Read Online The Tale of Mally Biddle by M.L. LeGette - Free Book Online

in a servant’s uniform, she’d look like she had always been a servant. She knew hard work. She hated the knights. She wanted to see them gone. Maybe, just maybe …
    The next day, Ivan woke refreshed and feeling completely normal. After Susie had inspected his ankle and deemed him fit enough to ride, Ivan nearly skipped down the stairs. But the grin on his face slid off as he looked at the empty kitchen.
    “Where’s Mally?” he asked Susie, who had followed him down the stairs.
    “Trying to get the goats to come back.”
    “But didn’t she do that yesterday?”
    “She does it everyday,” and Susie smiled at the look on Ivan’s face. “If you want to meet her, she’s probably given up by now and is on her way back. Ah, ah, ah!” she said forcefully as he started for the door. “Not until you’ve eaten.”
    Ivan didn’t complain. Susie’s cooking was the best he’d ever had and, having grown up in a wealthy family with a personal cook, Ivan thought that was saying something. After he had his fill, Ivan asked Susie where to find Mally.
    Susie told him how to get to the hill that the goats enjoyed most and after snatching another sausage off the table, he headed down the little lane that led to the hill.
    This is all working out for the best , he thought to himself gleefully. He’d be able to talk to Mally away from her mother for as long as it took to convince her. And he was going to convince her, of that he was sure. He was not leaving without her.
    It turned out that Susie was right. Ivan spotted Mally and Bo nnie half way down the hill. He waved at her and she waved back. Bonnie barked and sped down the hill to him and he rubbed her behind the ears until Mally reached him.
    “Hi!” said Mally, and Ivan was pleased to see she was smiling wide ly at his sudden appearance. “Your ankle’s healed?”
    “Completely. Fancy a walk?” Ivan asked as Bonnie bounded around their ankles. “But if you can’t … I don’t want to interfere … if you’re busy, that is.”
“No, no! I’d love a walk.”
    Perfect, smiled Ivan.
    The y strolled slowly down a different lane than the one that led to Mally’s home, watching Bonnie weave back and forth before them. It was a cheerful day—the sky a radiant blue and the air crisp and fresh. The trees’ brilliant shades of colors ranged from golden-yellow to deep red.
    “Lovely day,” Ivan observed.
    “Yes, it is,” Mally agreed. “Fall’s my favorite time of year.”
    “Really?”
    “Oh, yes,” Mally smiled. “Everything’s so colorful in the fall and the coolness is like a breath of fresh air after summer.”
    “You must work hard, living the way you do,” said Ivan, taking in Mally’s tan and slim figure.
    “You get used to it.”
    Ivan laughed.
    “I can think of a few people who’d never get used to it.” He pictured his mother plowing a field while ordering the servants to bring her more chamomile tea. “And you got me onto Arrow. Not many women could have done that. Your size is misleading.”
    “It’s not that shocking in a farming town, but if you weighed any more, I wouldn’t have been able to do it,” said Mally with a laugh.
    “I’ll remember to watch what I eat,” promised Ivan with a grin.
    Mally smiled and bit her lip, looking suddenly flushed.
    “You’re leaving today?”
    Ivan heard the sudden change of subject and his senses seemed to sharpen. It was time.
    “Yes, and I wanted to talk to you about that,” he said slowly. He stopped walking and turned to Mally. “You know I live in Bosc.”
    Mally nodded.
    “And you told me that you’ve never been. That you’ve been interested in work there.”
    “Yes, but as I told you,” Mally explained. “My mother won’t allow it.”
    “Because of the knights,” Ivan pressed.
    Mally nodded again.
    “But you’re not afraid of them, are you?” Ivan asked, smiling in a way he knew made Mally flush. He wasn’t disappointed. Pink bloomed upon her cheeks.
    “You learn