Wonderstruck

Ch.3

A week later we were all eating a breakfast stir fry thing around one of the fires when the adults told us we were going for a "group hike" up the mountain and were camping for a night in a small valley higher up in the mountains. Oh joy. Dally gave me a "Are you kidding me I can't walk that far" look and I laughed and gave him a sympathetic look.

"Sorry bud I can't carry you knowing our loving parents I'll have my hands full."

My mother strode up upon hearing that and gave me a stern look.

"Thanks to your loving parents we have horses to ride up there." She snapped at me.

Wait.. What? They actually thought of something that would be good for everyone?

Nope. There was only enough horses for everyone to be in pairs. Oh but wait, at least our parents each got there own horse! They just forgot about us kids! Let's have a big hand for my parents everyone!

After we had packed our stuff and hooked our stuff onto the 15 horses we had, we got paired up.

Dally and I got a big bay horse named Captain. I really liked him, he was gentle with Dally but he had a fiery spirit and we bonded quickly. I put my guitar on my back (which mind you wasn't very comfortable) picked Dally up and put him in the saddle then hoisted myself up behind him.

Jake and Lilly got a huge pinto named Caesar. He was a sweet but didn't like misbehavior. It was really funny because whenever the argued Lilly either got flicked with his tail or Jake got his legs bit or Ceasers neck banged his nose. Hehe sweet revenge.

Austin and Haley rode a sweet young strawberry mare named Glimmer. She was energetic and didn't like holding still, thankfully Austin was a good rider.

Max and May got a middle aged palomino mare named Summer who was calm and gentle and was a trail horse so she just followed the horse and front of her. The twins immediately fell in love with her and when their parents gave them a boost up and I swear those kids faces lit up like it was Christmas.

Who does that leave? Ha! That's right the best enemies. With Felice having no siblings and Hunters two siblings sharing a horse, they had to share a horse. It was hilarious seeing them as they sat stiffly and as far away from each other as possible on a huge powerful black stallion named Storm who definitely knew who was boss and knew how to show it. They were pushing each other and whacking each other and Storm did not appreciate that so he half reared and let out a shrill neigh making the two on his back scream and Felice hold onto Hunter for dear life. Ah ha I think he knows there in loooove. Well not really but I enjoy teasing people.

On that note we set out for the valley.

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We got there and it was beautiful. Soft green grass and wild flowers everywhere. To one side was a waterfall that dropped into a pond in the valley where we were. Wa la fresh water! (Not to mention free swimming pool!) To the other side were woods, the thicker part of which we weren't supposed to go in because there were wild animals. Uh huh it's the wilderness course there's wild animals! As soon as they told us kids not to we secretly vowed to.

We pitched the tents and there were five of them. Felice, Lilly, and I had one, then Hunter, Austin, and Jake had one. My parents, Jakes parents and Dally had one. Austin's parents, Felice's parents and Haley had one, and Hunter's parents and Max and May had one.

Once everything was set up the adults let us go explore but told us to stay away from the thick part of the woods. Mm hmm right. We asked to take the horses to the "thin" part of the woods and they said it was fine. I rode Captain, Jake rode Caesar, Hunter rode Storm, Felice rode Summer, and Austin and Lilly shared Glimmer, aww. We rode into the thin part of the woods and as it grew thicker and darker Lilly finally broke the silence.