“Lucinda, I know just the thing to get you out of your blue mood,” Anastasia said a few days later when I was still moping around about the stain on my wick and the melted puddle below it. “Let’s go on an adventure.”
I’m sure my eyes must have lit up in anticipation. Most of the time Anastasia came up with such delightful things to do, but this time as she outlined her newest plan I was dubious. Go out to the barn? The barn? Are you kidding me? Why we could get scratched and scarred for life and never fit in with our peers again!
Well, I was bored, and she was convincing. Our society friends would never need to know, would they?
It was exciting planning to sneak out without anyone noticing. We decided the best time would be when all the servants were busy elsewhere, preferably in the kitchen, and Rosalie, who thinks she owns us, would be upstairs reading. By that time, we knew it would be getting dark out which would be all the more reason to be going to the barn. The servants would be busy choring, but they were not who we were planning to see…oh no…
It was very fortunate indeed that someone had pushed the rocking chair a little too close to the unlit fireplace, else how would we have ever gotten down by ourselves? It took both of us, and all our might and mane to push one of those fireplace thingamajiggies; you know, tools to stoke the fire with; down the side of the mantle to make a bridge over to the chair. Well, we didn’t have any way to fasten it, so I held it tightly—(or rather tried to) while Anastasia slid down and landed with a thump on the chair. I was so busy watching the chair rocking violently and her rolling off that I forgot to hold on to that funny metal stick and when it crashed, I was so startled, I stumbled and Anastasia screamed when I landed right on top of her. Tis a wonder no one came running after all that commotion, but we made our get away as fast as possible out a partly open window, and were in the wild, dark Out of Doors for the first time in our lives!
My heart sure started beating rapidly. How would we ever, ever go all that long distance to the huge, monstrosity of a building that they called a barn.
“I wish we had brought our flames along,” Anastasia whispered.
I nodded, knowing she wouldn’t notice, but wasn’t about to admit it after all my complaining.
As we inched our way away from the house the large, kerosene lamp hanging on a hook by barn door seemed to be beckoning us. How many times had I turned up my nose at his homely appearance but the light from within made him truly radiantly beautiful.
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