Caelestis

Chapter 2 & 3

 Chapter 2: It Gets Weirder 

               "Come on, Adeline!" Zach called from the stairs. "You'll make us late for school!" I could hear bacon sizzling downstairs. I wanted to stay in bed, but my stomach got the better of me. I was famished! Since I had come home late the night before, Joe had sent me to bed without dinner since I hadn't had the sense to return for it an hour earlier. Luckily there were a few snacks from school the day before hidden in my backpack.

"Adeline?" I heard Joe call. "Hurry up!"

"Coming!" I answered his call and pushed my favorite gray and white horse quilt off of me. The cold air bit at my arms and legs, I looked at the radio on my bed stand. It was seven o'clock already. I was going to be late for school! I pulled on some clothes, put on my cowgirl boots, and grabbed my backpack.

"Good morning, Adeline..."

"Can't talk now! Gotta go!" I interrupted Mary.

"Joe is going to take care of Dark Mountain for you," Mary said, brushing off my rudeness. Zach stood up to take his plate to the sink and smiled at me.

"Okay, thanks!" I picked up a few pieces of bacon and gulped down my milk. Spot greeted me with a soft nudge of his head. I patted his back and kissed his soft muzzle. "See ya' later buddy," I whispered so softly that only Spot could hear me.

Quickly, I put them on and shoved the last bit of bacon in my mouth. Finally, I ran out the door. The bus wasn't there yet so I sprinted to the barn. The door of the large, old barn was already open, so I let myself in. Dark Mountain whinnied when he saw me. I smiled and pulled a carrot out of the large bag on the barn floor. Approaching my horse, I said hello and placed the carrot in my hand to give to him. He munched on it happily as I stroked his face. The bus's horn honked and Dark Mountain's head jerked up. "Goodbye. I love you," I whispered. I sprinted back out the door of the barn, patted Little Girl along the way, called goodbye to Joe, and completed my run to the bus. I got there just in time. I hopped on and apologized to him for being late, Zach right at my heels.

"That's all right," he said, but rolled his eyes. I made my way to the back of the bus where my two best friends, Matt Douglas and Jenifer Smith, were sitting. Zach took his usual seat up front and I huffed to catch my breath.

"Good morning!" Matt announced. He stood up to let me sit down next to Jenifer.

"Good morning." I replied.

"What took you so long?" asked Jenifer.

"Well...it's a long story, but..." I told them all about the horse in the woods and how it looked just like Dark Mountain, and how I had had dreams about the same horse at least six times before. I didn't include the strange dream about the lady and the crown because I thought they would think it was weird. "...and I guess I must have slept in," I finished with a sigh.

"Wow!" exclaimed Matt, running his hand through his short blonde. "That's an amazing story! You think the teacher would have bought that if you had been late to school?"

"Hey! It's true!" I laughed and playfully punched at his arm.

"Sorry," Matt apologized, rubbing his shoulder. "Do you think it could have been Dark Mountain?"

"No, not really," I said. "I mean, I'm one hundred percent sure that I put a halter on Dark Mountain and locked him up in his stall before I went out. It just wouldn't make sense if it was him."

"Well...maybe someone let Dark Mountain out?" Jenifer offered. She was twisting a strand of her long, brown hair in her finger. Her deep, green eyes looked at me through her light brown framed glasses. Tiny freckles dotted her cheeks and arms.