The Beginning

(This is just a fictional story that I have started and thought it would be nice to have people read it and help me make it as good as possible. All opinions and statements will be welcome and appreciated. It will be added on as often as I can. Remember that any comment is okay with me, suggestions as well.)
(This is just the beginning)


She was running as fast as she could, feeling the branches scrape her face. Her eyes flashed behind her looking for any sign of being followed. She looked forward in time to see the ground give way and a hill fall before her. Her feet flew over her head as she tumbled down, rolling over herself. She couldn’t see what was below and a moment later was thrown into the air off of a bump in the hill, landing on her side, breaking through a fence. She heard moving around her and then a horse neighed and there was the sound of hooves all around her. Her side was aching as she slowly got to her feet. Her ankle was sprained and she slowly made her way across the pen to the other side as horses’ ran from it. She tried to climb over the fence but fell back as the pain her body was released. Her body was shaking slightly from the pain and the moon was bright above her. It was shadowed as she heard hoofs coming toward her and soft nickering near her head. Soon a horse’s nose appeared in her face. He walked around and stood next to her. He moved his nose up and down her body. She shoved it away several times but that only made him more persistent to look her over. She rolled over onto her side and yelled with pain. She heard distant voices and tried to get up. She stumbled and fell to her knees. The horse moved next to her and lowered himself to his knees and nudged her. She grabbed his mane and before she could lift herself fully up he stood and she quickly swung her leg over him. He stood and didn’t move. She didn’t know what she was doing. There were flashlights from the woods and she quickly kicked the horse’s sides and he took off. She used his mane to steer and as she passed in front of the huge house there were people running from it as she sped past them. She jumped a fence and headed through a near by field. Moments later there were flashing lights and four cop cars sped through the field after her. She leaned further down on the horse and he moved faster. The horse was outrunning the cars when another search party appeared from the woods. She turned the horse to the side and he turned with ease as he raced the edge of the trees. The cars were right on their tail. The horse was moving as fast as he could and managed to stay just ahead of them. She whispered in his ear to go faster, desperate to get away. His ear turned toward her and she could feel him work harder as he sped up. There were trees ahead of them again and she hoped that that would be what she needed to escape. To her horror another team of people appeared in front of her at the edge of the woods and the inevitable happened. They were headed by a cop who let off a couple shots, slowing the horse enough for the cop cars to surround them. She turned the horse and he leapt over the first car only to be stopped by the second. He didn’t have enough time to make the second jump. She stopped and within minutes was surrounded by officers. The horse circled their barrier and as the police stepped forward to grab her he wheeled around and reared up at anyone who approached. They slowly ganged up on them and she was soon pulled from the horses back and thrown to the ground. She was cuffed and put in the back of one of the cop cars. All the while she was watching the horse rear and try and run toward the car, for whatever reason she felt connected to the horse since he was the only thing that tried to help her for months. She didn’t want to loose that.

“Samantha Shepherd, I here by sentence you to return to the site of your latest crime and repair everything you broke without pay and then, with no pay, will stay as a work hand until further notice.”

The gavel sounded and Sam was taken away and given her personal belongings to get ready for the trip back to the ranch. Her only belongings were the clothes she had been wearing and a locket she’d had for as long as she could remember.

The judge’s words rang in her head. The only thing that kept her quiet throughout the whole arraignment was the hope that the horse that helped her would still be there.

As the car reached the ranch the trees seemed to give way to an ocean of green. Horses were grazing in several pastures that could be seen. She could see men working on the fences and other corrals where people were riding, either for lessons or competition. They could be seen jumping, barrel racing, and even, what looked to her, dressage.

The car pulled up to the front of the house and a man and his family came out. The cop opened the door for her and she stepped out. Her long wavy hair hung down and covered her face. She pushed it behind her ears and looked at them.

“This is her?” The man asked.

“Yes sir. This is Samantha Shepherd. Sam, this is Mr. and Mrs. O’Connell and their two sons Derek and Brendan and daughter Kiley.” The officer told her.

“Hi.” Sam replied sheepishly.

“Is this her?” Another man asked walking up to them. He was Mexican and looked to be in his late twenties early thirties, but very attractive.

