Beth was a small town girl; she'd grown up with a strong passion for horses, riding any chance she got, and ditching parties for horse shows. Beth never had a boyfriend before, she thought horses were all she needed; she found a happiness in them that was hard to explain. When she finally had the opportunity to buy a farm of her own and leave that small drag of a town at 20 years old, she jumped on it.
Beth squealed with joy as the realtor handed her the title. "Finally a place of my own! I can't wait to bring the horses here." She'd been boarding her horses at a stable half hour out of town, and was giddy at the thought they'd be right outside her back door in no time. On top of the long drive out there whenever she wanted to go riding, she hated the barn drama that accompanied keeping her horses there. Beth was never one for drama; she wanted to ride and that was it. She was even growing out of the 'showing' part of horses, as she didn't like the competitiveness that came with it. Her real joy was throwing a saddle on one of her horses and hitting the forest for an adventure. She'd come back with many things on her adventures, antler sheds, deer skulls, one time she even found an antique tobacco container. She displayed them all in her room, and soon they'd decorate her quaint little farm house.
The house on the farm was an older model, tiny, white, square, two story building. The realtor said it had been built in 1934. It was nice; exactly what Beth had always dreamed of. The house was perfect for a single person, yet big enough to eventually house a small family. The yard was beautiful; it had 4 separate paddocks, along with a twenty-acre pasture, a big barn, a smaller animal shelter, and a big empty quonset, she imagined it used to store equipment. She envisioned turning that into a riding arena someday.
The realtor, a tall, slim, brown haired man, said his final goodbyes and wished her luck, then proceeded to his black BMW and skidded his tires a bit before heading down her long driveway and leaving the country-side. Even though Beth had seen the house multiple times, she couldn't wait to be in there on her own and have a look at it again.
She ran into the house, and checked out every room again. As you entered the main door, you came into a cute, small porch, already furnished with a washer and dryer, that had a small bathroom attached to it containing a small shower, toilet and sink. Turning to your left you entered the kitchen, it was cute, with wooden counters and cupboards. There were porch doors in the kitchen by a wooden dining table, and to the right you entered the living room, the floor had just been redone and was a dark brown hardwood. Straight from the living room the stairs led upstairs, in which there were 3 bedrooms, and a small bathroom containing the smallest bathtub Beth had ever seen, a sink and toilet. She had already picked out which bedroom would be hers, and decided she'd use the other rooms for storage.
Beth realized she should have brought some of her stuff with her, at least a change of clothes, as she would have loved to stay in her new place already, but she had forgotten so she would go back to her parents place tonight, and load up her truck in the morning and bring some stuff out to the farm.
Her dad, Hershel, and stepmother, Patricia lived in a quiet little town just twenty minutes from where she'd bought the farm. Beth had never been one for socializing or going out much anyways, so she'd spent most of her childhood at the stables riding horses. Her dad Hershel was a veterinarian so he was at the stables a lot too, probably what drew her into horses in the first place. Hershel was a man of fair age, he was closing in on 70, and nearing his retirement, though he still worked at the vet clinic three days a week. Beth urged him to retire, but in most ways she knew he loved doing what he did. Helping animals was his passion, if he stopped he'd most likely go into a depression or not know what to do with his life and dwindle away.
Beth's stepmother, Patricia, was a nice younger lady, around forty-five. Patricia had been working as a cleaner at the stable Beth had been riding at, when her dog got kicked by a horse. Hershel had been there with Beth and assisted Patricia in keeping Lucky alive, took him to the vet clinic and saved his life. From there on the two clicked and they married four months later. Beth was only about six then, she thought of Patricia as her own mother now. Her real mother had committed suicide when she was three, Hershel found her laying on the bathroom floor with her wrists slit by the glass of a smashed mirror. Neither Beth nor Hershel had any real ideas on what would cause a woman to end her life so suddenly. In Hershel's eyes she was a happy lady, and had all she could ask for.
Beth locked her little house up, got in her truck and started the drive to town. She couldn't wait to go to the stable, load her horses up and bring them out here, she planned to do it tomorrow if she had time, but it might have to wait until the next day, she thought. She was tired when she finally seen the lights of town approaching, the twenty minute drive seemed longer today.
Beth parked on the street, as not to block her parents vehicles in the driveway. She hopped out of her truck and slammed the door without even bothering to lock the doors, she never did. She walked up the driveway and entered the house, the smell of roasted chicken in the air, mixed with some sort of berry pie. 'Just in time!' She thought, and laughed. Beth loved Patricia's cooking.
