Wild and Free

Chapter 3

Rebecca's POV:

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP My alarm clock woke me from my dream of a floating horse. I slammed my hand on the button and groaned. I sat up in bed and looked out my window, I could see the arena they held the mare in from here. She had some hay and oats, that was good. I scrambled out of bed and got dressed.

Fifteen minutes later I walked downstairs and into the kitchen. Hmm Dad must be out working already. I went to the fridge and there was a note stuck to it.

Rebecca, you can have the day off today. Not much if going on, but if you want to help you can help with the oat shipment that is supposed to come in today.

I took the note off the fridge and got some milk from it. I got cereal from the cupboard and sat down to ate. There was a big window on the side of the table where you could see outside. I ate my cereal and watched outside. Workers were hauling hay and taking horses out. Then I saw Drake. He had a pair of gloves on and was helping carry hay to the haybarn. He turned his head and noticed me staring at him. He shifted the weight of the hay to one arm and waved with the other. I blushed and moved out of his view.

When I finished breakfast I cleaned the kitchen and went outside. I sat down on a wooden step and looked around the clearing. Everything was somewhat quiet, I mean there wasn't much going on. I sat there for fifteen minutes until I decided to go groom Bandit. I grabbed his halter and lead rope and led him out of his stall and into a crosstie. I grabbed a brush box and started to clean him. I hummed to myself until Bandit was almost clean.

"So this is where you've been hiding." someone smirked behind me. I flipped around to see a dirty and sweating Drake.

"Not hiding, just making myself useful." I commented as I finished Bandit and put him away.

"So you gonna help with the oat delivery?"

"Uh, sure. Why not?" I replied as we walked outside.

Outside a big truck had arrived piled high with bags of oats. Once the truck came to a complete stop four men climbed to the top of the oat bags and stood up. About ten other workers lined up ready to catch bags, a pair of people worked together to catch bags. I crossed my arms and grabbed Drake's hands ready for the first bag. One man stood above us grabbed a bag and whistled then threw the bag down on our crossed arms. We dropped the bag and got ready for the next one.

Halfway through the man tossing bags to us grabbed a particularly large bag and tossed it without whistling to warn us. Although our arms were crossed we didn't notice the bag falling.

"Drake!" I shrieked as the bag fell towards us. It hit our arms and I let out a yelp and winced.

Drake dropped the bag and asked me "Are you ok? Here let me see." He gently took my right wrist and turned it. I winced and he stopped. "I think you hurt your wrist a little, maybe a sprain, come on lets go to a barn and get a first aid kit" Drake soothed as he walked with me to barn B. "Keep your wrist still." He informed me as we walked.

When we got to the barn Drake left me alone and ran to get the first-aid kit. I gripped my wrist and waited. When Drake came back he held the bright red first-aid kit.

"Ok, lets get you fixed up." Drake sighed opening the box and pulling out gauze and a bandage."Its just a minor sprain so I think this will do." He grabbed a splint and placed it against my wrist, wrapped gauze around the splint then finished it with the bandage wrap. When Drake was done he patted my wrist and smiled. "I bet it will be better by tomorrow, you are one tough cookie!" Drake smirked as we walked out.

"So, I was going to ride but-"

"Why not? You can neck rein right? Just ride a lazy horse like Cricket."

"Yea but what if I like fall or hurt myself, I could make my sprain worse!"

"I'll catch you." Woah. That was unexpected. "Lets go tack up!" I rolled my eyes but followed Drake to barn A.

Thirty minutes later we were done and heading out of the clearing. I let my right wrist dangle on my leg while I controlled Cricket with my left. Neck reining was actually pretty easy. Spree, the horse Drake rode was usually quite hyper and fast, but today she was surprisingly slow.

"I want to show you something." Drake said looking at me then moved into a slow trot, and I followed. When we got up a small hill we slowed to a walk and then Drake stopped. He tied Spree to a tree and helped me down. He took Cricket from me and tied her to another tree. "Come on." We climbed to the top of a hill and Drake sat down on the edge of a cliff. When I reached the top I sat down next to him and gasped. You could see the whole property and the fields beyond that too.

"Wow, its beautiful." I breathed staring out and across the fields and very distant the mountains. The sun had started to set turning everything a red-orange color. It was the end of fall so we would get snow soon so I had to enjoy this weather now. We watched the sunset until it disappeared behind the mountains. When it was dark we mounted our horses and headed home.

When we got to the barn we untacked and put them away. My dad had some late horse stuff to finish so before Drake and I started to talk I walked to the arena where the gray mare was and sat on the floor to watch her. Drake came over and sat next to me as we watched her eat a bucket of grain.

"She's so pretty."I sighed dreamily.

"She's wild." Drake muttered resting his head on his hands.

"Thats why she's so graceful."

"And dangerous."

"Ok fine I agree, kind of."

"Ok, I gotta go, I'll see you tomorrow." Drake got up and left but I stayed and watched the mare. I heard coyotes and decided to go inside too.