“Goldilocks? Does she live here? Where are the bears?” She giggled.
“That’s really funny,” he answered. Even with a scowl on his face, he looked good.
Aspen jerked back as a loud quack split the silence around her. She stared in amazement as an overweight white goose waddled toward her. It had a gold beak and the longest black eyelashes she’d ever seen on a bird. Wait, did birds have eyelashes? A bright blue bow was fastened around the bird’s neck.
“Careful, she likes to nip people,” he warned.
“She’s so beautiful. What a gorgeous goose.”
The goose seemed to understand her and stuck its chest out. If she didn’t know any better, she’d have thought that the goose smiled.
Kneeling on the ground, Aspen opened her arms. The goose waddled straight into them and waggled a short feathery tail like an excited puppy. Soft feathers tickled her face as she stroked the goose’s long neck soothingly.
“You are the prettiest bird I’ve ever seen, yes you are.” The tone she used was normally reserved for babies and small animals, and the goose waggled its tail even harder.
“Huh, you wouldn’t say that if you knew her better.”
“How long have you had her?”
“Not long, she’s still a baby. My dad is friends with the Firestones, and they let us have one of their chicks. Trust me, she’s going to be huge one day!”
Goldilocks pulled back and glared at him. Without warning she chased him, and her gold beak snapped in the air.
“Whoa, Gold, I didn’t mean that.” Dylan laughed and dodged the suddenly aggressive bird. He led her in a circle and then dashed toward Aspen, pulled her behind the fence, and shut the gate. The goose was locked outside.
“You can’t leave her there. She’ll get lost.”
“Goldilocks will never get lost. Just rattle her pellet bowl and she’ll find her way home,” he teased as the bird snapped her beak at him and quacked in displeasure.
“It’s okay, Gold, I’m just going to get some pellets inside the house and then we’ll visit the lake so that you can eat.”
The big goose seemed to calm down once he’d spoken but she remained at the gate, wiggling her tail vigorously. Opening the front door, he allowed Aspen to enter the house.
A small fire glowed in the hearth. Aspen looked around in admiration at the comfortable sofa and wooden floors that gleamed. A shaggy rug lay under a wooden coffee table. It was warm and inviting inside, and so different from her home.
The dream had lasted for a while now, and she really didn’t want it to end.
“My parents aren’t here, but our housekeeper is in the kitchen. I have to let her know that we’re taking Gold for a walk.” Dylan left her in the living room for a moment and then reappeared with a short, matronly woman in tow.
Wisps of blond hair stuck out from beneath the hair net around her head, and her apron was smeared with flour and dough.
“Aspen, this is Molly, our housekeeper.”
The older woman smiled shyly behind Dylan’s back. “Welcome, miss, it’s so nice to meet you. We’ve been waiting to see you for such a long time.” Rubbing her hands clean on the apron, she bowed slightly.
Aspen looked at Dylan in confusion. Why would his housekeeper be bowing to her? The woman’s accent was odd as well. She couldn’t quite place it.
It’s a dream, it’s a dream, she repeated to herself, then said with a smile, “It’s good to meet you too.”
“We’re taking Gold to the lake, but we won’t be long. Tell my dad I’ll be back soon.”
“That’ll be good, sir. I’ll be sure to let him know. Good day, miss.” Molly winked at Aspen and walked back into the kitchen.
Dylan grabbed a plastic container from a stand near the door and shook it. Goldilocks quacked enthusiastically outside.
“Let’s get going. We don’t have much time left.”
The big bird waggled her tail madly, and Aspen wondered if she would fall over. Dylan opened the container and began dropping pellets on the white stone path behind him, much like a fairy-tale trail of gingerbread crumbs. Goldilocks dipped her head and gobbled up each one excitedly.
They walked for a short distance until the murmur of a brook up ahead could be heard. Aspen shuddered when she thought of the spiders in her dream the night before.
“What’s wrong? It looks like something’s spooked you,” Dylan said.
“I had a bad dream about a river last night. I don’t want to go anywhere near water.”
“Don’t worry. We’re not going down to the willow trees. The brook leads into a lake up ahead. Goldilocks loves eating grass next to the water.”
She looked at the goose as it shuffled its fat body in eager anticipation beside them, and sighed.
“I suppose it’s all right. She does look excited.”