The Fate of a Rider

Chapter 3: The Midnight Runaway

School is starting again in 2 days after the 3-week winter break. I wasn't excited at all. I didn't really like school. I did get pretty good grades, but it wasn't really fun. High School isn't like in movies, it is actually quite the opposite. 

"Come inside, Veronica, soup." mom called from inside the house. I was just cleaning Pastello after my dads jumps and my cool down. I took him back into his stall and closed the door. I gave him the leftover carrots from Henry's stall and put into into Pastellos bucket. As I walked past Randal I realized that he hasn't been trained in forever that I had to train him. I went inside and my whole family was there already and they were all eating, and there was no soup left for me. I plopped myself on a chair and waited until everyone was done so we could eat the chicken.

"This is what happens when you don't come to lunch on time." Mom implied.

"Sorry, I was taking Pastello back to his stable." I replied, and then there was silence. Mom, gave us chicken except for my aunt, because she was a vegetarian. Mom told me that I couldn't ride Randal because I needed to go to the city with her to do some shopping, because there is sale now. I really didn't want to go, but mom set her heart to it and there was no turning back.

I got dressed and my mom, brother and I got into the car and drove off. My brother kept kicking my seat and I was getting really annoyed.

"Michael, you brat, stop kicking my seat!"

"Well I wanted to sit there, so no, I won't stop," and he just started kicking harder. I pretended not to care, but he still wouldn't stop. I sat there for 5 minutes trying to pretend that I didn't care, and then I just couldn't take it anymore.

"MICHAEL YOU IDIOT, STOP KICKING MY  CHAIR!"

"Veronica, don't call your brother an idiot, that is very rude."

"Mom, don't you see that he is kicking my chair."

"Okay then, deal with it." my said said trying to concentrate on the road, not on the fight that me and my brother were having.

I couldn't believe that my mom stood up for my brother like that. Well, now it was clear who is her favorite. Even though I tried to really ignore the consistent kicking, I just couldn't believe my mom. 

*      *      *      *      *

As soon as we got home from the lame shopping, we ate dinner and then we played some board games as a family, and then we all went to bed. I waited until I was sure that everybody was asleep, which was at about midnight, then I put on some riding clothes, shoes and I grabbed some bacon from the kitchen, because I knew my dog would bark. As soon as I went outside, I gave my dog some bacon, put him on a leash and ran towards the stable. I let my dog free. My dogs name is Biscuit, he is 2 years old, and he is a Labrador Retriever. I quickly went to the tack room, took the bridle and saddle and walked outside. 

One of my favorite horses on the ranch was Randal, and for one I knew that he would never let me fall. I went into a jumping arena and lowered the jumps that my dad had jumped earlier and pushed into a smooth canter. Randal is a pearl white, Connemara Pony. He is a bit small, but fantastic. I did the course and out of nowhere, Randal started dodging jumps, which was so unlike him. He started bucking a lot. I got off of him, to check if everything was fine, if he was hurt. Nothing. He looked the same. He stood up on his hind legs and knew something was up. 

The one thing I knew the would definitely cheer Randal up was a ride in the woods. I got back on and started walking out of the arena and onto the road. There were no cars and this time. I started trotting  and Randal spooked again. He started galloping and I couldn't slow him down. I finally pulled him to a walk and got off by the shed that we keep our paper work. I pulled him, but he wouldn't move. I took off the saddle and placed it in the shed so that Randal wouldn't have weight on his back.  Then I saw a shadow figure in the woods, and a wild boar popped out. I had got onto Randal and galloped away bareback. This was the fastest I had ever ridden bareback.

When we finally got to the stable, I realized why Randal was bucking, he was scared of the wild boar. I took off the bridle and placed him into his stall and walked off. By the entrance to the stable, my dog was sleeping on some hay. I checked my watch to see the time.

2:18 AM

I ran home as quick as possible, ran upstairs, changed, laid down, and hoped the no one would find out about what happened tonight.