Margret was getting accustomed to living in the castle day by day. It was so easy to fool her stepsister Anna she was so gullible and she also had Sly wrapped around her little finger, this poor fellow and Anna thought she was attacked. Anna felt so sorry for her and took her in her home, just where Margret belonged in this castle ,it was her turn to be treated as a princess, she smiled at herself .She looked out the window and saw a man dresses like a lord standing at the gates ,curious to know who he is ,she went down to greet him.
William was just about to leave but the sound of someone yelling for him, " Wait ! Please I need to speak to you!" Curious to know what the women wanted he waited." Yes ?" He asked her, Margret said, " Are you here to see princess Anna?" William felt she was too nosy ," Not that it is any of your business but I am actually here to see king James we work together." Margret smiled at him, " Maybe you can work with me instead." He didn't understand what she meant. Margret said," Meet me tonight in the forest." She left. William smiled and said to himself." I have a feeling this is going to me my lucky day.``
Anna tried her best to make sure Margret felt safe in the castle. She would let her borrow her clothes and sometimes they would braid each other's hair and they acted like sisters. One day Margret was with Anna in her room admiring it ,she said, " You must feel so lucky to have all these dresses and go to all these parties." Anna could understand why a girl like Margret would admire all this fantasy stuff," I guess but if it was up to me I would give up all materialistic things to go and live with Sly in the forest." Margret got confused ," Then why don't you ?You are the princess after all don't you choice what you can or can not do." Anna laughed at that comment." You have got it all wrong Margret it is because I am a princess I have to abide by the rules of the castle and the life that comes with it." Margret asked, " Sorry if I am intruding but if you don't like to live in the castle why don't you and Sly run away?"Anna smiled at her, " I have already done that and guess what my father told a lord named Lord William to search for me and he dragged me back to the castle." Margret asked , " Who is Lord William?" Anna answered. " Oh, he is one of my father's right-hand man. Anyway, enough talk about me ,what about you Margret, what are your dreams?"
Margret replied, " My life is so boring compared to yours, I am just a girl who lived in a poor simple village." Anna smiled at her , " I am sure you are not any ordinary simple girl, you seem like a tough woman look how you bounced back from these men who attacked you ." Anna hesitated , " May I ask you a personal question if you don't mind?" Margret laughed, " Anna of course you can ask me anything , these past few weeks you have become like a sister to me." Anna swallowed her pride and asked Margret, " You never told me the story of how you were attacked and who attacked you?" Margret answered, " You are right Anna you should know what happened to me because the truth if it weren't for you and Sly I would never have survived." Anna felt sorry for her and saw how this question waded on her. " If it makes you feel uncomfortable I don't have to know ." Margret nodded her head and insisted she tell her.
She has been living in a caravan with her mother for as long as she could remember it was just the two of them until her mother became bored and decide to invite her male friends over .They would get drinks and they would party all night and her mother would order her to server them, " Do as I say young girl and this way and can bring for money onto the table." Of course being just a young girl barely thirteen years old I did understand how she was getting her money. As Margret got older she began to argue a lot with her mother about the men she brings over and told her it has become inappropriate to do something like that. She shouted at her daughter and told her, " If you don't like the way I make my living then just leave!" So the day after her mother told her that she packed her things and left.
At the beginning she was afraid to be on her own. She hardly had 10 pennies in her pocket and a few clothings that she packed with her .She began by sitting on the streets and she made a living by shining peoples shoes, " A penny for a shoe shine." With the money she got from the shoe shining business she could barely live by ,until one day a young woman came along and asked her, " How old are you kid?' Margret hesitated, " I am 13 Mame going on 14." The woman asked, " How would you like to work in my shoe factory? I would definitely pay you more than a penny?" Margret quickly agreed . The woman's name was Emily and soon Emily taught Margret how to make shoes and began to gain a lot of money from that business. Margret was so happy with her life until one day Emily's son Charles came to visit her from London. He looked like a fine young man ,when Margret met him she admired him a lot, he came to his mother's shop one day and Emily introduced them to each other at that time Margret was almost 17 years old by that time she was well aware of how attractive Charles was , he wore a leather jacket and he had a mustache and his hair was waving her heart began to pound he was really good looking.
