/.Chapter Five.\
I ran down the stairs two at a time, nearly tripping and falling flat on my face, but I quickly regained myself, grabbing my purse on the kitchen table. Amy was standing at the counter, pouring a cup of coffee. A loud honk could be heard from outside, I groaned as I pulled on my jacket, jogging towards the door.
Amy looked at me, smiling,"Good luck."
"Thanks,"I called over my shoulder as I ran outside and down the porch steps, not pausing to admire the morning sky.
Byron's car was parked near the house, the engine running, he was sitting in the driver's seat, letting his fingers drum on the steering wheel as he watched me, an amused smirk on his handsome features.I opened the car door and got in, after I closed it and buckled my seatbelt I looked at him.
"I'm glad you find me amusing,"I muttered, brushing my bangs away from my eyes, something that I did constantly, my bangs were pretty long, almost reaching the tip of my nose, but I would never cut them too short or grow them out, my hair had always been long.
Byron chuckled a little as he began to pull out of the drive,"Good morning to you too."
Today was my first day of school at Little River High. Was I excited, nervous, scared for my life? The answer to that would be; none of the above. Honestly, school didn't really affect me one way or the other, to me it just meant homework and tests. Not that I hated school, or anything, but I wasn't neccesarily crazy about it, either. Before I had come to Heartland, it hadn't been going too smoothly, though. My grades had dropped from As to Cs and Ds, believe me, when you have at least eight teachers getting on you about your school work, it can be a real pain in the you-know-what. My social status hadn't been too hot either, after the whole fight thing, not that I really cared, I wasn't popular, actually I didn't really have any friends.
I had hated my last school, I had never been in contact with so many jerks in my life. Everyone had been concerned with thier 'image', lost off in thier own little worlds- it was kind of upsetting how vain some of the people were, actually. Little River High would be my third school in one year.
I didn't really care to make an impression or anything like that, I had put on my Converses, a pair of dark jeans, along with a white shirt and a jacket, my hair was pulled back in a messy bun. I wasn't the type who was overly concerned with my appearance, I didn't have anyone to impress.
The silence had settled between me and Byron for a few moments, then I decided to strike up a conversation,"I saw you and Lido yesterday, you guys looked amazing."
I really meant it too, I had been grooming AJ yesterday afternoon, his stall window faced the training arena, and I had seen Byron and his gelding, Lido, a black Hanoverian, jumping. No, jumping was an understatement -flying over the jumps. They hadn't been simple cross-rails either, Byron had set up an actual course, making a couple of double oxers and a swedish oxer. A couple of them had been a bit over three feet, and I couldn't help but be a bit envious of Byron's skill.
He looked like he was born to jump, and Lido had been enjoying himself as well.
A small grin spread across Byron's features, but he kept his eyes on the road,"Thanks. We were practicing for the Beaumont Show this weekend."
"I doubt you two will have any competition,"I said, glancing at him with interest,"Where did you learn to jump like that?"
Byron only kept smiling, his brown eyes met mine for a couple of moments before looking at the road again,"A few great trainers, my mom, mostly, and Lido, of course."
I nodded a little, listening, then turned my gaze to the window, watching as the trees passed by, the orange and red foliage blurring together. Soon we pulled into the parking lot and got out, walking up to the front doors, students filed inside quickly.
Little River High was a brick building, smaller than my last two schools, with nice landscaping; the halls were lined with lockers on both sides, the floors shining slightly from the flourescent lights above. It was the home of the mighty Knights, whom had an amazing football team that had been County champs for a consecutive five years, despite the intimidating size the other high schools. It had a Drama, Math and Chess club, along with seasonal fundraisers, and yet the faculty still threatened the students with having thier prom in the gym.
I walked with Byron to the office, where on of the secretaries handed me my schedule and locker number, along with the combination.
"Do you need any help getting to your class?"Byron asked helpfully.
I looked up from my schedule at Byron and gave him a smile,"I'll think I'll be alright, thanks."
"Okay, well I'll see you at lunch, you can sit with me if you want,"He said kindly.
"Thanks, I'll see you then,"I smiled, touched by Byron's kindness.
He gave me a warm smile before walking out of the office and to his class. I walked out of the office as well, finding my home room within a few minutes, like I said before, it wasn't a big school.
