Chapter 7: Mystery Man

I step cautiously onto the earthen floor, layered with straws of hay. My gaze wanders around the interior of the enclosed stable, listening to the gentle sounds of horses whinnying. My nose slightly wrinkles at the pungent odour, but its familiarness is comforting.

Years ago, in a chasm of time, a gap where our stormy lives were stilled into a short-lived silence. Atticus used to take riding lessons at Mell’s ranch. He was good too, won an accolade of medals to prove it, until his hobby became an unmanageable expense. And it became a thing of the past, along with a lot of things.