Maddie stood at the fence, watching her new mustang early the next morning. The mustang had seemed to settle down a little overnight which was a relief and at first glance appeared to be calmer then Bel had been when she'd first arrived. Dakota stood on the opposite side of the pen, munching away on the remnants of the hay she'd thrown over the fence the night before.
Though she wore a thick and shaggy winter coat, underneath all that fur Maddie could see a beautiful sleek and well proportioned mustang. It would only take a little bit of love and care but she could already see in her mind how she would look in a couple months time; not only did she want her to look her best but part of what she would be judged on in the competition was presentation and condition. Already she had a plan in mind for what she would do with her but the first step was letting her have a little time to decompress before she started work with her.
As she kept watching her, Dakota lifted her head a few times to look over at her and she could see that the mare had more interaction with humans then Bel had ever had before she'd gotten her. The mare was watching her with a careful curiosity, still slightly frightened and fearful but nowhere near the extent that Bel had been. 'Hey Dakota.' She spoke gently and the mare looked back over at her, snorting softly. 'Hello.'
Lingering a little while longer she headed off to go do the rest of her chores and work Bel before heading inside to take care of the washing and other things she had to get done. Abeline would be returning home tomorrow and she wanted to make sure that absolutely everything was spick and span and where it belonged so that she wouldn't have any excuses for not resting.
Throughout the past week she had been the one keeping the house going, cooking meals, cleaning, doing the washing and everything else that Abeline did. It wasn't much different from what she used to do for her father except that she had more people to clean up after. She didn't complain though and didn't mind the extra work except for the fact that she was falling behind once more with her schoolwork. When Abeline was better though and able to take over running the household again she hoped she'd be able to catch up in a reasonable time frame.
August helped her where he could but he still had his arm in the sling and couldn't do much though what he did manage to do helped greatly. As she finished folding up the rest of the laundry and threw another load into the washing machine she looked at her watch. It was already past lunchtime... With a tired sigh she carried another basket full of clean clothing into the living room and asked August to fold it for her when he finished with what he was doing on his laptop.
By the time she was satisfied that the house was in order, it was close to four in the afternoon. Cordell and Stella would be home soon, Bonham too from the hospital and they needed dinner on the table. Some frozen stew she had made earlier last week was placed out to defrost on the bench then she went back out to do her outside chores and work with Bel for her afternoon session. As she worked with Bel she began to relax and enjoy her time with the mare, the two of them going for a nice ride in the pasture together bareback with only a halter on her mustang. Though her week had been quite disrupted and she hadn't been able to spend as much time as she would have liked to have with her mare, Bel's training was still coming along well.
Finishing up with her for the day she groomed Bel thoroughly until the mare's coat fairly shone then rugged her once more and brought her evening feed over to the pasture. The mustang eagerly headed for her feed bucket and she snapped a photo of her eating to post on her facebook page then left her to eat in peace.
Dakota was pacing up and down the rails as she walked over to see her, Maddie slowing her approach as the mare trotted off to the other side of the pen. 'Hey Dakota...' She spoke softly as she came to the fence, checking to see how much water she had left in her buckets. Dakota threw her head up and down, snorting gently and she chuckled. 'I'm not that scary big girl. You want some more hay?'
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Walker: Secrets
FanfictionTo say it's time to move on is easy, to actually start leaving your past behind; that is a lot harder. It's been a few months now since Maddie came to live with the Walkers and slowly, she has begun to find her footing in the family. She's hiding a...