“Yeah, this is Sam.” Mr. O’Connell told him. “Sam, this will be your new boss, Joe.”

She looked him over. He had medium length black hair that hung over his forehead and curled slightly at the base of his neck.

“Follow him and he’ll show you where you’ll be staying.” Mrs. O’Connell told her.

“Come on.” Joe said and started to walk away.

Sam started to follow but felt the cops eyes linger on her. She turned around and looked at him. She had known him for the past few years and was the only one who seemed to have any faith in her. He had been the only friend she had had during her sentence and afterward as she was moved from foster home to foster home and was usually the one who brought her in because he knew her and knew what to tell her. She was a depressing thought to know that he wouldn’t be there for her anymore. She just hoped she’d see him again on better terms.

“Thank you Sean.” She told him. “Hopefully I’ll see you soon without the cop car and the flashing lights.”

“I’d like that.” He smiled. Sam returned it and followed Joe. “Take care of her. She’s really a good kid. She’ll work hard.” She heard him say, he then got in his car and drove away.

Joe led her to the huge barn that was a ways away from the house. The huge doors were already opened and they stepped inside to the world of the horse. Stalls beyond stalls were seen and Sam felt her eyes widen with astonishment. She shuffled her feet a little and the sound was different to the barn and horse heads started to appear from almost every one. She was led halfway down the long barn to point in the barn where there was a wide space that was covered with saddles and all the other tack equipment. On the wall on the right from where they were was a ladder leading up into the hayloft that ran the length of the barn with minimal spaces to look down at the horses. Joe led her up the ladder and walked through a few hay bails to the other side of the barn where a large area was attached to the wall with nothing to the sides of it. In this area were a bed, dresser, and all the basic needs for any person.

“This will be your room. Get settled and meet me outside the barn in fifteen minutes for the ranch tour.” Joe told her and left the loft.

Sam walked forward and looked around the room. It was relatively large but there was nothing to it and she had nothing to add to it, not even a piece of clothing to go in the dresser. She sat on the bed and looked at what was to be her home for who knows how long. Tears threatened to come but she was interrupted by an angry horse’s cries from below. She got up and looked over the edge of the room. Below her was a large stall with an angry horse stampeding around it, rearing and kicking the ground. She recognized him at the same from the other night. She quickly ran to the ladder and let herself down and walked briskly over to the stall with the horse she had met in it. She stopped at the stall door and looked at him. His ears were flattened and he was charging every inch of the stall. He wasn’t paying attention to anything else. He was a beautiful horse. He was completely black with a long main and tail and his feet were feathered. This was the first time she got a good look at him. The commotion of their first meeting was too much to look at him too much. She stepped up to the stall and watched him a moment before quietly saying hello. The horse immediately stopped, perked his ears, and looked in her direction. She smiled at him.

“Hi beautiful boy.” She said softly. He nickered softly and stepped toward the door. “It’s alright. We’ve met before, remember?”

He neighed lightly and threw his head up and down. Sam smiled at him and she unlocked the stall and slid it open enough for her to get in. The horse took a few steps back as she slid into the stall. She shut the door behind her and held out her hand. For a moment his laid his ears back and she thought he might charge her but the moment passed and his ears perked and he stepped toward her. Sam held out her hand and after a minuet or two he placed his nose in it. She smiled and stroked his big head and ran her hand down his neck. He nudged her face and nickered a little before letting out a long neigh. Sam smiled and moved to his side and rubbed his body. She reached his butt and itched it a little and he moved his head over at her and nickered.

“Does that feel good?” Sam smiled and itched it harder. The horse nickered and started to kicked the dirt with his hind leg in satisfaction. Sam just laughed at him.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Sam’s eyes shot to the door where Joe was standing outside of it. “Are you going to give me an answer?”

“I was just…meeting the horse.” Sam told him.

“This is not the horse to meet. I’m shocked you’ve lasted this long. He’s put three of our workers in the hospital in the past few weeks.”

Sam just looked at him. “I’ve met him before. He’s the one that I was on when…” She said and stopped.

“Really?” Joe said eyeing her. “I don’t really give a shit. Get the hell out of there.” He said and opened the stall door.

