You, Me: Us

6. Runaway

The friendlies were something that both teams did every year to get ready for Nationals. They may not be the only ones competing, but to them, they were the biggest deal and the only islanders.

The riders drove there in one of the school cars while their chaperone/ trainer drove the trailer with the horses.

Unfortunately, they got there a bit late and Mia came out angry. "You call this punctual?"

Callum laughed as the group got out of the car, "you call this a stables?"

"Chairs can go in the paddock, jumps can go in the far field, and Pin can show you where the muckracks are," she said, giving a satisfied smile at her instructions. She smiled victoriously as Pin looked down. "Well, the yard's not gonna clean itself, that includes you Lainey."

"Welcome to Bright Fields," Pin told them.

Alex scoffed, "Can't imagine why you left."

"Can't imagine why you stayed as long as you did," Gaby complained, looking around.

They took a second and Lainey glared at her cousin, "Come on, let's get set up. The sooner we start, the sooner we can leave." She loved this place, she really did, but being around her cousin was not something she wanted to do at the moment.

Callum stayed talking with Mia as the others grabbed their horses with Lainey and Pin leading them where to go when Becky yelled for her and Callum walked off, next to Pin.

"Come on, Cilla," Lainey smiled at her. "You can go in your old stable." She neighed happily as her rider led her to her most familiar place next to Angel.

She was supposed to be with her team setting up, however, she might've snuck away and was hanging out with Angel and Bob. "I've missed you both so much and I know Priscilla has as well. I need to bring her down more often. She clearly missed her home," she said, looking over at her horse that looked more relaxed than she had in a while.

"Hey! Golden girl!" She heard someone call and looked around, seeing Rosie looking directly at her.

"What?"

"My sister's missing, we need your help!" She insisted and Lainey bit her lip, looking worried.

"I'm coming," she nodded, petting both horses one last time before following after the younger girl. She brought her to the tack room where all of the Bright Fields kids were and so was Pin.

Right now they were just trying to figure out why she left. "Well, maybe she needed some space," Susie reasoned, not wanting to cause any more panic than there already was.

"Maybe she's 'ex-horsted'?" Becky joked, but both Jade and Lainey shook their heads, this was serious. They've been dealing with horse thieves the rest of the summer, it was no telling what this could be. "'Ex-horsted'? Get it? it's like the best kind of tired."

"Clearly she's trying to embarrass me and James in front of Holloway," Mia bit her thumb. Lainey rolled her eyes, they could embarrass themselves with no help from Zoe, she just made it easier.

Rosie continued her pacing, "guys, it doesn't matter why she's gone." She then flopped down on the couch next to Becky. "I just wanna know if she's okay."

Mia sighed and said something that very much shocked Lainey, "Rosie's right. Whatever lame reason Zoe had for doing this, she's one of us and Bright Fields look after their own." She looked around and got a nod from Marcus and Daniel. "We also really need her to help us crush Holloway at friendlies."

"Lainey and I'll check the beach. She goes there with Raven."

Lainey shook her head, "you take the beach, I'll grab the caves with Danny."