The chapter I promised has been uploaded. Here you guys are. Also, the point of view jumps around a bit, so it might cause a teeny bit of confusion.
I don't own Horseland
Chapter ten
Molly and the others rushed into the trees to find Chloe sobbing next to Zoey's body. Zoey was sprawled on the ground covered in scratches and bleeding from a long cut along her forehead. The girls gasped in horror and withdrew while the boys swallowed their fear and moved closer, checking Zoey's worst injuries quickly.
"We have to get her back to the ranch!" Will shouted, taking control of the situation Bailey and Will took deep breaths before picking up the bleeding and unconscious girl and carrying her into the house. Alma and Molly laid out towels while staring at the floor so that they didn't have to look at Zoey's body. Chloe Sank to her knees next to her sister and bawled, unable to take her eyes away.
"Chloe, we need you and the other girls to clean her." Bailey murmured gently, holding out some wet cloths, a bottle of antibiotic, a spare dress and a bucket of slightly soapy water. Chloe slowly nodded and the boys left the room; quietly, Alma and Molly helped Chloe get Zoey's wounds exposed so they could clean them. It was a silent task and all of the girls were afraid to break the silence in case it sent Chloe into tears again. At last, Chloe slipped the dress onto Zoey's paler than usual body, Bailey's parents came in wearing solemn faces.
"How did this happen?" Mrs. asked softly.
"We're not sure." Alma murmured.
"No!" Chloe snarled. "Don't you protect that murderous liar! Sarah did this!"
"Chloe, there's no proof that she did it." Molly sighed.
"But she changed tonight!" Chloe pointed out angrily, crossing her arms defensively.
"That doesn't mean that she's the one that hurt Zoey." Molly reasoned.
"Hold up." Mr. Handler interrupted. "Why would Sarah Whitney want to try and hurt Zoey?"
"Because she's a human-eating monster!" Chloe shouted, her tears flooding from her eyes. "I want her off the riding team and far away from my sister!"
"Now, Chloe," Mrs. Handler cooed. "I know you're upset, but placing blame won't make matters any better."
"But it's true!" Chloe pleaded.
"She's right, Mom." Molly and Alma both gasped to see Bailey and Will standing behind the adults holding up a camera. "We got pictures of Sarah while she was changing. Chloe's telling the truth about her not being human."
While Mrs. Handler looked over the pictures suspiciously, Mr. Handler looked between the five kids with a raised eyebrow. "If Sarah's not human, then what is she?" he inquired.
Will rubbed the back of his head. "She's-."
"No!" Alma shouted. "We promised Sarah we wouldn't tell anyone else! Her parents will be angry when they return."
"That's her fault for telling us!" Chloe growled.
"Sarah's a weretiger." Will told his uncle softly.
"Surely you're joking?" Mr. Handler chuckled.
"They're not, hon." Mrs. Handler whispered. "Check out these pictures."
Mr. Handler took the camera and flipped through the pictures, his eyes widening with each picture. "She… she's really a-a monster." He breathed, going pale. "We've been harboring a monster in our home."
"She's not a monster!" Alma protested.
"But she attacked Zoey!" Chloe shouted.
"Where is your proof!" Alma retorted.
Chloe stalked over to the Latina, but Alma's instinct wouldn't deter her from sticking up for Sarah. "The proof is right there! My sister's wounds are enough proof!"
"No they're not! There could be other wild cats in the forest like the one the day Sarah-." Alma's head snapped to the side as a sharp slap landed on her cheek. Breathing deeply, Alma raised her hands and pushed Chloe back, propelling the blonde into Molly. Chloe stood again and the two girls faced each other, having a glaring battle to see who would back down first.
Mrs. Handler stepped between them and put calming hands on Chloe's shoulders. "Now, I know that someone's hurt and tension is high because Sarah is your friend, but that's no reason to fight. I'll go let the Stilton parents know what's occurred so that we can get this sorted out."
"Meanwhile, Bailey, Will, help me get the cage."
"But Dad," Bailey protested. "We promised Sarah we wouldn't put her in a cage!"
"Well, that's one promise you're going to have to break, now isn't it? Let's go."
Both boys glanced at each other and hung their heads, following the other man out the door. Chloe followed Mrs. Handler to the phones to see if she could get her parents to side with her while Molly and Alma stayed in the room alone. Once everyone else was gone, Molly glanced at Alma and pulled the Latina into a gentle embrace. Alma felt her body shaking and knew she couldn't hold back to the tears any longer.
"They're going to put her in a cage!" she whispered brokenly. "We've betrayed our best friend! Sarah is going to hate me forever now."
Molly shushed her quietly. "Sarah couldn't possibly hate you, Alma. You guys are closer to each other than the rest of us. She might hate the rest of us, but she won't hate you." Alma sniffed and nodded, allowing Molly to comfort her until the inevitable happened.
Sarah felt a chill crawl down her mighty spine and glanced at the ground. "Scar, something's wrong." She growled to her Guardian.
"I know Sapph." The mare replied.
"Do you think it has anything to do with our friends?"
"I'm not sure, but we'll find out in the morning when we get back. For now, you continue watching the moon while I keep watching for trouble."
Sarah nodded and gazed back at the sky. "The moon is so beautiful tonight." She murmured. "And it's a red moon at that. Those are always the best because it's dust coming off Mars and reflecting off the moon."
Scarlet chuckled. "Trivia book?"
"Mother." Sarah replied.
"Ah, I'll have to remember that then."
