Chapter 13

Jane

The stables smelled as wonderful as an elementary field trip to the landfill capital of the state. Certainly not what I used to think about when I was younger. Still, seeing Michael dressed the way that he was, that was a plus. And although the pony’s didn’t have horns or poop out rainbows, they were still simply majestic.

Michael looked over to me and gave that cocksure smirk - hitting me right below my stomach with a dangerous pang. “This girl’s your’s,” he boasted.

I stepped forward to look at her through the beautiful, rustic wooden posts. She was ghostly white, and she swished her luscious tail of silver through the air; here and there on her face were off-white marks, and her big dark eyes looked into me. Michael guided the powerful creature outside of the stable, and held onto the reigns, signaling me to hop up on the orange saddle and slip my shoes into the stirrups. I’d never been in the saddle before; but if he believed that I could do it, then I don’t see why I can’t exceed expectations.

Michael stepped over towards me in the moments that followed, sensing my hesitation. When he grabbed my hand, his fingers left kisses of fire. He guided my hand to the horse’s side and made me pet it, letting go a moment later. I ran my hand along her mane, feeling how silky smooth it was to the touch. Moving down further as I stroked, I could feel the strong muscles behind her velvet soft hair.

“Her name is Silver,” Michael revealed, and she shook her head and flung her exquisite tail. “Raising her cost me as much as buying her,” he informed with a sly bitterness, “when I was in sojourn to Italy, I won her off of a bet from a retired made-man in a high stakes game. I planned on gifting her to someone...” Michael’s face became a pained mask, and he drifted off.

“She’s absolutely gorgeous,” I remarked, putting my shoe awkwardly into the stirrup, adjusting until I had it right. Bringing my hand up to the horse’s neck and side, I threw myself over and upright on the steed.

Settling on the saddle, the hard wooden, rawhide surface bit at me. Grabbing hold of the reigns, I tried to find my center, Silver trotting in a lazy circle. “Whoa now,” I said, the horse wanting to get away from me; that was when Michael vanished back into the stable.

He appeared a moment later, atop a ferocious charcoal black destrier and it’s coat shimmered with light. The beast looked majestic as they trotted towards me.

Michael raked a hand through his short black mess of hair, tousling it handsomely with little-to-no effort. He brought his black destrier to my side, and our horses began a leisurely trot.

“Feels good, doesn’t it?” Michael asked.

The saddle was rubbing up against me in all of the wrong places, but I didn’t see it fit to tell him that. “It’s not so bad so far,” I replied, twisting one side of my lips upwards. “I’ve done things more dangerous than this.” In my head I could still see all the neon lights of Chaos washing in and out around of me, the roar of my motorcycle bouncing from the streets and the buildings; my heart pounding in my chest, all just from a basic need to feel something.

Feel anything.

“Oh,” Michael intrigued, “is that a challenge, Chatworth?”

“If it is,” I countered, “don’t think I can’t rise to it.”

There was a devilish glimmer in his eye, then, and I cared for it very little in that moment. He was going to make me regret what I said. “Hold on tight and follow my lead,” he instructed, “I’ll keep an eye on you.”

I nodded my head, and within seconds Michael hurried his great steed, encouraging Silver to gallop at a thrillingly brisk pace alongside of him. We hurried across the clearing of green, hooves stamping into the ground, crushing the blades and rustling the soil below.

The burning sun beat down on us through the clear blue skies, a flock of royal blue Mountain Bluebirds gliding through the wind in perfect formation. Michael turned his head to look over at me, checking on me just as he promised that he would - I wasn’t nearly so satisfied with that. I squinted my eyes a bit at him, and tried to contain the laughter that was boiling inside of me; I pulled on the reigns of Silver, making her take a hard turn to the right in the direction of the Wester Woods. The weight of the horse shifted, and the energy of each stride that she made, I could feel as it pushed through my body.

We broke free from Michal’s lead, and I hurried Silver along to try and put some distance between us; it didn’t take me long to start feeling cocksure, so I continued to race my way towards the many soldiers of trees.

