The Storm Before Dawn

Chapter 23

My alarm went off at 4:00 am like normal. I swung my legs out of bed, and slipped on a pair of jeans and a old t-shirt. I put my hair up in a pony tail and grabbed an apple before heading outside.

I started setting out their feed and then went and started cleaning their stalls. After I cleaned one barn, I saddled up Sky and headed out to the big dressage arena.

Sky and I worked on her simple changes at the canter. And after a while she was getting them perfectly and I cooled her out. After putting Sky away I grabbed Flash. I had an hour and a half to work him and feed the horses before I had to get ready for school.

We worked on our flying lead changes, and by the time we were done, he was lathered in sweat, even in the misty morning. I walked him around until he was cooler then I threw him in his stall. I still had time to do Onyx then feed the horses their hay.

Onyx had been improving so much. She was no longer the horse that spooked at anything and everything, she had really started to mellow out.

She is becoming a good cross-country horse, and we practiced that this morning. We went on the trail and finished it in fifteen minutes. I decided to see how fast we could make the course.

I cantered her and we thundered along the trail before coming to the first jump. 3,2,1 up. We flew over the log and cantered up a hill before coming to a stream. She cantered through it and then we had a large stretch before the next jump. I spurred her into a faster canter, and we cleared the distance in record time.

As we flew over the rest if the jumps, I kept asking her for more. As we approached the biggest jump of the course. A ditch to a 3 foot log, was definitely the most challenging of the jumps. Onyx flew off of the ditch and sprung over the jump.

It seemed like we were in the air for a long time, before we landed. After we landed I spurred her and she gave me her last burst of energy sprinting for the end of the trail. After I slowed her I looked at my timer. Three minutes. A record time for me on any horse.

I gave her a good cool out I put her away and quickly gave my barn and the rescues their hay. My phone beeped, signalling that it was 7:30 time to get ready for school.

I rushed inside and took a shower, then slipped on a black skirt and a pink shirt. At 7:58 I was waiting at the bus stop for the bus to come at 8:00.

The bus pulled up and I jumped on. Zara was already waiting for me and I slipped onto the seat next to her. After my ride with Onyx I had forgotten about Dawn, but as I sat down, it all came crashing down. I stifled a cry and only sniffled instead.

Zara hugged my shoulders and we stayed like that until school.

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Unknown Horse's POV

The people that saddled me are back again. They brought a saddle again, and I pinned my ears at them. In response, I got a glove to my face. They took me out of my stall, and brought me to the four posts. They tied me up and tied my back feet together, and my front foot was tied up off of the ground. They set the saddle on my, and I didn't flinch.

After yesterday, I was too scared to flinch because I thought they would stab me in the side again. After they had seceded in getting the man on me, anytime I moved the person on me, would poke me in the side with something attached to their boot.

We stood there like that for a long time yesterday before they unattached my feet. I didn't buck or anything I just stood there. The person stabbed me again so I started moving forward to escape the pain.

Today is a duplicate of then. But today we didn't have my feet tied up for as long. He started poking me in the side and I started trotting. I was still held back by the bit on my mouth attached to the poles and his hands.

I started getting really lathered with sweat after about thirty minutes, but we didn't stop there. And not at one hour, or an hour and a half, or even at two hours, not even at two and a half hours. But finally, at three hours of me trotting on the same spot we stopped.

My sides were bleeding from being kicked so many times and my nose was trickling blood. I was dripping sweat and I was breathing so hard.

When I went back to my stall, they put me in a tiny slot, but they did give me some hay and water. It tasted so good and it was gone in seconds. I stood lathered in sweat for a long time, but then I heard a voice not belonging to one of the men.

"Are you sure you didn't work Tiger Lily too hard?"

That was my name Tiger Lily.

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My next class was Creative Writing, but for now I am stuck in Spanish.

We are learning about the human body parts. Like ojo (ear) and Rodilla (knee). Our teacher gave us a pop quiz on them today, and out of like forty questions I got about ten right.

We talk about our next project, and when it is due and then finally the dismissal bell rings. I hurry over to Creative Writing.

When I walk in the classroom and it has our assignment on it.

Write a paper on one of these topics.

The Happiest time in you life.
The Scariest time in your life.
Or
The Saddest time in your life.

That was easy. The happiest time in my life, well one of them anyway, was when I got Dawn. The scariest time in my life was when I got kidnapped. And the saddest time in my life was... when dad disappeared.

Suddenly a flood of memories came flooding back. The police that was talking to me..... he was my DAD!

My head started ringing and I got black dots on my eyes. I closed my eyes and crumpled to the floor. I stuck my head in between my legs and my head quit ringing.

I took some deep breaths and then stood back up. The entire class looked at me but I just raised my hand.

"Yes Asha?"

"Can I call my mom really fast?"

"Why?"

"Ummmm... I just remembered something important."

"If you make it quick."

"Thanks!"

This is one reason I am glad we have phones in the classroom. I dialled my mom's phone and she picked it up on the first ring.

"Hello?"

"Mom!"

"Asha?"

"Mom how could you not tell me he was my dad?!"

"That who's your dad?"

"The police man that talked to me after I was kidnapped!"

"What?"

"He was my dad!"

I hear a sigh on the other end.

"Asha I will talk to you after school"

I hang up the phone and groan in frustration. I head back to my seat and decide to write about the happiest time in my life.

Forty-five minutes later, I had a page and a half done when the bell for lunch rang. This is going to be am interesting lunch, I thought to my self.

And I was right it was.