Chapter 1

A moderately heavy rainfall pelted the hills surrounding Willow creek. At Pine Hollow the rain didn't seem to bother the horses that much. They kept munching away on their hay and oats. Now if there had been lightning and thunder with this storm, that would be a different story.

Up on the hill behind the stable hidden by the tree line was the old carriage works. It was a building that only a few people other than Max and Mrs. Reg even knew was there. There was an old trail that went right past this old building. It was called the old hollow trail and it was really part of the old logging road. It was one of oldest trails at Pine Hollow and one of Stevie Carole and Lisa's favorite trails. Truth be told they had ridden right by the old Carriage works many times without even realizing what it was.

On the trail today was a young boy about 15 years old and he was stumbling toward this building half blinded by the rain. Several seconds and a few staggering steps later the boy stumbled inside the Carriage works and collapsed.

An hour later the storm finally subsided, the clouds broke up and the sun came out. The Saddle Club and the rest of the girls, who up until now had been cloistered in the lounge, couldn't wait to get out on the trail. They headed to the barn, tacked up and headed out to their favorite trail. When the rain had stopped they talked Mrs. Reg into making some of her gourmet sandwiches and meeting everybody up on Knob hill for a picnic. Knob hill, besides being a beautiful spot for a picnic was also the one point on the entire property where all the riding trails converged.

Fortunately for the saddle club their favorite trail the old hollow trail was also a short cut to knob hill. If they could get there first they would have their pick of the good places to sit.

Just as they were passing by the old Carriage Works on their way up the mountain Prancer stopped and started pawing at the ground. Lisa jumped off and held up Prancer's foot and examined it closely.

"Guys," she said, "it looks like Prancer has picked up a pebble in his shoe, you guys go on ahead I'll take care of this and then meet on the top of knob hill."

"We'll wait for you," said Carole

"No that's alright," said Lisa, "if you guys don't beat Veronica to the top, she and Kristy will take over the whole top of the hill including table rock and we'll get stuck on that steep bank next to the drainage ditch again!"

"Good point," said Stevie, "Come on Carole lets go stake our claim!" the girls rode off up the hill. Lisa reached into her back pack and pulled out the hoof pick that she carried in there. After a few seconds of work she finally manage to remove the offending pebble.

She returned the hoof pick to her backpack and was preparing to mount up again when she heard what sounded like something being knocked over inside the old building next to the trail. At first she was a little scared but soon her curiosity wrestled her fear into submission and she crept toward one of windows and looked in.

When she did she saw a boy a couple years older than she was struggling to stand up. Forgetting her fear she rushed inside. And grabbed the boys arm to try and help him. He jumped when she touched his arm. He turned sharply and immediately fell to the floor again.

"Easy, Easy," she said in her soft alto voice, "I'll help you." She notice that his legs seemed too weak to support his weight.

"I'm Lisa Atwood," she said, "I'm a friend."

"I'm Jason," the boy said in a smooth baritone voice, "Jason Steele, please help me outside into the sunlight I'm so cold." It was at this point that Lisa noticed that the boy was shivering almost violently. The rain had cooled things off considerably and the thick walls of this building made it cool in there to start with. So Lisa could fully understand how this guy could be cold

Pulling his arm across he shoulders she help him stand up and even thought he was force to lean heavily on her she managed to help him outside into the sunlight. He sat in the sun and as he began to warm up his strength and color began to come back.

While he was sitting there warming up Lisa finally took a good look at him. She realized that he was actually a nice looking boy he had brown hair and blue eyes and was about six feet tall. The shivering subsided. He looked up at her after a few minutes and for the first time since she found him, he smiled.

"Thanks," he said his voice already stronger, "I'm feeling much better now." he rose to his feet and was able to stand by himself this time. A wave of dizziness hit him and he swayed a little bit and sat back down.

"I guess I'm not a hundred percent, yet," he said, "I think I'll need a couple of days to get this poison out of my system."

"Poison!?" said Lisa,

"It's a long story," said Jason, "Right now you'd better go catch up with your friends, or they'll start to worry. Oh and please promise me that you won't tell them or anyone else that I'm here." Lisa nodded and climbed into her saddle.

"I'll try to bring you some food as soon as I can," said Lisa

"That would be nice," said Jason, "I think eating something would help me a lot."

When lisa reached the top of knob hill she found that Carole and Stevie had staked their claim to the big flat boulder called table rock and Veronica and Kristy got the bank next to the ditch. Mrs. Reg opened the three large picnic baskets in front of her and began dishing out the food.

Stevie and Carole leaned over to Lisa as they were standing in line to get their food.

"Lisa," said Carole, "I've got some good news for you!"

"What?" said Lisa

"I heard that your crush Randy Hinton is going to ask you to the dance Saturday night!" replied Carole.

"Really?!" squealed Lisa, "Oh I've got so much to do to get ready!" the three thirteen year olds began to talk excitedly among themselves. About dresses and makeup and everything they would need to get Lisa ready for the dance.

When they got up to Mrs. Reg Stevie and Carole each got a sandwich, some chips, and an apple. A soon as they got their food the darted back to their spot. Fortunately Veronica and Kristy were so busy complaining that they wound up and the end of the line, so Veronica was in no position to pull a fast one. Lisa was next.

"Um, Mrs. Reg," she said, "I'm pretty hungry today is there enough for me to have two sandwiches? Mrs. Reg smiled.

"I think so," she said, "if you don't mind two Chicken salad sandwiches. I'll even throw in another bag of potato chips."

Lisa took the food and when she thought that no one was looking she slipped the extra bag of chips and the extra sandwich into her backpack. Walking over she sat down with her two best friends and they began to excitedly plan her upcoming date.

When the picnic was over Lisa made an excuse to go back down Old hollow trail instead of taking the "Scenic" route with all the others. She steer Prancer onto the trail and off she went. When she reached the Old Carriage works, she found that Jason had gone back inside the building presumably to stay out of sight when he heard someone coming.

Walking inside she found him asleep in a shaft of sunlight that shown through the biggest window in the building. He was sitting with his back against the wall and his eyes closed. He opened them when she approached.

He smiled and she smiled back.

"I brought you some food," she said energetically, "I hope you like chicken salad, Oh, and also potato chips."

"That's fine," said Jason, "I'm not a picky eater. And you certainly seem excited."

"Well," said Lisa blushing a little, "I just found out that this guy that I really like is going to ask me to the school dance on Saturday night!"

Jason smiled,

"Congrats," he said, "Can I at least know the luck guy's name?" blood rushed to Lisa's face again.

"Randy Hinton," she said as soon as she said the name Jason felt a cold tingling in the back of his neck and he flashed to a vision of this Randy saying that he was only taking Lisa to the dance to make his old girlfriend Jealous!

"Jason," said Lisa, who had noticed Jason's apparent zone out, "What is it?"

Jason rubbed his hand over his eyes. Things just got a lot more complicated.

TBC

What will happen next?

Will Jason tell Lisa what he knows?

Will Lisa tell Carole and Stevie about Jason?

Will Veronica and Kristy cause trouble when they find out about Jason?"

(well that's kind of a dumb question ) Stay tuned and find out

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