As we came over the hill, the cattle are the first to come into my view. Emmett was up on his horse, attempting to keep the cattle together. The gray horse had come back and was on the other side of the lake drinking with vigor.
"Edward! Who do you have here?" Emmett came closer, stopping in front of us and looking at the girl in my arms. She made little sounds in her throat but was still out cold.
"I'm not sure, Emmett. I didn't ask her name yet. Her leg is definitely broken, though and she passed out from the pain, which is for the best. We have to get her to Pa," I said, situating her a little better in my arms.
"Well, I got the cattle back together and that horse won't let me come near him. He started charging me, almost made the cattle scatter again. We might just have to leave him," he said, looking back over his shoulder at the animal that was walking closer without knowing it, keeping its head down and chewing at the grass. The girl shifted in my arms, letting out little breaths against my neck that made bumps rise all over my body. I resisted a shiver of pleasure.
"Mmm," she groaned, lifting her head and looking around. Emmett backed his horse up, not wanting to scare her. She looked up at me and her cheeks soon colored to a soft pink. Her eyes became glassy once again as the pain registered.
"My leg," she huffed, looking down and reaching for it. I couldn't move my hands to stop her.
"We're gonna get you to my Pa so that he can take a look at it. He'll even give you something to bring down the pain." She seemed to lace her fingers back into my hair unconsciously. I tried hard not to think about how good it felt.
"What's your name, girl?" Emmett finally spoke, staying back where he was. Only now noticing him in front of us, her eyes widened slightly, taking in his intimidating size. For the age of twenty-one, Emmett was a very large man. Years of chopping wood, working on the ranch and plowing the fields helped him build so much muscle. He wasn't someone you'd want to be caught in a fight with.
"Isabella," she whimpered, biting her bottom lip as the horse shifted from hoof to hoof. I secured my leg against hers better, trying my best to keep it from moving even more. Her name suits her almost too well. Emmett nodded, placing his hat securely back onto his almost dripping hair. He jerked his head back at the horse walking by the lake.
"Do you care for that horse terribly? He won't let me come close, so we have to leave him. We have to get back, and don't have any more time to waste, all right?" Isabella sat up straighter, looking over Emmett's shoulder at the animal.
"We can't leave Ash, she's my only horse!" She cried, turning her wide eyes to Emmett. "She doesn't like strangers!" She looked up at me with pleading doe eyes. Her chin quivered.
"Will she come if you call her?" We looked over at Ash. She raised her head as if she felt our eyes on her. Her ears perked forward as she spotted Isabella. She took a step closer but didn't move anymore after that. Isabella smiled through a wince.
"Did she buck you off?" I asked, looking down at Isabella as she sat up straighter and raised her fingers to her lips. She stuck her pointer and middle finger into her mouth, blowing until a high-pitched whistle came shooting past her pink lips. Ash immediately jumped forward, coming toward us and kicking up dust as she stopped beside Emmett's horse that startled slightly.
"I don't really remember what happened. She was spooked by something and picked up into a run. I just wasn't expecting it and I fell off and landed on my leg. It happened all so fast," she said, glancing down at it and pressing her lips tightly together as the horse shifted once again. She seemed to forget the pain at times, but not for long.
"Will she let me tie her to my horse? I don't need to be getting hurt. She already charged me once." Emmett glanced over at the horse that was now nuzzling noses with our two. Isabella shook her head and reached out to scratch behind the twitching ears.
"She was just scared without me. She should be fine now that she sees me." She sounded sure enough, so Emmett grabbed the reins and rope from the side of his horse's saddle, securing the two together so that he could lead her. I tightened my arms as Isabella moaned, clenching her eyes shut and fisting her hands in my hair. My horse kept shifting, wanting to get a move on. Her leg was starting to swell already.
"I apologize, mister. It just hurts so bad," she whimpered. Tears dripped from her chin and made dark blue spots on her light blue dress. Seeing her in pain made the one on the back of my head disappear.
Hearing her call me 'mister' reminded me that she didn't even know our names.
"It's quite all right, Isabella. My name is Edward Cullen and this here is Emmett, my older brother," I said, placing my hat back on my head. She nodded shyly. She just seemed to come to terms with the fact that she was defenseless with two strange men. Her grip wasn't as tight as it was before and her palms twitched as if she would rather not be touching me.
