Loving Rain (Watty Awards 2011)

Chapter 14 - The Other One

Loving Rain - Ch. 14

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When the sun came up the next morning, I still didn’t stop Caramel’s gallop. Sure, I was hungry, and thirsty, but the adrenaline was pumping through my veins. I did worry a little bit about pushing her so hard, but it seemed like she hadn’t been ridden in a long time and she was enjoying it. So, while I could, I pushed her to the very edge of her capabilities.

               The sun went down, and came back up again, before I finally felt safe enough to take a quick break at a stream. I splashed cool water on my face to keep me awake, because riding bareback sounded really dangerous to me if I happened to fall asleep. Caramel drank gallons and gallons of the fresh water, and then nibbled on some grass before coming back over to where I was lying down and nudging me gently. I took that as a sign, and climbed back on her, digging my feet into her sides once again.

               I had decided that we would be safer travelling through the forest instead of on the roads, because then there was less of a chance that they would be able to track us down. There was also the possibility that someone would think a girl riding on a horse unaccompanied would be strange, and then Alan would hear some rumors spreading about the mysterious circumstances. If that happened, he would know that I wasn’t kidnapped, and I knew that would be the worst possible thing he could ever know. It’d break him, completely.

               Another night, and another day, and then I had to come to terms with the fact that Alan might be searching by now. I was hoping that all the other horses I had let loose would have covered up our tracks and made us, by ourselves, extremely impossible to follow. However, I knew that Alan had Caramel shoed, and I wasn’t entirely sure whether any of the other horses were, and if that would be easy to tell by tracks or not. I did know, though, that if there was any chance at all that we could be followed, Alan would figure out how to do it.

               So the next night, the fourth night I had been riding her, I slid down off of her back and slapped her rump, causing her to spook and take off without me. I watched her until she disappeared from my sight, and then I turned ever so slightly to the right, and began to run for all I was worth.

               I had acknowledged before that being locked up had made physical things challenging, but my blood was hot and pumping and I never knew I could run as fast as I was running now. It took hours before I tired even a little bit, but once it hit me, it hit me hard. Just as the sun was starting to light up the horizon, I found a little cave area that seemed well hidden, and took a little nap.

               It must’ve been noon when I woke up and started to run again, because the sun was up high in the sky at that point. This time, I noticed that my dress kept catching on rocks and roots strewn all over the forest ground. Remembering the dream I had the night Alan first tossed me in the tower, I bent down to rip the hem of my nightgown off.

               I remembered the man’s words clearly. “You can’t worry about modesty now, Rain. You have to get out of here.” They still rang true, and I barely took the time to bury the ripped fabric so it would be found before I once again ran as fast as I could get my legs to carry me.

               One more night, one more day, and one more nap passed before I finally tumbled out of the forest with leaves caught all in my hair, my dress ripped to shreds, and blood running down my cheek. But I didn’t care about any of that. At least I was out. In the beginning, I had never really expected to get out of that room. And after that, I was sure there would be no way that Alan would ever let me leave the castle. Much less run away.