Flash Back
Chapter 1
I awoke with a chill and had to fight the urge to dig deeper under the covers. Stretching the kinks out of my back, I pushed aside the blanket and slid out of bed.
"Yow!" I sucked in a breath as my feet hit the freezing stone floor. I pulled open a drawer and drew out a pair of thick, gray socks. Without sitting, I hopped about on first one leg then the other as I pulled the socks onto my feet.
I made my bed then went to peruse my closet for the right outfit. Compulsory pair of jeans...blue and black plaid flannel shirt–blue always brought out the color of my eyes...and my shiny new riding boots.
For a full week, now, I had been pestering my Uncle Dave to let me ride Shadow.
"You aren't ready for him yet, Laura. That horse is a brute." Shaking his gray head, Uncle Dave had stomped away from me, heading back to the house from the stables where we'd just brushed down the object of my pleas.
"But Uncle–"
"Don't but Uncle me, young lady. I said no and that's final." He whirled about, opened his mouth as if to speak, then stopped. A ghost of a smile crept across his features. "Had I known what I was getting myself into when I told your daddy I'd take you in..." He gave a deep sigh. "I know you're an able rider. But–" His voice faltered. "I don't think I can handle any more loss in my life right now. So do an old man a favor and get that horse out of your head."
I stood there watching him walk away, the frustration just eating me up inside. Oh sure, I understood his motives. We'd both been through a lot. My mother died in a car accident when I was just three. It'd been a miracle I had not died as well, they said. It seemed the angels were watching over me, and the only part of the car not mashed in like a tin can was the area where my car seat was strapped to the back seat.
When I was sixteen, we found out my father was dying of cancer. In his last weeks, Daddy had taken me to the farm, and asked Uncle Dave to take me in.
Just a year before I went to live with him, Uncle Dave's wife had died. She was jogging down the road in front of the farm, and was hit by a car. Died instantly. The couple had never had any children, so I became the daughter Uncle Dave never had.
I understood Uncle Dave all right. But it seemed he didn't understand me. His paranoia over losing his only family kept him from seeing just how good a rider I had become. For eleven years, now, I had been living with him, and riding horses, and helping in the over all running of the farm. Surely he didn't still think of me as a child. And so, I had plotted out a way to ride the beast, and show Uncle Dave just how good a rider I was.
I gazed at my reflection in the mirror over the dresser. "Do you know what you're doing?" With a determined intake of breath, I grabbed a black scrunchy and twisted my auburn hair into a pony tail that hung half way down my back, from the nape of my neck. I yanked my faux-fur-lined leather jacket from a wooden knob on the wall, thrust my arms into it, and reached for my riding helmet. Before my hands closed around the helmet, a flutter in my stomach stayed my movement once more. Did I know what I was doing?
"I'm a good rider!" I yelled at myself in a whisper, and jerked the door of my room open. I would have stomped into the hallway, but I remembered the time of day, and my mission. Taking the utmost of care not to step on any of the more squeaky floor boards, I made my way to the kitchen. I purloined an apple and a granola bar, and stuffed them into my pocket. Then with another deep, cleansing breath, I stepped out into the cold morning.
My boots crunched on the icy sheet of frozen dew. A glance at the sky informed me we just might get a little snow. As the wind picked up, I shivered and wrapped my arms about me as if that could warm me.
The barn door groaned on its hinges as I pulled it open. A horse whinnied in protest.
"Sorry for disturbing your sleep, you old beast." I approached Shadow's stall and reached for the apple in my pocket. "Do you want this, old boy?" I held out the fruit on the palm of my hand. The horse sniffed at the apple, then opened his mouth and gently took it from me.
The crunch of horse teeth on apple seemed to reverberate throughout the whole stable. As Shadow busied himself with his apple, I led him out of the stall and saddled him up.
"There, boy. Let's go for a little ride? You're not such a beast, are you?" I pet the soft nose, and moved my hand down the line of his jaw to his ebony neck. "You are the most beautiful creature I've ever seen." I smiled up at the animal, as if he could read my facial expression. Then, feeling stupid but glad no one but the horse himself had even seen me, I swung up into the saddle.
The flutter in my stomach returned. Only this time it was much stronger. Shadow jerked his head up and let out a loud whinny. He sensed my nervousness, and that was not a good sign. Maybe Uncle Dave was right after all. But I didn't have the option of turning back. Not now. I gave Shadow a light kick in the sides, and he was off. I held the reigns tight, not giving him much lee way. He would know I was in control.
As we rode out into the yard, the icy air slapped me in the face. I frowned. It seemed as if the temperature had dropped another few degrees. Oddly cold for this part of South Carolina, even in the middle of winter. The wind had picked up as well. We were in for a storm of some sort, but I didn't think snow would be a part of it anymore. Too cold.
I was about to turn around and take Shadow back to his stall when the wind slammed a shutter from a window at the top of the house. The bang sounded almost like a gun shot. Shadow apparently thought so, too. He started, and took off into a canter.
"Ok, you big brute. Run it out, but remember I'm still in charge!" A gust of wind whipped the words back into my face. I blinked, but for a few seconds I could not open my eyes. Shadow and I raced forward into what felt like a cloud. Mist crowded about me, suffocating me, like going into a steam sauna, only this wasn't hot. I urged Shadow faster, afraid I might pass out. Then just as suddenly as the peculiar feelings had started, they stopped. I sucked in a breath, blinked again, and glanced over my shoulder. The farm house and stable looked to be much further away than I thought we'd come. I gave a light laugh."You're really fast, Shadow!" I faced forward again, about to pat the horse's neck. But yet another obstacle robbed me of breath.
A rustic wooden fence, much like the kind I'd seen at Revolutionary War historical sites, stood before us. I tightened my grip on the reigns, but we were moving too fast to stop, or even veer off to the side. This is the end. I thought. Poor Uncle Dave. Why didn't I listen?