The ride
Chapter 17

Moonbyul's POV

I found myself unable to sleep very well that night as I was to busy thinking about my ride tomorrow with Solar. I was exited, to say the least. Fortunately I had nowhere to be in the morning so I could sleep in.

After getting up, I washed up, made myself some breakfast with some eggs I bought from a local farmer and read some on my kindle. As the time approached to meet Solar, I suddenly got a bit nervous. All I had for lunch was a meat and cheese sandwich. 

Though it's a pain to have to buy everything fresh, either from the local farmer or the sometimes the farmers market, some of the food is quite good. Not to mention no preservatives. But one must be careful to buy only what you can use that day, because most of that stuff won't keep long. 

Not having any proper riding clothes like Solar did, I dressed in my traveling clothes; cavalry boots, pants and a white shirt. The day itself was overcast, windy and a bit cold, so I did wear my coat. The last thing I did was to comb my hair so it looked perfect. 

At 2PM sharp, I came to the barn where I found Solar waiting inside. 

"Hello, Moonbyul. I have your horse ready for you. You can ride Percy, and I will ride my own horse, Emma."

"Thanks." As I walked in, I got a strange look from Robert. 

I was one of the servants like him, only I was going to ride with Solar. What I was doing was most unorthodox, to say the least. 

Ignoring Robert, I went to my horse and checked the saddle. Once I was satisfied everything was secure as it should be, I mounted my horse. I found myself being very glad that I took the riding lessons before I came here. I used to hate horses, thinking they were stupid. Now I didn't mind them so much. 

"So where are we going?" 

Solar smiled at me enigmatically, then quickly mentioned for the horse to take off on a full gallop out of the barn and towards the park. 

"Why---- you little..." I muttered as I sat off in pursuit of her. 

For almost 5 minutes, I chased after Solar. The Korean-Latina would occasionally look back and giggle, all the while her long brown hair was flowing with the wind. It was a very beautiful sight. 

By the time I had caught up with her, we were at the far end of the park, nearing the edge of the fields and meadows beyond. Solar then laughed and eased up a bit to let me ride alongside with her. But my competitiveness got the best of me and I quickly zoomed ahead of the surprised Solar. 

"Hey, I was slowing down for you!" She protested. 

I merely waved goodbye as I raced out onto a meadow, towards a group of trees at the far end. Soon, Solar and her horse galloped past me. Obviously she had no intention of being beaten. 

Quickly, she raced ahead and reached the stand of trees a 10 seconds before I did, where she stopped. 

"Moonbyul, I figured that you would have beaten me easy. Your horse is as fast if not faster than mine," Solar said, looking briefly puzzled. 

I thought quickly of how to respond and shrugged, "I don't know, I'm not used to this horse. Not sure what it can do." In reality, she was a much more experienced rider having years of experience. 

I, on the other hand, had only a few months of lessons. In the back of my mind that did exist as a worry, that I would be seen as a fraud. But that worry, sat along with all the other anxieties about how well the day would go. 

Solar nodded, seeming to accept the excuse and gently nudged her horse towards a nearby road. "Come on."

I followed and for a short while, we rode in a somewhat awkward silence. 

"I can't believe it sometimes, you left your home and went on a big adventure. My father or my mother would never permit that," she said in an exited voice. 

"I got lucky I guess." 

"So how did you get to England?" 

"By 747," I said without thinking, realizing how stupid I was a second later. 

Solar's face scrunched for a moment. "What's a 747?"

"Ah... It was a new kind of transatlantic clipper ship. They hadn't given it a proper name yet. Some kind of odd sailor's superstition." It was a lie of course, like about 90% of what I've told her since I've arrived. 

With anyone else, I wouldn't care. But with her, it bothers me. With each lie it bothers me more. 

"Oh... I see. I've heard that sailors are a superstitious lot. So tell me, what do you do in Los Angeles?" 

This time, I'd tell the truth as if it would kill me. "I read a lot, I also go to the beach sometimes."

"Ohh... my father, me and my sister also went to the beach once. Down in Brighton. We stayed at the Grand hotel. It was such a wonderful time. What do people in Los Angeles do at the beach?"

"Like in your case, families go there a lot on nice days. They will lay out a blanket and sometimes bring a picnic lunch. Children will play and swim a bit. People will lay out in the sun to tan themselves, also."

"Tan themselves?" Solar asked with a blank expression. 

"It's kind of a new thing, Solar. People lay in the sun to tan or darken their skin. I know here having light skin is very popular. But there, people like to look tan. 

Solar looked to me with amazement, "Most interesting. What do you do at the beach? I notice you do not look...tan."

"I've always been a night person. I like going down before sunset, find a secluded spot on the beach and sit down. Then I'll watch the sun set. It's very beautiful. The sky will turn orange. Then I lay down in the sand and look up at the sky. Then one by one the stars will appear and I just watch them. I love the night, I've always loved the night and being out in it. You look at the stars and just let your mind wander amongst them. Imagine what wonders they may hold, what mysteries there are out there." I found my voice had a dreamlike quality as I spoke. I was being truthful and was quite happy to do so. 

Looking over I could see Solar riding beside me with slightly parted and she looked a bit spellbound, "That sounds beautiful. I've never thought about the stars or anything like that."

"I can't say I'm too knowledgeable about that, but I do know the sky holds many beautiful things. Through a telescope, I could see the rings of the  planet Saturn, the moons of jupiter, I was even shown the great nebula of Orion. A cloud of some short, far from this world. But mostly, I just look up and relax. Clear my mind of day's problems."

She nodded, "I should do that. I have many things on my mind these days."

"The wedding?" I said, trying not to let my utter contempt for Eric to leak trough. 

"Yes. So much to plan, so much to do."

We rode on trough the countrysi