Heart of the Stone Cowgirl

Chapter 7 - Trust

Neptune was coming along very nicely, nice enough that he was put into the large paddock with the rest of the horses. Ranger had seemingly adopted him, herding him away from the other geldings in the paddock. Polo and Soldier had been welcomed into the paddock also, the top horses welcoming Soldier easily – Captain and Trigger, to no one's surprise.

I usually found Neptune following Ranger around, even when the chestnut was out of the paddock, the grey seemed to move closer to where his friend was. It was good that he had a close connection with the fellow working horse, it meant he felt comfortable around Ranger, at the very least.

Diana had come to see Neptune, after hearing around town I'd adopted a rescue. She wasn't as concerned as Angel constantly was, but she did have her concerns. It was understandable, a horse with such little trust in humans and I'm the only one working with him. But I had faith in Neptune, he had potential, and I rarely got to work with horses who did.

We'd had Neptune for nigh on three weeks now, and every day I'd work him just a little bit, getting him comfortable. He was perfectly happy to be brushed now, calm and quiet tied up, and he loved carrots. he always sought them out now, much to Ranger's annoyance, poor horse was jealous.

I'd started with the bridle also, and he reacted poorly, as expected, but he calmed down when he remembered where he was. With the bridle on, I showed him the saddle blankets, which had him snorting. I wasn't about to push him though, he'd done so well with the bridle, so I removed everything and released him back in with Ranger, who charged over to the grey.

Lucas was heading into town, so I decided to tag along, on the grounds that I needed to visit the tack shop. Really, I just wanted to see if there were any nice halters, the one Neptune was in was from his previous place, and I really liked rope halters instead of the regular styles. Lucas needed to go to the tack shop anyway, so it wasn't like I was making him go out of his way.

In town, we visited the feed manufacturers, ordering a bunch more stock for our farm. We went through feed quite quickly in our farm. I liked the people who made our feeds, they were really good quality. Probably why everyone in town preferred them over other sources, including the Riddell's, apparently.

Walking out of the feed store, Lucas and I literally ran into Micah and Mason, both who were giving us each respective death glares. I backed up, not having spoken to Micah since she proposed to be a teacher for me, and not wanting to face her older brother.

"Look what the rat dragged in," Mason sneered, giving Lucas his full attention.

Micah snickered. "More rats, by the looks of it."

Lucas frowned and gave the two his most threatening glare. Even from my position behind him, I could tell the Riddell's weren't troubled by his face. That made Lucas madder, clenching his fists beside me. "Like you have any room to talk," he spat harshly.

Micah scowled. "Can it, we're not here for you."

Mason gave his sister a light frown, before looking directly at me. He gave a heave of annoyance. "You're lucky you brought your sister with you. She's earned Micah's protection somehow." The icy glare on my told me otherwise, and, given that Isaac still managed to find me at school, I would assume it was only when Micah was around that we were off bounds.

Micah scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous, Mason. I've got better things to do today then start a fight when we know who'll win," she gave her brother a glare, moving Lucas aside as she walked into the shop. I saw her pause, her gaze flickering towards Mason, as she beckoned him closer.

Mason had a scary grin on his face as he left, leaning into my ear and whispering, "another time then, sweetheart," sending a shiver up my spine. I glared at his retreating figure, and Lucas pulled me closer to him as we walked towards his now stocked truck.