Midnight

Chapter Three

The next morning Lizzie walked up to Midnight's paddock, crying. "I dreamt about you last night, Midnight," she said. "We escaped from all this! We rode where – where we could be free. I'm scared that…if you go back to the shelter, they'll put you down. That would be so unfair!"

Midnight looked at Lizzie. "You're a good horse. With a good heart! I know that! It's obvious – to me!" said Lizzie. Midnight walked up to Lizzie. "How can they destroy such a good horse? It's because of what those cruel people have done to you. You go a little wild now and then. But with enough love, all those bad memories will fade away,"

Midnight kneeled down so Lizzie could pet her. Lizzie climbed over the gated door and walked over to Midnight and petted her. "We get along fine, because you trust me, don't you?" said Lizzie.

Sam was walking less than fifty feet from Midnight's paddock and saw Lizzie inside, petting her. "What the Hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded. "But Sam, she's so calm and gentle!" said Lizzie. "I thought I told you to stay away from her!" said Sam. "But Sam!" Lizzie protested. "I want you out of there – now!" said Sam. Lizzie sighed and climbed out of the paddock.

"Do you have any idea what could have just happened?" asked Sam. "But it didn't!" said Lizzie. "Lizzie!" said Sam. "Sam, you're the one who told me that some horses need more time than others!" said Lizzie. "And for some horses it doesn't matter how much time you give them, you can't undo the damage that's been done!"

Sam sighed and walked up to the gated door. "I worked at a property when I was sixteen," he said. "There was this one gelding that my boss had picked up from an auction. He was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. He was also the meanest. I offered a summer's pay in exchange for that horse, convinced I could win him over. My boss thought I was crazy, but he agreed."

"What happened?" asked Lizzie. "I worked with that gelding all summer," said Sam. "I figured sooner or later he'd realize I wasn't gonna hurt him. But every time I thought I was getting somewhere he'd prove me wrong. Until finally, he put me in the hospital. I just don't want that to happen to you."

"But Midnight isn't that horse!" said Lizzie. "Liz, sometimes when a horse's trust of humans has been broken, it can't ever be repaired," said Sam. "When that happens, the horse is a danger to himself and everyone around her."

"But Sam," Lizzie protested. "It isn't Midnight's fault! We can't just let her be destroyed!" "I've made my decision and it's final," said Sam. "I'll be taking her back to the shelter in an hour." He walked away and Lizzie buried her face in her arms and cried.

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Sam was inside the Bunker reading and Castiel walked up to him and sat down. For a while they didn't say a word. Then finally after fifteen minutes of not talking Cas finally broke the silence. "Lizzie came to see me in a real state," he remarked. "Midnight's a hopeless case is she?" he asked. "I've been over my head," Sam replied. "I thought I could do this but I can't." Cas shook his head. "Poor Lizzie," he said. "She believes in Midnight," said Sam. "She also believes in you," said Cas. "Look, Sam, you might be right about Midnight. Some situations are just…out of our hands but if there's even the slightest chance to change that, don't you think you owe it to yourself and to Midnight to at least try?" Sam was quiet. In the end he decided Cas was right.

Later Sam walked up to Midnight's paddock where Lizzie was standing outside the gate, feeding her carrots. "You're really good with her," he said. "Whoever hurt her did a good job of it. My guess is she has every reason to fear us,"

"He's worse with men," said Lizzie. Sam nodded. "You'd think you'd be able to relate," he said. Lizzie smiled. She knew what Sam was talking about. "The only way to truly conquer that fear is to prove to her once and for all that we aren't going to harm her – even when she's vulnerable," said Sam.

Lizzie stared at Sam. Did he mean what she thought he meant? "Does that mean, you'll try?" she asked hopefully. Sam grinned. "It means we'll try," he said. "Thank you so much!" said Lizzie as she hugged him.

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A few minutes later, Sam returned to Midnight's paddock with three lariats in his hand. "Are you sure you wanna do this?" he asked. "It won't hurt her, right?" asked Lizzie nervously. "There's no physical danger," said Sam. "But once we start, there's no turning back. If we do, it'll be worse than if we hadn't done anything at all. Liz, you have to understand that if this doesn't work, it would have destroyed any chance of gaining Midnight's trust."
"We have to try," said Lizzie. Sam nodded as he handed the two lariats to Lizzie and entered the paddock with the third. He began lassoing it above his head, and Midnight, seeing what he was doing tried running in the opposite direction but Sam stopped her each time. "Come on, girl! Get up!" he said. Midnight began galloping around the paddock. "There you go!" said Sam as he followed her, and lassoed the lariat around her neck. Midnight whinnied and reared as Sam held fast to the rope. Lizzie watched and bit her lip nervously. Midnight stopped rearing and Sam cautiously stepped towards her. He then looped one end of the lariat around her right leg, then gently and carefully forced her to lie down on her side. Then he gently put his knee on her neck to restrain her.

