Chapter 1: Murder has Arrived

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Saddle Club characters or horses. I only own the characters not included with the show/book.

This is also my very first Saddle Club fan fiction, so please, give me some slack.

The roaring of a diesel truck broke the barrier of silence crawling throughout Pine Hollow stables. Pulled behind the truck, is a single horse trailer, covered with a thick black cloth to block out the light of the sun.

Max, the man who runs the stable, stood in the drive way waiting, along with nearly every one of his students behind him, for their new arrival.

The driver stepped out and gave Max a shake of his head. "This one's a monster, Max." The man spoke with an accent that had originated from Ireland.

He felt a bit uncomfortable hearing the word 'monster'. But...his mother wanted to give the gelding a chance. Pine Hollow Stables was all he had left of a chance.

The driver vanished into the shadows of the horse trailer. From outside, the students could hear the sounds of shuffling hooves, a muttering man in pain, and the gelding squealing with rage toward the man inside. Gasps of awe and shock filled the growing group of people as the mysterious gelding was revealed form the depths of the covered trailer.

Max's eyes widened with surprise, he wasn't expecting the gelding to be so big. His eyes moved along every feature the gelding possessed. Solid jet black coat, muscular body, fit for any discipline, -though already trained-, 17.3 hands high, and consisting of the purest of Oldenburg blood. Yet out of every feature along the gelding's appearance, one set of markings stood out the most. Two slash like marks running from the corner of his mouth, to the edges of his cheeks.

His eyes burned with fury, like a raging fire growing throughout dry woods during a drought. He took a brief moment to attempt to pull the lead from the driver's hands while he spoke with Max about his reputation, and his full name. A sudden squeal caught the driver's attention, catching him off guard when the gelding rose his front hooves to the heavens in a rear.

Lisa Atwood stared with curiosity of the gelding's aggression toward other human beings. Many questions popped up into the young teenage girl's mind as she stood with her two other friends. Carole Hanson and Stevie Lake.

Lisa continued to watch the gelding as he fought against both Max, Red, and the driver to get him into the stable and into his own stall. Just as the aggressive gelding was brought into the stable, her cell phone rang. Gazing down at the caller ID, it was her cousin, Karmen, who was moving to the area and would be attending Pine Hollow shortly.

Note: Ok...so not the best chapter. But hey, I'm on cough medicines, and I have been stressed lately. I hope you all like it. I will probably be working on my next chapter tomorrow.