Night and Day
by: Melanie Shawaluk

Melinda woke up one morning as a ray of sun shone through the curtains on the window and hit her face. Blinking, she rubbed her eyes, then stretched as she stepped out of bed and slid her feet into her slippers. Looking down at her feet, she wondered if they would ever dance again, the way that she had always dreamed of. Dismissing the thought, she got dressed, cleaned up and walked down the hall to Isabelle's room.

Quietly knocking on the door, she whispered, "Isabelle, are you awake?"

Isabelle had just woken up herself, and heard Melinda's voice outside her door. She reached out from under the covers to the table next to her bed and picked up the pocketwatch that was sitting there. Holding it up, she looked at it and said, "Melinda, it's 6:00 in the morning! How can you wake up this early?" Groaning, she pulled the pillow over her head.

Melinda opened the door, and Isabelle immediately regretted not locking it the night before. Melinda walked over to her bed and lifted the pillow off her friend's head, saying, "Wake up sleepyhead! It's a beautiful day outside! I thought I might go for a ride and was wondering if you would join me."

Isabelle snatched the pillow from her friend and sat up, stretching out her arms as she placed her watch back on the table. "Give me one good reason why I should get out of bed this early in the morning and go for a ride with you," Isabelle replied slyly, looking at Melinda and waiting with a smile on her face.

Melinda sat and thought for a moment. She knew that she had to have a pretty good reason to get Isabelle out of bed this early; especially on their day off. Suddenly she stood up, turned to face Isabelle and smiling, said, "I was planning to ride over to the woods by Plumfield."

Isabelle lept out of bed and said, "Well, why didn't you say so? Let me get dressed quick, and we can go downstairs to get some breakfast. Better yet, we can pack a picnic and eat by the creek!" She ran over to the dressing screen, quickly put on her best riding dress and splashed some water on her face. After brushing her hair and tying it back with a ribbon, she ran back over to Melinda and excitedly said, "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go!"

Melinda ran with Isabelle downstairs, trying to be quiet and not wake anyone else up. She could tell how excited Isabelle was at the prospect of going to Plumfield, because Franz was there. She paused for a moment on the stairs and looked at the small silver ring on her finger, remembering that not too long ago, she had felt the same way. Isabelle turned towards her friend when she reached the bottom of the stairs, and saw an expression of regret on Melinda's face.

"Are you okay?" Isabelle called softly.

"Yes, I'm fine," Melinda replied as she snapped out of her trance and continued to head down the stairs.

The two women headed to the kitchen and prepared a small picnic for their journey - strawberries, sweet bread, and a bottle of juice, along with two plates and glasses, carefully wrapped in towels to prevent their breaking.

After they were done, they walked out to the stables, where the stablehand was already awake and cleaning the stalls.

"Good morning, ladies," he called.

"Good morning," they replied.

"Don't mind us," Melinda said, "We are going for a ride this morning, and we are here to get our horses ready."

The old man smiled and tipped his hat at them, then continued his work while the ladies went to the back of the stable. There they found two horses, eating hay. One was a gray speckled mare with bright blue eyes named Belle. She was a kind, good-natured mare, and walked to the front of the stall where Isabelle stood, giving the girl a soft nuzzle.

"Good morning, Belle," Isabelle said to the mare as she stroked its soft mane.

The other horse was a shy, but spunky palamino with big brown eyes who rarely came to the front of his stall to greet anyone. But when Melinda peeked into the stall, the horse hurried over and greeted his freind with a proud whinny.

"Good morning to you, Sage," Melinda said as she softly stroked the horse's nose.

After leading the two horses out of their stalls, Melinda and Isabelle brushed them and fitted them each with a blanket, saddle and bridle that had been cleaned by the stablehand the day before. Then, leading them outside each of them got up onto their horse, Isabelle with the picnic lunch, safely packed into a small basket; and Melinda with a blanket for them to sit on. Snapping the reins, they cantered into the woods, heading towards Plumfield... Part Two