Chapter twenty ~ edited
I woke up to find Trent staring at me. I gasped and stood up quickly.
"Uh hi." I said.
"Who are you and what are you doing in the middle of basically nowhere?" He asked.
"I... Um... I was... I was just..." He held up his hand to get me to stop talking.
"Are you lost?" He asked.
"I think I am." I answered in a small voice.
"Come on. Come with me." He said. He started walking and I followed him.
We got to the house ten minutes later. He offered a glass of water and I politely accepted. I told him my name.
"Where do you live?" He asked. Great. What did I say? Lie and say I was from... Space, or tell him the truth?
"Texas." I said. There was no point in lying.
"That's far from here. We got horses from there about a month ago. It's almost as if you came with them." He laughed at his own joke. It wasn't very funny. And I did come with them. I was one of them. "How old are you? You look about sixteen or seventeen." He asked.
"Almost got it right. I'm fifteen." I said with a smile.
"And you're here by yourself?" He asked, looking at me with a raised eyebrow. I thought hard about something to come up with. I couldn't say I was one of the horses. And if I said I was with family, he might want them to come get me, then that would be a problem.
"No i'm staying with a friend." I lied.
"What about school?" He asked.
"Um. I meant to go home this afternoon." I lied again.
"Ok. Now tell me why you were out there." He said.
"I was riding one of my friend's horses, I fell off and he bolted." I lied yet again.
"Do you want to call your friend and tell them where you are?" He asked.
"No it's ok." I said. Trent stared at me, then shrugged his shoulders.
"Alright suite yourself." He said.
"Thanks anyway." I said.
"No worries," He said. "Where does your friend live?"
"Not far from here." I said.
"Ok."
"How many horses do you have?" I asked.
"Maybe around fifty. Although two are being sold. A dapple grey mare and a black stallion." I didn't know I was being sold too.
"Cool."
"You want me to drop you off?" He asked. God dammit man! Just quit asking my god damn questions!
"No thanks." I said.
"So you're going to just walk back?" Trent asked.
"Pretty much." I said. The door opened and Caleb walked in with Nick and a guy who looked about seventeen. They all looked at me. Wow Caleb was looking much better.
"Hello." Caleb said.
"Hi." I said.
"This is Summer. I found her in the woods." Trent informed the three guys.
"What were you doing out there?" Caleb asked, curious. Gee. More questions.
"I was riding my friends horse and I fell off and he bolted." I repeated what I told Trent.
"Are we still going fishing?" Nick asked.
"I guess." Trent said.
"I still ain't going." The seventeen year old said.
"Well Tim, you can just stay here and keep an eye on the horses." Caleb said.
"Perfect. I prefer horses to you three anyway," Tim joked. I laughed quietly. Trent, Nick and Caleb looked at him. "Only kidding."
"Good to hear." Caleb said.
"Can I stay and help with the horses? I love horses a lot and I'll be happy to do it. I don't have a horse." I said. I didn't need my own horse now. I was a horse.
"Sure you can stay. Well be a couple hours. Just as long as you get home, alright?" Trent said. Wow, he actually cared.
"Alright," I said happily. Caleb laughed and got up and walked outside. "Can I ride one of your horses?" I asked.
"Sure. Tim will show you the horses you can ride." Trent said.
"Awesome." I said. "Thanks."
"I'll just get everything and we can go." Trent said, disappearing down a hallway. I got up and walked outside and over to the horses. I spotted Sky, Shadow and Midnight at the other end of the paddock to the other two. I looked around to see if anyone was close. When I was sure no one was around I walked up to Sky and Shadow. They looked at me when I got to them.
"Hey guys, it's me Fire." I whispered. Midnight must have heard me, or seen me because he trotted over. Even when he was a horse, I could tell he seemed annoyed. "In the woods. Where we were last night. Ten minutes. Got it?" I told him before I walked over to Tim. "Can I pick any horse?"
"Uh, a few aren't trained, so no not any horse. Choose one and I'll say wether you can take that one or not."
"Ok. What about that horse." I pointed to Stride.
"Yeah, she's Caleb's horse. Her name is Stride." Tim said.
"Ok. Where's the tack?" I asked.
"Most of the saddles got burnt in a fire we had but there might be one."
"Is there a bridle?" I asked.
"Yeah."
"Then I can just ride bareback." I said.
"Ok."
Tim walked into the house and came back out with a bridle. He handed it to me.
"Thanks." I said. I walked to Stride. She walked over to me and I put on the bridle. It was a western bridle. I walked her out of the paddock. I halted her and thought about how I was going to get up without falling.
"Need any help?" Tim asked when he walked out of the stable with what looked like a burned saddle pad.
"Nah I'm good." I grabbed a bit of Stride's mane and vaulted up. I smiled and stroked her neck. "I actually did it without falling on my butt. Unlike last time." I said, proud that I did it without falling.
"Last time?" Tim asked with a laugh.
"I tried this with my neighbour's horse and I kinda crashed into his rib cage and fell on my butt." I told him. It was hilarious. I was never going to forget that. I tapped Stride into a walk when I saw Midnight amongst the trees. "See ya."
"Bye and don't stay out too long." Tim said.
"Ok." I tapped Stride into a trot and followed Midnight. He cantered ahead and I kept at a trot.
I made it to the spot and found that Midnight had already shifted back. I dismounted and let Stride graze. "Why did you stay human?" He asked.
"Yeah hey to you too." I said.
"Well?" He asked.
"Oh my god you're so annoying!" I half yelled.
"So are you." He said.
"I know. Shut up." He started laughing. I smiled. "Man it's hard to stay mad at you for a long time."
"Well you don't hold a grudge." He said.
"I know. It sucks!"
"Not really. I'm glad you don't, otherwise I don't think we'd be talking right now."
"We wouldn't be." I said.
"Well I'm glad we are. I'm sorry about last night." He apologised.
"Me too." I said. "How's your face?" I asked with a sheepish smile.
"Fine." We both stayed silent. It was awkward.
"We should probably get back." I said.
"Yeah."
"I'm shifting back later. When they think I'm going home." I said.
"Ok good."
"Yeah." We stared at each other. "Bye." I said. I turned around and walked over to Stride. She put her head up and watched me. I grabbed her mane and vaulted up. I landed on her back and fixed my seat. I got comfortable and tapped her into a trot and headed back. I felt a lot better now.