Trail's and errors (April)

[Dale McCall]

Should've brought the saddle, Dale thought to himself as he adjusted his possition across Zappa's back for what felt like the 20th time since they'd left the stalls and started riding along the Sinoa Trail.

Who are they, you ask? Well, Dale and his paint horse Zappa of course, as well as a young blonde whom he'd only met 20 or so minutes ago, called April, and her naughty gelding, Oliver.
Dale squinted as he glanced up into the sky, watching as several white clouds drifted by, casting their shadow’s upon the green grass and trail below. He wasn’t sure what to make out of the cloud's; their shape’s that was. As he sat and stared into the sky, trying to discern the patterns, he thought to himself that a few of them looked a little like marshmallow puffs.

Fluffing a hand through his black hair in an automatic movement, Dale glanced behind him, to see the familiar horse and girl riding a few horse paces to the left of him as they walked down the trail. The Sinoa Trail, as it was called, was the shortest school trail that wound around the academy grounds. It took roughly 30-45 minutes to get through if you paced yourself as a trot, so Dale had heard. It seemed like a good choice, since Dale still hadn't quite gotten used to riding Zappa yet, plus he was a little worried over how Oliver would behave after his little fiasco earlier on trying to get him set up to go on the ride. He'd even given April quite a good bump on her head.

For some reason - and he really knew that deep down he shouldn't feel so - Dale felt a little embaressed that he'd reacted how he had when he'd realised that she'd been hurt. He was aware that he'd made her feel uncomfortable when he'd touched her head. He was only making sure that he was okay, of course, but then he'd made the switch from helping her to pick up a few thing's to breaking the personal boundaries rule, and that wasn't on. All he had been able to do after he'd realised that he'd made her uncompfortable, was purse his lips together, blinked a few times, looking a little bashful, and sure that she must've gotten the wrong idea. Yet she still agreed to go out on the trail with him.

A sudden, warm breeze swept through the small trail; the leaves ubove them rustled and soughed in hushed echoes. The cries of things unseen were amplified by the gesture, and the forest appeared to suddenly come to life. The air charged, and to the right of him, Dale could hear the sound of water flowing as ichor in some pagan ritual of spirits concealed, and Dale was awed by the sudden, phantasmagoria quality of his surroundings.

Looking down at the reins in his hands, Dale twirled the leather around his wrist's, and then released them, before repeating the action a couple of times. There was a nurvous whinney from underneith him, and he was jolsted from his thoughts as Zappa came to a sudden stop, shaking her mane and flicked her ears as a fly buzzed around her forehead. "Wha's the hold up?" He frowned, giving the side of her stomach a nudge with his red boot. "Go on." He urged, but the only reaction he recieved was a lazy snort until he made a few quick 'click' sound's with his tongue and nudged at her side with his boot again, before he started to move into a saunter.

For the most part, Zappa was a fairly well behaved horse. Her previous rider's had trained her for beginning, to intermediate rider's so Dale was set there. For his level of confidence when on a horse, and actual riding ability, she was pretty much ideal for him. But she was still quite young, and of course, still had a way to go when it came to maturity. To be honest, this was the second time Dale had had a chance to ride her, so he still really didn't know how well she would ride. Another reason, he suddenly thought, why he probably should have had enough mind to put a saddle on her. "Is Trouble behaving himself?" He looked over his shoulder slightly, trying not to think about the 'what-if's', and focus more on having a good time.

[April Conners]

April && Oliver
"To ride a horse is to ride the sky..."

Today, I wore a helmet. I never wear helmets.

Ok, I know, it sounds stupid but I just never really wear helmets unless I’m at a show. I’ve never felt the need to. I know, I know, you should always where a helmet when training a youngster, never mind so much as sitting on a horse, but I just don’t. Some people wouldn’t even get on Ollie never mind without a helmet but I knew Ollie and I fell strangely safe on him. Truthfully he was worse on the ground that he was getting ridden.

I kept a light but firm hold of the young horse. He never seemed to stop jogging, trying to impress his new lady friend, Zappa. He was almost doing a shoulder in along the trail, tossing his head up and down, gently pulling me out the saddle. It didn’t bother me, I was used to it. He wasn’t half acting up as he could, anyway. He mouthed the bit, arching his neck down lifting up his legs as high as they could go to try and get the young mares attention but it didn’t seem to be working. She was just ignoring him, behaving nicely. I don’t blame poor Zappa. What a goof.

A light breeze blew my red fringe across my eyes as I searched the trees. I was fascinated by the woodland, I don’t know why, I mean I’ve seen plenty of forests before, but there was always something so magical about them. Maybe it’s just me.

Oliver sure seemed to be seeing the invisible pixies and he shied away from a log. He swung himself round, turning his quarters on the dangerous log flicking his heels at it. I sat deeply into the saddle, opening my rein to guide him in a circle back round so he could at least take a look at it. “C’mon Ollie,” I encouraged him as he swept round. “It’s nothing, look.” He danced on the spot, skipping from side to side like a roping horse. I opened my reins each time, making him stand on the spot. He finally stood, stretching his head down, blowing out his nostrils. “See, it’s not that bad.” He didn’t look convinced, his head shooting up as he shifted away. “I’ll just leave that, thank you.” He seemed to say.

I laughed at him, running my fingers down each rein to shorten them, cocking my head to see his facial expression. His ears were pricked forward to his crush as he stuck his tongue out. He stood there, staring at her tail as though she was the most interesting thing ever. I shook my head, laughing at him as I squeezed my legs round him as best I could, considering I rode very short in the stirrups. He was perfectly happy to go in the directing of his love.

