To run like mad

Chapter 2

Previously:

The girls look around for anything to make a stretcher out of but paused when they heard hooves. They instantly get ready to fire, all with stern faces on whether the boy's face is filled with fear. They hear snuffling and huffing in the direction they came from. They wait for a few seconds but it feels like years when a black nose pokes through a bush. Then the nose got longer and longer to see that it is actually a horse's head.

"Blackjack?"

Now:

The horse surges forward towards the group. The hunters were confused. Where is it's rider? The horse pushes through the girls and leaned his head down towards the boy, sniffing and smelling to see if his little rider is alright. The boy gasps in pain when Blackjack nudges the arrow, still lodged in his foot. Blackjack moved so it's long nose is in the boy's face. The boy puts his forehead in between the horse's eyes.

"You came back."

The boy whispers, so only Blackjack can hear. The horse huffs as if to say: of course I came back, stupid. I can't leave you for a second before your in danger. Geez, did you think I'm like a dumb horse like the rest of them. The boy didn't know if he could sense his thoughts or he is going crazy, but he doesn't care. Blackjack came back for him.

"Well, we got a horse. Did anyone see that coming?"

The leader of the hunters asks. All the girls shake their heads, but are amused. The leader huffs, blowing a strand of her dark brown hair out of her volcanic black eyes. She has a modest silver tiara adorned on her head, signally to everyone of her position in the hunt.

"Anyway, we now have solved the problem of how to take the boy with us. Let's gear up and go home!"

Several of the girls helped the boy get onto the stallion, after a moment of hesitance from the boy. In the midst of getting onto the bareback horse his hood slipped down just a fraction, but enough for the hunters to see the face of the boy.

He was beautiful. The bruises and scars could not hide his gorgeousness. His midnight black hair reaches his shoulders but are covered in grime and dirt. He has a tan complexion from working in the fields all day. His lips are heart shaped and are begging to be kissed. His long lashes frame his big eyes. Eyes that the hunters have never seen before. The sea green moves like the ocean, ever changing, never stopping. They glow faintly in the dark, but that is not what drew them in. Deep fear and anguish sails in those pools of green, just begging to be loved and safe. A wingless angel.

"Who are you?"

The boy looks at the leader and each of the hunters. Judging to see what their true intentions are. Seeing none he says, avoiding the question yet again.

"Knowing my name, will only bring danger to you and your hunters. I will not cause a fight. Thank you for saving me but I must leave. Sorry, I cannot come with you. Blackjack? Can we go, please?"

The stallion turns away from the girls and heads off. The hunters were shocked. There goes the most handsomeness boy with an arrow in his foot on a black horse named Blackjack. What? But they watched him ride away, knowing this will not be the last time they will see the nameless boy.

Many hours later the sun comes up. The horse and his boy has walked for miles only eating from apples trees and berry bushes. Blackjack can tell that his little rider is getting weaker by the minute, considering he has an arrow in his foot. He knew that the boy will not last long. Blackjack could not let that happen. This boy is the reason he escaped the merciless kingdom, so he must get help to return the favour.

The boy feels his eyes begin to droop, so he decided to lie down on the stallion. Even though he knew it was a bad idea. Blackjack felt his little rider shift and decided to kneel down so the boy could lie underneath the tree. The boy curls up into a ball, being mindful of the arrow and falls asleep. Blackjack gets back up again and gallops away, leaving the boy alone in a vulnerable state.

The boy gets startled awake by saliva all over his face. He wipes it off and turns to Blackjack. But it wasn't Blackjack, but instead a big, brown grizzly bear. He stays very still, trying not to provoke it. Suddenly he gets picked up by the bear, causing him to yelp out in surprise and pain. The bear, taking no notice of his pain keeps walking.