Margret always tried to ignore him every time he came to visit his mother, she didn't want him to realize that she was into him. One day he came with a girl who he introduced as his girlfriend ,he came into the store with her and shouted," Mother are you in there I want to introduce you to someone." His mother was not there, it was just Margret and when she saw Charles with this other woman he felt hurt as if her heart was broken into many pieces. He said, " Oh hi Margret is my mother here." She hid her face so that Charles would not realize that she was crying " No she.. not." He looked at her weirdly and she thought he knew something was wrong but he just took the other woman with her and left. Later that night Charles went back to his mother's shop but he was be himself, Margret told him, " Your mother is still not back." He smiled and lend over towards her and whispered in her ear, " I am not here to see my mother ,but I am here to see you." Margret was confused," I thought you have a girlfriend." He shrugged, " So ,my girlfriend doesn't want to satisfy me but I bet you would..." He came closer, " Oh Margret you smell so beautiful ." Margret could not believe what she just heard. She wanted him but not like this, " I think you better leave ." She said , he laughed, " Your right Margret I am sorry would you forgive me and go for a short walk with me. please?" He looked so cute the way he begged her. Margret thought it would not hurt to his friend, " Of course, let's go."
They went walking to the forest and it became dark she was beginning to get scared ," I can't see anything." He pinned her to a tree branch she screamed, " No please!" He ripped her sleeves and her top fell down and she began to tremble, he yelled , " Stay still I know you want me I have seen how you look at me when I visit my mother."He forced himself on her again and again until she was too weak to move, she began to sob and cry , " You scum I am going to get you for this." He laughed, " I don't think you will because after what happened you would be a fool to come back to the shop."He left.
Anna looked at Margarets face and saw tears in her eyes," I ran away so fast and that is when you and Sly found me." Anna took Margret and hugged her, " I am so sorry you had to go through that ,you are safe now and I promise you nothing like that would ever happen to you again."
After Anna left her room and let Margret rest , Margret sneaked out to meet Lord William. Lord William asked her, " Now I want the truth, my lady, tell who you are and tell what you are after?" Margret gave him a smirk and said, " I will tell you everything.
Chapter 24Time Alone Between Two People turns into a Disaster
Sly took out his finest suit, it was the suit his friend Jack made for him when he fooled everyone in the party when he was posing as Lord Hemingway. " I think you are my lucky charm suite." He recalled the way he kissed Anna that day, it was breathtaking and all he ever wanted. Today was a special day because he was going to take Anna out on a real date, not a picnic in the forest next to the tree and not a dinner in the castle with several servants standing around them. He was going to take Anna to a quiet outdoor mini restaurant right by the lake ,he was going to wine and dine her till the late evening and dance with her until the moonlight. " How romantic?" He thought to himself he was going to sweep her off her feet. He looked at himself in the mirror and smiled, " This day is going to be a special day for the both of us . He went out and saw Jack saddling two fine brown horses, he said, " As you ordered Sly two horses saddled for take off, by the way you didn't tell me what your plans are for Anna." Sly took the reins of the two horses and replied, " Tonight my friend, I am going to sweep Anna off her feet."
Getting ready to go to the castle he sat on the horse and took the other one which was for Anna with one hand and went riding to the castle to surprise Anna. Anna woke up late that morning ,after she heard everything Margret told her about her life she felt really sorry for her and wanted to help her as much as she can she began gathering some of her dresses and all jewels and smiled, " All these expensive things don't mean a thing to me but I am sure Margret would appreciate than I do." She placed them in her luggage and went to see Margret , she knocked at her door , " Come in!" She heard Margret yell. Anna came in placing the small luggage behind her, Margret seemed surprised to see her, " Oh Anna you did have to knock It is your home." Anna laughed, " Oh Margret it is your room remember?" Margret said, " Well actually I kind of forgot that I live in a castle , I actually pinch myself every morning to make sure I am not dreaming all this." Anna replied, " I assure you it is not a dream it is all real." They laughed , Margret then noticed the small luggage Anna was carrying behind her back and asked about it, " Anna ,may I ask you what are you carrying behind your back." Anna held the luggage and should it to Margret ," This luggage is for you not me." Margret was surprised and took it from Anna and said, " For me?But what is it? " Anna exclaimed, " Open it and see !" Margret opened the luggage and was amazed by the numerous amounts of beautiful dresses, " Wow they are exquisite and divine. Are these for me?" She asked , Anna nodded, Margret said, " No Anna I can't except it ,you have already given me too much." Anna insisted, " I want to ,anyways I have many of these dresses and now that you live in the castle you should dress the part."
