Chapter 5
First Impressions
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Cheeks beaming, Kris's neck snapped to where the laughing noise was coming from.
Not even two feet from her was an amused man leaning on the entrance to the stall. Letting his laughter die off, he asked, "First time you touched a horse?"
Kris didn't know how to react. He didn't look like the men that were chasing her, but he did look somewhat familiar… 'Wait. Dark eyes, well-tanned skin, in his thirties, well-shaven goatee…'
"I remember you." The guy made an interested look at her. "You were the guy that was staring at me after I…" 'got off the bus? Shoot! I just gave away the fact that I tried to escape from Camp! Stupid!' Kris mentally slapped herself. 'Maybe he won't notice…'
"Hmm, I say fight fire with fire." He walked into the stall casually. "You were staring first." Kris cringed. So far, she despised this guy, though liked him at the same time for not turning her in.
'Yet.' She thought grimly.
Kris watched him as he walked towards the horse and began stroking its back. "I see you met Wildfire." She made no response to him, but she couldn't keep her eyes off that horse, now. 'Wildfire.' She thought, examining the horse all over, taking in all details. His leg muscles were well toned and defined, with a white patch like the shape of a raindrop just north of his mud-brown eyes. The way the sun shined off his brown shaded shell made him look golden, somehow. 'Now, Wildfire, that name fits you just perfectly.' Unconsciously, Kris allowed half-a-smile to appear on her face.
The man noticed, and she wiped it away instantly and cleared her throat. "I, um,… I just kinda got lost, so, so I should get back probably right about—"
"Have you ever pet a horse before?" He had a deep voice, she noticed.
"Well, no." Kris figured she wouldn't be getting out of this situation that easily.
The man walked to the forefront of the horse, easily gliding his hand up and down the side of the horse's jaw. "It's pretty simple; just let your hand glide over their skin." He watched as Kris reached out slowly, dramatically slowly, to touch the horse. "They don't bite."
Kris looked him in the eye.
"Hard."
After that little joke, he gave her a reassuring smile, and she touched the horse.
This time, with all her fingers, and began stroking him. Eventually, she pressed her palm up to his warm skin, rubbing back and forth. Kris didn't notice herself as she stepped forward, closer to the horse. She heard Wildfire softly rumble a hum, as if saying he took pleasure in her touch.
After a moment, Kris stopped and stepped back, not of fear this time, though.
For the first time in a long, long while, Kris felt happy.
And a little bit light-headed.
"What's your name?" he asked.
"Kris… Furillo. I'm a part of Camp Lagrange." Part of her expected to see a reaction of him, like a step-back or a boat load of questions or something. But all he did was nod.
"I'm Pablo Betart. I work part-time here, and part-time at another ranch." 'Pablo,…' absorbing in the name, Kris just had a feeling in her gut that this guy would somehow be a part of her life by some means. "So, you said you're from Lagrange?" he asked.
'Oh-boy, now here comes the 20 questions…' She thought sourly. "Yes, sir."
"They discipline you there, right?"
"Yes, sir." She repeated.
Pablo, tipping his head to the side like a confused dog, said, "Well, I didn't know they needed to discipline girls on how to put their shirts on not inside out," noticing the tag sticking out at the top of her shirt below her chin, he added, "…and backwards."
Cheeks flooding pink, Kris now found her sneakers quite fascinating at the moment. "Yeah, me too." She said shyly. Eventually her eyes were able to come up and meet his. This time, they weren't staring at each other as strangers.
"Fix your shirt." He said, beginning to put reigns on Wildfire, "I'm teaching you and your camp group to learn how to ride in half-an-hour."
"You're part of the Camp Lagrange tour?" Kris asked, a little surprised.
"Yep." He nodded as he finished gearing up Wildfire, "Now c'mon, fix your shirt."
Noticing him respectfully turn around, Kris realized he meant now, and she began to pull off her shirt. Cool air striking her skin yet again, she worked quickly to pull her shirt inside out. She felt Wildfire's noise rub against her bare shoulder and jumped, causing Pablo's head to turn back to check on her for a second, then his head immediately snapped back when he noticed she wasn't done.
After a minute, Pablo felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Ready." She stated.
"Good." Pablo turned around and saw her shirt on with the bold words 'Camp Lagrange' labeled on the front. "Very good." He said again as he led her and Wildfire out of the stall.
"You didn't peek as I was changing, did you?" Kris teased, looking at him with a smile.
There was a slight pause. "No." Something about the way he walked made Kris feel a little uneasy at the moment, but she pushed it aside.
"So, I guess you'll be telling the sergeant of my—"
"You got lost looking for the bathroom, that's all."
Kris looked at him in surprise as they walked. 'Is he trying to cover for me?' "But-but you know I—"
"You ran into me, I helped you out. In return, you get to ride Wildfire first to demonstrate." He interrupted her again, "Clear?"
Kris, meeting his eyes, saw only comfort. Something she doesn't really see in too many people in her life. "Yes, sir." Mentally thanking him, Kris smiled, and then fell back a few steps to walk with Wildfire. Stroking his mane, Kris thought back to an original thought she had had on the bus ride here;
Making friends in jail isn't that easy.
Well, perhaps she was wrong.
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And that's how I think Wildfire, Kris, and Pablo met.
Hope you like it.