A very long time ago, in the land of Nottinshire lived a farmer and his four children. He had two sons named John and Benjamin and two daughters named Mary and Susan. His wife died a few years ago and he did whatever he could to look after his family. The four siblings helped their father on the farm every day. John and Benjamin would help out in the fields, while Mary and Susan looked after the animals and house.
One day misfortune struck. The farmer became ill with a weak heart and he couldn’t work anymore. His children had to do all the work themselves. He apologized for being a burden to them.
“Don’t worry father,” they said “you get better and leave all the work to us”.
The farmer was happy for having such good children and hoped he would get better quickly to help them. Unfortunately he did not get well, his heart became worse and he died. His sons and daughters were heartbroken because of their father’s death. After his funeral they each agreed to keep on working hard on the farm. They did not wish to let their father down or let all the hard work he did go to waste.
That night the siblings were fast asleep in bed, except Susan the youngest daughter. She missed both her mother and father too much to go to sleep. So she went outside, knelt down on the ground and prayed that both her parents had reached heaven safely.
“Mother, Father” she whispered “I promise you that I will stay strong and continue working on the farm with my brothers and sister. So please don’t worry and watch over us always”.
The next day Susan and her brothers and sister carried on with working on the farm. It didn’t feel the same without their parents around, but they were determined to continue the work their father left behind for them. Life should have gone well for them, but life was not going well. Actually all was not well for all of Nottinshire. In fact Nottinshire was in difficult times and lived in darkness. All the darkness was because of the lady of Nottinshire.
The lady of Nottinshire was a cruel woman and treated the people of Nottinshire very badly. She taxed them heavily and didn’t care if they were starving to death. Because of that the people of Nottinshire worked nearly all day everyday to pay taxes. No one ever dared to anger the lady of Nottinshire because if they did she would kill them instantly without mercy. The most terrible thing about the lady of Nottinshire was that she sold her soul to an evil witch to process dark magic. The source of her magic was in a dark purple staff she always kept by her side. Because of her dark magic the people of Nottinshire did everything they could to keep her happy.
What kept the people staying strong was their hope that the true heir of Nottinshire would return. The true heir of Nottinshire was the lady of Nottinshire’s brother. He became the new lord of Nottinshire after the old lord of Nottinshire died. But sometime after he became the new lord he disappeared without a trace. The lady of Nottinshire had said that he was dead, but no one believed that he had died. There was no proof or evidence that he was dead, so the people of Nottinshire kept on believing he was alive and he would return someday and set them free from the lady of Nottinshire.
One day Susan and her siblings were working on the farm. John and Benjamin were tending to the grain they grew in the fields, while Susan and Mary milked the cows and collected eggs from the hens. Susan was just about to collect some more eggs when a messenger from the palace came up to her.
“Pardon me miss, it’s about taxes” he said.
“But we have already paid our taxes sir” said Susan.
The messenger explained that the lady of Nottinshire had ordered the taxes to be doubled and expects double at the next collection. After the explanation he left. Susan was shocked about what the messenger had just said to her and told her brothers and sister about it.
“This is just wrong!” shouted Benjamin.
“Yeah” said Mary “that lady of Nottinshire keeps on raising the payment of taxes we have to pay. And we have enough trouble paying the amount we have to pay now.”
“Yes this is troublesome” said John “but there is nothing we can do about it. I for one do not want to feel the wrath of her ladyship or have her cast a dark spell on any of us. We will just have to work harder than ever.”
Susan was worried; their life was becoming more troubling everyday and there was nothing that could be done about it. After all the farm work had been finished for the day Susan went for a walk in the forest near the farm. Susan loved walking through the forest, the peaceful forest with its tall trees and beautiful flowers always brought a smile to her face. It made her forget her troubles, feel more relaxed and renewed her strength after such a long busy day.
While Susan was admiring flowers she heard a strange noise. It sounded like an animal was in pain. Susan followed the sound of the noise to see what it was. In a few moments she found what was making that noise. It was a wild black stallion. It was making a lot of noise because it’s back right leg was caught in an animal snare trap and was bleeding. Susan hated animal traps; she found it cruel treating animals like that. She slowly and carefully walked up to the horse, hushed it and stroked it to calm it down. The black stallion calmed down a bit after feeling Susan’s soft gentle hands and hearing her soft sweet voice. Susan carefully lifted up the black stallion’s leg and untangled the snare trap. Next she wrapped a handkerchief around the cut. The black stallion was grateful; it thanked Susan with all its heart.
“You’re welcome” said Susan, rubbing its forehead, “your trouble is over, it’s a shame that my trouble isn’t over yet”.
Susan told the black stallion about the lady of Nottinshire. She spoke about how her ladyship raised taxes heavily, how she didn’t care when everyone starved to death or worked their socks off and about using dark magic on her own subjects.
“Her ladyship is a real witch!” Susan finished “you’re lucky that you haven’t run into her yet”. The black stallion listened to every word Susan said and understood completely.
“I should leave now” said Susan “my brothers and sister worry when I’m home late”. She left to walk back home, while the black stallion watched her leave.
