Nadine

41. Chariot Ride

60 days later...

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to catch the stupid chicken that got out."

"How long you been chasing it around?" Omar pulls a piece of hay out of his mouth and leans on the fence.

"While now."

"Use food and make a trail for it to follow you back."

"Will that really work?"

He winks. "There is a festival in town. You want to go?"

I feel myself getting the biggest smile. "Oh yes please."

"Go get cleaned up. I made a bath for you already and put some clean clothes in there."

I jump up and down a couple times. Then run to him and give him a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

He laughs. "Go on then."

I take off running to the cabin.

I get back to the porch in record time.

He comes up laughing. "I see you're ready right now."

I can't get this smile off my face. I hope they have music.

He hops on a horse and pulls me up. "Hold on."

After what seems like 6 years, we finally arrive at the village. There is music in the middle on a stage.

"Go ahead. I'll catch up."

I take off straight to the music. A man who is about my age asks me to dance.

I dance with him for 2 songs and another asks. Then another and another. I dance for so long.

"You want to watch the races with us?" A random girl smiles at me.

"Yes please."

A group of us go and sit on a bench. Horses pull some kind of small carriage with a person in it. It is the most fun show ever. I cheer and make happy noises when everyone else does. I don't understand why. But it's fun to scream and be happy.

One of the boys puts his arm around me. "You like the races?"

"Yes this is amazing. I've never seen anything like it."

"You want to ride in one?"

"REALLY?"

"Yea they have some set up on the side over there. I'll ride with you, they are hard to control."

"Oh yes please."

He gives me his arm to take and leads me over to the little carriages.

"You 2 want to try a chariot ride?"

"Yes sir we would."

The boy gives him some money and we walk out to one of them. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it cost money."

He laughs. "It's ok. It wasn't much anyways." He holds the door open for me. I like this boy.

He takes off slow. "Do you want me to go faster?"

"Yes please."

He gets the 2 horses up to a run.

I am so happy. I can't stop smiling. "This is amazing! It's so fun."

He smiles and makes the horses go faster.

We hit a bump and I grab onto him. He chuckles and puts his arm around me. He pulls me so I'm standing in front of him. He's behind me with his arms holding the reins in front of me. "Here, you can try." He slows the horses down.

He puts his hands on the chariot in front of me and kind of boxes me in. I get us up to a run and then get nervous, so I slow back down. He gives a look. "I'm afraid I'll wreck."

He smiles and takes the reins back.

It's quite nice being close to someone again. He is warm. I lean back into him a little bit. "This is nice."

"Yes it is. But our turn is over. I have to take us back. Did you want to watch more races?"

"Thank you so much. That was so much fun."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you liked it. I did too."

I glance around and I notice the girls dresses are all different than mine. The dresses all go half way between the knee and ankle. They are also sleeveless. They have large wrap things pinned at their shoulders. And they have such bright colors on. Makes me wish I had some money to get one like that. They also have bands in their hair to hold their hair back. Those are neat. We watch another 2 races then go back out to the band.

Omar comes out of nowhere with a cup and hands it to me. "Are you hungry yet?" I shake my head no. I am starving but I don't want to leave these people.

He shakes his head and gets out his money. He gives me some and looks at the boys. "Just make sure she eats. She has money now."

He gets a few 'yes sirs.'

"I have to shop. Don't leave the village."

"Thank you."

Right after he walks away everyone decides it's time to eat anyway. Glad he showed up with money.

We go through the little carts set up with food. There's a lot that I don't know what it is. I pick out some meat on a stick and, with some help from one of the boys, I pay for it and get change. I should really try to figure out how money works.

We all eat and then go through some more carts. They have different items. I find hair bands like the other girls have. I know I want one but I'm afraid to ask again.

"Did you want one?" The boy who took me on the chariot asks.

"I don't know if I have enough."

He looks at the sign and my money. "You have enough for 2."

I smile and pick out 2 of the prettiest colors there.

He stays and makes sure I get the right amount back. "Thank you for helping me."

"You're welcome. Money can be tricky. You ready to go back to the band?"

I really like him. He didn't make me feel dumb at all.

We get back to the group and they are dancing again. I dance with a few of the boys. This group is so much fun. I wish I could stay forever.

Omar catches my attention. He is sitting a table reading a paper of some kind and drinking something. With a bird. The bird is sitting on the table. That's really weird. I watch it for a second. Then a slow song comes on.

"Can I get another dance miss?"

Yay, it's the chariot boy. "Yes sir."

He puts his hands on my hips and I put mine on his shoulders. I step in close and lay my head on his chest. He tightens his arms around me.

"You're so warm." How are boys always so warm?

"Yea, you do feel a little cold."

"Well, you're warming me up. So this works."

He tilts my chin up and looks in my eyes. "You are beautiful." I smile. Then he puts his lips on mine. I let him in right away. His kiss is so gentle and sweet. He breaks it off and kisses my head. "I need to leave for tonight. Will you be back tomorrow?"

"I'll try to come."

He gives me a little kiss on the lips and walks away. I don't like him leaving, but that was an amazing kiss.

"I seen that." 2 of the girls run up to me and we jump up and down squealing. I don't understand this at all. But I'm ok with it.

"So was he a good kisser?"

"Amazing."

"I don't need to know details but I need to get back home. We've been here all day." Omar is standing behind me.

"Can we come back tomorrow?"

"You can bring a horse tomorrow. I will be arriving late."

"Ok." I smile at him. I turn to the girls. "Will you be here tomorrow?"

"YES." And then we all start jumping and squealing again.

"OK OK. You can all scream more tomorrow."

"Bye."

"See you tomorrow."

Omar puts me in front of him on the horse. "You're cold."

"You're warm." I lean back to try and take more of his heat. We don't make it far before I'm sleeping.