Ace pulled to a sudden stop, sending Sam flying from the saddle. She landed with a heavy thud, she groaned at the impact. Ace galloped off, leaving Sam alone on her own in the Nevadan Desert. Mumbling to herself about Ace's loyalty to her, she checked over her injuries. Besides a bruised ego and a sore knee, she stood; checking to make sure her knee could take her weight. It hurt a little bit but it took her weight; she brushed her jeans off as she began to walk the long way home. It was late in the afternoon and the sun was starting to get low in the sky.
As she was walking, she began to complain to no one in particular about the pain in her knee. It had changed from bearable to excruciatingly painful in the matter of 20 minutes. Her knee gave out and she sobbed softly, it hurt a lot. Sitting on her sore butt, Sam rolled up the leg of her pants carefully, trying to avoid any more disturbances to the knee. Sam gasped at the sight of her knee, it was completely black and had a deep graze; as a complete matter of curiosity, she poked it lightly, it was swollen like a balloon. Sam looked around the desert, her eyes slightly blurry from the tears. She prayed that someone or something was out there that could help her. She began to loose hope as she sat on the cold ground, suddenly; a silver shape came out of the setting sun and galloped towards her.
Sam sighed in relief that it was Blackie without his herd. At least someone knew she was out there and was willing to help her. The great silver stallion pulled to a stop a few metres in front of the sitting girl.
"Zanzibar…" Sam said as her eyes lit up, she raised her hand to beckon him forward. The stallion stepped forward eagerly and put his muzzle into her palm.
"Aren't you a good boy?" She cooed to the stallion, he blew into her palm as a response. She scratched the special spot under his chin and smiled softly as the great, mighty, strong and egotistical stallion began to nod off at the ministrations of his old owner. Sam giggled as she watched the horse's eyes close slowly.
She stopped scratching him; he opened his eyes instantly and looked into hers. The deep dark pools suddenly reminded Sam of Jake's. Tears sprung into her eyes, the stallion nudged her lightly as if to comfort her; he saw the pain she had in her eyes.
Sam wrapped her arms around the stallion's nose and hugged his head to her chest, she sobbed uncontrollably; the stallion remained standing still.
"I need your help Zanzibar…" She looked into the stallion's eyes as she stroked his cheek softly. The stallion snorted and backed up slightly; his eyes looked over her head. As if quickly deciding something, he bowed to her. Sam looked at the horse questioningly. He had never done that before, let alone show it to her. Zanzibar snorted in annoyance as if saying Hurry up already. Suddenly Sam realized what he was asking; she crawled over to his side and pulled herself up onto his back. She grabbed his silken mane in her hands and hauled her sore body onto his back. She whispered her thanks and yelped softly as he stood upright.
The stallion broke out into a smooth lope towards the lake, Sam held on with her thigh muscles instead of using her knees. By now the sun had set and it was very dark and cold, Sam shivered as she hugged the horse beneath her for warmth. Sam tried to watch where the pair were going, but she couldn't see a thing so she relied on the stallion's sense of direction.
More time passed as they got closer to the lake, they came over the crest of the hill as the moon came out from behind the clouds. Sam gasped as the stallion pulled to a halt, she not only gasped in pain but at the beauty of the lake at night time. She saw a figure on the other side of it, yet at that distance she couldn't place who that person was. Sam looked at her watch in the moonlight, it was 10pm. 3 hours had passed, she was shocked.
The stallion made his way down the hill, Sam swayed softly; her body moving with the horse. When they reached the bottom, the stallion sniffed the air. His ears shot up in alert, he neighed loudly. Sam heard another horse neigh in reply; she knew that neigh. Sam used her leg aids to turn the stallion the opposite way; away from the horse and rider. The Phantom listened to his rider as he obeyed her request. Sam looked over her shoulder to see the horse and rider galloping after them.
"Let's go boy!" She said to the horse, the stallion put on a burst of speed; almost making Sam fall off his back. She quickly regained her balance and leaned over his withers. Her knee put up protests but she ignored them; wanting to get away from the horse and rider. Sam whimpered as the pain became unbearable, she started to cry as the pair galloped along the playa.
"Zanzibar, slow down!" Sam cried to the horse, he only neighed loudly and put on another burst of speed. Sam cried out in pain, her eyes scrunched shut and her breathing had become laboured.
