Normally when one of the girls vanished, it was Charlotte heading to Bell's for however long, but this time it was the other way around. Bell had arranged for one of the grooms to take care of their horses for the weekend and had headed off to Charlotte's when school let out. She'd be eighteen soon and her parents didn't mind, so long as she made sure the animals were cared for.
Sunday evening had arrived, though, and Bell had headed home. When she reached the sprawling estate and headed up the long drive past one of the pastures, a familiar whinny greeted her car and she grinned. Newt had missed her, it seemed, and she could never sneak past him when he was turned out. She parked up at the house, but didn't even bother grabbing her bag out of the car. She wasn't headed in yet, even though her stomach growled. If she didn't go say hi to Newton, he was prone to pouting the next day.
Newton and Bellamy had been love at first sight. She'd gotten him almost four years ago, just after he'd turned two. He'd barely been ridden yet, but she knew she had to have him. She was only fourteen and her father, who was normally the easiest one to give the puppy dog eyes to and get to give in, had initially been set that no, she most certainly would not be getting a green stallion. But Newton was remarkably gentle. He had belonged to a friend of theirs who had to downsize before moving out of state. An untrained baby was not high on the keep list, despite how beautiful his roaning was and how well he moved. Bellamy had begged and begged. Though she'd grown up wealthy, her parents had been careful not to spoil her, and she'd learned that puppy dog eyes might help, but tantrums and pouting would never work, so when she began to pout and withdraw, they were shocked. She didn't fight them on it, but she'd actually seemed to get depressed after the "loss" of the colt.
This time, it was Olive who gave in. She was not stern or cold, but she'd always been more firm than her husband. He'd never been quite able to stand up for long to her big green eyes pleading with him for something, unless it would be actually detrimental to her well-being. This, however, was one he just couldn't get behind - until Olive gave him the same wide green eyes.
Her logic was sound enough: Bellamy had been around stallions before and knew well how to handle any horse, temperamental and dominant or sweet and docile. She'd been riding almost as long as she'd been walking. She could handle this one, plus it wasn't like they'd ever let her be alone with him until they were certain. So she'd been surprised one day to head out and see a new occupant in a previously empty stall: Newton, waiting for her. He seemed to remember her, letting out a beckoning nicker. He'd proven easy to train and progressed quickly and Bellamy had no problem proving herself capable.
Their bond was instant. He was her first horse that was truly, one hundred percent hers. She spent every day she could working with him, building trust and establishing herself as the boss. It had developed into a relationship that won them ribbons and had him hurrying to the fence the minute he saw her. "Hey, Newt!" Bell greeted, hopping up onto the fencing to perch on the top rail. "How's my boy?"
He immediately sniffed her long braid curiously, focusing on her hair with an intense curiosity. She laughed at him, pushing on his large head as though it would matter. He was rather single-minded when he wanted to be. "Stop!" But he had picked up on the strange way she smelled. Last night, Bellamy had gotten Charlotte to bleach out her long, chestnut brown hair, and this morning they had applied the dye. She remembered when they were fifteen and had applied a temporary purple dye to both of their hairs. It hadn't covered Bell's dark hair well, but had ended up nearly pastel on Charlotte's bright blonde hair. Since then, she'd been working up the courage to do something that bold again. Finally, this weekend, they'd taken the plunge.
"What do you think?" she asked Newton as he inspected her new shade. She knew it wasn't really the color that was attracting him, but the strange smell of the dye from earlier. "Think Mom'll like it?" Olive might, Bell knew. Olive had been experimental in her own ways when she was younger, too, though never so far as to turn her hair purple. But Bellamy loved the hue and wasn't sure she'd ever get tired of it.
Newton was bored of her hair now and poked his nose at her pockets, looking for hidden carrots, and she laughed, playfully tapping his nose. "No! Nothing for you, sorry."
Seeming disappointed, Newton stopped his sniffing and turned his back on her. Slowly he strode off to go graze. "Hey!" Bellamy exclaimed through laughter. "You're so fickle!"
But his pasture mate was approaching her now. It was Dot Dot Dash, or Stripes as she liked to call him. When she'd announced the leopard Appaloosa's name, Charlotte had rolled her eyes so hard that Bellamy could have sworn the sound of it was audible. She didn't care, though. She thought it was funny.
"C'mere!" she encouraged. Now that Newton, who Stripes had learned the hard way would bite if his personal space was intruded upon, had walked off, the curious Appaloosa had no problem trotting up to her and nosily inspecting her hair as well. Bell giggled at the ticklish way he blew out a breath against her ear, then nearly squealed as he jabbed his whiskered muzzle into her neck. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed, pushing at his head just as he tried to chew on her braid. "I get it! It smells good!"
She was happy, though, that he was being so open and affectionate with her. She'd only had him for two months. He'd been a rescue. There was no pedigree information on him, no prior history, but he was beautiful. She and her father had been at an auction and she'd seen him, muddy and exhausted, but still gorgeous. He caught several eyes, but her father, who had a soft spot for Appaloosas, had agreed with Bell's demand that they needed to get him. Bell had hit it off with him nearly as well as she had Newton and her sweet mare Rose. She was hoping to get him trained properly in a few Western events, since she already jumped and did dressage with Rose and Newt. He was responding to training like a prodigy and he possessed a natural desperation to please that made him a dream to ride.
She rubbed his forehead the way she knew he liked as he, too, sniffed at her pockets for treats, but he didn't trot away when he'd found her empty-handed. "See, Newt?" Bell called out playfully to her roan stallion. "He's not a jerk like you!" All she got in response from the Quarter Horse, though, was a swish of his dark tail. Apparently he was perfectly fine with the Jerk label.
Bell continued to rub on Stripes, the stallion moving so that she could better reach spots he preferred. "You like that?" she crooned with a grin as she got a spot between his withers that he particularly loved, able to reach it easily sitting up on the fence. He was chewing the air happily, leaving her glad he hadn't decided to eat her braid again. "What a good boy..."
"Hey!"
The voice from behind her startled both her and Stripes. Bellamy nearly fell into the pasture. She caught her balance on the back of the Appaloosa, though, and he miraculously held still to let her. Bellamy straightened to turn and see her mother striding her way, and when Olive saw that the strange young woman with the purple hair was in fact her daughter, her expression changed from concerned anger to startled bemusement and she slowed her rapid stride.
"Seriously?" she asked Bellamy, shaking her head.
"What! I like it!" Bellamy grinned broadly, completely unashamed.