She
ran, using every trick Cahir taught her to stay quiet in the woods. Adrenalin
surged through her, keeping her going though her head spun. The presence in her
mind guided her in the right direction.
She
almost screamed as something large moved and snapped a branch in the dense
forest. The creature nickered and Anna cried tears of relief. She fell to her
knees, gasping for breath and unable to run anymore. The adrenalin fled her
system, every ache and pain and burn making itself known all at once. None of
that mattered because Sabaska was with her. The Traveler nickered again,
nudging her.
“I know, we
have to go.” She sucked air into her starving lungs and fought the need to curl
up and sleep. She struggled to her feet and staggered on unsteady legs. A tree
caught her and scratched her arm, adding to her growing list of wounds, but the
branch kept her upright until her vision cleared. Using a log, she climbed onto
Sabaska’s back and whispered, “Get us out of here.”
The
Traveler walked and the world blurred like wet ink. Anna shut her eyes,
grateful to be safe.
***
Sabaska
finally stopped and Anna sagged in the saddle. Her wrists felt like they were
on fire and she was afraid to look at the damage. Flaps of skin bunched where
the blisters had popped and dried fluid covered her arms. She knew she risked
infection if she didn’t clean the burns, but the thought of touching them at
all was unbearable.
Dismounting
was agony. Her body ached in places she didn’t know existed and every movement
jarred, or scraped or otherwise aggravated the pain in her wrists. She wanted
to curl up and die, but she drove herself–getting Raymond’s saddlebags, and
swearing every time her wounds touched something. She hunted for salve and
found a jar of pungent-smelling goo. Sabaska nickered, nodding her head.
Despite
everything, her wrists were remarkably clean so she gritted her teeth and
spread the salve over her injuries. At first the pain was sharp, like she
touched raw nerve endings. Then a cool numbness spread out from the salve. If
she could market this stuff, she’d make a fortune. They didn't have anything as
good on her home world. She hacked a clean shirt into strips with a knife and
used her teeth to bandage her wrists. By then, she was exhausted, and starving.
Unfortunately, there was no food hidden amongst the things she emptied on the
ground.
“I’d
kill for a hamburger,” Anna said sadly.
Sabaska
nickered sympathetically then started grazing, flicking her ears as if amused.
“I’m
almost hungry enough to eat grass with you.”
The
horse nickered again, this time in laughter.
Anna
sighed, and started stuffing things back into the saddlebags. “If I had any
money I’d make you take me to a drive-through.”
~~~
About Sebaska's Tale
To Anna, horses
were more than a fascination, they were everything. Luckily, she had the
opportunity to spend every summer on her grandmother's horse ranch in Colorado.
Life was perfect, until she received the devastating news that her grandmother
had been tragically killed. Anna knew she was the only member of her family who
could take over the ranch and hopefully find new homes for her grandmother's
beloved Arabians.
Anna wasn't alone for long. Her grandmother had hired a local teenage boy to
help tend the horses for the summer. Anna didn't stand a chance against Cody's
quiet charm and the two rapidly become friends. However, even with the
responsibilities of the ranch, Anna quickly discovers the secrets her
grandmother had been hiding and a legacy that sends her on an adventure she
never thought possible. An adventure in the saddle of a horse that wasn't a
horse at all. Sabaska, her grandmother's favorite Arabian, was a Traveler; a
magical being that could travel between worlds. With Anna at the reins, they find
themselves trapped in a fight against evil with the highest of stakes… Their
very survival.
~~~
J.A. Campbell has been
many things over the last few years, from college student, to bookstore clerk
and an over the road trucker. She’s worked as a 911 dispatcher and in computer
tech support, but through it all she’s been a writer and when she’s not out
riding horses, she can usually be found sitting in front of her computer. She
lives in Colorado with her three cats, her vampire-hunting dog Kira, her new
horse and Traveler-in training, Triska, and her Irish Sailor. She is the author
of many Vampire and Ghost-Hunting Dog stories and the young adult urban fantasy
series The Clanless. She’s the editor of Steampunk Trails fiction magazine and
a member of both the Horror Writers Association and the Dog Writers Association
of America.
Find out more
about Julie at www.writerjacampbell.com
and follow her on twitter @Pfirewolf
Website: www.writerjacampbell.com
FB:
https://www.facebook.com/J.A.Campbell.Author
This sounds really good!
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