Wild Horses

Growing up, Treva Dawn had never been much of an outdoor girl. She had lived in the city - New York City - for her entire sixteen years of life, and she was certain that there was no other place she'd ever want to be. The city was her home, and she hoped one day, when she was older, to start a family of her own there, in the heart of adventures.

She was a proper indoor girl, as one might say. Treva never wore pants, as it was completely unheard of and unladylike for her to do so, despite the fact that a new century was soon approaching. She took piano lessons regularly, and enjoyed them. She didn't like to go outside or play with the boys. She didn't like to get dirty or wrinkle the skirts of her dresses. Treva liked things neat, proper, and tidy. Treva liked the life she had, there in the great city of wonder.

That being said, one might understand the horror she felt when her mother and father sat her down to have a talk. The Dawns were moving. Not down the block, not across town. To Montana. A land completely full of wilderness and uncharted lands. There was no civilization out in Montana, at least not in Treva's eyes. Only trees and grass and dirt. No tall buildings, no bustling horse-drawn carriages (or at least not the high-quality ones Treva was used to seeing), and no streets lined with busy people. Montana was a place for late Gold Rushers; a place where those looking for new money moved and built houses from timber cut down in the forest. To put it shortly, Montana was not the place for Treva - she was sure of it.

But her parents didn't give her a choice.

That same night, Treva's mother, Clarisse, had told her that they were to be living on a ranch outside the very small town of Billings, where a friend of hers lived. The Bakers, she had said, moved out there around the time Treva was born, and they had a son who was just about her age - give or take a year or two. That was the only thing that gave Treva hope; the fact that she would have someone her own age to at least keep some company.

Being that the Bakers moved when they had, Treva had never met them, but her mother told her hey were hard-working people. They had built their entire ranch with their bare hands. The way Clarisse spoke of them, the Bakers sounded like generally nice people. But Treva still didn't want to leave.

Truth be told, she was scared - scared to leave the only place she had ever known since birth, scared to go out into the wild without knowing what would be there waiting for her, lurking in the shadows. She was scared of leaving the comfort of her own home, and of living without all of the pleasurable amenities she had there. Those things didn't exist in Montana, and Treva didn't want to go. She had made that part quite clear.

But as time would soon tell for Treva Dawn, Montana would become a place full of mystery and wonder, a place that would change the person she knew herself to be. A placed that would change her life. Forever.

Treva thought the move was the end of her life as she knew it. But really, it was only the beginning.