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Read Online [Books of Bayern 1] The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Shannon Hale
Tags: Fiction, General, Juvenile Fiction, Fantasy & Magic, Fairy Tales & Folklore, Human-animal communication, Fairy Tales; Folklore & Mythology, Royalty, princesses, Fairy Tales
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deeply as her own heart. Ani tucked the handkerchief back into her bodice, convincing herself that since the gates of the palace, the handkerchief had in some measure been protecting her.
That night, Ani set up her own bedroll. Ingras exclaimed at Selia's refusal to serve, but Ani would not have anyone ordered to be her servant, or her friend. In the privacy of her tent, Ani struggled with the laces of her bodice and called herself a fool for ever trusting anyone.
Through the slit in her tent flap she could see Talone instructing the night watch. She wanted to trust him, but that dark encounter with Ingras and Selia's betrayal were both painful barbs she could not pluck out. At least I have Falada as a true friend, she thought, and the handkerchief as protection.
************************************
Two weeks after the halfway mark, a stream pregnant with summer runoff crossed their path and rose to flow over the road's bridge. Talone recommended they halt early and test the sodden wood for rotting before crossing the next day. Ungolad seemed pleased with the diversion, saying that some leagues upstream there was a waterfall.
"A sight for eyes wearied by endless trees," he said. "A sight even royalty might deem worthy to behold." He nodded at Ani.
The main part of the company followed Ungolad up a deer trail along the river. Ani stayed behind, and Ungolad seemed disappointed. But as she brushed Falada, a breeze lifted off the river and wound its damp essence in her hair and wrapped its coolness around her face, and with it, for a moment, she thought she saw the image of a waterfall shimmer before her eyes. Her imagination, she determined, and batted the breeze away.
Still, she had never seen a waterfall, and it would be a pity to pass blindly by. While Talone and others investigated the bridge, Ani took to the deer trail.
The forest ground was spongy but pleasant footing after weeks of riding. She liked the sensation of walking on soil hollowed by deep tree roots, the noise of her steps muted echoes.
The smell of pine and cool water freshened the world, and Ani felt eager.
These last days had been tense and strange, the coldness from so many of the guards, Selia's flushed face and eyes shining with anger and hate, and the burden of a handkerchief that throbbed with mystery at her heart. But now, off the road, the forest was pleasing, green like spring wheat and yet ancient and ponderous as the books of the palace library. The upper branches wrestled with the high forest wind. Below, the rumor of the river answered. Ani felt that she moved in the middle of a great conversation between sky and earth.
Soon the sound of crashing water overwhelmed all else. Ani approached the sound and ducked under the branches of a fir. There at her feet burst the white eruptions of the river, shaking the earth and breathing out a mist that wet her hair. The water fell straight for the height of three men, then continued to churn around rocks and smaller falls until the land evened farther downstream. She could see the movements of Ungolad's group above the falls and decided not to join them, enjoying the unfamiliar solitude.
Somewhere behind her she heard the dim call of a bird to its mate. Fly away, danger. It was a common cry among the woodland birds she had listened to as a child, and the familiar call in that foreign place made her feel as though the words were spoken to her. Danger. Fly away. She reached above her, gripped a branch, and began to step away from the edge.
At the same moment, something knocked the back of her ankles, and her feet slipped.
Ani held to the tree and pulled her feet back onto land, and watched the stone that had struck her topple over the edge and drop into the river.
The ground beneath her was slick and wet. If she had not been holding on to a branch at that moment, she would have gone the way of the stone and possibly cracked her head on a rock or been held under by the strong current and drowned.
That night, Ani set up her own bedroll. Ingras exclaimed at Selia's refusal to serve, but Ani would not have anyone ordered to be her servant, or her friend. In the privacy of her tent, Ani struggled with the laces of her bodice and called herself a fool for ever trusting anyone.
Through the slit in her tent flap she could see Talone instructing the night watch. She wanted to trust him, but that dark encounter with Ingras and Selia's betrayal were both painful barbs she could not pluck out. At least I have Falada as a true friend, she thought, and the handkerchief as protection.
************************************
Two weeks after the halfway mark, a stream pregnant with summer runoff crossed their path and rose to flow over the road's bridge. Talone recommended they halt early and test the sodden wood for rotting before crossing the next day. Ungolad seemed pleased with the diversion, saying that some leagues upstream there was a waterfall.
"A sight for eyes wearied by endless trees," he said. "A sight even royalty might deem worthy to behold." He nodded at Ani.
The main part of the company followed Ungolad up a deer trail along the river. Ani stayed behind, and Ungolad seemed disappointed. But as she brushed Falada, a breeze lifted off the river and wound its damp essence in her hair and wrapped its coolness around her face, and with it, for a moment, she thought she saw the image of a waterfall shimmer before her eyes. Her imagination, she determined, and batted the breeze away.
Still, she had never seen a waterfall, and it would be a pity to pass blindly by. While Talone and others investigated the bridge, Ani took to the deer trail.
The forest ground was spongy but pleasant footing after weeks of riding. She liked the sensation of walking on soil hollowed by deep tree roots, the noise of her steps muted echoes.
The smell of pine and cool water freshened the world, and Ani felt eager.
These last days had been tense and strange, the coldness from so many of the guards, Selia's flushed face and eyes shining with anger and hate, and the burden of a handkerchief that throbbed with mystery at her heart. But now, off the road, the forest was pleasing, green like spring wheat and yet ancient and ponderous as the books of the palace library. The upper branches wrestled with the high forest wind. Below, the rumor of the river answered. Ani felt that she moved in the middle of a great conversation between sky and earth.
Soon the sound of crashing water overwhelmed all else. Ani approached the sound and ducked under the branches of a fir. There at her feet burst the white eruptions of the river, shaking the earth and breathing out a mist that wet her hair. The water fell straight for the height of three men, then continued to churn around rocks and smaller falls until the land evened farther downstream. She could see the movements of Ungolad's group above the falls and decided not to join them, enjoying the unfamiliar solitude.
Somewhere behind her she heard the dim call of a bird to its mate. Fly away, danger. It was a common cry among the woodland birds she had listened to as a child, and the familiar call in that foreign place made her feel as though the words were spoken to her. Danger. Fly away. She reached above her, gripped a branch, and began to step away from the edge.
At the same moment, something knocked the back of her ankles, and her feet slipped.
Ani held to the tree and pulled her feet back onto land, and watched the stone that had struck her topple over the edge and drop into the river.
The ground beneath her was slick and wet. If she had not been holding on to a branch at that moment, she would have gone the way of the stone and possibly cracked her head on a rock or been held under by the strong current and drowned.
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