I ran from the house, tears streaming down my face, feeling more upset than I ever had before. What if- No, I told myself. Don't think about it. I ran to my horse's stall, took him out and jumped on bareback and bridle less before galloping away. I was too upset to think about how dangerous this could be. I pushed my horse, Storm, on and we ran and ran, for how long, I don't know, until I could finally bring myself to think about it. She's gone. My best friend, gone. Sure, she's still alive and we're under the same sun and all that, but she doesn't live next to me anymore. I can just jump on my horse and ride over. I'd have to get on a plane and go to San Francisco if I wanted to see her. Even then, she probably wouldn't want to see me anyway. Not after what I did to her. She almost died because of me. I almost killed my best friend. What if she never comes back? What if something goes wrong and she dies while she's in San Francisco and I won't get to say good-bye? Or what if she does come back, but she wants nothing to do with me? I'm lost without her.
This thought hits me hard, but I realize it's true. I'm a quiet person, and I don't say much or have very many close friends. But Sam, she always talked enough for the both of us, and she always seemed to be able to read my mind. Sure, she got annoying, but she's my best friend. We grew up together. My first memory is holding her when she's a baby. Then and there I make up my mind. I'm going to become a buckaroo. I'm going to the best I can with horses, I won't talk unless I have something important to say, I'll be an expert at roping, and I'll never take a car if I can ride a horse.
Two Weeks Later
"Jake, Quinn, come here. I want to talk to you." I hear my father call for me and my brother. That's rarely a good thing. As Quinn and I go up to my father, I'm relieved to see that he doesn't look mad. "I have a friend that works with Animal Control, and they just brought in two horses that have been abused. You two are the only ones on the ranch without their own horses, so I thought we could go look at the horses if you would be interested. They've been abused though, so this would be a big project." I was getting more excited by the second. My own horse. I'd wanted my own horse for a long time, one that belonged to me, not the ranch. Quinn and I nodded excitedly and my father said, "Okay, we'll go look at them on Saturday. Be ready at 7:00 in the morning."
On Saturday morning, I woke up early. I was so excited at the idea of getting my own horse. Maybe, it'll help take my mind off of Sam, I thought. Of course, I could never forget Sam, but hopefully the horse will help take away the pain. On the way to the Animal Control stables, Quinn talked nonstop. What color are the horses? Do they have names? How old are they? My dad didn't know much, just that they were young Quarter Horses, and that they were siblings. When we finally arrived, I hopped out of the truck and looked around. There were a few pastures that held horses. "Luke," a man came towards up. "I'm glad you could make it. Are these your kids?" "Yeah. Quinn, Jake, this is my friend Michael. He's the one who found the horses." Quinn and I both said hello and shook Michael's hand. "Well, come on over here and I'll show you the horses." He led us over to a pasture where two horses were grazing. One was a dark bay gelding, and the other one was a stunning black filly. "The gelding's four and the filly's three. The filly was beaten a lot more than the gelding, and she's can be pretty aggressive. You'll need to be careful when handling her." "I want her," I heard myself say. "Are you sure Jake," my father said. "She sounds like she'll need a lot of patients." I nodded. There was something about the black filly. She seemed… vulnerable. Like she wanted a friend, someone to trust. "That okay with you Quinn," my father asked. "Totally. I don't want the filly. She sounds crazy. Besides, I already know what I'm gonna name my horse. Chocolate Chip. Because that's what his color reminds me of." "Alright then. Let's load them into the trailer," Michael said. He gave us each a halter and opened the gate for us to go catch our horses. As Quinn and I walked into the pasture, both horses looked up. Chocolate Chip came wandering over while the black filly pinned her ears and walked away. Quinn easily got the halter on his horse and began to walk from the pasture. Seeing her brother leave, the filly started after him, but I got the lead rope around her neck and the halter on before she could get away. As I started to walk towards the gate, she resisted at first, but then walked on, even though she was more prancing than waking quietly. It took a while to load them, but they eventually went in. On the way home, I thought about what I could name my filly, but I couldn't come up with the perfect name. Charcoal, Onyx, Thundercloud, nothing seemed to fit. When we got home, Quinn and I put our horses in a pasture together then leaned against the fence watching them. Our brothers came out to see our new horses. "They're nice looking animals," said Adam. "Yeah," said Nate, as he leaned over the pet my filly. Before I could tell him not to though, she bit him. "Ow!" he yelled. "What a Bi- I mean Witch," he said. "That's it," I cried. "What's it?" asked Bryan. "Her name. I'll call her Witch." "Well it certainly suits her," said Nate.
As the weeks went by, I spent a lot of time with Witch. While she could definitely be challenging, she was beginning to trust me more and more. I still missed Sam more than ever, but it was nice to have a friend, even if that friend was a horse. Witch was very stubborn, which reminded me a lot of Sam. I also learned that Witch was very fast. It was nice to win when I raced with my brothers. The only horse that could sometimes beat us was Chip. When school started, I spent all my time doing my work so I could go spend time with Witch. One day, I was out riding when I ran into Wyatt, Sam's dad. "That's a nice looking horse you got there Jake. Your dad told me how well you' doing with her training. I was wondering if you'd like to come work for me by training horses." I was stunned for a second. I wanted to work for Wyatt, but at the same time, I haven't been to River Bend since Sam- I didn't want to think about it. "Let me think about it and I'll get back to you," I said. He nodded, then turned his horse and rode off.
