Free Spirit

Chapter Nineteen

Jacob led me down one of the concrete tracks to a barn nestled behind what seemed to be a covered arena. He slid the doors open with ease. As we stepped inside, my eyes widened with shock. Inside the barn, rows of deluxe stalls lined a wide cobblestone aisle, which was lit by floodlights emitting a warm glow.

 I could see the glossy backs of bay, grey chestnut and palomino horses between the railings on the sides of each of the stalls.

My eyes roamed around the barn until finally, I saw a jet black back. I didn't listen to Jacob's echoing yells as I sprinted down the aisle towards the horse. 

The rest of the world seemed to melt away as I came face to face with him. Spirit stood in front of me- flesh and blood. I unlatched the stall door and walked inside. Spirit tossed his head and pawed the stall shavings when he saw me.

"It's me boy," I whispered. "It's me." Spirit walked to meet me, mirroring my steady movements. I stretched out a hand and felt Spirit's warm breath on my palms, his whiskers tickling my fingertips.

I wrapped my arms around his powerful neck. "I've missed you, boy," I managed to choke out in between tears. "So, so much."

"Amy!" Jacob's cries shattered the silence. I whipped my head around to see Jacob being pinned to the barn's inner wall by Mr. Walker and what seemed to be one of the grooms. 

"Jacob!" I cried out to my friend. But, as I tried to leave the stall to help him, a girl, none other than Georgia, stopped me in my tracks.

"And what do you think your doing with my horse?" She purred. 

"I won't let you take him! You may own him, but you don't know him," I felt angry tears streaming down my cheeks, and I spied a black cotton lead line hanging outside the stall door. I grabbed it and clipped it to Spirit's halter ring. "Spirit may seem a powerful wild horse, but really, he's scared and-"

"I don't care," Georgia snapped. "He's my horse now and I know how to look after him." She reached out and tried to snatch the end of the lead line from me.

But she was stopped by Jacob, who had managed to wrestle his way out of the strong arms of Mr. Walker and the groom. Jacob pushed her roughly to the side, taking the lead line and looping it around Spirit's neck. He then cupped his both his hands slightly below my knee. 

"What are you doing?" I asked, my words coming out quick.

"Giving you a leg up," Jacob explained. He rolled his eyes at my confused expression. "Your ready, Amy. I've seen Spirit over the past week- he longed  for you. That's why he wouldn't let anyone tame or ride him. He needed you. Now, are you gonna get out of here or what?" 

Jacob propelled me onto Spirit's bare back and I took hold of the lead line. I kicked him forward, looking back as Jacob got caught by Mr. Walker once more. 

"I love you," I cried out to him.

The last I heard was the muffled screams of "No!" from Georgia as me and Spirit cantered away into the night.