"Sam please, stop!" Lizzie cried. "You're hurting her!" "Lizzie," said Sam. "I promise you, I'm not hurting her. She's afraid of what I might do to her, not of what I'm doing. Now, I need you to grab that other lariat and bring it in here . "

Lizzie nodded as she made her way inside the paddock and walked up to where Midnight lay.

"We need to teach Midnight, that it wasn't the rope or the whip that hurt her – it was the person using it," said Sam.

"But she's afraid of me,'' said Lizzie. "You need to believe in this too, Lizzie," said Sam. "We can't do it without you." Lizzie nodded as she walked up and petted Midnight. "Good," said Sam. "Now, very gently, brush the lariat along her side."

Lizzie nodded as she took the lariat, and gently rubbed it against Midnight's side. "It's okay, Midnight," said Lizzie. "I won't hurt you."

"Okay," said Sam after a moment. Lizzie nodded then stepped back. Sam then untied Midnight as she stood up, and walked over to Sam and let him pet her. Sam grinned. "Maybe there's hope for this horse yet," he said Lizzie smiled.

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The next day, Lizzie was outside Midnight's paddock, talking to her. "I knew it was just a matter of time, and patience. You're yourself now, aren't you, girl? You weren't yourself before. I knew we could do it!"

Gadreel walked up to Lizzie and scoffed. "'We?'" he asked. "It was Sam, wasn't it?" he asked. "It was Sam and I together," said Lizzie. "Ahh, Sam let you think that!" said Gadreel. "You could never handle that horse by yourself, Lizzie," he said.

"I'm sure I could now," said Lizzie. Gadreel laughed. "I'd like to see you try!" he said as he walked away.

Lizzie decided to prove to Gadreel that she could handle Midnight by herself by taking her for a walk. "Come on, Midnight," she said. Let's get some sunlight and fresh air, huh? We'll show Gadreel! You wouldn't hurt me, would you, girl?"

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"Hey, did you hear?" Cas asked Dean later. "Sam and Lizzie were able to gain Midnight's trust! She's doing really good!" "Great!" said Dean. "So are you going to let Lizzie keep her?" asked Cas. "Well, she did gain Midnight's trust, but there's still the matter of training her under a saddle," said Dean. "I'm sure Lizzie and Sam can handle it," said Cas, grinning. "Oh, I know they can!" said Dean, smiling too.

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Later as Lizzie was walking Midnight back into her paddock she noticed a man wearing a black suit and black overcoat. "Hello Lizzie," he said. "Hi, Crowley," said Lizzie. "Beautiful horse you've got there," he commented. "Is she yours?" Lizzie nodded. "May I?" he asked, reaching out his hand. "Just be careful, Midnight isn't used to strangers," said Lizzie.

Crowley reached out to pet Midnight, but all of a sudden Midnight's ears pricked back and she reared and whinnied. "Shh! Shh! It's okay, Midnight! He's not going to hurt you!" Lizzie petted Midnight and held onto her head collar. She later figured out why Midnight had freaked out so much when Crowley approached her: Midnight could see Crowley's real face underneath his meatsuit!

Sam quickly heard about this incident but didn't think anything of it. Crowley was a demon after all.

Later Lizzie took Midnight into a covered arena that she had constructed and began exercising Midnght. Dean and Castiel came to watch. "Hey! Lizzie!" Dean called. Lizzie walked over. "Yeah," said Lizzie. "Nice work," he said, winking. "Thanks!" said Lizzie. "Oh, Cas! You and Midnight haven't officially met yet!" said Lizzie. "Midnight, this is Castiel," said Lizzie brightly. Cas reached out a hand and petted Midnight's face. "You are beautiful," he said. "Well done, Lizzie," he said. Lizzie beamed. "So are you gonna train her so you can ride her?" he asked. "You bet!" said Lizzie.

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Later Lizzie was reading a book when Sam came into the room carrying a large box. "Lizzie, a package came for you," he said. "Ooh! Good! It's Midnight's tack!" said Lizzie excitedly. "Her what?" asked Dean. Lizzie pulled out of the box, an English saddle, a red saddle pad, a girth, a breastplate, a bridle, reins, polo wraps,, stirrup irons, leathers, and a red lunge line.

