City Girl and Country Horses

Chapter Ten

Everyone turns to the sound, the vet stepping back from Spirit. I grin as my father runs towards us.
"I'll buy him! I'll buy Spirit! How much do you want for him?" He says, puffing. I grin widens. Ms Blackberry and Dad discuss prices while I rush to my horse. I wrap my arms around Spirit's neck, happy tears stream down my face. Spirit presses his nose against my back, hugging me. I stand there for a good five minutes before there is a gentle tap on my back. I release the horse and turn towards Dad, who wraps me in a hug.
"Your mother and I thought about what you said. Not only do you truly love Spirit, but such a beautiful, innocent horse doesn't deserve to die. So, Kylie, I present you with your new horse." He says gently. I hug him tighter.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you! You won't ever regret this decision." I take Spirit's lead rope and scratch his nose.
"I think it's time to put you in a stall, buddy." I say.
"That won't be necessary, Kylie. Come, he's coming home with us." Dad says with a cheeky smile. I raise an eyebrow, but follow him. I turn around and smirk at Matt, who gives me an evil glare. As Dad and I walk home with Spirit, a horse whinnies from one of the paddocks. I notice Storm, looking up at us. Jasmine's friend is with him, the two are riding in the paddock. I smile, knowing the sweet horse is going to be okay.

When Dad and I arrive home, my jaw drops. Behind our house, next to Mum's little garden, is a paddock.
"When did you do this?" I ask.
"Last night, while you were with this guy." Dad replies, patting Spirit.
"You know about that?" I whisper. Dad laughs.
"Yes Kylie, I know. That's what persuaded us to buy Spirit, the fact that you would give up an entire night of sleep for a chance to save a horse." Dad grins at me. I give him a hug, still holding Spirit's lead rope. It had apparently taken my parents all night to build the paddock. It wasn't huge, but it was big enough for Spirit to live comfortably. I lead my stallion into the paddock and take off his halter. Spirit canters off, throwing a buck once he was out of range of me. I laugh and close the gate behind me as I let Spirit be alone for a while. I get inside and wrap Mum in a hug.
"Someone's happy." Mum chuckles. I thank her a ridiculous amount of times before finally letting her go.
"I'm going to go have a shower." I say with a smile. I walk to the bathroom, ready to wash away the dirt and tears. Today is the start of a new, horse owner life.

Later that afternoon, Molly arrives. She is leading the most beautiful horse I had ever seen. The horse is a tall palomino mare. She has four even white socks and a little snip at the end of her little pink nose. I stand at the paddock gate, my mouth open wide as Molly approaches.
"Hey Kylie! Meet Honey, my mare. She's pure quarter horse." Molly says proudly.
"She's gorgeous! I would be jealous, except that I have the best horse in the world right here." I reply, gesturing to Spirit, who is resting his nose on my shoulder. Molly chuckles.
"So do you want to go for a ride or not?"
"Of course I do!" I exclaim. I halter Spirit and tie him to a little hitching post Dad set up just outside the paddock. Molly ties Honey next to me and together we tack up our horses. We mount up and ride past the paddock towards the mountains in the distance.
"So, where do you want to go?" I ask, nudging Spirit into a working walk.
"Um, I have no idea. Should we just follow one of the riding trails?" Molly replies. I shrug in response. We both giggle and continue to ride towards the mountain.
"So Spirit is all yours, huh?" Molly asks after a few minutes of silence.
"Yep. All mine. I'm still in shock, honestly." I reply.
"That tends to happen. You should've seen me when I got Honey a few years ago. I couldn't sleep for a week!"
"Seriously? What were you doing, staring at the ceiling?" Molly bursts into laughter. I give her a weird look.
"That's actually exactly what I did. Mom and Dad wouldn't let me stay outside 24/7 so when I went to bed I stared at the ceiling and daydreamed." She explains, still laughing. I giggle. I am about to make a smart reply when Spirit halts. Thankfully we are just walking.
"Spirit? What's up buddy?" I ask, lowering my voice. Spirit snorts, tossing his head. I nudge him gently, but he doesn't move.
"Kylie? Something wrong?" Molly asks, her voice serious. My heart begins to pound.
"I-I don't know." Suddenly, Spirit soars up into a rear, letting out a loud, shrill whinny. I scream, clinging to his neck for dear life. My stallion gallops off, heading straight towards the mountains at a record speed.
"Spirit! Stop! Please!" I cry. Molly and Honey are close behind, Molly yelling something out to me that I don't understand. Spirit continues to gallop. Honey neighs loudly. Spirit replies with another shrill whinny. Suddenly Molly screams. I look back to see that Honey has stumbled and Molly has gone flying over her head.
"MOLLY!!" I screech. I try desperately to turn Spirit around, but with no luck. It's a miracle I am still in the saddle. That, however, does not last long. Spirit speeds up and my foot begins to slip out of the stirrup. Over a period of two seconds I go for sitting in my saddle, to lying on the ground. Spirit disappears into the distance, galloping to who knows where. I sit up, feeling my body for any broken bones. Satisfied that I have managed to get away with only a few bruises, I stand up.
"Molly!" I call, hoping that I'm not too far away.
"Kylie!" Molly's reply is faint in the distance. I burst into a run, despite my aching body. I run until I reach Molly, who is sitting on the ground, clutching her left leg.
"Molly! Are you okay?" I say, kneeling down next to my friend. Silently grateful for being able to kneel.
"I think I've broken my leg.." Molly replies, wincing.
"Where did Honey go?" I ask, helping Molly to her feet, or foot, since she can't stand on the broken one.
"She ran off after Spirit I think they're going to the same place." She replies. I groan.
"What do we do? We've lost our horses and you've broken your leg." I say.
"I don't know. Maybe my leg isn't broken?" Molly replies. She places her left foot on the ground and let's go of my shoulder. She takes one step, and then another, and then another. Until she is just walking with a limp.
"Are you sure you don't want to go to a doctor?" I ask, eyeing her obviously injured leg.
"Yes! I-I'm fine! It's probably just jarred...." Molly trails off, so obviously hurting. I raise an eyebrow but I don't say anything else. Instead we walk in the direction our horses went, calling their names.

"It's no use Molly, we've been walking for hours. We won't find them." I say dejectedly.
"No! They have to be here somewhere!" Molly yells. Her limp has gotten worse and yet she refuses to let me help her. I am just about to give up hope when I hear a very familiar whinny.
"Spirit!" I yell. I run. I don't stop running until I reach the source of the sound. Spirit is standing under a tree. I whistle, but he doesn't come to me. Something is definitely wrong. I approach cautiously. I then hear another neigh, but it's not from Spirit.
"Honey." I breathe. The beautiful mare is covered in carts and in lying on the ground at the bottom of s ditch that has to be at least 6 feet deep. I am at a loss for words. I lie on my belly and reach down to the mare. Honey reaches her nose up to my hand, but is too far away to reach.
"Molly! Hurry!" I call. Molly walks as fast as she can to catch up to me. She stares at her horse, dumbfounded.
"Kylie. We have to help my horse. And fast." She says slowly, "Because if we don't, we may not have much time before she....before she dies."