Ever After

by Heather McBride

  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.

  I see Sam, our barn manager and Kyle, one of our stable hands. They are talking to the Ferrier, as they look over one our show horse’s hooves.

  “Hey there Corrine.” Sam yells over to me. “It’s good to see you out, you want me to saddle Windy?”

  “No I have it. I will be out by the woods if anyone is looking for me.” I yell back across the barn. He nods with a grin and goes back to his work with the other men.

  I find Windy’s stall, she comes over to me nuzzling my arm as I lead her out to saddle her. I quickly get the saddle on her adjusting the straps and saddle pad. The saddle is hand-tooled leather with my name on the side. A gift from Dad for my fifteenth birthday. I lead her out to the paddock. I can smell someone burning leaves as a brisk wind picks up. I smile thinking, what a perfect day to ride. The leaves crunch under my feet as a cold breeze blows. It’s stirring up dust in the area outside the barn.

  The fall colors are brilliant now. The trees are decked out in red, orange, and gold. I jump up into the saddle and guide Windy to the thick tree line along a well-worn trail. I start thinking about school. I know I need to get back. Weeks have passed since the first semester started. The school counselor had called checking on me to see if I was going to be back this session. I hadn’t called her back yet. I needed to get things back on track, or as close as I could to any kind of track, if that was possible for me.

  Windy walks along at an easy pace. I let my mind wander, and before I know it, we are edging the river. I quickly pull back on the reins and stop her, remembering Gran’s warning. I know I had promised her to stay away from this area. The colors of the leaves are brighter next to the riverbank so I decide to just take part of the lower trail, go back up the bank, and head home. I wouldn’t really be breaking my promise if I stayed away from the water.

  I carefully guide Windy to the lower trail; it runs next to the river, but not to close. I can see it’s muddy so I try to keep her on the path. I stop for a while and look at the leaves and their colors. I listen to the bubbling sound of the river and all the birds singing. It seems almost un real here, and I really don’t want to go. I take a deep breath of cool fall air, the kind of crisp air that makes you glad to be alive. I sigh since a thought like that hasn’t crossed my mind in months it makes me smile.

  I sit in the silence and take another deep breath and a gut wrenching pain suddenly rips through my head. I grab the saddle, curling over onto Windy’s shoulder. I feel her shift uneasily sensing I’m in pain, she’s tossing her head. “Windy… oh God.” I gasp, tears stream down my cheeks.

  I try to see to get down out of the saddle; afraid she will spook and throw me off. I get tunnel vision; blackness is closing in on me. My ears are ringing. I break out into a sweat. I try to breathe. “It’s okay, it’s okay.” I say to myself. “God help me.” I gasp. Then I feel another pain so intense I collapse sliding off the horse and landing with a thud next to the rocky river bank.

  I lay there unable to move, barely able to see. I hear the birds still and the water…was I dead? I didn’t know. I could still hear so I figured I was alive. I could hear Windy near me munching grass and the wind blowing in the trees. The wind was getting stronger, and then I remembered Gran’s warning about snow or a storm. I tried to take a deep breath…but my side hurt too much.

  I could also hear another horse approaching me. I started to panic who could be out here? I struggled to see. My vision was cloudy. I pulled myself up on one elbow, but the pain in the back of my head hurt too bad. I dropped back down, trying to push the hair out of my eyes. I look at my hand after touching the back of my head. It is covered in blood. I must have hit my head on a sharp rock or something. “Oh God.” I sigh. I’m going to die out here, I think to myself.

  “Well I am definitely not God, but are you okay?” A voice makes me jump, causing me more pain in my leg now. Oh hell, what else was wrong with me I wonder?

  “Go away… I’m fine whoever you are.” I gasp. “Get away from me.” I try to get up slipping in the mud. I start to cry, my head hurts too bad to try to get away from this guy. I did not need another head injury; my brain was going to be mush after this. “Oh crap.” I mutter, blinking hard trying to see whom this is talking to me.

  “Here let me help you. You’re hurt really bad.” I felt my heart race. He was probably a serial killer or a rapist. I would be locked in his basement, tortured for months if I didn’t get up, and run right now. I start to cry harder as I try to scoot away.

  I feel a hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay. I will not hurt you I promise. Let me get you some help.” I stopped trying to get away now knowing it’s useless. I squint, trying to see his face. He has an accent…like someone from Europe. I can’t think of anyone I know from there. He’s kneeling in the mud next to me. Before I can see him better, everything goes black.

  I couldn’t open my eyes, speak, or move for what seemed like forever. I felt suddenly very cold and my body started to shiver. I groaned, wanting this agony to end. I could hear thunder in the distance and the cold wind on my face. The storm Gran had warned me about was indeed moving in and I was here by the river where I promised her I wouldn’t be. I felt my body covered by something. It made me feel warmer whatever it was. I could smell a woodsy scent, some kind of incredible smelling cologne I thought to myself as I took a deep breath in. The low calm voice returned. It started to make sense to me now as I strained to listen, to understand what was being said to me now.

