Саманта Сильвер - Just Horsing Around

The door opened, and I held my breath, but instead of Ellie it was Susan standing there, looking slightly surprised, but ever the professional.

“Oh, hello Angela. I wasn’t expecting you today. What can I do for you?”

“I don’t have time to explain Susan, but you have to tell me where Ellie is. Where is she? Is she in there?”

“No, I’m afraid not. She’s gone out the back, Philippe requested her help with one of the horses; with Corey no longer being with us,” - she closed her eyes and seemed to mumble ‘God rest his soul’ – “he’s been doing a lot of the manager work until Ellie can find a suitable replacement. I believe they went to the stables.”

“We have to get to her!” I cried out. This had to be it, the moment Philippe was waiting for. He was going to kill a third person.

Chapter 19

“What’s going on, Angela? Why the emergency?” Susan called out, but I had already started running towards the side of the house. There was definitely no time to explain. Charlotte followed after me, as Susan continued to call out, confused.

“We have to get to the stable,” I said to Charlotte. I saw her look behind us quickly, to make sure Susan didn’t follow. “ Celeroa ,” she panted, and I felt the ground beneath my feet moving at a record pace. I began to run at a speed that made Usain Bolt look like a hippo. I was surprised at Charlotte’s daring to use a spell in public, even though she’d checked to make sure Susan hadn’t followed us. She must have understood just how dire the situation was.

We covered the couple hundred yards to the stables in just a few seconds. Stopping in front of the door, Charlotte quickly cancelled the speed spell. Suddenly, we heard a cry coming from inside the stall. Charlotte and I looked at each other quickly, and Charlotte quietly murmured the unlocking spell. The door to the stable shot open and we darted inside.

What I saw froze me to the core. At the far end of the stables, by Touch of Frost’s stall, Philippe was standing over Ellie, holding a piece of pipe. She was screaming, holding up her hands.

“Please! Please don’t kill me! I don’t want to die,” she begged through tears. Touch of Frost was neighing in his stall and pushing himself against it, evidently trying to break out. He must have understood that he had to help Ellie.

“I have no choice. I have to kill you,” Philippe said, raising the pipe and moving towards her.

“Wait!” I cried out as Philippe began to strike at Ellie. I knew with a pipe like that, a single blow to the head would be enough to kill her. Philippe turned suddenly and looked at Charlotte and I, the frown on his face so black I physically recoiled from horror. So much for the element of surprise.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he snarled.

“Stopping you from murdering Ellie,” I replied with what I hoped sounded like more bravado than I felt. I could feel Charlotte shifting her weight nervously behind me, and I tried to block her from view. After all, I was the big sister. This was up to me to do, it wasn’t on her. I didn’t want Charlotte to get hurt, no matter what.

“Go,” I whispered to her. “Go now, and get help.”

“Not on your life. If anyone right now needs help, it’s you and Ellie.”

“I suppose dere is no difference between three murders and just dee one,” Philippe said. “I have my private jet ready to go in Portland, in two hours I will be gone from your terrible country.”

“In two hours you’ll be rotting in a jail cell, where you’ll be spending the rest of your life,” I replied, watching carefully as Philippe moved towards me with the pipe. I tried to motion for Ellie to run with my eyes, but she seemed rooted to the spot, paralyzed with fear.

I knew how she felt. With every step Philippe took towards Charlotte and I, I felt more and more rooted to the spot. I forced myself to breathe. I had to be quick here.

“Go right,” I whispered to Charlotte just before Philippe was onto us. “Dat is enough of you,” Philippe said as he swung the pipe upwards, then down, right towards my head. At the last second my body responded by darting over to the left. The pipe banged loudly against the floor, and Philippe yelled with rage.

“You come back here, silly girl. You cannot escape. I will kill you. I will kill all of you!”

I backed further away, back towards the door, as I tried not to watch Charlotte. She ran towards Ellie at the other side of the stable, and leaned over her while Philippe came after me.

He swung again, this time from the left side to the right, like he was swinging a baseball bat. I ducked at the last second, and kicked out, hoping to hit something – anything – that might put him out of sorts for a minute. I connected, and he let out a yelp of pain as he grabbed his knee and swore at me.

“You stupeed American! I will make sure you die!” He grabbed the pipe and swung at me again, but it was obvious he was weaker now. Charlotte had gotten Ellie to her feet, but she was holding Ellie up with her whole body weight. Charlotte wasn’t strong enough to drag her out of here, I knew that.

Touch of Frost was still pounding against the stall door.

I needed a split second to tell Charlotte what to do, but I wasn’t sure I had the time. Philippe swung at me again, and this time I felt the pipe graze my nose as I heaved myself backwards to avoid it. I ran back to the door, away from Philippe, as fast as I could.

“Dat is right, run away, little girl. But you cannot escape. You cannot run from me, no matter how much you try!” he said as he came after me once more. He was a few steps away, I had about a second to do what I needed.

I focused on Charlotte with all my might.

Let Touch of Frost out , I thought, using all the powers I could possibly muster. I felt a light wave of energy, and I opened my eyes just as Philippe was striking at me with the pipe again. This time, there was no chance that I’d be able to move out of the way in time. I let out a squeal as I raised my hands, trying to block the fall of the pipe on me. I halted it somewhat, and fell to the floor, which lessened the impact of the pipe even more as it hit my head.

I saw stars, and my vision in front of me began to tilt for a second, but I didn’t pass out. And what I saw behind me I knew wasn’t a hallucination either.

Touch of Frost – or whoever was pretending to be Touch of Frost – was now standing in the middle of the stable, all sixteen hands of him. He snorted loudly, and I hoped he’d act fast. After all, while I wasn’t unconscious, I knew I had no chance of moving out of the way of the next blow. Philippe raised the pipe once more, ready to send me to my grave, when he heard the snort.

He turned once more, and I heard him cry as he dropped the pipe. In an instant, Touch of Frost was on him. I had just enough time to get out of the way before the horse reared up, neighing loudly as he brought his front legs down firmly onto Philippe’s chest, knocking him back against the wall. The pipe fell from his hand and his head made a sickening thud as it hit the wall and he fell down to the ground, unconscious.

Touch of Frost immediately walked over to where I was sitting on the ground, dazed. He nuzzled my face, and I reached up and stroked him.

“You saved my life, thank you,” I told him, closing my eyes as I pressed my face against his. Touch of Frost or not, I liked this horse.

“You saved mine first. Just returning the favour. They built those stalls too well.”

I laughed softly as Charlotte left Ellie and went over to Philippe. She checked his pulse, then grabbed her phone out of her back pocket.

“It’s going to take a minute to turn on,” she told me before calling 9-1-1. We were going to have to add that number to our speed dial pretty soon, the way things were going.