Follow Your Dreams

Chapter 2: Mean Girl

I grabbed an armful of hay and spread it throughout one of the stalls. The horses needed clean hay in the stalls every day. I made sure my half of the barn had fresh hay before going to the tack room and grabbing two buckets. I carried the buckets to the front of the barn where the hose was located and began filling them with water. Once they were full, I carefully carried them back into the barn and walked up to the first stall. I set down the buckets and unlocked the stall door. I grabbed one of the buckets and went inside to fill up the empty bucket inside the stall. Each stall had two buckets inside of them, one for water and one for food. I took the now empty bucket and left the stall, continuing on to the next one. I continued doing this until the seven stalls I take care of had full water buckets. I grabbed the buckets I had been using to fill up the water buckets and went back to the tack room. “Finally done…for now.” I said and ran back over to the indoor arena. Emilie was still inside, practicing with Storm.

The black Hanoverian cantered towards an oxer. It was brightly colored with yellows and blues, an attempt to distract the horse. Storm didn’t even glance at the oxer as he jumped over it, barely making a sound as he landed. I watched, making sure not to make a sound. This girl had serious anger issues and really hated to be watched. Now that I think about it, my two best friends and I have a nasty temper too. We didn’t get all over dramatic like Emilie did though. Storm cantered on to a parallel jump with flowers all over the bottom, another attempt to distract the horse. The last jump was a tarp, a replacement for a water jump. Some horses would have problems with these jumps because they had no clue what it was. Horses would also have problems with the water jumps because they didn’t like water. Storm continued to canter towards the tarp layed out until he suddenly stopped. The sudden stop caused Emilie to go flying over Storm’s head and land with a thud against the tarp. Well, that escalated quickly. “Mr. Davis! Come over here!” I yelled then ran into the indoor arena and grabbed Storm’s reins. He watched his owner and had his head down.

“What happened, Kate? Emilie! Don’t move!” Mr. Davis said as he walked in. Emilie lifted her head and turned to look at Storm, or me. I really couldn’t tell right now because I was right next to Storm. “Does anything hurt? Feel broken?” Mr. Davis asked as Emilie seemed to catch her breath. I would have been winded too if I had a fall like that. Emilie returned her attention back to Mr. Davis.

“I’m fine. I was just winded. How’s Storm?” She replied before turning her head back to me for the question. I was positive she was looking at me now. I inspected his legs and felt no heat; everything else about him seemed fine.

“He’s good. I wonder why he spooked at the tarp.” I replied. I’ve seen Emilie practice numerous times, and not once has Storm ever spooked at the tarp. Emilie stood up, a little wobbly at first.

“I have no clue. Anyways, were you watching me practice?!” She demanded. I just shrugged and shook my head. The look she gave me showed that she didn’t believe me.

“I’m serious! I was just passing by the arena when I heard a thud. I looked over and there you were!” I lied, keeping a straight face the whole time. Emilie still didn’t seem to believe me but decided not to bother arguing anymore. My guess was that she had a headache from the fall.

“I’m going to go get an Advil. Go put Storm away.” She ordered me before storming off in the direction of Mr. and Mrs. Davis’s house. They allowed us inside if we needed a snack or any medicine. Their house was located a few yards in front of the barn.

“Did you get on her bad side again?” Jake’s voice said behind me. I rolled my eyes and began walking back to the barn, hearing his footsteps as he followed me. I am a little curious as to how I didn’t even notice him walk into the arena though. Was I that sidetracked with Emilie, or did he just happen to be there by coincidence? “You really should avoid her more, you two never get along.” He said, scolding me. I couldn’t help it and ended up laughing.

“I’m her favorite stable hand though!” I whined, then turned around and pointed at him. “You are not my father, just for the record. Don’t go around scolding me!” I said, going back to my normal voice. He laughed and I just rolled my eyes and began untacking Storm. Jake just stood there watching me, which kind of annoyed me. We may be friends and all, but I’m not a fan of people just watching me as I work. Once Storm was untacked, I led him back to his stall in the barn. Jake disappeared while I was doing that. I rolled my eyes and went over to the pasture to watch the horses. There were six horses in the pasture right now, unless I couldn’t see some others. Mr. Davis walked over to me and looked out at the horses. I noticed the brown body of a Dutch Warmblood colt. “Who’s the newcomer?” I asked Mr. Davis and pointed at the colt.

"His name is Hershey. He is about three years old and used to be a wild horse. His parents died though and he was later taken into a private stable. We don't have all the details but we believe he was abused. There are some scars, old and new." Mr. Davis explained. I nodded and sat there for what felt like hours as I watched the horses. This is what I usually do after I'm done working, or until my mom comes to pick me up again.

~Picture to the side is Emilie~

*Author's Note* Yep, that's all I got. I'll update on Wednesday as usual next week! Hope you enjoyed, comment any mistakes that you noticed. That's all! Bye! ~AyakaTheNightfury