The Long Journey Home (Completed)

Chapter 1 (Edited)

The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but

victory rests with the Lord. Proverbs 21:31

And the winner of the Parkview Race Track is our own, Ember Castille on Dark Night's Way, by a nose! the announcer, of the race, blared over the intercom.

I pulled my horse, Night, to a walk and turned him around towards the winner's circle. Some people were all ready there, waiting for me to bring night over.

I let Night pull some of the reins out of my harden hands, so that he could have his head. "Good, Boy," I whispered, softly, patting his sweaty blue roan neck. His blue rimmed ears, flicked back to catch the sound of my voice. "You did awesome today."

Night snorted, shook out his body, before whickered, softly. He tucked his head towards his chest and pranced, as if to say he all ready knew that he was awesome.

I laughed, silently, pulling Night back to a walk. I scanned the crowded ring, looking for a familiar face, that I loved and who might or might not be dead, losing a battle that he had so desperately wanted to win. Stop it, Ember Hope, I scold myself, knowing that it would be no use to look for him. Even if he was alive, then he'd be at the hospital, in pain and hooked up to wires.

Night kind of guess what I was thinking and nipped at my muddy boat, scratching his nose against it.

I smiled, rubbing his neck, glad that I had a friend like him. "Thanks, Boy," I said, looking around again, hoping for a familiar face. My heart was pounding in fear, because I didn't know what I was supposed to expect, when I got back to the hospital.

A hand touched my leg, and I looked down to see my trainer, Matthew O'Riely. "Good job, Lass," he said, smiling up at me, his Irish accent a little more pronounced. HIs green eyes looked at me with pride and sadness.

"Thanks," I said, with a small grin. However, it turned into a frown, because I saw the sadness in his eyes and that meant one thing, and I hoped that it wasn't true. I bit my lip, not knowing if I wanted to hear the news or not. "Is he..?"

The look Matthew gave me, told me that he was. "Your father died, after you started the race," he said, his voice thick with his accent and sadness. "Your older brother is here to take you to the hospital."

I nodded my head and felt my throat clench up in sadness. I wasn't going to cry in front of all those people, because I didn't want them to see me cry. I forced a smile on my face, as people came around and congratulated me on winning the race.

Red and yellow roses were draped across Night's blue roan neck and a colorful championship ribbon was hooked onto his bridle. Someone handed me a plaque and then handed Matthew a trophy.

A familiar hand touched my leg, and I looked down to see my older brother, smiling at me, sadly. "Good job, Emmy," he said, his voice cracking, showing his true emotion. I knew that he was hiding the grief from everyone, like I was hiding mine.

I could only nod in thanks to him, before I had to look up front, at all the people and smile for the camera. However, the smile was fake, and if people could read my body language, then they would've known that something wasn't right.

On the outside I was smiling, but in the inside, I was crying. I had lost my father, and I wasn't even there to say goodbye. Cancer had killed him in the end, but I knew that he would want me to focus on the happy moments that he and I had shared.

Don't cry, I thought to myself, scowling. I blinked back the tears, trying to clear my vision. Stay strong. Stay strong for the family. They need you to hold on...