Bella's POV
After two more hours in the car, we were all stiff and tired.
We stopped at a little rest spot on the side of the road, where we played soccer for a little while to stretch our legs. I watched in awe as Emmett maneuvered the soccer ball in complicated patterns and tricks.
"How are you doing that?!" asked Alice in bewilderment.
"Practice," said Emmett, "You wanna try?"
"Nope, I think I'll stick to passing back and forth," she said with a smile.
"Suit yourself," he said while balancing the ball on the back of his neck.
We reluctantly hit the road shortly after Emmett's 'show off session' as Alice called it. I hopped in the driver's seat as Alice had finally gotten sick of driving. I smiled when Ali snuggled up in her hoodie and drifted off to sleep. When we finally got to the stables, it was midday and a hundred degrees outside.
"Ungh. This weather is ridiculous," groaned Alice.
"Ali, I hate to break this to ya, but it's the middle of July, and we're in southern Mississippi. It's going to be hot."
Emmett came up behind us, "Well, if this is July, then July is a b-"
"EMMETT!!" scolded Alice as she whacked him on the head with one of the empty water buckets she was getting out of the Jeep.
"I was just saying," he mumbled, and when his bottom lip jutted out I couldn't help but chuckle.
"It'll be fine, Emmett. I'm sure it's cooler inside the barn."
I was wrong.
We had just led our horses in and were putting them in three of the stalls that we had rented (luckily we were able to get five stalls right beside each other.) Three of the stalls were for horses, obviously, and the other two were for our saddles and other tack. I put Reb in the second stall from the right and hung his halter outside the stall door. Alice and Emmett appeared behind me with their horses, Banner and Lena. Emmett led Lena into the last stall on the right, and Alice led Banner to the third one from the right, so that Rebel was between Banner and Lena. Then we went back to the horse trailer to get our tack out of the built in tack room. Actually, Emmett ended up carrying Alice's and his own, which was amazing to me because I was struggling with just my own saddle. I heaved it all the way to our storage stall, which was only about twenty feet away, but it felt like twenty miles.
"Ugh!" I groaned as I plopped my saddle down on one of the racks. "Why the heck didn't I take Em up on his offer to carry mine too?" I mumbled under my breath. I rested for a second, then headed back to the trailor to get some other, lighter tack. When we finally got all of our tack into the stalls, Emmett ran back out to his Jeep and grabbed three lawn chairs so we could sit in front of our horses' stalls. I sat down in one of the lawn chairs and leaned my head back against the sign that read 'Rebel Without A Cause' in red paint. Reb stuck his head through the open half of his stall door and nudged my shoulder. I scratched under his chin and closed my eyes. A few minutes later, Alice announced that our break was over, so we all got up and started to groom our horses. Reb closed his eyes in pleasure and lowered his head. I muttered to Reb while I brushed dirt free of his sorrel coat.
"You're such a good boy, Reb. So handsome too, those mares won't stand a chance will they buddy?" I felt a tap on my shoulder, and turned around to find a smirking Alice with an unopened bottle of water.
"Thought you might need this Bells," she said smiling.
"Thanks," I said earnestly as she handed it to me.
I took a drink, but set my water down when Reb snorted at me.
"Oh! Sorry buddy, I'll be right back." Then I grabbed an empty water bucket, found a hose, filled it three quarters of the way, and heaved it back to his stall, where I set it in a corner for him.
"Alice," I called, "if things keep going like this, I'm gonna be ripped before we go back home."
"I hear ya sister," she groaned as she heaved a bale of Bermuda hay out of the hay bag and gave a slice to Banner, her gray Mustang gelding.
"If you girls need help you should just ask," informed Emmett from Lena's stall.
"Thanks, Em, but then where's the sense of accomplishment?" I joked.
"Oh, hahaha," said Alice sarcastically as she plopped down on top of a hay bale.
We sat and talked for a minute, then got up and walked to the indoor arena to watch the beginning of the show, since we weren't going to be in any of the beginning classes.
The show and Jasper (maybe Edward) are coming up next chapter! Tell me what you think:)