"Hi daddy." Beth said when she seen Hershel.
"Hi honey, how did it go today?" He asked.
Beth reached into her purse and grabbed the deed to the house and a set of keys, squealed and jumped up and down. "I'm so proud of you honey, I knew you'd get it!" Hershel smiled, and Beth ran over to hug him.
"That's great Beth!" Patricia chimed in as she set a large, steaming chicken onto the table. She then went back to the kitchen and placed a pie into the oven.
"I seriously cannot wait to get the horses out there! The yard is fantastic, they are gonna love it! So much open space to run, and the forest! There's so many places to ride!" Beth went on and on.
After the three of them had a delicious three course meal, Beth said her goodnights and went into her room. She looked around and thought, 'this is it, after tomorrow, this is no longer my room'. She was sad and happy all at once, and laughed at the idea of her parents adopting a child to replace her, then began stuffing her clothing into boxes. She put all her trail treasures, her antlers, the tobacco can, into a big box and marked that for her living room. She was going to display these items.
The next morning Beth's alarm rang at 6am just when she set it for, she got up and threw on some dirty jeans and decided she would go pick up her horses today. If she was moving in, so were they.
"Do you need any help at the stable, Bethy?" Hershel asked sweetly.
"Oh no daddy, I'll be fine. Sasha will be there to help me if I need." She smiled. Sasha was the stable manager, and one of Beth's best friends.
"Okay hun, call if you need me, you know I'll be there." He assured her.
"I will, daddy!" Beth said as she hauled one of her boxes out to her truck. She couldn't take as much stuff out to the farm as she wanted, cause her horse trailer would take up most of the room in her box, but she didn't care.
Once she decided her truck was full enough, she said goodbye to her parents and hopped up into the cab of her big Ford truck, and proceeded in the direction of the stable. The drive there seemed long as well, as she was anxious to load her babies and bring them out to the farm.
When she finally arrived, Sasha was out front lunging a horse, and waved to Beth. Beth backed into her horse trailer and began hooking it up. Just as she was jacking it down Sasha wandered with a sad look on her face.
"I can't believe you're leaving," she pouted, "you've been here for so long, we're practically family."
"I know, and I'm gonna miss you all so much, but it's not like I'm gonna be very far away, we'll still go riding together! Maybe I'll ride over, haha." Beth laughed.
"Now that would be a trek, what is it, like a 45 minute drive?!" Sasha chuckled.
"You'll see!" Beth stuck her tongue out and grabbed her halters out of her trailers tack room. "I'm gonna go catch my boys.. and girl! I'll catch you before I leave!" She headed towards the pasture. Her horses had a pasture to themselves, seeing as she kept four of them there.
As Beth entered the pasture and closed the gate behind her, she whistled and all four heads popped up and looked in her direction. A couple moments thinking and they all trotted over to her, looking for their treat. "I don't have any oats for you guys today," She told them. "we have a new home, I'm taking you guys there today, you'll love it!" She smiled.
Beth haltered her four gentle beasts and led them all at once to her trailer, and loaded them with ease. She was latching the trailer door when Sasha yelled at her from the barn. "C'mere!"
Beth strolled over to the barn to meet Sasha. "I told you I wouldn't leave without saying goodbye." She rolled her eyes. "Who's this handsome man?!" She noticed the tall, bay horse Sasha was holding.
"Newest client horse, I have him for three months, he's a hunter." She winked. "Perfecting his jumps, and exposing him to new obstacles and territory. Ugh, I love him, isn't he a hunk?" Sasha gawked.
"He sure is a beauty, but I'll stick to my chunky quarter horses." Beth chuckled. "Well, I guess I'm off. Can't wait to turn my beauties out into their new pasture!"
"Can I come visit soon?" Sasha asked.
"Of course, drop by anytime! We've got some forest exploring to do!" Beth answered as she turned to make her way to her truck.
"See ya chicky!" Sasha said a final farewell.
Beth hopped into her truck and tuned the radio to her favourite country station, then proceeded out the stables gates. She made the fair drive to her new home, and parked near the pasture gate, then began unloading her horses and letting them into the pasture one by one.
First, was her little cutting horse, Lena, he was three years old and Beth had had him since birth and done all his training. He was a red dun quarter horse with a big white face and white patch on his belly, along with two white back stockings.
Second, her grey gelding Silver, he had been used for roping and cutting in a previous part of his life, but she enjoyed using him as a good trail horse now.
