Futures Entwined

Chapter V

Both Jacob and I look up then. "She thought we were coming." I whisper. What ever Andrew was doing to her she saw us and thought we were coming to help her. We let her down.

"Lennie, we didn't let her down, we were born decades after she must have died. You can't blame yourself." I nod but I feel numb. Jacob puts his arm around my shoulders, "I guess they lived here." I say and Jacob nods.

Suddenly I'm so over come by anger and pain for that girl waiting for the help that we wouldn't bring her, that I jump up and run into the other room grab my sword and attack one of the dummies I have. They don't tear easily so that's good. I guess.

When I finally drop my sword I'm sweating and my hair has come free of it's ponytail and is hanging in my face. Jacob stands in the doorway of the room looking terrified. "Sorry," I say. "I kind of just had a rage attack." Jacob cautiously moves closer to me and I take a deep breath. "No kidding." He mutters. I smile apologetically, "Sorry, I'm done now." I push my hair out of my eyes and sigh.

"What are we going to do?" I ask. Jacob looks at me confused. "Do?" He asks. I nod, "I mean we'll obviously finish Arabella's diary, but should we try to find out anything else about her? Or her family? Or her friends?" Jacob considers this. "Yeah I think we should," He glances sideways at me. "Though I think we should continue reading another day." I nod, "Sounds good and I really am sorry for going all "ninja" on you. Jacob gives me a funny look. "Ninja?" He asks. I shrug, "Yeah, they randomly bust out the weapons and start trying to kill the dummies in the room." Jacob laughs but something seems off. "Do you think Ninjas are real?" He asks and I laugh. "Real? No. It would be cool if they were real." I tell him. Jacob seems to relax.

He glances down at him watch, "Well I have to go, but like I said I own a few horses. So if you would help me with the barn chores, then we could go for a ride." I grin, "Cool, I just have to change."

I grab breeches, polo shirt and boots from my closet and change quickly. I put my hair in a low ponytail and then leave the bathroom. I pick up my helmet and we head downstairs. My mom agrees that I can go riding with Jacob and we leave my house.

I enjoy the walk down the lane and a few driveways over to Jacob and Livy's house. Livy, Jacob says is off with Conner today. He looks sad when he says but when his face brightens when he looks back at me.

Jacob's house is beautiful and I love his barn. He says that Livy is scared of the horses after being thrown as a child. He says I can pick which horse to ride after we finish his chores. We clean some tack, clean stalls and put things away. When we're done Jacob introduces me to his horse, Apollo. He is a lovely coal black with three white socks. He gestures for me to follow him down the aisle. He shows me the horses I can choose from to ride, I choose a horse named Athena. She is a gorgeous copper colour. We tack up in the aisle and then we head out of the barn and Jacob asks, "Do you jump?" I smile, "I love to jump." He smiles, "Me too, do you do cross-country?" I laugh. "My favourite." We mount and take off across a field. We jump for a while over the amazing course that Jacob and his dad made when he was little. 

When we decide that the horses need to take a break so we ride back slowly, talking more about each other. When we reach the stable we take our saddles and bridles off and ride on a short trail to cool out.

We put things away and then stand awkwardly for a moment out in front of the stable. "I had fun today." I tell him, "Me too." He smiles. We fall into another silence. "I should go." I say. "I enjoyed getting to know you today," Jacob says. I smile and walk down his drive. I start running once I'm out of sight of Jacob. I change my clothes in my room and then I hear the footsteps on the stairs, my mom.

"So now I bet you are glad we moved here." My mom says. I sigh, "Mom, I don't like Jacob like that." Mom smirks, "Ooh, he has you calling him something else." I sigh again. "Anyway, it's time for dinner." She says and goes downstairs. I sigh and follow her.

I don't like Jacob that way, I don't. We're just friends. Seriously.