I sighed slightly, looking at the wooden door as I reached out for the handle,"Well, here goes nothing,"I muttered under my breath, then I walked inside.
The classroom was fairly big, and there weren't too many students. Instead of desks there were two students seated to a table, since it was biology. The teacher was standing near the board, a man in his late thirties, he had a full head of blonde hair and wore wire framed glasses. Apparently I had walked in on some discussion, because the teacher suddenly stopped talking and looked at me, the students looked like they were sleeping with thier eyes open though.
"Oh,"The teacher, Mr. Hill, said as he glanced at the note I gave him, he adjusted his glasses slightly,"Well, just take a seat, Jess."
Thankful that I didn't have to make some little introductory speech or anything, I walked to the back of the room and sat next to a girl with bright red hair, which fell in curls around her shoulders. She wore black framed glasses, behind them were a pair of bright green eyes which stood out brilliantly against her red hair and pale skin.
She glanced at me as I sat down but didn't say anything. Mr. Hill continued with his discussion about molecules. Within a few moments I had let my mind wander, but I did try to listen, I began to think about Heartland, and wonder what Amy was doing.
My thoughts were interrupted though as there was a knock on the door and another teacher stuck her head in, motioning for Mr.Hill to come closer. He did, and I quirked an eyebrow slightly as they exchanged a few words.
Mr. Hill then turned to face the class,"I have to step out for a few moments, I want everyone to stay in thier seats and begin reading Chapter Three, I'll be back in a few minutes."
With that, he left the room. As soon as the door closed, it seemed a switch had flipped and students turned in thier seats and began talking to each other. Some teachers were so naive, thinking the students would actually do the work while they were gone.
I sighed slightly and stetched my arms,muttering,"Please don't tell me all the teachers are like that."
The girl looked at me and smiled slightly,"Most of them are alright, as long as you do the homework they stay off your back,"She paused, watching me carefully,"You're Jess, right?"
I nodded in reply to her question.
The girl smiled,"I'm Rachel, I live at the farm next to Heartland, Gaea Farms."
"It's nice to meet you,"I said, returning the smile.
"Same here,"Rachel said amicably," Where any of you on Clairedale Ridge trail yesterday by any chance?"
"Nope, why do you ask?"
Rachel frowned a little, thinking to herself,"That's odd. I took my horse, Charity on the trail yesterday with my brother, and we heard another horse, we thought it might have just been another rider, but you're the only other stable that shares the trail with us."
I frowned a little to myself,"That is odd,"I murmured.
Rachel nodded,"It's not the first time we've heard a horse up there either."
Our conversation continued for a while, and Rachel helped me out by showing me where my locker was, we had the same english, math, and gym class as well. As the day continued I found myself beginning to like Rachel, she was nice and pretty funny, she was also easy to talk to. She wasn't one of those types where you had to think about what you said, or act cool or anything, Rachel accepted people as they were, she didn't try to change them. That's what I admired about her the most.
I set my lunch tray down across from Rachel's as we sat down at one of the many tables in the cafeteria, Byron was sitting at the table, taking a drink from his water bottle.
"Hey Rachel,"He said, lowering his water bottle,he glanced at me,"I see you've met."
"More or less,"Rachel shrugged, smiling a little as she sat down,"Now we have someone, other than myself, that chews with thier mouth closed."
I sat down and took a bite from my sandwhich, glancing around the cafeteria, Little River High may have been small, but it still had your average high school qualities, different social groups of students were identifiable. I smiled a little, thinking I was sitting with my own 'group' as well.
Byron put up his hands in mock defense,"Hey, that's all Adam, I prefer people not to see my chewed up sandwhich."
"What are we talking about?"Another guy around the age of sixteen had put his lunch tray down at the table, he had short, spiky blonde hair and icy blue eyes, he was lean and rather tall, standing at almost six foot.
"You,"Rachel answered Adam, taking a sip from her drink.
Adam frowned a little at this, and then looked at me, then back at Rachel,"Have you been torturing her?"
Rachel acted to punch him," I have not been torchering her, Jess and I have become fast friends actually."
Adam looked at me and smiled, sitting down,"Aha..new meat. Well, it's nice to meet you Jess, I'm Adam."
"Nice to meet you too,"I smiled.
"You don't talk much do you?"Rachel asked me curiously.
I shook my head a little, smiling still,"I'm not really the talkative type."
