Read Winged: A Novella (Of Two Girls) for Free Online Page A

metallic
bulldogs – bowed and wanted to play, their cogs whirling away in
excitement while the tin-men marched around, fetching workshop
material for Mr Forrester and causing merriment amongst the
watchers.
     
    She decided she had grown to like the
Forresters.
     
     
    ~*~
     
     
     
     
     
    Katherine played a game of Fox and Geese
with Mister Forrester before the Yule dinner proper. Alethia sat
quietly on the settee, “listening” to the game-play. All of them
could smell the tantalizing aromas coming from the kitchen and hear
the cheerful voices of Mrs Potts and Marjorie as they worked over
the last-minute preparations. There was an air of anticipation in
the house. Outside the window, they could hear the voices of
carolers making their way down the street. It was the eve of Yule
and Katherine could not help but think about her parents and little
sister in Dorset. Would they miss her during this time?
     
    Mrs Potts stepped into the study and
announced that the Yule dinner was ready. Katherine led Alethia to
the dining room where Marjorie was placing dinner plates on the
large wooden table. It was a glorious spread with golden-brown
mince pies, a basket of candied fruits and boiled brussel sprouts
with a good dollop of creamy butter. They seated themselves with Mr
Forrester at the head of the table. He laughed with mirth and had
Mrs Potts bring in the turkey.
     
    They joked and laughed as they ate, savoring
the splendidly cooked turkey and sampling the mince pies. Katherine
had some sweet port that streamed down her throat like warm fire.
Soon, Mrs Potts and Marjorie joined them at the table and the humor
grew exponentially with the flow of good food and delectable
wine.
     
    It was a good Yule dinner, complete with
fancifully shaped ices and mints. Mrs Potts made them cups of hot
mulled wine, spiced with cinnamon and anise, and plates of
freshly-baked fruit cake stuffed with orange peel and raisins,
after which they all complained (good-naturedly) that they were
full and could not eat anymore.
     
    As she sat on the settee with a delicious
warm sensation filling her body, Katherine held her cup of mulled
wine close and felt happy. Perhaps it was all the good food and
pleasant company with the Forrester family; she experienced a sense
of contentment, something she had not encountered ever since she
had left Dorset.
     
    She knew that she could not replace her
family with a new one. Yet, the Forresters were pleasant and
diligent folk of grace and good humor, a quality she realized that
dour Dorset sorely lacked
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

Flight
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
Chapter One
Fledgling
     
     
    Cadet Katherine Riley of House Sable
struggled to keep the blimp-fin under control; it pitched and
rolled in the prevailing winds, feeling more like a bucking horse
than a functional flier purpose-built for the Academy. She fought
the controls and the controls fought back harder, resisting her
attempts to balance the vessel.
     
    She felt her heart sinking. This training
flight was also a test flight, with the Academy’s teachers
acting as official examiners. She knew Pilotmaster Lee and Captain
Karlida Sagan were watching below, on the relative safety of the
Flying Field grounds. Probably jotting down notes and marking her
performance as less than satisfactory. Her thoughts ran dire for a
brief moment, fueling her lack of self-confidence. She breathed in
deeply and tried more once.
     
    The blimp-fin, without the charm and beauty
of the leo-fin, rolled hard to the right and Katherine steadied
herself. The winds were strong today. Better than a calm
day , she mused grimly, wrestling with the controls once more
and this time, the blimp-fin obeyed and stabilized.
     
    Her ankle throbbed with the strain and she
wondered if she had to put ice on it. The pain just would not go
away. As