Old Stories

[Lucy]

This story was written with my friend. Her s/n Vin Smilie back in 2014 and has nothing to do with Lucy. It only has two chapters but I wished to share it with you. The funny thing is that I was going to name Lucy, Eveyln but never did. (and funny enough I don't know if I can continue it because I don't remember where I was going with it. Please enjoy. )

Chapter one
Midnight’s surprise​

It was a cool day as the leaves and a chill blew through the air, sending her short, brown hair flying wildly. She took off her glasses, wiped the smudge off, and then returned them to her face. Her name was Evelyn Myers and she wasn’t a skinny girl but she wasn’t a heavy set girl either. She stood on top of a hill overlooking the small town that she had been living in all of her life. She wished she could leave the town because she didn’t feel as though she belonged there. Evelyn was only twenty-seven, but she was very intelligent for her age.

Although the ones around her didn’t consider her intelligent, they considered her to be stupid. She was very different than many of those in her age group because she wasn’t married when most people were at her age and she acted very differently. There were men that her dad had set her up with who were hard-working and nice; however, she didn’t feel like any of them captured her heart.

She was always asking questions about the past and how things used to be. She always wanted to know the how and why of everything, which was unusual for her generation. She didn’t like the laws and the rules that King Roland had in place. She knew there had to be a better way! She had noticed that most of her generation seemed content living their lives and were very nervous about asking too many questions.

She had an excellent work ethic and would work all day. Her father had to call her into dinner because otherwise, she would work until she dropped. There was plenty of work to be done here at home to keep her busy, however. The animals always needed attention, feed, and love every day. She didn’t mind caring for the animals and spending hours with them every day. In fact, she felt more at home around the animals than she did other people. The animals didn’t judge her harshly like many of the people who she had met and they seemed to understand when she was upset.

Something wet and cold touched her making her come out of her thoughts. She turned to her left side to realize that her horse Midnight had touched her hand with its nose. She was a raven black horse, as you would expect from the name. She had a few white spots on her body, on her nose, ears, and at the top of her tail. She also had a white line going down the middle of her nose.

Midnight’s tail swished the flies away as the horse touched her hand again. “Hey there girl, did you get out again?” the girl asked gently reaching her hand up and petting the horse’s nose. Midnight answers with a grunt and then a neigh. Evelyn had risen Midnight up from when she was just a foal. Remembrance of their very beginning fills her thoughts, and she closes her eyes to relive the precious moments in her head again.

It was a sunny, hot day as she was working to feed the other animals. Suddenly the girl heard a noise. When the girl turned around, she was surprised to see a little foal had knocked over a bucket, which was full of water. The girl stood up slowly and watched the foal for a moment, which was nibbling on the grass under its feet. Evelyn had carefully made her way over to the side of the house and grabbed a piece of rope, sneaking carefully up to the foal she would stop after a few steps to see if the horse noticed her.

The little foal was too interested in the grass to notice this young girl sneaking up on it. The girl stopped when she was right behind the foal and took a deep breath. She tossed the rope and managed to get it around the foal’s neck. The rope spooked the foal making her buck and neighing loudly.

This horse had obviously never been handled by a human before so it took a lot of work to get Midnight to trust her. She remembers staying with Midnight during rain and shine, always covering her with a blanket on very cold nights. She stayed with Midnight all the time only leaving her to feed and care for the other animals.

She would pet Midnight constantly and sleep outside with her.
Then one day they got a whole lot of rainfall and a terrible storm. The whole family was racing around the farm trying to secure all of the animals and get them to someplace safe. Midnight was terrified of all the thunder and lightning and wouldn’t leave the comfort of the stable. There was nothing they could do for the horse but to leave her there; however, there was no way that Evelyn was going to leave her new horse there all by herself.

There was only one thing to do! The family watched as she ran to her room and grabbed two blankets and rushed back to the stable to be with her little foal. She draped the blankets one by one over midnight and then covered herself up with two while clutching to the little foal. If Midnight was too scared to move, all she could do is hunker down with the horse all night long.

