Spoiler! :
Chapter 1
The Whispering Past
Wild horses neighed, hooves pounded the earth, dust flamed into the air... then nothing...
“Kate!” Said my friend, Crystal
I looked at her, shaking myself from my daydream.
“You should start mucking some more stalls off if you want to still go for that ride.”
“Yeah... sorry,” I replied, moving the pitchfork and wheelbarrow to the next stall down,“you know you could help.” I grinned at her, then pointed to the other pitchfork down the stall way.
She made a face then grudgingly walked over, grabbed the fork and started to shovel into my wheelbarrow.
Let's start things off. I live in Lexington, Kentucky with my parents and my little brother Jimmy on a thoroughbred acreage.
We breed thoroughbreds kind of as a hobby.
About the daydreaming, I used to watch wild horses when we lived in the city, and I had been thinking about them a lot.
The mustangs had just vanished, gone forever. They had gotten so close, I could smell hot horse and could almost feel there hearts beating with every step they took.
As I remembered, my mind gave me a snapshot of the mustangs – head up high, nostrils flared, muscles tense with fear of a human being near.
I breathed in deeply, trying to stop thinking about those horses.
“Well that's the last of it,” I said, wheeling the wheelbarrow out to the manure pile.
“Finally!” Crystal said, tossing the pitchfork on the ground.
“Crystal,” I scolded, laughing.
“I'm getting Ti,” She said, running off.
I dumped the manure off, then raced to catch up.
---
“You know, you've been pretty distracted lately,” Crystal said as we rode along the trail.
“Yeah... just thinking about some stuff,” I said.
“Like?” She asked, smiling.
“I don't know... I guess -” I stopped. This was the place where I first saw the mustangs. “uh... let's head back, okay?”
“But I thought you were enjoying-”
“Let's go, alright?” I said, then turned Moonlight around.
---
I walked into my bedroom and flopped on my bed. Everything was rushing in too fast.
I turned my head to the side and stared into the closet.
“The photograph!” I muttered to myself.
When I went out to watch the mustangs, I used to take pictures of them... and got one printed as a permanent reminder.
I got up and sorted through my boxes of junk, and finally found it.
The mustangs were peacefully grazing on the lush field of grass when I captured the photo.
I didn't understand why the mustangs kept popping into every corner in my life – literally.
I walked out of my room to tack up Moonlight for a ride to try and clear my head.
---
As I cantered along the trail, heading towards the valley, the wind was whipping at Moonlight's and my face, almost daring me to keep on going.
When we reached the valley, I pulled Moon to a stop then looked into the distance.
“They have to be here somewhere, hey boy?” I leaned over his neck and hugged him.
I sat back up then clucked him on.
---
I sighed. Even after an hour of riding there was no sign of them.
“Let's head back, Moonlight,” I told him, then rubbed his neck.
As I was riding back, I heard yelling. I turned a hard right and headed towards the noise.
When we got closer, Moon pinned his ear back at the riders in the distance, then snorted and halted.
“Moon, come on! We have to get over there!”
I looked closer and then saw that they were chasing some wild horses.
“Come on, Moon, we've got to go!” I urged him forward and tapped him with the reins.
He swished his tail then took off into a fast canter.
I looked at the horses, and there was probably around seven of them. One was a dark dappled bay with a white tail, another was a draft, and some others I couldn't quite make out in the mad rush.
The riders spotted me then stopped the chase.
I trotted up to them. “Hey... uh... what are you doing?” I asked with a puzzled face.
“These are our horses that got loose,” said the one man with the dirty white t-shirt.
“Well... I've seen those horses before, around two years ago.”
“Yeah, they've gotten out around that time too, but we've fixed the fence twice since then,” Said the other man with the blue t-shirt.
“Uh huh,” I said, unconvinced.
“You should be getting back to wherever you're from because this is my property, so...”
“Yeah, I'll be heading back.” I replied, then cantered off.
---
After dinner, I walked up to my room to look at the photo.
I scrambled through my things and found it. I grabbed onto it like it was a piece of gold.
I searched through the horses and found them.
The draft and the white-tailed bay were exactly the same as the ones that I saw today.
I felt sick. I had to set those mustangs free.
First thing in the morning, I would ride out to find the mustangs.
---
I slipped a halter and reins on Moon, then saddled him up. When I lead him out of the barn the morning chill bite at me. I mounted up, then trotted down the trail.
I rode to where I saw the mustangs yesterday, then followed to hoof prints to where I saw a fence.
I continued riding along the fence, then I found a barn in the fenced area. I dismounted and wrapped Moon's reins on the fence post.