Zappa and Dale had stopped ahead of us, which I just took was to wait for us. Dale turned around in his saddle to look at us. "Is Trouble behaving himself?" I smiled, mouthing “Yes,” nodding to get the point across and leaned forward out the stirrups, hugging the gelding’s neck. I clapped my hands on both sides of his neck, sliding them down to link them. I stretched my whole body down over him, burring my face in his soft mane. Ollie was really a bit baby, he arched his neck, his ears couldn’t seem to go more forward as he stuck his tongue out at Dale in delight.

Oliver happily walked up beside Zappa. I sat up, pulling the reins gently back to my belly, bring him back to halt. I smiled, looking down at him as he stretched his head out to sniff Zappa’s muzzle, getting rejected quickly as the mare brought her head up sharply. I shook my head, laughing as I pulled his head away from her. “Stop harassing the poor girl, Ollie.” I giggled, giving him a slap on the neck. He didn’t seem bothered about a little hard to get.

I looked up at Dale, grinning at him. My smile softened as I thought about earlier on. “Y’know, Ollie isn’t all that bad. He just needs to work on his manners, don’t you boy?” I ruffled his mane. He was content in just gazing at Zappa, who seemed to be getting fed up of the young horse already. “In fact he normally has better manners; he just gets a little hyper about new places, especially when he’s been copped up in a trailer all day. It was quite a trip here. He hasn’t got a bad bone in his body, he just, well, a bit goofy to be honest!” I laughed, patting his neck.

I glanced up ahead. There was a small and shallow stream to cross before a nice soft trail, curving round a shallow bend. It looked perfect for a canter. “Hey,” I said, glancing up the track, “Why don’t we have a canter once we’ve gone through the river? It looks like a nice little track up there.”


My horse is wearing...
Bridal Bit Running Martingale Saddle Seat saver Numnah Girth Stirrup leathers Stirrup irons Brushing boots

I’m wearing...
Hoodie Tank top Jeans Half Chaps Trainers

[Dale McCall]

Dale glanced down as Zappa shook her long mane, teeth continuously chewing on the bit in between her teeth as she let out a nicker, while Oliver pranced along side her. He seemed intent on grabbing her attention as April caught up to stop beside him as he'd waited. He smiled as he watched April leaned forwards, taking Oliver's neck in a sort of backwards hug, resulting in the horse to stick his tongue out again, as he had when they had first started off unloading him from the float. Dale wondered briefly, what April's mother must've thought - leaving her daughter for two minutes, before someone come's and sweep's her away for a ride. At least April had thought of leaving the woman a note. That idea hadn't occured to Dale at all.
He supposed it was becaues he was so used to doing thing's for himself, and not worrying about telling anyone. Growing up, his parent's had been very hippyish, so Dale had been allowed to do what he wanted, as long as he didn't get into trouble. So he spent allot of his time watching late night TV, drawing allot of pictures, and listening to music; when both your parent's let you grow up listening to the Rolling Stones and David Bowie, how are you meant to rebel against that?

They'd have allot of parties too, way before Dale was even properly potty trained, with allot of wild and arty people around. It was one of those childhoods where you'd wake up in the morning and there were 20 or so people asleep on the floor and you had to step over them to get your breakfast. Then, once Dale's mother left his father, and Dale found himself staying with his mothers brother, his uncle, he found that the 'do what you want but dont get in trouble' still applied. He was around ten by that time, so it was a little late to change the rule.

As April and Oliver stopped beside them, Dale smiled warmly as Oliver leaned over to sniff at Zappa, who responded by exhaling loudly through her nostrils, and lifting her head up sharply, her short, sensitive years flicking around. Then, once April had pulled Oliver's face away from her's, Zappa chose this as her oppertunity to swing her head towards him, and give him a gentle nip near his fringe, giving a few strands of his hair a light tug before releasing them and shaking her head up and down, and pawing at the ground. "Hey," Dale gave her a few light tap's on the side of the neck, mouth upturning into a crooked, amused smirk. "You li'l tart.".

He looked at April as she spoke, explaining Oliver's bahavior from earlier on. He really hadn't minded it all that much. If anything, it had been quite comical (until April had gotten hurt). The fact that he'd be pretty hyper about being in a new place was completely understandable. Dale could only imagine how this was for April, travelling from Essex, or wherever it was that she'd come from (Dale realized that he hadn't really properly asked yet). "Well we go' that in common, really. 'M a bi' of a goofy charac'er at times as well." Dale looked down at Oliver and smiled as Zappa pulled against her rein's to sniff at his face again, still chewing continuously. It actually reminded him a little of a camel, in a strange way, which made his smile grow a little wider.

He nodded quickly, as April then suggested they try cantering once they went through the small river, which flowed close by, beside the trail. The trails where still new to Dale, but they were already at least ten or fifteen minutes into the thirty to forty-five minute trail. How hard was it to follow a trail anyway? It was like a little adventure, to be away from the Academy. The last time he'd gotten away from the academy, he'd gone to Spurr's and met up with Giselle there. That had been an event and a bit. First, he'd been hit on by this really weird guy with bad breath, and given this really bitter drink. That guy had had nooo respect what-so-ever for personal boundaries at all, and obviously no knowledge as to what toothpaste was. Then Giselle showed up, and they'd danced loads. Whenever Dale went out to clubs, mayhem usually ensued.

