Anastasia (The Bolton Series Book 1) Read Free Page B

were never my thing. I decided to occupy myself by gardening and cleaning out the small barn in the back that housed our horses. I finished in a mere three and half hours.
    Great. Now what?
    I knew if I went inside Simon would insist we start our lessons for the day. I grimaced at the thought. Instead, I quickly saddled up my mustang, Mary, and rode into the forest next to the barn. I knew Simon would know where I was once he saw my horse missing. Whether or not he would come after me is a different question.
    Mary walked down the path gracefully stepping over everything I would have tripped over if I had walked. I was suddenly very thankful of my horse.
    I had never wanted one but my parent’s insisted, saying how I would want her once we moved here. There were no cars which seemed weird to me. I thought since Bolton was so much older than earth it would be more advanced, however, it was the opposite. We had electricity from a solar generator dad set up but that was as far as it went.
    I had not gone riding that much since I got Mary but she never seemed to mind as long as I took her out of the barn every day. Simon took care of her the most. He took her riding almost every day and was always brushing her and his horse, Hope. He always tried his hardest to get me to take care of her more but it wasn’t something that interested me. I have never been a horse person and I could not see that changing very easily.
    The afternoon light found its way through the thick trees heating up the path in front of us. Mary spooked at the sudden appearance of a tree rat causing me to almost fall of her but she soon regained her composure when it scurried into the brush.
    “Come on, girl. You’re gonna let that little thing scare you?” I said to her as I let my heart rate go back to normal.
    Being out in the forest usually calmed me. I would ride around the property to allow my mind a break from Simon and his almost nonstop lessons. However, today felt different. My eyes constantly scoured the trees as if something would pop out at any moment and grab me.
    I knew I was being paranoid. The only reason I was feeling like that was because of my parents leaving. Nothing was going to happen to me, just like dad said.
    We rode longer than I planned and ended up in a clearing two miles away from the cabin. It was a small opening with bright flowers blooming in every direction and a little stream running through the right side flowing back into the forest.
    I jumped off Mary and did not bother to tie her up. She never left my sight the few times we would go riding.
    The flowers reached the top of my knees. Each movement tickled my legs as they brushed against me. I walked over to the stream.  It was about two feet wide and seemed to stretch much farther than the tree line. The slight red tint to the water shocked me a little. I wondered if that was usual on Bolton. It would not surprise me if it was.
    I looked back and saw Mary grazing the grass on the outskirts of the opening. She had not moved into the clearing. I wondered why. She usually loved to be out in the open instead of the woods. Well I thought she did from how I observed her with Simon.
    A flash in the corner of my eye caught my attention. I looked away from my horse and into the water, bending down to get a closer look. Instinctively, I reached out to touch the area of water. It was colder than usual but nothing was there. No fishes swam around the tinted water.
    Suddenly a face appeared under the water causing me to squeal and jump slightly away from it. 
    The old woman’s face was covered in wrinkles and warts. However, that was all, her body was missing. Her brown eyes were glazed over as blind persons would be but she was staring right at me. I knew she could see me. The mess of gray hair laid motionless around her face instead of moving with the water like it should have been doing.
    Run.
    Her mouth did not move but her voice echoed around my head. I could feel my body