Five - [The Pigs.]

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The land beyond my home was more beautiful than I could have imagined.

Once I'd gotten Apollo and the attached trailer to my Jeep, Rose helped me pick out a saddle and other supplies for him. I'd driven him back to my house and promptly saddled him up.

He was tolerant the entire time, not affected by the trailer ride nor a complete stranger saddling him up and beginning to ride him. In fact, Apollo seemed happy to have a rider, as if he hadn't been ridden or paid attention to in far too long.

I opened the gates that led to the back part of my land, and together Apollo and I exposed the land. The woods beyond my fields were sparse enough to be ridden through but thick enough that I could not see far ahead. There were even a couple of faint riding trails that I followed.

"You're doing a great job, handsome man," I said, leaning over to pat Apollo's neck. He snorted gratefully.

At first, it had been a little bit tricky learning how to make him go, as horses often learned different commands. To make Apollo go, I simply had to make a sort of clicking sound.

The other sounds were the same as the other horses I had ridden on.

He was laid back, but also liked to go fast in open spaces. He wasn't a huge fan of water, but he went through it with some gentle reassurance.

I sighed with content, completely relaxed.

This was the right move for me. I had known it since the moment my finger landed on the little dot named Hudson, and it continued to prove to be the right place for me. I'd found a beautiful house and my childhood best friend. Rose was here.

I loved Hudson.

Brantley was the most infuriating thing about this place, but he could be easily avoided. Sure, he was my neighbor but that didn't mean I had to talk to him. Or look at him. Even if he was handsome.

He was an ass.

I'd been riding about half an hour when I heard it.

It was an unmistakable angry snort, somewhere behind me. I had never seen one in person, but there was no doubt in my mind as to what it was.

A feral hog.

I turned Apollo around, my heart laced with fear. From what I heard, feral hogs were mean. They often attacked with out cause.

Apollo, sensing danger, back up. Two more hogs appeared at my left and right, snorting heavily and advancing slowly.

I turned my horse quickly, kicking him hard to set him off in a run. I could hear them behind me, running after us. I rode with out paying attention to where I was going, as fast as Apollo could run.

Even though him and I were running full speed, I'd underestimated the hefty pigs ability to run. In the distance, I saw a fence. Looking left and right, the fence seemed to stretch on for ages. It seemed strong enough that they wouldn't be able to get through it, and just low enough...

Just as I had thought it, Apollo knew what he had to do. Easily, he jumped over the fence and landed gracefully on the other side of the fence. Breathing hard, I turned around. The hogs, sensing defeat, turned around and headed off.

"What in the Sam Hill are you doing, woman?"

I turned around again, and Brantley was stalking toward me, looking angry. I got off Apollo, still breathing heavily.

"Those feral hogs were chasing me!" I answered defensively.

"I know that! I heard them half a mile back! You went off the trail, didn't you?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at me.

I frowned, thinking of the turn that I'd taken off the trail just about ten minutes before they'd found me. Still, I huffed up.

"So what if I did?"

"It's dangerous to explore land that you clearly don't know, especially when we got them damn hogs running around here. If you'd simply asked me, you'd have known there's wild boar repellent all up and down those trails. They won't go no where near it. Stay on that damn trail, Kennedy. Both you and that horse could have gotten hurt. Running on someone else's land ain't the best idea either. You're lucky it was me."

I snorted.

"That's debatable."

He raised his eyebrows at me.

"I've saved you twice now, Kennedy."

Everything he'd said was true, but that didn't stop me from getting all the more angry at him. He was just so damned infuriating! I got back on Apollo.

"I can handle myself just fine with out you, Brantley. Don't bother a third time," I snapped at him, turning Apollo around and heading back over the fence as easily as I did a first time.

When I turned my head, Brantley was still standing there, looking at me with a strange expression on his face.

I quickly returned to the trail, knowing it was stupid to venture off of it again, even if it hurt my pride to do what Brantley had said.

Ass.

After I unsaddled Apollo, I put him in the pasture and made sure he was brushed down, well fed and watered. I stalked into the house, not very much relaxed. I grabbed a towel and a change of clothes and took a hot shower.

The steam quickly filled the bathroom, and as I stepped under the hot water, I immediately began to relax. The shower water cooled my already sore muscles. There were also some scratches on my face, arms and legs that had been acquired when I was running through the woods.

I had ducked under the larger branches, but avoiding small twigs had proved to be impossible.

Knowing it could have been a lot worse, I didn't mind the scratches. None of them were bleeding, and I knew they would all heal in a few day's time.

It could have been a lot worse.

After the shower, I slowly brushed out and dried my hair. A lot more relaxed than I had been when I went into the shower, I decided to find a movie or something good to watch on television.

I had known coming into Hudson that it was a small town and everybody would know everybody, but it was different actually experiencing it.

The more I thought about it, the more I knew it would be true.

Avoiding Brantley wasn't going to be as easy as I had thought it would be.

Author's Note: I'm so sorry it's been so long! Work has been really busy. I'm on break now, for two weeks, so I've had some time to update. I know it's short, but the next one will be longer. Promise! I hope you guys like this chapter. I really wanted to add another "tussle" between Kennedy and Brantley. I'm not used to writing about Emmett's son! I keep wanting to write "Emmett" instead of "Brantley." Will update soon! Love you guys.



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