Chapter 14
Hey! I'm back, here's your chapter.
Alex gripped Storm's mane as they galloped around the track at top speed. She looked under her shoulder and saw the profession jockeys; who were supposed to be showing her the ropes of horse racing, but it was now the other way around. Alex looked back up and saw the finish about 100 meters ahead. Storm galloped around the turn; his breaths even, sweat running down his neck.
They came onto the home stretch, several lengths ahead of the other jockeys. Storm's ears perked forward as the came over the finish line, the other riders far behind them. Alex did half halts as she cantered him slightly ahead, then turned him around, trotting him over to where Ben; the race horse trainer that wanted to test Storm for racing.
She slowed him to a stop; both her and Storm breathing heavy. Ben nodded; eyes looking over her horse.
"Well?" Alex said between breaths. Ben's eyes looked to her.
"Well, I think you have a racer here girly!" Ben said cheerfully. Alex felt the corner of her mouth twitch into a big smile. She nodded.
"Thank you." Alex said. Storm nickered, making Ben chuckle.
"Looks like that horse of yours knows what he's in for!" Ben said. Alex nodded, patting Storm's neck. "Your parents know?" Alex shook her head. "Well you better ride." Ben said. Alex grinned, pulling Storm around and galloping him toward home. They galloped; jumping the rail and off toward the neighborhood.
~0~
Alex galloped Storm down the side of the road; on the patch of grass. People had stopped and were now staring; holding up their phones and filming. Alex just grinned and kept going. They came around the turn and Alex saw her house in the distance. Her mom came out on the step and her eyes widened when she saw Alex and Storm galloping toward them. She waved her hands, yelling to slow down.
They came up the drive way in a slow canter, Alex still in her jockey saddle, standing in jockey position; pulled him to a halt. She clumsily dismounted and ran up to her mom.
"H-honey, um. What are you doing?" Her mom asked. Alex had a huge smile on her face.
"Mom, Ben said I could run him!" Alex half yelled, jumping up and down. Her mom smiled, and nodded.
"That's, uh- great honey!" She said. Her dad walked out the door and gave them a curious look, seeing Storm in the driveway.
"Ben said I could run him dad!" Alex squealed.
"Great! That's… really great." Her dad said in a reassuring tone. Alex's smile faded.
"Why do I get the feeling that this won't end well…" Alex said in a quiet voice. Her parents looked at each other, then back at her.
"Well, you see-" Her mom started.
"-Remember how we said… that there are people that… uh." Her dad tried to explain. Alex rolled her eyes.
"People that would want to hurt me if they find me, I know." Alex said. "But this is different dad. They wouldn't look at horse racing-"
"That's just it honey, they see everything. If your name is mentioned once in the paper or a photo of you goes up on Facebook, twitter or Instagram, they could find you like that." Her mom said, snapping her fingers. Alex huffed.
"Is my life always going to be a game of cat and mouse?!" Alex yelled, running to Storm, she jumps on his back.
"Alex-"Her dad called, but she had already galloped down the driveway and back toward the racetrack.
~0~
I brushed Storm off a bit more before putting the brush in the bucket.
"Are you Skye Sanford?" I heard a voice.
"N-" I turned seeing someone I didn't know. "Y-Yes I am." I corrected. The guy walked up and shook my hand.
"I'm Billy; I'll be taken you and your horse out onto the track." He says. I nod. "What's his name?" Billy asked; looking behind me.
"This is Storm." I say; patting his neck.
"He's a beauty, how old?"
"Oh uh, he's 3." I tell him. He nods.
"I'm gonna go get your tack ok?" He says. I nod and he walks away.
"How do you even know if he'll run?" I jumped; not hearing Steve walk up. "Sorry" He says. I shrug and use my fingers to comb his forelock.
"Cause he's done it before." I answer. He raised an eyebrow. "When I was younger, there was this race track near where I lived. I used to take Storm there, just to fool around when someone saw me. They wanted to have him timed. So, a few jockey's came and I got to race. And I won." I laugh. He nods. 'But, they wouldn't let me compete because they knew SHIELD would find me." I add; my blood boiled at having to mention my fake parents. He nods after a few seconds when Billy walked up with the tiny saddle, bridle and saddle blanket.