"We need to fill our canteens before we leave if we plan on getting back before tomorrow. We'll have to be set at a steady trot," Emmett said, wiping his forehead and grabbing his canteen out of his bag. I threw mine over to him so that I didn't have to get down. We got our stuff together, the cattle moving, and we were on our way over the hill toward home. Isabella closed her eyes and was obviously fighting hard to keep her tears from escaping. I knew apologizing wouldn't fix anything, but I couldn't stop the words from flowing passed my chapped lips. Seeing and hearing her in pain was doing strange things to me.
"I'm sorry, Isabella. I wish I could take your pain away," I said, staring forward at the cattle running in front of us. Some calves fell behind, but fought hard to keep up with their mothers.
"I've broken bones before, mister. Worse than this. It seems that the pain gets worse with every new one, though," she said tensely, glancing up at me briefly. Some strands of her hair caught in my stubble, tickling my cheek.
"What could you have possibly been doing to have broken something worse? It's Edward, by the way. Mister makes me feel old," I chuckled. I hoped our conversation would take some of her attention off her leg as it was being jostled. That's all I could offer her until we got back home.
"When I first started taming Ash, she broke my collarbone by kicking me. My Pa grounded me for a month after that. I did it to myself after all." She tamed Ash?
"Did you tame her by yourself? Catch her, too?" I knew my voice sounded surprised. Isabella looked offended for a split second at my tone.
"Yes, sir, I did. I used my Pa's horse to catch her when I saw her grazin' in our fields a few times. Our other horses weren't bothered by her, so I caught her and kept her. Pa almost sold her a few times because of her temper, but I convinced him to keep her. It wasn't her fault. She just needed some love and care, and I was that for her." Her voice seemed to get weaker and scratchier as she told me this. She looked away and stared at the cattle that ran from us.
"My brother-in-law broke his collarbone from a wild stallion. He was just out for a ride and the beast charged him and reared. His horse had to be put down from a hoof to his head. A terrible tragedy and a long recovery for him." I remember Pa having to shoot the horse between the eyes and Jasper yelling as he set his collarbone back in place and wrapped it. That day was terrible. "A few men from town went out and shot that horse. We couldn't have him running around attacking like that. Taming it was out of the question." I shook my head at the memory. Isabella sighed in disdain.
"Every horse is worth it. They just need someone to care. They need patience." I looked away from the horizon and down at her. She sounded older than what she obviously was. With the way the sun was shining on her face, she looked like she couldn't even be older than twenty. She swallowed thickly and didn't meet my gaze.
"Why must you stare?" Her voice broke my focus on her face. I let out a choked, embarrassed laugh and looked away.
"How many years have you been walkin' this Earth, darlin'? Hasn't even been twenty, has it?" She hummed and took a deep breath.
"I think you'd be shocked if you really knew my age," she said. She grunted as the horse hopped over a few holes in the ground.
"Enlighten me then." Couldn't be that bad...
"Sixteen…" Her lips formed a tight line.
I almost fell off the damn horse as the number left her lips.
"Did you just say sixteen? What the hell are you doin' out here?" I demanded. I stopped the horse, but Emmett didn't notice as he kept on going, leading the cattle and Ash. Isabella looked up at me with scared eyes; begging. She looked just about ready to jump off and hobble away.
"Sir, please! I can't go back!" She cried, gripping my shoulders with her nails digging into my skin. "Forget I said anything."
"Why are you out here alone?" My voice was hard and stern. I didn't have it in me to apologize for my swearin'.
"Are your parents mad at you, is that it? Scared of punishment?" I didn't need her Pa or someone thinking I just took her.
"I'm runnin', okay? For a good reason!" I shook my head and got the horse walking again. We had to keep going if we wanted to make it back before tomorrow. We'd have to go through the night with no sleep.
"What's that good reason?"
"You'll take me back!" She whimpered, her eyes watering.
"Isabella… Just tell me before I say something I'll regret." I gritted out.
She looked up at me and spoke through the pain and tears...
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Chapter 3 Friday!
Isabella - 16