Landing on his back against a tree, he winced a bit, holding on to one side of his body. "Oh my god" came the voice of the little girl who sat at the foot of the tree, as if waking up from a trance and realizing where she was and what had happened, she took to her feet and went to where Harold lay with a small pool of blood surrounding the wound he had sustained due to the crash he had "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to,". "Ah, it's nothing," Harold replied, trying to be composed in front of the girl, "I'm really, really sorry" she said with a voice so smooth and enchanting that could throw any man off guard, coming close to him "You need a doctor".
Who was this beautiful damsel that she should care about him needing a doctor? thought Harold to himself, she must be a stranger in these parts, after a little while he said "You can't find any in here". "I'm terribly sorry for what happened" she repeated once more and this got his mind rolling. "What really brought you in here in the first place?". Asked Harold with a quizzical look on his face while starring into her mellow eyes that had a certain alluring feature. "I can't tell." She said bluntly while trying to help him stand up, "Ah!" Harold winced "What do you mean, 'You can't tell?" He asked her with one of his brows raised up, waiting for an answer. she still didn't give any reply instead she helped him in attempt to get him out of the forest and find a doctor to tend him, while still trying to leave the forest, his mind couldn't help but go on a rampage as to what she was doing in here all alone and crying in the middle of the forest. Reaching the main sandy road which was hinted slightly with gallops, he stared at her for a few good seconds without her letting her notice his eyes on her, she looked beautiful with her face tainted with worry for him thought Harold to himself, and this made his heart melt at the thought of it. on reaching a slightly shaded area she said "Take a rest here while I flag down the next possible passing carriage" with that she left him and went further bits away from where he sat. Her features becoming more visible and more enticing with the sun accenting her skin giving her a golden sheen, her hips well shaped, her hair swayed left and right due to the wind that blew soothingly. and he felt something stir in his bowels, a smile slowly creeping on his face which still couldn't be seen by this unknown stranger, he turned his head away from her when he heard a carriage coming in the distance "Hey!, a carriage is coming." he said to her and this had her turn to look at him to see him pointing to the direction from which he was sure the carriage was coming from. Turning her head, she saw a carriage approaching in the distance, it had white horses and it was a brown carriage. the coachman sat in front of it steadfastly holding on to the reins of the horses, as it came and closer to where they were she started to wave her hands, gesturing for the carriage to stop the carriage which was on its way, she waved vehemently for the carriage to stop, it was a local carriage and unknown to her it had become full with passengers who were passing through the town. it came closer and closer.
"Stop," she said waving at the coachman who didn't even care to spare her a look and continued his journey. She subtly cursed him under her breath with anger visibly showing on her face, she stood a little more on the road staring left and right; as if another carriage would appear out of the blue.
Harold watched her every move which was becoming a bit entertaining on his part, watching her pace from left to right in frustration became somewhat amusing, and this brought a smile on his face. Small drops of sweat hanged on to her forehead only to be wiped out by the kerchief that was hidden in her bosom. Still pacing around when she noticed him staring at her and smiling "Why are you smiling?" she asked him in confusion, her voice tainted with a hint of tiredness, wondering what could possibly be the cause of his smiling. "You look cute when you worry", Harold said, and this made her look at him eyes wide in disbelief at what he just said. "Really now?" she asked him, now getting a bit irritated "That's what you have to say?" she heaved a sigh and continued "You are in a bad condition, and this is all you can say to the person who is trying to help you here". "Look who's talking" Harold shot back at her with the same vigor, "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be in the state I am currently in" he said, looking at her noticing the shift of expression on her face. she looked at him in utter disgust, "Okay, now it's my fault?". She asked, .her countenance changing slowly. Harold stared at her still smiling, "If you had minded your business, I don't think you would be in this state either. Have you thought about that?". she said angrily and then rolled her eyes at him.
The day had gone a bit past noon, and there was still no sign of any carriage on the road, Harold looked at her after a while and said "Why don't you take a rest?" he asked her not really looking at where she was, and she not willing to, involuntarily went to take a seat at a much more shaded area not far from where Harold was. She stared at him wondering who he was, and how he found her out there in the middle of the forest, the same forest where all who go in never come back the same way.
After a few more minutes another carriage came to pass but finally stopped as the coachman in front had seen an exhausted lady standing a few meters away from the moving carriage waving violently for him to stop "Sir please, take him to a doctor" she said as she came to stand at the side of the carriage close to the coachman who evidently saw the little beads of perspiration that came to form on her forehead "What about you?" the coachman asked looking intently at her as she stood there with her kerchief in her hand softly dabbing the little streaks of sweat from her forehead
"I'll be fine" she said with a kind smile on her face as she stared into the eyes of the coachman "He's the one who needs help"...she continued while she stared at Harold who laid there on the floor at the shade she had kept him "This is for the fare" she said as she finally returned her gaze to the coachman who sat on his seat and hadn't broken his gaze from her, gauging her with his eyes till he was snapped out of his daydream by her soft voice "Could you help me bring him in?" "Oh" the coachman said realizing himself, he stepped down and the both of them came to where Harold lay on the floor.