Sam’s hand was still on the horse and she felt his body tense. “I wouldn’t do that, he’s starting to…”

“Don’t tell me what to do.” Joe shot at her.

“But…”

“Get the hell out of there!” He yelled.

The horse shot forward knocking Joe to the ground. When he was free of the walls he wheeled around on Joe, rearing and stomping the ground in front of him.

“No!” Sam shouted and stepped between Joe and the horse. He stopped rearing up but his ears were flat and he kept stomping the ground. “No. It’s alright.” Sam said taking a step toward the horse. “It’s okay. He’s not going to hurt you. Everything is going to be okay.” She said as she took the final steps toward him and started to stroke his face. She put her hand under his chin and walked him back into the stall. He walked in with no problem and she slid the door closed behind him. “I’ll come back and see you later.” She told him before wheeling around and facing Joe, who was brushing the dirt off of him. “You might hate me and think that I am some no good juvenile delinquent but believe it or not I do know something about horses and I plan on doing the job I’m here to do to the best of my ability but to do that I need some support from the people I’ll be dealing with as well as the animals. So just…grow up and stop acting like an ass. And aren’t you supposed to know horses? Because if you did you’d have noticed his body tense and his ear flatten meaning that he was not happy and that he was about to charge you. But you wouldn’t need some girl telling you anything like that.” She finished and left the barn passing Derek and Brendan along the way.

She had no idea where she was going but she couldn’t stop. She walked past the house set on just jumping the fence and walking into the pasture. She was just about to do it when she was stopped.

“Problems already?”

Sam looked over to see Mr. O’Connell walking toward her. “No, sir, just a misunderstanding.” She told him.

“Don’t call me sir and I don’t like being called Mr. O’Connell either so just call me Cal like everyone else.”

“Sorry.” Sam said lowering her eyes.

“Don’t apologize, you’ve done nothing wrong. Come with me.”

Sam followed him as he led her to the pasture gates. He opened it and motioned for her to walk through. She did and waited for him to do the same. When he had closed the gate he put a hand on her back and started to walk through the pasture.

“You don’t need to walk behind anyone here. Not even Joe. Some are leery about having you here, but I believe in second chances. Now I know what you did and I don’t think it all adds up to the way it turned out.”

“You don’t?” Sam said surprised to hear him say it.

“No, actually I don’t. In my mind I think there was more involved then your report said and I’ve read it a lot since we were told you’d be returning here to work.”

“Um…thank you…I guess. It’s been a really long time since I’ve had anyone remotely on my side.”

Cal smiled. “Now how long were you at
that prison?”

“Three years.” Sam replied.

Cal just nodded. “Any family?”

“Nope, and I don’t really want to talk about it.” She told him.

Her mind flashed back to the funeral home and the four coffins that lay within it. Her parents, brother, and sister were all killed in a car accident. Am had been the only survivor. She was eleven when it happened and had a big effect on her life. Sam had moved from foster home to foster home running from every one of them because she just didn’t feel understood enough. She was well watched in her remaining years in foster care and on the day of her eighteenth birthday she took off, leaving everything behind. She moved from state to state but in Montana was where she was caught and because she was now considered an adult, was put in prison. This all seemed to flash before her eyes and all she wanted was to get back to the barn.

“I’m not pushing.” Cal told her placidly.

“I know. I’m just saying…” Sam said and looked at him.

He just looked back. “Is your room alright?”

“It’s fine. I don’t plan on staying on after my community service is done.”

“Hm, we don’t even know when that is.” He smiled.

“I know. But either way, the room is fine for what I need right now.”

“You have clothes?”

“No.”

“We’ll be providing you with clothes.”

“Alright…” Sam said trying to make it clear that she wished the conversation over. “I don’t need much.”

“You’re going to be here for a while; you’re going to need something. And besides, if you’re here long enough it might be hard to leave. I’m sure you’ll get attached.”

“That’s a laugh. The only thing I plan on getting attached to is that black horse in there.”

“If you’re talking about the wild one don’t hold your breath. We’re getting rid of him.”

“What?” Sam said turning and facing him.

“No one can get near him and he’s just a nuisance.”

“You can’t do that.” Sam told him. “He’s the only reason I’ve got for staying here.”

