Chapter 10: An Orphan, Too.

Tech's eyes widened when he spotted the log. He had never jumped before. He glanced at Cassidy. She wore a freaked-out, but determined look. He did his best to copy Cassidy's position.

Right before they jumped, Phantom balked, throwing Cassidy onto her neck. Phantom jumped, but was off-balance. When she landed, Cassidy's feet slid out of the stirrups, and she fell off, landing on her right shoulder.

Lucky, although inexperienced in jumping, took off more graceful than Phantom. But he took off too soon, and had to throw in a buck to clear the log. Tech wasn't ready for this, and was flung forward and right out of the saddle. He hit the ground on his torso, and rolled to the side to avoid being run over by Lucky, who had just landed.

Rev and Rachelle got off lucky, as Rusty and Flaxen ran right past the log. They pulled up their horses and turned around.

Lucky, upon realizing his rider had fallen, stopped and came back to Tech. Phantom, however, was too scared to stop, and ran back to the ranch.

Tech helped Cassidy up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. You?"

"I'll live. I've been hit harder than that."

When Rev and Rachelle came up to the two coyotes, they were practically falling out of their saddles, laughing.

Tech grabbed Lucky's reins. "We'd better go catch Phantom." He mounted and then held out his hand to Cassidy. "Want a ride back to the ranch?"

Cassidy smiled and grabbed his hand. "Thank you." She easily vaulted herself up onto Lucky's back. She wrapped her arms around Tech so she would not fall off again. The four headed off towards the ranch at a quick trot.

When they reached the ranch, they found Ben waiting for them, holding Phantom. "Have an accident?" He asked, chuckling.

Cassidy slid off of Lucky's back. "Yeah. They spooked at something in the forest."

They heard hoofbeats behind them. Ace, Lexi, Duck and Slam were walking towards them. When they spotted Tech and Cassidy, they too, began laughing. Only then did they realize the grass and mud covering their faces and clothes.
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After cleaning up the horses and themselves, they went inside. When Duck came inside, he saw Lexi and Cassidy, cooking something. He began to freak out.

"What! What did I do?! I'm innocent, I tell ya! Innocent!" Unfortunately, Cassidy wasn't well-known for her ability to create mouth-watering meals. In fact, the others used her cooking as a threat whenever Duck needed a ego check.
Lexi glared at him for a moment. "Can it Duck. I'm helping her."

Duck gave out a relieved sigh.

"Besides, this isn't even for you." Cassidy explained. "It's a bran mash, for Phantom and Ghost."

"Oh." Duck walked to the fridge and pulled out a bottle full of milk. Both girls stared at him blankly. "It's for Shadow." They still stared at him. "The orphan foal." He then left.

A few minutes later, Duck was in the foal's stall, feeding him. Shadow enjoyed having Duck around.

"I know who you feel, shorty. I'm an orphan, too." The little foal sucked happily on the bottle. Duck smiled. "You seem to like this stuff." Shadow stopped drinking and looked up at Duck. Suddenly, he hiccuped. Duck laughed.

(end chapter 10)