Into the Night

 By Victoria, ate 12

All of the prompts (except #9)

“Jared, you can’t run off like that. Your father and I were worried sick,” Andrea Prescott scolded her six-year-old son, “You could have been hurt or worse. When I say ‘no’ that’s the end of it. I ran off once, and believe me, the results were not pleasant. All it did was get me in trouble with uncle Chad.”

          “Tell about it. Won’t you, Mamma?” Jared coaxed, looking up at her with pleading eyes.

          “Well, I suppose so,” Andi consented, “I’ll tell you the story as we ride home.” When the two were settled on their mounts, Andi began the tale,

          “Well it all started in the attic. I was messing around with the stuff, exploring the old furniture. I came upon a trunk that attracted my attention… ”

 

Flashback:

“I wonder what’s in it,” Andi mused, “I suppose there’s only one way to find out.” She spotted a rusty hammer on an old table. She skipped over and grabbed the hammer. She lifted it and brought it down on the lock. The lock snapped and the lid swung open. A cloud of dust puffed up, revealing a small stack of posters. Andi froze, dumbfounded.

          “W-what?” She stuttered. She blinked to clear her head. She was seeing things. She had to be. She couldn’t really be WANTED. She turned and fled the attic.

          “Justin, Justin!” She called, clattering down the stairs. She threw open the front door.

          “What is it, Honey?” Justin asked, coming up beside her.

          “I-I,” She groped for words, “The poster! I’m wanted.”

          “What? What makes you say that?”

          “T-the posters in the attic.”

          “What? You must be mistaken. Show me wh–”

          “No! I know what I’m talking about! I-I can’t stay,” She scanned the area for an escape. Pal was saddled in front of the barn. Andi ran to him and pulled herself into the saddle, kicking him into a gallop.

“Andi, wait! No,” Justin’s words were lost in the sound of galloping hoofbeats. Andi let Pal lead. Not really caring where they went as long as they were going somewhere.

“We gotta get out of here. As far away as we can be.” She whispered encouragement until an hour and a half later Pal stumbled to a stop.

“C’mon Pal,” She urged, but there was no moving Pal.

“You’re probably right,” She conceded, sliding off Pal's back, “You do need a rest. I shouldn’t have pushed you so hard, plus it’s getting dark.” She looked around in his saddlebag. She opened Pal's saddlebag and looked around for a curry comb.

"Here it is," Andi pulled it out and began the tedious task of rubbing Pal down. She carefully combed out all the dirt and snares in Pal's thick coat. Half an hour later she dropped the curry comb into the saddlebag,

"Done." She sighed and grabbed Pal's reins.

"Come Pal, we can't just stand here.

 An hour and half’s ride had knocked a bit of sense into her,

“If I had thought about this for two seconds I probably wouldn’t have dashed out of there like the world was ending. Mother says I need to learn to think before I act, but I never seem to learn the lesson.” She glanced up at the night sky,

“Maybe we should rest. It’s not like we’re going to find our way back in the dark.” She tethered Pal to a tree and then grabbed two apples from his saddlebag. She offered one to him, which he readily accepted, before sitting down under a different tree to eat her own. When she was done she tossed the core to Pal and then wrapped her arms around her knees. She looked up into the cloudy night sky,

 “I sure hope it doesn’t storm.” A fall storm was never any fun. She knew that from sad experience.

 

 

Seven years before:

Six-year-old Andi Carter untangled herself from the bush.

          “Taffy? Coco?” She called, dusting off her overalls. Like magic Coco appeared, leading a golden foal. Andi ran to the pair.

“Good job, Coco,” She threw her arms around her pony’s neck and buried her face in his chocolate mane. She turned to Taffy and gave her foal and hug too.

“I’m sure glad Chad let you come with us today,” She frowned, “Though I’m not sure he’s going to let you come again when he realizes what a mess I’ve made. I wish Riley could have come too, but Cook said he had to stay and do chores,” She looked up at the cloudy, gray sky, “I hope it doesn’t storm.” As if on cue the sky lit up with lightning. Taffy whinnied, then bolted, disappearing into the trees.

“Taffy!”

 

***

          “It’s a good thing Chad showed up when he did. I was so scared,” She muttered sleepily. Her head nodded, and she was asleep.

***

A loud whiny pierced the air, yerking Andi out of her dreams. She jumped to feet and whirled around just in time to see Pal, the obedient Pal who would never hurt a fly, rear, hooves slashing the air. 

          “Pal!” Andi shouted, whistling low and coaxing. Amazingly, Pal turned and trotted back to her.