Third, her big Arabian gelding Jinx, he was her main using horse, he was four years old and she was started to use him full time; so much she felt she was neglecting the other horses. She let them out to run in the pasture and decided to tie the last one to her trailer; her mare and the mother of Lena, Panda. She was a nice sized quarter horse, Beth used for everything; cutting, roping, trail riding. They were going for a ride.
Beth saddled up Panda, and noticed she had forgotten her bridles at the stables, so she decided to just ride in a halter, she'd done it before. Beth mounted her trusty steed and headed west, toward the forest!
There was a little trail in the bush, that had once been nicely worn down but now the bush was overgrowing in it and the grass was growing tall. Beth stuck to that trail, always on guard for branches smacking her in the face. Panda was getting a little excited, being so far away from the other horses.
"It's okay girl, we'll be back there soon, then I promise you can run around the pasture with your buddies." Beth spoke to her horse.
They reached a clearing in the bush and Beth saw the opportunity to burn some steam off of Panda, she clucked and galloped her on! They ran through a large meadow, Panda giving it all she had, the wind streaming through Beth's hair until they reached some more bush and Beth slowed her down, this time the path even smaller than before. Beth decided to try it, she was out here to explore, not chicken out.
They rode down the turkey trail of a path slowly, Panda sure-footedly avoiding fallen trees and branches. Pretty soon the path dwindled down to nothing more than the crowded trees of the forest itself, and the pair were weaving themselves in and out, trying to find a path or clearing.
Beth guessed they'd been bush crawling for about thirty minutes now, and was beginning to think the forest went on forever, and debated turning around. 'Ten more minutes.' She thought. 'We'll make it through this!' Beth thought once she made it out of the forest, she'd find a road and the ride home would be easy.
They were approaching a small, fast running creek when a twinkle of light caught Beth's attention in the water. Fascinated, she dismounted and looped Panda's reins around a tree branch, and proceeded down to the stream to see what her mystery object was. She had to walk into the water, filling her cowboy boots up in the process, only to discover her mystery object was nothing but a piece of a plastic wrapper. "God damn litter!" Beth cursed. She continued looking into the stream to see if anything else would catch her eye.
Panda was getting impatient and pawing at the ground. "Settle down, girl, I'll be right there." She assured her horse. Beth walked down the stream, carefully eyeing the water. The mare reared up, knocking her reins off the branch in the process, and bolted back in the direction they came. "WOAH GIRL!" Beth yelled, but to no avail. The mare kept running, desperate to get back to her herd mates.
"Well this is just great, you stupid horse! How am I supposed to get home now?!" Beth yelled, and as her horse disappeared out of sight, she realized how completely alone she was, in the middle of the forest, just her and whatever creatures lurked here. Her brain sparked and she pulled out her cell phone, just as she was about to dial her pa's number, the light went out and her phone died. "Are you kidding me? What else can go wrong?" She moaned.
Rudderless and with no other options, she proceeded to walk in the direction her horse ran off in, hoping she could retrace their steps back home. Beth had been walking for what she assumed was half an hour, and nothing looked familiar. She couldn't find any hoof prints, or other clues that this was the right direction. She kept going in hopes she would find her way anyway.
The sun was beginning to set and Beth began to worry she wasn't going to find her way home before dark. She approached a large tree and decided it would be worth a shot to climb it and see if she could see anything familiar, or better yet, her house. Beth jumped up to reach the first branch, barely making it, she swung herself up to get to the next branch. Now she was in the tree, about ten feet off the ground. She kept climbing, until she was as high as she could get. Beth poked her head above the branches, only to see nothing but surrounding forest in all directions.
'Well, I'm officially lost. I'm going to die out in the woods, hungry and alone'. Her stomach growled at that thought.
Beth decided she would be safer up in the tree overnight, unless, of course, a bear decided to climb it and eat her. She sat on a large branch, hung her head and tears began to form in her eyes.
"Stupid, stupid stupid. Why would I go for a ride by myself the very first day?! How stupid can I be?" Beth asked herself and sobbed. She heard a rustle in the bush, and prepared for a black bear to climb up the tree and devour her. As it got closer she looked down only to see a man, with long brown hair, carrying some sort of bow on his back, with squirrels hanging from a string tied to him walking at a steady pace.
The man was just walking under her tree when she yelled, "HEY!" Beth cursed her quick actions before thinking about the consequences. What if he was some sort of serial killer?! The mystery man squinted and looked around, finally shifting his gaze to her sitting up in the tree.