I really wasn't, I kept to myself mostly, I had never been very outgoing, but it didn't bother me that much.
"We'll change that,"Rachel grinned, taking a bite from her sandwhich.
"Don't worry about Rachel, she's crazy but she doesn't bite,"Byron reassured me.
Rachel gave him a mock glare, but then looked at me,"Hey, do you want me to drive you home? We could stop by my place and I could show you around, we could even check out Clairedale Ridge."
"That would be nice, thanks,"I smiled, then I looked at Byron,"Do you mind?"
Byron shook his head,"Not at all, just don't stay over too long, Amy and Ty are going to need our help this afternoon."
Rachel nodded, smiling a little,"Alright, cool."
After school that day I rode home with Rachel,her car was a silver Mercury, it was pretty nice. Soon we were pulling onto her long dirt drive, lined with dogwood trees in thier full Autumn color. The trees thinned within a few moments and I could see two large red barns and many white pasture fences, a bit away, sitting on a small hill was a medium sized log cabin.
Rachel parked near the barn and got out, I did the same, following her to one of the barns. I kept looking around the yard, in one of the pasture I could see some cows and sheep, but in the next paddock over, I could see a few llamas frolicking about happily.
Rachel had followed my gaze, "Yeah, you might see some odd animals around here, my mom is a vet, and she uses Gaea for a sort of animal shelter, for the bigger animals she can't keep at the office."
"Wow,"I murmured, watching as a peacock proudly strutted it's way across the yard, towards the house,"My grandma was a vet, and my mom worked at Heartland, that's kinda why I was sent there, I guess."
Rachel watched me with interest as we walked into the barn, listening intently.
I continued, averting my gaze slightly,"My brother died in a dirtbike accident last year, and my dad thought I'd need some down time."
Rachel frowned a little, her gaze concerned,"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that Jess, it's hard to lose someone."
She seemed to sense my discomfort and thankfully didn't say anything more.
The barn was lined with large box stalls on each side, I followed Rachel down the barn aisle, watching as cows and a couple of horses stuck thier heads over the doors, watching us with interest. Rachel walked to the back to the barn, sliding open a wooden door which led into a feed room.
She glanced over the feeding chart, then looked at me,"Would you mind helping me feed some of the animals in the barn first? Then we can take Charity and Ace out on the trail."
I felt the old nerves come back up about riding, but I did my best to push them away,"Yes, I would very much mind."I said jokingly, then picked up a flake of hay, as did Rachel, and we walked out of the feed room.
The feeds didn't take us that long, it was only a couple of the cows and sheep that needed to be fed when Rachel got home from school. I thought Heartland was a lot of work, I couldn't imagine getting up at five o'clock in the morning to feed the animals, and then have to come back to the barn numerous times a day to feed them specific medication, not to mention help her dad out with his crops. Still though, Rachel was pretty lucky, and I could tell she really enjoyed being around the animals.
When we were finished we walked into the second barn, almost immediately after we walked in, a palomino mare stuck her head over her stall door and whinnied loudly, seeing Rachel.
Rachel smiled,"Alright, alright, calm your jets, you'll be out of there in a second, girl."
We paused near her stall, I let the mare sniff my hand, feeling her blow warm air onto my palm, then I stroked her face. There was an intelligent spark in her brown eyes.
"She's a sweetheart,"I told Rachel.
"Thanks,"Rachel smiled," I've had Charity for years, my dad gave her to me when I was ten."
"Charity,"I murmured, watching as the mare nuzzled Rachel's arm affectionately,"It suits her."
Rachel looked at me and grinned, then walked over to the next stall,"This is Ace, and he will be your trusty steed for the day."
I followed Rachel and looked in the stall, a large chestnut gelding stood inside, dozing quietly.
"Can't you just see all the energy ready to burst out of him?"Rachel joked,"He's pretty easy in the saddle, so you won't have anything to worry about."
Ace's ears suddenly flicked and his eyes opened, he snorted softly and walked up to us, nudging Rachel to see if she had any treats.
"Later, boy,"Rachel said, then I followed her to the tack room.
"When was the last time you were in a saddle?"Rachel asked, she was a bit up ahead, standing quietly with Charity, looking back at Ace and I.
