CHAPTER 18
A va was sick with worry as she led her horse, Midnight, back into the royal stables. The proud stallion was limping.
“We’re almost there, Midnight. It’s okay. We’re just going to keep taking it slow,” Ava whispered into his ear.
One of the royal stablehands came rushing to meet them and took the reins from Ava.
“Your Highness, please, let me help you.”
“Thank you, Timothy,” Ava said, her voice thick with emotion.
“I don’t know what happened. One minute, we were riding and everything was just fine, and the next minute, he slowed down and started limping.
It’s his left front foot. I checked his hoof.
The sole is sensitive, and it seems like it’s getting worse. ”
“Our veterinarian is on the way,” Timothy said.
Ava gently ran her hand down Midnight’s neck. Her voice was soft and reassuring as she pressed her forehead against his. “You’re going to be okay,” she whispered and then wrapped her arms around his neck, willing him to feel how much she cared.
Midnight pressed his warm muzzle against her shoulder, leaning into her touch.
She looked into his eyes. “Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere. I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”
? ? ?
As the sun rose on a beautiful, clear, crisp, winter morning, a fresh blanket of snow covered Vailgate Castle.
Inside the royal stables, Ava was sleeping next to Midnight until he stirred, waking her up. She sat up, groggy. “Are you feeling better this morning, Midnight?”
When he snorted, stood up, and put weight on his left foot, she sighed with relief. “Look at you this morning. You are doing so much better!”
She, on the other hand, felt stiff and tired from spending the night in the stables making sure Midnight was okay.
After their vet, Dr. Regina Tyler, had checked him out and diagnosed him with a bruised left hoof, promising he would be fine, Ava had split her time between keeping an eye on Midnight and continuing her search for Stormy on foot around the property.
The last thing she remembered before falling asleep was sitting down next to Midnight to text Justin and give him the unfortunate update that she hadn’t found the dog. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep but apparently her exhaustion had gotten the better of her.
She checked her phone and found a string of Justin’s texts throughout the night and this morning.
They were all short and to the point and said the same thing.
Still haven’t found him. I’ll keep looking…
As she stood up and stretched to try and ease her aching muscles, she saw Edgar and Lydia enter the stables.
“I can’t believe you stayed out here all night,” Lydia said, sounding concerned.
“I was fine,” Ava insisted. “The stalls are heated and in between keeping an eye on Midnight and looking for the dog, it just made more sense to stay here.”
“We’re worried about you,” Edgar added. “You haven’t eaten anything. You haven’t slept—”
“I’m fine,” Ava said.
“And Midnight is still doing okay?” Lydia asked.
Ava ran her hand down Midnight’s silky neck. “He’s doing great, aren’t you, boy?”
Midnight whinnied softly as he nuzzled Ava’s neck.
“Ah, I love you, too,” Ava said. She had been so worried about him last night until she found out his hoof was just bruised, probably from stepping the wrong way on something that had been hidden underneath the snow when they were riding.
“You need some rest,” Edgar insisted, sounding like a protective parent. “And something to eat right away.”
Ava shook her head. “No, what I need is to find the dog before you call my mother this morning.”
Edgar and Lydia exchanged looks.
Ava panicked. “What? You didn’t tell her already, did you?”
Edgar looked offended. “No, of course not, because you said you wanted to be the one to tell her.”
Ava frowned. “I did say that, didn’t I?”
Lydia and Edgar nodded.
“How much time do I have before we have to tell her?” Ava asked.
“She always calls after breakfast to check in,” Lydia said.
“That would be the best time,” Edgar agreed.
Ava let out a deep, shaky breath. “Okay, then after breakfast it is.” She got out her phone and texted Justin.
Any luck?
Justin texted right back.
No. You?
Ava’s frown grew as she texted.
No. Edgar says I have to tell my mother after breakfast.
Ava was surprised by Justin’s next text.
I’ll do it with you. What time?
“I can’t believe it,” Ava said as she read the text again.
Edgar stepped forward. “Is everything okay?”
Ava nodded. “I was just updating Justin that I have to tell my mother after breakfast, and he’s offered to come over and tell her with me.”
“That’s very honorable,” Edgar said, looking impressed.
“Very,” Lydia agreed.
Ava texted him back…
At 10. Thank you!
She looked up from her phone at Edgar and Lydia. “Thank you both for giving me more time. I really thought we were going to find him.”
“Me, too,” Lydia said sadly.
“As soon as the call is over, I’ll keep looking and I know Justin will, too. We will find him.”
“Once your mother finds out Stormy is missing, I’m sure she’ll return immediately,” Edgar said.
“Yes, I know,” Ava said, already dreading it.
“She may cancel the Christmas party,” Edgar said.
Ava’s eyes grew huge. “What? No! She wouldn’t do that. Above everything else, this party is a fundraiser and a beloved royal tradition. All the invitations have gone out. People have been planning on this for months. It can’t be canceled now.”
Edgar gave Lydia a questioning look. “What do you think?”
Lydia shook her head, looking worried. “Honestly, I don’t know what she’ll do.”
Ava covered her face with her hands with growing fear and frustration. “I can’t believe all this is happening. Everything was fine until she brought that dog home. If she wanted a new pet she should have gotten…another horse—”
Midnight interrupted by letting out a loud snort.
“See? Midnight agrees,” Ava said. “A horse, I could have handled.”
“Everything is going to be fine,” Edgar said.
Ava gave him a look. “Do you really believe that Edgar? You saw how much my mother loves that dog.”
“This is going to be very hard on her,” Lydia said.
