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Mina and Kyle -- Pre-simming
Part 3/4 The Danger
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"Come on, Kyle!" Mina called over her shoulder. "Can't you go any faster?"
"This stupid horse!" he shouted back.
She smiled and pet Mask's neck lovingly. "I should have given him a slower horse," she muttered. "At least then he could keep it under control." Mask reared his head and snorted at her in response.
Hearing a whinny and a startled cry from behind her, Mina turned around in her saddle to see Kyle crashing through the brush towards her. Her eyes widened in alarm. He was on a collision course with her, and he couldn't slow the horse!
"Mina!" Kyle cried. Quickly grasping Mask's reins, Mina jumped over a fallen tree and off the trail. Kyle went flying past, doing all he could to hang on.
"Go, Mask!" she shouted. Mask immediately took off after the runaway horse Desperado, practically flying across the ground. Mina berated herself for talking Kyle into this. He had never ridden a horse before! And she had managed to pick the exact one that would give him trouble. If anything happens to him, she thought, it will be all my fault. Tightening her jaw, she resolved that nothing would happen to Kyle, and she urged Mask forward.
"Hang on, Kyle," she shouted calmly. She must keep him calm. "Where are the reins?"
"Somewhere around my right shoe!" he called back, in the same tone of voice. Looking quickly, she saw what he meant. The reins were draped precariously over his right foot.
As Mina struggled to work out how to get the horse to stop, it suddenly veered off the trail. Mask, running like the wind, turned and followed.
"No!" Mina gasped. As if things couldn't get away worse!
Think calmly, she told herself. Deep breaths. You must get Kyle out of this. After all, you put him there.
"Kyle! Are you holding his mane?"
"This horse is half bald already," he responded. At least he was being light about the situation.
"Get a good handhold!" she said, while Mask pulled up next to the horse.
"Why?" he asked. They were close enough to whisper, except for the pounding of the horses' hooves.
"Because," Mina said, "the horse is going to rear up when I jump onto it."
Kyle's eyes widened comically in shock. "Mina, you can't! Wait, stop-"
Mina stood up in the saddle. Mask didn't even seem to notice. They had begun practicing this move when Mina was ten. Tensing her legs beneath her, she jumped ...
... and landed hard behind Kyle on the horse.
Astounded, Desperado reared, just as Mina had predicted. This caused Mask to shoot ahead of the horse, but it gave Mina precious seconds to wrap her arms around Kyle, grasp a handful of mane, and yank.
Amazingly, the horse slowed to the point where Mina could bring him to a halt, a combination of her pulling and the shock of someone jumping on his back. Still pulling on his mane, her arms wrapping around Kyle, she stopped the horse, and jumped down to grab the reins. She looked up, grinning at Kyle, to see horror and amazement on his pale white face.
"You ... I ... that horse ..." Mina giggled. For once, Kyle seemed to be speechless!
"Come on, get down before you kill yourself," she replied to his stuttering.
Without a word, Kyle climbed down from the horse and glanced around. Following his lead, Mina also looked around to see where they were. It was then that fear started gnawing at her. The horse had galloped really far off the trail, and now Mina had no idea where they were.
"Kyle, do you-" she was cut off but his hand over her mouth.
"Shh ..." he whispered. "Do you hear that?"
Mina strained to listen. She heard voices, coming from somewhere near them, and she nodded to Kyle.
"Come on," he said. "We've got to hide!"
Dumbfounded, unsure of why he was so worried, Mina led Desperado and Mask and followed Kyle behind a cluster of trees and rocks.
"Kyle," she whispered. "What's wrong?"
"I heard voices. Now, please, be quiet!" He didn't even look at her as he talked; he simply watched the clearing warily. Mina bit her lip, wondering why he was so afraid of being seen. Maybe he was just being extremely cautious. Loren was like that, sometimes.
Mask snorted, and both she and Kyle jumped. "Keep the horses quiet!" he hissed.
Mina thought she heard a whir of machinery, the kind of noise that one might hear from an elevator. Then, she heard a thump. Tending to the horses, she did not see what it was that made Kyle gasp.
