“April, get away from that horse! I told you six months ago he was too dangerous!” Kip ran into the arena and grabbed April’s arm. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
April shook him off. “Kip, Triumph isn’t dangerous! Look at him! He’s just scared. You can either help me, or leave.”
Kip chewed on his bottom lip. April could see the deliberation in his eyes. He worried about her. Whenever they worked a horse together he always wanted to be the first one in the ring and the first one in the saddle. He would rather it was he who got dumped than April. He heaved a sigh and said, “What can I do?”
“Get everyone out. And get Caleb to help you move some panels in here. I need a smaller area.”
Kip hurried Lex, Cash and Gretchen towards the gate, and Hailey ran to find Caleb. April stared down the terrified horse. Triumph had planted his feet and faced her.
His black eyes were glued on her blue ones and she took a deep breath. As she exhaled she felt the breath travel down her body and sink into the ground beneath her feet. She tried to send calming energy to the horse but the fear in the air was too thick. She waited for the panels and stood her ground.
Triumph was testing her. He would lean to the right and she would mirror him.
He would freeze.
Lean to the left.
Freeze.
The dance continued until the gate swung shut with a clang and the horse spun on his hind quarters and took off towards the far end of the arena.
April could see Lex storming into the lodge, followed by his entourage, and she had a sudden thought. She wasn’t about to take responsibility for this problem. She hadn’t caused this. Something had happened. And she wanted to know what.
“Hailey!” April beckoned for Hailey to join her.
“Need help?”
“Sort of. What happened?”
Hailey raised her eyebrows. “Experienced rider my ass. I told him to walk around the arena so I could check out his position and he pulled back on his reins and dug his heels into the poor horse’s sides. Not only does that guy have no idea how to ride, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that was his first time ever going near a horse. He’s clueless.”
April shook her head. Trust city folk to lie about experience levels to make themselves feel better. Someone was going to get hurt this week if the bullshit didn’t stop. April had no patience when it came to putting her horses at risk. She looked over at Triumph and wished she had asked for more details about Lex’s riding history instead of just trusting Cash’s word.
“Go get him,” April said, “I need him here for this.”
“Lex? Are you crazy? There’s no way he’s getting back on that horse.”
“You’re right. There is no way he is getting back on the horse. But I still want him here. Go get him.”
Hailey opened her mouth to argue. April cut her off. “Hailey, I’ve taught you basically everything you know about horses and horse training. If I tell you I want Lex back in this arena, just do it.”
Hailey dropped her head and nodded. She hurried inside. April didn’t like being strict with the ranch hands, but sometimes it couldn’t be avoided. Hailey was one of her best friends, but she was also an employee and needed to respect the chain of command.
April saw Lex storm up to the fence, noticing he’d already changed into new blue jeans. What a prissy.
“Hailey said you wanted me,” he said. “Why? I’m not getting back on that crazy horse.”
April didn’t take her eyes off Triumph. “I know. Can you come here?”
“Why?”
“Look Lex, you’re the one who scared him. He sees you as a threat. Get in here!”
Lex climbed over the fence and April heard him come up behind her. She ignored him and watched the horse run around and around the smaller pen Kip and Caleb were setting up. Every clang the panels made as they were slotted together sent Triumph in a new direction. Once the last panel was in place, Kip approached them and Caleb tipped his hat and headed back to the barn.
“I’m still not sure about this, April. Maybe give him some time. You know, let him calm down a bit before you go in there.”
April shook her head. “I don’t have time. We have to fix this now.” She glanced at Lex.
April and Lex slipped through the panels and put them back into position. When she turned to Lex, she noticed his piercing eyes. It was the first time he had really looked at her, instead of looking right through her. Her tongue suddenly felt too big for her mouth and her heart seemed to stop.
The lines of his face were strong, like he had been sculpted to look like a warrior. But the subtle curve of his full lips gave his face a softer tone. His nose was perfect, straight and small, and his eyebrows curved delicately over his green eyes. They were a sea of emerald, inviting the observer to drown in them.
April shook her head. It had been a long time since she had been rendered speechless by someone’s looks.
“Umm...yes?” Lex said sarcastically. “Can we get on with this please?” He tapped his Rolex. “I’ve got a video conference in an hour.”
April snorted and turned her back on him, facing Triumph and moving to the center of the round pen the panels had created.
“What’s so funny?” Lex snapped.
“Nothing. Come stand behind me.” Pretentious prick, she thought.
Lex rolled his eyes but complied. April ignored his presence behind her and focused all her attention on Triumph.
The horse was still spooked but his energy was depleted now. He stood at one side of the pen, his head lower, his eyes still wide and his muscles still bunched. April stepped sharply towards his hind end and yipped. The sound made the horse jump and the movement sent him running around the pen once again. His ears flicked nervously in all directions and every step he took was stiff, like he was ready to rush the fence any second.