“I'll be right back,” I whispered to Moon.
I held the barb wire open and crawled through the fence.
The old and creaky barn had no paint left on it, and I could almost sense the fear of the horses inside.
I quickly ran to the barn, then quietly snuck inside.
The barn was lit up by the cracks in the roof, the horses were pawing at the stall doors, and it smelled like the barn hadn't been cleaned in ages.
I looked into a stall. The black horse's muscles twitched and he was wide eyed, fearing me.
“Shh... It's okay,” I said quietly.
He got spooked and ran into the side of the stall.
I backed off then walked down the stall way.
I got to the end of the barn, then saw the the tack room. It was empty, all except a folder.
I looked around me, then opened it.
It was the papers for the horses that the man had bought.
So they were his horses. I sighed.
One of the horses started to whinny to Moon.
Then I heard footsteps.
My heart skipped a beat, then I raced over to her and covered her mouth.
“Shh! Quiet, girl!” I whispered.
Someone was walking towards the barn.
I panicked, then raced out the opposite side of the barn.
I hid behind the rickety door while I eavesdropped on the man,
The horses starting to paw the ground, nervousness in the air.
Moon! I whispered to myself in my thoughts.
If he whinnied, we'd be instantly be discovered.
I jogged over to Moon quietly, untied him, then mounted up.
There had to be a way to save those horses.
---
As I trotted back up to our barn, Crystal was rolling in on her bicycle.
“Hey!” She called at me.
“Hi,” I stopped Moon, then dismounted.
“Do you want to go for a ride with me and Ti?”
“Uh, well,” I said as I lead Moon into the barn, “I just came back from a pretty long ride, but I have to exercise some of the horses, so you could ride in the arena with me I suppose.”
“Sure!” Crystal said with a big grin on her face.
---
Crystal rode Ti, and I rode the frisky Neon.
“Let's race to the other end!” Crystal said.
I clucked Neon forward into a trot, then squeezed and kissed her into a canter.
The cool autumn breeze flew by us as we cantered softly in the arena, and everything felt perfect.
Friends, horses, riding, amazing weather? What else could there be?
Then, in an instant, I saw the white-tailed bay mare in the distance. The two men were chasing after her, around 5 horses' lengths behind.
She was galloping towards me, and the faster she went, the faster my heart pounded.
Her hooves struck the ground like thunder, her eyes were full of fear and worry, then she reached the arena fence.
In one soaring leap, she flew over the four and a half foot fence.
Crystal screamed.
I rode over to the arena gate where there was a lead rope, leaned over, grabbed it, then tried to trap the mare in a corner.
“Crystal, we'll get her into that far left corner of the arena, then we'll get this lead rope on her!” I yelled over to Crystal.
“Okay!” She replied.
Even though she obeyed, I could tell she was nervous around this wild horse.
The bay mare was panicking, breathing heavily and sweating from fear.
She started trotting up and down the fencing, pacing and trying to find a way out.
The two men finally caught up with the mare, and got up to the arena fence.
One man was riding a black horse, the same one that spooked at my voice in the barn, and the other man was riding the draft that I saw the first day.
“Hey, that's our horse, so we'll be rounding her up,” said the man on the black horse.
“Well you've been doing a great job,” I replied sarcastically, “This same horse has been getting out for two years, over and over again. You'd think you finally figure out why she's getting out.”
“Well, we found that the fence was broken down again,” said the man on the draft.
“We'll leave you to it,” I said, rolling my eyes.
They would never catch her.
“Come on Crystal, let's get out of the arena for these two guys to round the horse up,” I said.
Crystal nodded, and followed me silently.
I dismounted, then went to go find my dad, who was working with a colt in the round pen.
“Hey, dad, do you want to come here for a sec?” I said, leaning over the tall fence.
“Sure, what is it?” He asked, slipping the halter off of the colt.
“Just come here,” I said, smiling.
I lead him to the arena, where the two men were chasing the mare around like maniacs.
“Who are these guys?”
“Don't know... they're horse just got loose and came into our arena,” I said.
“Maybe we should help them out,” He said.
“They don't want help.”
“Stubborn farmers,” Dad said, watching them.
The wild horse was becoming cornered by the two riders.
She panicked and was rubbing her chest against the white fence, then she made a run for it.
She bolted through the riders, knocking them off balance and sending the two horses in defense mode.
The one man threw the lead rope on the ground.
“We'll come back tomorrow to get her,” He said.
“Dad, go talk to them.” I said, nodding my head in their direction.
He smiled, then walked over to the riders
So that's all for now... let me know what you think of it! I love constructive criticism!
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