Too quickly for her to even register what he was doing, Kyle threw himself on top of Mina and they both tumbled to the ground.
"Don't make a sound!" he hissed, his hand covering her mouth again.
Mina became angry. She tried to push him off of her, but he was too strong. At that moment, the voices started again.
"Glarash Andalites! Waste of rothi!" It was a guttural voice, but it wasn't speaking in all English. What language was that?
"Quit complaining. We must follow the Visser's orders. If he thinks they'll attack the Pool through this entrance, who are we to argue?"
The voice was softer than the first, and when it started speaking, Kyle gave a low growl. His hand still over her mouth, Mina couldn't ask him what was wrong. She could only speculate.
From the sounds of pounding feet coming through the ground, she guessed there were about thirty people out there. They must have been heavy, though; their footsteps thumped against the ground harder than most.
Amazingly, the horses had been quiet until then. Unfortunately, Desperado ruined the silence by snorted at something he didn't like.
"The Andalites!" the second voice cried. "They have horse morphs! Search them out!"
Mina heard the sound of brush being ripped through. Suddenly, Kyle rolled off her. "Come on!" he said. "Get on Mask and run!"
She ignored the fact that she had no idea what was going on. "What about you?" she cried. "You can't ride on Desperado!"
Kyle's eyes had taken on a wild, yet determined look. "I'll ride on Mask behind you. Now get on!"
Without a second thought, Mina jumped onto Mask's back, then reached down a hand to help Kyle up behind her. Desperado would follow instinctively, so she didn't have to worry about him. Mina felt Kyle wrap his arms tightly around her waist.
For one second, time seemed to come to a standstill. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. She leaned down, and whispered one word into Mask's ear.
"Run."
Mask shot off like a bullet.
Mina closed her eyes against the wind, feeling its coolness on her face. She let Mask do what he had been born and raised for: running. However much she might have tried, this was his territory, and she could only sit back and let him take control. It was how their partnership had always worked.
Unconcerned as to which direction they were heading, Mask led them deeper into the woods. Eventually, the sounds of shouts behind them faded away, leaving only the two horses pawing up the ground as they ran. Kyle soon shook Mina's shoulder.
"Mina, I think we lost them," he said simply.
Mina's eyes flew open as she snapped out of her trance. She took a moment to remember where she was, then half-turned to eye him.
"Mask," she said, still looking at Kyle. "Stop."
Obediently, Mask slowed to a walk, then halted completely, Desperado following suit. The latter bent to nibble grass, but Mask waited until his riders had disembarked before deigning to eat.
Mina turned to Kyle and looked him straight in the eye. "Tell me what just happened back there," she said quietly. "Who, or what, were you so afraid of?"
Kyle stood still for a long moment. "I can't tell you," he said finally.
"Why not?" Mina's voice raised.
"Because ... I can't explain. You just need to trust me right now. I know who those ... people are, and all they would have done is hurt you and me." He looked at her, his eyes pleading. "Please, Mina. I can't tell you why. Maybe someday I can, but for now ... you need to trust me."
Kyle, she thought, but didn't say aloud, I trust you with my life ... and my heart.
Instead, she simply replied, "I trust you."
Kyle slowly blew out a breath. "Okay. We need to get back to the city." He glanced up, worried, at the darkened sky. "It's getting late. Do you have any idea where we are?"
"North of the city and east of the trail," she said. "Beyond that, I don't know. I'm not allowed to explore off the trail."
Suddenly, a drop of water hit her nose. Mina wiped it away angrily. Apparently, the night wasn't the only thing darkening the clouds.
Kyle, looking at the clouds once more, made his decision. "We can't go far tonight. We'll have to find shelter. Come on," he started off. "We have to hurry!"
Quickly grabbing the reins of the horses, Mina followed. Content to focus on their immediate survival, she pushed her questions for him back into her mind for another day.
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Check back in soon for the fourth and final part to the story of Mina and Kyle!