It was fortunate that Penny had been beginning to pull Copper up as she headed into the outskirts of town, slowing the mare's pace before they reached the bustle of the main streets. All the same, she was shocked and appalled to see a woman practically throw herself out of her path. Penny was generally the careful sort but she also quite prone to daydreaming and it seemed she should have been paying more careful attention to the path ahead of her.
Seeing what had happened, she reined Copper in quickly and scrambled off the mare's back, unfortunately lacking much of the grace and ease she prided herself in when she was on her own two feet. Unlike her sister, Penny hadn't spent the majority of her childhood on horseback and though her riding had improved, the dismount was never her strongest point.
"Oh! I'm so terribly sorry!" she exclaimed as she rushed toward the woman's side. "I'm not sure what got into me but I should have been more careful? Are you all right?" If Penny had been paying attention she might have noticed the fine quality of clothing the other woman wore but as it stood, she was too frantic. Besides, Penny wasn't accustomed to running into people of rank in town. Generally, she saw them at formal functions or dances, if at all, not on the side of road, dusting dirt and grass from their skirts.