Heart of the Stone Cowgirl

Chapter 1 - Encounters

Summer break was so close to being over, and I dreaded going back to school. It would be my final year of high school, the year it actually, meant something. I wanted to go into veterinary science, so this year was not a social break, as many of my brothers took it as, rather it was to actually get somewhere with my life. as it was, I was about to spend my final week of holiday preparing myself for the school year, getting my books and doing the pre-readings. None of my classmates would do it, and we'd learn the content again, but it was a price I was willing to pay to be able to get into university.

My family lived on a farm, about 40 acres of farmland, all green grass and rolling hills. I loved it, loved working on the paddocks, playing with the horses, cleaning up after them. I competed on my own horse, Ranger, who was a stunning chestnut quarter horse, 15.1 hands tall. He was a versatile creature, able to compete in eventing or western events. We never won if we entered a western competition, and that was just fact, because the Riddell family were just that step ahead.

The Riddell family bred quality western horses, however, and their skill set was strictly to win. I never really cared, I was in it for fun, but my brothers were all about the competition against them. The Riddell family, however, were not to be trifled with. On more than one occasion, my brothers had gotten into fist fights with the oldest members of the Riddell family, and it never ended well for my family. it was talk around town, avoid the Riddell family unless you want a horse from them.

I myself preferred to stay out of trouble, to lay low and just enjoy life as it comes. I had a total of two friends, one who had graduated the previous year and now I only saw her at pony club, and the other who neither owned a horse nor wanted to, but went to school. She was studying to become a doctor, so she was just as much a nerd as I was. Well, that's what the resident jocks at our school seemed to think.

It was nearing dinner time, and our mother was in the kitchen with my eldest brother preparing dinner. Mum worked the late shift most days, annoying but someone had to, and in a town as small as this, we needed as many nurses as we could. Mum, Lydia, was a beautiful young woman who'd married a man who she thought was perfect, but after four kids, he turned to gambling. The Hurst family feud with the Riddell's began because Cole gambled away too much that he didn't have, to Logan, the father of the Riddell family. Ever since, Hurst's and Riddell's refused to get along, and usually resulted in a physical blow out.

"Kira, can you please come and set the table?" That was my mum, sounding mildly flustered. She was going to be late if we didn't hurry up and eat soon, so she was allowed to be concerned. I put away my laptop and walked into the kitchen with a smile as I smelt the sweet aroma of fresh bread and soup. Lucas may have run the farm, but the man could bake. i often thought he'd make a great chef, but he refused to leave the farm, much to our mother's displeasure – she too wanted us to make something of our future.

I set the table quickly, placing five settings at the table. With the boys running the farm, I was free to study, and mum free to earn money at the hospital in town. Lucas worked the fields, and he ensured the cattle were good and ready to sell. Elijah worked the rodeo rounds, but also around the farm. I loved Elijah, he was who I got along with best out of my brothers. Wyatt was a farrier, the youngest of the brothers, but still, everyone older than me. I truly was the baby of the family. Not that I minded, they just sometimes went a little overboard with the protectiveness that they portrayed.

Dinner was served, and the five of us sat down at the table to eat. Mum rushed to eat hers, to no one's surprise, and she left in her car to work. We all fare welled her, wishing her a pleasant evening. In this town, there was always something happening at the hospital, people injuring themselves at work, alcohol poisoning (although that mainly fell on Logan Riddell, though he rarely came into hospital for that) or some other issue that people were having.