I stood there, my feet cold on the wood floor, starring at the door. I was still dressed in my clothes. I had never changed into my pjs. I was in Jeans and a t-shirt. I thought of mom, of dad. They would call the police as soon as they found me missing. The police would find me. Where was I anyway? I scuttled in the corner, fear gripping my body. Think, Elisha… I had to think. Think hard, calm down and concentrate. What was I going to do? I took a deep breathe and tried to clear my mind. Why did they kidnap me? What did they want? Who where they? They were going to kill me. No! Don't think that. Think how to get away. I looked around. A window. Well that was dumb. These guys didn't know how to kidnap, I guessed. So they were dumb. Keep that in mind. I crawled over to the window, careful to keep my ears focused on the door. I pushed the window. Locked. Ok, so they weren't that dumb. If I broke it, they would hear, and come rushing in. Plus I would get all bloody trying to get out through the broken glass. So the door was the only way out. Great. I looked at it, before crawling over. My mind was blank, and my blood tingled. My stomach was tight as I tried the doorknob. Unlocked. I slowly craked the door, and peeked out. Two men were sitting out in the main room. It was an odd looking room, like a cabin. There was no rugs or high powered lights. Everything was bade out of wood. And the men themselves were odd. One wore a white shirt with a tan vest. Snake skin boots pocked out from the brown pants. The other wore dark blue pants, with a striped blue and white flimsy shirt… and a dark brown vest. He too wore cowboy boots. They were both wearing cowboy hats, and looked dirty. Must be on some type of ranch. Great… a ranch… far from any help. I shut the door, and slid down the wall. I huddled my knees, and buried my face. Tears spilled down my face in silent crying. I soaked my white shirt, and kept crying. I started cursing myself for not feeling them kidnap me. I swore, and started to get angry. My tears stopped, and now my eyes were ablaze with rage. I wasn't going to give up. No. I could get out of this… just be smart. I was on a ranch, probably miles from anywhere. I could get out and find a car… nope… keys were on the lest for that one. I wouldn't get keys anytime soon. I took a deep breathe again, and calmed down. I tried again. I'm on a ranch… I didn't see a phone… and even if I did I wouldn't be able to call. Not enough time to dial and talk. They would probably catch me… and kill me. NO! STOP IT! I ordered myself. Think! This time I took a few more breathes. And took a few minuets to clear my mind. Try again. I'm on a ranch… a ranch…a ranch. Nothing came to me. I started to cry again. I grinded my teeth, and brushed the tears away. THINK! THINK, THINK, THINK! I'm on a RANCH. A ranch.. wait a second… a ranch! Ranches had horses! My heart lifted. I knew how to ride a horse. But ride him bareback? I wasn't to sure if I could do that. But I was going to take a chance for that. Ok, back to the window. I looked around outside, as the sun peeked up over the horizon. It was a ranch alright. There was the main house… which I was in. Then there were four more wooden buildings. A small wooden pen held a pig by what looked like the barn. Then another larger one held cattle. It was actually kind of funny. The horses were tied up on the cattle fence. They were saddled and ready to ride. But something caught my eye… there was three horses… and I only saw two men. I took a deep breathe, then stopped. Wait, how was I going to get out to the horses. I clenched my fists. My perfect plan was ruined! No, no it wasn't. It's to perfect to be ruined. Just open the door, run straight out. You saw the door, maybe about four yards in the other direction where the men stood and talked. Just run out and jump on the horse. Easy. I tiptoed to the door. And peeked out again. I took a deep breathe, letting if fill my lungs, and let it out. Ok… on three. One… two… THREE! I swung the door wide open and bolted out the door. As I burst out the front door one man's voice came to my ears.
"What the…" he said. But I was gone. I ran straight for the horses. Amazingly they didn't panic at the fast movment, which I had expected. I snapped the ropes off the posts and scattered all but one. I jumped on the horses back. I had picked the one that looked the fastest. A black mare. I jerked it around, and kicked it into action. It took off at an amazing speed. The saddle was surprisingly comfortable and the horse was actually well trained. It bolted out of the ranch land, and a smile bust across my face. I had done it. I had escaped. I looked back in front of me. A vast waste land lay ahead of me, and a dusty dirt road. Well, the road had to lead to somewhere, and that's where I was going. A few hills passed by as the horse ran. I few looks back, and I knew no one was following me. Good. I pulled the horse to a slower trot, and continued down the road.
The sun was high over head when I heard my stomach grumbled. I frowned. Great. I looked up. No sigh of anything up ahead. I stopped and dismounted. I looked through the saddle bags, hoping to find something. I was surprised to find bacon and hard biscuits wrapped in wax paper. The bacon needed to be cooked, and the biscuits only had a hard crust. I looked at the sun. The heat beat down on me, threatening to take my energy. Thirsty. I was thirsty. There was a canteen hung on the bags. It was half empty… or half full. I was a bit hesitant to drink from someone else's canteen, but the sun's heat forced it to my lips. The water was cool against my throat. And I took my fill. It was actually amazing I found all the stuff I needed on the horse. It made me think there was a reason they had packed this much. Like the trip to civilization was long. I decided to save the food until tonight. I pushed my hunger aside, and started off again. I had plenty of time to think… about everything. About Seth, Ellen, mom and dad. It made me appreciate them more… love them more… MISS them more. I felt like crying again, but I held back. I had to save any water I had. I didn't know how long this was going to take. I didn't know if I was over reacting or what, but to me, it was better safe than sorry. For the first time, I realized I could die out here. I looked around. Me… an average girl who got kidnapped, and escaped, but ended up dying in the middle of nowhere. What a wonderful life. I shivered and hung my head. I had a wonderful life before this… and now I had a chance of dying out here. I suddenly straightened my shoulders, and lifted my head. No. I WILL get through this. I had to. I kicked the horse into a fast trot. How long the horse would hold out? I didn't know. It would probably start to slow down by the end of the day.
The sun fell, and the horse kept the pace easily. It breathed hard, yes, but it didn't seem exhausted like I expected. This horse was good. I looked up ahead, wondering if I should go on through the night. Could I stay on the saddle sleeping? Probably not. But I couldn't just stop anywhere. They goons might came after me, if they ever did. So I slowed the horse down, but did not stop. It was after the sun disappeared did I realize how tired I was. With the restless night before, and a hard day, I was as tired as ever. I was beginning to doze off when something caught my attention. I jerked up, and listened hard. A river? A creak? Water. I picked up the pace and headed toward water. The horse's ears flickered toward the sound. There was tall brush coming into view, and when I was in the middle of it, a clear fresh water creak ran in front of me. I jumped off the horse and grabbed my canteen. I raced over to the water and filled it up. And then crouched over and drank straight from the creak. The water was cold and felt good in my dry mouth. I leaned back, satisfied. I would stay here the night. Hidden by the brush and night, with the river to cover any other sound the horse or I made. I pulled the blanket off the back off the saddle and unrolled it. I would have to deal with laying on the ground for tonight. I think I fell asleep before I hit the ground, completely forgetting about hunger.
