Summer Dreams

Chapter Seven

"Marley wake up!!" My name was screamed through the house and I shot up from my bed. Remi jumped up and started barking along with the commotion. "Get down here and hurry!!" I checked my phone and read that it was going to be windy today, so I picked up a hoodie and put it on before running downstairs and putting my boots on. My boots slipped on and I looked around for anybody inside. And to my surprise, I was the only person in the house. The door opened behind me and I whipped my head around to see Eli poke her head inside and looked down at me on the ground.

"Fence is down and horses are loose, we need to go! Come on, Marley!!" I jumped up and ran after her, shutting the door before Remi could run out behind me. She barked and scratched at the glass while Eli and I ran out to wherever she was taking me. As we ran, Eli yelled back at me a few different things. "Okay, Luke has Douglas, Emily has Melody, your grandparents have the draft horses, You have Sias, and I'll get my horse. We're taking Ryker with us to help track down the horses and then we'll rope them down and bring them back home." It was a lot to take in at one time for me, so I didn't ask questions because we were in the barn before we knew it.

Six horses lined the stalls, and almost all of them were ready to ride. Eli grabbed my hand and brought me to a black and white swirled horse. I patted its neck and it's head swiveled to look at me, showing beautiful blue eyes. I turned to Eli as I untied the horse's reins from the stall doors. "Is this Sias?" Eli nodded as she crawled up onto a brown and white horse with blonde mane and tail.

"Yep, and this here is Roland." She petted Roland's neck and he just shook his mane. "Okay, get up on Sias and let's go." She grabbed Roland's reins and watched as everyone else got on their horse and walked them to the door. Emily was on top of a brown and white paint horse, and she laughed as I looked confused on how to get onto my horse's back. Eli sighed and pointed to a leather loop hanging from the saddle. "Put your left foot in the stirrup and swing your right leg over, now hurry up Marley."

She also sounded irritated, but I did my best to heave myself onto Sais's back. I made it, and I grabbed the reins from around his neck. Sais whinnied and looked at the other horses. I heard Grandpa say 'let's go' and almost immediately he disappeared on the back of Amanda. Grandma followed him on Hustler, while Emily raised her chin and held her head high as she tapped Melody's side and she followed them. Her saddle looked way different, meaning the stirrups were made out of metal while mine were hard leather. Also the seat looked smoother while mine had a big horn like thing in the front.

"Let's go!" Eli said before kicking Roland's side and the flaxen horse followed the others. I looked down at Sias before doing anything.

"Hey, this is the first time I've ridden one of you on my own so bear with me, Sias." I petted his mane and grabbed the reins. I took a deep breath and tapped the sides of the mottled horse. Sias nickered and went along the trail of the other horses. I had trouble staying on, but I soon caught up with Eli, who was slower than the others so she could help me figure out what I was doing.

"Okay, Marley." Eli turned her head to me, but her body still faced forward. "When we get back from this, Me and Luke are going to teach you how to ride your horse. Okay?" I nodded and looked forwards again.

"We're really far behind, how am I going to keep up with you guys when I can't even walk straight on horseback?" As I said this, Sias turned and started to walk off path. I pulled the reins in the other direction and he just straightened out. Eli laughed and shook her head.

"Okay, stop him really quick," Eli stopped Roland and turned him towards me. Sias kept on walking. "Pull back on the reins and let go with your feet!" She yelled after me, and I did what I was told. Sias blustered and stopped walking, Eli giggled and trotted up next to me. She leaned over and unhooked the reins from Sias's bridle. She looped it through a loop on her saddle and clipped one side back onto the bridle.