There were several times when she had to calm Midnight down from the roars of the storm with petting and soft talks but they go through it. They both stayed up all night long until the sun came up over the horizon. Midnight put her nose on the girl's shoulder and neighed which got the girl to reach in her pocket and give a sugar cube. It was from that day that these two were inseparable.

She realized how late it was, it was now sunset
“Come on Midnight, we’d better get those flowers and head home before father worries about us,” she said pulling on the bridle. Midnight pulled back, grunted, and began to run off down the hill. “Midnight! What’s gotten into you?” She called racing after. Midnight kept going, grunting and neighing the whole way. The horse would gallop ahead, but wouldn’t go out of sight. Where was Midnight taking her?

They didn’t have time to play! It was getting dark and her father would worry if they were out too late. She was sure they had noticed Midnight had gotten out again, and figured that they were together somewhere. Tripping on leaves and branches she tried to keep up with her horse but to no avail. The woods started getting thicker and thicker as she ran deeper into the bush. She could hear what sounded like running water and it was growing louder. She watched as her horse disappeared into some bushes and she raced after her.

On the other side of the bush, she stopped because she came to a creek bed. What was here to see? She noticed that midnight was crossing the creek cautiously, and stopped when she got to the other side. It was a good thing that it was a full moon that night, so there was at least a little light and not complete darkness. She looked around and found rocks that go all the way across the creek so she doesn’t have to get wet. Jumping on the first rock, she tried to gain her balance. Great! She thought, now I only have a few more to go.

She used her other foot to jump to the second rock and gain her balance. Then jumping to the third rock she missed and fell in the creek getting soaked. She suddenly hears snorting from Midnight on the other side of the bank as if the horse was laughing at her. “Very funny Midnight,” she said slowly getting up but accidentally slipping again. As she carefully got back up and made her way across the creek she thought, “This better be worth it.” She was now soaking wet and covered in mud.

She didn’t have time to ring out the water because Midnight had taken off again the moment she reached the other side. She took off again after midnight into the thicket. She runs and loses sight of Midnight but continues forward. She suddenly ends up at a fence and Midnight is on the other side. She begins inspecting the fence. How in the world did Midnight get on the other side and how was she going to get there?

She looks to her left and sees a fence going as far as the eye can see, but she looks to her left and sees a hole where an animal has dug under the fence. She walked over to it and stared at it wondering what kind of animal could have dug that hole and how fresh the hole was.

She had never seen marks like that before in her life and she knelt down to study them a moment before she heard Midnight grunting impatiently from the other side of the fence. “Okay I’m coming girl,” She said getting down on her belly. She gets down as far as she can and slides down and across the dirt. The ground was cold and wet since it had been raining lately. When she was halfway through she felt the fence go into her and stop her. She struggled to get through but finally did. She stood up to realize her shirt was torn. She lets out a sigh. Great, now she was soaked to the bone and her shirt was torn.

Midnight took off again before she could catch up. She again ran after midnight, trying to catch her breath.

Suddenly she was in a clearing. It was absolutely gorgeous in the moonlight. She smiled as looked down and around her. There were flowers as far as the eye could see. They were the most beautiful flowers she had ever seen! She smiled at Midnight and then hugged her. This was totally worth getting soaked and her clothes ripped.

These flowers would be perfect! She bends down to pick up the blue flowers with white tips on them when a mysterious woman appears from the distance and runs towards her. Standing up she watches as the woman comes closer and closer at her till finally, they are standing in front of one another. They stare at each other for a moment before they hear someone scream “SHE RAN OVER HERE MEN! THIS WAY!”

In the moonlight, Evelyn couldn’t really make out what this woman looked like but she could tell that they were about the same height. Evelyn could also see the woman’s glasses in the moonlight and that her hair was a darker color, brown maybe? She was out of breath by the time the lady reached Evelyn.
“
Hurry up, men! She went this way. “there came a great cry. Evelyn stared at how the woman’s glasses glittered in the moonlight. It was difficult to make out her features because she wore a long, dark cloak. What she could tell about the woman was that they were about the same height and they were about the same height. She hid everything except her eyes under the cloak which made Evelyn wonder what she really looked like.

