Summer and Meadow

"Grandad?" Xhemin suddenly flew inside her grandfather's study room without warning. This alarmed the two adults who certainly did not anticipate her sudden appearance. 

How long has she been outside the door?

How in the world did they not hear her footsteps when she stepped down the stairs?

Did the child hear their whole conversation?

"Something wrong?" Xhemin asked when she saw the two adults in a messed up state, as if there was something off about her sudden appearance. She halted a bit to figure out what could have possibly gone wrong and realized she had not knocked on the door. "Oh, I'm sorry I haven't knocked. That was so disrespectful..." She proceeded to chide himself almost immediately. 

"It's fine, " Doctor Miles answered,  feeling relieved when he realized she heard nothing significant. "What do you need?

"I'm going to the Montarini's" She blurted excitedly and only then did adults suddenly realize the girl had already changed into jodhpurs and riding boots. It was obvious she was going for a horse ride.

Xhemin being sharp-eyed as she was, knew that something was bizarre about the two adults judging from their reactions. However, Mister Cheng's identity was already a mystery to her growing up and there were more mysteries about their family and living state that she had purposely ignored in respect to her grandfather's wishes. So she dwelled not much on the idea. 

"Alright. Send my regards to the Señior if you see him," Doctor Miles told before she left. Xhemin withdrew and closed the door gently before she let loose a hard long breath. Moments like this make her wish her curiosity about everything would just evaporate so as not to upset her grandfather but the more she grows year by year, the more she gets more curious about the things the adults were obviously hiding from her. 

In case one was curious, their family—she and her grandfather—had been living an oddly peculiar life. She was told from the start that her grandfather was a talented doctor and that his skills were incomparable. Because of this, bad people were interested in his skills. When they say bad people; these are gangsters, mafia's, underground organizations, you name it—all those people that do bad and illegal things for sake of drugs, money, fame or whatever. Her grandfather used to receive offers and deals from these types of people making them very vulnerable to their advances. This, according to his grandfather, was the reason why they had to leave the Capital and settle in the South. Her grandfather took another identity too and so was she. To avoid getting followed and known, she was specifically told to keep a low profile and not to indulge in any people in the Capital, especially the elites who probably had all the connections to the people that were interested in them. Aside from that, she also follows some other roles for security purposes. One for example was the fact that she was not allowed to take a picture of herself even in secret. In fact she had no pictures around their very own house as if she does not live there and  as if she does exist at all. When she asked why this was necessary, she was told that no one should know what she looked like as a safety precaution. So in case in the future her grandfather would be found by those interested in his skills, no one will know about her or if it cannot be avoided, at least no one knows what Doctor Mile's only heir looked like. By that, no one would be able to use her to blackmail the doctor.

Well his grandfather's reasons were pretty convincing, but sometimes she wondered if they were true. Sometimes too, she finds these roles thoroughly unfair, especially at the time that she formed friendship with Ziggy and Huzey. The two boys were members of prominent elite families and so she kind of had a glimpse of the lifestyles of the elites through them. She had glimpses of the parties the elites would throw but never got to attend them. She had glimpses of the exclusive events Huzey and Ziggy would get invited to and only wished she could go. Yet, even when Huzey and Ziggy were influential enough to get her invitations, her grandfather would just not allow her to go.  The latter would just remind her of the rules and would add that she does not belong to such gatherings. As to why he would add that, the reason maybe was that aside from she had to maintain a low profile for security reasons, she is not an elite like the two heirs—Huzey and Ziggy and so she certainly does not belong to their circle.

Sighing more, she tried to sweep off those thoughts as she approached the stables. Ang, their stable master approached her as soon as he noticed her presence.

"Little Miss, I'm afraid you have to take Meadow instead of Summer, " He was talking about her horses. She owned two currently and she remembered telling Ang earlier she would be riding Summer today to the Montarinis.

"Something happened?" She asked.

"Summer seems to not be in a good mood today. I think he is sick, " Ang responded as he pulled Meadow out of his pen.

"Really?" Suddenly she became worried about her horse. She looked toward his pen but realized Summer is not in there.

"Father is checking out on him right now in the yard. You can check him later when you come back" He explained as he saw searching for her horse. 

