Layla

  "Why don't you ride with me? It will be much quicker." I had to make sure we were both on the same horse, the only horse accompanying us.

  Missy shrugged and allowed Mr. Heartha to help her onto Clupint. I kicked the horse hard, meaning for the jolt Clupint would make to start us off and take her by surprise. And it did. Missy yelped and clutched her handbag tighter, making her knuckles turn white.

  Adda thought Missy's little bark was very funny. I looked back to see her little shoulders heaving, clutching her sides, and her face turning scarlet with laughter. She was over-dramatic.

  Wade followed along in the woods where Missy wouldn't notice him; all part of the plan.

  The governess gripped my stomach so hard that I thought my rib cage would burst into a million pieces. She was obviously afraid of falling off. Although Clupint was bouncy, he wasn't going to throw her off!

  Finally I got fed up with madwoman crushing my abdomen.

  "Oh, I lost my necklace," I lied. "Why don't you get down there and look for it?" I tossed my head with a haughty air, something a normal princess would do often. I bit my tongue to keep from birthing mirth.

  "I would never make my elders do such things when I was your age!" Missy was obviously upset, and she acted as though she didn't care if she made me angry.

  "That was so long ago!" I wasn't scared of making her angry, either. "Things are different now." My guts jiggled as my insides laughed. I heard a small giggle from the woods. I winked at the ever-so-patient-Wade. Then I directed my attention to Missy, who was searching for my 'lost' necklace. "You are taking much too long. Farewell!" I kicked Clupint and we sped past Missy, her jaw suspended in mid-air.

  My plan was to isolate Missy, with Wade there to carry her safely back to the tavern. And it worked! My mouth flew wide with the smile of true triumph, once again. Then I thought of my new friends: Adda and Wade. Would I see them again? Of course I would! I would make sure of it. You do not come across many true friends.

  Then I recollected everything humorous that had just happened: The look on Missy's face when I made it clear that I was higher ranked than her, how she yelped when Clupint had startled her, and the way she clutched me so tightly that I wanted to back-hand her. I burst out into a fit of giggles. I couldn't wait to recount my experiences to Brye! I looked forward too laughing all over again.

  I gazed over the horizon at the peach-colored sunset. It made me sleepy, the beauty of the colors all mixed together. I decided to stop for camp early tonight. After all, I wasn't quite back into the swing of things. It had been nearly a week since I had slept outside. By the time my bedroll was laid out, the stars shone bright against the night sky. It brought to mind something LaShebah had made me memorize:

 

  If you travel beyond the atmosphere,

  You'll find enormous stars glittering here.

  Glitzy, gleaming, glowing above,

  The tiny, radiant, far flung bubbles are

  Way too easy to love.

  Back to earth: look out your window,

  The once colossal burning orbs

  Are now tiny and stunted,

  And how big they are you don't really know.

  My voice rang clear in the dark air. It was refreshing to have an audience once again, even if it was only Coca and Clupint.

  Never ever take a star for granted,

  Despite how minute and outlying they may seem.

  Say a little prayer to God, to thank him for the brilliant gleam.

  It didn't take long for Coca to get back onto my head after I had finished my connotation. The screeching monkey bounced up and down, making my head ache. I tore him away from my hair and snuggled him down beside me on the bedroll.

  I tried to sleep, but all I could do was toss and turn. My head pounded and my stomach churned. Then I started to get chilled, and I hugged my arms. My fingers came across a gooey patch of skin that hurt so terribly, my hand bounced off as if were attached to a bow. Then I realized what it was: a cut from the Colies tail!

  I started panicking. I thought the Colies cuts had all healed! I was positive! The only way a cut could re-expose itself like that was if? I had eaten rye bread within a month of the wounds. I knew that of all the grains, only rye could mix with the poison of the Colies tail. If that happened, the results could be fatal. I was in trouble!

  Frantically I went over what I had eaten in the past week. Mostly porridge and chicken? I had tasted the corn cakes? which were made with? "Rye." I had to do something to get it out of my stomach! Recklessly I tore through my carpetbag until I came across a jar of pink lemonade.

  "Thank you, Adda!" I cried. I slung off the lid and gulped it down till the last drop.

  Then I sat down, ready to cry. What if that hadn't worked? Would I die because of my own stupidity? Tears brimmed my eyes. Then my stomach started churning like crazy, mixing everything up and down. Up and down. Then I realized that the poison wasn't going to let me keep the lemonade down.

  Despite myself, I started hiccupping. I had drunk the lemonade too fast. And to make things more appalling, my stomach heaved. Out came the lemonade. I threw up until I felt as if my insides were coming out.

  I tried to regain serenity, but the bile within me would not allow it. I burst into tears, tears of agony, of shame. Not even my mother could have calmed me down. I hugged my knees and bit my lip while tears flowed onto my dirty gown. Then I hiccupped. It certainly did nothing to soothe my strife. Then again it came. And again.

  Scaring the hiccups out of people was a widely known remedy. But if it truly worked, I would not have been hiccupping, for thinking you are about to die is certainly bloodcurdling.