I have decided it would be a good idea to start posting twice a week! I'm SO close to being done with the actual writing of the thing- two chapters left! The last chapter was originally just going to be an epilogue, but I thought of a couple more Jake scenes I wanted to write, so it's kind of going to be a whole thing. I also halfway want to write a sequel to Mustang Heart itself, but also, I need to chill.
Sam actually had the next day off from Willow Springs, so she invited Jen over. With all the chaos, she hadn't really been able to explain the full extent of things, starting with the Phantom, and it had snowballed to the point they needed to have a conversation in person. When Jen heard everything, she'd probably think Sam's life was falling apart, but that was a risk Sam was willing to take.
As expected, Jen's eyes practically bugged out of her head when she spotted the Phantom in the round pen. She hung Silly's reins on the hitching post and turned to Sam. "You were serious?"
"Unfortunately," Sam replied. "Want to take a look? I'm asking you not as my friend, but as a future vet student."
"Gladly." Dr. Jen was in the house.
They approached the round pen carefully, not wanting to spook the Phantom, who was currently locked in a hateful gaze with Windy. Of course, he spooked anyway, wheeling around on just his hind legs. He staggered as he landed, erasing any beauty the moment might have carried.
"Oh," Jen said softly, stepping onto the bottom rail for a better view. "He looks…wow."
Sam just nodded tersely. She still hadn't gotten used to it, watching the equine love of her life suffer. The Phantom had accepted eating antibiotic-laced grain for the past couple meals, but the wound had yet to look any better. Still swollen, still leaking pus through the stitches. Sam loved him wild, but she wished now that he was tame so she could bandage his wound, or ice the swelling, or even just dab some first aid cream on it. She couldn't imagine the Phantom letting her do any of those things now.
"It's not good; I know," Sam said, when it seemed Jen had lost the ability to say words out loud.
Jen shook her head, blonde braids swishing and consequently smacking her in the face. "I just can't believe it. What did this to him?"
Sam shrugged, wishing she had a real answer. "Coyotes? Feral dogs, maybe? Dr. Scott seemed sure it was some sort of canine."
"There must have been a lot of them to get the drop on him."
"I guess. But a big pack like that…shouldn't they be easier to find?" Sam asked rhetorically. Obviously Jen didn't know. "Even Jake couldn't find a trace of them."
Sam didn't miss the way Jen wrinkled her nose at the mention of Jake. Her two best friends had never gotten along. "Well, there's a lot of desert and even wolves leave small prints. That checks out. Why didn't you tell me Señor Know-It-All was back in town?"
Sam gestured vaguely towards the round pen. "There were more pressing matters at hand."
"Fair," said Jen. She clambered over the fence- sending the Phantom reeling back once more- and sat atop it, hooking her boots behind the second-to-top rail. "I mean…there's things I haven't told you either."
Sam joined her in sitting on the fence. In theory, it was desensitizing for the Phantom and could even count as training. "Oh?"
Jen flipped her braids over her shoulder, trying to look casual but unable to contain her grin. "Well…Ryan and I are back together."
"You're WHAT?" Sam squawked. She shouldn't have yelled- the Phantom and Windy both started doing hot laps around their respective pens, and watching the Phantom try to canter with a Grade Four limp was depressing. "I mean…you what?"
"Got back together," Jen replied, a secretive smile on her face. "He bought me flowers. We worked it out."
Ever since Ryan and Jen had first gotten together almost two years ago, they had been what one might call "volatile". They were the most on-again-off-again couple Sam had ever met. Jen had once broken up with Ryan because he called fries "chips", but somehow, their relationship still made sense most of the time. To Sam, the wildest thing was that they could fight, break up, and somehow still manage to live and work together in close quarters. Jen said it was because they were "professional". Sam thought perhaps if they were really professional, they could resolve their disagreements without breaking up, but she'd never had a boyfriend, so maybe she just didn't get it.
"What kind of flowers?"
Jen sighed dreamily. "Roses."
Sam jokingly fanned her face with her hands and made a big deal about Ryan's roses, but she shut up when the Phantom took a step towards her. She all but held her breath, wondering if this was the moment they'd all been waiting for, if their sitting on the fence had paid off. This was the first time the Phantom had approached her since his injury, unless the disdainful turn of his head counted.
She expected him to stop after a few steps, but he didn't. His head was low, proceeding with caution, but he didn't stop. Sam sucked in a big breath of air then froze, not wanting to move an inch and risk startling him as he got close to her.
Except, as it turned out, the Phantom wasn't going for a touching reunion with his person. At the last second, he spun around and kicked out with his hind legs, letting out a scream typically only associated with fighting elephants. His hooves clanged against the fence and the two girls flung themselves off it, landing with two unpleasant thumps.
