Intermission: A Short Rest Under the Gazebo
“OH! Roodle!”
How high up can he spot his target? Amy wondered. Roodle always seemed to be flying so high up whenever he recognized her.
The snowy owl landed safely on Amy’s arm, his flapping wings rustling her hair.
Roodle looked very proud when Amy thanked him for making the long journey and then, clearly hoping for head scratches, he bent his head forward. A stronger person than Amy might’ve been able to look at this huge owl without melting into a puddle of cuteness, but she was a sucker for all animals.
Amy scratched his forehead obediently and held out some treats for him, which he delightedly gobbled up. Some days Roodle would fly off to his next destination right after eating; other days, he would stay for a while.
Now that Roodle had retired from his position as a royal messenger bird, Amy and Edward had prepared places for him to sleep at the Royal Palace and at the Northland family house.
✦ ✦ ✦
🐾🐱🐾
“AMY!” called Isabelle, walking with Edward through the garden. “Prince Edward is here. Amy?”
Amy was sitting under the gazebo, totally unaware of their presence.
“It’s fine,” whispered Edward, pressing a finger to his lips with a rare mischievous look on his face. The look was so boyish, Isabelle was viscerally reminded that Edward was in fact younger than her adult son, Harold.
Isabelle smiled, feeling gratified that the prince felt comfortable enough to make that face around her. The Northland house seemed to have become a place where he didn’t feel the need to always act like a prince or worry about how others perceived him.
Amy looked comfortable, with Roodle perched on her arm and Tigger sitting on her lap. She took turns petting the two animals with her free hand as she sung quietly to herself.
Occasionally smiling at Tigger and Roodle as they repositioned from time to time, Amy looked genuinely happy.