Hi!
Here is the next chapter. As a note on my other stories, mainly Exchanged, I am in the middle of something that can't really wait till after September, and then I really really want to get my rough draft of my non fanfiction story written out. But Lord Willing, I will work on it soonish.
Chapter Three: Riding Mishap
After school, Dan began walking towards Mr. Maypenny's home. He was making his way threw the woods, slipping on the snow. He had to admit, it would have been better if he had listened to Mr. Maypenny about putting on proper boots. Dan sighed. It may have been better, but right now, he was wearing the only thing that gave him a connection to the gang, his only family.
Sure, some of the foster homes were better then the gang in the family aspect, but they had always given him back after a few months. At least with the gang, he was able to stay for almost a year, until he was caught, that is. Besides, with the secretly stashed knife in the boot, he felt much safer.
Suddenly a sound penetrated his thoughts, and he spun to see the curly haired girl, and one of her friends, coming towards him on horses. His eyes narrowed at the sight of the two girls, and at the horses. He stepped out of the way, expecting them to move past. To Dan's surprise, the friend of the curly haired girl, the one with honey coloured hair, stopped by him, and looked down at him
"How about a lift? Those boots are too slippery for snow." The girl laughed, a sweet pure sound, and Dan found himself almost smiling, until he saw the other girl behind the first. She was just staring at him, disapproval plain on her face. His face became hard,
"I can make it okay. I don't need a lift."
The kind girl, Honny, he thought her name was, smiled, "We're going the same direction. Me and Trixie can double up so you can ride Starlight if you want."
Dan shrugged, and moved forward, "You can't give me orders, even if I do work for your pa." Dan's conshense twitched, but he shrugged it off. The girl was probably not really trying to be kind. That never happened. The other girl, Trixie, scoffed.
"He's scared."
Dan shot her a glare, "No, I am not." He slammed his school books down on a rock, and moved towards Trixie's horse. The horse shied away from him, as Trixie handed him the reins.
"Go ahead."
Dan swung up on the horse, tensing as the horse moved restlessly. He kicked the horse in the sides, and slapped the reins against the horses neck. The horse took off at a sudden run, causing Dan to almost fall off. Dan was able stay on the horse back, using his legs, until suddenly, he was flying threw the air, a sharp pain in his chest, landing heavily on his shoulder, and head. He roiled over to his stomec, as his vision grew dark.
The world became grey, and Dan shifted, rolling over onto his back. He reached up to touch is forehead, wincing as the action pulled his shoulder and ribs. He lay still gauging his injuries, and decided that they weren't bad. He'd had worse. He heard the two girls talking.
"Guess there's nothing broken after all," Dan frowned, pulling his hand from his head, glaring at the two girls. Dan moved his arm a bit, wincing at the stab of pain in both his ribs and shoulder, but let out a sigh of relief as he found that nothing was injured bad, just bruised. He stood up, glaring at the girls
"And now I suppose you'll run and tell old Maypenny I tried to break your horse's leg or something!" Dan felt his heart sink. If she did he would probably be sent to a correction senter. One of the worse places a person could be sent to. From the stories he heard they specialized in breaking people's spirits.
He brushed off his clothes, trying to get the powdery snow off. He froze when his hand touched a tear in his leather jacket. He bit his lip, fingering the tear. He had earned his jacket with lots of pain, and blood. The initiation to the gang had landed him in the hospital for two days before he could escape. But it gave him a home, and a family of a sort. The girl who had offered to let him ride with them at the beginning, nodded to the tear.
"I could fix that for you."
Dan looked at her for a moment, and was about to accept, when he saw the other girl, Trixie staring at him, contempt on her face. "Don't bother. I don't need anybody's help." Dan saw the hurt in the other girls eyes, and softened his voice a bit, she didn't need to get hurt because her friend was determined to believe the worst about him "Besides, I don't let anyone else touch my jacket."
Dan hurriedly moved away from the two girls and their horses. He walked down the trail for a few miles, then when he reached a rocky area he moved off the path, heading towards a secluded spot he had found yesterday when Mr. Maypenny was showing him what to do with his job. He slipped down a gentle incline, then, after brushing the snow off, he sank onto a log that that had fallen down. He slipped off the jacket, and fingered the tear before he lifted his shirt to check his ribs. They were bruised, and it hurt a bit to breath deep, but they weren't broken. He let out a breath, and spun around, laying lengthwise on the log, looking up at the sky thru the trees, clutching the jacket to his chest.