Author's Note:
Hey everyone! Sorry it's taken me soooooooooo long to upload the next chapter. I've been really busy with uni and had a horrible case of writer's block. Also, I know this chapter is short and I regret that but I decided to go for speed instead of length on this chapter. The next will be long I promise! I may update this chapter in the next few weeks so that it's longer if I feel the next part of the story belongs here; I'm not sure where the next part fits best just yet. My final exams for this year are coming up in the next couple weeks so my updating will be slow, please bear with me. Anyway, on with the chapter :)
Disclaimer: I do not own The Phantom Stallion, Twilight or Star Trek: The Next Generation etc. etc.
Chapter 4:
"JAKE! JAKE WAKE UP! GET UP RIGHT NOW! JAKE!" an annoyed and frustrated voice yelled at me. I was also being violently shaken into consciousness by whoever was yelling at me. I groaned and slowly opened my eyes, squinting against the brightness of the room.
"WAKE UP JAKE!" the voice yelled again, giving me one more vigorous shake.
"Okay, okay, I'm up. I'm up," I responded hoarsely as I began to sit up. Swinging my legs over the edge of the bed groggily I looked into the irritated face of my brother Nate. "'Bout time," he retorted. I rubbed my eyes and took a deep breath to try and wake myself further and asked, "What's the time?"
"Eight o'clock. We've been trying to wake you for the last twenty minutes," he stated with annoyance ringing clear in every syllable, "Now get ready. Wyatt's expecting you at nine and Dad wants us to ride out and check that the water for the horses and cattle hasn't frozen over BEFORE you go." Nate nearly shouted the word 'before' at me so I knew that he wasn't going to let me leave until we had finished that job. Jumping out of bed I quickly began grabbing the closest clean clothes and started throwing them on. Wyatt, Sam's father, would ring my neck if I was late as a new horse was arriving today that he and I were hired to train. Nate left me to get ready but paused in the doorway, and looking back he said, "Oh, and by 'we' I meant everyone. Well, everyone except Dad." My eyes widened slightly at this and it compelled me to get ready faster.
Five minutes later I ran into the kitchen, grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl on the counter when my stomach growled in protest against my lack of eating, then proceeded to run out the front door. I had planned to grab Witch's tack out of the barn and saddle her in the pasture to save time, but instead I found her tied to the hitching rail outside the house, trying to bite Quinn's arm off as he tightened cinch on my saddle. Quinn shoved her nose away and reprimanded her. Then he saw me and called out, "Hey sleeping beauty! Come here and finish tacking up your monster mare. I'm sick of nearly being eaten alive." I walked over and tightened the cinch, holding my apple in my mouth. "Thank you," I gratefully said to Quinn as I gave Witch a light pat on the shoulder. He handed me the reins and replied, "Ya welcome. Just don't make a habit of sleeping in like that, 'kay?"
"Promise," I muttered as I swung up into the saddle and turned Witch in the direction of the entrance to the ranch yard, where Nate was mounted and waiting for me.
At ten to nine I was half way to Riverbend Ranch. Urging Witch into a faster gallop so I wouldn't be late for Wyatt, I decided to look on the bright side, At least Sam won't have a chance to talk to me about last night. I still had no idea what I was going to tell her to explain my behaviour from the previous night and needed more time to come up with a good enough lie. "Cut that a little close, didn't ya Jake?" Pepper, one of the Riverbend ranch hands, teased as I rode, right on nine o'clock, across the bridge that marks the entrance to Riverbend Ranch. I sighed and slid off Witch, feeling a little dazed as my feet hit the ground. Apparently, getting only two and a half hours of sleep was not healthy for humans. I would have to make sure I went to bed early and not stay up into the early morning hours, forgetting I was not a vampire anymore, from now on. As I tied Witch to the hitching rail outside the barn Sam walked out of the ranch house, and I could tell from her expression that she was about to confront me about last night. Just then Wyatt emerged from the barn, unknowingly coming to my rescue. "Jake," he called, "that horse will be here in about half an hour. Come help me finish preparing for its arrival."
"Yes sir," I replied and followed him to the corral.
It was four in the afternoon before I rode out of Riverbend Ranch. Wyatt and I had spent a couple hours this morning talking to the owner of the horse we were hired to train. Well, actually the owner was a chatterbox who did pretty much all the talking with Wyatt voicing a few ideas here and there while I just listened, trying to remember what the day would bring. I really didn't remember too many of the specifics between the New Year's party, graduating from high school, starting college and then becoming a vampire. Strangely all my memories from my vampire years were perfectly intact though. Guess I excepted that I'd have lost the clarity of those memories after becoming human again. As a vampire I basically had an eidetic memory, meaning that I never forgot anything, not even the smallest of details. Probably one of the main reasons vampires had the potential to be such amazing academics. Anyway, once the horse's owner had finally gone we saddled up Neha, that was the filly's name, and I mounted her once we were in the corral. Her owner had explained to us that she was generally a very quiet and reliable horse, but while she was being broken in there had been a few incidents. Unfortunately, the man hired to break her in had some harsh methods that had led to Neha becoming very nervous and easily frightened. Her owner had heard many good things about Wyatt and his horse training methods, so decided to hire him to try making her a calm filly once more. So after what feels like my first day back on the job I'm left sore from the long day of riding and the too-many-times I fell off. Yeah… I'm never gonna live that one down. Apparently I've been away from horses for too long as I would fall off almost every time Neha spooked this morning, well until I got back into the rhythm of horse riding again. As home came into view I was overwhelmed with a feeling of reluctance to return home, so I turned Witch around and headed out towards the Calico Mountains.