Jen was cursing like a sailor; Sam remained a little more coherent, although she'd had the wind knocked out of her. "It wasn't us," she rasped, instantly leaping to the Phantom's defense. "He was kicking at Blaze."
The Border Collie was indeed running from the round pen with his tail between his legs. Jen sat up and adjusted her glasses, which fortunately hadn't been damaged in the emergency exit. "So your horse is dog-aggressive now."
"Can you blame him?"
"As someone who just hit the ground because of him, yes, a little bit."
Sam got up and helped her friend up too, but she was watching the Phantom more than anything else. His ears stayed pinned flat against his head and his eyes darted back and forth, always settling on Blaze, who was curled up on the porch and looking downright repentant. If Sam had needed proof the Phantom was affected both physically and mentally affected by the accident, she had it now.
"I would appreciate," Sam began delicately. "If no one outside of us ever hears about this. Dad and Brynna barely agreed to let me keep him."
"I can't believe they agreed," Jen marveled. "What'd you do? Sell your soul?"
Sam wrinkled her nose. A sensitive subject. "Not quite. I gave up my birthday and Christmas, and Jake's helping me with training."
Jen pretended to vomit. Sam wasn't thrilled by the idea either, but she still felt the need to defend Jake. "He's not all bad. He definitely knows a thing or two about horses."
"That's what YouTube is for."
Sam's gaze drifted back to the stallion in the paddock. She didn't think YouTube would be much help where the Phantom was concerned. "I'll keep that in mind."
"What do you mean, gave up your birthday, though?" Jen continued.
Sam explained the conditions she'd agreed to, which involved not having a birthday party or a Christmas present. Jen looked extremely bummed out for her sake. "Well, I can still get you a present, right?"
"I won't stop you," Sam promised. In truth, she wasn't all that disappointed. She'd already decided her horse was worth it, whether he recovered fully or not.
Both girls turned when they heard the crunch of hooves on gravel. A black horse and a stoic rider- Witch and Jake, respectively. Jen frowned. "That's my cue to leave."
"Jen, you don't have to-"
"See ya!" Jen was having none of it. She scampered to the hitching post, where Silly had tangled herself with her reins over her head because that was the kind of horse she was, and trotted away.
"BE SAFE!" Sam yelled after her. She knew Jen could handle herself, but knowing something on the range had been close to taking down the Phantom made her worry. Jen turned back to give her a thumbs-up; hopefully that meant everything would be fine.
Sam fell into step with Jake as he led Witch into the barn. "You scared my friend away."
"Good. We don't need the peanut gallery for what we're about to do."
"And that is…?"
"We're putting a halter on the Phantom."
"We are?" Sam squawked. Then she tried to pull herself together. "Are you sure he's ready? He's really scared."
"He's ready," Jake stated, sliding the stall shut behind him. He started walking to the tack room, saddle on his hip, and Sam followed. "Horses aren't stupid. He remembers his training, and he's not nearly as wild as he thinks he is."
Sam wasn't sure she believed that. At this point, the Phantom had been wild for three-quarters of his life, and he was royally pissed at her. That wasn't exactly a recipe for success, but she decided not to pick a fight within the first five minutes.
Jake passed her a black rope halter- one of the oldest ones they had, faded and softened from years of use. As an afterthought, he grabbed a black rope too, but he held onto that himself. Maybe he didn't think she'd need it.
"You fall off already?"
"Huh?" Sam asked. Then she remembered her back was covered in sand. "Not off a horse. I just fell."
"Mmm."
She didn't explain it and Jake didn't ask. Maybe she should have- maybe it would have changed what he asked her to do next. "Go in," said Jake, gesturing to the Phantom's round pen.
"And?"
"And wait. Let him think about you for a minute."
He basically shoved her through the gate. Sam wanted to protest, but something kept her mouth shut. She was embarrassed to admit she was a tiny bit afraid of her own horse; she could only imagine what Jake would think of her if he knew.
He could probably tell anyway, just by looking at her. But it would have been different to say it out loud.
Sam took her place in the center of the pen, keeping an eye on the Phantom the whole time. He'd reacted as soon as the gate swung open, watching her just as carefully as she was watching him. Like they were predator and prey. Sam just wasn't quite sure which one she was supposed to be.
"Relax, Brat," Jake called from outside the fence. "You're tense. He's picking up on it."
"I'm not tense," Sam lied blatantly. She kept her tone neutral and quiet to avoid spooking the Phantom. "And don't call me Brat."
Jake didn't reply. He was kind of a dick that way.
Sam took a deep breath and tried to follow his advice despite finding it irritating. He was right- she was tense, and the Phantom could read her like a book. If she couldn't control her own emotions, she had no hope of controlling the Phantom.