Where was she from and what had she done to aggravate the castle guards so much? Limbs cracked and bushes moved in the thicket. If she helped this woman and was caught, she would be considered an enemy of the king and would be severely punished. She couldn’t in good conscience leave the woman here to fend for herself against these vicious guards. No one around here dressed like this and was out after dark.

Of course, she broke the law just by being here. Outsiders were forbidden to come here unless they went to see King Roland first. Evelyn had to know what the woman was doing here and her story. “Quick! This way!” Evelyn said as she grabbed the woman’s hand and they dashed for the edge of the woods. She and the strange woman ducked behind a bush when Evelyn remembered the flowers. She couldn’t leave without the flowers.

By this time the guards had reached the clearing and looked around deciding what to do. Now, what was she to do? Midnight had to lead her all this way for these gorgeous flowers and she couldn’t go home without them. Evelyn suddenly heard a snort behind her. She turned around to find Midnight stood there with the flowers in her mouth. She sighed relieved to have the flowers. “Good girl” Evelyn whispered as she petted the top of the horse’s nose.
“
Men! Spread out and search the area! They should not have gotten far!” The group of guards took off in different directions. “We have to get out of here.” The woman said as she tapped on Evelyn’s arm. The woman’s voice was low but Evelyn thought she had a sweet voice. It reminded Evelyn of her older sister’s sweet voice that she used when something went wrong. It was a motherly voice.

“Yes,” Evelyn said grabbing the woman’s arm and taking off in the same direction that she came from. She knew for a fact that it didn’t take much to set off these guards though. She had seen them drag people away for the smallest things. She remembered a day, not too long ago, when she and her father went to the market place and witness their brutality. It was tax day, so the guards were going around collecting for King Roland.

She remembered how they had been forced to sell one of their chickens to afford to pay the tax that time around. It wasn’t always that way though, King Roland had hiked the tax up days before it was due. This caused many to panic because they knew if they couldn’t pay up in time, they would have to deal with the guards. They had had many very difficult times on their farm, but they had never had to sell one of their animals before. Her father put his heart and soul into taking care of these animals and the crops.

The guards went from shop to shop collecting the taxes. Evelyn and her father were walking when some loud yelling stopped them. Evelyn watched as one of the guards snatched a woman up off the ground and put her inches in front of his face. They exchanged some not so nice words. “Where is your tax money woman?! I’m not asking you again. Pay up!” He screams. The woman, who was shaking, put some gold in the guard’s hands.

The guard held the woman with one hand while he counted the gold. The guard finally threw the woman's feet away and into her vegetables. A boy of about 12 ran to the woman’s side to aide her. “That’s not enough woman! Where is the rest?” He yelled. The boy helped the woman up and then glowered at the guard. “How dare you throw my mother!” he yelled back. “Boy you had better be quiet!”“We can’t afford that high and you are nothing but bullies! I’ve been watching you since I was but a small child and I can’t sit here and take it anymore.”

“Son, quiet now!” His mother called.

The guard snatched the boy up off the ground so fast it startled him. “I think you need to learn a lesson in respect boy!” The guard dragged the young boy by the arm and down the dirt path. He dragged the boy to the middle of the shops and over to the other guards. The mother followed close behind “no! no! Please! He didn’t mean it!” Finally, the guard stopped and tossed her to the ground.

“Shut up and get back in line woman,” He said kicking her. The guard lifted the boy up into the air for everyone to see “This boy was foolish enough to complain about the taxes that King Roland increased.” Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch. It was required by law to watch. “He has forgotten his place! And if any of you forget yours, this is what will happen to you!” They tied his hands behind his back. Then the guard pulled out a whip to slash the young boys back. He lets out a painful cry as the guards took turns. Evelyn stepped forward and headed towards the boy because she couldn’t stand to see him being treated like this. She pushed through the crowd and was about to get up to the guard when a hand touched her shoulder. She turned around to find her father standing there shaking his head. Her father pulled her back into the crowd before the other guards saw her. They were too busy with the boy to see her. “Don’t Evelyn” “But it isn’t right!” she insisted.
“There isn’t anything we can do. If we interfere we will get the same thing, maybe worse.”
“
We have to do something dad. I’ve been sitting here and watching this since I was younger than him.”
Her father took Evelyn’s hand and led her to the back of the crowd. They couldn’t leave until the guards were finished with the boy or they would be taken to King Roland and would have to explain themselves.