  “We have to get you out of here. It’s going to storm shortly.” I tried to respond but my mouth opened and nothing came out. I could feel arms wrapped around me. This stranger was holding me close to him, but I felt no fear, as I should have. I rubbed my eyes slowly. I had to see who he was and what was going on. I struggled to focus and as I blinked hard, he finally came in to view. I took a sharp breath.

  He had the most stunning blue eyes I had ever seen before in my whole life. His face was almost angelic. He looked like a model or a Greek god…maybe something from one of the books Gram had on mythology in her room. I couldn’t even speak as we stared into each other’s eyes. He seemed as shocked as I was and unable to speak just like me. I knew I should have been terrified to be this close to a guy I didn’t know, but I was perfectly calm. I thought I heard him gasp slightly when I did; his breathing had increased like mine.

  “I um…thanks for helping me.” God, I felt like an idiot totally tongue-tied in front of this majorly cute guy. He just smiled at me. “I kind of fell. I guess.”

  “I saw that. I figured I had better stop and check on you, it was a very bad fall you took. You’ve hurt yourself badly I’m afraid.”

  “I think I hit my head.” I winced as I touched the back of my head. I pulled my hand in front of my face to look at it more blood covered my fingers. I saw him pull back instantly. His eyes narrowed as he focused on the blood all over my hand. He looked at me, his face tense and hard. He seemed like he was suddenly angry. I felt a jolt of fear not understanding his reaction. He took a deep breath and looked away briefly.

  “Hate the sight of blood?” I tried to joke, but laughing hurt my ribs too much.

  “Yeah… something like that.” He swallowed hard, and gave me a weak smile. He seemed to be holding his breath as he removed his scarf quickly, and wrapped my h
ead, so carefully it didn’t even hurt. “This should help.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I’m William Darcy.” He flashed a brilliant smile, and my heart did a flutter catching me completely off-guard. I thought my days of “fluttering” were over…well they never actually began truthfully.

  “Corrine Whitmore. Uh, I live just across the field.”

  “I know, our ever helpful real estate agent told us our new neighbors had a beautiful single daughter my age.” He smiled again, laughing.

  “She did?” I smiled.

  “Yes, she told me all of the girls who lived nearby in fact, by name and age. I figured she ran a dating service on the side or something.”

  “Oh… she’s just like that, just a really a nosy gossip.” I laughed. I tried to hide the fact that it hurt to do so. “Her daughter’s my best friend.” I smiled. “So I can say that.” He nodded still smiling. “I had heard someone moved in a few days ago.” He seemed puzzled as he looked at me just then.

  “I haven’t seen you at school. Are you in college?”

  I tensed at the question. I didn’t want to tell him why I wasn’t there, not yet anyway or maybe ever.

  “I’m doing some correspondence courses. We had some family things going on so I don’t go to classes right now, but I will be next semester.” I couldn’t chance this drop-dead gorgeous guy knowing I was a total nut job. I couldn’t believe I cared. Suddenly it felt like a light came on inside me, when I looked into his eyes. The fact William Darcy had his arms around me, smelled better than chocolate and made my stomach feel like butterflies got in it, did not make me want to run away. I could not even begin to explain it.

  He gave off a warm safe vibe. The way he looked into my eyes made me never want to leave. I had never expected to let any guy near me ever in my life after what Todd did. Now all that had suddenly changed.

  “I’m going to need to pick you up now. We can ride my horse back to your place; we can’t stay out here much longer. A storm is moving in fast and I think you need to see a doctor right away. The cut on the back of your head is very bad.” He looked around for my horse. “I’ll catch your horse and tie her to my saddle really quick and we can get you home.” He gently put me down. I watched him call to Windy and she came to him, which shocked me. She was fussy about people. I admired him for a second as he tied her up. He had on black leather riding boots and dark jeans with a black turtleneck. He looked like he stepped out of GQ magazine. I sighed. Maybe my luck was getting better… just maybe. I had spoken too soon though. Pain crept into my head again and it felt harder to breathe. William instantly somehow sensed my distress and knelt down swiftly, taking me in his arms.

  I didn’t even have time to think before he carried me to his horse, a really beautiful black thoroughbred. I had no idea how he got us up in the saddle so easily. He was very strong I guessed. I curled myself into his chest as the wind picked up. He pulled his coat tighter around me. He smelled so incredible, but it was hard to think of anything but the increasing pain in my stupid head.

  “If you’re in any pain let me know and we’ll stop for a sec. I’m not certain what other injuries you’ve got so try not to move much okay?”

  I nodded. No problem, I thought to myself. I didn’t want to move anyway. I was perfectly fine right here in his arms.

