Teaser Tuesday

It's that time again! Time to tease you with another excerpt from the tentatively titled RED DUST. Hope you enjoy! If there are any questions or comments, as usual, feel free to post 'em! (and uhh remember, the editing is minimal as I haven't gotten around to that part yet!)


Xavier had his back to her and was trying to lead the horse-like monster around the paddock, without much success. Natalie stopped and took a good look at the thing. It looked like any old horse from the backside up to the neck; tall and muscular, chestnut in color with a black tail. When you got up to the neck, well, there was more than one. This made the animal’s back a little broader than the typical horse back home, but not much. The two necks were long and the heads looked similar except that one had a white diamond shaped patch of fur above its eyes. Natalie briefly wondered if she’d have to give the thing two names. Lefty and Righty seemed appropriate. She giggled at the thought.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the animal suddenly reared up kicked out at her brother. Xavier fell back to the ground, the wind knocked out of him. Natalie broke into a run and hopped the fence. Before she could get too far, she saw Xavier throw a hand out in her direction.

“Stay back!” he warned her never taking his eyes off the animal. She could see his hand was all cut up and bleeding. She took a step forward only to have him warn her to stay back again. The animal took its eyes off of Xavier and looked in her direction.

“Shit,” muttered Xavier. “Nat, slowly climb back out.” She would have listened to him, but fear had paralyzed her. The animal’s four eyes were locked on her. She was sure it was going to charge her, stepping on her brother in the process. Suddenly she had the craziest feeling that the animal wanted her to approach it. Somehow, she willed herself to move forward. Xavier, hearing her footsteps crunching on the sand, whipped his head around.

“What are you doing?!” he asked, his eyes wide with fear for his sister’s safety.

“Shhh!” she told him, never taking her eyes off the animal. Slowly Natalie approached. When she got close enough she put her arm out with her palm up. One head dipped to sniff at it and the other followed suit. After they both had a chance to get her scent, the one with the white diamond on it, Righty, plopped its head in her hand so she could scratch under its chin. Natalie was familiar with this action from the horses they had had back home and she obliged the animal with a scratch. Not wanting to miss out on the action, the other head swung over and knocked its sibling out of the way so it could get the same treatment. Natalie chuckled at the behavior and murmured soft words to them.

“Well I’ll be damned,” Xavier commented from behind her.