“If you leave you’ll be breaking your parole and you’ll be going back to prison. You’re lucky you didn’t go back their after your little stunt this past week. You get out and you didn’t even stop and think that you should change your ways. You tried to steal a car the moment you got out. You’re not going anywhere.” Cal told her seriously.

“That horse is just misunderstood. So am I and I know what that feels like and he’s just showing it. You wanna know how I feel, Cal, then look at that horse when he’s acting out. He just needs a friend and so do I. Just keep him here…please.”

“First day and you’re asking for things.” Cal said.

Sam just shook her head at him. “And you wonder why I don’t trust people.”

She started to walk through the pasture.

“There here now to get him.” Cal told her.

“Where is he going?” Sam asked without stopping or turning around.

“He’ll be terminated.”

Sam picked up the pace. They had walked quite a ways into the pasture and as she reached the gate she heard his desperate neigh and she ran to the gate and climbed over it. She saw him rearing and trying to get away from the several people who had him. She ran forward telling them to stop. She rushed forward and grabbed one of the ropes from one of them men taking him but was grabbed by Joe around her waist. She tried to fight him off but it was no use. He was being pulled toward a trailer. She called to the horse and he fought even harder. He charged the people who had him and ran down two of them throwing his head around breaking free from them. He shot forward and starting to run. Joe let go of Sam and she ran after the horse. She ran after him and whistled. He turned and ran toward her. The men were coming behind her. The horse slowed as he reached her and she quickly pulled herself up onto his back. She turned him and ran him toward the pasture. She heard truck doors slam and engines roar to life. She jumped the fence into the pasture and raced across the field through the herds of horses around them. Keeping her eyes forward they raced through the pasture and jumped the opposite fence and raced into the woods out of site.

When Sam finally stopped she slid off of the horse’s back and ran her hands on his body. He wasn’t even sweating even though he had worked hard. The woods were alive in the midday light and Sam looked around trying to think of what to do. The woods were thick so it would be easy to get lost. She kept in mind the direction in which the ranch was in and slowly made her way parallel to it. She started to walk and the horse followed her. He stayed right next to her and placed his head over her shoulder and nickered in her ear as they walked.

“We’re in big trouble now.” Sam told him. He nudged her. “I screwed up again. I could have done the work I needed to and got off and on with my life without any attachments and my slate free. But no, I need to go against my orders and run again only this time with a horse that I have technically stolen. Life is looking up. I’m sure I’m going to go back to prison now. And since I’m twenty-one it’ll be fore even longer. I’m lucky I’ve gotten off this easily.”

Sam kept walking and listening for the inevitable to happen. But no one came. Sam found a nice thick patch of trees and sat down against one. The horse was right on her heels and laid down next to her. He rolled over onto his side and put his head in her lap and nickered softly.

“Why the hell do you trust me so much?” She asked him. He nibbled on her jeans. “You don’t know me. I don’t know you. I like animals, I like them a lot. I love horses, but I’ve never owned on or let alone really cared for any. A few of my foster homes took me riding because they knew I liked them but this is…nothing like I’ve done before. I really don’t know why you trust me as easily as you do.” She said and stroked him. “And you need a name. ‘Horse’ is getting a little old. Part of me feels like we should go back. Cal doesn’t seem to be that bad. But it almost feels like he’s so two sided. I don’t know what to think. I can’t trust anyone. That’s never gotten me very far and now I have you and they want to take you away from me too.” Sam said and laughed. “First day, first fucking day and I’ve screwed up my life again.” She told him and stopped to think. “We have to go back. There’s no other way. We have to go back and if the cops are still there we’ll wait till their gone. Maybe Cal will understand.” Sam got up and the horse followed her. “And you still need a name.” She said and put her hand on his neck and rubbed it. “Shadow, Storm, Ebony…I have no idea what to call you. I kinda like the name Zeus.” Sam said still standing there and thinking about it. “What do you think of that?” He nickered and nudged her face. “Okay, it’s settled then…Zeus.” Sam smiled and kissed his nose before starting off into the woods in the direction of the ranch. “I shouldn’t name you. That means I’m attached. Great, another self-rule broken. Rule number 2, don’t get attached.”