Destiny
Silver kicked mud up onto his legs and belly as he trotted down the road. Silver was my Father's Kentucky Saddler stallion. He was gray, as his name suggests, and had a thin white stripe down his face.
My father was running low on gun oil, so I sprang on the opportunity to go get more, as well as some ingredients and things for my mother. I was glad for any reason to get away from the house.
Right now, though, I was heading away from the shops. Why? Because I was going to have a nice gallop through the forest. It's not something my parents took kindly to.
According to my parents, I had to act like a lady. Be sweet and delicate, wear skirts, cook, clean - yeah, no thanks. We lived in the muddy old town of Valentine, for goodness sake! It's not like we lived somewhere prim and proper. If we were in big and fancy Saint Denis, then maybe I could somewhat understand.
I steered Silver off the road and into the grass and flowers that hadn't quite opened yet. After trotting for a few more strides, I kicked, asking him to canter. The grump just threw his head and made an annoyed grumbly growl, so I kicked once more. He finally started cantering after throwing his head again.
When we neared the treeline, I kicked him twice, one after the other, and he started speeding up with a growly snort. He was the laziest and grumpiest horse you'll ever see, but I loved him.
I leaned forward a bit as we sped into the forest, then patted his neck. "Good boy. That wasn't too bad, now was it?"
Spring was still young, so the trees that weren't evergreen were only just starting to grow little bright green leaves. Birds were singing their beautiful morning tunes and rabbits dashed into the bushes, frightened by the big horse that was running through their home.
I took a deep breath of the crisp air as it blew in my face, then sighed in delight. After relishing the last few glorious moments, I reluctantly sat back in the saddle, bringing Silver down to a slow canter. I then turned him towards the outside of the forest so that we could meet back up to the road.
"We should probably head to the shops now," I said as I patted his neck again.
Once we got back onto the road, I let him slow to a walk. He was so happy to be going slow, he let out a big content sigh.
I turned left toward the row of stores where people strolled around on foot, horseback, and wagon.
The wooden storefronts sat on wood platforms and were painted in muted colors. The store names and some of the services they offered were painted in white and a few fancier buildings had signs. There were horse hitches in front of the majority of the buildings, and of course the muddy road went through the middle.
I stopped at the first store on the corner: the gunsmith. After I dismounted, I hitched Silver and entered.
The man at the counter looked up from what he was doing when he heard me come in. "Oh, hello. What brings a little lady like you to my establishment?"
I smiled politely even though it annoyed me to be called such things. "My father needs some gun oil, so I came to fetch some."
He put some containers of gun oil on the counter after reaching underneath to get them. I paid him and the man thanked me for my business, then I walked out of the store.
I approached Silver, who looked like he was about to fall asleep, and tucked the oil into the saddle bag.
Now that my hands were free, I lifted my skirts so they wouldn't get muddy and walked across the street to the general store, being careful to stay out of the way of the horses and wagons that were passing by. I swerved around the people that were walking to and from the shops, and approached the door of the general store. A cheerful jingle sounded as I opened the door. I made my way to the shelves and grabbed the items I needed, then went to the counter to pay after waiting for the shopkeeper to finish with another customer.
Once everything was paid for, I awkwardly carried the small boxes and cans in my arms, silently wishing I had brought a basket to carry them in. I shuffled the items and carefully opened the door so that nothing was dropped, but as I stepped out, a man was about to walk in so I nearly bumped into him. The situation caused some of my things to fall out of my arms.
"Oh- I apologize, miss," he said as he crouched down to pick the fallen items up.
"You're fine. I should have been paying more attention."
He stood up and glanced at my arms where I was carrying the few things that didn't fall. "Mind if I bring these to your ride?"
"Not at all. That would be very helpful," I replied with a smile and began walking over to Silver, the man following behind me.
He probably wasn't much older than I, and was tall with green eyes and dark brown hair that was messy, but in a good way, if that makes sense. Pretty handsome, I'd say, though there was something odd about him. He was always looking around. I didn't think he was nervous about anything, as he seemed pretty calm. Maybe he was looking for something?
We finished crossing the street and made it to a snoozing Silver. I opened one of the saddle bags and dropped the items I was holding inside them. The man handed me the ones he was holding and I put those in as well.
I turned to look at him and smiled. "I appreciate the help, mister."
"No problem," he nodded with a tilt of his hat. "Have a good one."
"You as well."
He began walking away, patting Silver's flank as he left. Silver, of course, did not like that and pinned his ears.
"Oh, come on, you big grump."
I unhitched him and threw the reins over his neck, then grabbed the saddle horn and put my foot in the stirrup to mount. Once mounted, I turned him in the direction we needed to go and kicked him into motion.
I looked over at the woods, contemplating if I should have another run through the forest on the way home.
It won't take long, I thought. It's on the way... mostly.
With my mind made up, I turned Silver towards the forest and sped him up. We didn't go as fast as before since we weren't going as far, but the canter through the trees was still nice.
Satisfied, I patted Silver, slowed him down, and met back up with the road. Because we were getting close to home, I dropped my right stirrup in preparation to switch to sidesaddle. Before I could even swing my leg over, though, I heard a voice call my name and was filled with dread.
"DESTINY!"
I turned to see my father looking at me and walking towards me. He must have been going to the shops for something he'd forgotten to tell me he needed.
No, no, no! I shouldn't have ridden through the forest again!
My hands began to shake in my fear. "F-Father, I-"
"What in God's name are you doing?!" He hated when I disobeyed him.
I quickly switched to sidesaddle as he grabbed my reins and began leading me home, as if I couldn't ride myself.
"Your mother is going to be very disappointed in you, as I am," he continued.
I didn't say anything. Not even when we reached the house. I just dismounted slowly, and once my feet hit the ground, my father roughly grabbed hold of my arm and dragged me up the steps and through the door.
"I thought you'd learn by now," he said as we stepped inside. "You are no longer allowed to leave the house alone."
"Please, no! I'll stop, I promise-"
He interrupted my begging, "Enough! It is too late now."
I lowered my head and balled my fists so hard my fingers turned white.
Hearing the commotion, my mother walked into the room.
"What on earth-" She stopped when she laid eyes on the scene before her, knowing immediately what was going on.
"Your daughter was at it again. She is now banned from leaving this house unless she is being accompanied," he told her.
"Very well," she sighed, then looked at me. "I don't understand why you keep doing this. You are a beautiful young lady. Act like it. You can't be like this when we move to Saint Denis."
I was so angry. I couldn't hold it in anymore.
"I don't care about your stupid dream to move to Saint Denis! You've been talking about it for years, yet here we are!"
My mother slapped me. "Shut your damn mouth!"
Then, I lost it.
"NO!" I screamed, trembling in my anger. "I AM SICK OF YOU TELLING ME WHAT TO DO - TELLING ME HOW TO LIVE MY LIFE!"
My mother stared at me with her eyebrows raised, and my father must have left the room at some point during my outburst because he walked back in with a belt in hand.
I knew what I was in for next. I hung my head and braced myself as my mother folded her arms over her chest and my father lifted the belt.