Username: Honeymoo
Show Name: GSS Painted Pawprints
Barn Name: Duchess
Experience:
I apologise in advance if this story is too much
The Meeting Of Two Minds
The Binding Of Two Souls
The stars seemed to blink in tandem, almost whispering to her as she walked down the dimly lit lane into the churchyard, a few yards and she stopped briefly to stare at the cenetary gates before passing through them. Slowly she made her way past the many graves around her, weaving around to the one she had cone for, carefully tiptoeing around a large angel statue to get to it. She kneeled down and placed her hand on the small grave stone infront of her, her eyes beginning to fill with tears as she read her daughters name and the redt of the writing over and over. "Hello my darling" she whispered whilst placing a white lily on the patchy grass growing infront of the stone "Did you miss me?" Colette smiled wearily as she spoke and lowered her head, her eyes closed as the memories came flooding back.
"Bethany! Bethany! Where are you? Oh Joseph, its just you.. have you seen Beth?" Colette asked to the tall burly man that had just walked into the room. "She's playing in the garden love, last i saw she was in the treehouse"
Colette smiled and nodded, the treehouse was Beth's favourite place, Joseph had built it for her 7th birthday. Even though he wasnt her father, he still loved the girl as if she was his own. Colette wandered out into the garden and climbed the treehouse to see what Beth was doing, as usual the youngster was hosting one her famous tea parties, stuffed bears of many sizes surrounded a small wooden table with tiny porcelain cups laid upon it and Bethany was pouring imaginary tea into them whilst chatting to each one...
Such a beautiful memory.. Colette sighed remembering the moment over and over in her head, she cracked a small smile as she recalled Beth offering her a cup of tea too which she had gladly taken and pretended to drink, that was year ago now, just before Beth had her nasty accident.. Colette pulled the small porcelain cup out of her purse and turned it over in her fingers before placing it next to the Lily on the ground. She read the words on the tombstone again "Here lies Bethany Astél, beautiful daughter of doting mother, Colette, gone too soon"
Colette placed her hand on the tombstone and closed her eyes, it seemed she was wishing for her daughters return, for some kind of miracle atleast. The moon above hugged her body in a cold but friendly light and the stars seemed to twinkle just a little brighter. Then suddenly the silence of the night was broken by the cracking of a twig nearby. Colette looked up, fear instantly filling her as she searched for the source of the sound. She could see nothing but headstones poking out in all different directions, weeping angels and crosses warped and creepy looking in the moonlight but she definitely felt like she was being watched.
Quickly she gathered her things and hid behind one of the larger square gravestones, listening she could clearly hear footsteps nearby but they sounded unsteady and slow. Colette glanced out from behind the stone and came face to face with a young foal, she almost screamed from the shock but for the foals sake she held it back and the two of them stared at eachother for a long time. The foal whinnied softly, its eyes glinting in the light of the moon. She couldnt have been very old, a day at the most considering she appeared to still be unsteady on her legs. Colette reached out her hand slowly and touched the filly on the muzzle, in response the foal stepped closer and nuzzled her head into Colette's hand and arm. The woman smiled at the sweet moment and then quickly looked around "Where is your mother little one?". Ofcourse the foal couldnt reply but it didnt stop Colette froom scanning the area for any sign of another horse. There was none, she could hear nothing bit the sound of her and the foals breathing.
Conflicted, Colette stood up and took a few steps away to try and find the foals mother again, why was it wandering around in a graveyard? Where was the mother? Who or what put them here? Questions circled her mind and it was getting rather late. She fished into her purse and pulled out her phone, quickly dialling a number before raising it to her head, a moments pause before she spoke "Joe, i need your help".
Days passed and there was no sign of any other horse in the area, no news about finding the mother despite Colette telling the local news about it. In the meantime she and her now ex boyfriend Joseph Warron had been looking after the foal. She appeared to be in excellent health and was now steady on her feet and gaining weight with every new day. She was uniquely marked, an unusual colour but definitely tobiano and with cat tracks running right through the white patterning. Despite losing her mother she seemed rather content and loved the attention that her human carers gave to her.
Over the next few months she grew in size rapidly and with no sign of anyone coming forward to claim the filly, Colette decided to keep her, she named her Duchess. Her fluffy foal coat was starting to shed already to reveal a dark champagne underneath. With each day Colette fell in love with her even more and very much liked to watch the filly play and run in the fields with the other horses she owned. She knew this one was special. Meeting Duchess on that weary night could not have been a coincidence.. she had to have been a sign, a sign to move on from her grief and focus on something beautiful instead.
Their relationship grew strong over the years, a bond so unbreakable that the two could hardly bear to be apart for more than 5 minutes. It was clear to anyone that the horse was very thankful for having been given the chance to live and Colette had loved watching her foal grow into a magnificent horse, she taught her the ways of riding, dressage and jumping, along with helping to desensitise her to scary things such as big red tractors and the obviously very scary chicken that lived down the road! Duchess soon became the star of the stables and she knew it too, some would say she was spoilt but Colette thought she deserved anything she wanted, for on that fateful night years ago, two souls were saved.
She knew that neither of them had forgotten the day they met by how Duchess acted whenever they went to visit Bethany's grave and she often thought back to that night in the graveyard, how those bright green eyes staring at her in the dark shone like crystals... the same green eyes that her Bethany once had...
