Free To Love and Protect by Tammy Jo Burns

More than a fortnight has passed since I have last seen or heard from him and I know that does not bode well.   However, I have to have closure one way or another.   He will either be alive when we find him, or he will not.   I will not lie and tell you that I never think about him not being alive, but I prefer not to dwell on it, and instead hope for a miracle.   Miracles are infinitely nicer than the truth on most occasions.”   Never once did her voice break during her speech.   Justin studied her quietly.   They spoke little the rest of the day.
    ***
    Two days later, heralded by a flash of lightening and a loud thunderclap, the sky let loose its fury on their heads.   It had looked overcast all day, but when the wind picked up, and the temperature began to drop, they had nowhere to go for cover.   Out in the open they coerced their horses to make time as quickly as possible.   Soon the road bogged down in mire so thick and sticky, the horses were having trouble remaining surefooted.
    They traveled, heads down to avoid the whipping wind, for what seemed forever to Clarissa.   Justin had just suggested they take cover beneath a large oak when a lightening bolt hit one of the old tree’s branches.   Clarissa’s horse took offense to nature showing itself so close to her and reared.   She barely kept her seat before the horse bolted across the countryside.
    It seemed with every clap of thunder, the horse picked up speed.   She had a tenuous hold on the reins and knew she had to do something, or the poor animal would die from sheer exhaustion.   Clarissa began to gently pull back on the reins, but that did not seem to phase the horse either.   Instead, it began bucking to dislodge the rider, and run away from the cacophony and bolt of light.
    Quickly deciding it would be better if the horse tired itself out sans rider, Clarissa executed a very ill-performed dismount.   She landed in a mud hole that some wild animals had claimed it as a temporary home.   She landed on her bottom and then the rest of her body flopped out in the grassless area, letting the mud cover her clothes, and the rain pour over her.   She heard the galloping of hooves, both leaving and approaching.   Unable to hold herself together anymore, she erupted into gales of laughter.
    “Clare,” Justin’s voice carried on the wind towards her.   She let the laughter and rain dampen her anger at herself, her horse, nature, and the entire situation she found herself in.   Justin’s horse came to an abrupt stop, spraying her with more mud.  
    “Bloody hell,” she muttered under her breath, between fits of dying giggles.
    “Clare,” Justin ran to her, sliding to a stop.   He bent over her, blocking the rain from falling in her eyes.  
    “I heard you the first time,” she answered between giggles.
    “Why didn’t you answer me?”
    “I’m sorry,” she held up her hands to block her face from the rain.   “That should have been the first thing I should have done.   I should have settled your rattled nerves.   Whatever was I thinking?”
    “Are you all right?   Are you laughing?” he growled the two questions, straightening and looking down at her from his towering height.
    “I was thrown from my horse in a hole of mud and who knows what else?   I’m just dandy.   And until you came up being Lord High and Mighty, I found the situation to be quite hilarious.”
    “Are you physically hurt?”
    “No,” she muttered pushing herself up to a sitting position to avoid his out-stretched hand.  
    “Fine.   You don’t need my help?   Great!   I’ll just go back to London and my townhouse.   You can finish looking for your father on your own.   I’m finished with you and this entire situation!” he yelled to be heard over the pouring rain.   Tired of her silent treatment over the last few days, he had finally reached his limit.
    He turned around and walked towards his horse.   The rain eased, turning into a fine