Escape
By: Megan
It was the weekend and the perfect day for a ride. Team Seven gathered at Chris's ranch for a fun filled day of trail riding and friends. The Seven, minus Chris, walked into the stables to get their horses. They all stopped dead when they saw the horse stalls. They blinked and then blinked again. Ezra looked for a moment as if he was going to say a word, then he stopped. Finally, after several long minutes, the spell that had fallen over the six men snapped when Chris wandered into the stable.
The group turned as one and stared at Chris. Chris stopped and frowned. "What's up guys?"
They all blinked. Josiah was the first person to speak. "Chris? Why are their dead-bolts and padlocks on the stalls doors? Isn't that a little excessive for horses?"
Chris looked at the group shaking his head, "No. So far that seems to be the only way to stop them from escaping."
The group exchanged looks. This wasn't normal Chris behavior; he was usually so sane. Buck finally spoke up. "Chris they are horses. You know, horses? They can't open dead bolts or padlocks. Aren't you being just a little paranoid?"
Chris looked at the horses and then at the team. "Nope. I don't think it is enough , but they have yet to get out of the padlocks."
Looking at each other, the team just nodded slightly worried about the sanity of Chris mind, but since Chris was the boss and in control of handing out the paychecks, they would just go with the flow and ignore the locks. Chris just looked at everyone, then slowly unlocked each padlock. After each lock was unlocked he placed the keys in his pocket. Leading his horse out of its stall, he looked at the rest of the team, "I'll be outside, waiting for y'all."
The group nodded. After Chris left, the group headed for their horses, none of them willing to ask what was going on with Chris.
Chris, on the other hand, led his horse outside thinking about what had prompted the locks. It all started on Monday...
FLASHBACK
It had been a slow Monday. The week promised lots
of paperwork that needed to get done this week.
Chris went to bed at his usual time after making
sure the horses were all in the stables and the
house was locked up. Chris fell asleep quickly,
tired after a long day.
Around three in the morning the sounds of a dead-lock bolt being picked sounded in the house. Slowly the door opened. Several large shadows could be seen as they entered the house. The muffled steps could be heard quietly thudding on the floor. The group of shadows made their way to the master bedroom. Slowly, the bedroom door opened allowing the shadows to enter, the carpet swallowing the noise from the steps. Finally, the shadows surrounded the bed. Their prey was in their sights and surrounded.
Chris suddenly woke up. Reaching over without thinking, he turned on the light and swore. He was surrounded. Surrounded by horses. All of the Seven's horses. They were staring at him.
Chris swallowed. This couldn't be good. He stared at the horses. How in the world did the horses get into the house? The stables and house had been locked. Still, the horses had gotten in. Chris stared; he knew why the horses were here. They wanted attention. For some reasons all of the Seven's horse were horses that demanded attention. Lots of attention. Especially, Ezra's, Vin's and Buck's.
He started to pet them as he struggled out of the bed. As he petted them, he started to lead the horses back to the stables. How in the world had the horses had gotten out? Chris wasn't going to worry about it. The locks must not have been locked all the way.
Two
hours later, all the horses were back in their
stalls and they were locked - really locked. Chris
stumbled to his bed, sank down on the his
mattress, closed his eyes and sighed just as the
loud buzzing of his alarm split the stillness.
Chris would have fired his gun at the alarm clock
if he could have. Sighing again, he got up and
started the day.
Tuesday
Chris dragged himself home. The two hours of sleep
he had missed didn't help him deal with the
paperwork, but he was home and he could go to bed
early and catch some sleep. The hours passed
quickly. Making sure the horses were locked in the
stables and the house locked up, Chris fell
asleep.
At 2:30 a.m. a scraping sounds could be heard at Chris's back door - the creak of the door opening. As the door opened, the horses walked into the house again, making their way towards the master bedroom. They opened the bedroom door, surrounded the bed and waited.
Chris
shot upright in the bed, flicked on the lights and
collapsed back into the bed. The horses had gotten
loosed again. Chris sighed. Getting out of bed, he
started petting the horses and leading them out of
the house. Finally, after several hours, Chris had
gotten the horses back in their stalls. He would
buy dead-bolts tomorrow for the horses' stalls and
the stable. He figured that should keep the horses
in their stalls and not wandering into the house.
Shaking his head, Chris laid down on his bed
intent on getting another hour of sleep.
Unfortunately life wasn't fair. His alarm went off
again. Growling, he got up thinking about killing
all of the horses.
Wednesday
Chris stalked into the barn, smiling. The horses
were out in the field. He had time, plenty of
time. Slowly, Chris drew an item out of a brown
paper bag. The gleaming bright metal of the item
lighted a similar gleam in Chris's eyes. Chris
grabbed his screwdriver and started to attached
the new shiny lock to all of the stall doors. He
would stop the horses from getting into the house.
Crumpling the brown paper bag, he smiled; the
horses weren't going to escape tonight. They were
never going to escape. Chris stifled the maniacal
laughter that was trying to escape. Shaking his
head, he went into his house to have a nice steak
to celebrate.
That
night the stables were filled with the sounds of
angry horses snorting, stamping and glaring. The
human had locked them in. Settling down, the
horses started to examine the locks. The human
wouldn't get out of the showering attention on
them.
Thursday
Chris heard his alarm go off. Reaching over, he
shut it off, smiling. It was a great day. No
horses woke him up. He had a nice, quiet sleep. He
almost looked forward to the paperwork. With a
slight spring in his step, he got ready for the
day.
Coming home, he went out back to check on the horses. He frowned when he saw them grouped together; the horses looked like they were planning something. Chris' frown deepened. They could plan all they wanted, but they were locked in the stalls.
Later that night, after Chris had fallen asleep, the backdoor opened again. The horses marched into the house, not caring about the noise. They opened the bedroom door, surrounded the bed and made enough noise to wake up Chris.
Chris shot up, turning on the lights. He started cursing. The horses got loose again. Sighing, Chris got out of bed, and started petting the horses, all the time trying to think if he could find a new lock for the doors - maybe not a dead-bolt, but a padlock. The horses couldn't deal with that. Smiling evilly Chris had found his new lock.
Several
hours later, Chris got the horses back into the
stables - happy horses who had gotten a lot of
attention. Heading to bed, he looked over at the
clock first. Sighing, he switch off the alarm and
headed to the kitchen to get some coffee.
Friday
The weekend, finally. Chris headed out to the barn
not even stopping at the house. A plastic bag was
straining with the weight of several padlocks hung
in his hand. Chris marched into the stables.
Reaching into the bag, he pulled out one lock.
Opening the plastic packaging, he pulled out the
keys. Unlocking the lock, he placed it on the
first stall. Then labeling the key, he added it to
a key chain. He did this with all of the stalls.
Smiling, he dusted off his hands when he finished.
The horses wouldn't be escaping now. They would be
safe. Chris indulge in the maniacal laughter that
bubbled through him. Gleefully he headed to the
house with a spring in his step.
Later
that night, the horses were once again in the
stables, neighing and snorting in anger. They were
stuck in their stalls - again!
Saturday
Chris was startled, when the rest of the team,
came out of the barn. Shaking his head, he looked
at the team. "Ready for a ride?"
The team nodded. Getting on the horses, they headed out for the trail.
Hours later, the Seven had gotten back from the ride, eaten dinner and left. The rest of the team never asking about the locks on the horses stalls.
Chris locked the last horse into their stall. Smiling, he placed the key ring into his pocket. Turning, he left the stable, not noticing Josiah's horse picking the keys for the locks from his pocket.
Chris left. The horses smiled. They would get more attention tonight.