“Evelyn just stay quiet and don’t fight them. That is the worst thing you can do for yourself. Promise me” he whispered.

They both knew if they were caught talking while this was going on, they would be punished severely too. The boys back bled terribly until it dripped to the ground. He cried as they finally untied him from his restraints. He fell to the ground and his mother rushed to his side. “Let that be a lesson boy!” The guards laughed.

End of Chapter One​

 

[Lucy]

Wait,” Evelyn suddenly heard, breaking her from her thoughts. The woman pulled back against Evelyn stopping her. Evelyn stared at the woman wondering what she was doing. The guards would find them if they didn’t keep going.

They had to get out of here NOW! “What is it?”We have to go back to my family!”“Your family?”Yes, I lead them away from my kids. I’m sure by now they are wondering whether or not I’ve been captured
and I have to back and make sure my family is alright.”

Did they have time for that? She knew her way home from here, she just had to retrace her steps back the way they came. The strange woman didn’t wait for Evelyn’s response. The woman grabbed Evelyn’s arm and took off in the opposite direction through bushes and other stuff.

This was all happening so fast. Evelyn didn’t know what she thought of it. Wait a moment! Where was Midnight? She pulled back making the woman stop. Evelyn looked behind her, waited a second. Did Midnight follow her?

Evelyn couldn’t whistle because the guards that were looking for them would surely hear. What was she going to do? Evelyn was about to do something when she heard rustling nearby. Was it Midnight or the guards who were chasing them? The woman pulled her on but Evelyn wouldn’t go with her.

“What’s wrong?” The woman whispered as she pulled on Evelyn’s arm quickly.

“My horse, Midnight! What happened to Midnight?” Evelyn asked worriedly.

“I bet your horse has gone back home. She seemed really intelligent! Come on, let’s go. If we don’t keep moving the guards will find us before we can reach my family.” She said.

She couldn’t leave Midnight behind. What would those guards do if they found her? She had seen the castle guards take away animals before and they were never seen again. “No. I can’t leave my horse behind. There is no telling what they will do to her,” The rustling got closer and louder. The woman tightened her grip on Evelyn’s arm. “Please, let’s go!”

Evelyn couldn't allow them to get her best friend Midnight. She was sure if that happened, she would never see Midnight ever again. “Come on if you're going to help me. There is no time to lose” The woman said, tightening her grip on Evelyn's arm a little bit more before darting off but a
a man ran out of the bushes just as they ran for it.

His features were hard to see in the dim moonlight. “STOP!” He screamed as soon as he saw them. “STOP NOW WHOEVER YOU ARE! YOU ARE HELPING A VERY DANGEROUS WOMAN!” He yelled after them. At least she knew that the guard couldn’t see her very well in the moonlight. The guy rushed after them! Why was this woman so dangerous to the guards?

She was so confused and she was positive that if her father got wind of this, he wouldn't be too keen on it. He had always told her that it was best not to fight back because it only caused more trouble.
They ran for what seemed like forever before they burst through some large bushes and came to a house. They tried to catch their breath while they looked around.

“Where...are....we...going...” Evelyn asked. The woman pointed straight ahead but couldn't answer because they heard rustling behind them. They took off again immediately but they were almost out of breath by this time.

They had to remember to keep moving or they would have to face King Roland, and that was the last thing they needed. Evelyn suddenly realized they were running on a stone road. She almost tripped when they had reached the road because it was so sudden.

