Stone Cold Charade (A Stone Family Novel) (43 page)

Suddenly remembering the office entrance, he
sprinted towards it. He checked the latch and found it unlocked, much to his
relief. He waited anxiously for his rifle. Minutes later Tarik and his brother
rushed from the main house, carrying his rifle.

After sliding to a stop in front of Hassan,
Tarik exhibited growing uneasiness while fighting to catch his breath. Hassan
grabbed the rifle from his hand, none too gently. Tarik and his brother were in
charge of the stables. They should have been able to prevent this from
happening. When this was over, they would be lucky if all he did was fire them
for their part in this disaster.

Hassan began to load the hunting rifle, “Your
Highness, we tried to stop her, but she would not listen. She grabbed one of
the machetes and nearly removed my head!” Obviously fearful, Tarik moved
restlessly in front of the Prince, as his brother, equally frightened, stood next
to him fidgeting.

At the man’s unbelievable words, Hassan halted
and studied Tarik closely as he asked, “She opened his stall?” Hassan was not
ready to accept what the man was implying, but couldn't help thinking
maybe
I was right and the girl is mentally unbalanced
.

“Who barricaded the doors?” Both men shared a
bewildered look, not knowing what he was referring to.

Hassan turned away from them, furious. He
entered the office. “Turn off the water,” he shouted, over his shoulder as the
torrent of water flooding the room instantly drenched his clothes.

Jessica noted that King was becoming
increasingly calm and more sluggish. She spoke to him consolingly, gaining his
attention. She just had to wait until he steadied himself. Now that he was out
of the stall that was causing his claustrophobia, it was simply a matter of
time. The water cascading down was soothing to his tired, overheated body. She
waited patiently for the sign she required showing her he was ready to accept
her help. When it came, King ambled up to her with his exhausted head lowered,
nudging her stomach, tired and defeated.

She swiftly led him to the hay she had spread
out earlier and nudged him, silently commanding him to lower his massive body
as someone switched off the overhead sprinkler system. It halted the flow of
freezing water, leaving the space much quieter, with everything dripping,
having almost a therapeutic effect. As King stretched out, his sides laboring
from his exertion, she retrieved her medical bag. Jessica set the bag down
behind King and heaved the buckets of ice towards him. She tried to block from
her mind the bitter cold still coursing through her body from the icy shower of
moments before, and shuddered as she dumped ice over King.

Jessica started to bathe the beautiful horse
with handfuls of ice, her hands beginning to go numb as she rhythmically
stroked his body. She whispered to him about how courageous he was and how he
needed to trust in her. She became so lost in what she was doing and saying
that she never ceased, repeatedly reassuring him that he was not alone and she
would remain until he improved.

Hassan opened the door to the corridor and
closed his eyes briefly in terror at the silence coming from within. Where
moments before he had heard King’s cries of aggravation from outside the
stables, now there was only the dripping sound of the water hitting metal or
wood, the melody hauntingly ominous. His blood ran cold with fear at what he
may discover. The stillness inside telling its own story, the only explanation
for it was that King had injured the slight girl gravely, or had killed her
unintentionally.

To read more look for Stone Cold Legacy…..