Allegra Anderson Has More Adventures...

I believe that I left you guys off on my I-wrote-this-when-I-was-lots-younger story Allegra Anderson in a pretty exciting place. :) So, here's more!!

Chapter VII

Newlands Valley

I practically ran down the stairs and into the courtyard, but quickly stopped my stampede whenever somebody was around. I walked VERY quickly into the stables, opening the book.

   “Surely there must be something about where Sean is…” I murmured to myself. “Come on, come on!”

  I flipped through the pages, trying to find something about his location. And then I found it in chapter 7. It read:

Sean had, after saving the lives of the beautiful girl Rowena and the feisty Princess Aspen, decided he needed to visit his old mentor, Dr. Phillip Factator. He headed along the bright Newlands Valley and followed the black, mucky currents of the river Thames. Soon, the dark caves of Speedwell Caverns appeared, and Sean could see the Peak Cavern, belonging to Dr. Factator. He urged his horse on, riding up the steep cliffs, making sure to stay out of the way of the serpents.

   Huh. Well, I knew where I was going—to the Peak Cavern.

       I stuffed the book under my arm, and hurried back into the castle. I went up to “Rowena’s” room, and checked all of the dresses—nope, none of them would do. I checked under the bed, thinking maybe she kept a spare thing of clothes there. And to my surprise, I came across one of those girl archery outfits—you know, pants, leather boots, vest, shirt—complete with a little belt. I quickly pulled it out—it was just my size! I quickly changed, and pulled my hair back into a ponytail. Grabbing a warm, “normal” cloak from the wardrobe, (and grabbing a bag, which I stuffed the book, food, water, rope, a dagger, firestone, and a compass) I peeked out of the door, making sure that nobody was there. I quickly hurried out, making my way to a side stairway I had seen maids use before. Hurrying down it, I snuck through the kitchens and out back.

    I then snuck into the stables, glancing at all of the horses—and then I saw the horse I would need. He was a dark bay (good for hiding in dark places, not like a white horse), with black mane and tail. He had deep, trusting brown eyes, which he stared right at me with. I glanced at the nameplate on the stall. It read Trusty. I smiled—so true. I quietly tiptoed over, and was glad to see it was already saddled and bridled, though I couldn’t see any sweat, betraying Trusty had been ridden lately.

  I swung on his back, opening the paddock door. I then kicked him, and to my surprise he shot off at a canter. I was surprised at how smooth the gait was compared to the gallop.

   Okay, so first it said he went through the Newlands Valley. Where on earth was that? I should have brought a map! 

  Good going, Allegra.

We hurried down the streets of the town, and out into the countryside. I knew that all of the places mentioned were actually in England, but I hadn’t ever visited them.

A while later, another smaller village came into view, and I stopped Trusty for a moment, and hopped off.

  “Excuse me,” I asked a woman. “Do you know where the Newlands Valley is? I need to get there.”

   The lady nodded and pointed. “That way.”

I nodded. “Thank you.” Then I mounted Trusty again and we were off. We cantered a very long time, and I was starting to wish that Trusty would slow, but he didn’t. I was definitely getting riding lessons when I got back to the real England.

Soon, a bright and beautiful valley came into view. Little cottages dotted here and there along the slopes gave it secludedness.

  We raced down the hill, Trusty enjoying every bit of it—me, not so much.  As we rode through the valley, I wondered where to go next—not to mention it was getting dark out and I didn’t know where to stay…but could I just go up to one of those cottages doors and knock on it, asking for shelter? I doubted it.

   I stopped Trusty right by an abandoned hut. It was more of a lean-to, but I knew that it would work for the night. After tethering Trusty, and eating some food and a sip of water, I took the blanket off Trusty’s back (which just happened to have been on him) and lay facing the opening.

My eyes started to close, and weariness overtook me.

I woke with a start, and saw sunlight streaming through the opening. It was late! I scrambled off the ground, grabbed my bag and blanket, and jumped onto Trusty, who was peacefully nibbling the lush green grass of Newlands Valley.   I kicked Trusty, and immediately he started off at a brisk canter.

Chapter VIII

The River Thames

Trusty was still hurrying when I heard the pounding hooves of another horse—and I glanced back. A rider was about several hundred feet behind me. I kicked Trusty faster, and he broke into a gallop.

  “Allegra!”

I turned back again—how did the person know my real name? Unless, of course, it was Alan Noodletire. Which it was. I slowed Trusty down to a walk, and Alan stopped the horse he was riding.

  He looked at me. “I know you don’t know how to get out, but if you won’t try and look for a way out until we find Jennifer, well, then, I’m going to help you find Jennifer.”

