As soon as I had entered the house, I looked at the staircase and saw suitcases. My suitcases. They were all packed. I heard my mother crying in the new living room. But nothing else. No sounds from Angel or my dad. I walked to the living room and saw my parents on the couch. My mom was sobbing uncontrollably and my dad was trying to calm her.
"What's going on?" I asked cautiously.
My mom looked up at me and I saw the tears running down her cheeks. I saw the blotchy redness that covered her fair face. Her blonde hair was sticking up in every angle.
"Max…" she whispered.
"What's wrong? Did something happen to Angel?" I asked.
"Max…" my dad paused briefly, gathering his thoughts. "We got a call from Ms. Night Hawk."
"Uh… who?"
"She said she found you on her property." Oh… her.
"Look dad, I didn't mean to. I just saw something and wanted to go see what it was. I swear!" I said frantically.
"There's something… your mother and I need to tell you sweetheart."
I took a seat in the leather chair across from them and tried to brace myself. I just had no idea that I would never be able to brace myself for the news.
"You see Max…" my dad started but he was interrupted by my mom.
"You're adopted!" she yelled.
My breath caught in my throat and for the second time that day, every muscle in my body turned to ice.
My dad sighed and explained further. "Ms. Night Hawk is an old friend of your… previous family. She runs a stable, kind of like a boarding school. There are other teenagers there; a lot are your age. She has asked that you go stay there. We've decided that it's the right thing for now." He paused for a moment then continued. "We always wanted to tell you. We just didn't know how. But… we love you Max, just like we always have. You'll always be our daughter." He leaned forward and kissed my forehead gently.
A loud honk came from outside and my mom stiffened. "She's here. You uh… you better go."
"Mom… Dad?" I asked with a shaky voice.
They both looked away from me and cried harder. I heard more honking and I decided I probably should go. Now that I knew… I couldn't stay here. Not anymore. This wasn't my family, this wasn't my life. As I left my parents, I felt a warm tear run down my cheek. I grabbed my suitcases and bags at the base of the stairs and made my way outside. I hadn't really thought about what I was doing, so when I saw the woman with the crazy curly hair in the cab of a black pickup truck, I stopped dead in my tracks. She stared at me and waited for me to put my stuff in the truck bed.
I slowly put my bags in the bed and crawled into the passenger's seat. She wasted no time. As soon as the door was shut, she took off out the driveway.
"You will work with the horses. You will ride alone. Every morning, you will wake up at seven am sharp. Tomorrow morning, you will go to the stables and see your assignments. After you have-" I stopped her mid sentence.
"What?"
She looked at me skeptically. "Did I stutter?"
"No… but… what are you talking about? This isn't me. I don't ride horses. I don't live the country girl life. Do you know what I just went through back there? There's no way I can do all that right now. I need some time…"
"The horses can help you more than you think." She looked at me for a moment and I saw no compassion in her eyes. "And yes, I do know what you went through, but if you don't do what I say things will get harder and harder. I know things you don't…" she paused and looked out the windshield. "things that have eaten at me for fifteen years."
Umm… okay??? After that I stared at the window. We pulled into a long driveway and came up to a huge mansion. This mansion made my parents house look like a cottage. It was off white with a black roof. Off to the right was a stable so long I couldn't see the end from this angle. In front of the mansion and the stable- which we had to drive around- was a giant pasture with horses running around and grazing. There were other smaller paddocks around the property. My eyes latched onto one in particular. The same horse from this morning was thrashing around and bucking and rearing. I still couldn't quite see it as well as I wanted to though.
We parked in front of the house and I stepped out of the truck. Looking at the mansion up close, I had a weird sense of déjà vu. I felt like I'd seen this place before. In a dream. Above the red door, was a carved bird with extended wings. I grabbed my things from the back of the truck and waited for Ms. Night Hawk to tell me what to do. She looked at me and I saw disappointment flash in her eyes, then quickly vanished.
"Take the stairs up to the second floor. Walk down the hall and take the first left. Your room will be the third door on the right."
I replayed the directions in my head and walked stiffly into the house. As soon as you walk in, there was a grand staircase. I walked in the direction I was told and got to what I guessed was my new room. It was average sized with dark yellow walls and a big mahogany bed with dark red and gold covers. There was a wide window that faced the front of the property and I had a perfect view of the pasture and paddocks. I looked at the dresser and saw a few pictures there. I walked over to get a better look.
On the right side was a picture of a herd of horses running together. On the left was a picture of a black wolf with a scar under one of his dark brown eyes. In the center, hanging on the wall, was a painting. There was a beautiful bronze skinned woman with loving brown eyes and long dark hair braided and hanging over her shoulder. There were four black and white feathers set into her hair and she had some type of fur clothing on. Her head was gently leaning on a wolf's. The wolf was brown with light accents and vibrant amber eyes. The picture gave me the same déjà vu feeling as before. The woman had a warm light to her, even though it was just a painting. i felt a slight tug in the back of my mind and a sense of familiarity.
A knock at the door pulled m out of my daydreaming and I noticed Ms. Night Hawk was standing in the doorway. She handed me a pile of clothes, said "Go to the stables and find my son. He'll show you what to do." And with that, she left.
I looked down at the clothes. A turquoise checkered flannel shirt, boot cut jeans, and a pretty brown belt. I looked back to the door and noticed two other things. Brown cowboy boots and a cowboy hat…
Lord take me now.
Painting and Max's outfit on profile