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“It’s like you hit the fast button, and she shot off.”
“Yeah, it’s our secret weapon.” I run my hand down Holly’s neck, then turn to stare back from where we came. The homestead is a little dot in the distance. There’s so much room and space here. To the left out farther, there’s a rundown house from the first family who lived there. It’s a small piece of history for us that we can’t seem to tear down.
A spine-chilling scream rips through the silence. My stomach drops. It’s like something you’d hear in a thriller movie. Harley and I spin in the direction the cry came from on the opposite side of the fence.
“What was that?” he asks as we both scan the area.
A blur in the distance captures my attention. Pointing, I say, “Look! Over there.”
Before I can gather my reins, Harley is on his horse and taking off for the gate leading to the neighbor’s paddock. Finally, when I manage to get myself organized, I’m on the back of Holly, following him. Harley leans over, unhooks the gate, and takes off. I close it when I pass through and gallop after him. I see the blur in the distance still. Harley must as well because that’s where he’s heading.
When I get close, I notice a tall, dark-haired girl on the back of a black-as-night mustang. What the hell is she doing on the back of one of those? Dotty, the neighbor, is known to have wild ones on her property to be trained.
Harley manages to get alongside the horse, grab its reins, and pull it to a stop. The minute he gets the horse to halt, the girl is off its back and collapsing on the ground. I leap off Holly and race to her, knowing Holly won’t go anywhere.
“Are you okay?” I drop down beside her. When her head comes up and her eyes meet mine, fear stares back at me. It sends a chill down my spine. What would’ve happened had Harley and I not been here?
I reach for her. She screams. “Get away from me! Don’t touch me.” She goes to get up and move away, but she stumbles back right into Harley’s arms while he still grips the mustang’s reins. The horse startles, then she does as well.
“It’s okay. We’re not here to hurt you,” he says gently and helps her to her feet. He follows her moves and glances up and down at her, possibly checking to see if she’s hurt.
The woman breathes heavily. “I don’t want your help.”
“This horse isn’t good to be ridden, it’s clearly not trained. Any person out here knows that. You must be new around these parts,” Harley says, but he isn’t being nasty. He genuinely wants to make sure she’s okay. She looks at me, then Harley, like a frightened animal.
I hold my hands out in front of me. “Let us help you get back home. Do you live in the house on this property?”
Her eyes dart between Harley and me, then she stops on me. “Y-Yes. I’m visiting.” Her words are breathless and shaky.
“Can we help you get home?”
She shakes her head. “No. I can get there on my own.”
“What are you doing on this horse? It’s nowhere near trained. They’re usually wild horses around here,” Harley says and admires the black horse in front of him, gripping its lead. “If you want, we could work with him for a bit and then bring him back when he’s in a better place to be ridden on.”
“I don’t want the horse,” she snaps and wobbles off in the direction of the house on the property, wearing a tight blue shirt and short jeans. Clearly, not a girl from around here.
Harley and I glance between each other, then say, “City girl.”
It’s clear she’s not familiar with horses. Any person who lives in these parts would easily have seen how unsteady this animal is. It’s a beauty, though, and I see through its skittish exterior. It has a lot of potential in its eyes.
“Let’s take the horse home,” I say and climb back on Holly who’s grazing.
Harley throws a thumb over his shoulder. “What about her? We can’t just leave her out here.”
“Harley, she doesn’t want our help. What more can we do?”
“I’m going to take the horse back to the neighbor, and I’ll try to get her to talk to me.”
“Good luck with that. She’s clearly frightened of something. I say leave her to settle down. I’ll give Dotty a call when I get home to find out if everything is okay. She always seems to take in the strays around here.”
“Okay, I’ll make sure she gets home, and you do that.”
“See you at home.” He leads both his horse and the mustang in the direction the girl is going. It’s clear something is bothering her. She didn’t want to be touched or assisted in any way. The fear she had in those dark eyes is something I felt when I was with Eli. What’s her story?
Two weeks later
“COME ON, HARLEY. YOU’RE GOINGto miss it,” I call to him in the kitchen as I sit in the living room with the television on the racing.
