Blue

Chapter 1

Life was good. It had been a long time since I'd been able to even think such a thing. At fifteen years of age, I finally felt like I'd found somewhere I could call home, a real home.

Marsha, my foster mum, was everything you could ever dream of in a mum. Always smiling, she loved giving cuddles and kisses, and she baked, every day. From divine tasting bread to delicious cupcakes, I'd come to love nothing more than walking through the front door and having the sweet aroma of freshly baked goodies invade my senses.

Sitting on a deck chair in the back garden, shredding chunks of cheesy bread and scoffing it like I'd not eaten for a week, I sighed in contentment. A glass of homemade lemonade sat to my right, on a little white plastic table. Roger, Marsha's husband, my foster dad, had mowed the lawn this morning which meant the smell of freshly cut grass combined with the heat from the June sun made this moment absolutely perfect. I couldn't want for anything more right now.

My phone pinged with a text message, which I knew would be my friend Isabelle, or Izzy, demanding my time once again. Right now, though, I wanted nothing more than 'me' time in this idyllic moment.

Wearing my favourite red bikini, I nestled back into the chair and closed my eyes, touching my sunglasses to make sure they were in the right position. The sun heated my skin gently, my factor twenty sunscreen providing the perfect balance of protection and light bronzing.

I laid there long enough to slip into a cat nap, the true sign of complete happiness. I dreamed of walking through a daffodil field, my hands skimming the tops of the bright yellow flowers. The sun sat high in a bright cloudless sky. I found myself wearing a pretty white dress which billowed slightly as a cool breeze kissed my skin.

On the horizon, across the sea of yellow, something moved, something grey and big. It looked like an animal of some sort. As I walked towards it, I realised it was a horse, a beautiful grey horse. His ears were pricked, his head turned to watch me. His creamy white tail swished lazily from side to side, swatting the flies off his twitching skin.

Step by step, I approached him, he didn't move, or show any fear, he seemed as curious about me as I was him. Within a few feet of him, I held out my right hand for him to sniff, offering him a piece of reassurance I wouldn't hurt him. He reached out, blowing through his nose, his velvety soft muzzle millimetres from touching my fingers...

Ice cold water jolted me back to reality. I screamed from the shock, jumping up in an instant. Roaring laughter from my foster brother, Archie, had my blood boiling in seconds.

"Archie!" I yelled. "I'm going to kill you, you little s—"

"Blue!" Marsha shouted, stepping outdoors. "What have we said about your language?"

"But look!" I said, motioning to my soaking hair and body. "I was quite happy there and he had to come and ruin it, just like always."

Archie ran to Marsha and clasped his arms tightly around her soft middle in a proper 'save me' hug. The grin on his face made me want to strangle the little sod.

"He's eight years old, Blue," Marsha said, patting his dark head of hair like he was a good boy. "He just wants to play."

I took my sunglasses off and glared at the little prankster I hated so much. "Tell him to go and play with a bus or something then."

I plastered a sickly-sweet smile on my face and enjoyed Archie's look of horror. As always, to get the sympathy vote, he burst into tears.

"Blue, that was totally uncalled for and not very nice. Apologise to him please."

"When he apologises for doing this."

Marsha tilted her head to one side and sighed. That was the classic sign of me being in the wrong and here comes the lecture to prove it. "It was just some water, Blue. What you said was very hurtful and scary to a young boy. If he has nightmares, it will be your fault. You're the eldest one here so it's up to you to be the grown up in the situation and swallow your pride."