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He was bare chested and only wore his britches, as Seline was laying on his shirt. He had taken it off in a fit a gallantry for her to lay on so the hay would not be so uncomfortable. After that they had lain in the hay and talked for hours. They talked about her sisters’ up coming weddings, they talked about his brother expecting his first child and the constant nagging of his mother for him to court and of the eligible young women in the county. Finally Seline got Will to make up a story for her as a bed time story. It was a wonderful fantasy in which the brave knight goes off to battle to save the kingdom but in the end the fair princess must travel to a distant land to outwit the dragon and she her brave knight who had been captured. Just as Will was finishing the story Seline had fallen asleep.

Will looked at her as she slept. She had won his heart long ago, but he was too afraid to tell her for fear that their wonderful friendship would change and he would loose her forever. He fell asleep to the sound of the her light breathing thinking of how it would be to hold her.

Its early morning of the day before the engagement announcement. Seline Herron wakes early. She has hay stuck in her hair and pieces poking into her back and legs. How could I have fallen asleep like this? She could see the pieces of straw sticking out of one of her long golden locks beside her face. Then she looked to her right and remembered why she fell asleep in the hay loft. William Evans. He lived at the manor not far from here and she had know him since they were small. His light brown hair and fair complexion with feathery eyelashes gave him the look of a sleeping angel. She slowly and gently ran the back of her fingers over his cheek. She could feel the light stubble on his face. A slow grin crossed his face as he sleepily reached up and grabbed her hand. He brought it up to his lips and kissed the back of it, then brought it down and held it against his chest so she could feel the beat of his heart in her palm.

“Good Morning” Will says with a sultry gravely voice. He had that first thing in the morning low growl to his voice. Seline found it to be intoxicating. She closed her eyes and wished for him to say something else just so she could listen to it some more.

“Good Morning Sleepyhead”. Will said again. This time he reached brushed her hair out of her eyes. Seline decided that she could not pretend and rolled over to look at him. This moved her so close to his face that she could feel his breath across her cheeks. Will smiled that lazy grin again that she loved so much. It was warm and cozy in the hay, and as children they had often played in the hay loft of their farms’ barns and taken naps there while the their parents and neighbors worked together to put up the hay for each farm.

Now that they were older, it was no longer acceptable. They still snuck out from time to time in the summer and fall months when there was hay in the barn to spend time in the hayloft talking and telling stories.

Seline smiled and shaded her eyes as a shaft of sunlight fell on her face through one of the cracks in the side of the barn. The sunlight made her hair dance with golden fire light and the dust motes looked like they were sparks. “Good morning” Seline finally returned. Will sat up and said “We both need to go before we are discovered. Arlen will be looking for me soon to help with morning chores. I will have to run and pretend I started without him, or he will suspect something after the last time he caught me coming back late.” Arlen was Will’s younger brother, and he was always diligent about getting chores done on time.

Will knew that if they were caught now it would not be like when they were kids and it was chores and a few whips of the switch. Will’s father was a strict man and he was also a god fearing man. He would be very upset if he knew that his 17 year old son and their 16 year old neighbor were sleeping together in the barn hay loft of her father’s barn.

In their community, either the man makes an honest woman of the young lady involved, or she is put to death.