          “Good Pal,” She praised him. She fished another apple from his saddlebag and fed it to him. She watched as two little girls, no older than six and ten, skipped out from behind the trees. They ran to the horse, chatting merrily. Andi climbed onto Pal’s back and nudged him towards the horse. She kept a wide berth in case the other horse held some aggression, but the other horse trotted up and nuzzled Pal.

          “That’s no ordinary horse,” Andi noted. “I do believe that’s a Gypsy Cob horse and beautiful tack, and I wonder who the girls are,” She muttered under her breath.

          “Howdy!” She called.

          “Howdy,” The oldest stepped closer, “I’m Lily and this here is Gracie.”

          “I’m Andi and I’m from the Circle C Ranch.”

“We-we’re,” Lily took a step forward before collapsing to the ground.

“Lily!” Gracie shrieked, running to her sister. Andi dropped down from Pal and rushed to the sisters.

“You have to tell me where you're from. Why– Do you know why Lily fainted?” Gracie's eyes held the terror of a trapped horse.

“I-I She-I!” Gracie stumbled to find words, “Is she going to be okay?”

“I don’t know, but I think she will be. Where are you from?” Gracie tear rimmed eyes overflowed,

“I don’t really know. We used to live at Cedar Creek Ranch, b-but when Mamma died Daddy got mean. Lily said we had to leave. We left about a week ago. We eat whatever we can find but most days we don’t have anything. Is that why Lily fell over?” Andi’s eyes brimmed with tears as Gracie finished the pitiful tale,

“It would make sense. You can stay with me. My mother will help you and get the doctor. If you’ll ride your horse, I’ll take Lily.” Gracie nodded hesitantly,

“Alright.” I gathered Lily in my arms, horrified to find Lily weighed no more than a small child, and carefully sat her in the saddle. I climbed up behind her and prodded Pal into a trot.

“I wish Chad was here. He’d yell sure enough, but he’d take us home and send for the doctor. Chad would know just what to do.”

“Wish granted,” A grim voice said from behind. I turned Pal around.

“Chad! You have to help us. These poor girls have been living off of nothing. You’ve got to get the doctor for Lily. She fainted and has been unconscious since.” Chad didn’t yell or ask for an explanation. He brought his horse next to mine and pulled Lily into his saddle.

“Take care of the little one!” He called as he galloped off.

“Wait no!” Gracie shrieked.

“Shh, it’s okay. Your sister’s in good hands with Chad. He’ll get her to the Circle C faster than we can.” Gracie regarded me with wary eyes but made no more objections.

“Hurry Gracie, we need to make sure to keep behind Chad.” Gracie nodded mutely, kicking her horse into a gallop. An hour later we reigned our horses in front of the house.

“Make sure to give them a good rub down,” I instructed the ranch hand, helping Gracie down from the horse.

“Come on Gracie, let’s go find Melinda.” Gracie held tight to my hand as we entered the house.

 

***

“...Melinda took charge at once. She had Gracie fed and clean in no time at all. Soon after the doctor came and confirmed that Lily had fainted from hunger and nothing else. The two stayed with us until they were stronger, but Justin found their grandparents. The aging couple wrote at once saying they wanted the children to come and brighten their musty mansion. The point of the story is even though I did a good thing helping two starving children, I shouldn’t have run away. You know, running away didn’t fix the original problem. All running away did was land me with the worst chore on the entire ranch. Mucking out stalls.”

          “Well what about the wanted posters? What happened with that?” Jared asked. Andi laughed,

          “Oh that. Justin explained when we got back. The ‘wanted’ posters were really missing posters. The entire poster was covered in dust. I saw my face and reward and jumped to conclusions. I ran off thinking I could hide from my problems, but I’ll tell you, it didn’t work. I wish I could say I learned the lesson well, but it wasn’t until about four years later when your father told me the story of Midnight’s death.”

          “Papa never told me that story,” Jared pouted.

          “I think it hurts him,” Andi said gently, “But I suppose I could tell you…”

          “Do Mamma!” Jared coaxed.

          “Okay, It was at fort ***.  The Apache Indians would raid the fort and make off with a string of horses. Riley didn’t suppose the Indians would take Midnight, because the horse was old and slow, but after one raid Riley wouldn’t find Midnight anywhere. Riley begged to be allowed to join the men who were going to chase the Indians. His father allowed it and they set off. No more than halfway down the trail Riley found Midnight. He was covered in sweat and grimb, spent with the long ride. The Indians had left him there to die. The poor thing was exhausted. Riley had to put him down. Riley was bitter and angry, but with time he decided to forgive…”