Alec's strange behaviour continued to plague me for the rest of the evening and through to Sunday, but come Monday it became the last thing on my mind.

Jonathan decided to wake me up that morning by throwing his entire body on the foot of my bed, crushing my legs and startling Goose in the process. Goose wasn't all that bothered by it and moved up to the small gap beside me so she could go back to sleep. I awoke to the sensation of my legs being crushed and stared down at Jonathan who looked at me with the biggest grin possible spread across his face. He quickly scrambled off my legs and sat crossed legged at the foot of my bed, the grin not leaving his face.

"What time is it?" I mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and pushing myself up to a sitting position.

"Almost time for your birthday present." Jonathan bounced up and down.

"Right, my birth-" I stifled a yawn, "-day."

"Come on, wakey wakey! It'll be here soon!"

"What do you mean?"

"You'll find out." Jonathan winked. "Get up, get dressed and come downstairs. Quickly."

He kept off my bed and appeared to giggle a little to himself, as though he kept the world's biggest secret. Goose, fed up with being disturbed, jumped off the bed and trotted after him, most likely hoping she'll be fed if she goes with him. The two of them disappeared through the door whilst I sat in bed and tried to debate whether to go back to sleep or not. It wasn't as early as I had been woken up in the past and I got the feeling that all my chores had already been completed, but I did want to go back to sleep.

I knew Jonathan would most likely come back if I didn't emerge from my room within half an hour so I had no choice but to get up. Light streamed into the room through the curtains as I pushed the blanket off my legs and slowly started to get myself ready for the day. Downstairs, I could hear Jonathan talking and it almost sounded like he was trying to whisper, although he wasn't succeeding since I could still hear him. The door muffled the words so I didn't know what they were talking about, but Jonathan was excited about it (although he got excited over breakfast).

Once I had washed my face and brushed my teeth in the bathroom, I returned to my room and ran a brush through my hair. In the year that I had been with the Goodwin's, my hair had grown past my shoulders and had started to creep its way down my back. It had become increasingly harder to do much work without it falling into my face and I had considered cutting it all off on more than one occasion. Still, I managed to tame it a little and quickly pulled on a light blue dress and stockings. Jonathan had told me the day before to dress nicely and that I wouldn't be doing any farm work.

"Hurry up, Sybil!" Jonathan yelled.

"I'm coming," I replied, pulling my stockings up.

I slipped my feet into a pair of buckled shoes before finally emerging from my room. The smell of sausages and eggs wafted through the upstairs hallway as I started to walk downstairs. Neither Jonathan nor Barbara were in the living room when I appeared at the bottom of the stairs, but Goose stood up and bounded over to me for her morning fuss. I scratched the top of her head and moved through to the kitchen where Barbara had just finished plating up breakfast.

"You give the girl an extra hour in bed and she moves slower than a toddler on their way into church," Barbara said, but she had a slight smile on her face. "Happy birthday, Sybil."

"Thank you."

"Fifteen, eh Syb? You're getting old," Jonathan said.

"Not as old as you."

"I'll let that one slide, birthday girl." He winked. "Right, eat up and then you can open the present and card from your mum. By then, your present from us should be here."

"Ah yes, the mysterious present." I looked at Barbara, hoping for a real answer.

"Don't look at me, I'm not telling you what it is. I've been sworn to secrecy." Barbara couldn't hide the trace of a smile from her lips.

"I don't like this game," I mumbled.

We ate breakfast in silence with Jonathan and Barbara occasionally exchanging glances with one another and fighting back very obvious smiles. Neither of them looked like they were going to be able to keep the secret for much longer and were probably glad that it would all be over very quickly. If they didn't think they could keep the secret, they should have just told me what it was, but that would always be too much to hope for. I knew Jonathan was just getting his revenge since I wouldn't tell him what I had done for Christmas.

I'd never been a fan of other people keeping secrets from me, even if I was happy doing the same thing to them. Every birthday and Christmas, I would go out of my way to try and find my presents because I couldn't stand not knowing. If it was something I didn't like or want then it would give me a chance to work on my fake excitement rather than trying to force it on the day itself. Of course, I rarely got anything I didn't like or want but I still enjoyed being prepared. Not knowing was the worst part.

After breakfast, Jonathan handed over the card and present that had arrived from my mum a few days earlier. He also handed over a card from himself and Barbara. The cards were simple although I had to get Jonathan's help to read the one from Mum since she has opted to write a letter on the inside of the card. My reading may have improved a little, but not enough for me to be able to read the entire thing on my own. Mum's present turned out to be a photograph of the three of us that used to be kept on the mantle. She thought it might remind me of home.

"Right, your present from us should be arriving soon, so outside. Go. Now," Jonathan said, shooing me out the door the moment I reappeared at the bottom of the stairs after leaving the photograph in my room.

"Are you going to tell me what it is?"

