Jade and the Hunters

by Amy Brown

  Trying to feel as brave, confident and decisive as Mrs Death clearly thought she wasn’t, Jade announced that Tani had behaved perfectly. It was true, after all.

  ‘If you go out again tomorrow, I’ll come, too,’ Jade said. ‘And there won’t be any falling off or bolting.’

  ‘Glad to hear it — we’ll have you hunting yet. How about you, Laura? You seem quiet,’ Mrs Death asked.

  ‘No,’ Laura said. She didn’t trust herself to speak, and Jade knew why. ‘My morning was fine. Jade’s right: Taniwha looks much happier now.’

  ‘His happiness doesn’t bother me especially,’ Mrs Death said. ‘It’s his obedience and respect that I’d like to see more of.’

  Seeing Jade’s expression stiffen, Laura changed the subject. ‘Do you ever go hunting, Mr Death?’ Laura asked.

  ‘When I was younger, but not so much now. Not as fit as I used to be and always busy with work.’

  Laura opened her mouth, shut it quickly and blushed. Jade took a large bite of sandwich and wished Laura would do the same: eat instead of making risky conversation.

  But Laura’s indiscretion grew as the afternoon progressed. By evening, when the television was turned on for the six o’clock news, Jade thought her blonde friend was going to give the secret away completely.

  ‘Look!’ Laura had pointed at the television when the cover of The Hunters spiralled across the screen during a book-shop advertisement.

  ‘Laura!’ Jade had snapped, even less subtly, making Zoe ask what was going on.

  ‘It’s just that we’re going hunting on Saturday, and that book was called The Hunters,’ Laura clumsily saved the secret.

  ‘But why did Jade tell you off?’

  ‘Because it’s a terrible book,’ Jade said without thinking. ‘So our teacher, Mr Wilde, says,’ she continued, as she realized Mr Death was listening from the kitchen. ‘But I don’t think it’s bad. Well, actually, I haven’t read it, but I’d like to. Maybe to help prepare for Saturday?’

  Zoe stared at both Laura and Jade, as if they’d suddenly started speaking in a different language. ‘It’s Thursday night already.’

  ‘I suppose we can’t read it in time, then,’ Laura said. ‘Even if there were a copy in your house, we wouldn’t have enough time.’

  ‘You two get stranger by the day,’ Zoe said, fortunately finishing her interrogation.

  Mr Death called everyone into the kitchen to eat. ‘Don’t spill the beans,’ he said pointedly to Laura as he ladled a pile of home-made baked beans and potato onto her plate. ‘But one with such a big mouth shouldn’t be a messy eater.’

  ‘Roland! Be nice to my friends,’ Zoe scolded.

  Laura pursed her admittedly quite wide lips and carried her plate carefully to the table. Cosima, despite the fact that she was the only one sitting down, had already begun tucking into her beans.

  ‘You know Roland put a pig’s trotter in with the beans?’ Bronson said. He reached into the pot and began pulling a body part to the surface of the broth.

  Cosima dropped her fork and looked like she was going to be sick.

  ‘It’s not a trotter, it’s a hock,’ Mr Death defended his dinner.

  ‘But what kind of hock, Roland? You know Cos won’t eat any pig’s meat,’ Zoe scolded. ‘Poor Cos.’

  Jade was surprised at Zoe’s sympathy for her spoilt little sister, who had now returned her plate to the kitchen bench and was searching in the pantry for more bread and peanut butter.

  ‘She’s not being fussy. It’s a phobia,’ Zoe explained. ‘Swinophobia.’

  ‘Fear of pigs?’ Becca asked. ‘Even of eating them?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘I think it’s more a hatred than a fear,’ Mrs Death added. Jade doubted that Mrs Death would allow any of her children to have a phobia. A hatred, however …

  ‘It was definitely fear that made her stop talking,’ Zoe argued. ‘If she’d been angry, she would’ve yelled like she used to.’

  ‘What happened?’ Laura asked.

  Before anyone could answer, Cosima stuffed a peanut butter sandwich in her mouth and ran out of the room. Jade could hear small feet stomping up the stairs.

  ‘About a year ago, Cos went into the pig pen to play with the piglets. She hadn’t realized the sow would be so protective, and Bronson found her pinned against the fence,’ Zoe told the story.

