Her first day on Kesle was starting to be a very unexpected adventure. At first, it was all calm and quiet. Just us moving in. Dad had bought a cute little place about half an hour from town, the house itself was just a three-bedroom two bath. Nothing special, but we didn't care about the house. To us, the most important part was what else was on the property. You see, while it may be just my dad, my brother, and myself in the house. We also had to have enough room for the other members of our family. So for them, we needed a stable. Pegasus is my dad's, he is my dad's. He is a beautiful grey appaloosa and he's been part of the family for almost as long as I have. My dad loves him. My dad doesn't do racing anymore, he mostly just likes to go out and ride free. My brother Dean's horse is named Gypsy. She may seem a bit skittish at first but it's more she just doesn't like most is a black Canadian, she never fails to catch the eye of everyone at most of their competitions. Then there's Aslan, he's mine. He's a palomino dutch warmblood. I've had him for just under three years now, since he was a foal. Anyway back to how the slow day turned into a fast-paced adventure. Dean and I had just finished unloading all the boxes and we wanted to go explore the island. Dad made us promise to take it slow and stick to the roads, we didn't know the island and we didn't want anything to happen to the horses or ourselves. We wandered down the dirt roads in what we hoped the direction of the beach was. All was well and fine until the black stallion had come racing past, without a rider. He wasn't a wild horse from the bit I caught a glimpse of before the stallion running straight towards us spooked Aslan and he took off, completely ignoring me pulling at his bit and my also slightly panicked voice trying to calm him. And that's how we ended up in the middle of the forest, no signal, no sign of civilization, and I think I'm stuck. Aslan had bolted into the wood at the sight of the black horse, we ran for what seemed like forever and only a few moments all at once before Aslan suddenly stopped and spun. I lost my balance at the sudden movement and I guess I pulled too hard at his reins because the next moment he's rearing back and I'm falling off him. Right onto a steep hillside. I couldn't stop myself from rolling down. When I reached the bottom I just lay there staring at the sky for a moment. it was still spinning slightly. I sat up with a groan. Oh yeah, I was definitely going to have bruises. Oh well comes with riding I guess. I stood up and looked up to where Aslan was trying to find his way down to me. " NO, no Aslan no. If you try to get down here you'll fall and hurt yourself. Please stop. Aslan, No." luckily he seemed to get it because he stopped pacing at the top of the hill. She let out a sigh of relief. She looked around again. "Great I've fallen into a ravine, just great" She was at the bottom of a ravine, to her front, back, and left side were drop-offs and she couldn't see any way out from where she was standing either. She sighed and started to walk toward the open end. She heard Aslan neigh up at the top and looked up to see him trying to follow her." Aslan no, stop!" she stood directly under where he was and looked up at him. She didn't say anything for a long time and just stared. she didn't know what to do. From the little way she had gone, there was no obvious way out, but she couldn't go further without Aslan trying to follow. if he hurt himself she didn't know what she would do. She let out a long sigh. She turned in a slow circle hopping away up would magically appear, but no such luck. " oh Aslan, what do I do? What would Dean do? oh, Dean. Dean is probably looking for us. That's good. But I don't know how far we ran from where we were, and Gypsy probably got spooked too. Oh my gosh, Gypsy" she stopped her nervous rambling and looked up at her horse. " Aslan go get Gypsy. Gypsy, Aslan go." Aslan and Gypsy had grown up together. He would know how to find her, and where she was so was Dean. He would see him alone and follow him back to her. She knew it would work, it had to. Aslan neighed and pawed the ground again before turning and lumbering off in the direction she thought they came. She sighed again before leaning back against one of the sides of the ravine. She stayed like that for a while, before she started to feel the adrenalin rush fade and all the scrapes and bruises made themselves known. She sat up and looked herself over.

"Huh," there was a gash on her right upper arm. seven or eight inches long, it wasn't too deep but it was bleeding. It had been bleeding for some time if the blood on her jacket sleeve was anything to go by. She thought for a second before deciding that she would leave it till help came, the blood was already clotting, it wasn't going to be that long anyway, right?

She had waited long enough. She was going to have to get out of here herself. Aslan had left at least an hour ago. She was tired, she was sore and all she wanted to do was shower and go to bed. She groaned when she remembered that she still had to unpack her room at least a little bit to find her bedsheets, just to lay down.

This sucks.

She got up and decided to explore the ravine more now that Aslan wasn't here to worry over.

A little exploring never hurt anyone right? hah! look at me right now. all I wanted to do was look around, maybe visit the town, not go galavanting in the woods and get trapped.

she had been walking for about fifteen minutes when she saw it.

Oh yes!

A grin broke the frown she had been wearing since falling and she rushed toward what seemed to be the end of the ravine. It was a rocky outcropping and by the looks of it, she could climb out of here!

