Silver Saddle Ranch

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Christa Tudor woke up crying. Why did she keep having dreams about the accident? It happened five years ago. Chris looked at the clock. It was 4:53. She put on a T-shirt, jeans, and boots.

She quietly crept into the attic. She got out her grandfather’s violin and played a few songs. She then went to the kitchen and grabbed an apple. After she took a bite, she went outside. She headed to the stables and stopped at her horses stall. There he was. Golden Legacy. She remembered getting him for her twelfth. birthday. It was the last birthday that her mom was alive to celebrate.

She gave Legacy the rest of her apple and saddled him up. Chris mounted him and headed to the woody part of the ranch.

She lived on this ranch her whole life. She grew up around horses. She knew her father was worried about her becoming a loner, but she wasn’t. As long as she had horses and God, she would never be alone.



Laura Jones awoke and couldn’t wall back to sleep. She lied there thinking about her life before coming to Silver Saddle Ranch. Her father kicked her mom and her out of the house when she was seven. They had an apartment, but got evicted. Her mom didn’t go to college. So, she couldn’t get a very good job. They lived at a Christian homeless shelter for a time. Then they were in the grocery store and heard some women talking about SSR. That’s how they got here. They had been here for three wonderful months.

She looked at her mom sleeping on the bed across the room. Laura knew that her mom was mad at God. Laura recalled the day she went to church with a friend and became a believer in God.

She remembered her mom saying, “If you wanted to believe that stuff, fine! But leave me out of it!”

She prayed for her mom everyday, and Laura would continue to do so until she found God.

Laura heard some noise outside.

Who could be up it’s 5:00 in the morning.

She slipped into some clothes and went outside. In the distance she saw Christa Tudor with her horse, Golden Legacy. Chris mounted to horse and began to ride.

Why is she up this early?

After seeing a strange man walk inside he decided to investigate. He saw Gab and Ryan and decided to ask them about the man.

Cal jordon wrote:After seeing a strange man walk inside he decided to investigate. He gab and Ryan and decided to ask him.

OOC: Could you please edit that so it makes more sense? Because I have almost no idea what you just said...

IC: Gabriel sighed, then looked at Ryan. "Who am I to disappoint a friend? Yes I'll come back. But if I start to lose my temper, I'll-" He paused and softened his tone, "I'll politely excuse myself and walk away. Okay? I'm still trying to get used to people period Ryan, and patience isn't my best quality." He knew he was probably saying more than needed to be said, but being blunt was what he was used to doing.

Chris couldn't believe this Jason. How could Melody even consider being in a relationship with this guy? She sat in the chair across from Jason. She wasn't going to try to start a conversation again. So, she let her thoughts wander. She wondered how her mother would react if she was still alive. She would probably try to understand Melody. Chris sighed. Maybe she should try to be more understanding because she knew what if felt like when no one understood you.

Ryan nodded politely. "I'm sure you'll be OK." He gave Gabriel a small pat. "Let's go back, the food should be almost done, and we need to find Brooke."

Melody looked at Jason, then at Chris. Sighing, she walked over to Chris and said, "Christa," using her full name because she was serious, "I'm sure you're not doing too well now, but Jason's actually a pretty decent kid. Just give him some time, OK? You'll like him." She smiled, "Dinner should be ready about now, shouldn't it?"

Gabriel smiled but shook his head. "Naw, you go find Brooke. I think I need to give us some space. I sorta blew up at her, you know, silently? So I think I'm going to meet you over there okay?" Gabriel gave a casual salute and jogged on ahead toward the grill and Laura. He didn't see Marcus coming up to meet them, but thankfully Gabriel was headed the other way.

Brooke's jaw litterally dropped, but she snapped it shut and said nothing, watching them leave, blinking rapidly.
Maybe not, she thought bitterly. So much for being out-going.
Though she wanted to, she restrained herself from going into the woods, and instead went to the barn that had recently been vacated, and climbed into the hayloft.

Chris nodded at Melody. She would give Jason another chance for Melody's sake. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

Ryan went back into the barn, looking for Brooke. He needed to talk to her. "Brooke? Brooke, are you in here?"

Brooke debated on whether or not to answer Ryan.
"Yeah," she said after a pause. "I'm in here." She crawled forward through the hay and knelt at the top of the ladder, looking down at Ryan.

Gabriel forgot his backpack in the stables and went in and got it. For some reason he decided to open it and look inside. He stared into the dark shadows inside the backpack and the contents within. There was some wood, his notebook, rope, and a hunting blanket that he had bought. Finally he zipped it up and put it on. After this "cookout", he was going to plan his next move.

Brooke turned her head as Gabriel came in.
"Hey," she said softly.

Ryan looked up. "I don't know how to say it, but Gabriel was talking about how he's not so patient with people. And...he said to ask you about it, though I think I know what he means." He paused for a second. "I feel sorry for..." Gabriel entered, and he turned to him. "Oh, hey there."

Gabriel was about to leave when he heard Ryan say something. "Uh, hey Ryan." He avoided Booke's eyes as he lifted the backpack over his shoulders. "See you two in a few I guess." As Gabriel walked out, he had the very unfamiliar sensation of being uncertain about his next step in life, what was he going to do after the cookout?

Laura was feeling quite left out. Which was unusually for her because she was usually the one talking to everyone. Everyone seemed to have something exciting going on. She sat down next to the grill so she could keep an eye on the meat.

Gabriel walked up to Laura smiled at her. "Whatcha doing? I mean besides making sure the meat doesn't get all texas-style on us?"

Laura returned Gabriels smile, "Nothing much. I'm just sitting here. Watching the meat and thinking about different things. What are you doing?"

Gabriel looked down, then back at Laura. "Just thinking about my next move." He took a deep breath. "Can I ask you something Laura?"

Brooke watched Gabriel leave with a puzzled expression. She looked at Ryan, then turned around and climbed down the ladder, jumping for the third rung and onto the concrete barn floor with a hard "slap" of her hiking boots.
"Is he okay?" she asked Ryan.

Laura nodded. Whatever Gabriel wanted to say, he looked very serious. She removed her smile and replaced it with straight lips, "Sure."

Ryan shrugged, "I really don't know. I guess he'll be ok in a while. Say, do you want to come to the cook-out, we're just about done."

Melody looked at Chris. "Thanks...who knows, you'll probably like him...he just takes time to get around people. Except me."

Gabriel looked down at his feet then back at Laura. "Okay, this might sound a little weird but here it goes. If you were given a chance to live a different way, different than everything known a familiar to you, but you were struggling to make it "work", would you just turn your back on it? Or would you try to continue to try to make it work in hopes of a brighter tomorrow?"

"Uh... Depends on who 'us' is," she told him, stroking the nose of a stallion who's nameplate read Dakota.

Laura thought for a few moments then said with confidence, "I would never run away. I would always try," Why in the world is he asking this to me? There are a lot more wiser people here.

Gabriel nodded. "Thanks a lot. The reason I'm asking you is because, well," he chuckled, "I'm not sure really. But really, I think you just helped me make my next move." Why did I ask her? asked a voice inside him. How come I'm so talkitive all of the sudden?

He started to work on his cars. He found one of the cars had a damaged battery so he would have to wait, then he went to work on his own car.