Jess~Continuing the story

Okay! Here it goes! This is where we last left off...

The crowd immediately parted and squeezed together on the sides of the road so that the Princess and her attendants might ride through. Katherine looked up in interest as the princess rode by. A trader beside her leaned over and said...

"I'll bet you ain't ever seen anybody as pretty as the Princess." The man spoke in a gruff, raspy voice that made Katherine gasp slightly. His clothes were ratty and threadbare, with the strong stench of someone who had not bathed in months. His face, rough and scarred left the small girl frozen where she stood.

"N...no, sir." She responded finally, still wary of his appearance.

" Aye, and I'll bet you wish you was as charming, am I right?"

"No sir," Katherine responded frankly, "My mother and father have always told me that I was made like God, and He thinks I'm beautiful. And that kind of beauty is all I want." The girl became more brave and stood taller.

“HA! My dear child, what foolishness you have been told!” the man said sharply.

“I…I don’t understand,”

“How ignorant you are to not know that your dear father and mother, bless their souls, are only telling you that to keep you from becoming beautiful like the other girls. But, my young one, you must face the truth sometime. They just want you to think you are beautiful,”

Katherine started to cut in, “Sir! I-“

“NO! You must listen,”

Katherine was starting to be frightened. She could no longer see the man’s ugly face or his old clothes, nor could she smell the strong stench, for something fiercer was entering her mind. She started to back away, but the man grabbed her arm. The crowed had left, along with the princess, but Katherine didn’t notice.

He continued, “They don’t want you to be beautiful, they want you to be unhappy, to stay ugly the rest of your miserable life.”

“No!” cried Katherine, “It’s not true, you’re lying, my father and mother love me dearly!”

“My child, I would not lie to you, believe me,”

The man let go of her arm, leaving a small bruise. With a haunting smile, he turned and left. Katherine, still shaken turned also, away from the direction he went, toward home. She wanted to return to her small home, and be embraced by her parents love.

She was lost in thought, with the man’s lies still in her head. And then, Katherine started wondering, “Could he really be true? Could I really not have any beauty, and my father and mother not want me to be happy?” The lies grew bigger until her head began to swim.

Just then, a small boy, about the age of thirteen came running up the road. Katherine did not see him, or know that he was running towards her.

“Are you Katherine?” He said in a shaky voice.

“I am,” she replied,

“Good, you must come with me, and quick! There is no time to lose!!” They boy almost shouted, and then ran back, his arm outstretched, beckoning her to follow.

“But what is wrong?”

The boy didn’t answer, but only continued running…

Okay, I pick...*Drum-roll* REBEKA FARR.. :)

Good luck!