Wild and Free

Chapter 6

*two weeks later*

Little taps on my window woke me from my sleep, I opened my eyes slowly to see little rocks hit my window and fall. I climbed out of bed and opened the window, a rock flung up and I caught it.

"Good morning!" Drake called from below. "Don't you look amazing."

"What's with the rocks?" I asked holding the one I had caught up.

"Is it a crime to try to be romantic?" Drake gave puppy dog eyes.

"No, but it can be a crime if you broke my window." I shot back, "What time is it and why did you decide to toss rocks when I was asleep?"

"It's 8:15 sleepy head and it was to wake you up, you usually don't wake up till like 9!"

"Exactly, so you woke me up 45 minutes early?!" I snapped.

Drake smiled and said "I thought maybe we could go down to the lake."

"This early?! You're crazy! The lake will be freezing!" I exclaimed tossing the rock at him.

"Well we could try to halter Cloud, but-" Drake stopped and smiled.

I stared down at him and beamed "Why didn't you start with that?"

"Because I wanted to see if you were dumb enough to swim in the morning at the beginning of fall."

"I'll be down in a minute!" I called then shut the window. I pulled out clothes, got changed and walked into my bathroom. I pulled my hair into a messy pony tail and walked downstairs. I grabbed three apples and pulled on my boots. I walked outside to drake sitting in a chair stroking his fake beard. I laughed and tossed him an apple. I sat on porch steps and faced Drake.

"So let me get this straight, a teens 'one minute' is really five minutes?" Drake smirked.

"Oh please." I hit his knee playfully as I ate my apple. We finished our apples and went into barn A. Inside, I grabbed a halter and lead rope while Drake got a brush box. We walked out to Cloud's arena and I pulled out the third apple. Cloud stared at me curiously as I climbed inside.

"Be careful Rebecca." Drake warned as Cloud walked up to me. She took the apple from my hand and I slowly stroked her neck. As Cloud ate her treat I pulled out the halter and tossed the lead rope over her neck. Cloud stopped eating and stared at me suspiciously. I slowly slipped the halter over her face and buckled its latch. Cloud chewed the apple and finished. I took the lead rope in hand and started to lead her around the arena. Cloud didn't move, she stared at me stiff legged.

"Easy Cloud." I whispered and tugged a little on the rope. Cloud slowly took one step and stopped. I took a few steps forward and tugged a little more. Cloud followed. We continued this method for 20 minutes until I tried something new. I started to walk as if she would follow, that was too much Cloud reared up and the lead rope got ripped out of my hands. I winced and stared at Cloud in fear.

"Rebecca!" Drake called as Cloud gave a shrill whinny and reared again. As she came down her hoof it my face and all went black.

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I opened my eyes the see myself in an empty stall laying down on a towel and a jacket as a pillow.

Drake noticed me awake and exclaimed "Rebecca! Oh my gosh you're ok!" I gave a weak smile and looked around, I lifted my hand to my head to see bandages wrapped around my palm on both hands.
"You had a bad rope burn, I called your dad and told him what happened, he told me to help you until he got back. He won't be back until dinner time." Drake glanced at me.

"Where's Cloud?" I mumbled.

"She's in a stall."

"Really? Who got her in?" I asked trying to sit up.

"I did, she was worried about you so after I brought you here I put her in the stall next to you." Drake explained. I nodded and rubbed my cheek, there was a bandage over it.
"Oh and she ripped the skin on your cheek, so while you were out I just wrapped everything." Drake smiled. I sat up and stared at my hands, they were red around the bandages and were sore. I started to stand just as Drake pushed me down again.
"You took a pretty bad hit, I think you should rest." He mumbled not meeting my eyes.

"I'm fine." I groaned

"No, you're not." Drake said somewhat sternly. I laid back down and sighed, I guess it did hurt a little. I probably looked like a train reck, and my brain was fuzzy. I looked at my hands then felt around my face for anymore bandages, there was none.

"Drake can I please see Cloud?" I pressed. Drake looked me up and down and sighed standing up. I sat up and Drake helped my up. I winced as he let go of my hand. We walked out into the barn aisle to the stall next to the one I was in. Cloud paced her stall nervously.
"Cloud?" I whispered her ears shot up and she flipped around. She walked up to the stall doors and nickered at me, her eyes were sad and she almost looked guilty. The edge of my vision started to go dark and I stumbled a bit, Drake noticed and scooped me up bridal style and brought me to my stall. He set me on the makeshift bed and sat next to me. My vision started to clear slowly and I groaned.

Hours later dad came home and barged into the stall and looked at me. I sat up too quickly and winced.

"So you were trying to halter that freak of a horse?" My dad asked.

"Her name is Cloud and yes I did, I got her in the halter and got her walking around. Only when I pushed her too far she hurt me out of fear." I snapped.

Dad stared at me and smiled, "You always had a headstrong personality." He knelt down and hugged me. He nodded to Drake and walked out. Drake seemed to be in deep thought until he shook himself out of it. Drake stood up and left the stall without a word. He came back with a box of pizza in one hand and napkins in the other.

"Dinner, is served." Drake smiled as he sat down in front of me and handed me a slice of cheese pizza and a napkin. We ate happily and talked.

"Its getting late, I'm gonna go." Drake helped me up once we were done with dinner and escorted me to the house door. Drake stood with me at the door, he looked behind himself then turned back around and kissed me on the cheek.

"Good night Rebecca." He smiled and walked into the night. I sat on the porch until it got cold, then went inside. I went to my room and sat on my bed thinking. Eventually I fell into a deep sleep dreaming of Cloud.