   I nodded. “Good. Come on, we have to get to the River Thames. Have you ever been to London?”

 Alan scoffed. “I live in London.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Great. Then you can get us there.”

He coughed. “Well, uh, okay. This way!”

   I shook my head. “You mean this way?”

“Oh, yeah, of course. I was just testing you. I thought you said you didn’t know how to get there?”

  “If you have forgotten, I live there, too. I just wanted to test you.”

     “Well, Father always drove me—it’s not like I paid attention or anything.”

   “Hmm.”

We rode out, heading toward what was London in our world.

A few hours later, the smell of smoke and the stench of the Thames reached us, and I knew we were close. Unlike Alan, I always paid attention to the different landmarks.

   “Are you sure we’re going in the right direction?” asked Alan snootily.

I nodded. “Yes. Smell the stench.”

   Alan smelled and wrinkled his nose. “Okay, so maybe we are close.”

I sighed, and urged our horses onward.

  “So,” I asked, “where did you get your fine horse?”
Alan looked away. “Oh, you, know, from the stables. I didn’t enjoy it, but I was sure it was the only way home.”

   “Oh,” I said, “truly.”

Silence. Only the soft padding of the horses hooves betrayed that we were there at all. Trusty had finally gotten tired, which was why we were walking to London instead of cantering. I supposed Alan’s horse was tired, too.

  “So,” I asked, breaking the silence, “what’s your horses name?”
I glanced over at the dapple-gray mare.

   “I think her name’s Monica,” he said. “I’m not sure, really.”

I laughed. “She looks more like a Stardust, to me.”

   Stardust whinnied, as though in agreement. And so I dubbed her Stardust. I was kind of royal, after all.

  And then I saw it—the Thames. I urged Trusty into a canter.

“Allegra, wait up!” yelled Alan.

  But I’m afraid I didn’t.  I didn’t pause until I reached the edge of the Thames. I glanced at a washerwoman who was washing her clothes.

  “Excuse me,” I asked, “did a young man pass by here not too long ago?”

She nodded. “Yes, an old friend of mine named Sean. Do you know him?”

  I nodded. “I am Rowena.”

    She gasped. “You’re Rowena? Take off your hood, child, let me see your face! Sean has told me a lot about you. You see, you’re like the little sister he never had.”

  I nodded, and took off the cloak. “Please, in which direction did he go?”

She pointed. “That way.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

And I urged Trusty into a gallop—we had to find Sean and have him help us find Jennifer—and soon. I didn’t know how much more I could take of being Rowena.

  Or Jennifer as being Princess Aspen.

Anna of Pink Stables

Nah, not really. ;)

I am, however, working on a new story. I plan on finishing Lies for Lives with NaNoMoWri; so I'm not working on that until November. But sadly.... I have a few days vacation {Disney, Florida, so I won't get much writing in}; so if you would like to guest post over at my main blog: Instantly British you can email me at thedollworld@gmail.com
I'd love any guest posts {as long as they are okay for all ages of readers to read!}, so just shoot me a email by 11/31/12. Thanks. :)

Now onto the story I've been ''wasting'' time on. Here 'ya go:

A Lighter Shade

Chapter 1

Tears poured out of Destiny’s eyes by the bucketful. Destiny Hope Williams had received what was thought to be the worst news of her life.

      

       ‘’You’re going to live with your Grandmother while Dad and I work out some…. Problems. Only for a while. It’s alright. You have permission from us and Grammie to invite a friend to stay with you,’’ Destiny’s mother had said. Angel Williams was a very firm woman, and by no way would she let Destiny argue her way out of this one.

       ‘’Nobody will be allowed to go. It’s almost school,’’ Destiny exclaimed, staring out at their normally perfectly groomed lawn. She had seen that lawn many times before, but only today had she noticed the details. The little auburn cat that always soaked in the sun had a piece missing from its ear. The water fountain wasn’t working. The bird bath’s water hadn’t been changed for at least a month now, and it was very dirty. Weeds overpowered the garden and was forcing the flowers to peek out at odd angles through it’s barrier. One thing was noticed the most, however. No streaks of sun could be seen {and the little auburn cat was trying to find a new piece of sun to lay in}.

       But that didn’t scare Destiny. In a rainy place like Seattle, it was surprising when there was any sun.

       ‘’You’re going to live with her in England.’’ was the thing that scared Destiny out of her wits.

‘’Have any friends accepted?’’ Was the question Dad asked every afternoon Destiny got home from school. ‘’Nah,’’ Destiny answered. She climbed their long, winding stairs to the attic.

