Faith and Freedom

Chapter Ten

I woke up to a small knocking on the door and woke Connor.

"Someone is at your door." I mumble.

He gets up and opens the door while I close the laptop and join him. It's a girl with a pixie cut of black hair and hazel eyes.

"Jackie wanted me to let you know you guys are late for dinner. I'm Sage by the way," she smiles and shakes my hand.

"Shasta. We're sorry for being late. We were finishing The Sound of Music." I reply.

"No big deal. Let's go." She laughs and loops her arm through mine as we walk down the stairs.

We enter the dining room and I find my place next to Sage and Connor before putting food on my plate. Tonight's dinner is barbeque chicken, potato salad, and Hawaiian sweet rolls. Everyone is laughing and having a good time and I just eat in silence, deciding that after dinner I was going to take a trail ride with Redemption.

"Hey, you okay?" Connor whispered, concerned.

"I'm okay. Just thinking about taking Red out for a ride."

"Red?"

"Redemption. I call her Red for short."

"Oh. Okay. Well I'll go with you. Perplexion needs to get out anyway. He's a slightly green horse that my mom has me working with so others can use him."

"Okay."

"Okay."

I smiled and finished my dinner before I plodded up to my room and changed into some clean jeans and put on my mint green sweatshirt over Connor's T-shirt he lent me. I pulled my hair out of my sweatshirt and let it fall in its waves down my back before pulling on my boots. I opened the door and Connor stood outside with Melody, teaching her how to play Cats Cradle.

"Ready to go?" I asked, smiling at Melody.

"Yep. Just waiting for you." Connor answered.

"Where are you going?" Melody asked, worry in her eyes.

"On a trail ride. I can tack up Belle if you want to come with us."

"Um... I guess..." She tells me.

I nod and she puts on her small boots before following quietly to the barn.

"Um.. can I just ride with you? I don't want to ride on my own yet..."

"Of course, Melody."

We get Redemption and Juniper ready and I put Melody into the saddle, before bouncing on my right foot and swinging on behind her. Redemption pranced, scaring Melody.

"No no no! Stop!" She squealed.

"It's okay. She just was shifting to get used to our weight." I explained.

Red had her ears back and she let out a snort of agitation. When we were settled, I nudged her into a walk. Melody gripped the saddle horn of the western saddle as tightly as she could. Her eyes were wide with fear.

"Melody, you need to relax. She can feel how tense and scared you are and that can scare her." I say calmly.

We finally get down the trail and everyone is relaxed. The birds overhead chirp and whistle back and forth while the squirrels chatter to eachother. Melody looks around at the wild flowers and small rabbits that live in the woods and for the first time in a long time, she smiles. A real smile.

"Look! Their so cute! I want a bunny." She exclaimed excitedly.

"We'll get a bunny when we get back to Kate's, okay little bear?"

"Okay." Her small smile grew and I found myself smiling with her.

"Ready?" Connor asked.

"Yep. Hold on tight, Melody." I said, my smile growing too.

She gripped the saddle horn tight and I gave Redemption a squeeze. She took off in an elegant, flowing canter. I couldn't fight the laugh that bubbled up out of my lungs. Melody was tense but soon relaxed when she realized how much fun it was.

"I wanna try this on Lillybelle when we get back!" She giggled.

"Look out!" Conner yelled, trying to reign in Juniper.

Juniper crow hopped and finally threw a series of bucks before calming down and stopping. I stopped Redemption and looked to Connor, who was on the ground.

"What the hell happened?" I ask, shocked to have seen the usually even tempered animal act that way.

"Horse fly." He groaned, sitting up.

Stifling a laugh, I watched as he caught Juniper and swung back on his back.

"I think it's time we got back." He drawled, his lips playing a small smile.

"Agreed." I said, swinging Redemption around and spurring her in a gallop. "Catch us if you can!"

Melody whooped with joy at the feeling of flying, and I wrapped one arm around her waist.

"Put your arms out to your sides and I'll hold onto you, don't worry. It'll be amazing." I tell her.

She nodded, squeezed her eyes shut, and put both her arms out like she was flying. I felt her giggle with joy and before we knew it, we were back at the barn. To Melody's dismay, it was almost nine and we had to go to our rooms for the night.

Knowing I wouldn't get any sleep, I simply sighed and began my slow walk up to our room. Connor gave me a look that said "I'm here if you need me" and disappeared into his room. However, that night, I did sleep. With the smell of Connor on his t-shirt he let me borrow, it was peaceful.

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