Her Child, My Child

~Chapter Three~

At this point, I was almost as panicked as Tory. I tried my best to stay calm while I drove to Tory's house; though, it was really hard to do so. Drivers screamed at me through the honking of their horns when I slammed on the brakes a little too fast at a stop sign or a stoplight.

After minutes of frantic driving, I finally arrived at Tory's house. She was sitting on her porch, and I could tell that she had been crying. Her eyes were red and her face was puffy and swollen, like a sponge that had just been run under water.

I squealed my car to a stop and got out of the vehicle as fast as I possibly could. I rushed over to Tory's side, though trying to remain calm at the same time. I sat there beside her with my arm draped over her like a protective shield. "Hey..." I whispered, putting my forehead to her temple.

Constantly, shattered gasps were breaking through the walls of Tory's tears. "I don't understand... Where could he be? H-He's stayed with my mother multiple times, and he's always been just fine!" Cried my friend. I watched as she straightened her posture and dried her eyes. Though she still was gasping for air, she had dried her rivers of tears and cleared her throat. Her raspy voice continued. "Symphony, you've gotta help me find him. We'll post posters of him everywhere, search up and down for him, I won't sleep until we find my boy."

I swallowed a hard knot down my throat. "Tory-"

"Symphony, we need to find Knightley!" She hollered through tears. I stared up at her with my glassy eyes. "Please..." She mumbled through the storms of her cries.

Finally, I sighed. "Okay," I began, my voice shaking incredibly. "Let's go find Knightley."

. . .

Tory and I have been out all night, putting up posters, asking people if they've seen him, and trying to figure out where he could be and why. But alas, Knightley was nowhere to be found.

It was almost like he just disappeared. As if he ceased to exist. He just disappeared without a trace. There was nothing we could use to figure out where he had gone; all we knew was that he was missing, and we needed to find him. Soon.

I pulled my car to a stop in a gas station's parking lot. I ran my hand through my hair and shut my eyes.

"I don't understand.." whispered the small voice of my friend. "How could he just... Disappear out of nowhere? Nothing like this has ever happened before.."

"Tory, I'm so sorry..." I attempted. "Listen," I started up again, this time pivoting my head the slightest bit so I was facing her. I gently took her hands and looked into her evidently tired, exhausted brown eyes. "I will do whatever it takes, do you understand me? I will get him back for you. I promise." I whispered, trying to calm her down.

"How can you promise that if you can't even start trying to get him back..." she responded. "To start there without having any idea of where he could be would be like riding a horse for the first time, ever. You have no idea what you're doing, but you're gonna just wing it, and hope for the best. But then, all of a sudden, something goes wrong, and after that happens, you start to realize that maybe, just maybe, you're not good enough for horseback-riding, and then you completely give up on trying anymore. Because you never knew what you were doing first; you didn't know where, or how, to start." Her eyes glimmered like the sun's gentle reflection on the ripples of the sea. "So how, Symphony, how are you going to get my precious boy back, when you have nothing to go off of?"

Her words made me begin to think. The horseback-riding scenario was a real-life thing. I know, because I was there.

. . .

"I don't know the first thing about horseback-riding!" Tory hollered to me as she mounted her beautiful stallion, Beatrice.

"You'll be fine!" I called back, securing my helmet on top of my head. I pet my own stallion, Persephone. "Just follow my lead. We'll go slow," I told Tory, giving her a warm, reassuring smile.

She accepted the smile and fastened her own helmet onto her head. "Alright..." Her voice was shaky and uneven, which concerned me a bit.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Tory?" I inquired as Persephone trotted over to the pair.

"Yes, I'm sure," Tory laughed. "I'll be fine. You said it yourself! Let's just hope for the best, right?"

I smiled wider, then nodded. "Right." I positioned Persephone next to Beatrice as best I could while still being upon my horse. "Alright, so, very gently, tap the inside of your foot to the side of Beatrice. But be extremely careful; she's the jumpy one." I demonstrated to Tory what to do on Persephone, and she began slowly walking. I kept hold of the rope and pivoted my head to Tory, then calmly pulled the rope to put Persephone to a complete stop. "Now you try!"

I watched her as she started executing the step-by-step process I had just laid out for her. Beatrice followed suit, lightly beginning to walk across the field. "I did it!" Tory squealed. Unfortunately, this made Beatrice startled. She stood on her hind legs and whinnied, then started charging forward towards a towering tree. Tory held on for dear life, and I watched with terror filling my eyes. "S-Symphony!!" She hollered, and I could hear in her voice how scared she was.

"Hang on!" I called back, hitting Persephone in the side a bit harder, making her charge towards the others. "Come on, Persephone!" I grunted. When we got there, Persephone stood in front of the tree, where Beatrice and Tory could have crashed and gotten hurt. Beatrice got startled once more, and stood on her hind legs again, whinnying some more. This time, Tory fell off. I jumped off of Persephone and stood in front of Beatrice, putting my hand to her nose. "Hey, girl, it's okay. Calm down. Shh.." I whispered, watching the creature huff out a blow of air as it calmed. I took the ropes from the two horses' bags which sat beside the saddles, and tied them to a tree for temporary safe-keeping.

I put my hands in my pockets and walked over to Tory, who was still on the ground. I held my hand out to her, giving her gentle eyes. She stared up at me, then glanced at my hand. Finally, she took it. I helped her stand up and brush herself off.

"I can't believe I did that," Tory mumbled, undoing her helmet.

I put my helmet to the side of me and tilted my head. "Oh, don't worry, Tory. Everyone falls on their first try."

"No, I don't know why I tried doing it at all!" She hissed at me, chucking her helmet at the tree where my horses were tied up. I flinched, but didn't speak. "This whole thing was stupid. I wanted the best, and I sure as hell didn't get anything that could be classified as 'the best.' No, more like 'the WORST.' Maybe I'm not cut out for horseback-riding..." She sighed, sitting in the carpet of grass.

I sat beside her. "Look, Tory." I began, putting my hand on her shoulder. "You've wanted to learn how to do this for as long as I can remember. It's just gonna take some practice."

"Well, I quit. What's the point of learning everything when you haven't even learned the first, most simple step?" She grumbled, standing up and stomping off down the hill.

. . .

I blinked and stared at Tory a little longer. "Okay. You got me," I sighed, rubbing my eyes just a little. I felt sleepiness begin to take over my body. It felt like I could pass out at any moment, and everything would be fine until morning. I fought off a yawn and opened my car door. "I'm getting coffee," I told Tory as I stepped out of the vehicle. "Want anything?"

Tory shrugged. "No, thanks..."

I looked at her, then closed my car door. I made my way inside, got myself the coffee I needed, and walked right back out to my car. I got in, took a long drink of the warm beverage, then put it in the holder. I started the car, and conversation. "Think, Tory." I said as I backed out of the parking lot. "Is there anyone you could think of that would want to take Knightley? Someone who could have been watching you? Did Knightley ever tell you of him feeling uncomfortable at all when he's at school, due to a teacher saying or doing anything to him? You've gotta think, then tell me."

Tory nodded a little, then stared out the window. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that she had her eyes closed, and she was thinking.

She was thinking really, really hard.