"That's very kind of you" Harold said with a smile watching the girl and the coachman help him up to his feet "It warms my heart" he commented only to receive an eye roll from her "Well don't expect it twice" came the sharp reply from her as they led him into the carriage and this brought a strange feeling of satisfaction to him. The coachman hauled him into the carriage seat and closed the door, but before he could, he was stopped midway by Harold's hand "Hey miss" his voice said from the inside of the carriage making her look back at him as she had been previously facing another direction "You haven't told me your name" he continued to say, "You'll find out someday" turning her head, she said with a small smile on her lips that didn't really give a message, and with that she closed the door of the carriage and alerted the coachman and the coach slowly started moving.
She walked slowly and silently shaking her head as she thought about Harold and how he was so unbearable with his behavior like that of a child, but, she didn't fail to notice something in his eyes, something that reminded her of someone dear to her but it wasn't long before she perished the thought and walked down the footpath before her. Harold watched her as she disappeared into the distance with a small smile coming to latch itself on his face. Minutes went by slowly as he waited for the carriage to reach its destination but it seemed impossible but he had no other alternative but to patiently wait for the carriage to eventually come to a stop
After getting back to town, Harold nonchalantly got out of the carriage and thanked the coachman with a polite smile on his face that went from ear to ear "She's a beauty" he said to the coachman still holding up the smile as he stared dreamily in the direction from whence they came.
The coachman silently watched Harold as he stood there daydreaming and shook his head, but that didn't mean he didn't notice the way she was blessed with exquisite features. He finally stopped himself from watching Harold and in less than a minute, the horses started moving and he disappeared into the distance. Harold hearing the horses neighing as they moved along the footpath leading towards another town turned his head and took another glance at the carriage and then decided to go somewhere.
"Hmmmmm" Harold said softly, like in a whisper as he walked slowly down the road taking his time as he didn't have anything important to attend to. Coming to stop in front of a building that looked old, he took a deep breath and raised his hands to knock on the door "Who is it" came a voice from the other side of the door that stood facing him "It's Harold" Harold said with the same vigor as the person who was inside the house "open up" he continued, "I'll be with you in a moment" the voice said again as a loud crashing sound came from within the building. Finally, the door opened and an old looking lady not too old though, with one eye which had gone blind due to a duel she had on one of those events in the days when the law allowed physical violence to take place openly as part of their annual ceremonial entertainment.
"Hey" "What was that noise?" Harold asked with a straight face as the door opened fully and the woman shifted a little bit out of the way and gestured for him to come inside. The house was fairly furnished with the few necessary things a house should have, she wasn't an elite, but she also wasn't one of the lower-class people in the community. She made a decent living "Oh its nothing" she said, "Just some dishes getting broken" she said only to receive a stoic expression from Harold "What brings you here on this fine noon?" she asked going to take a seat across the table from where Harold sat comfortably twiddling his fingers.
"I just came for a visit" he said raising his head to look at her with a smile on his face. "Hmmmmm really now?" she asked with the same enthusiasm that exuded from Harold as he smiled facing one of the windows that had sunlight streaming down into the room "I don't think so" "I have a feeling you're here for something else" she continued as the smile that she held on her face slowly dissipated. Hearing this the smile on his face only broadened showing off his clean white fangs, he turned to see the stoic expression on her age-stricken face "How do you do that?" He asked still smiling "You always know what's on my mind" "You only come around when you need something" came the dull reply from the woman as she stands up to go into the kitchen to check on her boiling broth, "Too bad I can't have you" she stopped in her steps and turned to face him after hearing those words.
She was way older than he was, but her beauty hadn't faded away, she still had that slender figure that most men in the land admired, and he wasn't an exception, she silently shook her head and continued in her steps into the kitchen which was bit darker than the room she just left. The orange glow of the flickering candles gave the room a dark-orange delineation as she stirred her pot that boiled furiously on the tripod stand that stood on a raised platter.