Through the night, Sarah thought about many things, but one thing in particular kept invading her mind. Or rather, one person. Alma was constantly creeping back into her thoughts and the blue-and-red tiger couldn't help but smile. At last, the sun began rising and Sarah made her way back through the trees to the house, swiftly climbing through her window and dressing in her evening gown. Climbing into bed, Sarah decided to get a few more hours of sleep before waking up again to join the others for training.
Unbeknownst to Sarah, the boys were finished setting up the cage deep in the forest and were waiting for her to come down.
"Now, just act the way you normally would in the mornings." Mr. Handler told them sternly. "She mustn't know that we're onto her or the entire thing could blow up in our faces and we'd be next. Understood?" Bailey nodded obediently, but Will took a few seconds before nodding as well.
"Good, your mother and I will be out in the pastures if you need us." With that, he left out the back door. Minutes later, Sarah walked down the stairs, yawning and stretching, completely dressed and ready to go.
"So, how was the full moon last night?" Bailey inquired nonchalantly.
"Good morning to you too, grumpy." Sarah giggled. "My night was fine. I stared at the moon all night and talked to Scarlet."
"No feeding?" Will asked curiously.
"No." Sarah said slowly, giving them an odd look. "I already told you guys that I don't eat until the third night of the full moon. If I don't, then I'm extremely aggressive and moody for the next month. Why so curious about my habits?"
"No reason." Will replied, opening the newspaper and scanning the comics.
"We're just nosy." Bailey chuckled.
Sarah laughed and began eating her breakfast of bacon and sausage. Will gave Bailey a 'thank you' look and Bailey replied with a shrug and a smile.
A knock on the door signaled that someone had arrived and Sarah glanced at the door questioningly. "That's weird; usually the others aren't here until I've finished eating." She stood and walked to the door, opening it with a smile on her face. Only her reflexes and instinct prevented the hand aiming for her face from hitting its mark.
"Chloe?" Sarah's eyes narrowed slightly. "What's wrong with you?"
"You're what's wrong!" Chloe snapped. "You're all wrong. Ever since you came, everything's been wrong!"
Another slap was aimed, but before it could make contact, Sarah's hand was up to catch the wrist. "Why do you keep trying to hit me?" she demanded. "I haven't done anything wrong!"
"Yes you have! Or can you not remember anything from your tiger form, catgirl?"
"What do my changes have to do with anything?" Sarah growled.
"You ripped into Zoey last night, you animal!" Chloe roared.
Sarah's eyes turned angry. "I didn't rip into anyone last night. I was staring at the moon with Scarket."
"Oh sure." Chloe snorted. "That's what you say you were doing, but that doesn't make it true."
"Neither does saying she did it without having been there to see it!"
Sarah's heart lifted slightly at the heated voice. "Hey Alma!" Sarah called.
"Hey Sarah." Alma replied curtly, still glaring at Chloe. Sarah noticed a large handprint bruise on her cheek and wondered where it could have come from. Alma's parents weren't the abusive type, they were sweet kind people.
"You wanna finish where we left off last night, chica?" Chloe asked, mocking Alma's heritage.
"Are you gonna talk or hit me again so I have a reason to fight someone as low as you?" Alma demanded, putting her hands on her hips. This was a shock to Sarah and the anger immediately boiled over.
"You hit her?" Sarah snarled, stepping in front of Alma protectively and crouching slightly.
"Yeah, what's it to you?"
Sarah's eyes narrowed again and she saw a shudder pass through Chloe. "How dare you?" she growled, the growl much more prominent than the words themselves. "I should tear you in half and rip out your spinal cord." Calming slightly, Sarah stood straight and crossed her arms. "But I won't because that would make me as low as you."
Turning to her friend, Sarah's expression softened. "Come on, Alma. Let's get some ice for that bruise, it smells inflamed."
Alma nodded, still glaring at Chloe, and allowed Sarah to tug her into the house. Bailey and Will had disappeared, but Sarah took no notice as she opened the freezer and grabbed a few ice cubes before snatching a paper towel and folding the ice into it; as gently as she could, Sarah pressed the makeshift icepack to Alma's bruised cheek.
Alma welcomed the soothing chill and held her hand over Sarah's for a moment. "Thank you."
"No." Sarah said softly. "Thank you, for standing up for me."
Just then, Bailey and Will walked down the stairs. Sarah felt a growl building in her throat and she sat Alma down so that the Latina could hold the icepack as she stalked over to the boys.
"That's why you were asking about my transformation." she snarled.
"What are you talking about?" Will inquired as calmly as he could.
"You thought that I'd killed Zoey!"
"No Sarah, we didn't!" Bailey told her consolingly. "We just wanted to rule you out so that no one got suspicious."
Sarah huffed and her eyes stayed narrowed a moment longer, trying to determine if they were lying. She wished she had her parents' ability to smell lies, but-. Sarah felt a pang of loneliness at the thought of her parents and sighed. "Whatever. I think I'll take Scarlet for a run through the woods."
Alma and the boys watched as Sarah strode out the door. Alma glared at the boys angrily. "How could you make her feel terrible like that?" she demanded. "Sarah has done nothing wrong!"
"You don't know that for sure, Alma!" Bailey snapped while Will rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Before Molly gave us that whole werewolf idea, we all would have thought this was a wildcat that did this. Now you're jumping to our friend. I think I'm going to take Button for a quick sprint through the hills."
The Latina walked back outside and left the boys alone to think. They figured that Chloe had gone to find their parents so they had a few minutes to think before Molly arrived. When the African American girl arrived, they explained the situation to her and Molly also got upset with them, but she agreed to a training session with them. That would give everyone time to think on what would happen in three nights' time.
There you are, faithful readers. I hope you liked it. Drop me a review so I know. I also love it when you g=fav and follow. Thanks for the support guys!