Page 82 of Stables

It’s circled in red ink with the wordsI came for my horsesscrawled along the side.

No!

Frantic, I start running from bay to bay.

Six! He stole them!

He didn’t. I never bothered to have his name taken off the logs, I couldn’t afford the paperwork.

I’m so stupid.

I never thought he’d want them.

Pain rockets through my body as I run into their pasture, frantic and clinging to the hope that my beautiful babies will be there.

“Whiskey! Sammy! Avabelle!” I scream into the night, hoping to hear their hooves work through the thick mud.

They’re gone.

How am I going to pay my bills? Whiskey was my big hope.

She was going to set records. I know she’s even faster than Misty.

I only had another few weeks of training left.

What am I going to do?

My legs give out as the rain drenches me.

It hurts so badly. Tears mix with the water to smear down my face.

The cold soaks into me, but the pain still exists.

Why?

My fingers grow numb, but cinch tighter around the wounding note.

A final letter.

The critical blow.

I’m going to lose the farm. He’s made sure of it.

It will take selling half of what’s left just to bring in what Whiskey was going to make me.

I’m an idiot for putting all of my eggs in one basket.

Maybe I’ll just…give up.

“Char? Where are you?” Dixon’s deep voice carries through the driving rain, but I just don’t have the strength to answer him.

I’m empty.

“Answer me!” he booms.

I can hear the panic in his voice.

He’s the only one who cares. He doesn’t deserve someone like me.

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