I put my left foot in the stirrup and grabbed onto the saddle horn, then with a small push I swung my leg over and sat up tall, adjusting Ace's reins. The gelding stood patiently, as if knowing I hadn't ridden in a while and I was pretty rusty. I gently squeezed my legs and Ace walked up to Charity and Rachel.
"Oh, only about five years or so..."I answered, smiling a little.
"It'll all come back to you,"Rachel smiled back, Charity walked alongside Ace, her mouth playing with the bit. We were walking alongside the wheatfield now, or what was the wheatfield, since it was late November everything had been harvested, and a large dirt square had replaced the nodding golden stalks of wheat. We would be off of the property in a few minutes, and going onto the path that led to Claire Ridge trail.
"Did your mom teach you how to ride?"Rachel asked.
I nodded, the memory of Domino and my mom coming back to me,"Yeah, she would bring me to one of her friend's farms and she would give me lessons, she said that horses were 'in my blood' because her parents owned a stable in Canada, I stopped when I was eleven though."
"My dad taught me how to ride, he used to compete in rodeos, so I started riding when I was five, and I started competing when I was eight. Rodeo is really a lot of fun, Charity loves it. My dad brought me down to a sales yard for my birthday and I saw Chairty, and well, it was love at first sight."Rachel told me,"My grandparents originally bought Gaea, and we've had it ever since."
I listened intently to Rachel, we had turned onto the trail a few minutes ago, and were now walking on the winding dirt path, lined with fallen leaves. Trees towered high above us, but by now thier branches were mostly bare, letting the afternoon sunlight flood onto us. The woods were peaceful and quiet, a few weeks ago I never would have thought I'd be here, riding a horse on a trail with an actual friend, I couldn't help but smile at the thought.
"What classes do you compete in?"I asked Rachel with interest as the path turned to the left.
"Mostly barrel racing, and some roping,"Rachel answered, stroking Charity's neck,"We've been doing barrels for a while, so now I'm trying to train her for roping as well."
"Cool,"I said, I had never been to an actual rodeo, but I had seen a few on television, and both roping and barrel racing looked pretty difficult, but fun as well.
Suddenly Ace had halted, I brought myself away from the conversation and realized that the trail had ended, we were now standing at a road, a car passed by, slowing down as the driver saw us.
"I'll lead the way, there isn't that much traffic on this road, so there isn't anything to worry about, just stay to the side and follow me,"Rachel told me gently, then she clicked her tongue and Charity walked ahead, her hooves clip-clopping on the road.
Ace watched her tentively, but with a gentle urge and some confident words he followed Charity along the road. We walked on the road for a few moments, soon there was a small turn off and the dirt path appeared again, Rachel turned Charity onto it, and Ace followed.
Instead of once again being engulfed by trees though, we went up a small hill and a clearing layed spread out below us. It wasn't filled with lush grass though, it was overgrown with weeds and tall brush, ferns nodded slightly in the November breeze. At the end of the clearing was a small white house with black shingles, the paint was chipping away in numerous places, and ivy had grown along the side and up the chimney, attempting to engulf the house. Part of the chimney had fallen in, the red bricks were faded and covered in moss, the roof was slowly rotting away, moss and decaying leaves obcursing it's black surface. Many of the windows had been broken as well.
Near the house was an old pick-up, it's white paint rusted and it's tires covered in vines, it's engine probably hadn't started in ages. Closest to us was a medium sized shed, the sides the color of rust and vines growing on the roof. Beyond all of this were trees, the place had clearly been abondoned ages ago.
There was a bad air about the place, that I just didn't like. I know how corny this must sound, but I felt like someone was watching us, like someone didn't want us around. I shivered slightly, but it wasn't from the sudden cool breeze that had blown back my hair.
Rachel seemed to share my feelings,"Yeah, it is pretty creepy. Watch where you step, there could be broken glass, and I found some barbed wire the last time I was here."
We both dismounted and tied Ace and Charity up to a tree, makign sure there was no broken glass or poisonous plants around.
Rachel and I picked our way carefully through the brush, I stopped suddenly, looking at the ground carefully. The soil had been turned up in some spots, and rather erratically, the indents that would be left when a horse was galloping, and they looked pretty fresh.
I pointed them out to Rachel,"There must have been another horse up here sometime today."
She nodded gravely," But why would a rider gallop there horse through this brush? It's dangerous."