She got out and walked in the same direction as Aslan and hoped he knew what he was ok. She walked for a while before coming upon a road. She didn't think it was the road she and her brother had been separated on but it was a road nonetheless.

Finally, she looked left and right. Which way should I go? She stood just looking back and forth for a moment before deciding to play eenie meenie miney mo. Moma picked right and so she walked, and walked, for what felt like forever for her tired body. She was beginning to think she had chosen wrong when a boy came into view from around a bend in the road. He was walking with his head down, obviously lost in thought and he hadn't seen her yet.

"Hey! Hey! Can you help me, please?" She started to jog toward him

The boy looked up quickly. his mouth fell open slightly as he looked her up and down. And, oh yeah, she hadn't really thought about how bad she probably looked. Hair a mess of leaves and twigs. Dirt smeared everywhere the eye could see and probably places it couldn't. Clothes askew and torn in some places. Oh and the blood on her arm. I probably look like I just walked out of an adventure film. I probably scared him. She stopped a few paces away from him.

He shook his head a few times as if to get rid of a hallucination. Apparently, it didn't work because he looked her up and down again before moving toward her, his arms outstretched as if to catch her.

She looked up at his face and Wow, he was handsome. Bright blue eyes, short light brown hair swept to the side. His lips were even and just slightly pouty. And pink... a very nice shade of pink. And this was so not the time. Maybe she was in shock, that would explain her inability to focus. She tried though, looking back up to his eyes. His eyebrows were scrunched up and his eyes were worried. And yeah that makes sense, a disheveled, bloody girl comes stumbling toward you in the middle of nowhere and you would be worried too. His voice was deep and smooth when he spoke.

"Are you alright? Can you tell me what happened?" After a second of hesitation, he lightly put his hands on her shoulders. They were warm and for the first time, she realized how cold she was. She was shivering in fact. Yep definitely shock. He seemed to notice because he let go and shrugged off his own jacket. "Here have my jacket.'' He brought it around her shoulders.

" I'm fine really. I just really need to find my brother and my horse.''

''Your horse? Did you fall?''

''Um yeah, my brother and I were riding, and out of nowhere, this black stallion came out of nowhere. Aslan got spooked and took off into the woods without my brother. He ran for a while before he threw me off and I fell in a ravine. I told him to get help and when he didn't come back after an hour I decided I had to get myself out. And here I am.'' she tried to shrug but the cut on her right arm twinged at the movement and she hisses lightly.

His frown had deepened at the mention of the black horse but other than that his expression hadn't changed until she hissed. His lips flattened into a thin line and he looked up and down the road. '' Ok, Bright Field stables are just a twenty-minute walk that way,'' he pointed in the direction he had been coming from ''or my house is a few kilometers that way,'' he pointed up the road, the way he was going '' or I could call the paramedics if you'd rather.''

'' NO! Er… I mean no, no I don't need an ambulance. I'm fine. Let's go to bright fields?'' he looked confused at her rather loud refusal of medical attention but he agreed anyway. On the way she thought about giving his jacket back, she didn't want to get blood on it, but it was warm and soft and she was still shivering slightly, so she slipped her arms in, correctly and wrapped it more tightly around herself. Halfway there she stumbles, she's not sure if she hit something in the road or if she was just tired enough to trip over her own feet. The boy's hand snaps out and grabs her left arm, keeping her from falling onto the dirt.

''Right there?'' he looked concerned again.

''Mm-hmm, just tired. Long day. Thanks ''she gave him a small smile.

He looked her up and down again '' Yeah I can tell. And uh, you're welcome.''

He didn't let go of her arm for the rest of the walk. Which was ok with her, he wasn't hurting her. Actually, it was rather comforting. A few minutes later she was able to see what she assumed was the bright fields stables signs, and she sagged a little in relief. He turned his head slightly and gently squeezed her arm. "almost there.'' he reassured.

As they got closer they heard a commotion inside. They both stood to the side of the entrance in shock for a moment. Bright Fields quart yard was buzzing with activity. There was a police car, three other cars, and at least thirty people, who she assumed were bright field patrons and none of whom paid them any mind, but what caught her attention was the big black horse. Not the black stallion that caused all her trouble in the first place. No, this horse she knew. Gypsy. Dean. Thank god.

''What is going on?'' the boy looked around in confusion. She felt kind of bad. She must have thrown his day like hers was. But that wasn't important right now. Dean was here, she had to find him. She pulled her arm from his and pushed her way into the crowd. She thought he may have told her to wait but she didn't listen. Shoving people out of the way in her effort to get close to Gypsy, to Dean. She finally broke through and stumbled into the center of the mass.

''Dean!'' he was there, talking to a police officer. He looked fine, if a little haggard. That was good, she was glad he was hurt. His head whipped around at her call and she could see the relief wash over him.

"Charlotte!''