Jade pull's her hair into a bun, looking through box to box, but still no book. She sighs and drops the box beside her. "If I was a book, where would I be?" she puts her head in her hands, groaning in pure frustration. A book drops from the top of a dusty shelve and makes Jade jerk her head up. She crawls over to it and notices a picture of her mom sitting on a horse bareback. She picks the black and white picture up and exams it. The horse is Storm, her mom sits on his back as he rears up but she's smiling. Jade put's the photo in her pocket and then picks up the ancient book.
She smiles and opens it up. Turning page after page she finally get's to Storm also known as Ghost horse. First she notice's the close up of his eyes, then a picture of him surrounded by sparkling fog. "Just like in the woods." she whispers. She reads the short paragraph and doesn't know whether to be mad or shocked. He got taken away from his mother at four months old, was sent to an abusive place, then spent the rest of his life as a carriage horse. Nothing but bone, he collasped from exhaustion and pain. The carriage owner beat Storm over and over but he couldn't get up. Then a woman rushed in and stopped it.
Flashback to five thousand years ago...
"Stop!" the woman yelled and grabbed the wooden part of the whip. The old scruffy man looked down at her. "Be gone! what can you do for this old nag anyways!" he ripped off the woman's hand from the whip and beated the horse more. He didn't know that it was someone very important to the kingdom. Storm looked at her and then laid his head down on the dirt road. "Stop this at once!" the woman laid on the horses back and shielding him with her body. The whip hit her back and then a man yelled. A royal guard in fact, the old man stopped whipping. "What are you doing peasant!?" the guard yelled.
The old man bowed, afraid of what's to come. "My horse fell and this woman got in my way!" the guard looks over and notices the colors of her dress. "Get up at once woman!" the guard yelled. The woman winced at the voice and stood up. "Reveal yourself." she rolled her eyes and pulled her head cover off. Everybody gasped and stood back. "Princess." the old man whispered. "Princess did this man hurt you?" the guard asked. The princess looks at the man, knowing what will happened to him. "No." she says strongly. She's not one for violence. "I found the thing that I want for my birthday." her Jade green eyes go back to the horse.
"With all do respect my lady, but you want this nag?" the guard asks bewildered. "Yes, I want him to have the best care in the entire stables." the princess demands. "Get him fed and watered, care to his wounds, and brush him until he shines." she demands. "Yes princess." the guard bows. "I will get him there right away ma'am." other guards come and help him. "Be gentle." Princess Ramsey says. They do as they're told and the princess is escorted back home. She walks away and feels the horses eyes on her.
End of flashback...
Jade wakes up with a startle and reads the rest of the paragraph. He's now over five thousand years old and is being hunted by the same old man. He loved Princess Ramsey dearly until the day of his death and all that now remains is his ghost. He searches for Princess Ramsey everyday. "Dang." Jade sighs and stands up. She holds the book close to her and go's back down stairs. She go's to her room and puts the book under her pillow and then digs the picture out of her pocket. She puts it on her mirror and stares at it. Then she looks in the mirror and meets her green eyes. Just like the lady in the dream.
"Come eat!" Jordan yells from down the hall. Jade snaps out of it, rushing to her door, but not before looking at the picture one more time. She wonders when she will see him again. She sits down with her family not worried.
