The Beginning of the Blakes' Adventures

Chapter Three: Trouble is Inevitable

 The stable was made with dark wood, with big green sliding doors in the front. Inside was spacious with sixteen stalls, eight on each side, and a large tack room in the back. Mel looked around in wonder at all the beautiful horses.

 "Is this stable new?" Mel finally asked Abigail, preferring conversation than the awkward hostility. Abigail had been walking behind Mel since they entered the stable.

 "Yeah, Dad had it built a few months ago, since the old one wasn't in good shape..." She replied. "In fact, I helped him build it."

 Mel was surprised at Abigail's answer; Abigail had always been pretty girly. Abigail noticed Mel's shock and snapped, "Hey! I know I was all prissy and stuff, but I've changed a lot since we last met." Abigail said, feeling insulted by Mel's shock. Mel quickly noticed her mistake and corrected herself, "I'm sorry, Abbie. That really is awesome. So," she said, trying to change the subject. "Which one is yours?"

  Abigail immediately recovered and her face lit up. She led Mel to the third stall on the right, where a beautiful chestnut colored gelding stood, nickering at her as she approached. "This is Chester." She said with a bit of pride. Mel smiled, and walked over to him. "He's beautiful," she said in awe. Chester pricked his ears and looked at Mel, giving her a short whinny. Mel smiled at him. "So how long have you had Chester?" She said, turning to Abigail.

 "Three years," Abigail said happily. "What about you? How long have you had Hatchet?"

 "Six years. I got her a month after she was foaled."

Abigail nodded approvingly and turned back to Chester, "You hear that, boy? We have a guest for you to meet later," Chester whinnied with excitement. Turning back to Mel, "So Mel, would you like to go for a ride?" Abigail asked.

"Sure, why not." Mel said, still feeling a little weird with Abigail. Maybe being here won't be so bad? Mel thought to herself as they went to the tack room. "Since Hatchet isn't here at the moment, you will need to ride a different horse... I think Sasha will do well for you," Abigail said to Mel, pointing to a white mare at the front.

 The girls saddled up the horses and rode out of the stable. "So where are we going?" Mel asked. "I thought we might go on a path around the property, and I could show you the land... if that's all right with you," Abigail said.

 "Yeah, I guess." Mel said.

 The girls didn't talk much, other than Abigail explaining various places around the land, and Mel acknowledging Abigail's existence. When they came back to the stable they unsaddled the horses and rubbed them down, giving each horse a scoop of feed. When they came out of the stable, the girls saw Thomas driving up the road to the house. Mel knew Hatchet had arrived, and began to run towards the house. Abigail was surprised by Mel's sudden movement and sprinted, trying to catch up with her.

 Mel came running down the road with Abigail trailing tiredly behind her. When Mel reached the house she felt a rush of worry and shock. There in front of the trailer talking to Thomas, was Mr. Marshal, but wearing ripped clothes, a terrible gash on his forehead, bruised, and blood dripping from his side. Mel froze, uncertain of how she should react. Thomas saw her and waved for her to come over. Mel walked over to where Thomas and Mr. Marshal were standing, a bit nervous of what she might hear.

 "Hello," Mr. Marshal began with a cough. "Mel," Mel tried to smile at him, but she felt sadness welling up in her, and didn't trust herself to say anything. She said, with some effort to keep her voice under control, "Wh-what happened?" Then Abigail came up beside her, bending over and panting with her hands on her knees. Thomas was helping support Mr. Marshal.