"SAM!" The rider's voice came from behind them. They heard the galloping hooves of the horse not far behind them.
Sam's eyes overflowed with tears, her plan of avoiding him had failed. He wasn't going to give up now that he had seen her on the horse. He had caught up with her again, now he made things even more complicated for Sam. She had tried to avoid him since he brought home a pregnant girl from college.
"GO PHATOM! GO!" She cried to the stallion. Sam forgot the pain and held on tight, urging the stallion to go faster, he did just that. The hoof beats that were following her had faded back into the darkness.
The stallion ducked into the woods that lined the playa, attempting to loose the other horse and rider. He nickered softly as if to warn Sam of something. What ever it was, Sam saw it up ahead in the moonlight. She braced herself and leant forward as the stallion jumped the large fallen tree. Ace would've struggled to get over that by him self but the Phantom made it look easy.
Sam landed hard against the horse's back and started sliding off. She squealed softly and felt the horse beneath her slow to a lope so she could regain her balance. She sat up straight on the horse's back and looked behind her into the shadows of the trees to see if the person had followed her. Letting out a breath she never knew she was holding she burst into sobs again. The stallion slowed to a walk when he decided they had put enough distance between them. As they were walking, the stallion turned his head to look at his rider; he felt her sadness radiating off her body.
"He did the worst thing anyone could do to me. He brought home another girl, another girl whom he had impregnated. He knew my feelings for him but he threw them out the window." Sam screamed at the surrounding trees. They echoed back at her, ringing in her ears.
"He broke my heart and threw it in the dirt!" She screamed again, tears flowing down her cheeks.
"I LOVED HIM! I ADMIT IT! I LOVED HIM!" her voice continued to echo around the trees, small animals looked at her from the safety of the shadows.
"I loved him…" She whimpered, hanging her head.
Little did she know that HE had heard her sobbing voice.
Time passed, Sam just sat lazily on the stallion's back as he carried her to his destination. He stopped beside a river Sam had never seen before. Sam smiled for the first time in a long time. There was a small valley that glowed in the moonlight. A river was running freely in front of her, boulders lined the long river.
"Thank you Zanzibar." Sam whispered as she hugged the stallion's neck; he nickered softly in reply and bent over to scratch is leg.
"So where to from here?" she asked as she looked around the small valley, the stallion moved forward beneath her at a comfortable pace so it didn't hurt her knee any more.
"You have it easy Zanzibar, all you have to- " Sam took a breath and thought.
"On second thoughts, we have it roughly the same. You have to worry about taking care of your family, protect them and your children. I guess what you don't have to worry about is other stallions taking your mares. Wait, damn. You do know what I'm feeling. Never mind." Sam huffed and sat on the horse in thought. Zanzibar nickered smugly as if to say Took you long enough to figure out we aren't that much different. I know what you are feeling. The pair came to a large boulder; Sam dismounted and yelped again in pain as her knee came in contact with the ground. Sam collapsed and sobbing, crawled to the edge of the river. The phantom walked into the river and stood there, as if making a point. Sam looked at the horse, trying to figure out what he wanted. Then it hit her, he was telling her to put her leg in the water to take the swelling away. Sam giggled at her stupidity, despite the current situation and stood carefully. She took off her shoes and socks and undid her jeans and pulled them off, her black leggings underneath.
She slipped herself into the water slowly, enjoying the cool running water as it swirled around her knee. Suddenly, Sam noticed that the stallion hadn't run off this time to re join his herd. He flicked his tail as he watched her intently. Sam studied the Stallion's form. He had grown into a handsome 5 year old stallion from when she was sent away. It had been a year since she returned home from San Francisco. The Phantom use to be her colt Blackie before she was sent to live with her aunt due to a riding accident. Sam never blamed the horse for the accident but Jake still felt like it was his problem. Countless times did Sam remind him that it wasn't his fault. He refused to listen and remained stubborn.
The stallion quickly turned around, he shook his head and started dancing on the spot. That alerted Sam quickly. She looked around into the trees, searching for what was upsetting the stallion.
"What's up Zanzibar?" she whispered, moving herself so she was higher up on the boulder. The horse looked towards the way they had come, his ears were pricked forward; his body was at attention.
Sam's heart rate sped up; her breath came out in short pants. No, he couldn't have. They lost him ages ago.
