13.Cupcake doesn't make it. Drake looks for Stella.
1482 Words
Stella rode along blindly. She let Cupcake run the path.
When it got dark, she jumped off and using grass, brushed down the big mare.
She had to calm down. He was trying to leave her, she knew it.
Stella lay under a pine tree. She rested a few minutes to let Cupcake cool off, then she headed back so Teddy wouldn't worry.
She didn't see it, but Cupcake felt it. Cupcake whined and stood on her hind legs, moving her head side to side, then took off running full speed.
" Whoa...what is it?" yelled Stella, scared now, hanging on tightly.
She looked behind them.
" Faster Cupcake, go...go"..
A large cat was giving chase.
Most likely a cougar Stella thought.
As Cupcake rounded a corner she threw Stella into a large pine tree.
She hit her head and crumpled to the ground. Her bruised leg was now broken. Stella was passed out.
The cat continued to give chase after Cupcake. Clawing her rear end.
The horse turned again and reared up on the cat. It growled and cried out as the horse stomped down. The cat turned tail and ran off.
Cupcake went back down the trail home. Teddy was saddling up and coming for Stella, she hadn't returned.
Cupcake came back all scratched up with claw marks on her hind end.
Teddy put her in the stall and rode off. He looked for Stella along the trail. Watching the path.
He couldn't find her.
Night fell. He turned back home and called the search and rescue.
He told them he was very worried. They all came out the next day, early morning.
Stella was still passed out under that pine tree. The cougar was onto her scent.
It was a race against time.
Several of the younger boys, boy scouts, got on their motorcycles and rode off ahead.
It was a long search. They couldn't find her. She was not visible to the naked eye.
They brought out the hounds on day three.
It was late evening when a dog hit on her scent.
A dog licked her face. She was unresponsive. They tracked that cougar down though and killed it.
They finally found her.
She was barely alive.
Stella was rushed to the hospital.
She was in a coma, her leg was broken, her head wound was causing swelling and trauma to her brain.
Teddy stayed at her bedside. He refused to call Drake after he brought his lover there, he was such a jerk.
He wouldn't let him know she was badly injured. Drake would probably be relieved, he thought.
It was a long week. Finally she opened her eyes. Teddy was so happy. She smiled at him.
" Hello?" She said.
She didn't know him.
He smiled. " I'm your friend, we live by eachother, neighbors."
She trusted this kind man.
" How did I?"....she asked looking at her casted leg.
He said," The horse you were riding was attacked by a cougar, you barely got away." He said.
" Oh, and the horse?" She worried.
He shook his head. " The vet had to...put her down."
She cried then. " Oh, no what was her name?"
He said," Cupcake."
She said,"I wish I remembered her."
Hw nodded. " Me too."
" Where are my parents, my brothers at?" She asked.
" I didn't know you had a relationship with them, I didn't call them. Do you want me to?" He asked.
" Oh, I wasn't living with them?" she asked.
" Nope just that damn deadbeat man of yours, Drake."
She frowned. " I'm with Drake?" She was shocked.
" He loves me? he's my brother's friend." She added.
" Well, how old are you Stella?" He asked.
She looked at her body.
" Maybe 13? I don't know." She said.
He nodded. " You are almost 20 in a few months." he told her.
"Oh, what? I mean how...I'm confused." she said.
He said," You hurt your head pretty badly."
" Look, I have been neglecting my duties at the summer house, I will go now, but I can visit you tomorrow." He squeezed her arm.
She had a faint memory of someone else squeezing her arms recently, just a very bad feeling.
Teddy drove home.
He worked until midnight.
Drake called him and asked him if Stella was there.
He was heart sick, he couldn't stop thinking about her. He was coming back to mend things, he wanted to spend a few days with her, talk it out. It can't end like this.
Teddy told him,"No, ah...she's not here. Not since you ran her off." He wasn't lying.
Drake texted David, he had to find her.
" Can I speak with Stella, I'm sure she told you we had a bad fight, kind of broke up?"
He thought she would be there, with the only brother that seemed to care about her.
" Oh, I thought she was still there with you Drake." He was now getting worried, he knew Drake would hurt her.
" Maybe she is at friend's house then, aunt Sophia?" Drake said.
" Ah, doubtful, no really close friends, well aunt Sophia, but she passed away." David said.
Drake thought, she loved her aunt. She would be a wreck.
" I'll reach out to her. Did you try her cell?" asked David.
" Yeah, she's not answering me." He said.
Drake had been avoiding her last week, he knew he couldn't keep her there much longer, she was lonely.
That's why he thought Olivia could be her friend, he would pay her to take care of Stella.
He thought he could handle a woman like her, but she needed more attention than he could give her right now.
His other girls had taken what he had to offer, no more. This one, he just couldn't stop loving her, he wanted her to stay.
He called Teddy back.
" By the way, I told my father to let you go after the way you talked to me, you need to watch yourself old man!" He warned.
Teddy said angrily," Sure, I'll move on, soon as you hire my replacement, oh...by the way...the vet had to put Cupcake down, sorry to tell you."
Drake said," What the hell, did Stella do this?"
Teddy shook his head sadly.
" Cougar attack. The vet couldn't save her."
" When? After Stella ran her into the ground, she was too weak to run away?" He said livid.
" Yeah it was that night, but at least it was just the horse that died."
The anger quickly left Drake, he felt like he was going to die, he sucked in his breath.
" What do you mean, is she hurt, my girl, is she okay?" He cried.
" Nope, not gonna let you hurt her anymore, she's been through...well never you mind asshole." He hung up.
Drake called David and told him that his horse was dead. Teddy wouldn't tell him where Stella was.
" What did you say to her when you guys last spoke?" David asked.
Drake told him,"The truth, I may have brought my friend Olivia with me as well, to be her companion, I can't give her the attention she craves."
David frowned."She didn't like that did she?"
Drake said," No, she ran off."
"Since great aunt Sophia died, she's must be very fragile, she loved that woman." He said.
Now Drake felt horrible. He might have pushed her over the edge. He was very uneasy about her missing.
He needed to go back to find her. "Damn it, it's all my fault!"
He packed his bags.
When he got to the summer house, he saw all of her things still there. Her phone was in her room.
He looked at her phone, he saw that she had all of his texts from different women on her phone. She sent them to herself from his phone.
" s**t!" He thought. "She thinks I'm cheating on her."
Why would she leave her phone.
Teddy wasn't home either.
He saw the unopened letter from the law office. He quickly opened it. Hmmm..they are requesting the presence of Stella Miller for the reading of her aunt Sophia's will. She didn't even open this?
He went to the neighbor's house.
" Oh... there was a big search for that gal. She was on a horse, it was attacked by a big cat. We got the cat though." He said smiling.
" What about the girl?" He asked hoping he didn't hear the worst.
" Oh, about 3-4 days later they found her all banged up under a tree, I think she died at the hospital." He nodded.
"Poor thing, she weren't no older than 15 or 16 I heard."
Drake took a step back, he was feeling sick. He needed to get to that hospital.
- Writer
