people made me want to hide in a hole. My doctor assured me in a few more months those would lessen and going back to school would be an option. I had decided to go ride Windy again despite the cold after hearing this depressing news. I needed to get out of the house desperately before I suffocated. Hearing I was basically mentally unstable, made we want to run and hide. My only escape now was a good long ride on my horse.
The next morning I planned a long trail ride out in the back of our property. I woke up with a supreme headache as usual. I gulped down three Tylenol and hoped for the best. I wanted to spend the day alone and that meant riding all day. I headed down to grab a bite to eat before I headed to the barns. Gram was my only company, thankfully when I got to the kitchen. I found a pop tart in the cabinet to eat; she was reading the newspaper and drinking her coffee.
“What are you up to today honey?” She smiled, her blue eyes fixed on me.
“I’m going riding. I need to get out of the house for a while today.” I munched away as she folded her paper up.
“Watch the weather.” She frowned. “I feel snow moving in. I get the aches you know, in my knees.” I only nodded. My mouth was full.
“Okay, I’m not going to be out too far so don’t worry. Just along the tree line.”
“I have to drive a friend to the doctor in an hour so take your cell phone if you have any problems.” She kissed my forehead and hurried out the door.
I thought she was gone but she was back just a few seconds later, a worried look on her face. “Corrine, are you feeling well? I just had a feeling you were not.”
My eyes got wide I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m fine; nothing to report.”
She stares at me, her face tense. “You’re not thinking of harming yourself, are you?” She asked. Her voice wavering. “I know the news about school was bad yesterday. I know you wanted to go back.”
I take her hand. “No, Gram. I’m not going to do anything. I’m over that now.” I tried to reassure her, even though honestly I didn’t know if my words were really true. “You can go out, I will be fine.” I smile at her and she hugs me tightly.
“You stay near the house okay? No riding near the river. I have an uneasy feeling about you being out that far. It’s muddy down there and your horse could slip.” She lifts my chin with her finger. “You promise me that.”
“Yes. I will stay close to the house Gram, you worry too much.” I give her a big smile. Satisfied she hugs me to death again and takes off out the back door to the garage.
I had loved horses ever since I was eight years old, and on my tenth birthday, my dad gave me Wind Song or Windy for short. She is a six-year-old mare. Windy is the sweetest tempered horse I had ever seen. She put up with me as I learned to ride and as I got better we started doing horse shows and even placed a few times. My stepmother hated horses. She thought Dad giving me her was dangerous and reckless of him. The fact Dad raised show horses and we have fourteen other horses on our estate apparently slipped her mind.
I could ride any of them and get hurt, not just Windy. I spent hours as my dad trained me to ride, and he even hired a lady to teach me when he was out of town. I was a very skilled rider and no amount of complaining from Sara was ever going to stop me from doing it. I wasn’t going to do horse shows right now anyway; I just needed some air and time to think.
I ran upstairs and put on old jeans and a pale blue zip-up sweatshirt and a white knit hat since it was somewhat cold outside. I hurried. I didn’t want to run into Sara who was due back from her brunch with the women’s club. I made my way to the barns. We had four total on our property. One was an indoor riding ring, and all of them were a good distance from the main house.