Within the breadth of fifteen feet, I could hear the thundering of Michael’s destrier behind me. I peeked over at him, catching a glimpse of the horse’s powerful muscles; it’s coat gleaming in the sun with a thin sheet of sweat. Another twenty feet, and I could feel his presence looming directly behind me, the weight of it exciting and propelling me to go faster. Something escaped me from the chest, and a few heartbeats later I realized I couldn’t contain my joy.

I cursed, I laughed, and I whined all in the span of a few breaths when Michael finally passed me; he was giving me a wild look that ignited something sinfully delightful between my legs.

Controlling his steed with absolute precision, Michael cut in front of me, slowing Silver and causing my heart to damn near jump in my throat. He turned then, and Silver promptly followed. “You’re a feisty girl on a patient horse,” he called out, our horses following one another in a circular motion at a trot.

“You’re just lucky I let you catch me,” I boasted, knowing I was well and full of myself.

Michael gave me a cool look, never taking his eyes off of mine. Why was he looking at me with those eyes? Eyes so beautiful as his shouldn’t be filled with such passion for someone like me.

Still, it felt good.

“We’re turning around,” he insisted

“Oh, is that what we’re doing now?” I called back, pulling on the reigns of Silver, encouraging her to move.

“You don’t know those woods like I do, Jane.”

There was a nagging feeling in the back of my skull, that impulse to be spontaneous; to defy and to challenge. “Alright,” I said in a promising voice, keeping a playful look on my face. Just as we were getting ready to turn around and traverse the fields some more; I let Michael take off at a gallop. Once so, I tugged on the reigns, nudging Silver’s instinct to follow Michael’s steed, and having us take off for the Wester Woods once more.

He was going to be furious with me, but his anger had me curious. Besides, how dangerous could it be?

Silver picked up her speed, and her hooves pounded into the ground with a beautiful rhythm. Behind me in the distance, I could hear Michael booming out my name, sending a thrill of delight through my body. We closed the last of the distance to the trees, and I slowed Silver down to a controlled canter.

We slipped into the thicket of trees, and I tried to slow down, but Silver was not so responsive to me now. The ground became rough and uneven, jostling me around on the horse’s back. Each stride made the saddle bite into my rear, put pressure on the small of my back while I wrestled with riding her right.

Silver was doing a fine job of avoiding the numerous trees - but they were quickly beginning to feel suffocating. Each one that whipped past me sent fresh chills down to my core. I kept trying to look back and see if Michael was following me, but there never seemed to be a good enough opportunity.

When the treeline became too narrow, I guided her towards the left, pushing out a hard breath and sucking in another. She moved sharply left, avoiding the treacherous path and maneuvering in such a way that the roots and rocks below us weren’t a problem.

When we made our way several strides further, the thought of turning back pounded into my skull and chest. I turned my head to see Michael making his way towards me.

That was when the horse buckled.

Immediately I held on for dear life, and I cursed beneath my breath.

The horse had caught itself on a large root, and in the span of a heartbeat, she steadied herself and continued her pace, taking a turn to the right and moving down an incline in the ground. Hooves snapping branches, I tried once more to settle down the horse, but she wasn’t listening without the company of Michael and his steed.

We hurried along, swerving past rocks and the occasional tree. It was hard to appreciate the natural beauties of the place while trying to regain control of the chaos.

“Come on,” I whispered harshly to her, “we need to turn back.” As if to point out how much it was ignoring me, the horse jumped over a mossy fallen log that had been in our path. The mere motion of this nearly knocked me off the saddle, and a deadly fire filled up in my chest.

Sometimes it felt like the rush was the only thing keeping me going.

With another couple of strides, I noticed something that I’d seen on the drive over here. Could hear it as we approached. The rushing of water as it fell and sped through the wide mouthed river.

We were barreling right towards it.

Yanking on the reigns as hard as I was able, Silver came to a sudden halt. The dirt kicked up and she neighed and I screamed; it felt like someone had plucked me from the air, weightlessly plummeting me into the rushing river.

Crashing into the water, I splashed the surrounding liquid and it felt like I couldn’t remember how to breathe. Everything was cold and pushing against me, and I sank, I sank down and deep hitting the soft bed below.

