𝙹.𝚃.


"Are you scared?"

I glanced at him, sitting on an old chest where Jack's grooming box rested and petting Stitch, who sat happily beside him.

I smiled and returned to brushing off Jack. "Of what?"

"Leaving," he said. "Y'know, going everywhere alone. Aren't you scared?"

I shrugged, watching my brother over Jack's back as I ran the brush across his hindquarters. "Yeah, but I'm excited too," I grinned, "y'know?"

Sam laughed quietly, ruffling Stitch's fur.

"Are you scared?" I asked.

"Only for me," he replied. "I have to deal with mum. She's not gonna stop crying and saying how worried she is about you. And I'm gonna have to do your chores now." He sighed heavily. "Please come back early, I don't wanna help mum with the cows."

I rolled my eyes. "It's only a few months, dude. It'll be good for you."

He snorted. "Yeah, you can say that cuz you get to leave."

I grinned wider and rested my hand on Jack's rump as I walked around him, letting him know I was behind him and not to kick me.

"You can leave one day, too," I reminded my younger brother.

"Only once I'm out of school," Sam grumbled. "That's eight more years."

I mentally checked his quick calculation, nodding my approval. "That's some good math," I commented, impressed. Sam only shrugged, not seeming to share my appreciation.

"Don't worry," I continued. "I'll be back before Halloween."

"That's four months, though," he complained. "Summer is gonna be so boring."

"Seriously dude," I laughed, "you must be crushing math class."

This time, Sam sheepishly agreed. "Yeah. Dad says it's the only thing we need from school."

I smiled, remembering all the times he'd told me that as well. "Don't tell mum he told you that," I advised, recalling as well that she didn't entirely share that opinion with our father.

"Yeah I know," he said, smiling and rubbing Stitch's ears lovingly. "Dad already told me not to."

Finished with the dandy brush, I tossed it into Jack's black, plastic grooming box beside Sam and grabbed the much softer body brush. Smiling, I reached a hand down to pet Stitch, who stared up at me expectantly, his tongue lolling out the side of his open mouth as he panted from the June heat.

"I'm gonna miss you," I said to the border collie, rubbing his cheek roughly, to which he responded by leaning into my hand and trying to lick my arm. I smiled and returned to grooming Jack. I was going to miss him as well. And Lilo and Otis and Maizey and Cathy. But not being able to ride Jack for the next few months was likely going to kill me. I wasn't too worried about missing my parents—especially not mum. I knew she'd call me every hour or so, starting the moment I'd leave her sight. I'd miss hanging out with Sam the most, though. He always helped make chores around the farm seem less like painstaking work. Plus, he was really my only friend that wasn't an animal. Leaving him behind meant I'd be lonely until I returned home or somehow managed to make new friends during my travels.

"Sam?"

My brother looked up from rubbing Stitch's belly. "Hmm?"

I tossed the body brush to him over Jack's back. "Can you throw me the face brush, please?" I asked.

He swapped the soft brush out for a much smaller version and threw it to me as per my request.

I snatched it from the air and moved to my horse's face. "Thanks."

Sam and I had thrown so many things around Jack that it no longer spooked him as long as it was over his back or in front of him.

Jack tugged at the cross ties in an attempt to nuzzle against me. I grinned and ran the brush in the direction of the hairs on his cheek while I stroked the irregular white blaze marking on his forehead. He nickered and leaned into my touch. This was Jack's way of letting me know he loved whatever it was that I was doing, but I already knew he loved being groomed and petted.

"Are you gonna see the Goonies place?" Sam asked, referring to one of his favourite movies, which was filmed along the western coast of the United States in Oregon.

"Yup. That'll be my last stop after seeing where they filmed Twilight."

He wrinkled his nose and spoke with utter disgust. "I hate those movies."

I laughed, gently brushing Jack's forehead. "Me too."

"Then why are you going there?"

I shrugged. "Why not? I'll be there anyway so I might as well."

"Are you going to any other movie places?"

"Well I'm stopping in New York City for two weeks right before Oregon, and every movie in the world is filmed there, so yeah."

"Like the Avengers? And Spider-Man?"

I grinned. "Yeah."

Of all of our family members, Sam loved movies the most. He'd spend all night watching them if he didn't have to get up early every day to help with the morning chores.

Finished with grooming, I ducked under the crossties clipped to Jack's halter and dropped the face brush into his grooming box.

"What kind of souvenir do you want?" I asked, grabbing a hoof pick.

"I dunno. Something cool like a real shark tooth or something. But no shirts or anything." He inhaled sharply with excitement. "What about a knife?"

"You have a pocket knife," I argued, bending over beside Jack's right foreleg. I ran a hand down his leg to his fetlock and he lifted his hoof for me.

"Multi-tool," Sam corrected. "But it's not from Europe or anywhere cool."

I rolled my eyes and carefully picked stones and muck from Jack's hoof. Then flipped the pick and used the brush to remove any smaller debris. I checked for any injuries, cracks or bruising before moving to Jack's other foreleg.

"I have to do this every day?" Sam muttered, watching me work.

"Yup. And try to exercise him every day, too."

"Can't Warren do it instead? Or Cole?"

"If Dad's okay with his farmhands ditching him to take care of a horse."

"Technically, they'd still be working," he argued.

