Meanwhile, I'll just keep posting chunks of the 20+ year old not-so-fairy tale; you can find the earlier parts HERE; just be aware that it posts the most recent first, so you gotta scroll down and read up...
Part
Two -- The Plan
“What can I do?” Rita asked herself again as she skipped across
the small brook at the edge of the orchard.
Isabella needed help in the worst way, but Rita had promised not to tell
anyone about her. --Maybe, she thought
to herself, --some promises shouldn’t be kept.
But, if Isabella’s fears were true, and questions were asked, Rita
didn’t know if she could deal with being responsible for Isabella getting
another beating...or watching more of her mother’s precious statuettes broken. She
replayed the entire story in her head as she made her way back across the fields,
trying to see a solution for her new friend. Really, what Isabella needed was for
someone to sweep down on the manor house without warning and spirit her… and
her mother’s things… away. --Perhaps
when Gregory gets home, Rita conjectured, --he can help me think of
something...if I can figure out a way to ask for help without breaking my
promise. Gregory had always been good at
helping Rita solve her problems before he’d gone abroad. --After all, princes
are supposed to be good at rescuing damsels in distress, she thought as she
smiled to herself. She added out loud as
she crossed a rock fence, “Then they get married and live happily ever
after.” Suddenly, her smile faded and
she stood stock still as she realized what she’d just said. Gregory and Isabella! Of course!
She took a breath, dazzled by this new idea, and began walking toward
the stables. “How can I introduce them?”
She scarcely noticed that she was
talking out loud to herself again. “What
if Isabella came to the ball next week?”
Rita considered that thought for a moment, then added, “But her
stepmother and stepsisters will be there.
What if they saw her?” Maybe a
disguise of some sort...she’ll need an invitation, and transportation,
something to wear...
Rita was lost in thought, so she
didn’t notice that Jerry Rattes was leading one of the horses out of the stable
as she approached. He startled her when
he gasped, “Your Highness! I thought you
went back to the palace!”
Rita quickly glanced around to see
if anyone else saw her, but fortunately Jerry was the only one in sight. “I decided to take a walk around the
pastures. Please don’t tell
anyone.” She looked at him
forlornly. “I don’t get much chance to
just think things through...”
Jerry, who was a solitary soul by
nature, had often thought to himself how tedious it must be to be a member of
the royal family and always have to have someone in attendance. He smiled at her shyly, “I’ll keep your secret,
your Highness.”
Suddenly, Rita was hit with
inspiration. “Can you really keep a secret, Jerry?”
Jerry looked a bit
uncomfortable. “I hope so, your Highness.” The horse he was leading stamped her foot impatiently,
and Jerry looked up at her. “I need to
take Joyful to the pasture...she wants a roll and a mouthful of grass, don’t
you, old girl?” He patted the horse’s
nose affectionately.
“May I walk with you?” Rita definitely saw a way to solve one of her
problems. “I think I may need your help
on something.”
Again, that uncomfortable look came
to Jerry’s face, but he replied, “You know I’m at your service, your
Highness.” They began walking toward the
pasture gate.
Rita took a deep breath. “Jerry, this is an absolute secret, for
reasons I can’t explain right now. But I
have a friend who needs transportation to the ball next Friday. Is there any way we can do something to
help?”
Jerry thought for a moment. “Well, I don’t know if we could get permission
to do it, but there is the pumpkin.”
“The pumpkin?” Rita was lost.
“The old children’s carriage. It’s round and sort of orangish -- we’ve
always called it the pumpkin. It would
seat one person just about right. It’s
not been used for years and years. Me
and Martin could clean it up.” Martin was Jerry’s younger brother and was even
more quiet and timid around the royal family than Jerry.
Rita frowned, thinking, as Jerry
opened the gate and let the horse trot into the pasture. Just as Jerry predicted, she took a fast
gallop for a few moments, then rolled in the grass. Rita laughed aloud, ‘You knew that’s what
she’d do!”
Jerry
looked at the old horse fondly. “Yeah,
me and Joyful have both been around here together for quite a while. She does better when the other horses are off
out of the pasture; I always bring her round when it’s empty.”
Rita
watched the old horse for a moment as she clambered to her feet and began
munching the grass, then ventured. “I suppose my friend would need a driver and
footman...could you drive it? Would Martin
be willing to be a footman for the evening?”
Jerry took a deep breath, hesitated
just a moment and replied, “Aye, your Highness, I think we could help.”
“What about horses? And livery?”
Again, Jerry frowned. “The wagon team would pull the carriage, I
think. There’s some of the old livery in
storage in the carriage house. I think
we could find some that doesn’t have the royal crest on it. But...won’t Mr. Leifert have to know about
this?”
Rita sighed. “That’s the problem, Jerry. I’m sure he’d want to check it out with my
parents, and that would spoil everything.
I promised my friend I wouldn’t tell anybody about her …wanting to come
to the dance....” Her voice trailed off.
She hoped she hadn’t already broken her promise. But Jerry was very unlikely to ask any
questions that would get Isabella in trouble. Still, if everything depended on getting
Leifert’s permission...suddenly, Rita thought that her great idea wasn’t so
great after all. All she was likely to
do was to get Jerry and Martin in trouble with the stable master.
Jerry was watching the Princess as
all this occurred to her. She wasn’t
aware of how disappointed she looked as she realized what she wanted probably
wasn’t going to work. --All she wants to
do is help somebody, he thought. --She
ought to be able to do that. Suddenly,
he was determined that he would do anything he could to see to it that she did
whatever she felt she needed to do.
“Your Highness, I’ll figure out something. Me and Martin will make sure the pumpkin’s
ready to take your friend to the ball.
Just leave it to us.”
Rita looked up at him,
astonished. “But, Jerry, I don’t want to
cause trouble for you...are you sure you can do it?”
Jerry nodded. “Y’see, your Highness, the other stable hands
is used to me and Martin kind of being off by ourselves, anyway. If we’re in the carriage house cleaning an
old carriage, why, it won’t seem so odd to them. Mr. Leifert don’t take that much notice of us
anyway; we’ve both been around long enough that he trusts us to do what needs
doing. We’ll manage.”
If Jerry hadn’t been ‘mucking out
stalls’ that day, Rita might have been tempted to give him a big, grateful
hug. A dazzling smile had to take its
place. “Jerry, I don’t know what to
say. Thank you from...the tips of my
toes!”
This time, Jerry actually smiled
broadly at her, gratified to see that he had pleased her so much. “Happy to oblige.”
Rita nodded. “I’ll check with you next week about how
we’ll get my friend.” With a wave, she
headed toward the palace, exultant. It
might work...it really might work! Then,
she thought of the next thing on her list -- a ball gown -- and realized that
the biggest challenge was still before her.
To be continued...
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