Chapter 147
1195words
I can't say for sure, what it was that woke me up, but I woke up to the sound of hooves running around, and behold, the horses I had believed to be tied up securely were running around blissfully,
"ah, bloody hell." I cussed. I looked over at Ember and saw that she was still sleeping,
"What's wrong?" she asked, as I began to sit up. The last thing I wanted was to burden her with any of this. But I knew she would,
"It's the horses, Ember. They are getting away." her sleepy eyes cleared in a jolt, and she began to sit up,
"you mean that?" she asked, and looked over at the ground beneath us,
"See for yourself."
"Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, but how? You had secured them so properly." she said, and sounded like she was panicking. I didn’t want her to panic,
"I don't have the answers to that right now, but I'd like to find out. I'm going down, so I can hold on to the ladder for you at the bottom."
"Okay," she said.
I got down quickly and held the ladder for her. When she was down, we stood there for ten long seconds watching the horses run around like they were born wild and free. Perhaps they were, but all of this running around was merely a recipe for disaster. Because what if they got into trouble?
We should really stop standing here and go get them." she said, turning to face me and I nodded,
"right. You're right."
We started with the ones closest to us, and led them to the stables before doing a head count,
"There are about 8 horses in total. We've got 6. so that leaves us with two."
She looked over at the horses and her face fell, "Gracie." she said and turned to me, "Gracie is one of those two."
I understood why she was so sad. It was not that she didn't care about the rest of the animals, but Gracie was like her soul animal, and the idea of anything happening to her genuinely worried her.
"we'll find her," I said and placed a hand on her shoulder and she nodded, before blowing out her breath,
"Come on. "she said and reached for my hand, "let's go find them."
We ran out of the stables and looked westward as well as eastward.
"I can hear some hooves coming from his end," she said, pointing eastward,
"as well as here," I said, pointing westward,
"So we split up?" she asked and I nodded,
"Alright." she said, and reached over to rub my arm, "Be safe." Then she was gone, going to save the animals she cared for so dearly. I watched her go, and only when I heard the neigh of the horse on my end did I remember my mission,
"right, right," I said and turned around to go get the horse in question.
"Gracie." I sighed, when I saw the mare, standing over the edge of a valley. And slowly walked up to her, so I didn't scare her,
"Here girl," I said softly and watched as she slowly turned, don't move okay? Just let me get a hold of your rope, and I can take you back safely. Back to Ember." I cooed, but she raised a leg, and I shook my head,
"don't do that thing you want to do." I scolded. But she did it, she stepped forward and although I ran toward her, I wasn't quick enough, and watched in horror as she tumbled down the valley,
"no." I choked out, "No no no." I shouted and ran down the alley as well, to get to her.
I didn't have to look into her to know she was in pain, her eyes reflected it,
"Oh, Gracie." I sighed and placed a hand softly over her mangled body. Her breathing was shallow, and her body trembled.
"you're okay." I said softly, and gently picked her up. "you're okay." I cooed and carried her back, taking a different route that didn't even climb up the valley, in case it was too traumatic for her.
"Paris, I found-" she paused when she saw me carrying Gracie and I heard a sob escape her lips,
"Is she okay? What happened?"
"She fell down a slippery slope," I said and gently laid her on the ground. I don't think she broke anything but one of her legs, but she's in a lot of pain. I said as Ember knelt beside her, looking very sorrowful,
"Oh, my love. you shouldn't have gone away," she said sadly, and ran her hands over the horse, as though looking for where it hurt,
"The pack has a healer. I'll go get her."
But Ember shook her head, "no time." she said and closed her eyes. Get me a first aid kit, I'll bandage the broken limb. But let me do this." she said and sighed.
I got the kit and came back quickly. I wasn't sure what I was watching, but with each moment that went by, I saw the pain Gracie's eyes ebb away, and when Ember finally opened her eyes, Gracie rose and bumped Ember's hand with her nozzle,
"don't get too excited, your leg still hurts," she said, stretching out her hand to receive the box,
"what just happened?" I asked, and she shrugged,
" A little bit of something something. I realized I possessed a while back. I haven't really practiced, so this was a bit of trial and error." she said as she took out some bandages, "but, I'm thankful it worked."
I watched her as she applied topical pain relief on her broken legs, and wrapped a bandage around it, then looked at me happily, "This, I'm actually pretty good at this. "
"you're like magic," I said bewildered, as she got up and made a face,
"just a pretty good healer."
"yeah," I said and accepted the first aid kit from her.
"I'd like to stay a while with Gracie before I leave," she asked hopefully and I nodded,
"you're more than welcome to do so. I'll ask the stable hands to feed them. You can watch her feed."
"alright. Thank you. She said and slowly led Gracie to her water.
She stayed an extra hour until Gracie ate and it was time for her to rest,
"You take care now," she said and pressed a kiss to the horse's nozzle, and I wondered if it was even normal to envy a horse. She looked at me and smiled softly, and I felt my heart ache,
"What a day," she said and I nodded,
"a filled one." I said, "Thank you for coming."
"Anything for the horses." she said, and shrugged, "well, I guess it's time for me to leave," I said and walked with her out the door, thinking hard for a way to make her stay.
"Oh damn it," I swore when I saw my mother and Kate walking toward us,
"And I thought I'd actually be leaving this place without having to experience them. Jokes on me."
