Chapter one
“My feet are cold,” Skylar complained “My designer jeans are all muddy, and my back is sore from carrying this stupid backpack!”
Alexa sighed and tucked her hair behind her ear, why did she have to come along? She asked herself.
“If you put on some boots, instead of those dumb flats, your feet wouldn’t be cold. If you snap up the front of the backpack, your back won’t be as sore and, frankly, I really don’t care about those jeans. And how are they ‘designer’? They’re all ripped up!”
Now it was Skylar’s turn to sigh. “I bought them that way genius! That’s the way that they’re supposed to be! And FYI, Lexie, I would have stopped to change shoes, but you wouldn’t let me. And why did Mr. Crabbe make us do a huge project three days before school lets out for the summer anyway? I mean, its Sunday, he assigned it Friday, and its due tomorrow, which is Monday. Like, its just not fair!!! ” She whined, then dropped back a little and strapped up the backpack. It did help a little. But she wasn’t about to tell that to Alexa.
Alexa stopped suddenly. “All right Skylar, you can change them now. And FYI” She said, imitating the other girl, “I’d have stopped if you asked.”
“Why did I have to come anyway?” Skylar asked; as she bent down to change her shoes.
“I was just wondering the same thing. And anyway, you wouldn’t get any marks if you didn’t come. And I’d get double” This wasn’t true of course; Skylar would just get a lower mark than Alexa. But it was fun freaking Skylar out!
The whole reason they were out here on a hiking trail together anyway, was because of Mr. Crabbes latest idea of “A good and fun way to learn”.They had to go on a hike or camp-out with a field guide and write down and describe every plant and animal they saw. Extra points for dirt. The team who found the most wildlife got a surprise and a good mark. The surprise was probably just a sucker or small candy or something like that.
Anyway, when Alexa had gone around to all of her friends, they had all chosen theyr partners the day before, and Mr. Crabbe had made her be partners with Skylar. Skylar had been sitting at her desk playing with her nails when she heard Mr. Crabbe say that. She and Alexa both started talking and telling Mr. Crabbe why they didn’t want to be together, but Mr. Crabbe wouldn't listen. “Besides” he had said to them, “Every one has to have a partner, and you two are the only ones who don’t!” So it was official. Alexa and Skylar, basically sworn enemies, had to work together for the project.
“UGH!”Skylar grumbled, interrupting Alexas thoughts,“ I can’t lace these stupid boots!!!”
Alexa was about ready to tell her that there was a really cute forest boutique just into the woods a little ways and then run off before Skylar could figure out that there was no boutique. But instead, she knelt down and helped her to lace up the boots. Any way, Skylar had a phone and once she figured out that Alexa had ditched her she would probably call the police and have them arrest her for lying about cute boutiques.
“There’s some moss that we didn't get!” she said, and wrote it down. She didn’t even have to look it up because she already knew what it was. She spent a lot of time in woods such as these. Not on foot though. Her older half brother Trevor (They had the same father but different mothers) who was almost thirty now, was a successful lawyer and married to a beautiful doctor. They’d known each other for several years, and had gotten married in their second year of university. Total fairy tale right? Any way they had alot of money, and since both of them loved animals, especially horses, they bought a horse ranch when they moved out.
They had many horses, out of which Alexas favorite was Sibelle. An elegant mare, who was black from head to toe, with a star under her forelock shaped like a ring.She had deep brown eyes and her her coat gleamed when it was brushed. She was an Arabian horse, and especially good at dressage. But she also just loved to run. Which Alexa also loved to do. Whenever she went to Trevors ranch, the first thing she would do after saying hello to him and Kory (Trevors wife), was take Sibelle out for a gallop through the woods. And when the path got to twisty, they would slow down to a quick walk and Alexa would pick out as many types of wild life as she could.
They also had at least five cats who were house cats but let outside and were in charge of keeping the mice under control, and were about to have more, because Abby, the sassy black and white farm cat, was going to have a litter of kittens in a couple weeks. And Alexa was super excited, because on Saturday of next week,(a week and a bit before Abby was due) she was going to the ranch to spend the first half of the summer.
And finally, they had two dogs. Cleo and Jett. Cleo was a purebred golden retriever, with the prettiest eyes you ever saw, Jett was a Rottweiler German Shepard mix, so good natured you would never believe that he came from the rescue center. His head was shaped like a Rottweiler, but had the coloring of of a German Shepard. The rest of him was quite Shepard like. And his brown eyes, when he looked at you, seemed to see more than just your outside, but into your soul. And it worked both ways. You could tell how Thor was feeling, just by looking at his eyes.
“Alexa can we go now please!” Skylars whine cut into her thoughts.
“ Yeah, we can go, but were not going to get the most.” She warned.
“Mm, Hm! I care!” Skylar replied sarcastically.
