Songbird

Chapter 9

Luckily, for us, Ian didn't come back, but Kona and I had to get up early. I needed to practice. I hadn't won one race and I was practically failing training. Flynn got us up super early and led us outside. It was still dark out, but the truck and the trailer were out. Songbird was tied up to a pole near the truck. I untied Songbird.
"What are we doing?" I asked and yawned. Flynn yawned too.
"Our practice is going to be at Churchill Downs. Your going to run that horse as fast as you can for some of the way there," Flynn informed me. I starred at him in disbelief.
"But that's a really long way," I pointed out. Flynn must have lost his mind and his marbles!
"I know, but that horse needs to get up her stamina and her speed," Flynn shrugged.
"Where's your horse?" I asked looking around. Flynn laughed like it was some kind of joke. I was silent because I didn't get it.
"Where's my horse?! No, I'm going to be in the truck leading the way with my headlights," Flynn laughed even harder and climbed into the passenger seat. Kona was driving. The truck roared to live and Songbird and I were too tired to react. I started galloping her and the truck followed me. The journey was long. Songbird would slow down sometimes, but Flynn was right. Her stamina wasn't good, nor was her speed. Every time she slowed down, I sang louder and urged her on. Songbird had no choice but to keep running. The headlights helped out a lot. It was easy to know where dangers were, to save us from falling off small cliffs, and where to go. Eventually, I loaded her in the trailer and got in the passenger seat. We reached Churchill Downs in more than an hour because it was long way from our town. Flynn shook his head when we got there and said I would be riding her back as well. I called him crazy and told him not to over excise my horse. He just rolled his eyes and unloaded Cloud Dancer and Dream Catcher from the trailer and Kona and him rode their horses bareback. We rode into town and looked around for a breakfast. I had on jeans, a blue, white, and silver plaid shirt sleeved shirt, my riding boots, and my straw colored cowboy hat. My hair was in a braid down my back. Flynn had on a light green short sleeved shirt, dark blue jeans and his riding boots. Kona had on black riding pants, her riding boots, a dark teal long sleeved shirt, a thin light grey draping cardigan, and a silky light blue and white striped scarf that hung around her neck. Her milk chocolate hair was in a high ponytail.
"Flynn," I asked.
"Mm?" He replied.
"Is racing jitters contagious because I think Songbird got it from Cloud Dancer," I joked. Flynn punched my arm playfully. We returned to the race track with a bag of small containers with names on them. Flynn, Kona, and I passed them out. Ricky was the only one who didn't get chow mien. When he said he wasn't big fan of it, Jackson, Flynn, Kona, and I shook our heads. Ricky said orange chicken was his favorite. We started to scoot away from him and he rolled his eyes. All of us swore that we would never say those words. We finished quick and I fed Songbird her lunch. While she ate, I filled her water bucket. After she was done with her lunch, I hopped on her and we trotted over to the track. Jackson had brought his horse, Sky Breeze. I saw him and my eyes widened. I was going against him. I cursed under my breath.
"Uh, Jackson, whatcha doing?" I asked.
"Ricky said that it would be a good idea to go against me. If we keep racing each other, Songbird might keep catching up," Jackson informed me. I turned Songbird around to face Ricky.
"Him?! Out of all people, you chose him?!" I scolded Ricky.
"It's a good idea. Songbird needs speed," Ricky shrugged.
"Then why can't I ride his horse?!" I pointed out.
"Jackson nearly fell off his horse once, Delaney," Ricky implied. I nodded in approval and trotted Songbird off toward the gates. Ricky shut them behind us and keeping in mind what happened last time, I didn't dare reach down to stroke Songbird's neck. I got into position and saw Jackson do the same. Songbird pawed at the ground, while Jackson's horse looked nervous. He pawed at the ground nervously and snorted loudly. The gates flung open and Songbird and Sky Breeze bolted out galloping. Sky Breeze pulled forward and started to leave Songbird in the dust. If we were to win this race, Songbird and I need a miracle...and fast. On our the first turn, Jackson was on his second and I singing as loud as I could. I hit a high note we sped around the turn. I loved the wind in my hair, the speed, and the smell of horses and dirt. Jackson no doubt finish first, I came in ten seconds later. My time was close to our goal, but I was disappointed. If I couldn't get my time down, I was never going to win the Triple Crown. Besides, two minutes and fifteen second is only five seconds away. I was close, but not enough. I fed Songbird an energy mash and we practiced keeping-calm-in-the-starting-gates again for at least an hour. Then we untacked Cloud Dancer, Dream Catcher, Songbird, and Sky Breeze and loaded them into the trailer. We reached home at sunset and Ian was no where to be seen. Ian's truck was gone so obviously he had gone out for a drink. Flynn, Kona, and Jackson unloaded the horses while I walked Songbird over to the barn and opened the door. I slipped off her and waited for the them. Ricky cleaned and scrubbed down the tack, while Jackson, Flynn, Kona, and I soaped down the horses and groomed them. He hung up the riding equipment in the tack room, filled the horses' food tray with an energy mash, oats, barley, chopped up carrots, cut up apples, and a health mash, and he dumped cool fresh water into their water buckets. Jackson and Flynn put their blankets on them, while Kona and I attached their lead ropes to their rope bridles. Rope bridles didn't have a bit or reins. They were easy and comfort. We led the horses into their stalls and then skipped off happily to my house. Jackson had decided to stay one of the couches downstairs. Flynn had the guest room all to himself and I had my room. Flynn borrowed some clothes from my brothers since he wasn't going to go back into his room tonight. I heard Ian's truck and I ran to the window. Ian was swerving and he nearly hit his house, but fortunately, he swerved to the right and didn't hit it. He parked right in front of the house and he stumbled inside, obviously, drunk. I thought about my own parents. My mother had died because of poor health, while my own father was just like Ian, an abusive alcoholic. In a way, I could sort of relate to Flynn, but except Ian and his parents was his only family. Both his mother and father were single children. Flynn would have died from being beaten to death if Aunt Lily hadn't stepped in. Currently, she was working on getting hold of the Kentucky government so she could have custody of Flynn. Besides, he was rarely ever in his own home. He couldn't even stay over night without getting violently hurt.

QOTC
Favorite holiday

Christmas(I think we all know why) and Valentine's Day(cause it's two days away from my birthday!)