"Sam!" his voice rang out. The stallion jumped in front of her to stop him from getting any closer to her. Sam realized he was protecting her as if she were one if his own.
"Go away Jake. Go back to your slut of a girlfriend." Sam said with venom, pulling on her jeans quickly. She yanked on her shoes and socks and bit her lip from crying out in pain.
"Brat, please. Let me near you." He tried to maneuver his mare around the stallion to get to Sam.
"Go back to her Jacob." Sam whispered softly, her voice held her venom.
"Brat." Jake said softly with his 'horse voice'. That caught both of them by surprise. (Them meaning the stallion and Sam!) The Phantom whinnied softly and Sam almost fell off the boulder.
Jake dismounted from Witch and tied her to a tree. Jake came back and stood in front of the stubborn stallion; the phantom snorted in warning.
"Sam, please. Let me come near you. I promise I won't hurt you or your horse." He tried to take a step towards Sam but the stallion snapped his teeth at Jake.
Jake watched as Sam moved slowly up the large boulders, trying to escape him. He noticed she was favouring her right knee a lot. He saw her grab it in pain; he saw her eyes scrunch and a tear roll down her cheek.
"Sam, you're hurt. Let me get near you." He said softly, soothingly. If the stallion could, he would've raised his eyebrow in curiosity as to where this boy was taking things.
"You have already hurt me enough Jacob Adrian Gavin Ely. Get your ass back on that monster mare of yours and get out of here. I don't want you here." There was silence that followed Sam's outburst.
"I hate you." She murmured as she continued to climb the boulder. She slipped and squealed out in pain as her knee came in contact with the rock. Sam swore under her breath and tried to block out the stars that were forming in front of her eyes.
"Brat, Hayley's not pregnant with my child." He said suddenly, Sam stopped climbing and looked over her shoulder. She saw him clearly standing in the moonlight, in front of the stallion that was protecting her.
"Should've told me before, I wouldn't have come off ace and probably broken my knee." Sam returned to her climbing, thanking she was the top of her class in PE. (They were currently doing rock climbing). She was doing pretty well with only one leg pushing her up the rock face and her arms straining.
She heard Jake hitch a breath before he continued moving forward, if Sam saw the look on his face she would've forgiven him that very second.
"Phantom let me go to her! If one of your mares were injured, what would you want to happen?" Jake had a staring match with the stallion, the horse wouldn't move.
Sam cried out in pain again all of a sudden, Jake looked up and saw her holding her knee.
"Please…" He pleaded with the stallion, which had just made history; Jake was actually pleading to a horse.
Since the horse didn't move he tried something else.
"Sam, Hayley cheated on me. I got drunk one night and somehow woke up next to her. We never had sex but we did get together after that event because she came to me and told me that I had somehow fathered her child. Because I couldn't remember what happened the night before I assumed that is what happened and I took responsibility for it. She told me this evening just after you left your ranch to exercise Ace. I arrived when he arrived without you. The first thing I did was freak out. Brat, despite what went down with Hayley; I never stopped loving you instead. I was in a relationship strictly for the child. I never loved Hayley or even liked her. I did it for the child. She has left Sam; I left her Sam to come for you. I know what you feel about me and I want to return those feelings."
Sam paused in her climbing because of the pain.
"Brat, please forgive me."
Sam commanded the stallion to let Jake past; Jake zipped around the horse and climbed the boulder quickly. Sam began to shake while she was holding onto the rock. She was about 10 metres off the ground, her knee was about to implode from pain. She whimpered and started sobbing again.
"I'll catch you Brat, just drop. Trust me, I will catch you." Jake looked up at Sam's shaking form. He suspected it wasn't just from the pain. It was the pain she held in her heart, it was the exhaustion, and it was the struggle to stop crying.
"Jake…" Sam said before she released the wall. She dropped quickly, Jake braced himself for the impact. He steadied himself, holding his arms to catch her. With a grunt her lean frame landed in his arms, they both toppled over; Jake protecting her with his arms. Once they finished rolling, he sat on his bum and looked at the girl is his arms.
"I love you Brat." Jake said as he kissed her temple.
"I love you too." She whispered back to him, looking up at the man she loved dearly.
She moved so her face was level with his, she pressed her lips to his. Jake's hand moved his hand so it rested on her neck and his other hand cupped her face.
Both of them knew from that moment on, they wouldn't be separated for anyone or anything.
The end