4. Sam #2
That only spooked her, and she took off, racing across the open plains.
My ass bounced hard in the saddle as she sped up when a bird flew too close to her head.
I grasped at the reins, yanking hard on them, which was the wrong thing to do.
She reared back on her hind legs, letting out the most horrifying horse noise I’d ever heard, before landing and taking off at an even faster pace.
“Susie! I’m sorry! I won’t do it again!” I shouted, now laying down as best I could as I held on for dear life.
My eyes widened in fear as she darted straight toward a tree with low-hanging branches. She didn’t even bother to move over. Branches scraped at my face despite trying to protect myself, and just when I thought it was over, she leapt over something, landing with a hard thud.
My balls bounced in the saddle, taking the brunt of the hit. Choking back a mouthful of vomit, I closed my eyes and prayed I would survive to see another day.
Slowly, the wind rushing past me died down to a gentle breeze. I dared to peel my eyes open, only to find we were trotting along next to a river and water was rushing in the distance.
Very carefully, I lifted my head, and when Susie slowed enough, I worked up the courage to leap off her back, landing on my ass.
But I was safe on solid ground, and that was all I cared about at the moment. Flopping to my back, I closed my eyes and let the cold air wash over me. I didn’t care if I froze to death out here. I was never getting on a horse ever again.
“That wasn’t exactly the most graceful ride, but you made it,” Michael shouted as he rode up beside me.
“I think I shit myself,” I muttered.
“Highly unlikely.”
“She broke my balls,” I said, my eyes still closed.
“Well, that’s why you have to learn to ride.”
“Never again.”
I peeled one eye open and watched as he easily swung one leg over the horse and got down with ease. Striding over, he tipped his hat as he leaned on his haunches in front of me.
“I have to say that was one of the most enlightening things I’ve ever seen. Care to show me again?”
“I’m never getting on a horse ever again.”
“Well, you do have to get back.”
I shook my head, not interested in getting on even if it meant I had to walk the entire way home. “Call me a cab.”
“Yeah, we don’t have those around here,” he grinned.
“Then get a truck. Hell, I’ll walk.”
Scratching his jaw, he chuckled. “It’s quite a ways home. Not sure I’ve ever seen Susie ride so hard, so fast. Of course, she’s still pretty new.”
I finally sat up and looked around. “Where are we?”
“Out by Liam’s house.” He pointed in the distance toward a ranch beside the river, then across the river to another house. “Over there is one of our rental properties.”
“Great. I’ll just move in there. No need to go back to the barn.”
“Someone already lives there.”
Sighing, I got to my feet, wincing as every muscle in my body ached. “Fuck, who would do that more than once?”
“You get used to it. It’s the fastest way to travel around here.”
“Get me a four-by-four, and I’ll prove you wrong.”
I stood there for a moment, breathing in the beauty. The sounds of water falling got my attention, and I found myself walking further away from Michael and the horse of death. The more I moved, the better I felt, but I knew I’d be hurting for days to come.
It was about a ten-minute walk before the trees cleared and a huge cavern appeared, along with the falls I’d heard from a distance. It was hard to believe that a place like this existed, or that no one else was over here.
The weather was too cold to take a swim, but I bet it was beautiful in the summer.
“Murky Falls,” Michael said from behind me.
I hadn’t realized he’d followed me, and I kind of hated that he was ruining this moment for me.
“It’s what our family named the ranch after.”
“I figured that out when you said it was Murky Falls,” I muttered. “Does anyone ever come here?”
“Not really. As kids, we snuck out here all the time during a cattle drive to cool off.”
“I’m surprised it’s not frozen yet.”
“Not until the temperature drops further. It’s not that cold.”
Turning, I glared at the man. “My fingers are frozen.”
He shrugged, glancing away from me. “It’s not cold around here until the ground is frozen solid and your cheeks turn red the second you step out of the house.”
That was a ridiculous statement, but I didn’t argue.
He’d been here long enough to know when Montana was at its worst. When I’d first thought about moving out here, closer to Blake, I had asked some people I knew how long summer lasted and if the winters were bad.
The old man had told me summer lasted a lot longer than expected, sometimes into winter, and that winter was tepid.
Of course, he lived closer to Yellowstone.
And he’d lived in Montana for thirty years. Maybe they considered sixty degrees to be summer.
“Ready to head back?”
I really wasn’t. The thought of getting back on that horse, or having my legs stretched that way, wasn’t at all tempting. Mostly, I was worried about the safety of my balls.
But there wasn’t going to be a better time.
“Yeah, let’s do this.