"What all that for?" asked Dean. Lizzie held up the saddle so Sam could see. "Ready for step two of Midnight's training?" she asked. Sam nodded. "I'll go get her ready," said Lizzie beaming.

Lizzie took Midnight's tack into her paddock, and took off her halter and fastened it around her neck. "Easy girl," said Lizzie in a gentle voice. "Here…" said Lizzie as she put the bit in Midnight's mouth and put the bridle on her, and buckled the throat latch. She then put the red saddle pad on Midnight's back, then put the saddle on.

She then took the girth and buckled it at the second hole on each of the billets. She then buckled the other side and this time tightened it. Midnight snorted and turned her head to see what Lizzie was doing. "It's okay, girl," said Lizzie gently. "It's just the saddle."

If Midnight could speak, she probably would have said something like "It's choking me! What the hell?"

Lizzie laughed as she fed the stirrup irons through the stirrup leathers then attached them to the saddle, then put the breastplate over Midnight's head then buckled the smaller straps to the dee rings on the saddle, then clipped the longer strap in between Midnight's legs and onto a ring on the girth. She then attatched the reins to the bit and she was ready to go!

"Did she behave when you were tacking up?" asked Sam, when Lizzie met him out in the riding ring five minutes later. "Oh, yeah!" said Lizzie. "She seemed a little uncomfortable when I tightened her girth – It's probably been a while since she wore a saddle – but other than that, she was fine!" she said as she put on her helmet. "Great!" said Sam, grinning as he helped Lizzie mount Midnight.

Once Lizzie was comfortably seated in the saddle, Lizzie gently nudged Midnght with her heel and made a little clicking sound to get her to go. After warming her up, Sam attached the lunge line to Midnight's bit and Lizzie nudged her a few times to get her to trot. Lizzie rose up and down in the saddle in time to Midnight's trot. "Good, Lizzie!" said Sam. "Your posting is perfect!" Lizzie beamed. "Okay, now, see if you can get her to canter," said Sam. Lizzie nodded as she nudged Midnight a few times, and she broke into a canter. Cas, Dean, Gadreel, and Crowley had come to watch. "I've never seen Lizzie ride like that before," said Dean, looking impressed.

"Neither have I!" said Cas. "She's wonderful," said Dean. Even Crowley was smiling!

"Good, Lizzie! Try and see if you can get her to change her lead," said Sam. Lizzie did, and Sam's grin widened even further. "Well done," said Sam as Lizzie pulled back on the reins and Midnight stopped.

"What do you guys think?" asked Lizzie. "That was good," said Dean, and Cas nodded. "Do you compete?" asked Crowley. Lizzie nodded. "Yeah whenever I have the time," she said. "Then, you should keep your shoulders back a little more on the trot – you'll lose points," he said. Lizzie's jaw dropped. How did Crowley know that?

"I've never seen Lizzie look speechless," Castiel whispered in Dean's ear. "I know," Dean whispered back. "She's usually the one giving advice!"

"How did you know that?" asked Lizzie. Crowley smiled. "I share your common interest in horses," he replied. "From the way you were talking, it sounded like you have – I don't know – some experience in riding or something," said Lizzie. "I used to ride a long time ago," said Crowley, smiling a little. "Really?" asked Lizzie looking impressed. Crowley nodded. "You shocked?" he asked. "A little," Lizzie admitted.

"Do you wanna get off the lung line?" asked Sam. Lizzie nodded. Sam unclipped the lunge line from Midnight's bridle, and Lizzie nudged Midnight into a trot. They rode a couple of laps around the area, then Lizzie came upon a cavaletti and immediately pulled back on the reins and Midnight stopped. Sam stared at Lizzie. She looked almost scared when she came upon the jump. But Lizzie knew how to jump!

Later, when Lizzie untacked Midnight, Sam approached her about it. 'Hey," he said. "Hi," said Lizzie. "What was that about?" he asked. "What?" asked Lizzie, looking confused. "Why did you not jump?" he asked. "I'm not ready to," said Lizzie, taking out a bottle of neatsfoot oil and began to clean Midnight's tack. "But…" said Sam. "The look on your face – It was like you were scared to jump it or something." Lizzie put down the rag that she was using to clean Midnight's saddle and faced Sam. "When I was fourteen. I was jumping and I fell off – that's all I'm gonna say," she said and she returned to cleaning Midnight's tack.