"Here ya are." I took them gratefully and started to tack him up.
"What's the race name?" Steve cleared his throat. I smirked before tightening the girth and looking at him.
"Storm Runner"
~0~
I pulled myself into the saddle and dropped the reins as I buckled my helmet. Picking the reins up I squeezed my calves and urged Storm into a walk when Steve walked up and grabbed the reins; making him stop.
"You need to be careful out there got it?" He says. I nod. "You'll have to hold him back or else people are gonna notice a horse going 70 miles per hour." He adds. I nod again and role my eyes.
"I got it Cap, now I need to go." I smirk. He sighs before nodding and letting go of the reins; allowing Billy to take them as we headed for the warm up corral.
…
It felt so good to be back in the saddle again. I haven't seen Storm in so long.
Billy was holding the lead as we walked in the circle; I had changed into a jockey uniform. It was black with two red streaks down the middle.
Storm's ears perked forward and he hopped into a small canter. Billy held the lead tighter so he wouldn't go anywhere. There was a horse in front of us and one behind us.
~0~
"Ready?" Billy asked. I nodded and he took the lead off. We picked up a canter and headed toward the starting gate with the other riders. We headed around the gate and waited to be loaded. We were number 2. A chestnut horse was led past us to be loaded. The horses ears perked forward before it whinnied and reared; backing up. Several men grabbed the reins but the horse jerked his head out of their grasps and turned; almost running into us.
Storm's ears immediately went back and he reared. I clutched his main and held on as he went after the chestnut. The horse's ears went back and reared; striking the air and making Storm lash out again. They were biting and kicking at each other and I tried to pull him back.
"Storm!" I yelled. "Stop! We're gonna be disqualified." I said; rubbing his neck to sooth him. He got all 4 hooves back on the ground and several people restrained him and the other horse. We were lead into each of our spots at the gate.
"Who's the new chick?" I heard a guy mumble.
"Beats me"
"Hey kid!" One guy yells over. I glance at him. "Ready to get your ass kicked?" They all laughed and I rolled my eyes. Jockeys are such a pain.
I gripped Storm's mane and let out a breath. It grew quiet and all I could hear was Storm's breathing and my own.
Then the bell sounded.
The gates opened and Storm shot out of the gate so fast that I lost my reins and the mane. I felt my skin slice from his mane and I flew back in the saddle; slipping off the side as he picked up speed.
"Storm!" I yelled. "Slow down!" I was so loud; all I could hear was the pounding of hooves around us. I was hanging onto one side of the saddle; my feet were inches from the ground speeding by. I gripped the saddle as tight as possible and tired pulling myself up. Storm then looked back slightly and slammed on the brakes. I held on and he came to a stop. "Thanks bud" I breathed; pulling myself back in the saddle. "Let's go!" I yelled. He neighed before we shot forward again; this time without me falling and got around the first turn. The other horses were already on the long side. "Alright bud, let's do this!" I said and I felt his hooves strike the ground as he sprinted away down the stretch.
~0~
Steve let out a sigh of relief as Alex managed to get back in the saddle and get back in the race. He was already feeling bad enough as it was; her being kidnapped under his watch. He didn't need her getting herself trampled too.
Giving the track one more look, he walked down the steps of the stands and out the back. Fury gave him the coordinates of the room that Hughes was in. He was making a deal with another organization and if that happened, they wouldn't have two, but three different groups to deal with.
He walked casually into the side staircase ad began to make the climb. They had a first class viewing room. After getting to the top floor her walked out and down the hall; keeping his head low before getting to the right room.
~0~
I gripped Storm's mane tighter as we finally caught up with the other jockeys. Storm hadn't even broken a sweat yet. A few of the jockeys looked up in shock as we passed right by them and got in the lead. We were coming up to the final turn when the jockey from earlier ran up beside us. He raised his whip and hit Storm with it as he came up. Storm let out a low pitched neigh and his ears and head went back. The jockey leaned out and grabbed my reins; trying to get them from my grip.
