Faith and Freedom

Chapter 9

His soft face pressed further into my hand as I scratched his forehead. I pick up his halter and slip it over his head before I gently tug on the lead rope and cluck a little to get him moving. He walks next to me and follows as I go to the empty out door arena. We get to the gate and he freezes, muscles coiling with tension.

Cooing to him in a gentle tone, I coax him through the gate and soon, he is relaxed and walking through the gate. I grab the lunge line and lunge whip before un-clipping the lead rope and clucking him into a walk, followed by a trot. He stretches his neck down and relaxes as he trots in a circle. After trotting for a while, I gently flick the whip and he goes into a crazy gallop instead of a canter.

Oh well.

Cheering ensues when I finally get him to slow down and go into a rocking canter. I look around and realize that I have gathered a crowd and among them, is a smiling Connor with Melody on his shoulders. I decide that's enough for now and pull him in again. The problem is, I can't. The crowd has terrified him and he pulled back violently, causing me to drop the lunge line.

"Freaking wonderful. Mother trucker with an F." I cursed. "Everyone disperse! I have a horse to calm."

I calmed myself down as the crowd left and then began to calmly walk towards Renegade. He was shaking all over and looked like he was going to freak out. Before I could even blink, he calmed a little and walked to me.

"Hey, boy." I coo. "You miss your family, don't you?"

He snorts a little and his eyes look sad.

"Of course you do. I miss my family too. The only difference is... Well..." I choke back a sob. "Your family is still alive, somewhere."

Tears hit my boots and Renegade inched towards me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and cried into his paint coat. The last thing I remember before I sat in the dirt and fell asleep against him was his head being wrapped around my shoulders.
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"Shasta..." A far off voice calls my name and I bolt upright.

Tears begin to rush down my face as realization hits that even though it sounds like my dad, it's not and I'm alone in the world. Loud sobs escape my petite frame and I'm pulled into Connors lap like a small child, soaking his faded blue t-shirt as I sob into his chest.

"I'm *hiccup* all alone*hiccup* n-now." I cry, the pain in my chest becoming worse and worse.

"No, you aren't. You've got Melody. You've got Kate. You... Well you've got me too. I'm not going anywhere."

My tears still linger but the sobs have subsided into hiccups and I look up as a breath is blown in my direction. Laying right next to me is Renegade, looking awfully concerned. I scoot out of Connor's lap and I curl up to Renegade, his head wrapping around me protectively as I relax and breathe in his horsey smell.

"I love you, Ren. Please don't hurt me like I've been hurt before." I whisper into his soft coat.

I finally stand, no longer caring that I'm covered in dirt and head to the house with Connor right beside me. When I get to my room, I let him in and whilst he decides to help me by pulling out clean clothing, I go take a quick shower to get the sweat, dirt, and tears off of my body.

When I'm done, a knock on the bathroom door sounds and I wrap myself in my black fuzz robe. The door opens and Connor hands me a pair of black sweats, clean underwear, and what looks like one of his old t-shirts.

"Sorry about the T-shirt thing but o figured that you probably wanted something different, to help take your mind off home for a while." He says. I nod.

"Thanks," I croak, my voice almost gone.

I close he door when he steps out and change into the outfit. I brush my hair out and put it in a loose braid before I walk out, hugging Connor again. He wrapped his arms around me before resting his chin on my head.

"Do you want to stay here? I'm going go go back to my room and watch movies on my laptop for the rest of the day but if you don't want to stay here, you are welcome to join me." He says.

"Okay." Is all I reply before grabbing Missy and putting Sephira in her kennel until I come back. I leave a not for Melody, who was off somewhere with Wyatt, Quinn, and Sage.

Then, the two of us and Missy all leave for Connor's room. When we walk in, his room is painted a sea-foam (blue green) color with black bedding and white furniture. It was neat and very put together, just the same as him.

We head over to his bed and sit down, while he fiddles with his laptop, I lie down and cuddle with Missy. Once he got it to cooperate, he layed down next to me and I scooted over, putting my head on his chest. I felt like a small child, climbing into her parents bed after a scary nightmare.

We began watching "The Sound of Music." And the next thing I knew was that I was asleep, held tightly in Connor's arms. But the best part?
For the first time since my parents were killed, there were no nightmares to haunt me.
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Word Count: 960
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