
“Wanna go out for something to eat?”
“I thought you were having your big fancy dinner with your dad?”
“Yeah, so did I, but he’s not here, he’s not answering my calls or my texts.” I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m hungry.”
“Don’t you want to wait a little longer first? See if he comes home?”
“I know the signs, Macie. He’s letting me down and hasn’t got the guts to tell me.”
“If you’re sure?”
A familiar feeling of rejection and disappointment settled in my stomach. I smirked at the irony—it now being my turn to be disappointed.
“Yes,” I said. “I’m sure.”
“Ok. I’ll swing by and pick you up at six?”
“See you then.”
We hung up and I sprang into action getting ready. I knew exactly where she would want to go for food—Arby’s—purely because she had a crush on one of the waiter’s there. To be honest, I couldn’t blame her. His dark curly hair and cute dimples when he smiled were rather appealing.
I checked my phone again, wondering if Dad had read my message yet. Unfortunately, no. I debated sending him another text telling him I was going out with Macie but if he hadn’t read my first message, then he wouldn’t read my second.
Settling on a casual ensemble of skinny jeans and my favourite lilac vest top, I applied some light makeup and headed downstairs to my dad’s office. I knew for a fact his first stop when he finally arrived home would be his office—he did the same thing every day.
I strode towards the white wooden door. Without fail, this door had never been left unlocked. He kept a key hidden in the kitchen drawer, but I didn’t need that. At the mere age of ten, I learned how to pick locks. I slipped one of my hair grips free from my curly red hair and stuck it into the lock. Ten seconds later, it sprung free. I grinned.
Dad’s office was the same OCD heaven as always. Everything perfectly in its place, not a pen out of line. Bookcases from floor to ceiling lined both the right and left walls, crammed full with Dad’s folders and work files. To the rear sat a huge bay window, overlooking the green grass at the back of the house and the woods that lined our perimeter. Behind me, on the wall, were several certificates boasting his various degrees and awards in a variety of subjects.
I shut up the little voice in my head that told me I’d be yelled at for breaking in here, again. His huge mahogany desk sat in front of the window, the old green leather chair with its pressed in buttons giving off the antique vibe. I flopped down into it and picked up a pen from the side of his notepad. He hated any kind of writing or doodling on his desk pad, so I took great delight in scrawling across it and leaving the pen dropped across the middle.
Dad, gone out for tea with Macie. You weren’t home or answering my texts. See you later, Faye x
Smirking with satisfaction that it would annoy the hell out of him, which he deserved for standing me up, again, I scraped the chair back, leaving it twisted around, just to irritate him that little bit more.
As the evening sun came around the back of the house, shining through the huge window behind me, its bright rays caught glass, reflecting a shiny shape onto his wall of achievements. I frowned. Dad had no ornaments in here.
I quickly scanned over his shelves, wondering if he’d added something recently that I hadn’t noticed. The bookcase to my left, on the top shelf at the back, had something new on it. A glass ornament case, a dome one, with a gold bottom and something…something gold inside it.
“That’s new,” I said
to myself, striding across the office towards it.
Craning my head back to get a better look, I frowned. My eyes must have been playing tricks on me because I was pretty certain whatever was in there moved. Like it was alive. I reached my arms up above my head, but my fingertips fell a good six inches short of it.
Why the hell had my dad suddenly decided to have an ornament in here? I looked around me for something to stand on so I could reach it and get a better look at it. To my joy, and my dad’s dismay, the only chair in here happened to be his pristine prized green leather one. I resisted skipping over to it, instead delighting in scraping it over his polished wooden floor.
I stood on it, debating going to put my shoes on first, just to really upset him for bailing on me for the hundredth time. Now able to reach the glass case, I carefully picked it up off the shelf and brought it down to my eye level.
When my brain finally registered what stared back at me, I gasped and almost fell off the chair.
Chapter 2
A small cell phone sized golden horse looked back at me, complete with a pair of beautiful golden feathered wings. I would have marvelled at such a stunning ornament if it hadn’t been for the fact that it moved. It paced around and around in circles, tossing its tiny head and swishing its golden tail, clearly annoyed.
The glass dome trapping it in place started clattering against the base, making me realise my hands were shaking. Realising I needed to get off this chair and stand or sit on something more stable, I started slowly bending my knees in readiness to step off the chair.
“Careful,” said a voice. “You don’t want to drop this, trust me.”
I froze. I knew no one had come in the house but I still looked around me anyway. Of course, no human face met my widened eyes. Where had the voice come from?
“Hello?” said the voice.
I dared to look at the moving horse inside the glass case.
“Yes, it’s me talking,” it said.