Beth was still, for a moment hoping he didn't see her, but at the same time hoping he was there to rescue her. 'Oh ya they sent some deranged hillbilly hunter to rescue me?!' She laughed at the thought.
"Why are ya' in a tree?" The man sounded very confused, not even sure he was seeing this right. "Do ya' need help?"
Beth was silent.
"My boyfriend is on his way, I thought you might have been him." She said, stuck on the idea this man was a murderer.
"Okay." The man said with a rough voice and continued walking in the direction he was originally headed.
"Wait!" Beth yelled, as he was almost out of yelling distance. She decided she had to take the chance.
The strange man stopped and turned around, "ya?"
"I do need help, I'm lost." Beth admitted.
"Why didn' ya' say so?" He asked in a husky voice, turning around to walk in her direction. When he got to the tree he took his bow off his back and untied the squirrels from his side. "Can ya' get down?"
"Yeah I can." Beth started to descend the tree, still unsure whether it was a good idea to be lost in the woods with a strange man. She neared the bottom and struggled with the last branch, hanging three feet from the ground, she felt the wind blowing on her midriff as her shirt bunched, finally plopping to the ground, landing on her knees.
"Are ya' okay?" The man said without stepping closer to her.
"I'm fine," Beth said, standing up and dusting off her pants. "I'm Beth, you?" She quirked an eyebrow.
"Daryl," He said in his husky voice, then added, "Dixon."
Beth had heard about the Dixon boys, though she had never seen or met them in person. Suddenly she had a bad feeling in her stomach, thinking of all the stories she'd heard about the Dixons. According to some people, the dad overdosed on alcohol and died in front of his two boys in their trailer, and she'd heard one of the brothers was currently in jail for theft and drug dealing. Everyone in the area said the Dixons were no good trouble makers and gave the town a bad name. Beth had never even seen a Dixon before, nor knew where they lived, so she just passed off the stories as fictional rumours.
Daryl grabbed his stuff and began walking in the direction he was originally headed without saying another word to Beth. She hesitantly followed him.
"Where are we going?" Beth asked.
"M'cabin," Daryl said, "got any other suggestions?"
"Well how am I getting home!?" Beth panicked
"M'cabin is the closest place, unless you wan' ta' bypass it and walk ta' your house?"
Still unsure of what to do, Beth just quietly followed along. They walked for about 15 minutes, and it was getting eerily dark when they reached a little wooden shack Beth would hardly call a 'cabin'.
"This is your cabin?" Beth crooked an eyebrow.
Daryl ignored her and went inside, Beth stayed outside waiting still waiting for him to be some kind of psycho murderer. He came out seconds later lacking his crossbow and the squirrels that were hanging from his side. 'Oh great, he's got a gun.' Beth had strange thoughts running through her head. But the strange man proceeded over to a motorbike without even glancing at Beth.
Daryl began fidgeting with things on the bike, he'd try to start it, then adjust some more stuff, and try again. After a few failed attempts, the bike finally fired up. Daryl made one final adjustment and then went and sat on the step.
"What are you doing?" Beth asked him.
"Gotta wait for it ta' warm up, or it'll die out again." Daryl mumbled.
Beth didn't want to believe it, she didn't even want to think it, but she knew she was going to have to ride on that bike with this strange man she had just met in the woods if she wanted to get home.
Daryl butted his cigarette out on the step, walked over to the bike and straddled it. He revved it up for a second then looked over at Beth. "Do you want a ride home or not?"
Beth frowned, bit her lip and hesitantly walked over to Daryl and the bike, then awkwardly straddled it behind him. "What do I hang on to?" She asked.
"You'll figure it out" Daryl mumbled, then revved the bike and skidded off.
Almost launching off the back of the bike, Beth flung her arms around Daryl's waist, embracing his black leather vest that sported angel wings. "I'm sorry." She spat out, releasing her tight grip. She thought she heard something in reply but couldn't make it out, so she just stayed quiet, with her barely-there grip on his vest.
Finally, they approached the highway after twisting and turning through trails in the forest, and Daryl asked Beth which way to go.
"I think it's that way." Beth pointed to the left, but Daryl turned right, sending her stomach twisting in knots.
Now, Beth was certain. This strange Dixon boy was taking her off somewhere to have his way with her and then murder her, or worse, keep her locked in a room as a prisoner for the rest of eternity. Why else would he turn the opposite way?
"Where are you taking me?!" Beth exclaimed.