He could remember getting so plastered at a party one night that he, and a couple of friends had actually wound up back at Dale’s mother’s home. The house was locked. Of course Dale had forgotten where she hid the key, so he volunteered to try and climb in through the bathroom window, since he was the smallest. The group removed the fly screen, and pried open the window just enough to lift Dale and, whist trying to stifle their giggling fits, pushed him through it.

About half way through, Dale’s snake hips wedged into the window, so that he, or at least the top half of him, was hanging through the window as he tried in vain to push himself through. One of his friend’s had suggested cooking oil, but Dale had screeched at him that there was no way that they’d get anywhere near him with cooking oil while he had on the outfit he was wearing!

There was really only one way of getting him through, without waking his mother, and that was to try and force him through to the other side. So whilst Dale dangled there, one of his friends, Sandy, her name was, shifted to the other side of Dale’s rear end, raised one hand in the air, and walloped him sharply on the backside. Dale had yelped in both shock and displeasure as Sandy gave him another smack, whilst his friends guffawed loudly. Another whack, and by then Dale was struggling to free himself and escape from the tyranny of Sandy’s hand. Laughing uncontrollably, Sandy had smacked him again, provoking a string of slurred obscenities.

“Dale McCall! Watch your language!” Came his mother’s voice as he was clouted one final time, his backside dislodging from the window. Dale scrambled all the way through, and shimmied back to the ground, looking up at his mother, standing in the middle of the bathroom with her hands on her slender hips and expression of utter irritation.

Dale had simply stared at her for a long moment, as Sandy, and his other friends all tried to hide themselves behind the window frame, before his mother pointed out the obvious. “You’re wearin’ my dress.”

“I’ve go’ trousers on underneath,” Dale reasoned. His reward was an exasperated smack round the head. After that, his mother had unlocked the front door, reprimanding Sandy as she explained that she was only trying to smack Dale through the window, by calling her a kinky nut-job, and making them toasted sandwiches before banishing them all to the lounge room to sleep off their liquor.

Dale clicked his tongue a few times, spurring Zappa into motion, but not before she had a chance to sway her head back towards Oliver once more, snorting her displeasure at having to get moving again. Dale got ahead slightly, watching in front of him as he began following the path towards a shallow stream close to the bend. April was right, he thought; even with the forest looking as beautiful as it did now, the stream did look especially nice up there.

As he got ahead, without warning, Dale felt a sudden shift in Zappa's stance benieth him and was jolsted from his day dreaming as she began to back up on her own. Confused, Dale's grip tightened in the reins as her ear's flicked nurvously. He looked around, baffled, as he tried to find the reason why she suddenly seemed so intent on staying put, before there was a loud flapping of wing's and several bird's burst from one of the trees, squawking loudly as they took flight.

"Whoa, hey!" He cried, making a desperate grab for the rein's as Zappa suddenly kicked her front leg's in the air, but he was a few second's too late, and fell backwards. The force of being flung back pushed Dale to the ground, and there was a 'thud' as his small body made contact with the ground, hitting his head, hard.

Everything went dark for a moment, or at least for what felt like a moment to him, and then as Dale opened his eyes, reality blured for several seconds before it began to focus again, and he realised that he was laying sprawled on his side. His lung's where burning as he lifted himself, with trembling limb's, into a crouched/sitting possition, and distantly, through the fog in his mind, Dale realised that he must've winded himself.

Something trickled down his neck next, and with a quivering hand, Dale raised it to the back of his neck, before pulling it back in front of his face, his powder-blue eyes struggling to focus on it so that he could inspect the damage. "Ugh," he groaned, letting the hand he'd raised drop to the floor to help him keep himself upright as his elbows buckled and he swayed slightly, letting himself drop so that he was half laying and half propped up on his shoulders. Still dazed, he shook his head, which only made the dizziness worse. "I really wen'... to town." There was a slightly slurred quality to his voice as he mumbled.

There was a nurvous neighing somewhere, and the sound of dancing hooves but Dale wasn't sure whether it was Zappa, or if it were Oliver. But he found that he wasn't worried about that. What concerned him then, was the fact that he was feeling dizzy, and slightly nauseous.

[April Conners]

April && Oliver
"To ride a horse is to ride the sky..."

Oliver attempts to flirt were clearly failing. Zappa’s hints just didn’t seem to be getting through to him. What can I say, geldings just can’t flirt. Who would go for a goofy gelding anyway?

He kept trying to sniff her and get closer to her, which Zappa wasn’t too pleased about. She eventually gave him a sharp nip at his ear, having had enough of him. Poor Oliver squealed, jumping up off the ground giving a tiny cat leap, which mustn’t have helped his case. Very macho man. However, he recovered quickly unhurt, just to proceed to woo her some more. We both laughed at the horses. I really wished I had a camera – that would have got you 250 quid on you’ve been framed! Wait... They don’t have that over here, do they? There seemed to be so much to get used to around here. Things were so different, like everything. No wonder they called it the new world when they first came over here! It was like a new world!