“So hard,” Edgar agreed, making Ava feel even worse.
? ? ?
As Ava sat at a massive dining table, she pushed eggs around her plate, not taking a single bite.
She eyed her favorite cream cheese chocolate croissant.
She tore a piece off, but then dropped it back on her plate.
Normally, breakfast was her favorite meal, but with her stomach tied in knots over calling her mother, she couldn’t eat a thing.
While eating was out of the question, at least she felt good about how she looked.
She was wearing one of her favorite traditional red power pantsuits.
Whenever she felt like she had a big job to tackle, she always felt more confident if she looked her best. For this critical phone call with her mother, she had taken the time to meticulously do her makeup and hair.
She didn’t want her mother seeing any stress on her face before she had time to carefully tell the story about what had happened.
She had to stay calm, cool, and collected, and act as if everything was under control.
She needed to downplay the fact that the dog was missing and emphasize that they were about to find him any minute.
She was determined to present this as a small problem she was handling to try and convince her mother there was nothing to worry about.
Good luck with that, she thought. She knew her mother would see right through her fake confidence.
Her hand shook as she picked up her water glass, taking a small sip to ease her dry throat. She set it down and anxiously twisted her watch around her wrist.
She worried this was going to be the last nail in the coffin of the strained relationship she already had with her mother. After this, she feared there would be no going back and redeeming herself in her mother’s eyes.
She let out a deep breath as she picked up the white linen napkin off her lap. She folded it neatly and set it on the table to the left of her plate. She checked the time on her watch.
It was nine-thirty.
Edgar entered the dining room.
Ava didn’t wait for him to say anything. She pushed her chair back and stood up quickly. She lifted her chin high and put her shoulders back. “I’m ready.”
“Justin’s not here yet,” Edgar said. “We still have a half hour.”
“That’s okay,” Ava jumped in. “I don’t want to wait. I want to get this over with.”
She’d thought about it, and while she appreciated Justin’s offer to be there for moral support, she found that the longer she waited, the more anxious she became. She needed to be clearheaded and concise when she talked to her mother, so the sooner she got the call over with, the better.
“Let’s make the call. Now,” Ava said, summoning up all the courage she had inside her.
“Wait!” Lydia shouted as she ran into the room. “You don’t have to call the queen! I just got a text. Someone found Stormy at the bakery! He’s safe. See?” Lydia showed Ava a photo of Stormy inside the bakery, eyeing a counter of pastries.
Ava grabbed the table, weak with relief. “That’s him!”
“Yes.” Lydia nodded enthusiastically. “The owner of the bakery told me they found Stormy outside the bakery when they opened this morning. He was eating gingerbread cookies off of their Christmas tree.”
“Of course he was,” Ava said, laughing. At this point she didn’t care what the crazy dog did as long as he was okay, and she didn’t have to call her mother.
When Edgar’s phone rang, all eyes flew to him.
“Is that—” Lydia, wide-eyed, started to ask.
“Yes,” Edgar said, breathless. “It’s the queen. She’s calling early.”
Ava rushed over to plead with him. “Edgar, please don’t tell her anything. I’ll go get the dog now, myself, and bring him right back here. He’s fine. Look at the picture—”
Edgar gave her a stern look. “We have to tell her. We can’t pretend this never happened.”
“Why not?” Ava blurted out before she could help herself.
After seeing the looks on Lydia and Edgar’s faces, she regretted the outburst immediately and backpedaled.
“I just mean, of course we’ll tell her, but let’s tell after we have him back here safely, so she doesn’t worry.
If we tell her right now, when we don’t actually have him yet, she’s still going to panic.
I’ll tell her the whole story after we get him. I promise.”
Ava looked from Edgar, who didn’t look convinced, to Lydia, who looked like she was softening to the idea. Ava saw her opportunity and turned her attention to Lydia.
“Lydia, you know my mother—don’t you think this is the better idea?”
Lydia hesitated before answering, as if she was considering her answer carefully. “The priority is to get him back here safely—”
“Agreed!” Ava exclaimed.
Lydia turned to Edgar. “I don’t think it would hurt waiting a little longer to tell the queen. I’ll go with the princess to get him.”
Edgar’s phone rang again.
“I have to get this,” Edgar said apologetically.
“Wait…” Ava urged. But it was too late. Edgar had answered the call.
As Ava held her breath, Lydia took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze as they listened to Edgar talk to her mother.
“Your Majesty, good morning,” Edgar said and then listened to whatever the queen was saying.
Ava squeezed Lydia’s hand tight.
“Yes, everything here is…going as planned,” Edgar finally said.
Overjoyed, Ava ran over and hugged Edgar, almost knocking the phone out of his hand.
“Sorry.” Ava laughed.
Edgar took a step away from her. “Yes, that was Ava. She’s with me right now. She didn’t call you last night…”
Ava bit down hard on her lower lip, looking guilty.
“That was because we had a bit of a scare with Midnight,” Edgar continued.
Ava perked up, giving Edgar two enthusiastic thumbs up.
“Oh, please don’t worry, Your Majesty, he’s doing just fine.
There’s no need for you to rush home. We called in the vet, and it was only a bruised hoof.
Dr. Regina fixed him up and said he’ll be ready to ride again in no time.
Ava was with him. She took great care of him, and she has everything under control. ”
Ava did a little victory dance and then high-fived Lydia.
When Edgar walked away to start talking about some other matters the queen needed taken care of, Ava texted Justin.
We found him! We need to pick him up. Meet me at the village bakery!