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 Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2016 7:12 pm
"Terribly mean! If you can't find the value in things, you shouldn't be so rude. Particularly to such lovely young ladies." The nerve of them! Lance had half a mind to write them a strongly-worded letter, or worse, go to his parents! His ruffled feathers were soothed by the thanks, and at the very least, he offered Tidy a gentle smile.
"I'm more than happy to have helped. If you ever need me again, you need only a--"
Whatever he was going to finish saying was interrupted by the strange feeling of being watched. After looking around, he found the phony- staring unabashedly at the cart.
"Beg your pardon, Tidy. Do you know him?" He asked, gesturing over to the stranger.
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2016 7:25 pm
The filly stopped, turning back towards Lance and following his gaze to a colt off to the side that she hadn't noticed. She frowned, he seemed a little familiar but she couldn't quite place him.
"No, though he looks as though I saw him before..." She narrowed her eyes, trying to jog the memory, but only seemed to notice how intent the colt's eyes were on the cart. Instinctively she felt herself tense. If he was going to call her cart trash, she was going to--unless, he was...
"Can I help you?" Tidy ventured.
"That cart. It looks like one I used to have..." the colt's voice was wistful and the filly felt like a bucket of ice water had been dropped on her. Owned. It rung harsh in her ears.
"Oh, um, well, what happened to it?"
She listened, alarm growing, as the colt explained how he'd left it in the park before winter snows had come. He had been sick and not allowed out for awhile; no one in his family seemed worried about it. And then he'd gone out, only to find it gone.
"Where did you leave it in the park?"
She clenched her jaw. Please don't say jungle gym. Please don't say jungle gym.
"I left it by the jungle gym."
And Tidy felt all her resolve crumble. No. No, she'd found it. It was hers now. He'd left it. No one but her -- well her and her brother -- knew where she'd found it in the park. No one but her would know if she said this wasn't found there...
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2016 7:49 pm
Lance listened to the conversation between Tidy and the stranger, eyes darting between the two as they spoke. And there it was- it was the colt's cart. Tidy, poor dear, looked like she'd been hit by a cart herself. Really, his heart went out to her- clearly she loved the little cart, and they'd been so close to wrapping the issue and calling it a day. Then... here he was, the cart's owner, come to claim it at the last moment.
"Well," was all he offered, looking to Tidy with sympathy. But he said no more, waiting to see what she said.
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2016 7:57 pm
She didn't have to admit it was his. She could take it home, clean and paint it. She--
"My brother and I, we found this near the jungle gym. Right where you left it." Words never tasted so bitter and yet the colt's wide eyes and elated grin... Well, maybe that was worth it. Not as worth it as pretending the sadness she was feeling was being the colt's. And she couldn't very well be trusted in the future if she lied about this.
She laughed, watery and breathy, as though preventing herself from crying at the turn of events.
"It's a good thing you found it. A little bit of hard work and paint and it'll look brand new."
And she watched the colt, though he thanked them profusely, as he took the cart away. Being honest didn't feel so great.
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