Whispers of the Heart

Chapter 1: Lucas

Chapter 1 Lucas

            "Whoah, girl!" Peter shouted, his muscles tensing as he pulled on the reins. His black hair was covered by a straw hat; his blue shirt clung to his skin, plastered there by the sweat. The white horse reared again, her neigh high pitched and angry. She tried her hardest to pull the reins out of his hands, yet he held on. Then again, what could anyone expect? The white mare never let strangers near her; she hardly ever allows me near her and I grew up with her. As for Peter, he was a bull rider so he's used to holding onto wild animals.

            "Get her back into the stall!" Shelly, my sister, shouted, her voice hit a new pitch. Her light, long brown hair danced in the wind, her dark brown eyes filled with worry and her lips slightly parted in horror.

            "She needs to exercise!" Peter yelled back as he pulled down on the reins again.

            "I'll take her." My hands wrapped around the reins and my muscles tensed up as I pulled down on the reins.

            "Lucas?" Shelly let out a sigh of relief. "Can you put her back in her stall? She'll never get along with any of our horses like this."

            "Maybe you should sell her?" Peter suggested as he leaned against one of the other stalls.

            "Never." I growled as I led the horse into stall. The hay and feces scattered the floor and I realized I'd have to be the one to muck out the stall. My hands slipped from the reins and I patted her neck before backing out of the stall and shutting the door. "There, I'll handle her in a little while."

            "Why won't you sell her?" Peter demanded.

            "Who would buy her like this?" Shelly exhaled as she rested her hand on my shoulder.

            "I need to muck out the stalls, I'll be back after." My shoulders tensed slightly as I walked away. How could they understand? How could any of them understand?

            "Hey, girl." My voice was soothing and quiet, in attempt to keep her calm. "It'll be alright, I won't let them sell you."

            She huffed and danced away from me and I sighed.

            "Come on, Snow. I know you miss her, I miss her too." My chin rested on the top of the stall as my eyes watched her pace back and forth. "But, it's been years. Almost ten years, we need to move on." She shook her mane and turned away from me.

            "Don't be like that, girl. I know she meant a lot to you, she meant a lot to me too." I turned around and pressed my back against the stall. "But Mira would want us to be happy, you know she would. She was always trying to make us smile, even though we were kids."

            Snow huffed behind me and I smiled softly. We both missed Mira. We knew her for two years and she disappeared as suddenly as she appeared. The last time I saw her was when she was being loaded up into the back of an ambulance. A day passed and she was gone. She never returned.

            Still, I waited for her. I waited for her to come back; I wanted her to come back. Ma and Pa said not to hold on any longer, that I had to move on, but I couldn't. I knew that I would meet Mira again and I would wait until that day came.

            A warm, furry skin pressed against my cheek and I looked to see Snow staring at me. Only Snow understood my pain. She spent just as much time with Mira as I did. Then again, Mira helped me feed Snow when she was an orphaned foal. Snow saw Mira as her mother and losing her the way she did was heartbreaking. She neighed every night and galloped around the property when she could, looking for her. After a while, Snow realized that Mira wasn't here any longer and Started to act up. She only allowed me to get close to her and take her outside.

            "Lucas, there you are." Father's deep voice sounded in the silence. He walked through the barn doors and smiled at me. "Your mother and I just picked our new chef. She seems to be highly qualified."

            "She?" I grinned evilly as my hand patted Snow's nose. "Also, a highly qualified chef working at making food for a bunch of ranchers? Seems like a waste of talent."

            "When I say highly qualified, I mean that she likes to cook and she took a few courses. She also came with a few good recommendations." Father snorted. He leaned against the stall next to me and pet the horse, Flame, a red mule. "Out of the ones we got, she seemed to fit the best. She's not overly qualified, but she's definitely not some beginner. Your mother and I think she'll be the best for the job."

            "Well, does this miraculous woman have a name?" In all honesty, I wasn't happy at the idea of inviting a stranger into my home and eating their food. Then again, I knew we needed it. We had about ten ranch hands, my parents, my brother and sister, my grandparents, and the occasional neighbor and friend who would eat here. After a while, it was obvious that my mother and sister couldn't keep up with the cooking and the amount of paperwork that they do to help keep the ranch running. Mother and Father suggested, a few months ago, to hire someone to do the cooking. Mother and my sister really wanted a female so they had another girl to talk to.

            "Alisha. Alisha Parks." Father shrugged slightly. "An interesting name, not one that you hear around here very often, eh?"

            "Not one that I'd often think about." I pushed myself away from the stall and turned to look back at Snow. "She's still acting up."

            "Of course." Father grumbled. "We will have to do something about her. We can't keep putting up with this behavior."

            "We could find Mira."

            "Lucas." Father sighed, his hand brushed through his dark brown hair. "We have no idea what happened to her. We don't even know how she got hurt in the first place!"

            "What does that matter?" I demanded. "Snow needs her! I bet that's why she's acting up like this. It has to do with Mira!"

            "Maybe Snow just needs to let go and move on." His eyes bore into mine and I realized what he meant. I grunted and jerked my head away from him. "Lucas, you were a child. This was simple then, but now you need to realize she's gone. Mira isn't coming back. She may never come back." His footsteps sounded that he walked closer to me, his hand rested on my shoulder. "Alisha will be here in a week. You never know, maybe this is the girl who can help you move on."

            His hand disappeared from my shoulder and his footsteps faded into nothing. Snow and I stared at each other for a few more minutes before I turned around and walked out.

            I highly doubted that anyone could help me forget about Mira, especially some girl named Alisha.