The Elemental Luna's Awakening

Chapter 3 - A Relaxing Ride

Rhiannon

I woke up to the sound of my phone's alarm loudly ringing from the stand next to my head. I grabbed it to turn it off and realized it had been going off for the past 15 minutes. I honestly don't even remember what time I finally passed out from the pain.

I got out of bed, got dressed, and let the dogs out while I enjoyed my coffee. I felt like I had been hit by a tractor trailer. One hauling sh.it. My head was killing me, my whole body was stiff, and I just felt, well, blah.

After I made sure the dogs were set and that I had everything that I needed for my ride, I walked over to the Kurtz's. I brought the horses in to feed them first so that I could get the other chores done while they ate. I had just double checked that there were enough supplies for a couple of weeks when I heard Mr. Kurtz's kind voice . "Hi Rhiannon, you're here early."

"Yeah, I wanted to get a headstart on my day since it's about a 5 hour ride to Gram's. I made sure the cows had extra hay, I cleaned and refilled the water tanks for the pigs ......" but Mr. Kurtz interrupted me before I could finish, waving his hand in the air as if none of that mattered.

"Rhiannon, my dear, please don't stress about being gone for a couple of weeks. If anyone deserves a break, it's you." His smile was kind and soft, causing a smile of my own to form.

Mr. & Mrs. Kurtz reminded me of the older farmer couple in that painting, American Gothic by Grant Wood. Only more modern, and a LOT happier looking.

"Thank you Mr. Kurtz, you've always been so kind to me. You have no idea how much I appreciate everything."

"Please girl, how often do we have to ask you to call us Betty and Ron? Mr Kurtz was my father. You're making me feel old calling me that." He grinned and winked as if he didn't want the world to know his age. "You go out of your way for us, the least we could do is return the favor. Pauline and Ed are up with the kids. So we have plenty of hands to help while you're gone. The pastures are lush with grass, so it's mainly just checking on the animals."

I sighed. He was right, I worry too much. It's not like I'm leaving in the middle of winter, and I'm not going to be gone long.

"I know. It's just, I know how mom is. It's like she wants to have the 'fun' part of having the animals, but not the work part. I just want to make sure everything is taken care of while I'm gone". My voice was quiet. I really hated talking about Catherine with others.

Ron let out a noise that was half scoff and half snort. "I guess we all know that when it comes down to it, your mother doesn't want to do any actual physical labor. Why she took in all these animals, I'll never know." He shook his head before continuing on. "Anywho. Bet packed you a lunch and a thermos of coffee to take with you. We can't have you stopping to give Dub a break and not do anything for yourself now, can we? I also have something I've been meaning to give you for a while, and I want you to take it with you." He had a sly grin on his face, and I was intrigued by his demeanor.

"I just have to let the other horses out and I'll be set." I quickly let them back out to their pasture so I wouldn't keep Mr Kurtz waiting long. We walked over to the work bench by the door where he left the bag and thermos by my backpack. I packed the lunch away and took a sip of the strong coffee. It warmed my core. Not only from the heat, but because of their generosity as well. I closed my eyes while I enjoyed another sip.

The sound of Mr Kurtz's chuckle made me open my eyes back to reality. "That coffee might be heaven, but this is what I wanted to give you." He pulled out a saddle holster that he had hidden under his bench and handed it to me.

I looked at him with confusion as I pulled out a 12 gauge shotgun from the holster. "I can't take this, this is too much to give to me." I whispered as I eyed the gun.

He waved his hand at me again. "Nonsense. Because of your help here, Bet and I are able to spend more time with our family. I've been telling Bet that I don't like how you're always alone without protection and this was her idea. We've been watching you shoot. You're a natural. There's a box of rubber slugs for protection, too."

"Thank you Mr ...... Ron. I appreciate everything, more than words can say." I gave him a tight hug as a tear went down my cheek. I've never had anyone be so kind before, other than Gram. They've let me join in on some of their family events, like target shooting and shooting clays. I always appreciated it, though tried not to make a habit of it as I didn't want to be a burden on their family events.

He squeezed me back before wishing me safe travels and going back to the house. I finished chores, triple checking that everything was set to my liking, and saddled up Dub.

"Ready big guy?" I asked as we walked outside, not expecting an answer. I chuckled as I felt his nose gently push my back, as if he was also in a hurry to leave.

I mounted up, and we started on our way. Leaving the negativity and stress of Catherine and school behind, if only for a couple of weeks.

-

The sky blessed us with a beautiful display of gold and oranges early on and we enjoyed the peaceful sounds of nature as we crossed through fields and woods on our little journey, stopping at a creek to take a break mid way.

My heart and soul needed this ride. The closer we got to Gram's, the better I felt. I had been trying hard to keep my anxiety in check, but life wasn't making it an easy task.

It was getting close to noon by the time we got to the woods near Gram's house. As we started in, I could feel Dub tense under me and I knew he sensed something. He started snorting, and his typical relaxing walk quickened to short, prancing strides. I could feel he wanted to bolt, his natural fight or flight kicking in.

"Easy Dub, easy boy." I whispered quietly and calmly, softly gliding my hand down his neck to try to ease his uncharacteristic behavior. "What's out there, where is it fella?" I kept looking in the woods to see what was spooking my usually bomb proof horse, paying attention to the direction his ears were flicking.

When his ears stopped turning in all directions, focusing on a single spot in the woods to our left, I finally caught a large shadow moving from tree to tree, slowly making its way closer. The desire to protect Dub didn't give fear room to creep in. "Don't move Dub, whoa buddy." I quietly instructed as I started gliding my hand down his neck again, this time continuing it to the saddle holster and pulling out the shotgun that Ron had just given me.

"Let's see if all that target shooting Ron has been letting me do at the farm has paid off, shall we?" I whispered to Dub. He turned one ear towards me for a brief second before turning it back to the large mass that was slowly moving towards us.

I looped the reins around the saddle horn, positioned my legs a little more forward on Dub to encourage him to be steady, shouldered the shotgun, and looked past the end of the barrel at my target. By now the dark figure was pretty damn close, too close. So close that I could see it's red eyes, and a shape that looked like ....

"It can't be." I didn't realize I had said the words out loud. The gray mass stopped moving a few yards away, staring at me, almost calling my bluff that I wouldn't pull the trigger.

I may not seek out confrontations, I may tolerate more bullying than I should, but I'm not one to back down when I'm in a corner. Especially when I feel those I care about are in harm's way. I took the opportunity to click the safety off, exhale, and pull the trigger in one fluid motion.

A loud BOOM echoed in the woods, shortly followed by a deep yelp that shook me to my core. Dub jumped, but didn't falter, and I shoved the gun back into the holster as fast as I could. I picked up the reins, made a kissing noise, and gave Dub a squeeze on his sides with my heels. "Let's get to Gram's, NOW!"

Dub took off as fast as he could. Luckily, Gram's house wasn't far away, as I heard a deep growl, then paws running behind us. "It can't be! It can't fu.cking be! There's no wolves in this area!" I kept repeating to myself over and over as my heart beat as fast as Dub's legs were carrying us.