Outcasts

Chapter two: Eastborne Spooky Festival

I still remember vividly our first time doing this while getting ready. I pack a backpack full of necessities. I shove some extra clothes, my swim suit, toothbrush and toothpaste, along with a few other things and then I head down to the kitchen. I toss my bag on the floor by the counter and grab my sweet treats.

"It seems like you guys leave earlier and earlier every year." My mother jokes. I smile and nod, "Only by like a half hour." She laughs and opens her arms. I walk to her and hug her. "Your father left his lunch here again, would you mind running it down to him on your way?" She asks while pulling away slightly. I grab the lunch pail and shove it in my bag before throwing it over my shoulder. "Sure thing! Cya Saturday love you!" I holler before walking out. As soon as I shut the door I sprint off to the stables.

When I get to the stables Hugo and the twins are already getting their horses ready. "Hey y'all." My friends look at me and wave with a polite smile. The twins look so excited but so tired at the same time. I walk over to Honeydew's stall and unlock it. Honeydew knows what's happening and is prancing around happily. I laugh and start to brush her off before I tack her up.

Once I'm done tacking up Honeydew I strap up my mini tent and sleeping bag to the back of my saddle and put the cookies and my fathers lunch into my saddle bags. I walk Honeydew out of her stable and over to the others. "I've got to go give my father his lunch so you guys can start without me and I'll meet you on the trail.'' I announce. They turn to face me, the twins on their horses already Hugo standing with Bullet his horse.

"You know the rules, we're not gonna let you go alone. I'll go with you." Hugo adds. I smile and nod, "Alright, me and Hugo will go to my dad's then we'll meet ya on the trial with Chase and Margo." The twins nod, "We'll let them know about the change of plans." Blaire smiles. I return his smile and they trot off leaving me and Hugo.

I smile looking over at him which he quickly returns. "Race ya there!" I shout while quickly mounting. "Hey, that's not fair! Ugh!" He yells after me quickly mounting Bullet and taking off after me. We race down the meadow full of old sunflowers dying away to the cold. We race all the way down to my fathers work.

I beat him by at least a couple minutes. I start laughing while waiting for him. He canters over, "That wasn't fair you had a head start and Honeydew is a racer." He glares at me. I laugh and get down from Honeydew. I lead Honeydew over to the fence and tie her reins around the fence. Hugo dismounts and does the same next to me. "All right just gotta run this lunch to him real quick and then we should be good." I smile.

We start walking over to my dads work. He works on a ranch that brings in wild horses and breaks them. Me and Hugo walk over to my father who's currently working on breaking a beautiful mare. "Hey dad, I think ya left this at home." I joke. He walks over and smiles, "Sometimes I don't know what I'd do without ya." He jokes back. "Hey sport." He waves to Hugo who smiles and waves back, "Hello Mr. Preston." He replies. I smile, my father loves Hugo and always tells him to call him Dale but Hugo never listens.

My father smiles and gives us both a big hug squeezing us together. We hug him back and then pull away. I hand dad his lunch and he smiles warmly. "You kids be safe up there alright?" We smile and nod. He gives me a kiss on the head and then I start to walk away waving after saying goodbye. "Keep an eye on her up there will ya?" My father asks and Hugo smiles. "Will do, sir." They share a laugh and then Hugo waves and walks back to the horses with me.We share a laugh or two about my dad on the way up talking about how he's always forgetting his lunch.

When we get to the horses we untie them and get up onto our saddles and trot away from the ranch headed to mountains. There's always a sight we ride up to see the first day so it won't be that hard to catch up plus we'll be going faster than them.

I look over to Hugo and smile trotting a bit closer he smiles back. "Thanks for coming with me." I thank him with a smile. He smiles and nods, "Of course you're my best friend and plus I wouldn't want you to get lost." He teases. I glare and roll my eyes, getting salty, "I would not get lost. I've done this just as many times as you." I retaliated. He laughs and teases me even more. "Chill out stop getting so pressed just admit it i won't tell anyone." He smirks as I send him death glares. He throws a friendly punch to my arm and I return the favor by pinching his side. He glares, "Not funny." I grin and laugh.

We ride on in silence for the most part. When we get to the mountains I smile and pick up the pace from a walk to a trot. The trail we take is always pretty this time of year. The trees are all bare other than a few leaves hanging on for dear life in the breeze. The crunch of the leaves under our horses' hooves sound like wrappers crinkling.

Before long we meet up with the others who are admiring the view. We call this place the Eastborne View because you can see the whole town from here. The mountain isn't that high up, more so just far away. We trot over to them greeting them with smiles. "Hey guys enjoying the view?" Hugo asks. They smile and nod. "It's beautiful up here. The town shines in the light from the sunrise." Margo states. We all agree and then hang out here for a bit sharing about the things we dreamed about the night before.