Finding My Soulmate

Chapter 5

Both horses had plenty of energy that morning, and they trotted freshly along the side of the road. The road was as empty as it had been the day before. This early in the morning, birds were chirping their morning songs in the trees until they came out to the point where there were again no trees for miles, and only fields on each side of the tarmac road. Grace found the noise of Midnight and Sandy's hoofbeats refreshing. They were the same size and had the same lengthed gait, meaning they trotted in harmony, which was refreshing to Grace's ears. The sun was early up too, and it was already starting to heat up the air around them. Grace pushed the two mares on. If they could get to the forest area before noon, that would be for the best.

After a while, Grace resorted to a walk. The horses couldn't trot for too long in the heat, and in fear of them overheating, she'd rather slow down and keep moving. It was a race against time, and against the heat, but somehow, they managed to make it to the forest around the time the sun stood at its warmest. Grace didn't think she had ever been as joyed to see a road surrounded by a forest as she had then. She entered the forest, but stopped the horses as soon as she found a good place to rest for lunch. Although her lunch was a little old, she had some to keep her going. She had filled up her water bottles, too, however unless there was a creek for the horses to drink from, she'd have to share her water with them, which meant there would be nowhere enough for them to continue for longer time. There was a bit of grass growing that the horses could eat from, but otherwise they resorted to eating leaves from low-hanging branches.

Grace held her break for about half an hour where she sat down against a tree, before persuading herself to get up. She swapped the sacks onto Sandy and would ride Midnight instead. Her muscles protested when she attempted to mount, but was able to get on without too much struggle. The horses seemed to have regained their energy by being in the shade, despite the air around them still filled with warmth. Grace allowed them to trot for a while.

The road crossed a stream, in to which Grace reacted by stopping the horses. She found a path on the side that she felt comfortable in taking, with Midnight leading and Sandy behind. There wasn't enough space for Sandy to be next to Midnight so Grace could hold her, but she trusted the mare to follow. She halted Midnight as Sandy came up next to them. They stayed there a few minutes, the horses refilling themselves with the refreshing water. Then, they crossed the stream, the horses lifting their hooves high as the water splashed up on their sides, cooling them down. They then headed up to the main path to continue the journey.

The horses were fresh as they trotted along on the road. The odd vehicule came by once in a while, but it wasn't much, and they weren't bothered by it. The wildlife in the forest was much livelier than it had been out by the empty fields that seemed like a desert. Grace saw a few deers in between the trees, and sometimes birds would fly above them, or a wild hare would cross the road as quickly as it could. The scenery couldn't be better in this situation, where she had many long hours ahead of her in the saddle.

Grace was still riding by the time it was getting dark. She arrived at the next town just before midnight, only to find it was empty, abandoned. Not a living thing in sight. Grace felt uncomfortable sleeping there by herself, so she rode on a little further, finding a nice tree that she could sit against to rest. She took of the tack, the only thing keeping the horses in the area was a long rope attached to them and the tree she was leaning against.

Grace didn't get many hours of sleep, for she kept waking at the slightest sense of uneasiness. At around 5am, Grace was feeling groggy, but she got up and tacked up the horses. She didn't want to stay in this place any longer. It was starting to creep her out. She mounted Sandy and set off down the road, away from the abandoned town, and further and further away from home. When they got a bit away, Grace rummaged in the saddlebag. Couldn't she at least find something to eat? She was desperate, hoping something was left, after all, she couldn't know when she next arrived at a town. Since that town was abandoned, wasn't her father's map out of date? It seemed to have been abandoned for a while. The buildings were starting to fall down and dust was everywhere. Finally, she found it. It was only a packet of biscuits, but she ate them happily, and then ended up drinking the rest from her water bottle. She had saved some, but now only had one left.