On Our Own

Chapter 16

Dark water, everywhere. It rises up around me, threatening to pull me under at any second. I have nothing to reach out and grab hold of, although I search desperately for something, anything to cling to.

I let out an ear piercing scream before I'm completely submerged in the deep, dark, dangerous water.

I jump out of my bed in a cold sweat.

"It's just a dream," I mumble to myself, trying to comfort myself.

I've had that dream before- I used to have it nearly every night when I was little, after my parents had died. But then it went away, and I figured it wouldn't come back. Then I had the dream again while I was on the run with Ezhno, but I haven't had it since I came to the ranch, until tonight of course.

I shake it off, and glance out the window. The sun is peaking up over the hillside, and I don't see a point in going back to sleep, seeing that Serenity and I will have to go take care of the horses in less than an hour.

I climb down from the loft, and walk over to the kitchen. Opening the cabinet, I grab a pouch of instant coffee mix, and fix myself a cup, waking myself up for the day ahead.

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"That's scary," Serenity says, after I tell her about my dream.

We've already fed the horses and put them to pasture, so now we're mucking the stalls out.

"Yeah, it was. But it was just a dream," I reply, shrugging it off. Outside, I can hear men yelling, and machinery moving around, in preparation for tomorrow.

"So, are you excited about tomorrow," I ask.

"So, so excited. It's going to be so fun. But I really wish you were going to go to the actual 'Gala' part, and not just the Rodeo part. I'm going to be bored without you," she pouts.

"No you won't, you'll have Joy. And you'll probably be dancing with all sorts of cute guys- you'll forget all about me," I laugh.

"Yeah, but-"

"I don't want to go," I interrupt. "And even if I did, I have no dress, plus, I wouldn't want to dance with anyone because I'd feel-"

I don't know how to end my sentence.

"Guilty?" Serenity offers.

"No," I hastily reply.

"Yes- you'd feel guilty because of Carter! Oh, I'm so good at this, I impress myself," Serenity chuckles.

I roll my eyes at her, as I finish up the last stall.

"So, what exactly do they do at the rodeo," I ask.

"Well, it's not your typical rodeo. We don't have bulls and stuff. But there are basically three contests- barrel racing, jumping, and an actual race on a trail. Why?"

"Well, I sort of want to compete in one. Definitely not barrel racing though. And Ezhno is an excellent jumper, but I look terrible on him when I jump, so not that one either. But I would love do a trail race," I reply.

"You might not want to," she warily warns.

"Why not?"

"Chloe does that race every year on Annabel, and always wins. Do you really want to make her angrier than she already is?"

"Well, it can't hurt, can it?" I ask, a wicked smile on my face, causing Serenity to chuckle.

"Your funeral," she replies.

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"Wow, have you ridden before," I ask. I'm giving Joy's brother, Sam a basic lesson before Serenity leads their whole family on a trail ride. I'm staying behind to oversee and pay the farrier, who's coming to do all of the horses hooves so they all look good tomorrow.

"A few times- my parents are friends with some people who own a horse rescue, and I rode a horse there a couple times. I think his name was Charcoal," he happily replies.

A warm smile breaks across my face at the thought of Charcoal, along with a feeling of guilt. I should have said goodbye to him before I left. But I'll see him again one day.

"Well, I can tell you've ridden before. But I have just a few tips- keep your heels down, and look forward, don't look down at the floor. And don't pull so hard on Fauna's mouth. Besides that, you loom great, kid," I say.

"Thank you," he replies.

"Tay, send him out, we're leaving now," I hear Serenity call.

"Ok," I yell back. Then, I turn to Sam, and ask, "Do you want me to walk with you, or do you think you can handle it?"

"Well, you can walk with me if you want to," he replies, in a way that actually means 'Please come with me.'

"Ok, I'll go. Just follow me," I chuckle.

I open the gate, and walk ahead. I can hear the rhythmic sound of hoof beats behind me, and I smile to myself.

We walk toward the start of the trails, and meet up with Serenity and everyone else going on the trails.

"Ok Sam, you remember what I told you?" I ask. He gives me a quick nod. "Good, then you'll be fine."

"Bye you guys have fun," I say, before turning towards the barn.

"Are you Taylor," a woman asks me when I get there.

"Yes," I reply.

"Oh good. I'm the farrier, my names Linda."

"Nice to meet you. So you are to do all of the horses hooves on this side of the barn," I say, gesturing to the horses the ranch owns, "and after that I'll show you which horses to do on the other side of the barn." Some of the boarders aren't getting their hooves done because either their owners aren't showing them tomorrow, or they just don't want to.

"Thank you. I guess I'll go get to work," she responds, smiling.

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For the next few hours, I just watched over the horses and made sure she did the right ones, and didn't forget any. Overall, it was a pretty uneventful day for me.

But all the while, I could hear the commotion outside, promising me that tomorrow will be a day of fun, where I can forget, if only for a day, all of my doubts and fears.

And, as I lie in bed, drifting off to sleep, I promise myself that I'll enjoy myself.

If only for a day.

A/N yes I did take down my personal authors notes because I feel sort of uncomfortable about my family stuff up on the internet, and I saw that most of you got a chance to read it and know what's going on

I don't know when I'll update again, it could be today, it could be four days from now. For the next week or so, my updates will be very unpredictable.

Thank you so much for all of your support and prayers.

And on a less depressing note, how did you like the chapter? are you excited for the gala? I am. I have a lot of surprised for the rodeo/gala. And the rodeo/gala will probably full up multiple chapters, because it's a huge part of this book.

Thanks for reading.