Seconds past, but as I was roiling through the waters, it felt endless. My heart pounded hot in my chest, so bad that I could feel it tapping against my bones - so bad that it was all I could think of.

I have to get up for air.

I have to.

I swam up towards the shimmering light above, still being tossed around like nature’s play-thing. Even in my moments of dying I couldn’t help but be embarrassed. Death by stupidity, here lies Jane Chatworth.

Not caring for the ring of that.

Emerging forcefully, I sucked in a breath of air - needles pricking at my lungs and throat with murderous intent. I looked frantically for Michael, catching a glimpse of him dismounting from his Horse.

“Jane!” He boomed with a steely, concerned conviction. “I’m coming for you,” he promised, dashing between the trees, but not yet coming towards the bank of the river.

Helplessness started to become me, but I was determined to do something, anything, to get out of this mess. I tried to make my way towards the bank, seeing Silver getting further and further away, but the current wouldn’t let me grab for anything.

Being turned around by the treacherous waters, I slammed into a jagged rock, feeling it pound into my ribs and chest. Agony bloomed where it touched, and I knew that I would at least be bruised there. I tried to cling onto the rock instinctively, but narrowly missed my opportunity.

Falling back under the water, I groaned from the pain of it, sending a hand to my ribs. Heartbeats later, I forced myself back up from the water and spotted another rock jutting from the bed of the river.

I couldn’t focus on what Michael was doing, but I was praying between gasps that he would reach me. Guiding myself towards the stone as best I could, I was thrown into it once more, feeling another shock-wave of pain.

This time, I was ready for it. I wrapped my arms around the rugged structure, then my legs, holding for dear life as the waters threatened to whisk me away.

I turned my head, looking for Michael, calling out his name, telling him that I wouldn’t be able to hang on for long. Soon my muscles would be sore and weakened, and if I lost my strength... well, I couldn’t think about that.

Michael came out from the woods, a thin sheet of sweat appearing on his skin as he man-handled a long, heavy branch in his arms. “Just hang on,” he insisted.

Not like I have many more choices. “You say that like it’s easy,” I replied in a high pitched voice.

“You're a pain even when I’m trying to save you,” he called out, closing the distance between the bank of the river.

Oh I’m so sorry for inconveniencing you my personal superman. “More saving, less complaining!” I pleaded, gritting my teeth and losing some footing on the rock. In that moment, I swore that if I ever made it big, I’d devote a house of worship to this damn rock.

Certainly not to Michael. That man didn’t need his ego stroked even another inch.

Maybe I should drown.

Getting my footing back on the rock, my hand slipped while repositioning, and I yelped something from my mouth. I cursed as I slipped away from my rock, scraping my arms along it’s rough surface.

Turning myself as best as I could, I saw the thick branch that Michael had gotten. He was leaning out as far as he was able beyond the bank of the river, using both hands to extend the piece of wood towards me.

I shot out an arm for the stick, narrowly clutching it. It was coarse against my hand, and the force of the rushing water made me tug hard; Michael didn’t budge, but I could see the subtle lines of strain on his face, his eyes filled with concern and steely resolve.

Sending another arm to the branch as the currents whipped at me, I grabbed onto it tight.

Michael began to move backwards, reeling me towards the bank of the river; meanwhile Silver trotted her way towards us. “Don’t let go,” he instructed. “I’ve got you.”

When he got me to the river’s bank, he made good on that promise, and I picked myself up from the currents clutch. Before I even had time to think or feel, my head was buried in his powerful chest. My arms were tied around him, hands grabbing at his back, feeling all the bones and pristine muscle beneath his outfit.

When he hugged me back, I felt a thorn of joy worm it’s way into my heart; safety and warmth bled from that place in my chest, and it radiated to every part of my body. I whispered to him that I was sorry. Pleaded with him that I only meant for us to have a brief, exciting chase. But he calmed me, told me that I was okay, that he wouldn’t let me get hurt again.

We returned to his manor not much later, when I felt well enough to ride back. We brought  the horse’s back to their stables, and in a secluded guest room, Magdalene and Michael tended to my minor wounds, the both of them giving me a stern lecture.

Not my best day. But definitely not my most boring.