"Dude, it's not that bad. Cara will come by once school starts to help you out. But you can totally get out of some chores by saying you need to groom Jack. If you want, you can exercise him by riding him around the farm while you're working. Unless it's really hot, then make sure you keep him in the shade and hydrated and–"

"I'm not stupid, I know how to take care of him. I've been watching you do it forever."

I released Jack's hoof and shot Sam an unimpressed look over the black-brown quarter horse's back. "Yeah, you have been watching me forever. Why don't you make yourself useful and start cleaning his bridle?"

He sighed dramatically, but stood up from his seat on the chest and trudged into the tack room in search of the cleaning supplies.

I tossed my ponytail over my shoulder before leaning down to pick another one of Jack's hooves. Once I finished both hind hooves, I returned the hoof pick to the plastic grooming box and ventured into the tack room to put it back on its shelf. The room was small and mostly empty save for a dusty western saddle, a few old saddle pads and spare bridles and reins that hadn't been used since Dad's last horse passed away a few years ago. There was still a green grooming box labelled Monty, collecting dust on the shelf beside Jack's.

Grabbing a fresh peppermint from a jar by the door, I left the musty, leather-scented room and returned to where Jack was still strung up in the crossties in the barn's wide hall. Sam was sitting on the chest, scrubbing away at Jack's bridle with a wet, soapy brush while Stitch lay on the ground beside him. Jack nickered and stretched his head out toward me. Smiling, I stroked his forehead and fed him the peppermint, murmuring praise for behaving himself the whole time. I unclipped a crosstie from his halter, then hooked my fingers under his halter where the lead line would clip and detached the other crosstie.

Sam didn't even have to look up at me to know. "Mum doesn't like it when you do that," he mumbled.

"Mum doesn't like it when I do anything," I mused, guiding Jack into his open stall. I turned us around so we faced the front before releasing him, slipping his blue halter off and locking the door behind me. I hung the halter on a hook right beside his stall where his lead line also resided. I double checked his water bucket was full before sitting down beside my brother and setting about cleaning Jack's saddle, starting with removing the stirrups. I hated cleaning tack. I hated how my hands were oily and smelled like leather conditioner for hours. But it had to be done after every ride, so there was no avoiding it.

We worked in silence, scrubbing and rinsing until Stitch had trotted out of the barn in search of something more interesting and the hands on the clock beside the bathroom we're nearing my departure time. Mum's gonna be calling for me any minute.

Sure enough, just as Sam and I finished rubbing in leather conditioner, I heard Mum calling my name from the porch of the farmhouse. I didn't bother replying. I knew she was already on her way to the barn in search of me.

"Five bucks she's already crying," Sam said, carefully reassembling the bridle in his hands.

"Twenty says she's gonna be in the next two minutes," I challenged.

But Sam was no gambler and backed out as he always did. "No way."

I didn't blame the kid, the only money he had was from the Tooth Fairy.

"Jasmine!" Mum's farm boots sounded on the concrete floor of the barn as she entered.

"I know," I replied, standing with the newly cleaned saddle in my hands.

She hurried over, smiling sadly at me. "We should leave in fifteen minutes."

"I know," I said again, looping Jack's bridle on my arm and balancing the cleaning supplies box atop the saddle. "I'm ready."

I returned everything to the tack room and the moment I reemerged my mother exploded into tears. I grinned knowingly at Sam, who'd smartly just saved himself twenty precious dollars.

"Mum, you shouldn't be crying yet," I laughed. "We haven't even left the barn."

"I'm your mother," she sobbed, wiping tears off her cheeks. "I'm allowed to cry."

I smiled and patted her shaking shoulder. "I'm gonna have a quick shower before we leave." I took one step toward the exit before quickly spinning on my heel and rushing back to Jack's stall. I probably wouldn't have enough time later to see him. I unlatched the door and let myself in. His ears swivelled toward me and he turned his head a little.

"Hey, Jack," I murmured, reaching out to pet his soft neck. "I'm not gonna be around for a while so make sure you're good for me while I'm gone, 'kay? Cara and Sam are gonna look after you, so try to be a gentleman." I sighed and scratched his cheek. "I wish I didn't have to leave you, bud. I love you and I'm gonna miss you a lot...But I get to see the world, just like I've always wanted to." With tears stinging behind my eyes, I wrapped my arms around his neck in a hug. "I'll be back in four months."


author's note

THE SHADOW'S REVELATION HAS OFFICIALLY BEGUN! YAYAYAY! I'm so excited you guys ahhh!

So I wasn't too sure about adding J.T.'s POV to the story but I figured it's kinda necessary so here you have it! I'm really hoping her character doesn't seem too similar to Raiya's.

Sorry this has taken me so long to write and post, but I've been trying to focus on my other stories that I've kinda been neglecting due to writer's block lol but I finally decided that you guys TOTALLY DESERVE THIS FIRST CHAPTER and I was just too excited to see what you guys thought of it to keep it to myself for any longer haha so please make sure you review and let me know what you think of my girl J.T.!

If you'd like a visual, J.T.'s face claim is Danielle Campbell. J.T.'s horse Jack can be found by looking up Danielle Campbell Race to Win in Google Images. He's the black-brown horse (not the bay).

And just in case anyone is interested in reading the very first draft of The Shadow's Secret, I've posted it as the last, most recent chapter of TSS on my profile. It's only 19,000 words, so don't worry about it taking up too much of your time lmao

Anyways, please review! I'm really excited to hear everyone's thoughts!