Rescue Heart

Chapter Two

New title, the story is now Rescue Heart and I have designed a new cover. Hopefully you will find them both much more fitting! The song that I believe best fits this chapter is Trust by Christina Perri.

C h a p t e r . T w o

I barely slept a wink that night. Each time that I closed my eyes, the darkness crawled in and the flashbacks consumed me. The images of the sea and the forest were so vivid, the sounds of Twister’s whinnies so real that they almost deafened me. I tossed and turned in the bed, my temperature developing into a cold sweat, bathing my body in guilt. Eventually, Lass whined and lay on my legs to stop me from rolling over again, and my mind stopped fighting the sleep away.

By the morning, my whole body ached with the pains from the hard labour of the afternoon before, helping Mum prepare three of our five stables. After the beds had been made, we had gone to the tack store in the nearby village. A new, full grooming kit was purchased for each of the horses, as well as a new headcollar and leadrope for each, more buckets and other necessities. Being around the familiar horsey equipment was unnerving, but my head had come round to accepting the inevitable.

Afterwards, Mum walked the perimeter of one of the fields by the stable block to ensure the fence was still sturdy. As she did so, I sat on the fence of what was once our outdoor arena. It was very large, with plenty of space, but was so disused that the grass had overgrown the sand surface. If it was to be used again properly, it would need resurfaced for sure.

I woke up before my alarm clock, and lay in bed, waiting for it to go off. When it did, I silenced it abruptly and headed into the bathroom to freshen up. I splashed cool water on my face once I had washed it, and glanced at the mirror, cringing almost at the sight of the girl staring back at me. She was a shadow of her former self, with large, dark bags encircling dull green eyes. Her long mahogany hair was limp and bordering on unruly, having not seen the nourishment of good care or the scissors of a hairdresser in what seemed like forever. Her complexion, which was once always healthy with the sunkissed glow of an outdoorsy girl was now lacklustre. The sight of my poor state made me wonder what Ollie must have thought when he saw me. What does it matter anyway? I mentally chided myself.

I went to get changed, pulling on my usual comfortable jeans. I was drawn to the depths of my wardrobe that had remained untouched for a few years, where my horsey hoodies and body-warmers had been stored all this time. I smoothed a finger over the nearest one, and when I drew it close a familiar horsey scent still clung to it. Fresh tears pricked at my eyes, as I shrugged it on and inhaled the comforting smell. It smelled just as Twister used to. Odd as it sounds, I could have spent hours just breathing her in, the familiar smell of carrots, mints, and happy horse.

“Tess! Are you up?” Mum hollered up the staircase.

“Yeah,” I called back, voice thick with emotion. “I’m just coming down!” I grabbed a body-warmer and hurried down the stairs, tailed by Lass.

Mum was waiting in the kitchen, and pushed a plate of toast in my direction. She paused though, caught off-guard by the sight of me in my old horsey clothes. A faint smile played on her lips, but she looked away and knew better than to make a comment which would make me self-conscious, but I knew that this was a big deal for her.

Saying nothing other than a brief, “Thank you,” for the toast, I ate quickly then took the dogs out for their morning gallivant. This time, though, I didn’t take them to the old sheep hill. The change of routine disturbed my obsessive collie, who circled me and barked sharply as if trying to herd me into the right direction.

“Be quiet!” I chided as I opened the gate to the horse field. “Go, go play.” I pointed off to the back of the field, and huffing, she took off, with a cheerful Woody stumbling after her. When they were a good distance away from me, I sat down in the grass, and threaded my fingers through the long grassy blades.