Chapter 4

Her hair whipping her face Sam rode on not caring to what had happened. She needed to get away from all of this and be free of parent, rules, and friends. It was so hard living in a world where you felt so alone with no one to help you.

"Come on boy faster!" Sam cried.

Then from out of the distance she heard some thunder. Was it her horses hooves or was it real. The sky darkened like a fairy tales worst nightmare. There it was again only much louder and longer. Was this really a storm?

Sam's horse stopped. He skidded and slid and almost fell, but with the help of Sam's natural seat she stayed on as her horse moved from side to side breathing heavily. He almost seemed a little panicked about something. The paint started to move his weight from side to side.

"Whoa, boy. It's going to be all right."

Lightning flashed it was just too much for the horse to take. His ears were back, nostrils flared, his white of his eyes shown in the darkness. He was going to spook. The horse jumped a little and then went into a full out rear. He reared tall and hard with such majesty that you only see in picture, but this was no picture perfect day. The paint started leaning back. Sam hurdled herself on his neck trying to balance herself out, but it was no use. The desert plants started getting closer and closer, until Sam was engulfed in sand. She was down.

Her horse must have galloped away into War Drum Flats, because when Sam awoke in a few minutes he was gone. Slowly she opened her eyes, blinking hard. Her head throbbed as she tried lifting it and the world just spun around her like she was on a merry-go-round. She put her head down with a hard thud.

After a few moments of heavy breathing she wiggled her finger and toes and very carefully got up. Sam had a few scratches on her knees and elbows, but nothing that she couldn't fix.

Sam started to cry. She was so unsure of the world and it's people that she felt as though she didn't belong. She then, took out a little medicine tube and took a few pills without water since she'd been taking pills ever since Jake had left to douse the pain of her broken heart. Sam started to walk. At first she took baby steps trying to get used to the new feeling of walking again. She felt woozy after those pills that she took and started walking in a crooked line like a drunken man after one too many boo's.

Before Sam knew it she was encircled by walls like hands trying to grab her. The dizziness didn't stop as she grabbed the walls for support. Then a flash of black and white came out of no where. It looked like the horse that she was riding, but it was hard to tell because her vision was blurred by tears. She reached for his halter, but missed every time and she flailed her arms from side to side trying so desperately to grab that wore leather.

Finally she grabbed it. With her hands tightly grasped around the halter she found something to stand up on and heaved herself up. It took a few tries before she was finally seated properly. Rain dripped down her hair like stalagmites dripping with water. Water pelted her like balls at dodge ball. Her black jeans were soaked trough and through and her mascara ran down her face like rushing water. She just had to find somewhere dry that she could stay for awhile. Sam searched War Drum Flats, but it was no use there was just no caves. Rain still pelted steadily on Sam's back that it gave her a chill. The water was so cold and chilling that it made her shiver. She started to shiver very hard and her hands and feet became numb. She started to chatter her teeth and rub her arms vigorously, but it was no use her wet sleeves just made her colder than ever. It almost felt as though it was winter, but it was the middle of May. Sam started to get very dizzy. She felt like she was about to pass out, but she rested her head on her horses mane and closed her eyes to wait for the dizziness to pass over her.

The paint started to walk slowly and Sam was thrown off balance. She started to slip on her left side. She braced herself for the impact of her fall, but she clung to him so tightly that she surprisingly stayed on. She opened her eyes to she that she was tipped to his left side and was on his belly. Sam then heaved herself up onto the horses slippery back and let the horse guide her to safety.

The next thing that Sam knew was that she was in a cave with about two dozen horses. They were all different colors blacks, bay, dapples, and greys, they were all there. There was also a stallion, a very familiar stallion. It was the Phantom!

Relived to see a friendly face, Sam slid off her horse and approached the stallion. The Phantom was splattered with rain which made him look even more majestic than he already was. Then something strange happened the Phantom flattened his ears and started backing away.

"Zanzibar, It's me, Sam. Don't you remember me?" Sam cooed

The horse backed up even more running into one of his buckskin mares. The mare squealed and ran away as the Phantom backed up even more. In the dim light of the cave Sam saw that he was in fact Zanzibar, but his whites of his eye were showing. Didn't he remember his previous caretaker?

"Zanzibar? Come on it's only me. Nothing to be afraid of."

The horse looked wound up one more move and he would freak, but Sam didn't listen she was too determined to reach to the Phantom. Sam extended her arm and the Phantom couldn't take it anymore. The stallion reared and made such a piercing whinny that Sam had to cover her ears so not to hurt her ear drums. All the mares and foals raised their heads in alarm. Then the Phantom charged for Sam. Sam leapt out of the way as the stallion wheeled around for the next round of his attack. Sam ran as fast as she could to her horse, but she knew that it was no use. Horses were much faster than she was and it was impossible to outrun him. Sam zig zagged around the other horses trying to throw the stallion off course, but she could feel his thundering hooves gaining on her. Head bobbing the Phantom ran with such grace at full speed that Sam had to focus herself toward her getaway rather than this moment which would have been amazing to see if he hadn't been charging at her.

Sam jumped on her horse so high that she felt as though she might unseat herself. Sam dug her heels into the paints hide and galloped out of the cave. The Phantom followed until he was satisfied that Sam wouldn't threaten any of his mares. Sam felt the power in her horses stride begin to decrease so she quickly slowed down her horse. When the horse finally came to a complete stop Sam almost flew off of his back and over his head.

Sam swung her right leg over her horse's back and then fell to the ground. Sam was so out of breath that it took her awhile to get back to reality. A few minutes later Sam stood up and dusted off the mud caked onto her jeans. She found her horse nearby grazing on some sweet prairie grass. Sam found a rock and sat there to replay the events that happened in the cave.

"Why did he freak? I wasn't trying to hurt him, I just wanted to be with him, I... Oh My Gosh how stupid could I get? I had my hand out and it looked like a cougar paw or a bear paw. So that why he freaked out."

Sam sat there to take in what had happen and before she knew it she was shivering again. Tear drops started to mix with the rain as Sam cried her heart and soul out.