Unbridled Lightning



Chapter 2




"I think this is the one!" Raven cried excitedly as she opened the stall door. The Whitebrook and Whisperwood group had been at the auction for about an hour, looking at all the horses. Everyone had split up after arriving. Josh had decided to help Raven, since he already had a horse. After looking at dozens of horses, Raven had finally found one she wanted. Midnight Magic was an eight-year-old black thoroughbred, trained for eventing.

"Mom, Dad, come here, quick! I want this horse!" Sammy and Tor came over and checked the horse thoroughly.

"Can I have him?" Raven asked.

"Sure, honey." Tor said.

"Come on Raven. I want to see if Mel found a horse yet. She's been upset ever since Image was retired," Josh said, scanning the crowd as he looked for some sign of his family.

"Look! There are your parents. Maybe they know where Chris and Mel went. Let's ask."

Raven and Josh ran up to Ashleigh and Mike.

"There you are! We've been looking for you everywhere. The auction will start any minute. Go look for your sister. She was looking a bay she really wanted……" Ashleigh's voice trailed off as the auction started, and she hurried off.

"Bye Josh. I'm going to look for mom and dad so we can get Midnight. Good Luck finding your sister."

"Yeah. I'll need it. Hope you guys get him. He seems really nice."

Josh hurried through the stables, looking for Chris and Mel. He couldn't find them anywhere. Maybe I should just go back to the auction…….unless I want Chris to kill me, Josh thought. Soon the crowd thinned, and he spotted his sister.

"Chris, come on. The auction already started!"

As they walked back, Josh remembered that Mel had been looking for a horse.

"Did you find one you liked?," he asked his cousin.

"Nope." Melanie added under her breath, "Not now, not ever."

Josh frowned. Suddenly he heard,

"Midnight Magic, going once, going twice………sold to number twelve!"

He started to run, hoping Whisperwood had bought it. Suddenly he crashed into Raven. "We got Midnight! We got Midnight!" She sang happily.

"Great! You have to go on the trail ride tomorrow. I have to see how he jumps. Meet me at my place, okay?"

"Great!"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * *

"So Chris, did you get that bay you wanted?," Josh asked that night during dinner. His parents had bought one horse, but he didn't know if it was the one Chris had wanted.

"No. That's okay, though. I still have Star to work anyway. The Preakness is in about two weeks. We're definitely going to beat the Townsends this year.

"Can you believe how rude the Townsends were? Parker said they were bragging every minute," Melanie added.

"Yeah. I met them after we cooled Star out. Lavina said she knew all along that Star was a dud, even before 'he got that terrible disease'." Josh started mimicking Lavina.

"She said that?!," Josh had never seen Christina so angry. "She was the one who wanted Star from us because he could buy her so many clothes from the money he won!"

"Let's not talk about them," Ashleigh said. "We all know they'll never learn. So, Josh, Sammy tells me that Raven bought a horse."

"Yeah. He's really neat. His name is Midnight Magic. Midnight's all black. He's eight years old and trained for eventing. We're going on a trail ride tomorrow."

"Be careful. There have been some reports on wolves."

"Oh, is little Joshua too little to go out alone? Maybe he needs his older sister to protect him," Christina teased.

"Christina! He does not need your protection." Ashleigh snapped, but her eyes were twinkling.

"Yeah Chris," Melanie added, giggling. "Your parents can't trust you with him. You're too irresponsible. You'll probably get him run over or something."

Christina opened her mouth in mock horror, but just then, the phone rang. Melanie launched herself out of her seat and grabbed the phone.

"Hello?"

"Mel?"

"Dad!"

"Hi sweetie. You doing okay?"

"Yeah dad. How's Anne?

"Your sister's growing big. She just started to walk."

"Really? That's great."

"Listen Mel, we were wondering if you wanted to come back here. To live with us. It would be really nice if Anne could play with her older sister."

Mel paused, not knowing what to do. One second, she didn't want to leave, but the next second she did. Melanie took a deep breath and said…………….

Chapter Three