  ‘The pig was going to take a chomp out of Cos’s shoulder. I got it on the rump with my BB gun, just in time.’ Bronson paused, giving the girls time to make admiring noises. They continued to listen, silently. ‘When the pig ran away, I pulled Cos out of the pen. She didn’t even say thank you.’

  ‘She was in shock,’ Zoe said.

  Jade didn’t blame Cosima. ‘That would give anyone a terrible fright.’

  ‘I don’t think Cos was used to being frightened. It really threw her,’ Zoe went on, defending her sister.

  Without sinister footsteps or laughter coming from the attic, or fresh bruises from having fallen off Tani, Jade spent the first comfortable evening so far at the Deaths. It helped that she managed to win the Scrabble game that she, Laura, Becca and Zoe played after dinner — beating even fourteen-year-old Zoe. And it was a relief to see Becca smile at the word that won Jade the game: CANTERS, for a whopping sixty-eight points.

  Calm and triumphant, Jade slept better than she had in a week, dreaming about her beloved first pony, Pip, who was now a paddock mate of sorts for Mr White’s two elderly bays.

  Waking refreshed at seven, Jade was the first of the girls down to breakfast. She found Mrs Death making herself a coffee.

  ‘This is the time we’ll have to be ready tomorrow. I don’t know how I’ll get you lazy girls up in time,’ Mrs Death greeted Jade. ‘Sorry — I’m preaching to the converted. Would you like some tea or a hot chocolate?’

  ‘Tea, please.’

  Mrs Death boiled the kettle again. ‘So, still keen to join us for a gallop today?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘If he puts a foot wrong,’ Mrs Death said, referring to Tani, ‘then I won’t be able to let you come hunting tomorrow. It would just be too dangerous, and — frankly — an embarrassment.’

  Jade nodded. ‘We’ll see how he goes,’ she said, in what sounded to her like a mature voice. ‘I might go straight out after a piece of toast and warm him up in the home paddock.’

  ‘As you like,’ Mrs Death said. ‘Have two pieces of toast, though. We can’t have you fading away.’

  Jade smiled. Mrs Death was finally being friendly.

  The sun was rising, casting an ice-block-orange light along the horizon above the stables. Jade led Tani into the home paddock, with the now familiar lunging rope and whip. Snorting and twitching his ears about at the cold, shadowy paddock, Tani at first resisted when Jade asked him to begin the circle. He wanted to stay close to his rider.

  ‘No,’ Jade growled. ‘Be a brave boy. C’mon now, walk.’ The assertive tone helped. Soon Tani was acknowledging Jade rather than searching for ghosts in the shadows of the windbreak.

  ‘Trot on,’ Jade commanded, with a flick of the whip. After a few satisfactory circuits, she decided to try a canter. To her delight, Tani was on the right leg immediately and bending well around the corners.

  ‘He looks great,’ said Becca, who’d been quietly watching from the gate. ‘Better than ever.’

  ‘Let’s hope he keeps up the good work when I’m on his back,’ Jade said quietly, not wanting to confuse Tani. ‘And … trotting!’ she went on, using her lunging voice again.

  ‘Could you teach me how to do that?’ Becca asked. ‘I’ve never had the chance. Mum always says it’s easier if she does it for me.’

  ‘Of course. Come over now and you can try him on the other rein if you like.’

  Bringing Tani back to a halt and making a fuss of him for a minute or two, Jade talked Becca through the basics of lunging: how to hold the rope and whip, and how to walk with the horse, following its circle.

  ‘I’m stil
l not very good at it, but I figure it takes lots of practice,’ Jade admitted, starting Tani on the left rein now. Once the pony was walking calmly, she passed the rein and whip to Becca. ‘Here, you have a try. That’s right — just walk in a small circle with him. Talk to him all the time, too,’ Jade instructed, enjoying being the authority.

  ‘It’s tricky,’ Becca agreed, fumbling with the whip.

  ‘No, you’re getting the hang of it. You’re both doing really well.’

  Ending on a good note, the girls brought Tani back to the stable to prepare for the morning’s ride. Zoe, Cosima, Laura and Mrs Death were busy grooming their own mounts. Tani was already groomed and saddled; all that needed to be done was to replace the halter with his bridle.

