The Great Expedition

Chapter 19

One day after Stardust got a ''training ride'' from Rob, She was trying to cool her open wounds with the cool water from the tub in the paddock. Stardust could not cool her wounds and they were throbbing. Stardust thought she was starting to get an infection in the many open wounds, but that did not stop Rob from riding her harder then usual. After pondering about the idea all day, Stardust decided that she had enough of Rob and that tonight was the night she would escape. Stardust was trying to figure out the best route to take to get to Kristie, when Honeysuckle came galloping towards her. Honeysuckle slid to a stop in front of Stardust and nuged her hard in the side. Honeysuckle then galloped away, when Stardust did not move from her spot, Honeysuckle went over and did the same thing again. Finally Stardust snapped and chased after Honeysuckle, the two horses chased after eachother for nearly two hours before they came to a stop to rest. 

For the rest of the day Stardust and Honeysuckle ate some of the grass that was left and sometimes stopped eating for a game of tag. Once the sun started to set, Stardust went to go feed the horses for one last time. Stardust gave herself and Honeysuckle one more flake then usual, she would need extra energy to start her journey and who knew if food would be available for her to eat. Also Stardust would need to keep Honeysuckle busy so when she escaped Honeysuckle would not wake up Rob with her constant whinnying. Stardust went into the barn to say goodbye to her stall when she came across a hay net full of hay.

That will be perfect to keep Honeysuckle busy until the middle of the night. Stardust thought. She grabbed the strings and raced back to the paddock. The bag was slapping against her rump and the hay was poking into her wounds which made them burn even more. Once outside the paddock, Stardust flung the bag over the fence which caused Honeysuckle to spook away from the fence and gallop to the other end of the paddock. Stardust tried to tie the hay net to the fence but failed, she eventually just left in a corner of the paddock and stood by it. When Honeysuckle tried to see what was hiding behind Stardust but got kicked and chased away when she came to close. Honeysuckle tried again a couple of times before she got fed up with be kicked and chased away. Stardust never left the hay net alone not even for a second. She grazed on the grass that she could reach from where the bag was, when she was thirsty, she would take the bag by the strings and go over the the water tub. At first when Stardust went over to the water tub, Honeysuckle would try to steal the bag while Stardust was drinking but got chased away and kicked in the sides many times. 

Finally the sun set and Stardust was warming up her muscules for her big journey. While she was trotting serpentines, Honeysuckle came over and started to copy what Stardust was doing. After Stardust was done cantering, she walked around a bit to catch her breath before starting to gallop. Once Stardust was galloping around, Honeysuckle galloped up to Stardust and nudged her hard on the neck before speeding up. Hoping to start up a game of tag. After many nudges, Stardust finally relented. After a long and fun games full of sudden stops and twists and turns, both horses were tired and ambling over to the water tub for a cool drink of water. Stardust trotted back to the hay net and made sure that the knot was tight and would not come undone. Once the sun was fully set and the stars were twinkling in the sky, Stardust did two laps of galloping around the paddock before turning to face the fence. In three easy strides, Stardust reached the base of the fence and stretched her body to clear the jump effortless. Stardust did not know that Honeysuckle was following her until she was on the other side of the fence and heard a pitiful whinny.

Stardust slid to a stop and turned around to see Honeysuckle turning around a starting to gallop towards the fence. Stardust thought that Honeysuckle would refuse at the last second but the little mare attempted to clear the fence. Honeysuckle had never jumped a jump before never mind a jump that big, so she did not know she had to tuck her legs underneath her. At the last second her front legs hit the top board and she went tumbling forward. After the jump Honeysuckle had some scraped front knees from hitting the ground and the momentum caused her to slide forward on the rough ground with many rocks. None of the wounds were bleeding so that was a good thing. Stardust galloped up to the fence and sailed over it again hoping that Honeysuckle would follow her. No such luck, Honeysuckle saw right through Stardust and refused to jump back into the paddock. After awhile Stardust decided to jump out again and take Honeysuckle with her. If Stardust did not leave now she would not be far enough that Rob could not find her and catch her. Stardust also knew that the way Rob was beating her, she might not live to see the next night. 

Once Stardust was on the other side of the paddock, she took off at a gallop into the woods with Honeysuckle at her heels. Once they were in the clearing, Stardust stopped galloping and started to graze. Honeysuckle, who was a couple strides behind her, finally galloped into the clearing. Since Honeysuckle did not have the stamina that Stardust had, they had to take an extra long break in the clearing. Once both horses were full of grass they continued thier journey.

Author's note   

QOTD: What do you love wearing?

I really like wearing big comfy fluffy warm sweaters in the winter and shorts in the summer.