White Gate Heart

•Chapter Ten•

Pure solace erupted at the pit of my stomach; it was amusing how many moments of relief I had received those past couple of days. 

Fighting my body's urge to rush to Jamie's stall, I took careful steps towards her and spoke softly. Her ears perked, but a glint of rememberance appeared in her eyes. She pinned her ears and turned to face the back of her stall, glancing at the outside world. 

The creaking and heaving of moving wood was omiting from the loft and I nearly slapped my palm to my face. I had forgotten that Mark was staying in the loft! Well, I shouldn't say staying, more like of sleeping for one night and getting out of the barn as soon as possible. 

I whipped around to face him as he descended the ladder clumsily. He opened his mouth to spoke, but was interrupted by his own yawning. I made a slight laugh but covered it before he could notice. It was still difficult for me to act like his friend, especially after how we had been separated as childhood friends. 

Scratching his hay-infested hair, he walked over towards the stall and hung his arms over the stall wall. I gave him a questioning look.

"I must ask, did you find Jamie?" I broke the uncomforting silence. He tore his gaze away from the mare and glanced at me, nodding slowly. 

"Found her standing at the paddock's gate. I swear it looked as if she felt sorry for running," he answered, his mouth turning up into a smile at the end of his sentence. 

Looking at Jamie, she still had her eyes locked onto the outside, refusing to give in to our stares and presences. The vision of Jamie being apologetic was hard to conjure, as hard as I tried. 

"You must've seen what happened," I replied, keeping my focus on Jamie and not Mark's eyes. So now Mark must know how Father is. It's unfortunate because I've kept it a secret from everyone outside the family. 

Mark nodded and his mouth twisted into an odd sort of line, most likely out of nervous habit.

"For whatever it is worth, you and that horse could have so much more power than him." His statement astonished me. How could he claim such a thing when he's barely known who I am now and what type of horse Jamie is. He can't barge in on my family business and assume that he knows who I am. 

"You don't know us, Mark. You can't assume that my Father always acts that way. No one in this family could ever be more powerful than my Father," I replied, sounding bitter towards the end. I bowed my head in regret, but held true to what I said. 

He huffed through his nose, shaking his head. 

"You're right, I don't. I was just trying to be a comfort towards you. My deep apologies," and he turned to leave out of the barn door, limping on his ankle. 

Before Mark left, he turned back and paused for a few seconds.

"Bekah, I know this might not mean much, but family isn't about who is powerful. That's the unfortunate thing we've all learned." With a placement of his hat, Mark limped off towards the gravel drive, keeping quiet in the dark of morning to avoid being found.

"You were the one who said she and I could have more power than him!" I shouted after him angrily, biting the inside of my cheek afterwards. That boy was odd and confusing all together, but I honestly was glad to have him back. It was just dearly unfortunate we couldn't have had more time to bond again. I never really did have any close friends. The memories of Mark were all that I had. During balls and dances, I occasionally was fortunate to meet with close cousins and have a good time, but they weren't friends I could spend my times and troubles with. At that moment, as I took --what I thought was- a last look at Mark, I desperately wanted to have a friend, even if it was a boy such as Mark.