       The attic was Destiny’s special place. There she wrote, read, sang, did anything in privacy. Nobody invaded her dusty living territory.

       Nobody would want to, anyhow.

       A plain, cotton bed stood in a dusty corner. Destiny’s desk was stuck in anther dusty corner. The spiders invaded that part mostly, so everything else was okay. Odd, differently painted and shaped chairs stood solemnly around a tall, beautifully carved old table. Destiny’s mother said her grandfather handmade it.

       The window seat had old, flowery fabric covering it. That was the only area Destiny kept dust-free. She kept everything neatly above the window seat, and below it her book collection. At the window seat she sat and pondered. There was the best spot of her room, though everything seemed wonderful to Destiny.

       Just the way it was. Dusty. Old. Rather ugly in some suspects.

       But she liked it that way. Once a maid tried to clean it. Once.  

       Today she pondered England. England, the beautiful place. Full of rain and *One Direction’s faces. It seemed like a dream, full of fantasy. And rain. Not to mention One Direction’s faces.

 

I had to.... just had to... write a story about a girl moving to England. C'mon. My blog is called Instantly British! 

*Ha ha, yeah, just had to throw One Direction in there. Gotta love 'em. {Okay, you don't have to . But I am just applying the general fact that most of the girls in the world are half crazy {or more....} over them and insist that you must love them with threats and violence. I am saving you over here by nicely and threat/violence-free applying the fact that you should love them, or never openly in public state you hate them. ;)}  

ANNA OF PINK STABLES IS OUT! PEACE! 

Once a Pirate, Always a Pirate: Part Six {by Willow}

 Written by Willow and Assisted by Darrion

 Jack placed the compass into Darren's hand.
 "Here you go, mate. Now, try to want to find the stoney treasure as much as you can."
 Darren squeezed his eyes shut, and the compass' needle spun crazily. It came suddenly to a stop, pointing due East.
 "Sparrow! Darren! Wills!" D cried, thundering down the creaky wooden stairs. "Teeza's ship! It's close! I can see it through the fog!"
 "Oh no." I shoved her aside as I raced to the deck.
 In the distance, I could barely see a tiny three inch by five inch ship bobbing in the waves.
 "Yep, it's there all right." I called down the steps as I pattered down them once more. "Coming from the East too."
 Jack glanced at the compass, then snatched it up and handed it to D. "Why don't you try, lass?" He suggested.
 D smiled smugly as the needle spun. And spun. And spun. And spun.
 Jack plucked up the compass and cleared his throat. "Ahem, well. Maybe you should try?" He held it out to me.
 I shrugged. "Sure."
 Taking it, I stared intently at the little needle. It spun for only about a minute, then stopped.
 Darren leaned over my shoulder. "It's pointing North East." He reported.
 "Lovely, now let's head for that stoney treasure!" Jack smiled cheerily as he headed for the wheel.

"Lovely?" I grumbled. We had been sailing through a rough storm

for about a day. I was wet, cold, and hungry.

  All we had on board was some really nasty beef jerky type stuff, and some gross molding biscuits. I {of course} refused to eat any of the biscuits, and took one whiff of the meat and refused to eat that, too.
 So here I was. Sitting in the Crow's Nest. Freezing cold {probably getting hypothermia}, starving, looking for land.
 A pirate's life for me.
 I was just dreaming of some hot apple cider and pumpkin pie, when Jack yelled at me to switch with Darrion.
 D appeared from below decks, quite displeased with having to sit up in the Crow's Nest in the poring rain. I could hear her muttering to herself that this must be against the law somewhere or something.
 She sent a brown-eyed glare my way as she hoisted herself up the rope ladder, as if I was responsible for her 'torture'. I shrugged.
 Now that I was safely of some kind of solid-ish ground, I needed to calm down.
  Breathe. Breathe. Move your arms... I smoothly began a fighting/exercise routine that was designed to calm you down. It mostly involved dance-like moves and ninja-like flips.
 Okay, you need to flip here.... I arched my arms and pushed off the splintery deck, flipping my body into the air.
  Thunk. The ship hit something hard and stopped with a jerk. I, of course, was still in the air.
 "Oof!" I connected hard with the door of the Captain's Cabin. Rubbing my head, I sat up.
 "We've struck land!" Jack crowed cheerily, trotting down the stairs and past me without giving me so much as a backward glance. I curled my lip. Men.
 "Land?" Both D and Darren each stuck a head out of the below-decks door {D had obviously shirked on the Crow's Nest}.
 "Is the ship alright?" D scrambled past me and inspected the bow with an intense eye. "I heard a big thunk." Darren followed. "We could have ripped the hull apart!"
 I winced, rubbed my head again and stood up, placing both hands on my hips. "I'm okay too, thanks for asking." I rolled my eyes.
 Both Ds looked up vaguely, question marks on their faces.
 "Never mind. Where did we land, anyway?" I asked.
 Jack waved from the rock that he was perched on. "Over here! I found the island! Let us be off!" He waved a be-ringed hand. "Come along now, savvy's. We have a treasure to find!"
To be continued...

