CHAPTER 11
“Now,” Isadora said, holding up the small carved horse, “this one is very important.”
Violet looked at the horse. Then she looked at Isadora. Then she looked at the horse again with the deliberation of someone making a significant decision.
“This,” Isadora said, “is Archibald.”
The maid folding clothes near the window made a small sound that might have been a laugh, but she quickly suppressed it.
“Archibald,” Isadora continued with the utmost seriousness, “is the fastest horse in the entire kingdom, which is considerable because the kingdom is very large and there are a great many horses in it.” She lowered the horse a little. “He belongs to the princess. Which princess, you ask?”
Violet did not ask, only made a grab for it.
Isadora moved it just out of reach. “I will tell you which princess. Her name is… hmm…” She considered the shelf nearby. “Eleanor. Princess Eleanor, who lives in a castle that is very big and has a great many towers and is hidden behind a forest that only the bravest people can find.”
Violet gurgled.
“Yes,” Isadora agreed. “Exactly. Now, Princess Eleanor did not exactly want to live in the castle, because castles are cold in the mornings and there is always someone telling you to sit up straight. But she had a horse named Archibald, and Archibald could take her anywhere she wished, so the castle was more tolerable than it might have been.”
She set Archibald down on the blanket.
Violet immediately wrapped both hands around him and held him up with an expression of profound triumph.
“Well done,” Isadora praised. “He’s yours now. Archibald has made his choice; this is simply how it is.”
The maid made another sound that was quickly muffled.
Isadora reached back to the shelf and grabbed a small carved bear, somewhat worn at the ears. “And this,” she said, “is the bear. He does not have a name yet because he is very private about it. He lives in the forest outside Princess Eleanor’s castle, and he is—what do you think?”
Violet was chewing on Archibald’s leg.
“He is wise,” Isadora decided. “He is a very wise bear who gives advice to travelers who come through the forest, though his advice is occasionally strange and requires some patience to understand.” She held the bear up thoughtfully. “A bit like some people I know.”
She placed the bear on the blanket beside Archibald.
Violet looked at it, then at Isadora, then back. She lifted Archibald and hit the bear with it.
“That is not how we treat the wise bear.” Isadora tutted.
Violet hit the bear again, with more conviction.
“Princess Eleanor,” Isadora said, retrieving the bear with dignity, “had better manners than this. Mostly.” She settled back in the chair and propped the bear on her knee, facing Violet. “Now, one day, Princess Eleanor decided she had had quite enough of the castle. She had been told to sit up straight approximately forty times that morning—which, you’ll agree, is excessive—and she had had a disagreement with someone about something that she was entirely right about, so she decided that what she needed was fresh air and the company of sensible people.” She paused. “The problem was that sensible people were in rather short supply.”
Violet babbled.
“I know,” Isadora cooed. “It is a recurring problem.”
She glanced toward the window. Outside, the afternoon was beginning to darken into evening, the grounds turning amber in the dimming light. The maid had slowed her folding, listening openly now, which Isadora didn’t mind.
She looked back at Violet, who had abandoned Archibald and was now chewing on the corner of the blanket.
“So Princess Eleanor saddled Archibald herself,’ Isadora continued, rescuing the blanket with one hand and returning Archibald with the other, “because she had decided not to ask for help with things she could manage on her own, which was a quality she had in abundance, sometimes to her own inconvenience.” She picked up a small carved rabbit from the shelf. “And she rode into the forest.”
Violet looked at the rabbit. Then she looked at Isadora. Then she reached for the rabbit, straining forward with both hands, “Oh, all right.” Isadora gave her the rabbit. “This is—let’s call her Millicent. Millicent lives in the forest too. She is extremely fast and knows all the best paths, and she has absolutely no patience for anyone standing still when they could be moving.”
Violet examined Millicent thoroughly and decided she liked her ears.
“Good choice.” Isadora nodded. “Millicent’s ears are her best feature, and she knows it. Do not tell her I told you.” She looked at the remaining animals on the shelf—a fox, a smalldeer, something that was possibly a badger. “Now the question is whether Princess Eleanor finds what she’s looking for in the forest, and the answer is…” She paused.
