Wild Horses

Helping to clear the table after an early dinner, Zach kept a close eye on Treva, making sure she didn't wander too far if she decided to leave the house. There was something he wanted, perhaps even needed to show her. Seeing the way Zach kept glancing at her, Treva could tell something was going on, and she decided to help clear the table to get closer to him.

"Hi," she greeted quietly, coming up beside Zach at the sink, pouring cold water from the wooden bucket that had been brought inside from the pump onto their dishes so Maria could wash them. "What were you looking at me like that for?"

Glancing at her quickly, Zach felt his cheeks grow hot, hoping that he wasn't blushing. "Looking at you like what?" he asked, swallowing the nervous lump in his throat.

"Like I was about to run off at any moment," Treva answered with a smile.

Sighing, Zach looked at her, a slow smile forming on his lips. Everyone had left the kitchen for a moment, and they were alone. "There's something I want to show you."

Treva smiled in return. "Okay."

"Come with me," he said, taking her hand and leading her toward the door facing the horse barn.

"Wait just a moment, Treva," a voice called from behind, and the pair turned to be greeted by John. Letting go of her hand, Zach took a step away, opening the door.

"I'll be in the barn," he informed, and Treva looked over her shoulder at him, nodding.

"Yes, Papa?" she asked of her father, taking a few steps closer to him. He smiled, opening his arms to her. Encircling her in a hug, John placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"I just want to let you know how happy your mother and I are that you're adjusting so well to living here," he whispered, kissing her hair once more before letting her go. Smiling up at her father, Treva nodded before turning away to follow Zach out to the barn. "Treva," John called for her again. Stopping in the open doorway, she looked over her shoulder again. "Do you like that boy?"

Almost embarrassed that her father had asked her such a thing, Treva hesitated. Of course she liked Zach. Even with the charm of Brian's presence, she was inevitably drawn toward Zach. Seeing the sly smile that parted John's lips, Treva didn't answer, but rather hurried out the door.

Crossing the yard between the house and the barn, Treva heard the sound of splitting wood and looked to her right. Along the side of the house, Brian was chopping wood, stacking the pieces along the wall. Watching how Brian's muscles flexed as he raised the axe over his head, Treva paused. Hearing the wood split as Brian brought the blade down quickly. Almost as if sensing her presence, Brian looked up, tossing the split wood onto the pile. He dipped his head in greeting as he paused his work. Waving as she headed toward the horse barn, Treva still watched as Brian grabbed another large piece of firewood, setting it on the stump. She heard the resounding crack of metal on wood echo behind her as she entered the barn.

Treva smiled at the sight of Shadow saddled and ready to go, Zach standing on the horse's far side as he gave the strap on the underside of the saddle one last tug.

"So where is this thing you wanted to show me?" Treva asked, and Zach came around Shadow, grabbing the reigns and leading the stallion out into the light. Treva noted Shadow's apparent excitement when he realized they had gone out the side of the barn that led to the miles and miles of open ground.

"It's more of a place than a thing," Zach answered, holding Shadow steady as Treva pulled herself up in the saddle - something that had become increasingly easy for her to do after a few days of practice. She still couldn't ride alone, but Zach didn't think it was going to be much longer until she could.

Getting up into the saddle behind Treva, Zach smiled to himself at the closeness their bodies achieved. He had ridden with her before, but every time he could be this close to her, he would revel in for as long as he could. There was just something he loved about the way her body practically melded into his.

Treva didn't complain either about how close she and Zach were in the saddle. It was different than being up there with Brian. Zach had muscles, they just weren't as defined, and he was softer to lean into. Almost more inviting, in a way.

Getting Shadow into a trot, Zach decided to take their trip slowly. He rarely got a large amount of time alone with Treva, and he was going to save this entire moment. What he wanted to show her wouldn't be arriving too soon anyway. They had time.

Just as he had expected, coming down the hill from the near-ledge that looked over the stream and the vacant field riddled with trees on the other side, Zach and Treva were early. There was no exact time that such a thing that he wanted to show her would occur, but he had a feeling - like he did around this time every year - that it was going to happen. Almost as if he was programmed to remember it.

Realizing as Zach pulled Shadow to a stop right near the edge of the stream that it was only a little further upstream that she had first touched Shadow and gotten to see who Zach was when they were alone, Treva smiled.

"This is what you wanted to show me?" she giggled, looking back over her shoulder at Zach. "I've already seen this stream."

"You think I bought you out here to show you a lousy stream?" Zach asked, smiling down at Treva, eyes glancing at her lips for only a moment. "Look over there," he said, pointing to the field before them, so Treva looked and kept her eyes fixed there. She wondered for a moment what it was she was supposed to see.

But then she heard it. The low sound of pounding hooves, many of them from the sounds of it, paired with the wild, high whinnies of horses. From over the crest of the shallow hill behind the golden field came a pack of horses, all wild, manes and tails billowing in the air as it whipped past them.

Seeing the multicolored paints, the chestnuts, and the ivories, muscles all moving so sinuously as they practically flew down into the field, Treva smiled wider than she had before. They were beautiful, there was no doubt about it.

Hearing her surprised intake of breath, Zach smiled as well. He had hoped Treva would react that way, though after the way she reacted to Bandit, he wasn't surprised.

"They're beautiful," Treva whispered, nearly breathless at the wild, completely untamed horses that had stopped to graze. "Where do they come from?"

"No one really knows. But they stop on their way through here every year, almost down to the exact day. They don't stay very long; they'll be gone by the time the sun sets," Zach explained, leaning into Treva as he felt her body relax into his.

"Is this where Brian caught Bandit?" Treva asked, wondering if he belonged to this family.

"Yeah."

Sighing as she continued to take in their beauty, Treva realized that, in a way, that fact alone helped define part of Brian's personality. He was a conqueror. She could tell.

"Why don't you tame more of them?" she asked, daring a glance up at Zach before quickly looking at the horses again. "They're so beautiful."

"It would defeat the purpose of the horse being wild," Zach answered, wrapping his arms loosely around her. "Once a wild horse is tamed it can't ever go back to its wild life. It can never be free, or live without the help of humans again. It's kinda like...you," he said, and upon hearing his words, Treva looked up at his clear, green eyes connecting with hers as she waited for him to continue. "This wide open place, this wilderness. Whether you like it or not, it's becoming a part of you, and you a part of it. If you were to go back to Manhattan and live in the city, it wouldn't feel the same to you as it used to."

Not breaking her gaze with Zach, Treva wondered if what he said was true, and she realized as each day passed by that it was. Montana had changed her already, was still changing her, and she was never going to be the same person she used to be.

Feeling something intense grow inside his soul, Zach caught the way her gaze held his. Eyes dashing to her lips once more and back up to Treva's captivating sky-blue stare, he wondered what it would be like to kiss her. He had only ever kissed a girl once, but he had never felt this way, had never felt so compelled to do so.

Head slowly dipping down, he realized Treva wasn't pulling away from his advance, her eyes focusing on his plump bottom lip. She wondered what he tasted like, and knew that she was going to find out. There was no escaping it.

Zach finally leaned in the rest of the way and their lips met, moving softly against each other. He could feel her nose brush against his as he pulled away. Treva opened her eyes, only realizing then that they had closed. On a brazen move, she braced her hand along Zach's jaw, fingers brushing his neck just below his ear, and she pulled him down again, kissing him just as innocently as before. Zach tightened his arms around Treva's waist, kissing her harder before he pulled away, quickly kissing her one last time.

Pulling away, he opened his eyes, Treva doing the same, and leaned his forehead against hers. There was no mistaking the smiles on either of their faces.