The Course of Destiny

Chapter One

Destiny

Silver kicked mud up onto his legs and belly as he trotted down the road. Silver was my Father's Kentucky Saddler stallion. He was gray, as his name suggests, and had a thin white stripe down his face.

My father was running low on gun oil, so I sprang on the opportunity to go get more, as well as some ingredients and things for my mother. I was glad for any reason to get away from the house.

Right now, though, I was heading away from the shops. Why? Because I was going to have a nice gallop through the forest. It's not something my parents took kindly to.

According to my parents, I had to act like a lady. Be sweet and delicate, wear skirts, cook, clean - yeah, no thanks. We lived in the muddy old town of Valentine, for goodness sake! It's not like we lived somewhere prim and proper. If we were in big and fancy Saint Denis, then maybe I could somewhat understand.

I steered Silver off the road and into the grass and flowers that hadn't quite opened yet. After trotting for a few more strides, I kicked, asking him to canter. The grump just threw his head and made an annoyed grumbly growl, so I kicked once more. He finally started cantering after throwing his head again.

When we neared the treeline, I kicked him twice, one after the other, and he started speeding up with a growly snort. He was the laziest and grumpiest horse you'll ever see, but I loved him.

I leaned forward a bit as we sped into the forest, then patted his neck. "Good boy. That wasn't too bad, now was it?"

Spring was still young, so the trees that weren't evergreen were only just starting to grow little bright green leaves. Birds were singing their beautiful morning tunes and rabbits dashed into the bushes, frightened by the big horse that was running through their home.

I took a deep breath of the crisp air as it blew in my face, then sighed in delight. After relishing the last few glorious moments, I reluctantly sat back in the saddle, bringing Silver down to a slow canter. I then turned him towards the outside of the forest so that we could meet back up to the road.

"We should probably head to the shops now," I said as I patted his neck again.

Once we got back onto the road, I let him slow to a walk. He was so happy to be going slow, he let out a big content sigh.

I turned left toward the row of stores where people strolled around on foot, horseback, and wagon.

The wooden storefronts sat on wood platforms and were painted in muted colors. The store names and some of the services they offered were painted in white and a few fancier buildings had signs. There were horse hitches in front of the majority of the buildings, and of course the muddy road went through the middle.

I stopped at the first store on the corner: the gunsmith. After I dismounted, I hitched Silver and entered.

The man at the counter looked up from what he was doing when he heard me come in. "Oh, hello. What brings a little lady like you to my establishment?"

I smiled politely even though it annoyed me to be called such things. "My father needs some gun oil, so I came to fetch some."

He put some containers of gun oil on the counter after reaching underneath to get them. I paid him and the man thanked me for my business, then I walked out of the store.

I approached Silver, who looked like he was about to fall asleep, and tucked the oil into the saddle bag.

Now that my hands were free, I lifted my skirts so they wouldn't get muddy and walked across the street to the general store, being careful to stay out of the way of the horses and wagons that were passing by. I swerved around the people that were walking to and from the shops, and approached the door of the general store. A cheerful jingle sounded as I opened the door. I made my way to the shelves and grabbed the items I needed, then went to the counter to pay after waiting for the shopkeeper to finish with another customer.