Chapter Text
Golden plumes of weeds, illuminated by the beam of a flashlight, swayed gracefully in the breeze as Adora traipsed through the fields to get to the massive red barn in the distance. Dew clung to her as she made her way through the tall grass, leaving a thin layer of moisture at the hem of her jeans. She was only halfway across the field but she could already hear the herd waking up and groaning for food, bringing a small smile to her tired face. By the sounds of it, only a small portion of the herd was up and ready for the day but she was certain the rest of them would be up by the time she reached them. Shoving her free hand into her jacket pocket for warmth from the early morning chill, she hastened her pace and closed the distance between her and the now mooing barn.
Unlatching the heavy wooden doors, she swung them open to greet the herd. “Good morning Moo Moo… Milky… Hamburger…” One by one she walked by the stalls and gave each cow a quick pat on the head until she reached their bin of feed. She began filling a bucket nearly as big as herself with grain. A calf from a stall nearby mewed at her, begging for attention which he promptly received, Adora put her task on hold to give the baby cow a pet. “And good morning to you too, Wellington.”
A motor roared in the distance, Glimmer must’ve already woken to mow the fields. Adora was shocked for a moment at how early she was up, considering she typically waited til later in the morning to start her own chores,valuing sleep over duties. Ignoring that for the time being, she finished up feeding the herd and led them out into a vacant field to laze about for the day, tossing the small amount of excess grain into the grass for them to graze at. It was supposed to be a hot one, hence why she had woken earlier than usual, so they had more time in the fields in case she had to wrangle them back into their stalls early. Now was to find out why Glimmer had chosen this ungodly hour to rise.
It was a long stroll but she finally made her way to where her adopted sister was working. The sun just began to peak over the horizon, giving off just enough light for Adora to witness Glimmer’s vicious scowl. She waved her arms in the air as she grew closer in an attempt to get her attention, but Glimmer kept riding on. Pulling out her flashlight, she flickered the light in Glimmer’s direction, this attempt more successful. She drove the loud green beast over to her and cut the engine a few feet away. As soon as the motor died down, the air was filled with the sound of some loud, screeching racket coming from somewhere not too far away.
“Yeah, isn’t that annoying?” Glimmer began, Adora not realizing she had been making a face that warranted the response. “Miss Weaver’s new girl has been blasting that crap music all night, I couldn’t get any sleep. Bet you’re glad you’re not there right now, I can’t imagine what sort of crackhead brat is listening to that.”
“Wait— Weaver has a new girl?” Adora’s sense of up and down began to waver as soon as the words left her mouth. She found herself staring into the direction the music was coming, unable to rip her gaze away from the house in the distance, she could see a tiny illuminated window with the speck of a silhouette moving about but her vision began to haze over. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed before the sound of Glimmer’s complaints pulled her back to reality.
“—thinks she can just waltz in here overnight and commit a public disturbance! That’s it, I’m going into town and getting coffee, you coming?”
—-
The sun was full and bright in the sky by the time they arrived back at the farm, coffee already nearly entirely downed. Adora had tried to catch a glimpse of the new girl down the road on their way back, but at the speed Glimmer had been going, all she could see was a blur of the house she used to reside in. She was meant to be the last kid to ever be in Miss Weaver’s ward but she supposed her complaints were never taken seriously to begin with, she shouldn’t have been shocked her old abuser would be allowed to care for children again. The foster system was overflowing, not much could be done for it. Even though Glimmer had been frustrated with their new neighbor, Adora’s heart hurt for her, for the pain she didn’t know she was about to endure. Would this new girl even realize it was happening? How long would it take for Miss Weaver’s dark tendrils to sink into her and start chipping away at her psyche?
Or was she being too hard on her old caretaker? Even though the wounds still felt fresh, it had been years since Adora lived under Miss Weaver’s roof. Even through the hard times, there was still some twisted form of maternal love she received from her, maybe she had it in her to change for the better.
The thought made her feel sick. Made her feel guilty. It was always this way when her mind began to sink into the past. Sometimes her mind couldn’t pick apart the false memories from reality, sometimes she couldn’t pick apart Mom Weaver from Tormentor Weaver, the caring mother figure who pushed her to achieve from the monster who locked her in her room over the weekend for bringing home a failing grade. Were they even the same person? Or did she make one of them up?
Adora hadn’t even realized how entangled in her thoughts she had become until the sound of the car door slamming shut and gravel shifting under the weight of another car pulled her out of it. She looked out her window to see Bow’s rusted pickup truck pulling up next to her before he bounded out of it and slammed his own door shut.
“Morning!” He shouted at the girls as Adora hopped out of Glimmer’s car. Adora plastered a smile onto her face and fell into Bow’s open arms with Glimmer. He rubbed their arms as if he was trying to rub his energy into them before releasing them from his embrace. “Have the horses been taken care of yet?”
“Not yet,” Adora answered. “But let me come with you and help, I want to take Swift Wind for a ride.” With that, Glimmer resumed her maintenance as Bow and Adora went for the stables. Angella and Micah would’ve been pleased with them, getting such an early start before they even awoke.
The two walked in silence for a bit, Bow obviously eager to say whatever was toiling around in his mind. He didn’t wait long to let the dam burst.
“So... Glimmer told me about the new girl at Miss Weaver’s. Did you… have any thoughts?” Bow trailed off for a moment, seeming as though he was testing the water before he chose how to phrase his question.
