The Old Pasture

Chapter 5

A/N: I quite enjoyed writing this chapter. I hope y'all like it as much as I did!  This, again, is a fairly short chapter. I dunno... it just felt right to end it where I did. Enjoy!<3 Kitty

We entered into the barn together, and I led him to the back few stalls. I introduced him to Alaska and Chico, who had spent the night in the barn with the other horses. We had to let them all out into the pasture. I opened the stall doors to Alaska and Chico's stalls. Chico was the young, leader of the team. Alaska was originally the leader, but Chico and his stand-off right before I moved into the inn resulted in Chico's position as leader. Chico led all of the 15 horses out towards the pasture, with me helping them of course. They sped into the pasture, galloping out over the hills. Alaska stayed near me, following me and Kellen as we walked along the side of the pasture towards the chicken coop. Betsy had stopped following me for the time being and returned to her flock.

"Hey Alaska," I said softly as he watched me feed the chickens.

"These animals love you," Kellen observed.

"Well, I've spent a lot of time with them. I've gotten to know a lot about them. Honestly, I think that all they've wanted is love. No one really likes Alaska for some reason. He's a sweetheart, but everyone here keeps telling me he is so stubborn. I have not seen that side of him at all. Maybe he just doesn't like them." I caught Kellen grinning at me. "What?!"

"It just cute," Kellen paused, "how passionate you are about these animals. They're like your children."

"Friends," I corrected with a smirk. "Now come on, we have to clean the stalls." Kellen looked at me with disgust for a second, then accepted his job. I showed him the steps, and we begun to get it done. I had not seen Peter at all so far, and I wondered where he went. I explained to Kellen that Peter was usually here, but he had been attending to different jobs lately. I realized that all of the guests probably did not get told to avoid the old pasture.

"Did Mavis and Hilton ever tell you to avoid the old pasture?" I asked.

"No... They didn't. Tee told me that there was a mandatory meeting after dinner tonight that everyone staying at the inn must attend." I thought that odd. I did not remember Mavis or Hilton telling me about this meeting, but Kellen did know about it. They must have just not had time.

"Alright... Maybe they'll mention it tonight," I spoke. "Hey... You said you knew how to ride. Want a tour on horseback of the inn's property?" Kellen grinned a little and followed me to the door of the pasture.

"Pick your ride," I said with a grin, referring to the horses as if they were expensive cars. In a way, they sort of were. Alaska found me, and I led him back towards the entrance. Alaska and I were going to get the saddles ready while Kellen found his horse. Just like how in Harry Potter, where the wand chooses the wizard, the horse chooses the rider. I started to see how my personality and Alaska's personality matched up. It was one of the reasons I felt so close to him, I thought; he understood me, and I understood him.

Just as I finished saddling up Alaska, Kellen approached with Kalani. She was a beautiful white horse, tall and strong. Her name meant "the heavens" in Hawaiian. I smiled at them both and had him bring her over to me. I set up her saddle for him, even though I was sure he knew how to himself.

"This is Kalani," I told Kellen, explaining the meaning of her name. "She's faithful, but she's got some spunk. She is pretty obedient, once she trusts you that is." Kalani was one of my favorite horses, but of course her position on my favorites was below Alaska.

"It's cool how you know these horses so well already," Kellen said with a soft smile. I blushed a little and nodded.

"They've let me get to know them. It was their choice to let me get to know them." As I spoke, I mounted Alaska. He looked beautiful next to Kalani, and she next to him.