Free A Princess Prays by Barbara Cartland Page A

and donations from those who could afford it that supported the Monastery.
    She mounted Samson and he nuzzled against her in delight.
    Lamos drove the carriage and Kilkos rode Father Jozsef’s horse and he was tactful enough to keep a little behind Attila, so that she could feel free to enjoy the beauty of the grassland.
    They covered a little more mileage than they had on the way out, stopping only for a very short time for something to eat at midday.
    They were now in a part of the country where there were no houses or any sign of human habitation.
    It was Lamos who, thinking the horses had gone far enough, found a place for them to rest in a beautiful spot with a thick wood on one side of them.
    The grassland with its endless birds and butterflies stretched as far as they could see into a distant horizon and there was a small stream running from the wood which was excellent for the horses.
    When Lamos released them from the shafts of the carriage and took off their harness, they rolled happily in the grassland and galloped off to the stream to drink.
    Samson joined them and Attila knew that he was so well-trained that he would come back if she called him.
    Lamos and Kilkos started to build a fire and Attila appreciated that they had procured enough fresh food from the Monastery for them not to go hungry.
    She sat a little bit away from the fire thinking how beautiful the flames were, rising against the darkness of the trees.
    She wished she had someone to talk to.
    She had so enjoyed the meals she had shared with Father Jozsef as he always had such interesting things to say to her.
    She knew that if she had been with her father there would have been many topics on which they would both have very definite opinions.
    Lamos was cooking something in a saucepan over the fire and from the smell Attila guessed her meal would start with a soup with many different ingredients.
    Lamos, as it happened, was a very good cook and she noticed that Kilkos had been sent to find mushrooms growing in the moss.
    Quite suddenly a man riding very swiftly came out of the wood and headed towards them.
    Attila watched him in surprise because he appeared to be in such a hurry.
    When he reached her, he pulled in his horse and shouted,
    â€œFor God’s sake hide me or I am a dead man .”
    Attila sprang to her feet.
    Almost as if she was being guided, she knew what to do.
    The young man flung himself off his horse.
    Kilkos dropped his mushrooms and ran to Attila as if she had called him.
    â€œTake off his saddle and bridle,” she ordered him.
    And to the young man standing beside her she said,
    â€œCome with me.”
    She ran towards the carriage.
    As he followed her he was looking apprehensively towards the wood which he had just come from.
    â€œThey are right behind me,” he muttered, “and they intend to kill me.”
    Attila did not answer.
    She merely opened the door of the carriage on the side where Father Jozsef had slept.
    As she expected a cassock was hanging by the bed.
    â€œPut this on quickly,” she urged. “Then shave away your moustache and lie down as if you are asleep.”
    The young man did exactly as he was told.
    He put on Father Jozsef’s cassock, pulled the hood over his head and climbed into the carriage.
    Attila closed the door and walked back to the fire.
    She noted that Kilkos had obeyed her instructions and the horse free of its saddle and bridle was trotting away to join the other horses in the stream.
    She sat down where she had been sitting earlier.
    She thought that this was the most extraordinary experience that had ever happened to her.
    Then out of the wood in the same place where the young man had appeared came four men on horseback.
    The leader galloped up to her.
    As she looked up at him, he called at her sharply in a language she only just understood,
    â€œA man came this way, where is he?”
    Attila thought that he had an unpleasant face, although he was