Abandoned (8 page)

Lauren took a riding lesson with Lisa,
her cousins’ riding instructor, and was happy to hear that Lisa
thought she was a natural rider. After the lesson, she was so
excited she couldn’t wait to talk to her dad. But all she got was
the answering machine. Again.

After Lauren had been in Misty Lake for
almost two weeks, Aunt April drove her to the local tack store
while Charity and Kjerstina were visiting friends. Lauren bought
hoof glitter and some spray that promised to add super shine to a
horse’s mane and tail. When she got back, Lauren ran to the barn to
try the new purchases on Trooper. After an enjoyable hour,
experimenting in the barn, she led Trooper into the sunlight.

“Wow,” she whispered when the sun caught
Trooper’s mane and tail. The long hair glistened midnight blue. His
hooves shone in the light like rainbows. Lauren turned him loose in
the paddock and Trooper pranced across the grass. Lauren ran after
him, exalting in the wind in her face. She spun in a circle in the
middle of the field and fell backwards, her face to the sky.

Trooper walked up to her and snorted
into her face. Lauren couldn’t stop from laughing out loud. “It’s a
glorious day, isn’t it?” she said to the buckskin. “We should go
for a ride.”

Lauren jumped to her feet and clipped
the lead rope back onto Trooper’s halter. She led him back to the
barn and tied him with a double knot, then ran to the house.

“Aunt April, is it okay if I go riding
by myself?” she asked hopefully.

Her aunt turned from the sink where she
was washing dishes. “Where do you want to go?” she asked. “I
wouldn’t like you to go too far if you’re going to be alone.”

“Can I go to the little warm spring in
the woods? That’s not too far, and I promise I won’t be gone long,”
Lauren replied.

“Okay,” agreed Aunt April. “But be back
before six. That’s an hour and a half.”

“Thanks, Aunt April,” said Lauren. She
flashed a smile at her aunt before racing out the door and back to
the barn.

In a few minutes, Trooper was saddled
and bridled. Lauren led him to the gate and undid the special chain
and clip. She took him through and latched the gate, then climbed
into the saddle.

“Let’s go, boy,” she said in an excited
voice and squeezed Trooper’s sides. This was the first time Lauren
had been riding by herself and she was looking forward to it. There
was no one to remind her of how elusive her dad was being, no one
to theorize on what was happening back home. Lauren didn’t blame
Charity and Kjerstina. She knew they couldn’t help it. She knew her
cousins just thought of the whole situation as an intriguing
mystery to be solved. But it hurt Lauren to think of how her dad
was avoiding her.

I’m just
going to have fun and forget about Dad for the rest of the
day,
she decided and patted Trooper on his neck. Trooper was
excited to be out and stepped forward eagerly. Soon they came to
the break in the trees where the trail started and Lauren turned
him into the woods.

The whole world changed when they
stepped into the forest. Almost immediately the sound of traffic
from the road was shut out. It was so quiet. So still. Lauren knew
she should probably make some noise to alert any wild animals to
their presence, but she couldn’t stand the thought of breaking the
peaceful atmosphere. The needles strewn on the trail muffled
Trooper's glittering hooves and Lauren noticed that even the sound
of their breathing was easy to hear.
I’ll let Trooper take care of me
, she decided.
He’ll keep me safe.

Soon they came to where the tiny trail
to the warm spring branched off the main trail. Lauren turned
Trooper toward the spring. In the clearing, she slipped from the
saddle and pulled Trooper’s reins over his head. Then she sat down
and removed her shoes and socks. The warm bubbling water felt so
good on her feet. Lauren wished the pool was big enough that she
could just climb in. She needed to relax. All this stuff with her
dad was driving her nuts.

“But I decided not to think about that,
didn’t I?” she said to her horse. Trooper pulled on the reins in
her hand and Lauren turned to look at him. “Hey boy, what’s up? You
don’t want to stand around and wait for me?” Trooper tugged again
and nickered to Lauren.

“Okay, okay,” she finally said.
Reluctantly, she pulled her feet from the water. “We’ll go do
something fun. I don’t need to relax anyway. I just need to toughen
up.” Trooper nickered again and Lauren laughed. “You’re not
supposed to agree,” she protested.

When she was securely in the saddle, she
directed Trooper back the way they had come. They reached the main
trail again and Lauren reined the horse to the left, away from Aunt
April’s house. “Let’s go exploring a bit, okay, buddy?” she
said.

Past the turnoff to the spring, the
trail wasn’t as well developed. It looked as if it was only used by
wild animals, all of which were shorter than Trooper, and Lauren
kept having to push branches out of her way. After a stretch of
ducking branches and pulling fir and pine twigs from her hair,
Lauren was relieved when the trail began to climb higher. She clung
to the saddle as Trooper lurched higher and higher up the rocky
hillside. The trees grew farther apart on the hillside, and the
agile gelding wove between the trunks with ease. When they reached
a flat place, Lauren reined him around to look back the way they
had come.

The view was breathtaking. Multiple
greens lay over the land like a carpet, dotted with small topaz and
aquamarine lakes. The larger Misty Lake lay behind them like a
giant sapphire. From this height, she could see why it was called
Misty Lake. A thin, white veil wisped around the edge of the
gigantic lake.

“Wow,” Lauren whispered. She looked to
where she expected her aunt and uncle’s house to be, but couldn’t
see it. They weren’t high enough to see the things closer to the
foot of the mountain. “Let’s go higher, Trooper,” she said and
turned him away from the beautiful scene. They climbed until they
hit a rock wall. Lauren directed Trooper along the cliff, searching
for a path they could use to climb higher. The trail they had been
following was long gone.

We’re
bushwhacking,
thought Lauren, thinking of a phrase her Uncle
Chris used that she always thought was funny.
I’m a bushwhacker. Just wait until I tell
Dad.

