Finding Maggie

Chapter Sixteen - Eva's Plight

Chapter Sixteen - Eva's Plight

The crash never came, instead there came only the sound of hooves upon chipped stone and the feeling of Maggie's legs lowering back down into their natural place around the stallion's midsection. She forced one eye to peek open and then the other once she realized they were back on the ground and still moving. Wishing she had seen how the stallion had managed to not kill them both with such a deadly landing, she vowed that if ever given the chance again, she would keep her eyes wide open for the decent.

Eachann and Eva were now stopped, only a quarter of a mile down and off the main road to make way for Maggie's arrival. Fursey slowed, no longer puffing out ashes with every snort and gracefully came to a standstill only a few feet away from Eva and Eachann. Eva smiled a beaming grin at Maggie, giving Eachann an apple from her dress pocket. Maggie sneered as she dismounted Connor's horse, giving him a good pat as a way to thank him for his masterful trip.

Already knowing she was a good ten miles from the estate, Maggie suddenly realized the entire ride had only taken a few minutes and that included getting the stallion away from the Colonel. Using the hair tie she kept around her wrist, Maggie pulled her hair up into a pony tail and prepared to claim her horse back.

"How dare you!" Maggie seethed, nearing Eva as she walked around Fursey's sweating body. "I never gave you permission to ride him! You can't take someone else's horse without asking! What is wrong with you?"

Eva stumbled backwards, not prepared for Maggie's unannounced tirade. "He's such a beautiful horse, I didn't think you would mind me borrowing him." She answered, desperately searching around for someplace safe to walk as she backed further and further away from Maggie. She knew better than to do anything to Maggie, lest she end up like her sister, Lia. But, the woman was fuming mad with rage over a simple misunderstanding.

"Are you crazy?" Maggie continued to scream as she kept pace with Eva, never allowing the woman to make distance between them. "All you had to do was ask!"

"But you would have said no." Eva wailed as she stumbled to keep her footing.

"Damn right I would have! He's my horse."

Eva began to whine, letting her real feelings out for Maggie to hear. "But it's not fair. The men get horses and I can't ever have one. You have a horse. You have lots of horses. Why can't I just borrow him?"

"Make Mikhail give you one, then. But, you can't have mine."

"He won't give me one because he knows I won't like it."

Maggie stopped in her tracks, letting Eva separate them by a few good paces. Her anger quickly melted into curiosity. She lifted a hand to signal for a draw and Eva stopped, hoping that Mikhail's human was finally done screaming. "What do you mean you won't like it? If you want a horse then just go get one. You could pick it out and find one you like. Mikhail wouldn't do that for you?"

Eva slowly shook her head, letting her head drop slightly to her own chest. "I am the Sin of Envy." She began, seemingly embarrassed by her own statement. "I'll always find something I like better than what I have. Master could get me a million horses and I'd still find one I'd rather have someplace else. There is nothing I want more than what someone else possesses."

Maggie's heart sank, hearing the sadness in Eva's voice. She couldn't imagine how hard it would be to never be able to enjoy the things she had in life.

"I'm sorry." Maggie muttered out, reaching a hand over to smooth out one of Eva's stray hairs which had come undone from her curled horns. Eva flinched; she wasn't used to being touched, her eyes darting nervously as Maggie's hand approached. Gently, Maggie tucked in the few stray tresses, smiling softly as Eva eased. "I'm sorry, Eva." Maggie repeated. "I didn't know. I suppose if you want to borrow Eachann, you may. Just ask me next time, okay?"