"Okay. I hope he is fine though, " She answered and took Meadow instead then mounted her without trouble. As soon she did, Meadow took off right away as if the animal already knew where to go.

"Be careful on your way Little Miss!" Ang exclaimed as the horse started to move, clattering across the cobblestones.

"I will. Take care of Summer!"

***

Soon, Xhemin was riding Meadow heading past the flock of sheep that were gazing across the greenery that she passed. She was riding parallel to the river and powered up into the first canter, then galloped.

Her ebony hair flowed behind her in the breeze as she charged her horse faster and faster. It was a beautiful day then and the ride with Meadow on the way to the Montari was giving her some sense of comfort whenever she was troubled with thoughts. Right then, the thoughts of their family mystery bothered her yet she was not courageous enough to confront her grandfather about it. She knew he probably sacrificed so much more than she had and she honestly thinks the reason why he withdrew in the South was all for her safety. If she had not been born, he would probably not care about getting hunted by those who wanted his skills. 

Her mind wandered as she explored the wide prairie before her. Then vast greenery of grasses disappeared and what replaced it was the thick woodlands she chose to take as a shortcut. Soon enough, she reached the endpoint of the valley and slowed down as she caught sight of the Montarini Manor standing gloriously at a distance. The view of it was like watching movies of historical fiction or a fairytale where one could see those beautiful palaces and exquisite grand gardens. The Montarini Manor was just built exactly perfect for royalty. 

However instead of going right through its courtyard gate entrance that leads to the Manor's front door, Xhemin pulled her horse and swung to the east backside of the property. She trailed in the big fence until it reached an off beaten track then halted in a familiar oak tree, almost thirty meters tall. She jumped out of her horse and safely tied her horse around its trunk.

She then stood at the big oak tree for a bit, started stretching then clambering up. She had climbed this tree numerous times before so it only took her a few minutes to reach one of its strong branches up above. She ceremoniously heaved on the branch and cling to it like she has a monkey-like fervor and clammy hand. Through a lattice of interlocking limbs and twigs she found her way to one of the French glass architected windows of the manor.

"Prip-prippa-prip-prippa" She signaled in a language only she and her best friend knew as she lounged on a bough above the tree as if it was a sofa.

A minute later, she heard some footsteps and the window opened revealing Huzey. His long hair was on a bun and his hands were covered with paint, so was the painting apron he was wearing.

He must have been painting, she thought. This early?

The boy held up a deep sigh as he saw her smiling wildly. He had told her many times before not to go climbing this way but she never listened to him all these years. He extended his hands and carefully helped her into the windows and inside his own bedroom.

When she safely landed on his bedroom floor, he turned his back unto her, went onto the home phone lying on one of the desks and started dialing numbers.

"Señiorito, is there anything you want?" A maiden's voice answered from the other line.

"Bring some tea up in here and strawberry snacks,"

"Yes Señiorito, is there anything else the Little Miss wants?" The maidservant asked, knowing that the Diamond Prince would only ask for strawberry snacks when the Dugmoch's little Miss was around. How she managed to enter Señiorito's chambers without anyone noticing was always a mystery to all of them.

"Nothing more," He said before he put the phone down.

The Diamond's prince bedroom was extremely large. It was divided into several rooms and was full of red tapestries and carpets allured with wonderful designs. The one where Xhemin was at the time was the bedroom's sitting area. On the left she could see the luxurious bed adorned with dark red duvets and on  the right was where all his painting materials were housed.

Huzey did not say a word to her but rather positioned himself on a big canvas leaning one one of the walls. It was extremely big and Huzey was standing on his feet as he made another stroke with his painting brush right through it.

Xhemin, who was overly familiar with the place, went to one of the cabinets and pulled a slipper for her. Huzey always kept two extra slippers, one for her and one for Ziggy. She seated herself comfortably on the sofa on one corner, pulled out her feet from her boots and put them through the slippers.

As soon as she finished changing into slippers, she looked at Huzey intently as her lips twitched. Carefully observing his demeanor, she leaned on the sofa and crossed her arms.

"Spill it out," She said directing at him.

Huzey, who was surprised with her sudden probing, looked at her in an instant. His brows arched. 

"I know something is wrong. Spill it out now!" Xhemin demanded.