She's Tougher Than She Looks.

The Deal.

Okie sniffed my hair as I tightened his saddle. I smiled and gently pushed his head away.

I had to go into town. Again. But this time it's to get a prospective horse to train.

It was tedious, because I had other things to do, and we lived pretty far from town. Like it takes a half hour before you can even see the place. How Carly got there on her own (I've mentioned her being a sissy, right?) is beyond me.

But, it needed to be done, if I was going to get that stupid barn door fixed. Again. Do you have any idea how much that things breaks? And how much it costs to fix it? It made me irritable just thinking about it.

I mounted and rode off. Once I was out of view from the house I stopped and turned around. I could see the house, but they couldn't see me. Unfortunate, if someone who wasn't supposed to be watching the house was. But fortunate for a paranoid big sister, who wanted to make sure those two didn't kill themselves walking out the front door.

Finally I turned around again and pushed into a lope. The distance was covered easy in Okie's long, smooth strides, and I couldn't help but think about the first time I rode him. . .

Four Years Ago

I saddled Okie for the first time. He didn't really act like a green horse. Which you know, just meant he's smart enough to not misbehave right off.

We are going to get along fine, I thought, admiring Okie's pie bald coloring. His splotches were beautiful, and his eyes were intelligent. And mischievous.

I remember thinking how lucky I was.

Then, they came.

I don't know who "they" are, but I know my dad was afraid of them. That alone was enough to be scared out of my wits--which has never actually happened to me, even then--but, these guys, they were. . .totally cliched. I mean, they all rode black stallions and had dark, expensive clothes, and shiny, beautiful weapons, that you could tell they knew how to use.

There were five of them, trotting into our yard, just as Dad and I were riding in the opposite direction. We turned and saw them approaching the house. Dad paled, and told me to quickly go around the house where they couldn't see me, grab Carly and Jessie and go to the creek by the willow tree, then wait for him.

I did as he said, and had Carly riding behind me and Jessie riding in front. I am still thankful that Okie didn't go nuts with all the tension. And that we were all small enough for him.

I rode into the woods quickly, and rode around in circles, before finally stopping at the creek. I had all my hunting gear, so when we ended up staying the night, we weren't freezing.

The next morning, I debated whether to bring them back with me or not. I finally took them with me, because if something happened to me, they didn't know the way home, and they didn't know how to survive.

There were no traces that the riders had ever been there. Except the two dead bodies.

I came back to the present as I saw the town come into view.

I rode to the stable, where the owner wanted to meet me.

I tied Okie out on the post and walked in, breathing in the comforting smell. Yes, that included the manure.

"Hello." I whirled at the voice. A tall man--no wait, young man, probably a few years older than me. I had to crane my neck to look him in the eye. Not that I was very tall to begin with. I couldn't help but gape a little. He had brown hair and blue eyes, and while I'm perfectly aware how generic that was, he was insanely hot.