Chapter 1

The horse alarm clock beside Ashley Delaney's bed started ringing. That annoying little constant beeping. I must make it stop! Ashley thought as she drifted out of unconsiousness. She groaned and sat up to hit the snooze button. All of a sudden plop! she fell write off and into a pile of laundry beside her bed. Oh great, a perfect start to my perfect day. She slowly sat up and then stood and stumbled over to her closet and pulled out a pair of jeans and a t'shirt. Her usual wardrobe. But then again she was just going to muck out stalls, so what did it matter? She quickly got dressed and pulled her long, auburn colored hair back in to a ponytail before stumbling down the stairs to her kitchen.

"Morning Ashley." Her father greeted her as he sat a pile of pancakes in front of her face. She smiled. Her dad was a middle-aged man who thought like a child. Like now, for instance he was dancing around the kitchen and singing some old seventies song. Ashley couldn't help it, she laughed out loud.

"Hey! What's so funny?" Her dad asked trying to look annoyed.

"Nothing. I'm going to go on out and see if Logan needs any help with the morning feeds." She said as she stood and walked out the front door and out into the warm autumn sunshine. She walked into the stables and smiled to herself when she spotted Logan, one of Oakland's stablehands trying to convince a horse to eat it's breakfast. Logan was sixteen and Ashley found him extremely handsome. They had been friend's since three years earlier when Logan had started working at Oakland.

"Morning. Getting anywhere?"Ashley said with a laugh as she walked up behind him. He turned to face her.

"Nope. Maybe he'll eat for you. I've been standing here for the past half hour. Why don't you give it a try?"Logan suggested as he handed her the feed bucket and backed away. Ashley thought for a minute and then stuck her hand in the bucket and getting some of the mushy feed in her hand stepped forward and offered her hand to the tall, chestnut horse in the stall. To her delight the horse started to eat out of her hand. She smiled and offered him the bucket, which he stuck his head into and continued eating. She turned back around to face Logan.

"You mean like that?" She asked with a grin before taking the other feed bucket out of Logan's hand and walking to the next stall. He followed her with a grin on his face.

"Yeah like that. How did you do that?" He asked in amazement. He was only two years older than her but he was a foot taller. She looked up into his face and laughed.

"Well that's for me to know and for you to find out!" She answered as she continued down the row of stalls, stopping and patting each horse in turn. She kept going until she got to the feed room, where she walked inside and started mixing the rest of the horse's breakfasts. Logan followed her and helped her carry them out to the waiting horses in their stalls. She had lived at Oakland her entire life. She loved everything about the horses. And well she had made some wonderful friends too. She smiled as she thought of Scott,Ben,Matt, and Courtney. Scott was the local vet and also her sister Cassie's boyfriend. Ben was another stablehand but at the moment he was away at a show with his horse What Luck. Ben had a wonderful sense of humor that sometimes got on Ashley's nerves. He was always joking around. Matt was one of Ashley's best friends. He was also a stablehand and Scott's little brother. He was the same age as Ashley and went to school with her. Logan and Ben were both two years older than Ashley and Matt and Courtney, Ben's girlfriend, was too.

"Ashley! Hello Ashley!" Logan was trying to get her attention.

"Oh sorry. What did you say?"Ashley said as she lifted a feed bucket over the last stall door.

"I asked you if you wanted a ride to the community center!"Logan exclaimed with a laugh.

"Oh sure. Thanks." Ashley replied. She and Logan taught horse care at the community center every Saturday morning. She followed him out to his truck and got in.