I smiled, squeezing my legs round Oliver’s sides, clicking with my tongue. Oliver shifted from side to side. He put his head down, snorting and blowing. I continued pressing with my heels, allowing my hands forward a bit more, yet he still wouldn’t budge. This was odd. Oliver may not always be easy to handle but he is a forward going horse, it wasn’t right for him to ignore leg aids. He was more lightly to be fighting for his head rather than being nappy. “C’mon, Walk on.” I said firmly. I started to give little kicks. I was trying to stay firm and positive, but I was getting confused about what was wrong. Zappa wasn’t moving either, and that was strange since she had been so well behaved. Oliver just started to flit from foot to foot faster, tossing his head up in the air as far as the martingale would allow.

It soon all became clear that something truly wasn’t right as he froze, only a shiver rippleling through his body.

It all happened so fast. Everything seemed to blur, hearing a crows cry above me as both horse flew up in the air. I heard a shriek for a whinny coming from Oliver. His eyes rolled to show the fearful white colour, as he lashed out at the air violently with his front legs. I instinctively leant forward in the saddle, getting forced up with the movement of him, His mane flying up into my face as I clutched onto his neck. Only then feeling the real power of this animal, and how dangerous they can be.

Suddenly we both seemed to drop into thin air. I felt as though I was being left behind his movement, taking a handful of his mane to stay with him. His feet slammed to the ground as fell back into the saddle, sending a heavy cloud of dust up into the air. His head was terrifyingly high, fighting against the martingale that felt as though it could just snap at any moment. He was forcing his mouth open against the flash noseband, his nostrils flaring open. His eyes were blazing with genuine fear.

It seemed to hardly be a second after he landed before he shot off like a race horse out of the starting stalls. I could hear the clatter of hooves tearing at the ground, my eyes focusing ahead at the stretch of water ahead. Oh crap. I really didn’t have a clue how Oliver would react, therefore I really didn’t know to prepare. I regained my seat, having lost one of my stirrups, dropping the other in case I did fall. I really didn’t want to get dragged at the rate. “Whoa boy, Whoa!” I cried, but he didn’t seem to be responding to my aids at all. It was although I wasn’t there. The water was coming up fast.

I took a handful of his mane and stopped pulling at his mouth, since it was clearly not helping, even with the strong Dutch gag in his mouth. It reminded me to back when my dad was alive. I remember when me and my dad were riding together; we were talking about what to do if a horse bolted. I was coming up with all these weird and wacky situations, expecting for him to come up with an answer with what to do each time. I can remember asking him what to do with a horse just wouldn’t stop and was coming up to something dangerous. “Well,” He said. “All you can do is hold on and pray!” We laughed then, but hell I wasn’t laughing now!

I took a deep breath; everything just seemed to slow down. Oliver opened his stride, showing no sign of stopping. Time just seemed to stop as he took off, his hind legs pushed away from the ground powerfully. There was no sound as we sailed through the air. I sat forwards in the saddle, my breathing stopped. It felt amazing. It felt like we were flying. Flying together. I forgot about everything, his mane blowing in my face as I let go, a new lease of confidence empowering me.

It was only when we landed that the harsh reality hit me, hard. Oliver was going strong, still panicking. He wasn’t going to stop. I sat up, trying to think about something to do. It felt as though he was going from beneath me, his legs just seemed to be moving faster and faster under me. “Think April, think...” I asked myself. Wait, I had an idea, thinking back to that ride with my father. He told me that crossing your reins over and pulling helped stop a horse, or turning them into a solid no jumpable object, which I didn’t like the sound of. I was just about to cross my reins over as he galloped round the corner until we both saw a new object, only a little too late. There was a solid wooden 6 bar gate only a few strides ahead. The colder truth was that it was right out onto a road, and it didn’t just look like a country lane either.

Even I was shocked. Oliver had no choice but to refuse being totally out of stride. I had nowhere to go but flying up his neck as the horse jerked to a stop. I desperately gripped on to whatever I could so I didn’t go flying over board. Oliver was confused; he had no idea what to do. In attempt to put things right lurched up to try and jump over the gate. He couldn’t manage it from a standstill, having me half way up his neck. He dropped his front legs, catching them on the gate. It was like a cross country fence, it wouldn’t fall down. I heard the smack as he cracked his knees on the gate.

All I could do was stare at the grey ground, out fate as we tipped towards it. Oliver hit it first, and hard. All I could hear was his horrifying shriek, tearing me apart, as his shoulder took most of the fall, getting crushed as the rest of the body. He was sliding over onto his side, whinnying in agony. His body was rolling over towards my leg. I quickly whipped it away as soon as I saw what was happening.

“Ah!” I cried, my hands realised the reins from there iron grip. My limbs star fished out, braced for impact. All the air was knocked out of me as my helmet smacked off the hard road surface. I heard a crack as the helmet cracked. That Helmet was new, too. I gasped for air, screwing up my eyes from the sharp pain as the road ripped through my jeans and hoodie. I felt a deep pain, like a strike of lightening into my head.

Then, Black.





My horse is wearing...
Bridal Bit Running Martingale Saddle Seat saver Numnah Girth Stirrup leathers Stirrup irons Brushing boots

I’m wearing...
Hoodie Tank top Jeans Half Chaps Trainers

[Dale McCall]

Dale blinked hard, trying to dispel the woozy feeling in his stomach, even as his head lolled forwards onto his chest. What had happened? One minute he was on Zappa, riding alongside April and Oliver, heading along the soft trail, and the next - he was on the ground, with an absolute blinder of a headache. Wait one second...where was Zappa, where was April, and where was Oliver?

