The Forgotten Keepsake

Chapter 2

II

She had been little more than a waif. A skinny bundle of rags. Messy dirty blond hair and a filthy stuffed toy tucked under one arm.

Guy suspected that the toy was one of the very few things the poor wretch had owned.

That and the pebble of course.

Must have been what? Eight or nine summers old maybe?

And those eyes...

...big puppy dog eyes looking up at him beneath long lashes... vivid green irises with a shock of brown around the pupils... intense staring eyes, full of wonder and adoration.

Mina.

Where are you now little one?

Yes, she had been sweet on him – no doubt about that – she had followed him round the village whenever he had been there, at first shyly running away upon him noticing her but then later on plucking up enough courage to speak, to introduce herself, to ask him questions.

Her voice had been timid – barely a squeak:

"Are you a Knight then?"

He smiled thinking of it.

In the beginning, he had been embarrassed by her attentions, scowling whenever others teased him about it. But at some point, she had grown on him and he was surprised to find himself actually hoping to see her whenever he had dealings in her village.

The scamp.

She had wormed his way into his heart somehow.

Not that he would ever admit it.

He had been a shy boy. Barely a man at the time. A gangly teenager hiding behind a long fringe of dark hair. Everything was awkward at that age wasn't it? Just like his interactions with her – so awkward but somehow so sweet.

He closed his eyes and thought of her, memories he had buried away somewhere in a corner of his mind became now so clear... She had once reached out to slip her hand in his and at first, he had let her but then she pulled away upon noticing his discomfort. It hadn't been anything serious – she had only been a child; not old enough to know of anything more than her innocence would allow but one thing was certain; she had adored him.