Destiny

Chapter 24

I was home alone that day. Mom and Dad left for the store to get groceries and feed for our animals. Hannah tagged along mumbling something about a new guitar pick.

I stayed home thinking that caring for Destiny seemed more important than buying a new set of colored pencils.

I was feeding Destiny out of a bucket when it happened.

She was taking small bits of mash and slowly chewing and swallowing as if even that small movement pained her. My stomach lurched at the sight of her in such distress.

I her the sound of leaves crackling in the doorway of the barn. I passed it off as a figment of my imagination until I heard it again.

I turned, thinking our dogs or cats came to investigate where I was but as I turned I found something that scared me to half to death. It was the man again.

A dozen thoughts raced through my mind at that moment. One of them being, does this guy ever quit? As well as many other thoughts that ran along the lines of oh crap.

The man carried a gun. Not a shotgun this time but a pistol instead. I went numb with fear as he raised it.

His eyes were blood shot and I had the sense he had been drinking. His voice was slurred as he said. "No horse can escape from me!"

He's finger tightened around the trigger. A second away from being fired and ending Destiny s as well as possibly my life.

I dropped the bucket and sprinted across the barn aisle. Everything seemed to go in slow motion. I became aware of the pounding of blood in my ears. My feet slapping the concrete and the gun raised at me as I dashed forward.

I didn't think of what my next move would be. I just acted according to my instincts and my instincts at that moment told me to tackle the man. I did.

I ran full into the man's chest. The gun went off right next to my ear causing it to ring painfully. The bullet shot high into the roof due to the trajectory of the gun as the man was knocked to the ground.

I got up away from the man, my ear still ringing. The first thing I noticed was the gun still clutched in the man's fist. The man was unconscious and I could see a blood starting to pool around the man's head.

I don't know why I didn't panic. Why that pool of blood or the sounds of panic stricken horses did not affect me. I was calm, I could picture exactly how to solve this situation I just was in. I walked back over to Destiny s stall and picked the bucket neatly off the ground. Destiny stared at me,the whites of her eyes showing but she didn't dare move because of the pain in her shoulder.

I put the bucket away and stepped over the fallen man. I walked back to the house and opened the squeaky door to the kitchen where the home phone hung.

Slowly and carefully I dialled three little numbers.

"911. What is your emergency?"