Cloud Riders(12)

His question made her catch her breath and she talked quietly. ‘They want me dead. Please don’t send me back.’ She started to freak out.

‘Settle down!’ he growled. ‘Cassie, here in Australia, once you are eighteen you are old enough to make your own decisions on where you live. Nobody can send you anywhere you don’t want to be now that you’re nineteen. If I can trust you enough, girl, to listen to your unusual tale without chucking you out on your ear, the least you can do is start trusting me in return.’

Kayden was right. He could have tossed me out days ago. She screwed the hanky up in her lap timidly. ‘Wyatt—Cassandra Wyatt. My parents are connected to royalty and live in a castle in the northern parts of France on the river Seine,’ she said, shaking, hardly able to put her thoughts into words.

Kayden had a serious expression: his eyes locked onto hers and his forehead creased with concern. ‘I know you’re scared but if these people did that to you it’s not only illegal and wrong, but immoral. You must trust me and that means doing as I ask.’

Cassie slowly nodded. ‘Okay. I want to trust you but what are you going to do?’

‘Firstly, I’m going to verify your identity as you have no papers. After that Jason and I are just going to do some research to see if they’ve filed a missing persons report in case the authorities are involved. We will need to cover any tracks if they have.’ He stood up, his height looming over her. ‘In the meantime, just in case you are being watched, I don’t want you to go anywhere, even to answer the door. Don’t make me tie you to this bed, Cassie because I need you safe until I can get to the bottom of this. If you want my help you’ll do as I say. Do you understand, Cassie? Am I making myself clear?’

She shivered at his livid tone of voice although she felt it was not so much directed at her as it was about her. She was hardly going to disobey him. She had nowhere else to go and he was right: she had no papers and was here illegally. She really did need his help. Cassie just hoped she hadn’t put Kayden in danger by staying with him. What if the kidnappers come back to retrieve my dead body and follow my trail here? Although she somehow knew that Kayden would have already thought of all those things in just a few minutes, long before she had, as if he was used to handling such matters. Well, the way Cassie saw it, for now this home of his felt safe and so did he.

‘I promise,’ she said, knowing that her fate was in his hands. Looking at them, she could tell they were very strong and capable hands at that.

Kayden held Cassie’s shoulders and made her look up at him. ‘If you run from me again, Cassie, unlike them, I’ll be able to find you and trust me: I will not be so kind next time.’

Feeling tough and confident for the first time ever, she shrugged off his hands. ‘Okay, I get it. I’m in big trouble with authorities if I’m found here without a visa. I trust you, Kayden but if you let me down I swear I’ll fight you and anyone else who tries to stop me having this freedom that I’ve grown to love. I promise that whatever this thing is in me it will come out to play.’

Amusement spread across his face. ‘Just stay put, girl. Nobody is going to take your freedom ever again. Not if I have anything to do with it.’

Cassie heard him talking to Jason before they sped off in the car. She lay back on the bed, trying not to fear what might lie ahead. A big part of her had started to trust Kayden. She had to give him a chance. Cassie had finally had a taste of something real in the last few days and for once in her life she finally wanted to live, to explore this new land with or without this stranger she had just met.

Smiling, she stood up, happy for the first time ever. ‘I really want to live,’ she giggled. Her mind drifted to the foal and the birth: watching it, Cassie had felt like she was being reborn too and the feeling exhilarated her. She felt excited and even though had promised to stay put the feeling to share her joy was too strong. Cassie wanted to see the foal, feel its soft coat, smell its newness and run with it; yes, run with the foal.

Finding some old gumboots to keep the wound on her foot from getting dirty, she forgot about her pledge to Kayden about leaving the house. As her wild abandonment at this new life overtook her she trudged off down the dirt track towards the horses. When she made it to them they were all drinking from the stream except for the big one she had slept beside. It came up and nudged her for a pat.

It looks like I’ve made a friend . Cassie smiled cheerfully.

He followed her over to the little foal that she bent down to cuddle. She could smell his baby milky breath and feel his soft curly fur against her cheek. He was so sweet and not at all wobbly now. He was frisky and jumped around her as if he wanted to play. He nudged Cassie before he galloped off so she playfully ran after him, laughing as he spun around and came back at her. She laughed and rolled on the ground as he knocked her over. ‘You’ll cop it now,’ she stood and hugged him, feeling the happiest she’d ever felt.