As they rode along the bottom of the
rock wall, Lauren noticed they were being forced to go downhill.
Lauren thought of turning Trooper around, but she didn’t want to go
back yet. There was still time before her hour and a half was
up.

“I love exploring,” she said aloud to
the buckskin gelding. Trooper looked back at her and nickered. “You
too?” asked Lauren and leaned forward to pat his neck. Again she
marvelled that she was riding her very own horse, his step eager
and springy, his ears forward and eyes bright. Trooper was the
perfect horse for her.

When Trooper first turned away from the
rock wall to scoot down a steep section, Lauren was surprised. She
hadn’t asked him to turn, and wondered if she should rein him back
the way they had come. The forests were endless and they could
easily get lost. She looked back to see the iron gray rock bluff
behind her.

As long
as I can see that, I’m okay,
she reasoned.
And Trooper seems to know exactly where he’s going. I
wonder if he’s been here before.
The gelding was almost
trotting now. Lauren clutched the reins a little tighter and
Trooper slid down another short, steep section.

Lauren pulled him to a stop. They were
on an overgrown road. The little hill Trooper had slid down was the
upper embankment.

“Where are we, boy?” she asked and
wished he could answer her. The road was overgrown with bushes and
young saplings. Lauren looked both ways. The brushy road twisted
out of sight in both directions.

“Let’s go to the right, Troops. I’m sure
it’ll come out at the road that goes in front of Aunt April’s if we
do,” said Lauren. She glanced at her wristwatch. “It’s probably
faster than going back, and we’ve got to hurry now if we want to
make it in time. She reined Trooper to the right and squeezed her
calves against his side, but Trooper turned to the left and strode
along the overgrown road.

“Whoa,” Lauren said and pulled back on
the reins. Trooper stopped and Lauren laid the reins against his
neck to turn him around. But instead of turning back the way he
came, Trooper turned in a complete circle. He took two steps
forward before Lauren stopped him again.

“What are you doing, Trooper?” she
asked, exasperated. “I don’t want to go this way. We don’t have
time to explore any more. Aunt April’s going to be worried if we’re
late.” She tried to turn him, but again Trooper turned in a
complete circle. And again. Now they were even farther along the
overgrown road, in the wrong direction.

“Trooper,” she said, her voice on the
edge of panic. “Turn around. This isn’t the right way!” She tried
turning the horse again and, once more, he slowly and deliberately
turned in a complete circle and eagerly stepped in the wrong
direction.

She remembered what Lisa said about
being the boss of the horse. Up until now, Trooper had been
perfect. He had never tried to take advantage of her inexperience.
I need to be firm
, she
remembered,
and gentle at the same
time.

She turned Trooper toward Aunt April’s
house and, when he kept turning in a full circle, she didn’t stop
him. Instead she kept turning him. They spun in circles in the
middle of the road until Lauren grew dizzy and Trooper finally
stopped, facing the right direction.

“Good boy,” said Lauren and Trooper
snorted in resignation. She squeezed his sides and he reluctantly
stepped forward. “Good boy,” Lauren repeated and stroked him. Lisa
had said to reward the horse when he did the right thing.

After a few steps, Trooper regained his
good temper and Lauren relaxed a bit. Trooper seemed to forget
their disagreement and stepped forward with a springy step and ears
perked forward. He was eager to please her again, so Lauren let him
trot along the clearer sections of the brushy road. The fresh
breeze against her face helped to blow away some of her confusion.
They had only gone a short distance when Lauren heard the sounds of
traffic. The old road
did
meet up with the highway. She breathed a sigh of relief.

The brush next to the highway was an
impenetrable mass and Lauren had to ride Trooper off the old road
and into the ancient forest to get around it. When she broke out of
the trees, she looked back. The old road was completely hidden by
vegetation.

“We’ll come back some other day and
explore, Trooper. I promise,” she said and patted the gelding on
the neck. “And I forgive you for wanting to go the wrong direction.
I know you were just having fun too, and didn’t want to go home
yet. Right?”

Trooper snorted in response and looked
longingly toward the hidden road. Then he drew a deep sigh and
stepped toward Aunt April’s.

After taking off his tack,
Lauren put Trooper back in his stall and gave him some grain.
Coyote and Orion were outside in the paddock and the barn was
quiet. Trooper munched his oats, his skin twitching with pleasure
as the body brush swept over his coat. When Lauren finished
grooming him, she patted him on the shoulder. “You’re a good boy,
Troops. I know I’m not a very good rider yet, but I’m learning.
Soon you’ll know exactly what I want you to do. Lisa thinks I might
even be good enough to enter in the beginner classes at the
fair.”

Trooper turned his head and looked at
her with shining eyes. The subdued light in the barn warmed his
glossy coat with soft highlights. His mane and tail shimmered in
the half light. Lauren hugged him around his neck. “I’ll let you
have a rest, boy. And then later on when Charity and Kjerstina get
home and we’ve eaten supper, we can go for an evening ride.” She
loosened her arms around his neck and ran her hand along his side
as she retreated toward the door of the stall. As she was fastening
the special clip onto his door, Trooper lipped at the hay she had
left him, pulling out the choicest, greenest morsels, and watched
her with dark eyes.

Aunt April had just started making
supper. “Can I help?” asked Lauren.

“Of course, Dear,” replied Aunt April.
“You can peel the potatoes. The peeler is in the drawer to my
right.” She motioned toward the drawer with her elbow, her hands
busy fashioning hamburger patties.

Lauren grabbed the peeler and picked up
the first potato.

“How do you like it here, so far,
Lauren?” Aunt April asked.

“I love it. Trooper is the most awesome
horse,” she said, then added quickly, “And you guys are great
too.”