"Let go!" I yelled. I had to stay under cover so I couldn't hit him.
"I'm not losing this race to a kid!" He yelled back and steered his horse into us. My stirrup hit the rail and made a skipping noise. Suddenly Storm neighed and ramped into the other horse; slowing down a pace he bit down on the jockeys arm and threw him off his horse and to the ground. I watched in shock as I saw his body rolled across the ground; other horses and jockeys passing him.
"Whoa" I breathed. "Thanks bud" I rubbed his neck and picked up my reins again as we came around the corner.
~0~
"I'm sure it's her. I saw her in her escape. If you join us, we could track her down together" A voice said through the door.
"What's in it for us?"
"We'll give you some of the serum. All that needs to be done is extract the serum from her blood." Steve listened through the door. Oh no. He thought. Peeking into the room through the blinds he could see several men in the room.
Excuse me sir? Can I help you?" I guy called. Steve looked up; seeing a waiter man. Before he could look back into the room he heard someone yell fire and dropped to the ground. Machine guns pierced the glass and the room exploded with the sound of bullets.
~0~
I looked over when I saw the crowds getting up and frantically running around and I heard quiet gunfire. Damn it Steve. And you say I need to watch it.
I started to slow Storm down; several dozen lengths ahead of the other horses. They slowly gained on us again and I was about to bring Storm to a halt when I saw a young girl run onto the track and a mother screaming for her to come back. I glanced back at the other jockeys; seeing they weren't paying attention; looking at the stands as the guns were going off. I tied my reins up and leaned to the left.
"Steady boy" I soothed; rubbing his neck. His ears perked up as he saw the young girl; looking around confused as the pounding hooves echoed around us. I glanced down at Storm's hooves pounding the earth at high speed; the thought of her being trampled pushed out of sight.
I leaned farther down; and reached out as we came closer. I see a look of horror cross her face as we got closer and she screamed as I scoped her up with one arm; the weight was hard to hold and hold onto the saddle with my injured shoulder. Seconds later Storm reached back and used his muzzle to push us back up. I grasped the reins and used my spar hand to hug the girl close as she whimpered and wrapped her arms around my neck. My eyes were wide now as the amount of times I could have died or gotten seriously hurt today.
Bit by bit we slowed down and the mother ran over; I lowered her down and the mother; who was now almost in tears; took her into her arms.
"Thank you!" She said; looking up at me. I gave a nod before Storm picked up a gallop as we jumped the rail and ran down the tunnel. We galloped through the stable area til I came to the trailer; I grabbed my bow and other crap and saw Steve's shield. I huffed. This means he's probably getting his ass kicked right now.
"Damn it Steve!" I muttered; picking it up before pulling myself back onto Storm's back and heading toward the building.
~0~
"Get him!" Hughes yelled. Steve looked up briefly before glancing next to him and grabbing a chair; throwing it through the broken window gap at the men. It hit two of them and the third jumped out and threw a punch. Steve blocked it before pushing the guy behind him; making his head collide with the wall. One of the men got up; grabbing his gun and firing several rounds in Steve's direction. He ducked out of the way and once he heard the firing end he stood up and jumped into the window gap and into the room.
He knocked the gun from the guys hand and punched him in the face; effectively knocking him out. Steve looked out the window; seeing people screaming and running every direction. Suddenly he heard the click of the gun and turned.
…
I jumped through the window gap and into the room; slamming the shield into the guys back, making him cry out in pain before falling to the floor. Steve turned as I did so and his eyebrows shot up.
"What? I've wielded your mighty weapon before" I grin; handing it off to him.
"Thanks" He said. I shrugged.
"Where's Hughes?" I asked. He shakes his head.
"He got away." He says. I nod; looking around the room.
"Well, let's go get em then!" I smirk. He rolls his eyes and we run out of the room and towards the exit.
I know it was long, hope you enjoyed! :) PLEASE REVIEW! XD