  With a head start on the others, Jade used the time to quietly mount in the home paddock. Double-checking that the girth was tight enough, Jade mounted cautiously. With light hands and heels well down, Jade rode as smoothly as she could around the perimeter of the paddock, all the time talking to Tani as she’d done while lunging.

  Other than shying at a pheasant that darted out from the windbreak, Tani showed no signs of naughtiness or nervousness. With one ear pricked and the other angled back, listening to his rider, Tani felt to Jade more like reliable old Pip.

  Before her terrible bout of laminitis, Pip would have loved these rides that so far had been too much for Tani. She would have calmly kept up with the others, enjoying the jumps but never losing her head. Although, Jade admitted, perhaps she wouldn’t have been quite agile enough for the combination of hills and full-wire fences. If only Tani could combine Pip’s calmness with his own agility and bravery, Jade thought, then he would be better than even Becca’s pony, Dusty.

  ‘Let’s aim for that,’ Jade told Tani, giving him a pat before riding over to where the others were now mounting.

  ‘He looks more manageable than last time — or, at least, you seem more confident. Though that’s not saying much, is it?’ said Mrs Death.

  ‘No,’ Jade agreed, hiding her irritation. Why couldn’t the woman be more optimistic? Jade made up her mind then to not just stay in the saddle but really show the Deaths how good Tani could be. So when Tani threw a buck at the first canter, instead of panicking, Jade smiled. ‘You’re happy, aren’t you? You’re playing with me,’ she said as lightly as she could, so that the Deaths didn’t even notice what had happened. Becca saw, though, and smiled. ‘He’s just excited,’ Jade said, for her own benefit as much as anyone else’s.

  As the flat paddock went from gentle undulations to a steeper hill, Tani, who’d grown up on such terrain, seemed to feel at home. His bucks were replaced with a strong, focused canter. When Mrs Death said, ‘Spar up ahead. Everyone ready?’ Jade was able to shout yes with confidence.

  The cavalcade, beginning with Zoe and Laura, followed by Mrs Death and Cosima, and finally Jade and Becca, all popped over the small gap in the fence without drama.

  ‘Still there, Jade?’ Mrs Death called back, as the line cantered onwards.

  ‘Yep!’

  ‘Good! Another couple of spars, then a full-wire. Follow Laura and Sofia through the gate if you prefer.’

  Jade concentrated on Tani, trying to gauge his mood. His stride was good, but he was still ever so slightly distracted, perhaps by the other horses or the new landscape. Maybe by the Deaths, who’d been so hard on him a few days earlier. Tempting as it was, Jade was reluctant to face her pony with a full-wire fence unless he was completely ready. After the two little spars, Jade saw Laura fall out of line and trot towards the left-hand corner of the paddock. Slowing Tani down, Jade followed.

  Unwilling to leave his friend Dusty, Tani started napping backwards.

  ‘No!’ Jade scolded, tapping her whip firmly on his shoulder. For once, Tani immediately stopped misbehaving. He even deigned to stand still while Jade undid the latch on the gate, rein-back while Jade opened the gate, and wait for Laura and Sofia to go through before Jade closed the gate after them.

  ‘He is better, isn’t he?’ Laura said.

  Jade was about to reply when she was cut off by a scream.

  ‘Was that Cosima?’ Laura asked.

  ‘Let’s see.’ Jade let Tani break into a canter. When they returned to the stretch of fence where the others had jumped, they found a stray pig in the paddock. Cosima, on the other side, was refusing to let Al join the others while the animal was in the way.

  ‘Did they just ride on and leave her?’ Laura asked, aghast.

  ‘Looks like it,’ Jade said. ‘Cosima! I’m going to try and chase the pig away. Laura will ride along with you, to make sure it doesn’t get too close if it comes back, OK? Just jump over when you think I’ve chased it far enough.’

  Cosima answered with a loud sniff.

  ‘OK, Tani, we’re going to canter at this poor pig now. Can you do that for me?’ Jade asked, wondering what she was about to do. Gathering up her reins in one hand and her whip in the other, Jade rushed at the unsuspecting pig, pretending she was starting a barrel race.

  ‘C’mon, away you go!’ she shouted, leaning down as far as she dared and swatting at the pig with her whip. With grunts and squeals, the unfortunate animal suddenly accelerated from a waddling trot to a brisk, piggish canter.

