Carry On (Book 1)

Chapter 35:

Ariel's POV:

What was taking Maddy so long with dinner?

Sitting on the side of my bed, I stared out the window that viewed the stables. At my feet was the box.

I thought about what Maddy had said and I realized that she was right. I was dying to know what was in the box, what mom had left for me, but I still wasn't sure if now was the right time to open it.

Pushing the plain brown box around with my feet, I could hear the contents sliding around inside.

I sighed as I flopped back on my bed. My eyes caught the posters and photos on my wall. Picture of Storm and I, Maddy and me on our horses and pictures of me with the horses I had been working with since I had arrived at Willow Lane. It seemed like a lifetime ago, and the growing college on my wall was a reminder of everything I had done since then.

And at the center of everything was my moms' poster.

I had been debating for a while whether Storm and I were ready to perform her signature trick yet, but I had decided that we still had a long way to go before we could even attempt that trick.

Still, I had a routine all planned out for the clinic. Storm and I had been practicing it alone for the past few weeks and it was going to be the surprise finale at the clinic. It had been hard not telling Maddy, but I couldn't wait to see her face when we finally did perform it.

I bit my lip as I sat back up, looking down at the box. Maddy must've gotten caught up with something and I couldn't wait any longer doing nothing.

Sliding down to the floor, I slowly started to lift the lid from the box.

Whatever was in here, I knew that I was finally ready to see it. It has been a long and hard journey for me and Storm, but together we've overcome the odds and shown everyone what we were capable of. Even Olivia, who probably wanted to tear my head off when we first met, seemed to put away her claws. We still weren't friends, but now we weren't enemies either.

I had great friends at Willow Lane and Storm and I were even grasping the basics in eventing. I had learned a lot about Storm since we arrived and also a lot about myself.

I seemed to finally have found a place where I felt I belonged.

I set the lid of the box down beside me and carefully moved the soft tissue paper out of the way.

The first thing I saw was an old photo book with a note attached to it. Picking the note up, I scanned over it slowly.

My darling Ariel;

You probably won't read this until you're older. Maybe you'll be my age, maybe older, maybe younger. There are so many things I want you to know about your family. You know your father and mines stories, but you don't know about your other family. Your grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and everyone else who has shared the Whitman/Dante last name. So, I'm making you this box. In this box is a complete history of our entire family and I think you'll be happy to know that horses run deep in our blood. Your father and I may have run off together, may have left our comfortable lives for the rough living of Kasper, but I know that your family would still want to meet you, even though they may not be too fond of our choices. You're only a few weeks old right now, but I can already tell that you're going to do great things, whether it's with or without horses in your life. I love you so much sweetie and I know your family does as well...

Love Mom

I felt tears prick my eyes as I set the note on my bedside table. I would tape it to the wall later...

Pulling out the album, I saw several things had been placed underneath it, but I could resist opening the album first. It was dusty and falling apart at the seams but the photos inside still looked good.

My eyes widened as I looked at each photo carefully. In almost every photo, there was a horse alongside the people and beside every photo was a small caption.

The first photo was what appeared to be a newlywed couple kissing while on horseback.

Your great-grandparents, Edgar and Elaine Dante, and their two horses Montague and Marigold...

Underneath the picture was what must've been my moms' side of the family. Every person was either posed next to or on a horse.

Your uncle Mack. He owns a ranch in Texas, it's where I met your father, who was working as a groom at the time. He's probably the only member of either of our families who stayed in touch after we ran off...

Uncle Mack was staring into the camera, a stern look on his face as he sat in the saddle of a gorgeous paint horse.

The photos of moms family seemed to go on forever, she really spared no details when it came to the family.

When I reached the more recent photos, that's when I became more and more surprised.

Dads family had been into horses as well!?

One of the last photos was of an elegant looking woman sitting on the back of a striking chestnut horse. From what I had been learning, I figured the woman was a Dressage rider, from her long coat tailed jacket to her spotless top hat and the tack that she rode in.

Your fathers' sister, Donna and her mare Aphrodite. They were one of the top dressage riders in the world before retirement.

Beside her photo was a man jumping a strong looking bay over a tall log jump on a cross-country course. The man looked familiar, but I couldn't tell from where...until I read what mom had to say about him.

This is one of my and your fathers oldest friends, Sam Mallen...he's the one who convinced me to start helping troubled horses for a living. He gave us so much, more than we could ever repay him. Now he's the head coach at a prestigious riding academy in New York. He said, when the time comes, he'll send you an invite to the academy on a scholarship...

I couldn't believe everything that I was seeing. Mr. Mallen said he was close to my mom, but I didn't know there had been plans for me to go to Willow Lane before I could even talk.

Mom had believed in me all those years ago. She knew before I was even near a horse that I had the same gift she did.

I couldn't let her down now. I had to make sure this clinic was a success.

For her, for Storm and for myself.

And dads family being involved with horses. Never in my life had I heard that before, but then again, mom had been right. When she and dad had run off, both their families had been super upset. I had never even met anyone else from my family before.

Maybe mom had meant to change that. Based on these photos it seemed like almost everyone in her and dads family was into horses.

Shaking away those thoughts, for now, I was about to look through the rest of the boxes contents when Maddy suddenly burst through the door.

Standing with the album hugged against my chest, we both stood at opposite ends of the room just staring at each other, until we both spoke out in unison

" I have to tell you something you are not going to believe! "