Dale looked around - Oh. There was Zappa. He spotted her - not too far away, surprisingly - tugging insistantly against her rein's, which had been tangled around a tree branch, a few feet into the forest, to the right of him. This didn't worry him too much. What did worry him though, was the fact that he could see neither one of his other companions. Something wet was trickling down the back of his neck, slithering it's way down his back, and Dale reached towards it again, wincing and pulling his hand back sharply to reveal that his palm was crimson red. It was strange, looking at your own blood; knowing that it came from your body. That thought alone made Dale feel like the world was spinning around him. Oh no... the blood must be making a complete mess of his hair! 20 minutes plus of shampooing, conditioning, volume spraying, root booster, and hair spray, completely ruined in a matter of a couple of minutes.

He wasn't sure why he should think about that at a time like this, but that in itself, felt like an emergency. No one knew what it felt like for Dale if his hair didn’t look good. He felt all uncertain and awkward all the time. You wouldn’t know how that feels. Well, maybe you would, but it was different for him! It’s like his confidence melts away like a sugar cube in the rain. He doesn’t like it. Even when he's had a concussion and his head is bleeding profusely.

Dale knew exactly what he had to do. He had to get to his feet, and try to find both April and Oliver - only for some reason his arms and legs didn’t seem to want to co-operate with his brain. Dale struggled to get up; first he raised himself into a sitting possition again. Okay, that was a start. Next, he leant forwards, both palm's facing the ground as he raised himself onto his hands and knees, before he slowly lifted himself up to stand on wobbly legs. He stumbled as he tried to take his first step forward, looking for all the world like some post-traumatic stress victim as he took a few ginger limps towards the tree where Zappa was still struggling to free herself from her reins.

"You go'.. noo idea how... much trouble your in, missy." He struggled to form the word's in his weakened state, and his voice had fallen to a flat and lifeless tone. "Look a' tha'." He allowed his head to drop forwars as he pointed towards the back, pointing to where he thought the blood was, roughly. "This blood is gonna... make my 'air frizz up." The smell of the blood seemed to unsettle Zappa, even more than she was already, and the whites of her eyes showed amidst the usual hazel tinge to her eyes as she tugged even harder at the reins. "Calm down," He reached out to stroke the side of her face in a compforting jesture, but even that simple motion spurred Dale to shut his eyes tightly as blackness began to creep in at the edges of his vision, again.

Dale wasn't sure what to do now. He wanted to find out what happened to April and Oliver, but because he didn't know where they were, he was unsure if they'd come back here. But why would they leave him alone? They wouldn't do that, surely. Right? Maybe I should look for them, he thought. Or at least try. But there was Zappa here too. He should take her along. Poor thing must've really been scared, to bolt into the trees and gotten herself tangled up like she had. But he didn't want to have to climb onto her back again - not yet anyway - and besides he didn’t want to be left alone on this, quite frankly, creepy trail. Untangling the rein's, Dale rested his head on her long forehead for a moment, before he began trying to nibble at his KISS jacket. He pulled away, but wasn't as bothered as he thought he would be, considering the fact that the back, and the side that he'd fallen on was now filthy with dirt, and his elbows were stinging, where he'd grazed them. He could only imagine how his face looked right now.

"Le' me on." He spoke, walking to the side of her that was closest to the tree, and with a hiss of pain, he raised one arm to grip a tree branch firmly, and another up over Zappa's back to help lift himself up. "Bollocks!" Pain tinged Dale's powder-blue eyes, and tear's welled into them as he adjusted possition and lifted the rein's up and over Zappa's head so that he could use them. One of Zappa's ears tweaked backwards towards him as he had sworn, the other flicking around in another direction.
With a few lazy clicks of his tongue, Dale urged Zappa into motion. He had no idea where to go, but he supposed that he had no choice but to continue her gait down the trail. There where fresh hoof-marks on the ground. Dale was no tracker (he struggled to keep track of anything, let alone know the where abouts of April or Oliver), but he could tell that they where very fresh, and that they must've belonged to Oliver. Wherever they where, Oliver had certainly bolted off quickly, and Dale guessed that whatever had spooked Zappa, must've done the same to the young gelding.

Zappa continued at a walk, Dale holding the rein's in his loose grip. His head was thumping consistantly, and he struggled to keep his eyes open. What was it he'd heard about letting people with concussion fall asleep? He couldn't remember (ironically), but never the less, he forced his eyes open and his lift his head, which had been lolling against his chest. "Sun is shinin' in the sky. There ain't a cloud 'n sigh'." He half hummed, half mumbled as Zappa continued to walk, trying to keep his mind on something at least. "An' don' you know, it's a beau'iful new day... hey, hey." It was a good song - something by a group that his mother used to listen to. ELO they were called, and her favorite was a song called "Mr Blue". It was the perfect song to bring in the day with…even if it is raining. Oh well, it put them in happy mood's even if it can’t change the weather. It was so bright and cheerful. Kind of like being showered in glitter falling from a rainbow coloured cloud. "Hey there mister blue, we're so pleased to be with you. Look around see wha' you do. Ev'rybody smiles a' you."

It seemed to help, if only just a little bit, to revive Dale from his sudden tiredness. How long had he been riding now? A few minute's at least. How far could they have gone? Far enough that they were now approaching a road, and right before that, a gate, which he assumed led away from the academy grounds. But those thing's weren't the first thing's he noticed first - what he noticed first, was the fact that there was a figure lying not too far from it. Nudging Zappa in the stomach, Dale urged her a little faster, not liking the way his stomach dropped a little more the closer they got to the slumped figure. "April!" Dale croaked, as he slid off one side of Zappa, landing on his hands and knees and swallowing convulsively as nausia and the blackness threatened to take hold of him once more, before he forced himself to his feet and tottered towards her. "April?" He repeated, giving one of her shoulder's a shake, before he put a hand on either cheek and gave one of them a gentle tap in an effort to rouse her.