  Slowing Tani down, and seeing the frightened young pig still running for dear life in the opposite direction to Cosima, Jade turned back to rejoin the others. To her relief, Cosima had found the courage to jump the fence. She and Laura were walking together when Jade caught up.

  ‘I can’t believe they left you with that pig,’ Laura was saying.

  ‘You OK now?’ Jade asked, as the girls rode three abreast.

  Cosima nodded, then licked her lips. ‘Thanks,’ she said quickly, in a surprisingly deep voice.

  ‘No worries,’ Jade replied, trying not to show her amazement.

  ‘You know what, Jade? I reckon you’ll be fine out hunting tomorrow,’ Laura said, also trying not to make a big deal out of Cosima’s first word in a year.

  ‘I hope so. If Mrs Death lets us come along.’

  ‘She has to after you saved her daughter.’

  Mrs Death didn’t see it that way.

  ‘What took you so long?’ she demanded when the three girls finally caught up to the others, nearly back at the stables.

  ‘We had to help Cosima with a pig,’ Jade said.

  ‘No, you didn’t,’ Mrs Death replied. ‘You could have carried on. What help did Cosima need? She wasn’t in any danger.’

  ‘She was terrified,’ Laura argued.

  ‘Laura, this is Ma’s way of trying to get Cos to speak again. Making her face her fear. I’m pretty sure Ma let Alexander — the pig — out on purpose.’

  ‘Well, I guess it worked then,’ Laura said without thinking.

  ‘What?’ Zoe asked sharply. ‘Did Cos say something?’

  ‘No,’ Laura lied. ‘I meant it’s a good idea. It might work.’

  Zoe didn’t look convinced, but nor did she pursue the matter.

  Jade wasn’t sure why, but she was relieved that Cosima’s one word remained their secret.

  It was Jade’s turn to help Mrs Death mix the horses’ feeds. Her job was to pass the colour-coded buckets to Mrs Death one at a time, ready for the scoops of chaff, coolfeed and the various extras each of the horses needed. Once the rations had been measured out, Mrs Death added warm water, and Jade, sleeves rolled up to her elbows, mixed the fodder until it was the pleasant consistency of Anzac biscuit dough.

  ‘How do you think you and Tani went today?’ Mrs Death asked, watching Jade mix.

  ‘Good. Much better.’

  ‘Did you feel in control?’

  ‘Yes.’ Jade wasn’t entirely sure of this, but wasn’t going to admit it.

  ‘Tomorrow will be fast and tiring. I’ll try to stay with you, but I won’t be able to keep an eye on you the whole time, as I’ve said I’ll whip in.’

  Jade wondered whether she was supposed to know what ‘whip-in’ m
eant. ‘What’s that?’ she asked.

  ‘Basically, I help the huntsman by keeping the hounds in line. If there weren’t whippers-in, the pack might scatter in all directions.’ Mrs Death turned to look directly at Jade: ‘So, you see that I’ll be busy? I won’t be there to whip Tani in if he starts trying to scatter in all directions.’

  ‘OK.’

  ‘You’re happy with that? You feel confident that you’ll get by on your own?’

  ‘I think so.’

  ‘I’ve told our friend Jacqui Mason — nice woman, but hasn’t been on the field for a while so is taking it easy tomorrow — to ride with Laura through the gates. No one will think less of you if you take the gates, too.’

  Mrs Death sounded sincere, not condescending. The only person Jade had been worried about impressing had just said it was all right to ride through the gates.

  ‘OK, maybe that would be safest.’

  ‘I think so.’

  With the pressure off, the routines that would have fed the butterflies in Jade’s stomach — cleaning and arranging the inventory of clothes and tack necessary for the next day’s ride — instead were quite relaxing. The hunt would be like the ride today — except with more people, and hounds and a hare. Jade could live with that, although she still wasn’t feeling happy about the death of the hare at the end.

  The Morning of the Meet

  Rising even earlier than she had the morning before, Jade dressed in her best jodhpurs, a white shirt, an old black jacket, and a red tie of her dad’s which he never wore. This was the closest thing to a hunting outfit that she had, and she felt quite smart — until she went down to breakfast: all the Deaths, even Cosima, were wearing pristine hunting kits. It wasn’t the tailored forest-green jackets or even the pin with the tiny gold fox’s head that glittered at Zoe’s throat that Jade coveted most; it was their bright white stocks.

  Mrs Death was distributing toast and giving orders.