Chapter 9

Natasha's POV

I sprinted down the hill with a silly smile all over my face. I clutched the golden cymbal plate I had gotten from the mountain man to my chest like it meant my life.

And it did. Oh boy it definitely did. The thing felt like it weighed a ton.

A ton of pure untouched gold. I'd cinched it with my teeth just to be sure I hadn't been scammed.

This was going to fetch enough money to feed us properly for at least two weeks.

“We'll have meat, and berries and milk and a bit of cocoa,” I sang to myself.

I and the kids hadn't had a proper meal in months. And with the ranch on the brink of collapse, all thanks to Penny and her darling father who seemed to be too interested in our ranch.

“But why did he give it so freely?” I wondered, casting a glance at the castle that gleamed in the distance.

I wanted to imagine that he stood there watching me from one of the many windows with those golden eyes.

I