  “I wasn’t sure about moving here at first, but now,” he took a deep breath. “I think it may have been a very good idea.” I smiled to myself thinking how glad I was that he moved here too.

  “It was a very good idea.” I said aloud which I hadn’t meant too.

  “Yes it was.” He laughed under his breath. The ride was smooth except for the wind getting colder and stronger. “We’re going to have to move faster if we’re going to beat the rain.” I felt him kick the horse slightly and we moved into a jog, and this sparked pain in my head and legs.

  “William,” I gasped. “It hurts.” I cried. The horse stopped right away as he pulled up sharply on the reins.

  “Hold on, we’ll slow down. I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have tried to go faster.” I could feel him pull me closer; he was looking down at me, the blue in his eyes seemed so dark. “Hold still for a second.” He put his hand on my forehead gently. “Take a deep breath and try to relax.” I did and it seemed to help a little. The wind was so much stronger now and I could feel rain, freezing little drops hit my cheek. I felt so bad for William. He had to be freezing to death without his coat, but he never said one word about the cold. We arrived to the stable. I could hear ambulance sirens in the distance heading for our house.

  “How did they know?” I poked my head out of William’s coat.

  “I called 911 at the river as soon as my signal came in.” His voice was totally calm and collected.

  Sam came running out. “What’s happened, is she okay?” he yelled.

  “It’s okay. I called an ambulance for her. She fell off her horse by the river.” William assured him.

  “Oh good Lord, how bad is she hurt?” Sam’s eyes were wide with concern and fear.

  “Head injury and she’s cut her leg and head. I’m not sure what else.”

  “Her daddy’s going to have my hide. I should have gone out with her.” Sam fretted as he took the reins from William. “Are you Mr. Darcy’s boy from next door?” Sam questioned, looking William over. Concern was filling his dark brown eyes.

  “Yes. We just moved in not long ago. I was out riding the property lines when I came up on Corrine.”

  “Thank the Lord for that. She's been sick lately, it's no good her being out in this weather.” Sam patted my hand. “You’ll be alright sweetie. That ambulance is coming fast.”

  “I can’t thank you enough for helping out Corrine; her daddy’s going to want to thank you himself.” The ambulance pulled up and before I knew it, I was taken from William’s arms, our eyes locked on each other one last time, before the paramedics took me away.

  “Thanks.” I whispered. He simply nodded, winking at me. I felt an oxygen mask cover my face and pain ripped through my head again. I closed my eyes and groaned as the pain sent me unconscious once again.

  Chapter 5

  “William’s Point of view”

  I knew it was wrong to be here, as I sat at Corrine’s bedside, watching and waiting for her to wake up. I knew I’d fallen hopelessly in love with her from the moment our eyes met. I had no explanation for any of it. I just knew I had to be here by her side. Somehow, I just knew she needed me. I knew I should have left already; my presence here would look strange to her family and friends. I didn’t know any of them, and I didn’t even really know Corrine for that matter.

  I myself couldn’t even explain it. I did try to leave not long after her father thanked me profusely. Mr. Whitmore promised me he would call and let me know how Corrine was doing. He and his wife seemed very grateful that I happened to be in the woods and find Corrine. I shook his hand, headed to the elevator but I couldn’t make myself get on it.

  This was going to cause major problems and I knew it. My family would not be happy at all with me falling in love with Corrine. I was fairly certain they would oppose any kind of relationship with her. It simply was unacceptable for someone like me to be with someone like her. I knew I was expected to keep with people that were like me. I knew I was breaking the rules and I didn’t care. I wasn’t exactly like any of the people in my family anyway.

  I had seen the kind of look Corrine gave me in other people’s eyes before. I had seen it more than I care to admit. It was a harsh mix of fear and confusion. Corrine was much the same but in a split second, the look in her eyes changed. She stared at me as if she’d known me forever, as if I was familiar to her. The way she clung to me when I took her home was an amazing feeling. I could tell she felt safe and secure in my arms as if nothing could ever harm her. I just hoped it wasn’t me who would end up harming her in the end.

  I would wait forever for her to wake up if I had to. It would be worth every second of waiting to l
ook into her beautiful eyes just one more time. I would wait an eternity just to see that look of acceptance and desire. I was also desperately hoping the other thing I saw in her eyes was love. Our differences be damned. I could keep myself in check even though to be so close to her would no doubt be very difficult for me. I was willing to try… well, scratch that. I had no choice. I was in love with her and I had to be with her, it was beyond my control. I would only leave her if she told me to and I was wrong about the way she looked at me.

  Chapter 6

  Awakening

  William studied me for a minute as I slowly woke up. I wasn’t even sure what to think of him being in my hospital room, at first. If it had been any other guy, just sitting there while I slept I would have freaked out. It wasn’t that way with William though; it made me happy to see him again. I didn’t feel awkward or self-conscious with him, which for me was very rare.