A Year in the Life of Marg

Pt. 5

The morning sun hits my face and I relax. Jade walks along sleepily, but I know she's ready for a day's work. I let the reins slacken and so does everyone else. Everything is silent; everyone is silent. Until I remember the vet paper.

"AWH, CRAP!" I pull back on Jade's reins and she startles.

"Oh, sorry baby Jade!!" I pet her to calm her down. Everyone else looks at me confused, and Paige asks,

"What, Marg? Why did you freak out? Jeez..." I rub my temples.

"I forgot Jade's vet papers... or... I don't have them..."

"How? You had them just yesterday!" Sadie worries.

"I know, I know! I told you. When the shower was on my room door was open and they were on the floor and they got wet and I couldn't-"

"MARG! Marg!" Sadie snaps me out of my trance.

"See, Marg, this is why you clean up your stuff, and also why you don't LEAVE THE SHOWER ON!" Paige's voice startles some birds in nearby trees and they fly out. I cringe. Everyone within ear sight of us turns and stares. I nervously laugh and beckon for Jade to keep walking. She hesitates at first, but then senses the awkwardness and starts walking.

The whole ride is silent. It's not a good silent though; It's still very awkward. We head down the road going around Jarlaheim. A cafe called the "Stablebucks Cafe" comes into view. Even though I just had breakfast, my stomach growls as the scent of freshly-baked donuts wanders over to me. I stare at the people seated in the chairs, and I frown as we pass by. We receive a few waves and "Hello!"s but that is it. Then the cafe is out of sight. I shake the nagging feeling out of my head and look forward to the ride ahead.

"Greendale is so pretty,"

Gold remarks. We all nod our heads in agreement. I let my head hang, and I relax again. I let some of my worries go even though I still have the championship in my head.

By now we are about halfway through Greendale. Foxes scamper by as we trek along the old path, plants sticking out of every crevice due to it being neglected.

There is some rustling in nearby bushes and Sadie points it out.

"Listen! Do you hear that? There might be squirrels!" She excitedly rubs her hands together. We all slow our horses so we can listen. The noise starts to grow, and so does Sadie's excitement. Right when we all think that an animal is about to jump out, a human pops out and yells,

"BOO!" We all exclaim loudly and jump back.

"Midnight! Calm down!" Sadie yanks on Midnight's reins trying to calm him down. Jade is uncomfortable, and the person who scared us, Allison, laughs.

"Haha! That was hilarious! You should have seen your faces!" She suddenly runs towards us, and that's when Midnight snaps! He jumps and runs at full speed towards the exit of Greendale. That sets off all of the other horses. Icespell runs down the path too, but Pearl disappears into the forest. I freak out and Allison screams.

"AHH! GET AWAY!! HELP!" She swats at Jade and cowers.

"Allison, STOP! You're scaring her!" I shout. Then a sneer forms on her face.

"Yeah, RIGHT!" She sprints at us and slaps Jade. She rears, then gallops off as well. Everything is a blur; wind nips at my face, my eyes water, and the struggle of trying to stay in the saddle grows the faster Jade gets.

I panic, but pulling back on her rein's is an impossible challenge. Jade is already going too fast. I take the risk to look back but see no one in sight. Holding on to Jade's neck tightly is my only solution. The bridge connecting the Harvest Counties and Silverglade is nearing. Closer, closer, closer it comes. I grit my teeth and pull on the thin leather with my hands to steer Jade to the bridge. I'm successful! Now the only problem is getting her somewhere so she can slow down. I rack my brain thinking of an answer. Going to Moorland seemed dangerous. The path down from Nilmer's Highland was too steep. I could go to Silverglade... Looking back up after shielding my face I see... Icespell! She and Gold are parked by Ydris, the circus master. Gold is waving her arms hysterically. I round a corner and then the giant purple tent blocks my view of seeing them.

The last thing I saw was Gold waving her arms. What was she doing? Replaying the image in my head, I realize she was pointing. To what? Then I gasp when I see it! Or really, them! Midnight and Sadie are speeding towards Silverglade Village. Luckily Jade is fast enough at this moment, and Midnight looks like he's losing speed.

"SADIE!" I hope she can hear me over the thunder of hooves and the whistle of the wind.

She turns towards me and I know I've got her attention. I gesture to her as best I can and tell her to try and slow Midnight down. She is tired; they both are. The best thing for them both is getting them to stop. She attempts to pull back, but to no avail, Midnight continues. Then an idea springs into my head.

Once I've planned it out, I see Gold and Icespell galloping from behind. I speed up and hope she does the same. Jade starts to pant heavily. Just a few more seconds, I think, then you can finally rest.

With more courage than before, I push us right in front of Midnight. Gold joins me. Together we start to slow down, forcing Midnight to follow. We end up near Steve's farm, and Sadie heaves a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, guys." We both smile at her.

"No problem, Sadie." I look behind me. "It sucks what Allison did."

She nods her head in agreement. "Well, what should we do now?"

"We should probably try to find Paige and Pearl. Maybe you could stay behind and rest?" She nods her head slightly and dismounts Midnight.

"Ok, Gold, let's go. Did you see where they went?"

"No. We could check the Forgotten Fields, though." We both ride off to Nilmer's Highland.