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In the barn, I check each stall for a horse, but they’re all taken or out in the secondary barn and pasture. When I get to the end, I hear a rustle and a soft nicker. Angel pushes her head over the edge and nuzzles me with her velvet nose. My stomach flips as I press my head against her neck. I haven’t taken her out of the paddock yet. Doing that today seems like a colossally bad idea.
And yet...I take the painted mare from my pocket.
She’s beautiful and delicate like Angel. I flip her upside down and lift her to the light. The words my mother put there so long ago, when the horse belonged to her, are barely visible.
Angel Stowe.
If anyone can bring me to Sovereign, it’s them.
I lead Angel out and brush her down. Inside, my heart hammers like a war drum, but I keep my breathing even so Angel doesn’t catch onto my emotions. We can’t be at odds today. We have to work together as seamlessly as Sovereign and Shadow. He doesn’t even use his reins or the heels of his boots to control Shadow, he just shifts his weight or clicks his tongue.
She stands perfectly still as I tack her up and lead her around the back of the barn. She’s small enough I can put my foot in the stirrup and swing up without a mounting block. When my weight hits her, she shies and prances. I breathe and let my center of balance shift with her. Riding out her nerves until she falls quiet.
“Good girl,” I whisper, patting her shoulder.
She tosses her head, throwing that mane of bright red. Now that I’m ready to leave, I realize I’m not sure where I’m going. The world around Sovereign Mountain is vast. I could ride for hours and get nowhere.
I set my jaw, the painted mare still balled into my fist.
The only place to start is Garrison Ranch.
I pull my scarf over my chin and push my hat down, cinching the strap. It’s bitterly cold, but deep in my layers, I barely feel it.
It takes me a half hour of hard riding to get to Thomas Garrison’s ranch. I see the spiral of smoke before I even see the house. Angel throws her head and starts prancing as we crest the hill. Something is making her nervous. It occurs to me that perhaps Thomas was the abuser Sovereign rescued Angel from. From the flashing whites in her eyes, it seems like she knows this place.
That makes me fucking angry. On top of everything, he probably beat my horse.
The house is halfway burnt and still smoking. A spiral of dark gray creeping into the white sky. The dusting of snow is thicker here and I see a mess of footprints in the yard. Man and horse. Tire tracks etch their way down the drive to the main road.
I guide Angel along the crest of the hill. The hoof prints of two horses make a trail up over the ridge and behind me. Heading north, towards the cabin on the other side of the ranch.
Frowning, I turn Angel.
My stomach starts tightening the further along we get. We’re heading north from a different route than the one Sovereign took me before. It’s taking me through a flat, open grove of Ponderosa pines.
There’s something about not being able to see all around me that’s unnerving. Anything could jump out of the woods, or down from the trees. I glance up and scan for cougars every few yards.
I’ve never been afraid of bears, wolves, or elk, but I’ve always had a fear of cougars after seeing the wounds of a man mauled by one when I was a child. They’re better left to themselves in the remote mountain peaks.
Angel prances and I breathe in, hold, and breathe out.
I can’t let her throw me and leave me out here.
When we break from the pines, I feel a weight sink from my shoulders.
We’re in an open grove with the mountains rising to the left and the hill curving up to my right. I can barely make out the cabin in the distance, right at the top. There’s something in the field to the far left. I freeze, squinting hard. It’s a black shape and it’s moving fast towards Angel and I.
My heart thumps. Angel shifts and throws her head.
Fuck, what is that?
I glance over my surroundings. I can try to disappear back into the pines and hope they cover me. That’s my only option other than stand and wait. The shape is between me and the cabin, so I can’t go there.
It’s getting closer. I turn Angel around and squeeze my thighs, sending her bolting into the forest.
She wants to run, she loves it. I feel her muscles loosen and elongate. She’s quick and she darts around trees, keeping to the loose trail up ahead. I barely notice that we’re not going back the way we came until suddenly we’re screeching to a halt. Faced with a wide, shallow river etching through the trees.
Where am I?