That evening, when Susan went back to the house, she told her siblings all about the black stallion.
“It was a good thing you were there Susan” said Benjamin “that snare trap would have done some serious damage to that horse”.
“I hate animal traps” said Mary “those things are terrible. I know we have to use them to catch animals for meat, but I still don’t like them”.
“So do I” said Benjamin “especially when they hurt an animal that we don’t eat, but at least they help us catch animals we do eat or we wouldn’t get meat at all.”
Susan couldn’t stop thinking about the black stallion all this time. She remembered its black fur and its brown eyes. It really was something to remember.
That night when everyone was asleep, Susan was dreaming. In her dream the spirit of the lord of Nottinshire was talking to her.
“Susan” he said “the reason for my disappearance is because of my sister. As soon as dawn hits go with the black stallion, you met today, to the castle of Nottinshire. There the black stallion will confront my sister to overthrow her. While the black stallion confronts my sister, try to get her magic staff and break it. If you break the magic staff my sister will be gone permanently. Remember all that”.
Then Susan’s dream ended, Susan woke with a start. That dream was a big puzzle to Susan. ‘Why did the lord of Nottinshire speak to me in my dream?’ she thought ‘What’s his connection with that black stallion? And what did the lady of Nottinshire do to him?’ The only way for her to find out was to go to the castle of Nottinshire with the black stallion.
When the dawn started to come, Susan crept quietly out of her house. She didn’t tell her siblings about her dream or what she was told to do in case they would think her crazy and try to stop her. Outside the gate the black stallion was there waiting for her. Susan walked up to the stallion, mounted on it and they both set off to the castle of Nottinshire. On the way to the castle, Susan couldn’t stop thinking about the dream she had. She feared about the danger that she was going to be in, but she knew she mustn’t let the lord of Nottinshire down. All she could do now was focus on defeating the lady of Nottinshire.
They soon reached the castle; the castle looked dark and frightening because of the lady of Nottinshire’s darkness. Susan got off the stallion and they both walked into the castle. The inside of the castle was all dark, like it had been painted black all over. Her ladyship didn’t like lightness from outside so she kept all the curtains closed to keep the castle dark. Susan didn’t really like being in the dark, but with the black stallion by her side she didn’t feel scared. The black stallion led the way to the throne room, where her ladyship always sat. Susan was still confused about how the black stallion knew its way in the castle; you wouldn’t really bring a horse inside a castle but as long the black stallion knew where it was going Susan did not care.
There was no one in the throne room, even the lady of Nottinshire wasn’t there. But she had left her magic staff behind on the throne. Susan remembered what the lord of Nottinshire had said to her; she had to break the staff. Susan ran to the throne and was just about to pick up the staff when a dark blast stopped her. It was the lady of Nottinshire!
“I never thought that I would see you again” she said to the black stallion “I thought you would have died by now, but you’re still alive. No matter I’ll have a fun time killing you myself.” She fired dark blasts at Susan and the black stallion; both of them dodged the attacks.
Susan, who was taking cover behind a pillar, was puzzled what her ladyship had just said. She still didn’t understand the relationship between the black stallion and the lady of Nottinshire. But now she knew this was no time for unanswered questions. The only thing she had to think about now was getting the magic staff.
Meanwhile the lady of Nottinshire was shooting dark blasts at the black stallion; it was her true target. But since she was only aiming at the black stallion, she didn’t pay attention to Susan. So while the black stallion was distracting the lady of Nottinshire, Susan carefully crept up towards the throne. There was a row of pillars near the throne; a perfect cover for Susan. She crept up to the throne and grabbed the staff, but the lady of Nottinshire saw that.
“Put that magic staff down” she shouted “it is mine!”
“Never!” shouted Susan.
Remembering what the lord of Nottinshire told her to do Susan smashed the staff against the hard floor. The staff broke in half and the dark magic poured out.
“No!” yelled the lady of Nottinshire. Not only was her dark magic disappearing; her body was starting to wither. Since she sold her soul to gain the magic staff, it was her life source and with the staff broken she was dying. Her body withered until she was no more.
When the lady of Nottinshire turned to dust all the darkness surrounding the castle vanished and all the spells that were cast on the people were broken. Then a bright light surrounded the black stallion and in a flash it turned into a man. Susan gasped! The black stallion was really the lord the Nottinshire.
“Your lordship” she said and curtseyed to him.
“Susan, you have not only stopped my sister but you have also saved my life” he said.
The lord of Nottinshire explained to Susan about his sister’s greed for power and for the throne. Then spoke about gaining magic and turning him into a black stallion to get what she wanted.
“But thanks to you I have returned to the throne and my sister can no longer threaten Nottinshire” he finished.
And so Nottinshire became a happier place once more and the lord of Nottinshire was back on the throne. The people of Nottinshire were happy to have their real ruler back and no longer live under darkness. As for Susan, his lordship asked for her hand in marriage and she accepted it. So Susan became the new lady of Nottinshire and her siblings came to live in the castle as members of the court. And they all lived happily ever after.