After many quarrels between Margret and Anna ,Margret thanked her and finally agreed to have them. After Anna left her, Margret smiled, " Yes Anna you are right I should dress the part because I am actually a princess just like you and I deserve to have the same things just like you do."
Anna was glad that she gave Margret these dresses she always likes giving things to people, she remembered when she was young every Christmas her mother would take her to the orphanage and she would get a bag of her old toys and clothes and pass them onto others that need it. " It always feels like to give to others in need." Queen Mary would inform her daughter, even though Anna's parents spoiled her and gave her everything she ever wanted , Anna always gave back once she decided to have a party and invited only the villagers nearby . " God bless you Princess Anna ,you are too kind!" They would tell Anna , Anna helped install swings, merry go rounds and food stands all over the garden for the kids to have fun and Anna loved to see them giggle and laugh and enjoy their time. She always felt it was unfair that she had the privilege to enjoy living in the castle while other children were not that lucky. The day of the party was a fun and busy day, Anna woke up excited for that day she would meet the children's villages and play with them. She wore a beautiful pink dress and had her nanny Mona brush her hair nicely. She would say, " This is such a beautiful thing you are doing Princess Anna. I am sure the other children will enjoy it. Anna replied, " You really think so Mona , I hope the kids will enjoy this day like I will." She quickly got herself ready to greet them. Outside in the garden where the party was at ,it seemed to Anna that everyone was having a great time. She saw children going on pony rides , others were pink in the face because of eating their cotton candies which were stuck on their faces.
Things seemed like they were going smoothly until she heard the voices of some children arguing, she quickly ran to see what the commotion was about. Two young boys were fighting over who was going to ride the pony next, one of them screamed , " It is not only for you it is my turn now!" The other said, " No, I still did finish my turn." Now the boys were grabbing each other's hair and fighting viciously, Anna ran towards them and told them to stop but they didn't. They fought more violently whenthat one of them accidentally pushed Anna to the ground. King James saw what happened to his daughter and helped her up and shouted at the two boys, " This is inexcusable, you don't act like this in front of a girl you wild savages !" The boys put their heads down and it seemed that they were embarrassed by their behaviors . At that moment the king ordered everyone to go home and told them that the party was over.
That night Anna's father yelled at her and told her that she was forbidden to invite the villagers to the castle again.
In the privacy of her own room ,Margret wore one of the dresses what Anna gave her and did her hair similar to the way Anna does her hair, she looked at herself in the mirror and said, " Oh now I look exactly like you little sister." She walked around the room pretending to be Anna, " Finally my plan is working so well even daddy dearest does not know who I am. Soon every one of them will get what they deserve." She heard a sound of a horse and peered from the window to see who it was and not to her surprise she saw Sly, " Coming to visit my little sister are you . Well let us test you to see if you can tell the difference between us." She went down to greet before anyone saw her and quickly walked to the garden where she saw Sly waiting for Anna , his back was towards her then she sneakily went and planted a kiss on his neck. Sly turned around and said, " Anna you startled..." Sly didn't continue his sentence because he saw Margret and realized that she was the one that kissed him. Sly was angry at her , Margret laughed, " What is wrong Sly you can't tell the difference between me and Anna ." Sly quietly said, " You thief why are you wearing Anna's clothes?" Margret answered, " From what I heard you'r the thief around here and for your information Anna let me borrow her clothes." Sly was about to say something but he saw Anna coming ," Sly I am so glad to see you." Anna smiled , " I see you saw Margret already , I gave her some close to borrow from me. Don't you think she looks great?' Sly replied, " Yes Anna they look good." Margret smiled and told Anna, " I better go and leave you two love birds alone." She went back inside the castle.
Anna then noticed the two horses, " Sly for who are these two horses for?" Sly smiled , " For us of course I thought we would take a ride together." Anna was curious, " Can I ask where?" Sly said, " You can ask but I am not going to tell you because it is going to be a surprise." So they climbed up and rode the horse and Anna allowed Sly to lead the way. They rode side by side through the forest and Anna was getting anxious , " Are we there yet?" Sly answered, " Almost my love, be patient." Then after a few minutes he got off his horse as did Anna and Sly took her hand and led her behind some bushes to a small quiet hidden restaurant, Anna paused admiring the view she said, " Wow this is breathtaking! " She looked and saw that the tables and chairs were all placed around a large lake that had ducks and swans swimming in it. Sly kissed her check and asked, " Do you like it?" Anna looked into his eyes and said, " No I don't like it I love it and I love you?"