Glad ya'll are liking it. If u have any pointers, plz do tell! Any suggestions? I have one chapter after this and then, I don't know what. I haven't looked at itlately so I haven't really been thinking about it. I typed these a while ago and just haven't posted them. Here's ch. 9!
Should I?
Ch. 9- Searching for Faith
Sam's eyes widened, "What do you mean Faith is missing?" "Ms. Allen said there was a break in the fence to the pasture. She checked the horses to be sure no one was missing, but she can't find Faith. And she's the only one small enough to get through the break in the wire without hurting herself or getting caught." Just then, thunder rumbled in the distance. Jake looked at Sam, "We have to find her now." They both jumped out of the car and ran to tack up Ace and Sweetheart. They finished and were galloping towards Deerpath Ranch within five minutes. They galloped in silence wanting to concentrate on the task ahead. They both thought the same thing, How in the heck are we going to find her? They arrived at Deerpath minutes later and dismounted. Ms. Allen was waiting for them. She urged them to follow her and she showed them the break in the fence. Jake scanned the ground and it thundered louder and lightning lit up the sky. "She went that way, towards War Drum Flats. Let's go." They both ran to the horses and mounted. They took off quickly both thinking but denying the same thing. If Faith made it all the way to Arroyo Azul and it started to rain, she could be buried in a mudslide and killed.
Jake kept a close eye on Faith's trail and they galloped past War Drum Flats to Arroyo Azul as the sky darkened. He suddenly halted Sweetheart, jumped down, and ground tied her. He looked carefully at the ground and began to walk following the tracks. Sam dismounted and tied Ace to a bush not willing to risk him running off. She followed Jake quietly not wanting to distract him. Suddenly he stopped and Sam almost ran into him. "Jake, what in the…" He put a finger to his lips, "Listen." Sam did, and at first she didn't hear anything. Then she heard what Jake was listening to. It was a faint whinny. Sam sprinted after the noise just as it began to sprinkle. Jake grabbed the rope off of his saddle and dashed after her. "Sam careful. It might be slippery." And at that moment Sam slipped, fell, and a few rocks fell onto her head from the ledge above. Jake ran to her side, "Are you ok?" She looked up at him, then down at her clothes now covered in mud, "Yeah, I'm fine. We have to hurry and be careful." Jake helped her to her feet and they began to follow the whinnying again. They ran only a few more steps before Sam almost fell into a crack in the dirt. Jake grabbed her arm and they both fell backwards. Sam jumped to her feet immediately. She looked down into the hole and saw Faith standing at the bottom which was about ten feet down. She was also standing about ankle deep in water as the rain began to come down harder. Sam grabbed one of the ropes from Jake and tied it around her waist. He grabbed her, "No way are you going down there. I'm not risking you for Faith." "That's very sweet Jake, but I'm not just going to leave her down there to drown." She kissed his cheek, handed the rope to him, and eased herself over the edge. She carefully began to slide down the side causing a small avalanche of mud. She looked up at Jake worriedly, "Don't worry, I've got you." "I'm not worried," and she lowered herself to the bottom. "Throw me the other rope Jake. I'm gonna tie it around her, then you can pull me up and we can both pull her up." The water was rising quickly and it had soaked Sam's jeans up to her knees. Faith was getting nervous feeling the water rising around her. Sam yanked on the rope to tell Jake to pull her back up. When she climbed over the edge she immediately grabbed the rope attached to Faith and began to pull. Sam could feel her struggling at the end of the rope and began to pull faster. It was pouring now and the hole was filling up quickly. Sam let the rope slack and Jake looked at her like she was completely crazy. "The water will make her float to the top." Jake looked convinced and let his rope slack slightly. The water carried Faith up just as Sam had thought. They helped the filly onto solid ground just another streak of lightning crossed the sky. She scrambled to her feet and shook the water out of her coat. Sam made a halter and lead rope out of rope and they began to make their way back to Ace and Sweetheart. When they got back to where they had left the two horses they only saw Ace. Jake stomped his foot, "Darn it. I knew I should've tied Sweetheart. She's probably back to River Bend by now." "Don't worry about it. We can ride double on Ace. And I think we can pony Faith. At least, I think she trusts us enough." Jake looked at Sam with a not so sure look on his face, "You just gotta have a little faith Jake." He turned around, looped Faith's lead rope around the horn of the saddle and mounted. Sam reached up, grabbed Jake's hand and mounted behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and smiled as she remembered the last time they had rescued the filly. The only difference was last time it was snowing and Faith was light enough for Witch to carry her and Sam and Jake. Ace trotted slowly at first and Faith kept up that pace so he began to lope. The filly seemed to be enjoying herself. Then, an ear piercing crack of thunder split the sky followed by lightning that struck a tree only feet in front of them. Ace immediately reared and almost fell over backwards. Jake launched himself forward to keep Ace from falling, but the force of him swinging back the forward unseated Sam. Ace then took off at a full gallop to which Faith could barely keep up. Jake felt Sam's grip slip as she slid off of the back of the gelding. Sam hit her head and fell unconscious. Jake managed to pull Ace in a tight circle to calm him down. He didn't want to jump down to Sam and risk the only chance they had to get back to the ranch. Her head was bleeding badly. Then, the Phantom stepped out of the trees and came over to Sam. He stood over her and Jake knew she would be safe till he got back. He turned Ace around and increased his speed slowly so not to stress Faith. I just gotta have faith like Sam said. She just has to be ok.
AN: Ooooo the suspense. You'll just have to wait! Kat