My Fair Lady: Chapter 1

 Kezia brushed the Morgan’s coat once more before setting the brush down.  She nodded her head in approval.  When the owner had first brought the horse to her, it had been skinny, the coat matted with mud, its hooves under trimmed and cracked ;overall it hadn’t been in good shape.

But the owner had begged her to help him.  “He was stolen, and when I found him, he looked like this.  You must restore him back to how he was.”  The man pleaded.  

It had been quite an undertaking.  Kezia stepped back off the bucket to admire her work.  One could barely tell that it was the same horse.  “Kezia, I don’t know how you do it.”  She thought smiling to herself. 

She hooked a lead rope to the halter ,and led the horse out of the stall over to a stump.  She stood on top of the stump to reach the top of the horse’s back.  The horse still had some filling out to do, but the owner would be able to take care of that. 

Kezia looked down at the scrap of paper with the directions to the man’s house.  According to him, he had heard about her from a friend which explained why he lived so far away.

Kezia felt inside her pocket.  “Good, the map is still in there.”  She had looked at the route she’d be taking the night before, and discovered there were many key turns that she needed to make or she’d be quite lost.  Kezia turned the horse to the right.  “Just have to follow the map and we’ll be fine.”

****

 It was the second day of the journey, and Kezia was starting to become worried.  She was having a hard time matching roads up to the map. 

Kezia lit her lamp.  It was evening, and raining.  She nervously scanned the trees around her.  The trees creaked back and forth from the wind.  An owl hooted in the distance. Claps of thunder radiated through the air.  Lightening lit up the sky.  

The horse snorted nervously, stamping his feet.  “Easy, boy.”  Kezia patted the horse’s neck.  “I feel the same way, but we need to keep it together.”  Kezia urged the horse on. 

An owl flew in front of them causing the horse to spook.  “Easy!  Whoa!”  Kezia shouted trying to calm the panicking horse. She was trying to calm her nerves at the same time as well.  

The lantern smashed to the ground.  

The horse bolted forward further into the woods.  Kezia grappled with the reins to slow the horse to a halt.  “Come on now!”  Kezia pulled back more on the reins.  Branches scratched her face, and tore at her.  Kezia made herself as flat as she could.  “Just have to ride it out.”  She thought. 

The horse came to a screeching halt, throwing her off into the mud.  Kezia tried to lift herself off the ground.  Her shoulder throbbed.   She let out a moan.  "Oh, I think it's dislocated."

Kezia scanned the area for the horse.  He was about ten feet from her.  His rope caught on a branch.   

Something growled.  Kezia’s eyes widened.  Even in the dark, she could see the form of a wolf in front of the horse.  Other figures started to form around the one wolf.  Kezia felt around on the ground looking for a large stick to use as a club.

Kezia ran at the wolves, screaming.  Just have to make it to the horse was her plan.  She swung at the first wolf.  The cracking of bones confirmed she had made contact. 

Two wolves circled around her.  Kezia held her club like a baseball bat waiting for them to strike.  One of the wolves lunged forward tried to bite her; Kezia swung at it, but missed. 

The other wolf saw its opportunity to strike.  It caught Kezia by the foot, and pulled her to the ground.  The club fell out of Kezia’s hand.  She scratched at the ground to recover it, but the wolf drug her away from it.  The other wolf pounced at her, and tore at her arm.  Kezia screamed, and punched it in the snout.  The wolf tore more viciously. The other wolf was chomping down on her leg.  She punched the wolf again only this time in the jaw.  The wolf reeled back, and pawed at its mouth.  She had broken its jaw. 

The horse whinnied and snorted kicking at the wolves snapping at him.

 Kezia rolled onto her back.  Her leg twisted inside the wolf’s mouth, tearing more flesh. She winced.  She kicked the wolf multiple times till it let go.  She dove for her club.  She turned around and beated the wolf to death. 

She stumbled over to the horse, and swung at the wolves.  They retreated through the trees.  Kezia pulled Laffete’s rope free from a branch.  She tried to mount the Morgan, but to no avail.

Kezia stumbled about the woods trying to find a log or a stump.  She about tripped over a log.  She unsteadily stood on top of the log and mounted the horse. 

She felt light headed.  The adrenaline rush had worn off, and the loss of blood was being felt greatly.  She urged the horse forward. 

Snarls caught Kezia’s attention. 

The wolves were back. 

The horse reared, and took off in a dead run.  He slid about in the mud and puddles as he ran.  Kezia held on with all the strength she had left in her. 

Lightening flashed displaying a dark castle through the trees.  Her eyes widened with hope. She pulled on the reins and steered the horse towards it.  The hooves clicked against the stone path leading to a tall iron gate. 

Kezia slid off the horse’s back, falling to the ground, unable to land on her feet.  She forced herself up, and tried the gate. 

It was locked. 

Kezia turned herself sideways and squeezed through the gate.  She picked up a stray brick, and pounded at the latch. 

Howls from the wolves hastened her blows.  The latch gave way enough for her to force the gate open.  The horse rushed in.  She slammed the gate closed into the wolves. 

Kezia scrambled to catch the horse, and led him towards the door of the castle.  She tied it to a nearby tree, and went to the door.  She knocked the door knocker.

 No response. 

Kezia shivered in the rain.  She slowly pushed the door open and peeked inside. 

“Hello?  Is anyone here?”   Kezia called nervously. 

Her arm ached as blood streamed out of the wound.  Kezia looked behind herself to see she was leaving a trail of blood. 

“Hello?”  She called again.  “I need help.  You see, I was attacked by wolves, and have lost my way.  I was wondering if you could put me up for the night.”  Kezia said louder.  She paused and waited for a reply.  She couldn't make out any signs that someone lived there or not. 

She sneezed.  Kezia hugged herself; her soaked body shivered..  She looked about the room.  She walked over to a table where a candle sat.  She fumbled around in the table’s drawers. 

“Ah.  Here we go.”  She said pulling out a box of matches. 

She put them under her cloak, and left the castle.  She walked to what looked like a stable.  Inside, Kezia felt around for a lantern.  Once she had lit one, she hurried back outside to where she had tied up the mud covered horse.  She led him to the stable to a stall.   The other horses snorted, curious at the stranger that was amongst them.

 Kezia looked around the stable.  She picked up some rags, and limped back to the stall.  She began to rub him down, rubbing away the foam that had formed on top of the mud and rain.  The horse breathed heavily.  “Thankfully there isn’t any serious damaged.”  She thought to herself.  Once satisfied that she had dried him off well, Kezia searched around the stable for more rags. 

She wearily sat down in the corner of the stall, and began to wrap up her wounds.

Her shoulder still needed to be attended to.

She took a deep breath.  “It’ll be over in seconds.”  She assured herself.  She hesitated.  “Oh, this is going to hurt so badly.”  She murmured under her breath. 

Kezia slammed her shoulder against the wall of the stall.  She stifled her cries.  She leaned back against the wall, exhausted.