Not that "control" was exactly what she was going for. She wanted a partnership, to work together in harmony like they had before. Before the accident, Sam and the Phantom- he was Blackie, then- had been like one creature. The same couldn't be said for them now. The line of trust had been severed between them, and even though they were less than thirty feet apart, Sam had never felt further away.
When she got her nerves under control, she called to Jake again. "What should I do?"
"Wait."
"Huh?"
"Just stand there and wait."
Waiting was not Sam's strong suit. Nor was listening to Jake. She did both anyway, wondering what exactly they were waiting for and why Jake had been left in charge when his teaching style left so much to be desired.
She got the answer to one of her questions, at least. After a few more minutes of standing and waiting, the Phantom let out a deep sigh and licked his lips- he was relaxing too. Jake gave an approving nod. "Alright. Turn your back to him."
It went against Sam's every instinct, but she turned away from the horse and locked eyes with Jake instead. "And the point of this is…?"
"It's a gesture of good faith. A person is vulnerable from behind, so you're showing him you ain't gonna hurt him."
Sam snuck a glance at the Phantom. He was standing parallel to the fence, one ear flicked towards her. "So he should show me his back too?"
"A horse is vulnerable from the front. If he sends you the back end, you're getting kicked."
Sam rolled her eyes. "Alright, this isn't my first day. You just suck at explaining things."
"Take a step back now."
It shouldn't have been a big deal, one foot taking one step, but Sam saw the way the Phantom flinched. If they'd met a week ago, it would have been different; he'd meet her in the middle and bump her shoulder with his nose, greeting her like an old friend. Now they were like strangers- maybe something even further apart than strangers, since as far as the Phantom could comprehend, she had betrayed him quite cruelly. There was no way she could explain it to him, nothing she could do to make him understand. The only possible cure was time, and even that was a long shot.
"Another," Jake ordered.
Sam obeyed and took another step backward, although she was privately already certain they wouldn't be haltering the Phantom today. He wasn't ready. She probably wasn't ready either. They just had to try because it was better than doing nothing.
On her fourth step, the Phantom spooked. He didn't go far, just spun around and trotted a couple steps away. Sam winced at his limp, and she knew Jake saw it too. It was kind of hard to miss, unless you were in another country or perhaps in space.
Sam held still until the Phantom stopped too. She didn't want to spook him more, push him into moving any more than he had to. She wished they were alone- it would be easier if no one could hear them and she could whisper his secret name and maybe, just maybe, she could earn back a tiny scrap of his trust.
"Easy," said Jake. He provided no context other than that, which was quite typical of Jake actually.
Sam was getting a little tired of his input, even if it only came out one word at a time. Just because he was "in charge" didn't mean he got to talk to her like a pet instead of a partner.
Still, Sam knew she had to put childish disputes aside for the Phantom's sake. A few minutes and a few deep breaths later- it had become clear early on that patience was the name of the game here- she approached him again, one small step at a time. "Hey, Blackie. Don't get too worked up; it's just me."
It seemed wrong to call him by his old name, but it didn't feel any righter to call him "Phantom". Not out loud, at least.
She wasn't sure if the chatter was helping the stallion, but it did soothe her. Talking gave her nervous energy somewhere to go, and she felt less like exploding than the first time she'd approached the Phantom. He let her get closer this time, but not close enough to touch. He whirled away from her again, his ragged hooves cutting deep lines into the sand.
Embarrassingly, Sam felt like crying. Ten minutes into their first training session, and the Phantom had nearly reduced her to tears. Well, no- it was more Jake's fault. If they'd been left alone, if Sam could do it her way, maybe the Phantom wouldn't be looking at her like she had "horse killer" tattooed across her forehead.
But she couldn't completely blame Jake. Jake wasn't the reason the Phantom didn't trust her anymore- it was the fact that he'd been shoved into a round pen and taken away from everything he knew.
He'd been her best friend, once. Now she couldn't even touch him.
"You gonna try again, Brat?"
That, combined with every other irritating thing about this day and this round pen, was too much. "Don't," she growled, forgetting time and place. "-CALL ME BRAT!"
The Phantom reacted like he'd been shot. Jake just frowned, and obviously Sam was more concerned about the horse. She watched, all but drowning in regret, as the Phantom flung his head and sprinted half the length of the pen. He was normally so elegant when he moved, but watching him try to gallop with a stiff front leg that could barely hold his weight was almost enough to make her sick.
She looked to Jake, knowing he'd be disappointed in her- she was certainly disappointed in herself- but as always, his expression was unreadable. Even his tone was neutral as he suggested, "Let's try something else."