Stop Horsing Around!

chapter 2

"I don't get it."

"Get what?"

"Get why you're so excited to see my horse." Lily Rae sighed, staring out the window on the bus. She had the window seat, and for once, the aisle seat was taken. By Lucy.

Lucy sat next to Lily Rae, bouncing her leg up and down. "It's a horse! Aren't you excited?"

"Well, yeah. I love her. But not excited as much as you are, though."

"That's probably only because you've had her a long time!" Lucy suddenly angles her body towards Lily Rae. "So, tell me about her. What's her name? How tall is she? Is she broke?" Her eyes are sparkling and her smile is wide and ridiculously bright.

"Uh, It's a Bell, about 15 hands the last time I checked, and yes."

"'It's a Bell?'" Lucy's expression is quizzical.

"It was Isabelle. But when I was little, I kept saying It's a Bell, and it stuck."

"Aw, that's cute!" She smiles.

"I've been told." Lily Rae is so done with this girl.

"So you've had her since you were a little girl?"

"Mhm."

"How old is she?"

"Eleven."

"Aw! How much does she weigh?"

"Hey, Lucy?"

"Yeah?"

"Stop talking."

The bus ride home was long because even though Lily Rae told Lucy to stop voicing her thoughts, she didn't. She kept right on with that soft voice of hers. Even as they walked to Lily Rae's house.

"Is this it?" When Lily Rae doesn't answer, Lucy repeats the question.

They stood in front of a cute, cozy two-story house with a pale yellow siding. The roof was a chocolate brown, and the windows shined bright in the sunlight.

"It's. . . Bigger than I was expecting. . ." Lucy trails off with an unreadable expression.

Lily Rae grows even more annoyed, if possible. "What were you expecting?" She starts walking to the side of the house, where the stables and paddock were, and Lucy follows.

"Definitely not this."

Wow, rude.

Lazily, Lily Rae hops the fence of the paddock and turns to make sure Lucy is behind her. Once Lily Rae is in the paddock, one of the horses that had been grazing inside comes trotting over to her with a whinny. As Lucy's eyes widen, Lily Rae raises her arms and wraps them around the horse's neck once it's close enough. She rubs its neck, saying, "Hey, big guy. . ."

"Oh my God, oh my God, i-it's-"

"Rockafella. His name is Rockafella. I named him myself, and we got him a year after It's a Bell was born." Lily Rae knows Lucy has more questions, but she might as well just start giving answers for free.

"He's so pretty!" She exclaims, petting the palomino. "Did you-"

"Rockafella is my dad's horse, and It's a Bell is mine. Mom doesn't have one. She's afraid of horses."

"That's not-"

"We have two other horses, and their names are Archduke, or Archie, and Jamesie. Archie is male, and Jamesie if female. Jamesie is our shortest horse."

". . ."

Lily Rae doesn't respond to Lucy's silence, instead continuing to give affection to Rockafella.

"Was all that necessary?"

"You ask me tons of questions, so I thought that I might as well tell you some facts of my own."

". . . Oh."

"Well, come on. We should check on It's a Bell." Lily Rae bites her lip. "Have you ever ridden bareback?"

"I-I. . . I haven't ridden at all. . ." Lucy says shyly. "I've always wanted to, but I never learned."

Lily Rae thinks for a moment. "Hop on, and I'll lead him."

"What?" She asks in utter disbelief.

"I know you heard me."

"Really?!" Lucy looks so giddy and Lily Rae can't help but smile. Yeah, Lily Rae doesn't like the girl, but her nice side is coming out.

"Here, I'll keep him steady. Can you- Yeah, that's it. There, scoot up." She talks Lucy through getting on the horse. "We're just going to walk, okay? Grab onto his mane, and hold onto him with your legs."

"O-Okay. Oh my God, thank you so much," Lucy squeals as Lily Rae pats Rockafella on the neck. Rockafella begins to walk, and Lily Rae makes sure he's following her every second. She gently grabs onto the side of his mane to steady him in case he freaks out. That would be very bad.

Halfway to the barn, and Lucy is somewhat of a natural. She only partially calmed down from all of her hype, but when you look carefully, it's easy to see the happiness in her eyes.

They shortly make it to the stables and Lily Rae helps Lucy get off the horse, with much difficulty. Lucy almost falls off Rockafella, and she would've fallen face first if Lily Rae hadn't been there to catch her. And when she caught her, it was so not graceful. They stumble up, giggling as Lily Rae puts Rockafella in his stall.

The stables had room for eight horses, and Lily Rae longed to fill them up. However, she knew she was lucky to have a horse. She knew she was lucky to have more than one.

So she walks to It's a Bell's stall, peering through the stall door. She clicks her tongue a few times, and the horse lying down in the stall lifts her head. At the sight of Lily Rae, the old horse pushes herself off the ground and closes the distance between the door and herself.

"Hey, baby, how are you?" Lily Rae coos. She strokes It's a Bell's mane, combing it with her fingers. The horse nickers.

"She's. . . Pretty. . ." Lucy says in amazement. Her eyes are filled with wonder.

It's a Bell is a paint horse – a beautiful one at that. The back half of her was white, and the front was brown – well, part of it. A large patch of brown covered her shoulders and part of her back, extending to cover her neck as well. Her face was bald, matching the back half of her body. Her mane was a pale brown, and her tail was a pale white.

"This is the one and only, It's a Bell," Lily Rae says as she scratches said horse behind the ears.

"Hi there, It's a Bell. . ." Lucy lets the mare sniff her hand before she pets her. But unfortunately, It's a Bell jerks back when there's an abnormally loud neigh that sounds too much like a scream.

Quickly, Lily Rae darts out of the stables to see what's going on. Jamesie was rearing, and Archie was going in circles, unsure of what to do. They were both neighing like crazy, as if they wanted to make as much noise as possible.

When Lily Rae examines the rest of the surroundings, she sees a truck and trailer that looked all too familiar.

And by the fence of the paddock was someone she had hoped to never see again.