• As I read that piece, I felt anger that she tried to protect me and in the end caused her own death. I felt that I could protect us all and yet, we had already lost both my mother and my Aunt. It was the middle of the night and I felt a deep need to ride until all of my anger was gone. Common sense told me that I shouldn’t but I didn’t listen, I was too angry to care at the moment. As I donned my riders gear and cloak, one of my sisters, the oldest twin, entered the room.
    “Sister, you’re going riding in this ungodly hour with the cold and rain crashing into down on your fragile body?”
    “What? I don’t get a Hello Natalie from you, Maggie?”
    Maggie let out a soft sigh and asked me. “Why won’t you tell me where you’re going? Is it dangerous again? You know how much we worry about your delicate health.” Her long black hair was loose for bed and her eyelids were drooping over her smoky gray eyes, making her look exhausted from the days work on the farm. It didn’t help that she had a delicate frame and that she seemed angelic.
    Frustrated, I let out a huff “It’s no more dangerous then what I do every day. My health is fine, Maggie.”
    Wriggling her fingers, Maggie sighed and answered softly. “I know. It’s just that when you got attacked and fell off of your horse, we were scared that we lost you.”
    Tired of this argument, I just answered with a kiss on the check and hurriedly spoke. “I’m fine. A few broken bones and some scar’s isn’t anything to be getting worked up over.” Rushing from the room, I made it to the stables without a problem. But I was surprised to find my other sisters waiting for me with a saddled black mare. “What are you guys doing here?”
    My youngest twin sister, Sarah walked up to me first, giving me a hug in her strong frame. “Be careful, your arm is still broken and the rest of you must still be sore. I wouldn’t let you go if I thought that I could stop you.” As she hugged me some of her black hair spilled over her shoulder and onto my own. As I looked up into her eyes, I noticed that they were watery from unshed tears. “I’ll be careful, I promise.”
    Sarah nodded once and stepped back. Maggie wandered out of the house and into the barn, just in time to help me onto my horse. I could have done it myself but I saw no need to worry them any more then they already were. As I started down the trail, I glanced back watching my sisters disappear into the distance for as long as I could. ‘I wonder if they’ll worry too much again.’ I hadn’t known that they were so scared to lose me. It was true that I’m the oldest since my twin died at birth but didn’t that mean that the other siblings didn’t worry about me. Then again, we had lost both our mother and aunt so soon in our life, it was no wonder that they worried.
    As I heard a neighing of a nearby horse, I was forced from my thought and had to look around. A stray horse in this rain meant that some carriage had probably fallen. I figured that it would be travelers since anyone around here knew not to ride in this weather. Common sense doesn’t rule my mind so I’m an exception to the rule. My eyes scanned the area, seeing only trees and the farm land that others owned. I slowed my mare and looked at the tracks on the ground. ‘That’s odd. Normally this path doesn’t see too many people, there’s a likely chance of getting mugged around here.’
    Suddenly I knew that something was wrong as I spotted the horse with a wound in its side. As it sped toward me, I reached out and gripped its reigns, nearly toppling over but in the end I won and caught the horse. I wanted to check on the wound of the white male horse but the rider must be injured as well and the horse had a more likely chance of living through this. In a hard to manage movement, I tired the broken reins to my saddle horn and started forward, with the horse following me, ready to bolt at any sudden movements.
    In a matter of minutes, I found the sight of the crash; it was indeed an unusual one. For one, the carriage wasn’t tipped over, it was completely destroyed. Another thing was that there was no sign of a second horse or any riders. Looking around and trying to see through the rain and the wind, I finally spotted what I was dreading finding. There, in a ditch beside the road were three men. I couldn’t tell how they fared but I feared the worst. With much difficulty, I got off of my black mare and somewhat limped toward the riders. Getting down on my hands and knees, I looked reached into the ditch, pulling out the first man who caused me great pain trying to pull him out of the water that seemed to be sucking him down.
    ‘I don’t know if I can do this alone.’ As I began to pull out the second man, I got an idea, after moving the second man; I limped toward my mare and called to her. “Come here girl, I know that it will be hard but we have to get them home.” The mare snorted but somehow did what I wanted her to without being asked. “Thanks’ Brownie.” Brownie had successfully pulled out the third guy while I had held the injured horse. Using my broken arm, I managed a loose hold on the reigns and using my good arm, I tried to push the man onto it. Somehow as I was doing that, he had regained consciousness.
    “Hey, you. Can you hold onto the reigns and stay on the horse? I need to get you guys help.” It was then that I saw red draining off of him like a wave. Gasping, I tried not to focus on it for fear that I would faint.
    For some odd reason, the man seemed offended that I had to ask him that question. He didn’t say that but the way he struggled into the right position gave me that impression. The man let out a sharp pained breath and sent it upward so that it moved a strand of his blond hair.
    Nodding that the job had been done, I forced my protesting slender body to halfway drag the second blond haired man onto the horse. With the help of the half conscious man, we managed to get him on with minimal pain to both of us.
    ‘Now for the hard part; the third man.’ I thought as my head began it’s rebellion in the form of a headache. Somehow the horse whose reigns I held seemed to know that I was in pain for he used his teeth to halfway lift the man and with my help we got him onto the horses back and with the gods help, I got onto the injured horse, and whispered. “I’m sorry for the pain that I’m causing you.”
    Suddenly a sharp wind yanked my hood back and revealed my black hair with a silver streak. Though silver on most people made them look old, it gave me an air of sophistication and unusualness. I was pulled from my thoughts by the feeling a wet back leaning into my chest. I assumed it to be for warmth and I ignored the feeling of excitement that it gave me. With a firm hand making the horses move, I was careful not to jolt anyone since I wasn’t sure if I would be able to get them back onto the horses.
    It took about twice as long for me to get back to the farm as it did for me to leave but I had a ton more extra weight. As the Farm came into sight, I saw that someone had lit an oil lamp and was waiting on the sheltered porch for me to arrive home. “Maggie! Sarah! Someone wrecked on the path, I have them, and they’re injured!”
    Maggie gasped in that soft voice of her and raced out to meet me, Sarah at her heels.
    “Natalie, you shouldn’t have attempted getting them here on your own.” Scolded Maggie while she helping the first unconscious man down. Sarah was helping the half conscious man into the house and as they disappeared, I let out a painful sigh and struggled off of the injured horse. It was extremely painful and difficult for the man who rode in front of me kept going to fall off.
    After half falling, half climbing off of the horse, I had gotten the man down and he rested on the porch. I then, led the horses to the barn where two caretakers greeted me and asked the all important question. “Who are those men and why were they riding out in this storm?”
    I shook my head and limped the short way to my home. Once there I was greeted by my sisters who rushed to my side and helped me into my room.
    Maggie worriedly asked. “Are you all right?”
    I nodded but I was more or less asleep on my feet. I had a vague sense of being undressed and put into a bath but I really wasn’t awake enough to do much so my sisters had to do most of it. I could hear their hushed whisper’s as they dressed me in a soft nightgown and helped me into bed. I wanted to know how the men fared so I asked in a slurred voice. “Are they well?”
    Sarah cleared her throat and spoke softly and she sounded embarrassed. “Well, um, you see…we don’t have enough beds so…” Sarah’s voice seemed to stop and Maggie finished what Sarah began.
    “We have to pair them up.”
    I was so tired that I just gave a gesture that would normally be a dismissal but my sisters took it as an okay to split up the men. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I recognized the risk and wanted to protest but sleep was fast coming upon me. I only managed to say “Keep to your age” before falling asleep.