[April Conners]

April && Oliver
"To ride a horse is to ride the sky..."

It’s funny how the smallest things cause the most trouble. It’s the little things that are the scariest. And because they are so scary, they are so much more dangerous.

Example?
How about now.

A crow. A damn crow was all that caused this. Yet now me and my horse were both lying in the middle of some road. A pool of blood was growing around us. This defiantly is going to top my worst falls list. A car could come round the corner at any moment and that would be it. If they were just going a little bit too fast... Well there’d be nowhere for them to go, would there?

My horse was almost unrecognisable. His fur was matted, the chestnut mixed with the deep crimson red that you learn to fear. He was struggling to get up, holding his head up high away from the puddles of blood near his head. His nostrils were flared, his mouth as open as it could possibly go, stretching the leather on his noseband. He was unable to whinny, gasping for air. His eyes were rolling in agony and fear, the whites blaring out. He was strung on his side next to me, cast and unable to get up. He still struggled fiercely, waving his legs up in the air in a violent panic.

It was a pretty horrifying site. Who said horse riding was easy? Who said it was safe? Maybe this will change your mind.

I lay there, my body lifeless. I suppose you could almost kid yourself that I was asleep. I trickle of blood ran down my hair, creating a second red streak. One of my hands were still holding onto the reins, clutched on, refusing to ever let go. My other hand was bruised from pulling on the reins from trying to pull him to a halt. My clothes were ripped from where I fell, red stains growing around the rips.

There was a sound in the distance, the horses ears flicked back and forth, trying to locate it. It was getting louder – getting closer. A car, coming towards us. The gelding started to panic every more, rolling onto his saddle and crushing it even more than it already was, and rocking himself back over. It seemed impossible for him to get up in time. He could hear the car just round the bend, his eyes closing a new lease of fear taking over.





My horse is wearing...
Bridal Bit Running Martingale Saddle Seat saver Numnah Girth Stirrup leathers Stirrup irons Brushing boots

I’m wearing...
Hoodie Tank top Jeans Half Chaps Trainers

[Dale McCall]

The tiredness that Dale had felt when he had first gotten onto Zappa was beginning to take over once more; the pain in his head, and arms, and legs and... well, pretty much his entire body, made him feel sick, and as he was crouched beside April, Dale suddenly felt himself retch. Crawling as fast as he could, Dale scampered towards the gate, holding onto the wire mesh to hold himself semi upright as he vomited beside one of the stake's holding the fence up. Once he was finished, Dale rolled onto his side, and narrowly missing the mess he'd created, he leant back, crawled back towards April, and sat there beside her, bringing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his thin arm's around them as he rested his head against them, facing his head towards Oliver.

"Shh," he groaned, as through the fog in his mind, he heard the sound of a horse shrieking in pain. Oliver, he realized, but knew that he was powerless to help the poor beast. What could he do? There was nothing he could do. If he went over there to try to help, he had a very good chance of getting even more hurt in the process; he could get in the way of a hoof, or get knocked back. The large gelding was flailing around enough as it was. Then again, Dale was definately not without compassion. His ears where screaming to go over and help, but his body was screaming to stay exactly where he was. April hadn't even moved yet, which served to send a cold jolt of fear down his spine. Okay thats it, he had to go over and check on Oliver, now. The poor horse was practically having a fit laying there.

Dale's eyelids where growing heavily, and his breathing was laboured as he unwrapped his arm's from around his knees and struggled to get up. So tired, he was so very tired. Maybe he should have a little sleepy, first... the sooner he slept, the quicker help would come, right? Yeah that'd be okay. Dale was sitting cross legged now as his head drooped towards his chest. He lifted it in a laboured effort as he tried to keep his eyes trained on April, who looked as if she were in about the same state as he was, except for more blood. Oliver let out a pained whinney, but Dale could'nt even bring his large powdery blue eyes to look towards the poor beast. I'm so sorry, Dale thought as tear's welled into his eyes. He seemed to be using all his energy just to keep his head up.

As Dale sat there, Dale heard the sound of more hooves on the ground, and rolled his eyes to the side as a large sorrel creature walked past, letting out a soft nicker and keeping her head a little lower than usual as she approached the gelding. Zappa. Good girl, he thought as his mare walked around Oliver's swinging hooves and lowered herself down to lay beside his head, nickering several more times and nudging the gelding in the side of the face as if to try and calm him. "Tha's my girl." Dale murmered, his eyes now half-closed, leaning forwards so that his elbows rested against his knees.

No! He wasn't supposed to fall asleep. Dale shook his head, once again only serving to draw in more dizzy feeling's before he reached over to one arm and pinched it tightly, leaving nail prints. He should focus on that, instead of thinking about sleeping. But despite the pinch, Dale could still feel the tiredness trying to claim him, and before he could stop himself Dale felt his slight form slumped to the side and he lay where he landed in a crumpled heap; leg's laying together, still half pulled up near his chest, and arms held away from his body lying not too far from April's head. His hair was matted and filthy and his head was still bleeding a little sluggishly. His jacket had ridden up to expose his pale, flat stomach, which was now marred with a couple of deep blue and purple bruises, and his powdery blue eyes, dimmed by pain and hurt, gazed at April's form with an unreadable expression.