“OVER HERE!” someone screamed. It didn't sound as if it was too far off now. Evelyn stopped and bent over breathing even heavier now. She couldn't run like that forever! She looked around trying to find out what direction the voice came from. The woman turned around when she realized that Evelyn wasn't behind her anymore, turned, and ran back at her. “

Come on! We are almost there!” She said. Evelyn shook her head while she was still bent over catching her breath.
“
I...can't...run...anymore...just..go...without...me.....and....save...yourself....” She said. There was a silence from the woman in the cloak. What were they going to do now if they couldn't run? Suddenly Evelyn felt a hand on her shoulder and heard “NOW I HAVE YOU!”

Evelyn's heart skipped a beat. She knew who it was and she wasn't about to turn around. “Now are you two going to come along quietly, or are we going to have to do this the hard way?”

If she turned around, the guard might be able to identify her. She knew it was still too dark for them to see her and they could still get away, she might get away with defying orders. Then if she did get away, she could tell her father that she got away and defied them.

She just knew that he would be very upset about a story like that. The cloaked woman rushed forward
and tripped him. She then grabbed Evelyn's hand and took off but didn't get far because the second guard came out of nowhere.

The two guards came at them from both sides down the narrow pathway closing in slowly. “Have any more bright ideas?” Evelyn asked as she and the cloaked woman stood back to back. It looked like the end of the little chase. The two guards stopped walking forward at the two women when they heard a loud, strange sound.

Even Evelyn and the cloaked woman stopped where they were and listened for the strange sound to happen again. The wind picked up before they heard it once again and it was getting closer. Perhaps it was more of King Roland's guards? Perhaps they had gone back for reinforcements?

The sound got louder and louder. Then something jumped over the first guard's heads and landed a few feet from the cloaked woman.

Midnight snorted at the guards then raced towards the one she just jumped over, headbutting him. The guard flew out of sight and the second guard rushed at the horse with his sword in his hand. “Stupid horse!” He screamed. Midnight stamped her foot and then ran at him.

Evelyn started to scream her horse's name but she thought better of it as soon as she opened her mouth. Midnight headbutts this guard too and he flew into a nearby wall. The guard gathered himself while Midnight stamped her hoof again.

“Stupid, stupid horse!” He said as he got up and readied his sword once again. “I will make sure you pay for that.” He rushed at the horse again, who jumped out of the way. Midnight grabbed the guards sword in it's mouth and then ran away.

“Give it back!” He yelled angrily. He tried to grab at it but Midnight always stayed out of his reach.

She walked in circles around the poor guard with the sword in her mouth.

Suddenly they hear shouts and what sounds like galloping coming nearer. They watched from afar as a group of as many as thirty men threw ropes around Midnight.

“NO!” Evelyn started to scream, but before she could the woman pulled her back into the bushes and covered her mouth.

“Shh! There is nothing you can do.”

Hot tears streamed down her face as she watched her beloved horse Midnight being taken away. Midnight didn't make it easy on the men however, she tossed her head about making them fly around. She bucked as they struggled to get her under control.

The flowers that Midnight had in her teeth fell on the ground and accidentally got stomped on as the guards tried to constrain her. “Restrain that animal and take it to the king to be trained! The rest of you, search the area! Someone is helping that woman!”

Now, what were they going to do? Just like Evelyn feared, Midnight was caught and taken away.

She had always been a mischievous horse, even as a foal. She had put up a good fight but she wondered what the guard meant by training. Where are they going to try and train her to be a royal horse or something?

If that was the case, she was positive they wouldn't be able to do it. It was difficult enough for her to get the foal's trust when Evelyn found her out there all alone. “We have to leave!” Evelyn shook her head.

“Look, I'm sorry about your horse! She put up a good fight but there are at least twenty or thirty men out there looking for us now. We have to leave!!” Evelyn wiped the tears from her eyes.

“I can't believe Midnight saved us,” Evelyn said as she continued to wipe tears from her face. “Come with me and don't cry honey,” the woman said helping her to dry her tears. “The flowers were destroyed. I needed those flowers for a very special purpose. Now, what am I going to do?” Evelyn asked.

The cloaked woman hugged her.”We will fix it later honey. Come on!” She followed the woman further down the narrow alley but then the woman stopped halfway there and looked around as if she was looking for something.

