In the early hours of the next morning Jess woke to feel of Argo's hot breath on her face. Around mid day the day before, Rick and a few other men finished building a stable area for her and the horse and since she missed sleeping around her horses, she decided to pack her stuff up and move out there for a few days. Rick saw her headed out there with her stuff the night before and had kindly brought her extra blankets for padding on the hard ground.
Jess and Rick had come to a silent understanding of each other. From what Carol had told her, he'd been through a lot and had recently backed down as the leader of the group because of his children. She realized that the poor man was just trying to hold himself and his family together, just like she wished she could have done with hers, and he'd taken it upon himself to help take care of her. She reciprocated his help by teaching Carl how to ride Nahar and helped Rick plant some of the crops.
The cowgirl stretched where she laid in the corner where she'd made a pallet of hay topped with the blankets Rick had given her and sat up as Argo immediately started nibbling her ear.
"I'm up, I'm up," she told her horse as she rubbed his jaw affectionately, "Guess my days a sleepin' 'til dawn er over. Dern Kookoo clock."
Back before the turn, Jess was always up hours before daylight to help clean the barn stalls and prep the horses for whatever work needed to be done that day. Even back then, she'd sleep out close to Argo often because she'd been building a bond with him and he would wake her up every morning she slept close to him. She smiled up at her best friend, knowing she was a lucky girl to have such a good horse.
She quickly got up and brushed through her hair that she'd let down the night before and set to braiding it back into a loose braid. Jess finished with the fishtail over her shoulder and quickly pulled her flannel shirt back over her tank top and buttoned the bottom three buttons when she heard someone approaching. Once she was satisfied her scars were covered, she fished her black leather riding chaps from her bag and stepped out into the cool morning air. She knew the day would warm up quick and she'd be out of the shirt by noon but she didn't want to be too exposed to the chill of the morning or her scars visible to everyone else at the prison.
Jess let out a sigh of relief when she saw that Daryl was her only early morning visitor.
"Brought breakfast," Daryl grumbled as he held out a plastic bag with beef jerky as the cowgirl smiled while she clipped the bitless reigns to each side of Argo's halter.
"Just like a trail ride. Beef jerky fer breakfast. All we're missin' is tha coffee," she sighed wistfully as she tossed the riding blanket on Argo's back. She saw Daryl hold up a thermos.
"Don't never say I didn't get ya nutin," he teased while he waved the coffee filled metal canister at her.
"I'm cookin' on tha front burner today! Yer my hero," she exclaimed as she came around Argo to take the food and coffee from him. He tried to hold his scowl.
"I ain't no hero, woman," he growled handing over the items.
Jess practically had to bite her tongue so she wouldn't say that he was everyone's hero. Underneath all that redneck bravado, he had a heart of gold and she knew he'd lay his life down for any one of those people in the prison. Jess poured herself a quick cup of coffee and took a piece of jerky to chew on as she watched Daryl stand there.
"Hhorse ain't gonna saddle itself, peach," she teased.
"Shut up, Tex," he grumbled as he pulled Nahar's riding blanket off the fence. Jess looked at him in surprise as he tossed the blanket and saddle on the chestnut horse expertly. A redneck that knew how to saddle and ride? Be still heart. He may not have the mannerisms of a cowboy and she was glad for it because she liked rough and a little aloof even if he was a little grumpy.
They worked in silence until their horses were ready to go and Jess disappeared back into the barn to gear up. She slid her gun into a holster on her belt next to her tactical knife, stuck her extra clips into her saddlebag and one in the pocket of her pullover, and slung her quiver across her body. She chose to leave the machete behind because it would just weigh her down more than she already was and her tactical knife would be enough anyway. She carried her bow back to Argo just as Rick appeared to let them through the gate and metal doors.
"You guys ready?" The farmer asked.
Jess checked her saddle cinch one last time before she easily pulled herself up and settled in with her bow in one hand and the reins in the other. She smiled at the feeling of home and Argo whinnied like was glad to have her on his back. Daryl looked over at the horse and rider and couldn't help the near smile. He hadn't seen anyone that happy in a long time.
"I'd be more worried 'bout Daryl if I's you," she joked with a wink.
Rick laughed at her as he let her go to open the gate.
"I heard that," the hunter grumbled from his mount, pulling his crossbow from his back to rest on his leg.
"Ya sure ya know how ta ride, peach? This ain't gon' be no trail ride," she taunted as she pulled up beside him to wait for the gate.
"Just try and keep up," he retorted as the gate opened and he kicked Nahar forward into a trot.