"What do you need?" She asked, ignoring the words Harold had spoken as she heard footsteps coming to stop at the door "I came across a strange creature today" he said solemnly, "While in the forest" he continued, "It was after I just had a lovely time with my dearest cousin Ella, that I heard someone scream in pain which resounded from the forest" he stopped talking to take a breath, the woman listened silently without interrupting him in his speech as she turned the spoon to stir the contents inside the boiling pot
"As a good person that I am" he said walking around the kitchen "I decided to go take a look at what was happening in there" "Mhmmm?" She hummed in question without looking at him and walked to a cabinet and opened it and brought out a bottle which was filled with a white powder-like substance "I went in search of the voice, and when I finally found the person, it was a girl sitting in the middle of the Forrest crying" he stopped talking for some seconds and then "The first thing that came to mind was, the question of how she got into the forest and why was she crying".
"Oh really?" The woman asked "You went into the forest and saw a little girl crying?" She asked in unbelief as she had dropped her spoon on the wooden table to listen carefully and clearly understand what he was saying "Like you ever cared about anyone else except for when you have a trick up your sleeves" she said with indignation in her tone of voice. "Hey, I may be a nuisance at times, but this time it was real" he said with a straight face to make his point.
"Oh, whatever you say" she said as she rolled her eyes "As I was saying." he continued after some minutes of glaring at her for berating him like that. But come to think of it, she was right. He always had something brewing under that warm smile he always carries about. "I saw her sitting on the forest floor, crying and decided to help" "-By help, you mean?"..."I asked her some questions, but to no avail. All I could get was more tears and wails from her" he said as his expression changed "but that's not even the shocking part" "Tell me, please" she said mockingly as she stared at him while he spoke, this had him shaking his head, but continued nonetheless "When I went closer to give her a hand for her to be able to stand up. She screamed at me with her eyes filled with pain. And the next thing I know, I flew across the forest". Hearing this, the lady burst into laughter, so hysterical one would wonder what was funny that made her so merry just as Harold stood watching her laugh her heart out at his story "Mmmmhmmmm" she said still in a laughing mood "Well that explains the injury at the back of your leg" He stood watching her try to pull herself together, and when she finally did "That girl" she said with a stoic expression on her face "Did she tell you where she was from?" came the direct question from the woman in front of him "It seems you are prone to forgetfulness" he said sharply "Oh, I see.... She said thoughtfully and then continued "She did not give the slightest information" she concluded "Not even her name" added Harold solemnly as he swiped his fingers on the table close to him and raised it up to see the nonexistent dust particles that clung to them. "I wonder if." Harold trailed but only stopped in mid-sentence "You know what? Never-mind." He said as he started for the door.
"I've seen enough" Alexandra said with a little bit of anger rising in her voice "Oh ho!" Ella said with a chuckle "What's wrong dear?" she continued still laughing "I thought you said you didn't like him?" … she said … "and here you are becoming all tense and worked up?". "You wouldn't understand." came the reply from Alexandra "Is it because of that girl he was with or the woman he went to meet?" she asked still smiling "It's just" Alexandra trailed off. "Never-mind" "Did you notice something" Ella asked to only receive a blank look from her friend beside her "That girl in the woods" she continued "I've seen her somewhere before" she said as she held the top of her lips with her thumb and index finger "But I just can't pinpoint where exactly".
"I know who she is." Alexandra said in reply with a sour expression on her face "She was one of my colleagues when I was being tutored by a governess" she said bluntly with her eyes looking down at the earth she stood on "From the looks of things…" Ella said softly as she came to notice the expression on Alexandra's face "…I can see you don't like her.". Hearing this, Alexandra lifted her eyes to meet Ella's green ones "What makes you say so?" she asked with one of her brows slightly raised "It's written all over your face." Came the soft reply from Ella's lips only to be scoffed at by Alexandra "Say what you will, like I even care".
But the truth was that she cared a lot about the subject of their discussion, she felt intimidated by the mere presence of that young lady she saw some minutes ago with Harold while he was in the forest. That girl was the girl every girl her age wished to be; her beautiful falling brown eyes her perfect figure made every other girl next to her look flaccid, like they didn't belong to her class of being, and now seeing the way she held Harold and the effect the girl had on him, made her heart rise in anger with a side of jealousy attached to it, and fall short of hope that she could ever compete with that girl if it ever comes to the matter of men, especially Harold. Because she would grievously fail.
After a little while, Ella got up from her position as she had been lying with her back against the floor watching the sunset in the sky "I think we should be going now" she said "Well, it is getting late" Alexandra added "I will miss this place" both witches stood up from where they laid and "Hey, don't you go around telling on me" Alexandra said before Ella could start the spell to tale them back home, "Hmmm?" she asked with a quizzical look on her face "You know who I'm referring to" she snapped with her voice slightly rising and instantly Ella got the message "OH!, him." She said as the smile slowly began to creep onto her face again "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me" she concluded, and Ella stretched her hand out to Alexandra and as soon as their hands collided, they were transported back to Ella's courtyard.