Freedom Bound

Abigail quietly and carefully led her horse, Sky, out of the stable and across the pasture to the gate. She opened the gate, led Sky through it and closed it securely again. She looked briefly over her shoulder to the house a distance away from the pasture gate. The house was quiet in the early morning darkness. Not even the cook was up yet.

Abigail mounted her horse in one swift movement. She kicked lightly and made a soft clicking noise, and Sky started forward with a slight bob of his head. Sky was a big, but gentle horse, and Abigail’s favourite of the palace horses. He was chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail, white ankles and a white stripe down his nose. Feeling the early morning chill, Abigail pulled her deep blue cape a little closer around her shoulders.

She led Sky towards the bush-covered walls around the property. She did not want to go through the main gate, for fear of disturbing the night guard, Helix. As much as she trusted Helix, she knew he would not allow her to escape, nor should she ask him to lie for her, as he could lose his job over it. Instead, Abigail knew her own way around. When she was a fair distance away from the house, she urged Sky on to pick up speed. As she reached the edge of the yard, Abigail searched for the opening she knew was there. She soon found it near the great oak, her favourite tree in the yard. There was an ancient doorway in the wall around the palace yards, and it too was covered by bush. Abigail stopped a moment and pulled the key from a pocket in her dress.

Abigail dismounted and approached the bush. The door was well covered by bush and never used, except by Abigail herself. She had always successfully kept the key secret. Abigail removed the bush covering with a little trouble, exposing the door in the palace wall. Upon opening it, she discovered that the bush on the other side was a little more difficult to remove. But her determination led her to push it aside. Holding Sky firmly by the bit, she stepped over the threshold and led the horse through the doorway.

“Good boy,” she spoke gently, patting his neck and rubbing his nose.

Abigail replaced the bush covering the best she could and remounted Sky. A gentle kick brought him to movement again. It was very early, but soon enough the city would awaken, just in time for her arrival. No one knew of her coming, however, and she hoped no one would find out either. At the palace, they would wonder why she did not come down for breakfast, and they might look for her later. By that time, she hoped to blend in with the crowds of the market. She moved Sky at a good pace away from the palace wall and towards the town. She moved through the brush and the trees parallel to the road but stayed off the road until she felt she was at a safe distance. She by no means wanted to be found out by the night guard.

Once safely away from the palace yards, Abigail urged Sky onward and followed the road into town. All was quiet and still, in anticipation of the rising sun. Abigail let Sky slow down and walk through the streets. Only a few of the early merchants were out preparing their stores for the coming day. Abigail could smell fresh bread and fruit as she wandered by these stores. She breathed it in and smiled as she began to feel her newfound freedom. One of them called up to her and she merely shook her head and rode onward.

As morning came, Abigail had been riding for so long and felt tired. She wanted to give Sky a rest, but worried over where to stop for a while. The city had become busy and Abigail had disappeared in the marketplace crowds. She found it all very new and exciting, but took no chance at being discovered should she stop anywhere in town. Instead, Abigail guided Sky out of town and went in search of the lake that she knew was nearby. When she reached it, she stopped lakeside at what she thought may be the best patch of greenery for Sky as well as for her in which to hide. Abigail dismounted, grabbed from his saddle the bag she had packed earlier and let Sky wander as she strolled toward the lake.

The water was clear and blue, with a breeze evident in the tiny ripples on the surface. The lake was not very big and in the centre was an island that broke the water in little waves that lapped up on its shore. Abigail pulled the hood of her cape off her head and let it hang down her back. The breeze felt cool on her face. Choosing a dry rock rather than the dewy ground, she took a seat and opened her pack. As she nibbled on the food she had brought with her, she listened to birds singing in their usual morning bliss.

Abigail was absentmindedly gazing out at the lake when a sound caught her attention. She looked cautiously around her. In the clearing around the lake, she could see well enough. Amid the trees not far from where she sat, she saw the figure of a man approaching. She suspected the sound was from his footsteps. For a moment, Abigail froze in place. She did not recognize him, but she did worry that he may recognize her. At the moment, he did not seem to see her and she thought about whether she should gather Sky and leave or remain still until the stranger left. But after another minute’s contemplation, she knew the stranger was not going to leave; he was instead coming closer.

Abigail turned her eyes away to look for Sky. The horse was grazing peacefully nearby. Abigail quickly and quietly packed her bag and pulled her hood over her head once again. Regardless of the stranger, she rose and moved to attach the bag to the saddle. She looked behind her for just a moment to see the stranger closer now. He had seen her and stopped not far from her.

“Fine horse you have there,” he commented, nodding toward Sky.

Abigail averted her eyes and replied quietly, “Yes, he is.”

He was watching her closely and when Abigail’s eyes met his, she could not tell from his expression whether he did in fact recognize her.

“Do you travel alone much?” he asked.

“No…” said Abigail.

Abigail was surprised when she heard him utter a soft patronizing sigh. “This is not always a safe place for a young girl to be on her own,” he informed her.

Abigail’s brow drew in. “Young girl?”

“Sorry,” he replied, looking her up and down, “Young woman.”

Abigail smiled just slightly. If he knew who she was, he hid it well. And if he knew who she was, he would not have spoken to her the way he did. “Well, as you have noticed, I do have a good horse who can take me away in a moment.”

“Are you travelling far?” he asked, stopping her from mounting her horse.

“Why?” she asked more sharply than intended.

The man held his hands up in surrender. “You’re packed very lightly.”

“I am,” Abigail conceded, “But I don’t need much.” She looked around briefly. “As you said, this is not a safe place, so if you will let me go…” With that, she mounted her horse.

“You’re going to leave without even telling me your name?” he complained.

Abigail hesitated a moment, looking down at him. “Call me Abbey.”

He smiled then, a perfectly friendly, harmless smile. “Call me Andrew.”

Abigail nodded primly, with a little smile, and gave her horse a gentle kick. Sky moved forward and Abigail left Andrew behind. Abigail led Sky to cut through the forest trees back in the direction of the city. She rode without looking back, enjoying her solitude and at the same time wondering what Andrew was doing by the lake by himself if he knew it was not always a safe place. He could, of course, have told her a falsehood. Perhaps he was the dangerous one, although he did not seem like it.

Dangerous was not the first descriptive word she may have used for him. Friendly perhaps, curious, and maybe even… concerned? Abigail was not sure. From those brief moments she spent with him, she was somewhat at ease about him finding her there. She decided that if he had recognized her, he had chosen to keep it to himself, and for that she silently thanked him.

Abigail was lost in these thoughts as she rode, and before long neared the road. But before reaching the road, she spotted two men she recognized, palace guards. Before she took the time to find out if they had seen her, she halted Sky and turned him around. Without looking back, she kicked at the horse’s sides and quickened his pace, weaving back through the trees. She could see the lake in the clearing in the distance and directed Sky there. Upon reaching the lake, she saw that Andrew was just where she had left him, gazing out over the lake, and she wasted no time coming to him.

“Abbey,” he said, the surprise in his voice matching the expression on his face.

“Andrew –” she stopped herself long enough to think about what she was to say. “You were right. This is not a safe place for me. But I… I am terribly lost. Can you help me?”

Andrew crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a measuring look.

Abigail glanced behind her and turned urgent eyes to him. “Please, Andrew.”

Andrew also looked briefly behind her. He nodded slightly and as she removed her foot from the stirrup for him to use it, he mounted Sky. Abigail urged the horse onward. They rode quickly away from the lake and disappeared into the forest.

Read Freedom Bound Part Two Here.