Through the fog clouding his mind, Dale could hear the sound of a motor, and it was getting closer. "'Ey there... mister blue. We're... so pleased t'be with you. Look 'round, see wha' you do... Ev'rybody smiles a' you." He muttered in a mono-tone as the sound of the motor got even closer than before. See? He told himself. The sooner I sleep, the sooner help comes.

[April Conners]

April && Oliver
"To ride a horse is to ride the sky..."

Agony. Complete agony.

I couldn’t breathe. It was scary, what had that creature done? The one that jumped out of us before on this strange new land. It has caused mayhem and chaos. It’s this new place, this land. There’s something just not right about it. I don’t know why my owner has brought me here, or why that beast tried to attack us. I don’t know what it was, all I know was that I was right to run from it, if only I had maybe ran faster, then me and my rider may not be in this state.

I gasped for air, smelling the blood lying by my head. I hate blood. No creature could like blood. I desperately tried holding my head up off the ground, but it’s hard when you have no air inside you. I was still shaking, adrenaline pouring through my veins. I couldn’t contain myself, my screams drowned as I gasped, I couldn’t stop kicking out with the pain. What was even worse was that I couldn’t get up to run more from the creature, home. Yet I’m so far from home, I wouldn’t know where to go. Oh, everything is so different! I felt so alone, my rider behind me, lifeless. The one who guides me when I’m scared was just lying there, doing nothing. This just convinced me that something is really wrong.

I lay struggling for what seemed like many moons until I heard something come closer. Hoof beats. I froze for a second; not knowing what might be around the bend, yet another danger?

There was a sound. A whinny. Another horse!
It was like a god send to hear that whinny. Zappa, my only friend here out in this scary place, this new world. I kicked, trying to get up. My hooves smacked against the ground jarring my legs causing great pain, get it didn’t come close to the other pains I was feeling. I was finally able to make a sound, screaming at the young mare.

She was soon at my side with a lost rider, stretching her neck out, comforting me. It made me feel better, less alone. For a minute all the pain stopped, the fear died away, only to be brought quickly back to the harsh reality that we were in jeopardy.

Something new, something different was coming up the path towards us quickly. Quicker than a horse could gallop. I listened, my body freezing with fear, only leaving a slight tremble to be seen. I could hear it, searching through my mind to see, trying to work out what it was. Wait, I know! It’s one of those strange things that humans seem to rely on. But these things were dangerous, fast and furious and had no feeling for any creature. They didn’t care if they went right into you, they didn’t seem to care about anything. Only a human seemed to be able to tame them.

I panicked, swinging myself over onto my sore knees. I just scrambled desperately, clawing at the hard ground with my hooves. I pulled myself up, kicking off the floor. I was so scared. I forgot everything, instinct taking over as I galloped up the hill as fast as I could.

I could see it now. I could see where I was going, and most probably where that other heartless thing was too. It was going up to the stables where I and my rider started off from. Where everything once seemed too excited and fun. If only I could be back there now.






My horse is wearing...
Bridal Bit Running Martingale Saddle Seat saver Numnah Girth Stirrup leathers Stirrup irons Brushing boots

I’m wearing...
Hoodie Tank top Jeans Half Chaps Trainers

[Dale McCall]

Dale had probably only closed his eyes for a few second's before he wrenched them open again, and the first thing he saw was this black stuff obscuring the top half of his vision. Oh no! He was going blind! What if the optometrist had to amputate his eyes? He didn't want want them to take his eyes 'cause his eyes were all big and blue and plenty of people were really attracted to his eyes and if they took them away he'd have to see all the disgusted looks people gave him because they'd all be like 'there's Dale, he hasn't got any eyes' and… wait a second. If his eyes were amputated, he wouldn't be able to see people's disgusted looks. Oh yeah, and optometrists didn't perform eye removals, that was a surgeons job.

As Dale moved his head slightly, trying to see a little better, he felt something brush against his long nose and the black curtain moved. Oh - there was nothing wrong with him (except his IQ) – he was just looking at things through his fringe again. He moved his leg's a little closer to him, and them moved his hand's, looking up slightly as his finger's brushed against something soft. April, he realised, was lying right in front of him.

"April!" Dale rose to his hands and knees before crawling over to her side and kneeling beside her face. He pushed hi fringe from his face, annoyed with it as it flopped into the same style as before, apart from the part's of which seemed to have blood on it, which stuck up slightly.

Dale's own head throbbed as he knelt there, and the blood on several of April's wound's caused what was left of his meagre stomach content's to rise into his throat. “April.” he called, trying to dispel the feeling. “April, can you hear me?” Dale strained to hear anything, a breath, a moan, a cough. Anything that would indicate that he could be heard. "I need you to open your eyes, 'kay? Open 'em up." He gave her cheek a couple of light tap's, in an attempt to rouse her. His heart began to thud wildly against his rib-cage now as he began to fear the worst. What if she never woke up? No. She had to.

There was a wild whinney behind him, and Dale was reminded that Oliver had been lying by the fence, by Zappa, who was lying beside him, in a comforting manner. But then, there was an unexpected sound of hooves on dirt approaching them, and Dale looked up a moment later, to see Oliver was on his feet, galloping back towards the trail, albeit a little wonkily. That foolish gelding was going to get himself killed! But there was no way that he'd be able to go after him. Even if he wasn't hurt, he doubted Zappa could keep up with him. Beside's, he had to stay with April. He couldn't, wouldn't abandon her.