Adora’s brow furrowed, face turned to stone as she spoke. “I have no thoughts.” And that was all she said, her face tight in concentration. Bow had thought she was deeply meditating on something serious, but in reality she had been trying to ward off any thoughts of the situation. It didn’t last long, though, as she soon let out a heavy, burdened sigh. “I have a lot of thoughts, actually. I just need to think on them, I guess.”
Bow gave her a solemn nod. They cared for the horses in silence, an uncomfortable feeling for the both of them, but everything Adora wanted to say was swallowed by her nerves. She saddled and mounted Swift Wind in record time and guided her noble steed down the gravel driveway. The gravel shifting under his sturdy hooves was a soothing melody to Adora ears. Some people like to sit on the beach in the sun, some people like to cuddle up in bed with a book, some people like to take a soak in the tub, but this was Adora’s relaxation. Spending time in nature with her steed. She turned left out of her driveway down a dirt trail where the sound of gravel switched to dull thuds against solid ground. Her and Swift Wind had taken this trail many times together so she trusted him to walk the path while she let her attention drift elsewhere. Looking up above her, she watched as the tree tops began to twist into a canopy, letting only small pockets of let shine through here and there. Just a little further down she could see birds nesting and flying from tree to tree, tweeting a happy little tune. Adora took a deep breath in and soaked in her surroundings.
For once since she had met up with Glimmer that morning, Adora felt at ease. It didn’t last long though, as guilt began to creep and set in. She felt silly for reacting the way she had, nearly letting herself revert back to the scared little girl she used to be. She wondered for a moment if she had let her guard down and bore her emotions for Glimmer and Bow to see but her thoughts were interrupted by Swift Wind halting to a stop, followed by a blood curdling scream.
“GAH!” Papers flew in the air around Adora and a pencil came crashing down on her face as she looked up at the mess. She looked over Swift Winds shoulder to see a girl fallen over on the ground near a log, dirt now covering her from head to toe. She quickly dismounted and rushed to the girls side for assistance, placing a hand on her arm to help guid her up, but the girl threw her arms out in defiance, nearly scratching Adora across the face. “Get your hands off of me!”
Swift Wind huffed and reared back into the air on his hind legs, scaring the girl even further with his loud bleeting. She panicked and kicked the ground in a feeble attempt to push herself away from the horse. In Adora’s own attempt to calm him down, he brought his front hooves crashing back down to the ground, eliciting another shriek from the girl behind her.
“Shh… Shh… It’s okay Swiftie.” Adora gently pet the horses snout as it settled down, almost forgetting about the girl covered in dirt behind her. She whirled around like a top and began clamoring for the ground, gathering the girl’s loose papers. “I— I’m so sorry about that, we’re not used to— to seeing people out on this trail— I think you just spooked him a bit, I’m so sorry.” Adora sputtered as she picked up the last of the pages. It was then she noticed that they were sketches, a lifelike bird sat in the paper on top of the stack, threatening to fly off the page. The drawing was mesmerizing but it was hastily snatched out of her hands by the other girl.
“Yeah, you should be, your beast over here could’ve killed me.” She shot Swift Wind a glare, who seemed as though he understood it and made an unsatisfied chortle back at her.
“Oh that’s not fair, Swiftie here wouldn’t have hurt you, he’s a big baby, all he would’ve done was run off.” She paused and cocked her head at the girl. “And then you would’ve had to spend the next three hours helping me find him.”
The girl looked ridiculous as she tried to convey her rage, but she must not have realized how silly she looked with dirt caked in her wild hair and speckled all over her face. Adora covered her mouth, trying to hide the giggle threatening to burst past her lips. The messy girl saw right through it though, and shoved past her with great force. “As if I would ever want to help you with anything, anyway.” She scoffed as she retreated down the direction Adora had been coming from.
Her heart skipped a beat as she watched the mysterious, grumpy girl walk away from her, eventually disappearing into the distance. She shook herself, squashed the feeling deep down inside herself and mounted Swift Wind again, continuing her stroll down their path until she reached the dead end where she was forced to turn around and go home.
—
At supper it was obvious that Adora’s mind had been elsewhere, but no one wanted to mention it. Instead, they exchanged worried glances around the table when they thought she hadn’t been looking. Eventually, though, the deafening silence became too much for the household to handle. Micah, at the head of the table, took a long swig of water and cleared his throat.
“I met Weaver’s new ward today.” He stated, glancing over to Adora and awaiting a reaction. She tore her gaze away from the peas she had been pushing around on her plate and raised an eyebrow at him. This had been enough for him to continue. “She seemed like a sweet girl, very bright. I was watching her care for the chickens over there, they seemed to respect her well enough.” He chuckled, if only to himself. “And you kids know how crazy those feathers for brains can be.” He looked around the table and his chuckle died down in his throat when no one joined him.
Angella swooped in to save her husband. “You kids should invite her over sometime, it’s not as though there are many other teenagers nearby, you should take advantage of it.” And maybe you can save her from Weaver before it’s too late, was the unspoken adage that rang through Adora’s head.
Shove it down, she thought, You’re being too dramatic, don’t get so full of yourself.
“Oh! A new addition to the Best Friend Squad?” Bow excitedly threw his arms around his friends shoulders and nearly pulled them out of their chairs as he embraced them. “That’s an amazing idea, Miss Angella!”