She definitely had a point, I racked my thoughts," Maybe the horse freaked out. Or the rider was inexperienced."
"It's feasible," Rachel said, thinking,"But why would another rider come all the way up here? We're the only barns that share this trail."
"Good point,"I replied, trying to think of reasons why these marks would be here, and who had caused them. After a few moments we continued to walk towards the house, and the brush became less dense and easier to walk through. I looked up at the house warily, it's gaping windows seeming to grimace at me.
"..Unless,"Rachel spoke,"The horse didn't have a rider."
I tore my gaze away from the house and looked at her, quirking an eyebrow slightly. There were dozens of reasons that could dismiss this idea, but there dozens of reasons that supported it as well.
"But, would the horse be freaked out by the road?"I asked curiously.
"Maybe it's used to cars. Someone could have just dropped it off here, there's shelter for it,"Rachel said, looking at the shed.
I paused, looking at the shed intently, Rachel, once again, did have a point. I could almost imagine someone pulling up on the road late one night, opening their trailer, and just leaving thier horse here.
"Well.."I sighed,"There's only one way to find out."
Then I began to pick my way through the brush again, walking towards the shed. Rachel watched me for a few moments, then quickly followed. Suddenly we both stopped as we heard some movement from inside the shed. I opened my eyes wider in slight surprise, then I looked at Rachel and put my finger to my lips. She nodded and we both walked more cautioustly towards the shed, it loomed closer and more forboding every moment.
What if there was a horse inside? What would it look like? I doubted it would be healthy, how long had it been here? Weeks, months? Months without proper care, without being fed, without being groomed? Without being cared and loved by someone?
I had seen shows on Animal Planet about abused animals, how they had been simply left outside without food or water, in the heat, in the snow. I remembered what some of the animals had looked like, what some of the horses had looked like. I could remember being able to see all of thier ribs, thier once muscular necks and legs reduced to nothing more than skinny twigs, the way thier once shining coats and full manes and tails were nothing more than matted fur. I could remember the lifeless looks in thier clouded eyes, there had been no glint of light, of happiness, of hope. Nothing but paralyzed fear.
That's when I began to feel angry, no furious with this mysterious owner that would carelessly leave thier horse here to fend for itself in the cold month of November, and then leave without a second thought. Along with this rage though I felt fear, fear to see the true horror of what this horse looked like after weeks, maybe months without being taken care of.
By now, Rachel and I were nearly at the entrance of the shed, slinking silently, ghost like, along the side. All I had to do now was turn my head and look inside the gaping darkness and see the cruelty of humans.
I hadn't realized until just then that my heart was pounding in my chest and my breathing was a little loud, I realized half a moment later that Rachel's breathing was heavy as well. I steadied my breath, then turned my head and looked inside.
But suddenly something small shot out from the shed, taking off into the sky. I swear I could have died just then, I must have jumped at least five feet and let out a little scream. Then I got a hold of my nerves, realizing it had just been a bird that had flown out of the shed. I took a deep breath and looked at Rachel, her expression was surprised. I shook my head and then I did something amazing, I began to laugh, and within a few moments so did she.
We simply stood there laughing for a couple of minutes, and I can't possibly put into words how good it felt to laugh. I can't remember the last time I had honestly laughed about something, it must have been sometime before Cody's accident, because afterwards there hadn't been anything to laugh or be happy about. It felt like some small weight had been pulled off of my shoulders, like I had in someway cleansed myself of something. I think one of the reasons it felt good to laugh was because my laughter was joined with someone else's.
Soon I stopped and so did Rachel, I egan to get my breath back, saying,"..That scared me..half to death."
Rachel sighed,"I can see that, it got me there for a minute too."She looked at me and smiled happily, and I smiled back.
I looked in the shed once again, there wasn't anything in there, only some decaying straw littered on the floor, and it smelled horribly. But there was another scent mixed with the decaying straw, and it's cause was piled in the corner of the shed. Rachel saw it too and became silent. It was a small pile of horse manure, complete proof that somewhere around here there was a horse.
I turned my gaze away from the shed and met Rachel's green eyes, her expression reflected mine, dead serious. I let out a steady breath and then looked at the trees beyond the shed, and it might have just been my mind playing tricks on me, but I doubt it was. Somewhere deep in those treesI could just see a large form of white, cantering away.
