Greek Tragedy | Daryl Dixon

Chapter 5 | They Were My Lifeline

After her song that night, Cassandra had returned to the barn to bed down for the night in her chosen residence. She had said a swift goodnight to all of the horses in the stables, Nereus taking slightly longer as expected. Despite the horse's glaringly obvious dislike for being cooped up in a stall, he showed an almost resigned acceptance of the new human's presence in his barn.

After a few days of daily showers in Hershel's house (offered by Maggie and Beth), it became apparent to the group that the new girl's hair wasn't the brown they originally thought. Once it was finally fully cleansed of the muck of the road, Cassandra's head bounced with curls that were almost orange. 

She seemed happier in the following days and checked up on Daryl in his tent when he moved back out to the camp. Their conversation has been cut short when she spied Shane striding back towards the camp and made her farewells before the big man caught her too near to his group's camp. That afternoon she had gone hunting on her own and brought back two rabbits, four squirrels, and a woodland grouse, which she gave to Patricia while handing the others to Glenn seeing as he was the closest member of Rick's group she could find. He was at the house a lot.

On the morning of the third day after the dinner, Cass was awoken just after dawn by the clatter of thundering hooves and whinnies barreling into the stable.

Hurrying into a big hoodie of Shawn's (Beth and Maggie's older stepbrother, who was bitten early on), the young girl climbed quickly down the ladder from her loft to find the same horse who had bolted past her and led to her finding the injured redneck at Rick's camp. This must be Nelly. Wow, Cass thought as the mare stumbled around she was so caught up in her own panic, I can see why they call her Nervous Nelly.

In just her hoodie, underwear and bare feet, the girl closed the open end of the stables and approached the now trapped mare. She was slow but deliberate, making sure to not spook Nelly more but also let her know who was in charge. She advanced.

Nelly's eyes went wide enough they were white all the way around. She shied away, backing up to the opposite doors until her flanks pushed against them. The wooden bar rattled. 

"Hey, hey, easy," Cassandra cooed as she got nearer. "I'm not gonna hurt ya."

Nelly knapped and threw her head in distress, tossing the reins that were still attached to her so violently her off fore leg got caught. The mare tripped and stumbled into the ground with a squeal. She struggled to stand again but her balance was precarious with one hoof so hopelessly tangled.

Reacting fast, the girl darted forward to stand beside the mare's neck on the opposite side to the tangled limb. She took a firm hold on the bridle that had begun rubbing Nelly's raw snout and held on when the chestnut horse reared up fully. With a good tug, she managed to wrest Nelly back down and took her snout, blowing into her muzzle to calm her with her scent. The mare was stunned for a moment, long enough for Cassandra to tap the back of her foreleg and pull her head gently towards the ground. In this way, the girl coaxed Nelly onto the ground to lie down on her side and calm down. She could see the mare's breathing was still shallow and heavy but that calmed as Cassandra slowly stroked a hand down Nelly's neck.

Once the horse was calm, Cassandra unbuckled the bridle and slid it off before untangling the reins from her leg and tossing the whole set to the side to be dealt with later. Staying close to Nelly's body, Cass moved to the horse's belly to unbuckle the girth before stepping away and allowing her to stand up and shake off the dust. 

The girl wrapped and lead-rope loosely around the mare's neck and tied the ends to each side of the path before opening up both ends of the stable. She then picked up a grooming kit and proceeded to pick the horse's hooves first while muttering calming nothings.