Tales of Gloomsdale #5: The Gallop from Beyond

Chapter Four

I watched as the stable hand bandaged Chestnut's leg. I would've done it myself, but I was slightly wary of being around him after last night. But not to the point that I wouldn't visit the stables to see how he was doing. It wasn't just because of him, though. I was still curious about the ghost horse, as well as the girl who owned him. I wanted to find out anything I could about them.

"What happened to you, fella?" Jack muttered, gently stroking the horse's leg. "He's all wet, too. So are your friends' horses. Don't tell me you went riding in the rain last night."

"We didn't know it was going to be raining," I argued. "Then we left as quickly as we could." It wasn't a total lie. We had been desperate to get out of there, though Phoebe and Skye were more than me.

"Don't tell me you went up the mountain trail," Jack said, standing up. "They always warn riders against that place. Then again, I guess you're pretty good. You even got second place in that horse show we competed in. Second place for Gloomsdale." I winced at the memory, remembering how Chestnut had acted up then as well.

"It wasn't that bad," I assured. "The trail, I mean. Aside from the rain, there was a nice view, and I wasn't alone. We didn't even plan on going up the mountain." That wasn't a lie either. I definitely hadn't planned on it.

"But your horse got injured." Jack carefully observed Chestnut. "Probably a good thing. He's always so energetic, it's good for him to get some rest. You better make sure he gets plenty of it. He should be up to riding in a few weeks."

"He better be," I muttered. "He threw me off."

Jack stared at me in surprise. "What? He did? Well, that explains why you're all scraped up."

"And not for the first time," I admitted. "But this time—"

"That's bad. Very bad," Jack muttered, shaking his head worriedly. "Are you alright, Rachel? You aren't seriously injured, are you?"

"I'm fine," I insisted. I winced remembering how worried my mom had been when I arrived home. She wouldn't stop fussing over me, even though I hadn't even told her how I had been thrown off on the mountain. I felt bad for lying, but I didn't want to worry her even more. "No worse than I usually am after riding."

"You're lucky," Jack quipped. "It could've been much worse. Just like..." I trailed off.

"Just like what?" I demanded. "Just like the last girl who went riding up the mountain and got thrown off the edge by her horse?"

Jack stared at me in surprise. "How did you know?"

"Skye told me," I explained. "It was such a sad story. But is it true?"

Jack glanced away, wiping his hands on his flannel shirt. "Uh, who can say? I guess we can't know for sure. It was years ago."

"You do know," I accused. "Please tell me about them, Jack. I want to know. At least, what their names were. Both she and her horse perished that night, didn't they? I felt so bad just hearing about it."

Jack shook his head while turning away, beginning to brush Chestnut's coat. "Then I can't imagine why you'd want me to tell you again, Miss Turner. I would've thought you wouldn't want to know anything about riders being thrown off, after what happened."

"I do want to," I insisted. "I mean, so I can avoid it happening again."

Jack looked relieved. "Well, if that's what you want to learn—"

"No," I interrupted. I could tell he was avoiding my question, though I didn't know why. "Tell me, Jack. Tell me about the girl who fell off the mountain. What was her name? Did she live around here? And her horse. His name was Midnight, right?" I didn't mention the ghost I had seen. I knew he wouldn't believe me, if my friends didn't.