Chapter 29
"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" the bailiff asked Sam.
"Yes," Sam nodded and sat down.
"Please state your full name and occupation for the record," the bailiff said.
"Samantha Anne Forster," Sam recited. "I'm a high school senior."
"Thank you Samantha," Uncle Bob smiled at her. "You love horses don't you?"
"Yes, I do," Sam responded.
"Would you say horses were the most important thing in your life?" Uncle Bob asked.
"Not in front of my family," Sam quipped. She saw Dad smile at her.
"But horses are important to you," Uncle Bob went on.
"Yes, they are," Sam nodded.
Uncle Bob talked to her about her horses. He asked Sam about Ace and Sam told the court about her little mustang. Sam knew what was coming, but she still dreaded it.
"You were hurt by a horse a few years ago weren't you?" Uncle Bob asked.
Sam nodded.
"Please answer out loud, Sam," Uncle Bob said.
"I'm sorry," Sam murmured. "Yes I was." She glanced at Dad and Gram. She hated that going over this was going to dredge up old memories. Suddenly Sam was glad that Jake wasn't there.
"Tell us what happened then, Samantha," Uncle Bob urged.
"I don't remember much," Sam told him. "I was kicked in the head and suffered a cracked skull. I remember riding my horse with Jake and the next thing I knew I woke up in the hospital a couple of weeks later."
"Jake would be…," Uncle Bob led her.
"My best friend and big brother since I was four," Sam responded. "Now he's my fiancé."
Sam met the eyes of Bryan, Nate and Quinn and she fought a grin as their mouths twitched. She had just admitted to everyone she was marrying her brother. She bit her lip to keep from laughing.
"Did you have the urge to kill that horse, Sam?" Uncle Bob asked.
"Objection," Jason Freely shouted as he stood up. "Your Honor, this is meaningless."
"Overruled," the judge told Linc's attorney.
"You can answer, Sam," Uncle Bob said to her.
"No, I did not," Sam stated, almost shouting the last word.
"But that horse almost killed you," Uncle Bob replied.
"I don't care," Sam retorted forcefully. "I would never think about killing a horse whether it hurt me or not."
"Why is that, Sam?" Uncle Bob asked.
"I love horses," Sam shrugged. "My horse hurt me, but he didn't mean to. It was an accident."
"The horse of Mr. Slocum's hurt you and it wasn't an accident," Uncle Bob pointed out. "Why wouldn't you want to harm it?"
"He was just doing what stallions do," Sam told him. "I was riding a mare and it was spring, when herd stallions try to add to their herd. I don't think he was a man killer or anything. He was just trying to add the mare to his herd and I got in the way."
"Did you or did you not, shoot Linc Slocum's horse?" Uncle Bob asked her straight out.
"No, I did not shoot Mr. Slocum's horse," Sam's voice rang out strongly in the courtroom.
"Thank you Samantha," Uncle Bob told her. He turned to Linc's lawyer. "Your witness."