"You'll find out soon enough." He paused. "In fact, I think I hear its imminent arrival."

He grinned and I furrowed my eyebrows at him, confused by what he meant since I hadn't heard anything. I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could formulate the words, the low drum of a tractor engine cut through the usual morning noises. It wasn't completely unusual for us to get some sort of delivery in the morning, mostly from Mr Thompson, but I always knew about those. This was a mystery.

I watched a tractor emerge over the crest of the hill and move down the track. It didn't look like the Thompson tractor, in fact, it didn't look like any of the tractors that had been to the farm in the year that I had been there. Attached to the back of the tractor was a large, rectangular trailer that almost looked like the one that Mr Thompson had delivered the sheep in. Somehow, I didn't think it had sheep in it. Unless Jonathan thought it would be funny to get me my own sheep.

"Monin' Jonathan," the driver of the tractor said, scrambling off the tractor.

"Morning, Pete. Everything go alright?"

"Perfectly, no issues."

"Excellent." Jonathan turned to me. "This is Pete Edwards."

"Nice to meet you."

"You too, Miss Sybil. I believe a happy birthday is in order, or I have the wrong day and this is going to be really embarrassing." He smiled. "Right, shall we get this opened up? I don't think she's going to be too happy if she's in there much longer."

"I wouldn't be either."

Mr Edwards laughed and both he and Jonathan walked around the back of the trailer which had started to make noises since the tractor had come to a stop. Barbara ushered me back a little, as though expecting something to come running out of the trailer at top speed and make a run for me. All I had learnt from the conversation between Jonathan and Mr Edwards was that there was only one animal in the back of the trailer, but I didn't know what animal it might have been. Looking back, it was probably obvious, but I didn't expect to get an animal for my birthday.

The two of them undid the latches on the back of the trailer and lowered the door to create a ramp from the trailer to the ground. Nothing came charging out from inside and I watched Mr Edwards walk up the ramp and disappear into the trailer. He emerger a few seconds later holding onto a pair of reins and leading something down the ramp and onto the ground where he started to walk it towards me.

It took a few seconds to register the chestnut horse that had emerged from inside the trailer. She had a white diamond pattern on her nose and it almost looked like she was wearing white socks. Mr Edwards walked her up the track with Jonathan following, a grin on his face.

"Sybil, this is Juliet. Your birthday present," Jonathan said as Mr Edwards passed me the reins and ran a hand down the horse's back.

"You got me a horse?"

Jonathan nodded. "We thought you might need a new project once that treehouse of yours is done so Juliet will be entirely your responsibility."

"As a rule, do not ride her outside of the paddock, at least until you're comfortable with her. You can continue to ride Jigsaw if you're heading up to the Thompson farm," Barbara said, giving me a pointed look.

"I understand, but a horse? An actual, real-life, horse?"

"Last time I checked she was real." Mr Edwards laughed.

"This is way too much, I would have been fine with a wooden horse," I said, looking at Jonathan.

"Consider it a thank you for all the work you've done since you've been here. That and having an extra horse about the place is going to be rather helpful, so it's a win-win."

I tore my eyes off Jonathan and looked at Juliet who stood beside me without so much as making a noise. I ran my hand down the white marking on the nose and she moved her head a little, almost pressing her nose into my hand for me to keep stroking her. Never did I think that my birthday present would have been a horse, especially since I had gotten on so well with Jigsaw and he would always need exercise.

Still, I welcomed the idea of a new project that would keep me busy once we had finished our work on the treehouse. I knew looking after a horse took a lot of work, especially after my work with Jigsaw, but I was willing to throw myself into it for as long as I would be remaining in the country. Not knowing how long the war would be going on created an issue itself. When the war had finished, I would be returning to the city and I knew I wouldn't be able to take Juliet with me. She'd be mine until I returned home.

"Well, I think this was a good present," Jonathan said, still grinning. "Why don't you go and get her settled into the stables before we head down to the lake. We don't want you to be late for your own birthday celebration."

"Right. I forgot about that."

"Maybe we should have given you the horse this afternoon, after the trip to the lake." Mr Edwards chuckled to himself.

"Sybil, is there something you would like to say?"

"Thank you, Mr Edwards. This is the best present."

"You're welcome, Miss Sybil. I'm sure you and Juliet are going to get on spectacularly. She is a lovely horse." Mr Edwards patted Juliet on the back.

"Go on, off you go, Sybil."

I nodded and clicked my tongue, leading Juliet down a path and towards the stables where Jigsaw and Romeo were housed. As I led Juliet, I couldn't fight the smile from my face.

Best birthday present ever.

~~~

A/N - We are back with Chapter Forty-Seven! I have officially started the sequel so that is now underweigh! I hope you're ready!

Questions!

Do you think Sybil getting a horse is a good thing? What about her moving back to London?

Comment below!

First Published - 2nd February 2022