I woke up right as the sun was coming up the next morning. Velvet was resting her head on my stomach, her eyes slightly open, watching, waiting, and listening. I rubbed her nose gently and she took her head off of me.

I got up with a sigh, and grabbed my water. As I was drinking it, Velvet looked at me, almost begging like. I poured some water in my hand, and let her drink it. She snorted in thanks. When we both got more woke up, I went and grabbed her saddle and saddle pad.

I threw her saddle over her back after throwing his saddle pad on. I strapped the cinch and breast collar tight, yet loose. I heard a loud crunch after we had sat there for a second. I looked around the clearing in alarm.

On the side of the clearing I saw a set of glowing, yellow eyes looking right at me. They were low to the ground. "Wait- was that- " The figure stepped out of the bushes and I gasped. "Ada!!?"It was my sweet, little white cat! I sighed in relief as she padded up to me, meowing. 

She jumped into my arms and rubbed all over my face. "Oh Ada. It's great to see ya. What ya doin' out here, huh?" I petted her a bit and then set her down in the snow. She almost looked camouflaged. I laughed. 

I jogged back over to Velvet, and started untying the rope that tied her to the branch. I grabbed the blanket and then folded it up, stuffing it in the saddle pad. I strapped my sharpened stick to Velvet's back, and put my knife in my pocket. This was gonna be a long, cold day. 

"Okay girl. We're all packed up and ready to go. Let's get to going." I put my foot into the stirrup and with a jump, heaved myself into the saddle. I kicked her sides gently, and we started off at a steady trot. "Oh no! I forgot where we came from..! I guess we can start by going.. West?

As we started trotting that way, Ada followed closely behind, running and panting, and letting a meow escape from her mouth every few seconds. "Ada, just jump up here with me." Ada readied herself, and then made the big leap, landing in my lap. Velvet threw her head up, but I held her reins tight. 

I put my arm around Ada so she would feel more safe, since she was a lot higher than normal, and we were doing a trot. "I taught you well.." I mumbled under my breath, half to Ada, half to myself. When she was a kitten, I had taught her not to be afraid of horses, and then to jump onto Ada's back on command. We started with me sitting on Velvet with a saddle, not moving. Then, slowly and steadily walk- then trot, and here we are. I didn't dare to go past a canter, because if she fell off when she tried to jump up, she might fall and hurt herself badly. 

I nudged Velvet's sides, and asked her to canter as I found a slender, snow covered trail. Velvet suddenly slowed on her own will, and stepped slowly onto the trail, looking left and right cautiously. I gently told her to walk on. I didn't bother to mess with her too much. She was in a place she had never been. After we took a left, I asked her to go back to a canter, and she set off. Now we were going East. Her canter was starting to get faster, and it was scaring Ada a little, so I slowed her not to a trot, but just to a slower, smoother canter. 

I looked left and right at the beautiful scenery. Velvet trudged through the snow with an occasional snort, and threw her up up every now and then. I told her to speed up when I saw a log that blocked our path a few yards away. Velvet had jumped before, and she was actually pretty good at it. I counted the strides carefully as we got closer. "One.. Two.. Three," and then she jumped successfully. She cleared the jump easily, and when she landed, snorted with satisfaction. 

"Great job girl." Ada trembled in my lap, and as soon as Velvet slowed, she jumped down, as if saying, "I'll walk now." I laughed in amusement at the terrified look on her small face, and her puffed out tail. "Okay, time to get back on track." I said, my mood turning back to serious, and determined. I clicked my tongue, and Velvet transitioned into an even trot. I shivered, my fingers were like rocks. They were so cold. As we went further down the trail, Velvet started to get all spooky and skittish again. I held her reins tighter in case she tried to buck or bolt. 

An eerie feeling surrounded me as we trotted through the woods. It was like I was being watched.. no I need to be tougher. Nothing's there.. except maybe a cougar or bear.. I shook my head to try and break these frightening thoughts. Velvet side stepped and started throwing her head every which way. Ada had stopped following us and was pacing back and forth a few yards back. Every second, I started feeling more and more uneasy. Then, I heard what sounded like the terrified screech of a full grown woman. 

Velvet reared up vivaciously, but I had a tight enough grip to stay on. Then it came into sight..