Crossover 'The Chosen One Trilogy: Book One' Read Online Free PDF Page A

him?
    “You have your orders, man”, he growled
to himself.
    He looked up at the rustling in the
bushes ahead of him. A small grey rabbit made its way into the open
then bolted when it spotted him.
    He shrugged and stood up. Since he
wasn’t able to sleep, he may as well go hunting.
     
    *****
    The following morning I jumped out of
bed and got dressed. My dad looked up in surprise as I ran down the
stairs and threw together a lunch.
    “I’ll be gone all day dad! I’ll let you
know about supper.” I gave him a quick kiss and ran to the
entrance.
    “What was that all about?” I heard my
mom asking.
    “I’m not sure.”
    “Bye!” I called back to them as I
closed the door.
    I jumped into my truck and made my way
out of town. My heart was beating a bit more quickly than usual and
I shook my head. I thought of Jasper’s eyes and smiled. It had been
a while since I had felt anything like this, or let myself feel
anything like this. Maybe it was because he was a stranger. I was
pretty sure he wasn’t from around here. He had a bit of an accent
that I couldn’t place. Maybe deep down I thought a couple days of
fun would be safer than getting attached to someone again just to
have them crush me.
    I pulled up to the arena and glanced to
the pens. Dodge was already outside. He perked his ears towards me
when he saw me heading towards him.
    “Hey, Buddy.” I put his halter on and
led him to the barns.
    “I brought my books so I can study,” I
made small talk with him as I saddled him. “I told Jasper after
lunch and I have no clue where his campsite is, so I thought we
could go hang out at that little waterfall for the morning.” I
wondered how Jasper would manage to find us. “I guess he’ll
probably look there first since that’s the only place I know up
there.”
    Dodge snorted.
    I went back to the truck and grabbed my
lunch, some blankets to sit on and my book bag full of books. Back
at Dodge’s stall, I grabbed my sweater out of the tack box. I put
that and my lunch into the saddlebags, rolled the blankets and tied
them behind my saddle, and pulled my backpack on.
    “Alright. Let’s go.”
    I glanced around outside as I swung
into the saddle. There was no one around. I was surprised when I
realized I was glad. The thought of having someone else along for
the ride today made me frown. Thankfully, I wasn’t going to have to
tell Tara or Shay that I didn’t want them to tag along. I was sure
it wouldn’t have gone over well.
    I could just hear the conversation in
my head.
    “Hey, Hayden, mind if we tag
along?”
    “As a matter of fact, girls, I do. I’m
on my way to meet a gorgeous stranger out in the middle of nowhere
and no one will be able to hear me scream for help when he turns
out to be a serial killer.”
    I laughed at myself. I could always try
to defend myself with my hoof pick.
    “Ok, Dodge.”
    I turned his head toward the trail and
silently wondered if the mystery trail would be there
today.
    My stomach stayed in knots over the
thought until we passed the clearing. I took a deep breath and
smiled. It was there. Dodge seemed to know that was where we were
headed and made his way up the hill with no urging from
me.
    I was amazed once again at how
beautiful the meadow was when we reached it. I guided Dodge to the
smaller trail by the creek and took a deep breath to calm the
butterflies in my stomach.
    “Man. And to think this place has been
here all this time and I never knew about it.”
    Dodge stopped by the pond and waited
patiently as I took everything off of him.
    “Shit.”
    Dodge stopped drinking and looked at
me.
    “I forgot your hobbles. I put them with
Bertha’s harness thinking I was going to work her this
morning.”
    He shook his head and went back to
drinking.
    “I’ll just put your halter on. No funny
business, mister.”
    I could never remember a time when
Dodge had ever wandered away from me and was fairly sure he
wouldn’t, but didn’t think that testing the theory