Emma in the middle- part 11

Jessa asked for a oneshot of a further continuation of the Emma in the middle series (the last chapter being Ch2592) showing the first time Emma felt like she was the middle child and was, as such, less important. During a family horseback riding trip, a snake spooks both Emma and Marali's horses. Their horses go off in separate directions. Both parents follow Marali's horse to make sure she's safe. Emma ends up scared and slightly hurt. (part 11).

MaryMargareth and Guest: Sorry, but I found it too difficult to combine the 2 ideas together, and Jessa got there first.

Emma didn't like this. She didn't like it at all. Normally, when her family went horseback riding she went in between her parents. Now her parents were trying to improve her confidence by having her ride out front with Marali. She just didn't feel like she was ready. She kept turning round to see Neal still flanked by both their parents. He looked more ready than she was. Still, Snow and Charming kept giving Emma encouraging smiles. She rode on carefully, worried about every step.

She and Marali were about ten metres in front of the rest of their family, as such, they turned the corner in the trail first. Neither of the girls were to know they would stumble across a snake nest. Their horses spooked one of the snakes. It leapt up, hissing menacingly. As such, both horses acted accordingly. They jumped on their back legs, both girls just managing to cling on. They then trotted off, Marali's horse going down the left hand side of the fork in the road, Emma's going down the right.

Snow and Charming were immediately alarmed as they heard both their daughters scream, following by the clear sound of trotting horses.

"I'll go." Charming said, he spurred his own horse into action, trotting off as fast as he could. But Snow couldn't just leave them. She didn't know what had made her daughters scream. What if they were in real trouble? What if they needed more than Charming to help them?

"Quickly," She said, she plucked Neal from the back of his horse and in front of her. She tied Neal's horse to hers so he would ride alongside her. Snow then trotted off herself. She would have no way of knowing that she would go down the same side as Charming. She would only find out when she caught up with him as he made sure Marali was safe…and they realised that Emma was nowhere around.

Meanwhile, Emma tried her best to stop her horse, but he refused. He was too spooked. As he trotted on, Emma got scratched by twigs, her arms and legs hitting off of low hanging branches. Only after several minutes did her horse eventually stopped. Emma looked around her, beginning to panic. She was all alone. Emma began to cry. Her horse wasn't moving. She couldn't jump off by herself. She just had to sit there and wait, hoping that someone found her. Then, if they did, that they were someone on her side.

Emma stayed by herself for a further fifteen minutes until she heard her parents calling out her name.

"I'm here!" She cried out. The sound of their horses' hooves got faster until, eventually, her parents came into sight. With them were Marali and Neal, who looked equally relieved to see their sister was ok. Emma, on the other hand was not relieved. If both her parents were here, and Marali was too, that meant one thing. Both of them had gone after her. Emma had sometimes had a niggling feeling that her parents preferred Marali and Neal to her. She always shrugged it off, telling herself she was being silly. This, though, in Emma's mind, cemented that she must have been right all along.

Snow and Charming got off their horses. Charming got Emma down off her horse before Snow pulled her into a tight hug.

"We're so glad you're ok." She said. Emma wriggled out of the hug.

"No you're not." Emma said angrily. Snow and Charming were confused. Of course they were!

"Emma, of course we are." Charming told her, bending down so they were at the same eye level. Emma shook her head.

"You both went after Marali's horse." She pointed out. Snow and Charming understood. From Emma's point of view, this didn't look too great.

"Sweetheart, we both went at different times. I didn't see where your dad went, and neither of us saw where you or Marali went." Snow explained. Emma nodded, her bottom lip quivering. The whole thing had been a bit much for her.

"Oh your poor arms." Charming said, already seeing how red they were. Snow scooped the eight-year-old up, holding her close.

"Let's get you home." Snow said. "How about you ride with mama, huh?" Emma nodded into her mom's shoulder. Part of her still wasn't convinced her parents wouldn't have done the same thing if they did see where both horses had gone, and part of Emma never would be sure.