 

Also, here are some 'piratey' pictures for you {from Pinterest} 

 

{This is from the first movie-but works for the 4th part of this story:)}

 

{Cool, huh?}

 

    

{An intimidating bridge, to say the least}

 

 

{Pretty cool, am I right?}

{PS, I'm very sorry for taking soooo long-but I was super busy and didn't have a lot of time to do this story, but you can expect the next part pretty soon, I think!}

More of my story

Here's some more of my "little kid" story. ;D

~Storyteller

Chapter V

Where’s Jennifer?

I cut a little hole, just to see my surroundings. I saw that only one nomad was guarding me…but where was Jennifer? Surely she was here tied up in a sack, too. She probably was.

   Just then, five other nomads came walking up the dusty hill. Great—there went my chance of escaping. Nice going, Allegra.

    They walked up to the other nomad.

“Devin, untie the sack,” commanded the leader of the group.

  I hurriedly stuffed my dagger back into my sash, just as I was dumped out of the sack. They all laughed at me as I tried to run away.

   Devin, though, had grabbed me by the collar. “Where do you think you’re going? You think your father can save you?”
  Just then, I thought of something—there were no nomads in England. Well, at least not ones who dress like that.  I glanced at one of the guy’s clothes, and saw a French army uniform underneath his costume.

  My mouth dropped.

“Surprise, surprise,” laughed the main man. “You didn’t expect beloved Duke Rubian to be a spy for France, did you?”

  So Rubian was a person in the book? And he’d kidnapped me? And I knew him? But why?

  “Why would you do it, Ru?” the name “Ru” came out of my mouth before I could stop it, as though this were part of the book, or as if I had known this man for a long time. I could feel that he had been a kind of uncle-like person to me.

  He laughed. “Why? For power, of course!” he laughed again. “And besides, everybody knows that you’re the most favored girl at the castle. Everybody would do anything to save you.” He chuckled evilly. “Even give up the throne.”

I kicked him in the shins, and elbowed Devin painfully in the stomach. Grabbing a horse nearby, I dug my heels into its sides—HARD.

   I had never ever ridden a horse before, so all I could do when it broke into a dead gallop was hang on.

  I kind of wished it were a dog, so I could just yell, “find the castle”! or something like that.

  Instead, I held on and hoped the horse would go the right way.

Hopefully.

I clung on, and the horse kept on going and going. I wished I had learned more about horses when we had been back in England. Wait, this was England—just not my England…this was one out of a book.

  As I rode, I glanced behind me to see if anybody was following—not yet, thank goodness. I wished I could somehow have had the book—then, I could find out what happened, and prevent anything happening to me—like secretly getting kidnapped by Duke Rubian or something.  

  I sighed, and reached into my pocket—and felt something that almost made me fall off the horse. I pulled it out into the sunlight, unsure if it really could be…

  “The book!” I shrieked in happiness.

I opened it up, and saw the part about how we had been kidnapped and everything. It said I got kidnapped, got away and…then the writing disappeared. I couldn’t believe it—why? Why had it disappeared? Great. Not good at all.

  Just then, I saw the towers of a castle looming ahead, before me. The horse ran over the drawbridge into the town, and into the village. All of the people were shouting and yelling. The horse rode on, going towards the castle. We hurried through the gate, and a boy took my horse.

  I second I stepped off, I was swamped by nobles.

“Excuse me!” I yelled. “Where’s Princess Aspen? I must speak with her!” Aka Jennifer, of course.

   “Princess Aspen?” asked one of the nobles. “Wasn’t she with you?”

Chapter VI

Remembering Sean

 

I was hurriedly ushered into the royal castle by the nobles who had swamped me in the first place, and I had a hard time trying not to step on anybody (or trying not to get stepped on). Soon, I could see bright torchlights ahead. We turned to the right and came into the throne room.

   We all bowed.

“What is this?” asked the King, joylessly. “The beloved Rose of Darrellby castle has been restored! Come, girl!”

  I walked tentatively up to the throne and bowed. “Your Majesty.”

He nodded. “How art thou doing, Rowena?”

