Ok! Second chapter and some clarification. Also- enter Heartland stuff
Leap of Faith
Chapter 1
I trotted Luna over to the fence as one of my working students, Daniel Lawson, approached, looking puzzled.
"There's some nurse from a hospital in California on the phone for you. She refused to tell me why she was calling though. She just said she needed to speak with you." Daniel said.
I dismounted from Luna as fast as I could and slid in between the fence boards calling to Daniel over my shoulder, telling him to walk Luna out and then rub her down.
Thoughts ran through my head at the speed of light. What happened? I picked up the phone, knowing that I didn't want to hear what the nurse on the other end of the line had to say.
"Hello?" I said, hiding the slight tremor in my voice. "Nick Halliwell speaking."
"Mr. Halliwell, I'm sorry to tell you this, but your daughter has been injured in an accident at a horse show. She sustained a small skull fracture and a broken collarbone. She is currently in a coma, but she is responding and should regain consciousness soon." The nurse told me in a brisk, businesslike tone.
After finding my voice, I managed to ask, "How's her horse?"
The nurse paused for a moment before telling me that she didn't know, but she found the number for the equine hospital closest to the showgrounds. I put down the phone and just stood for a moment, soaking it all up. I glanced up at a bulletin board that was plastered with photographs of every horse that had come here. My eyes scanned the pictures, passing over Luna, Dylan, Star, and countless other horses before I finally saw what I was looking for. It was a professionally done photo of a seal bay mare and her rider soaring over a high jump. The rider was a tall, skinny 16-year-old girl. She was my daughter. The horse was her favorite, a young thoroughbred mare she had rescued from the track almost 4 years ago. Emma named her Alloverdaplace because of her lack of a trot or canter. As soon as Emilie cued her for a transition, she would take off at a headlong gallop and it was next to impossible to stop her. They had even broken a bit together once. All of those problems had stopped years ago. Even though Ally was still a typical thoroughbred, she could easily handle high-level jumps. Today, they should have been competing in a major show. It could have been a turning point for them. Then again, maybe it was.
"Please be OK Emma. You too Ally." I whispered.
I picked up the telephone and dialed the number of the equine hospital, took a deep and pressed the SEND button. I heard the phone ring once before someone picked it up.
"Hello. River Valley Equine Hospital." A very professional voice said.
"Hello, I wanted to ask about my daughter's horse. She's a seal bay thoroughbred mare. Her name is Alloverdaplace. How is she?"
"Well, I'm sorry sir, but Ally died instantly. When she crashed into the jump, she broke her neck." The secretary replied.
"Oh. Thanks" I managed to mumble before I put down the phone. Ally was gone. Emma would be devastated. I went over to my secretary and told her to get me some airplane tickets to River Valley, California as soon as possible. Forget the show in France.
::2 weeks later::
"So are there any new horses I would really like?" I asked my dad. We were only a few hours away from dad's stable and after the 5 day trip, I was eager to get a break from sleeping in a moving trailer, a real bed wouldn't be bad either. I'd been living in the trailer for the whole year I had been away on the circuit.
"Nope. I hate to break it to you, but they're all sane." He replied. He went on to tell me about each horse and all of the working students he currently had. When we finally got home, I was bored to death. I jumped out of the truck and walked into the stable. I greeted the horses as I passed them until I got down to one of the end stalls. I looked at it. A new nameplate had been put on. Summer Storm. I glanced into the stall, but it was empty. I leaned against the stall partition and closed my eyes, tears running down my cheeks. Why did you have to leave, Ally? Why?
"Umm…" I heard someone saw. I opened my eyes, seeing a guy that I guess must have been one of the working students leading a big dapple gray horse.
"Sorry" I said as I moved out of the way. "Hi, I'm Emilie, Nick's daughter." I said.
"I'm Daniel Lawson, one of the working students. This is Storm" he said, indicating the horse he was leading. "I didn't know Nick had a daughter."
"Oh, well, I've been away on the circuit for about a year. I'm glad to be back here." I replied. Somehow, it was a lie. Yes I was glad to be back, but something was missing. Ally was missing. I bit my lip slightly before saying, "My horse, Ally, used to have this stall."
"What happened?" Daniel asked softly.
"There was an accident at a show a couple weeks ago. Something scared her and she took off and crashed into a jump. She broke her neck." I said brokenly.
"My mare, Amber was hurt at a show a while ago. She broke her leg. We tried to help. She had an operation, but an infection set in. We had to put her down. I know how you feel." He said sympathetically. I watched silently as Daniel walked Storm into the stall. Ally's stall.
"Emma!" I heard my dad say.
"Yeah?" Dad walked up to me and told me to go to an auction that was going on nearby and buy a horse.
"OK" I said, turning to leave.
"Emma," dad called, "try to get something decent." I grinned and nodded, heading off to my trailer.
Ok, short, but I'll have more later. This was really just a second prologue. The action will come in later.