Jess grinned wildly at his challenge as she squeezed Argo with her heels and he shot off into a run. She heard the gates close behind her and she blew past Daryl and went several feet before shifting in the saddle and Argo cut hard left to turn around. Horse and rider trotted back to Daryl and Nahar to circle around them tauntingly.
"That's my line, Dixon," she grinned as she fell in beside him.
"I ain't never bringin' you coffee again," the man mumbled as he lead the way.
He knew she was excited to be back out of the prison gates and he didn't blame her. If she was anything like him, and he felt she was, being closed into one place for too long tended to drive him crazy. This was also her first real ride in over two weeks and he wondered if she'd ever been off a horse for that long before as he looked over at the expression of pure joy on her face. At least the new world didn't take that away from her like it'd done with everything else.
After about two hours of riding they came upon the river where Daryl and Jess had first met each other but much farther downstream. Daryl carefully guided Nahar down the drop off to walk to the edge of the water while Jess watched with amusement. The way he'd tensed in the saddle and how slow he guided Nahar to move had her wonder if he'd been thrown before. She'd seen it often enough, casual riders that became overly cautious doing anything but walking, trotting, or running a horse in a straight line after being thrown.
Jess just smiled as he turned in the saddle as horse and rider stood at the water's edge to giver her a "hurry up" look. She smirked mischievously at him as she nudged Argo and he did a running leap down the four-foot drop. Argo pranced happily towards Nahar to stand a few feet next to her without Jess's direction. When the rider looked up at Daryl she see his eyebrows drawn together in aggravation. Was he jealous?
He motioned for her to come closer so they could talk and Jess pressed her right heel into her horse's side and Argo sidestepped until Jess's leg brushed Daryl's. He spoke quietly to her as he kept his eyes on their surroundings.
"Some properties we can check on the other side," he nodded toward the direction he mentioned. "We can hunt then look for a horse after we get clear of the trees."
Jess just shrugged.
"This yer territory, lead on," she admitted while she pulled her shirt off to tie around her waist as the day became much hotter, uncaring if Daryl saw her scars again.
Daryl didn't say anything, he just kicked Nahar ahead and pulled his crossbow from around his shoulder to rest on his leg again, ready for hunting. Jess adjusted her grip on her bow and grabbed Argo's reigns as she gave him the command to follow.
Daryl carefully kept his eyes off of Jess as she pulled off her shirt because he would have let his eyes linger for longer than he should. Not in a bad way, but in a way that would have given away his carnal thoughts about her. Her scars didn't bother him, in fact, he thought they were a brand of how strong she was and how she'd lived through the worst of experiences.
Daryl pulled himself from his thoughts as they reached the other side and they needed to start the hunt which required concentration. Jessica pulled out an arrow and notched it as they started making their way through the silent woods. They walked the horses slow, side by side except to guide around trees so they could tap each other if they saw something. Hunting was much harder with the horses as they weren't quiet when they walked like humans but it's not like they could leave them. Besides, rabbit and squirrel hunting didn't require as much stealth as deer hunting.
They spent the next several hours hunting and checking barns and fields for any sign of horses. They were more lucky with the hunt as they both had a nice string of animals that hung from their pommel where as the horse hunt wasn't as lucky. They'd found a few dead horses and indications of recent activity but came up empty on the search.
When the sun started to move toward the horizon, they decided it was time to turn around and head back.
"We got enough, let's go," Daryl said quietly as he turned Nahar around and Jess followed suit.
After about thirty minutes of navigating back through the forest, Jess was a little tired of the silence.
"Squirrels'll make a nice stew," Jess offered as she followed his lead.
"Yup," he stated as they moved.
They let the horses navigate them through the trees and kept them pointing in the right direction and it didn't take long for them to see the river through the trees.
"So ya ever been thrown 'fore," Jess asked from atop Argo behind Daryl and Nahar.
"No," he growled as he stepped Argo down the embankment.
"We didn't just fall off'a turnip truck, peach. He can smell it 'n' I can tell by how ya ride," she teased with a wink.
"Damn horse," he grumbled over his shoulder at her.
He would never admit it out loud but he enjoyed her teasing because he knew it meant she at least liked him enough to do so. It was nice to have someone to banter with every once in a while, even though he was a man of few words.
"Don' listen ta 'im Argo. He's just jealous," she chuckled with a pat on Argo's neck and a smile in his direction as they started across the river side by side.
She knew that she got dangerously close to flirting but she didn't care. She hadn't had this much fun in a long time. There was good company and horseback riding which had been two of her favorite things before the turn and she hadn't had both since her sister died.
"Shu-"
His sentence cut off as the air echoed with a deafening sound of a high-powered rifle.