Maybe he should try to talk to her? But wasn't that just coma victims? He ought to try anyway. "Uhm... did I ever tell you I go' caught wearin' my mum's dress once?" He was completely aware that he hadn't, but he couldn't think of any other way to start talking (for once). "I was comin' home from a par'y an' forgot my keys, so a couple'a ma'es of mind decided to push me through the bathroom window." He chuckled to himself at the memory. "Bu' I got stuck half way, see, an' so one of 'em just starts smacking me on the arse - I think she was really enjoyin' i' too. Well, I go' through, bu' then I realized my mum was standin' righ' in front of me, an' she juts points ou' the obvious tha' I was wearing it." He paused, before adding lest there was any misunderstanding, "I was wearin' trouser's underneith though."

He paused for a moment, trying to think of something else to say, but nothing was coming to him. A memory wandered into his mind, but he forced it away. He didn't want to think about it, let alone talk about it. But it wandered back, and Dale found his vision blurred again, but this time it wasn't out of being dizzy, it was tears. He blinked them away. Well perhaps now was as good a time as any to talk about it. I mean, the person he was talking to was unconcious (as far as he knew, anyway).

"Now, I've never told anyone this," He said in a privy manner, "so you'll hafta keep it a secre', but a couple of months ago, back in London, me uncle go' into a spo' of bother with some guys. Well crime watch they were. I decided to help 'im, bu' these guys decided tha' I was a lia.. liab...liabili'y or somfink." He had struggled to remember the word his uncle had used to explain the situation to him, "an' they kinda decided to come after me. So Howard deci'ed to send me here."

The way Howard had tried to explain it to Dale, he'd spoken as if he would to a child. It hurt him when Howard treated him as if he were a little stupid. Well, he never called Dale 'stupid' exactly, but he could say a hundred things that meant it anyway and they hurt just the same. Usually Howard only teased him in a light-hearted sort of way, not in the way that his father would when he was younger, or the people at school would.

Whenever Dale had a bad day, or a doubtful moment about himself, his uncle would always give him one of those rare hugs and tell him, “Dale. You listen to me now. All those horrible things your father said, and those children said – you're not any of them, I promise you. You're colourful and creative and unique. Never doubt who you are. Dale you're yourself, and that's the best that you can be. I wouldn't want you to be any other way, because it wouldn't be who you are. I mean, okay, you are a bit of a clueless idiot sometimes -” and it'd go on from there.

"I miss 'im. And my mum." He said truthfully. "Bu' y'know wha'?" He looked down at April in her comatose state, hoping that in some way, it'd help her to regain conciousness. "I'm almost glad it happ'ned, 'cause I'd never have go'en to meet so many grea' people - yourself included, jus' so y'know."



ooc: Here is a link to a scene where Dale is helping Howard. It was what inspired Dale's background.

[April Conners]

April && Oliver
"To ride a horse is to ride the sky..."

Hooves clattered as I broke down, unable to go any further. I dropped my head down, wheezing, gasping desperately for air, staring at the ground. It felt wrong. I was a fit horse, it wasn’t as though I couldn’t trot a couple of yards, I just couldn’t breathe any longer. I swear I’ve never felt so much pain in my life. My whole body ached, trembling with the pain. I tried to keep going, dragging my hooves against the tarmac. “Just keep going...” I heard the voice in my head plead. “Please, just lift those hooves a little higher. Keep going...”

Plod on. Whatever you do, don’t stop.

I couldn’t think. My whole world was blurred, spinning as though there was an earthquake. It was as though I was just going to gall right over. I had no control. I couldn’t focus on anything. I felt one of my legs strike the other, hitting my fetlocks. I screwed my eyes up as pain shot through me like teeth to the withers. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem because of the boots that my rider would put on me, but they must have came off. I used to hate getting them put on, I used to cause as much fuss as I could, hoping she would get the point and leave them off. I never saw the point in them. I wish I had them now.

I winced through the pain. I soon found myself stumbling, yet again coming at the ground hard and fast. A bolt of fear came through me waiting for the sharp pain again. My knees took the fall again, scraping against the ground. It’s painful enough to take a fall, but when the skin is grazed and ripped from your legs it’s even worse.

I give up. It’s just too painful. It’s just too hard.

I simply couldn’t go any longer. I was just too tired. I allowed my hind legs to drop down to the ground, allowing them to rest as they throbbed from the weight of my body. I could hear Zappa as she trotted near me, whinnying and encouraging me to go on. I Just I just couldn’t. I wheezed trying to breath but the girth was too tight, squeezing me tightly, not allowing much air in. It was like getting cast while having a roll in a stream. Each breath was as good as taking in water.

I closed my eyes, resting, letting everything go around me. It didn’t matter anymore... No. It didn’t matter...

I could hear the scream of tortured rubber, causing Zappa to spook as she went on to the stables, galloping hard and fast. I could hear her hoof beats fading further away into the distance. This would have bothered me before, but there was no point. I was glad she was running for her own safety. I wouldn’t want her hurt on my account. I just hoped her arrival at the stables would bring help soon.




My horse is wearing...
Bridal Bit Running Martingale Saddle Seat saver Numnah Girth Stirrup leathers Stirrup irons Brushing boots

I’m wearing...
Hoodie Tank top Jeans Half Chaps Trainers