expectations (Mel)

She'd decided to take Malcolm out to the forest. The grey gelding was a level headed horse, easy-going, and he'd been stuck on pasture rest for the past few days. She'd felt bad when he'd been ignored by everyone who'd grab a horse out of the same pasture as him, so she felt a good long ride was in order for the leggy grey. Her stables was out a ways from the city, not as far as the 'enchanted' forest as they called it, but she had a trail that led through it. She'd decided to lead Malcolm off of that trail as the forest started to get thicker around her. The day was a bit cloudy, the shade of the forest providing some shelter for the crimson vampire. She'd wished she hadn't gotten on that plane, the one that crashed and killed her, she missed being able to stand under the sun and feel the rays on her face. Those days were few though, she'd burn if under the sun for to long now.

She easily sat in the saddle, the steady, soft sounds of Malcolm's hooves on the ground a nice melody to the chirping birds around her. She was very glad she had decided to take this little detour on their ride. Malcolm, for all his easy going plodding, was very interested in the surroundings, having been kept in a pasture for the past few days the new sights and sounds was appreciated. She patted his neck lightly as a sound caught his interest, though he faithfully kept forward at her urging. She kept a light hand on the reigns, mostly letting Malcolm dictate how fast he really wanted to go, as long as he kept moving forward. Izzy wanted to get a good days ride in for Malcolm before returning to the stable to help bring in horses and feed them. She needed to fix a stall as well, someone had gotten a bit too rough with the door and she needed to fix that now.

She was only all too happy to do so. Izzy might own the stable, which was well off due to the influx of money that she should have inherited but didn't due to her death on the airplane. She'd gotten into contact with her uncle and he'd been more than happy to help her out. And most of the boarders were rich people who kept rich horses. But that didn't mean she didn't like to work. She liked the hard work that came with owning the stable just as much as she liked the ease of riding on the trails. She helped with lessons when she could, but she was a big enough stable that she could hire trainers and others to help out around the farm. She shifted on the saddle just a bit, one of Malcolm's grey ears flicking back to pay attention to whatever command Izzy would give him. She pulled lightly on the reigns, Malcolm coming to a halt.

She thought she'd heard something, a rustling and she thought perhaps it was a deer or some other wild animal. Malcolm's attention focused on whatever it was as well, his head lifting and his ears flicking forward to catch the sound, a soft snort escaping his nostrils. Izzy sat silently, hoping perhaps she'd get to see a leggy deer, or some other animal that roamed the forests.