“Donny!” The cloaked woman said in half a whisper. They waited a moment and then Evelyn watched as someone poked his head out of nowhere. He looked around and then stepped out, racing over to the cloaked woman. “Jessica, We weren't sure you would make it back to us!”He said hugging her tightly.
A young boy of about twelve years old appeared and joined the hug.

Then an older gentleman appeared also joining the hugs. A heavyset lady popped out of the shadows next, who was followed by three children. Two were little girls who looked as if they were twins about five or six years old. The boy looked to be about nine or ten years old.

“Donna! Ricky!” Jessica whispered.

“Who is she?” Luke asked giving Evelyn a disapproving glance.

Jessica turned around and smiled at her. “She's on our side, Luke. You can trust her.”

Luke wasn't convinced and crossed his arms. “How can you be so sure, mom?” He asked. The others nodded in agreement. Evelyn looked at him surprised. If she wanted to turn them in and get a reward, she would have done so already.

“I will prove that I'm on your side by getting you out of here,” Evelyn said getting in Luke's face. “Oh yeah? And how will you do that?” He asked. “Follow me. I know where we are and how to get home from here.” She said.

They all stared at her astonished at her response. “I don't know Jessica, how do we know she isn't leading us into a trap to be caught?” Donna asked. “Look, I trust her because her horse just saved us from those guards. If it wasn't for her horse, we wouldn't have found you.” Evelyn could see all of them glancing at her. It was made her really uncomfortable.

She turned away and blurted out “Look, we don't have time to chit-chat. Those guards are going to find us if we sit here. Follow me and What are they for anyway?” Evelyn smiled and responded, “It is okay. I will replace them on the way, now shh. Not another word until we are further out of town.” She wished when she had remembered about the ones on the way sooner but she hadn't used the path in a very long time.

She hoped she remembered how her father taught her how to use it. She neared the edge of a house, stopping to look around and listen. She spotted a few guards gathered together talking. “I want them found! Tear up every business and home if you have to!”

He was on his horse in full body armor. The guard pointed his sword inches from one of the other guard's necks. “If you do not find them, there will be a beheading”

They were almost out of here. They just had to be really careful. It was lucky they were so close to the edge of the woods, which meant it was less likely they were going to be seen. There were a number of things that they could use as cover as they edged slowly and closer to the dark woods.

Evelyn found it difficult to watch as people's things were tossed out of the door onto the ground. “How DARE they wake us up in the middle of the night to tear up our house mummy!” A little boy cried, stomping up to the guard who was on his horse in full body armor. The woman grabbed the little boy and quickly shushed him. “

By order of Kind Roland! We are to come and search your house for the witch and her accomplices.” The guard looked down at the boy with a sneer and then said “You'd better listen to your mother boy, unless you never want to see her again.” The guard let out an evil chuckle.

The mother held the boy even tighter against her. “What witch?” the husband asked. “We have a witch among us who is lost and it is believed that someone from this village may be helping her.” He responded. Meanwhile, inside the house, you could hear crashing and
banging.

There were even things that were tossed right out the door and into the dirt.
There were other people that screamed and protested as more than one house was raided at once,

Evelyn had to look away from all this because her guilt was growing. “Come on,” she whispered.
She crept across the road and jumped behind a hedge. She stopped to listen and heard footsteps.

“Take these two to the king and burn the books they had!” Evelyn peeked out of the hedge and watched as a younger couple was thrown into a wagon. “
It's full. Take off!” The guard slapped the horse on the butt and they took off.

“Evelyn.” A voice behind her called. She stopped, wondering who could be calling her name. None of these people knew her name.

Did they? She turned around to see a Guard in full armor standing over her. Oh crap, they found her! “SCATTER!” Evelyn called as everyone panicked.

"wait! ” The guard said putting their hand on her shoulder.. “Shh now or the other castle guards are going to find you. You really shouldn't be out this late after curfew. “He said lifting up his helmet and making Evelyn smile. “Cozumel! You gave me quite a scare!”

The End of Chapter Two?​