    I nodded. “I am fine. Hast thou seen thy daughter, Aspen?”

He laughed. “Aspen? No, I haven’t, and I don’t really care. You will probably take over the castle, anyway—you are betrothed to my son…”

  I choked, and just barely had time to hide it. Betrothed? I was going to die!

 “Thy servant has to go now!” I said hurriedly.

I bowed again, and hurried out of the throne room.  I had no idea where my room was, so I just hurried down the halls of the castle and tried to stay out of the way, such as hiding the shadows of the dark halls, where the torches cast no light.

     Just then, I saw that I was going toward the main door. I speeded up my steps—surely they had a stable, right? Then I could get some fresh air! I hurried along and out the door, making a beeline to the barn. I breathed in the deep, soothing scent of hay.

  “Psst!”

I looked around and saw Alan hiding behind the door. “Alan?”

  He sighed madly. “Yes, Alan. I just managed to get out of the way of that weirdo and I heard from a villager that you were back here. So, I’m here to make you get me back to England. Come on, how do I get back?”

  I looked at him. “Well, frankly I don’t know. But you’re smart, you should find out how by yourself.”

   Alan fell onto his knees. “Please take me back to England! I’ll to anything! I’ll never be mean to you again! Just PLEASE get me home!”

  I sighed. “I’m sorry. Oh, by the way, have you seen Jennifer? She disappeared in a night attack by some weird Duke and nobody’s seen her.”

  Alan gawked. “YOU were in a battle?! Why didn’t you tell me?! Don’t you think I would have liked to know?”

  I shook my head. “It wasn’t like you think it was.”

Then I remembered the Duke—I had to tell the King!

A while later (after already telling the King about the duke) I had finally managed to find my room. I sat on the bed, thinking—and I was starting to think that the Duke wasn’t the real bad guy. Sure, he had tried to kidnap me (which he kind of succeeded in, but anyway…) but he just wasn’t the type—he wasn’t evil enough.  Who could be the Mastermind behind all of this?

   I know I should’ve probably have been trying to find a way out of here and back to the real England, but while I was here, I might as well try to help the people, right? Well, that was my point of view. And then we had the case of Jennifer having disappeared. I already knew where Alan was, but I couldn’t leave without my best friend.

   I glanced out the window, at the courtyard, the stables, the village behind…how come there wasn’t some riddle to follow to find the answer to all of my questions like in all of the books? How come there wasn’t some guy who came and helped me to find out who the bad guy was? And where on earth was someone who could help me find Jennifer…?

  Wait! The main character! Sean! Where on earth was he? And what was I talking about? I had to the book for goodness sakes!

   I quickly grabbed it and hurried out the door.

I need title ideas for this book!

There I was, standing at the main staff, staring out at the sky blue ocean. I was

caught by it's beauty. I

 stood there for another moment, until I heard  Swabmop's voice coming from

starboard side, (That

tis' the right side of the ship, the left is called Port. I just don't want to confuse

you, mate) "You,

seadog up there, get your good-for-nothing carcass down here and I will give

you the rest of your

 orders then." I snatched a rope off of the sail and slid down until I could jump,

then I landed catlike

 on my toes, as I had seen the lookout, Sees, do many times. I am a cabin boy,

or girl, on a fine



 English ship called, The Knife. Though the name was rather chilling, she cuts

through the water

 as quickly as a knife slices bread. I am a girl,  though all of the shipmates,

except the captain, think I

 am a boy. Captain Smith took me in when I was quite young and nurtured me

until I now. I am a

 strong and tan lass, I am 10 and a 1/2 years old. because of my deep voice,

my short hair and dark,

 piercing eyes, I have been mistaken often for a boy. So when Captain Smith

was called to be on a

 voyage, he quickly thought up this plan to take me along. So now here I was.

As I was thinking

 about what good luck I had had for being with Captain Smith, Swabmop had

been talking to me.

As I came back to earth, I caught his last few words, "...and the Captain s

ays that if you don't do

 exactly as he says, he will throw you to the sharks." He spit out a long stream

of tobacco juice over

 the deck. I gulped, then smiled and moved slowly away from him. I would just

go to the captain myself and se was this all important job was. I lazily moved to

the captain's cabin doors and slipped inside. There was a corridor before his

room with both walls filled to the ceiling with columns of food. As I approached

the door, it

swung open and a short, bald and nervous looking man stepped

 out and looked around, just as I jumped back into the shadows. He

nodded nervously, as if to assure himself, mopped his forehead with a

hankie. He stepped back into the cabin,

closing the door behind him. I got closer and put my ear to the door,

and listened.