“Hey! What are you doing?” Lex grabbed April’s arm. “You’re just scaring him more!”
She shook him off. “I’m pushing him. Not scaring him.”
She drove him around and around the pen never leaving the middle area, moving him with the sound of her voice and her body language. The horse charged on, a confused Lex watching his every move. Triumph’s energy seemed endless, but April could tell he was tiring. His breathing was labored and his coat was shiny with sweat. But still his eyes were wild and his energy was defiant.
She stepped up the pressure, sending the horse even faster around the pen, almost nearing a gallop and kept him at that pace. She needed to exhaust him, mentally and physically, to break through his fear and get him thinking again. April knew that was what damaged horses did when they were scared. They would shut off and stop thinking. She also knew that a scared horse was even more dangerous than an aggressive horse. When they were scared their instincts could overrun their mind and they could become almost wild again.
April was tiring herself. Triumph was one of the horses on the ranch that she loved riding because he could go out all day and not tire. She had forgotten that. She watched his ears flick quickly in every direction and kept him moving.
Triumph’s inside ear stopped moving and stayed on April in the center. The outside ear was still flicking around, but that didn’t matter. April smiled.
“See that? His ear glued on me?” she said.
“What does that mean?”
“It means he’s starting to think again.”
“... Cool.”
April’s lips twitched at the wonder in Lex’s voice.
Around and around the horse ran, but his body language was changing and April removed pressure as a reward. His tail and head had dropped to a comfortable height, muscles relaxing slightly. He wasn’t thumping the ground anymore with his hooves, and April let him slow to a brisk trot. Triumph seemed to glide over the ground.
April held her breath as she watched his lips twitch. They parted and his pale pink tongue darted out quickly and licked once, twice, three times. She dropped h
er arm and grabbed Lex as she turned her back on the horse.
“Whoa,” she said firmly.
“What are we ...?” Lex whispered.
“Shh.”
April waited.
She began to get a little impatient after a minute passed. Then she heard what she needed to hear; footsteps on the sand behind her. Still she held her breath and waited for the sound to get close. And stop.
She turned slowly and stroked the horse once down the face. Lex turned too. She glanced at him.
“Wow ...” he murmured. “He came to us.”
“It’s called Join Up,” April said. “It’s a natural horsemanship technique where you show the horse that you are the alpha, like in the wild. And when he accepts that, he knows that you will keep him safe. He trusts you, just like he would the matriarch of his herd.”
Lex was silent. April stepped up beside the horse and ran her fingers through his mane. She saw Lex reach up to let Triumph smell his hand. The horse jumped, his eyes showing white again.
“Slow,” she said. “Now keep your hand there and let him come to you.”
Lex froze and waited for Triumph’s whiskers to tickle his hand. When they did, the celebrity’s face broke out into a huge smile and his eyes filled with wonder. April noticed a dimple on one side of his wide smile.
Lex reached up slowly and stroked Triumph’s nose. He spoke so quietly his voice was almost lost in the gentle wind. “Hey there, boy. I didn’t mean to scare you. Yeah, there’s a good boy. But you forgive me, don’t ya?” Triumph snorted and sprayed green slime all over Lex’s hand. Lex laughed. “I’ll take that as a yes. Good boy.”
April gathered Triumph’s reins and said, “Careful.” She pulled herself into the saddle with a grace accomplished through years and years of experience. Taking a deep breath and squeezing her calves gently she made a clicking sound with her tongue and Triumph walked on, around the pen.
Lex watched her move the horse from a walk, to a trot, to a lope and back down to a trot. He watched her do figure 8 patterns in the small pen to crossover leg yields from one side to the other.
“Can you move the panels, please,” April asked him.
Lex snorted. “Yeah right. Those things? They’re filthy. Don’t you have Caleb and Kip for that?”
“I didn’t ask Caleb or Kip. I asked you.” April bit her tongue. This man was so pampered. For a second, April had seen hope for him on the ranch because of the way he had spoken to Triumph. But perhaps he was a lost cause.
Lex went to move the panels. April focused on the horse, maneuvering him this way and that, using her legs and doing small circles with a touch of her hand. When the last panel was against the fence she asked the horse to stop.
“Thank you. Now please open the gate so I can put the horse away and give him a hose off.”
Lex didn’t scowl this time and did what April asked. He went inside the lodge after closing the gate behind her.
“We’ll get you all cooled off, eh boy? Give you a nice big bucket of grain for being so good, too.” April spoke to Triumph as she removed his saddle and sopping-wet blanket. She swung it up on the fence to dry and the horse snorted and jumped. April sighed. The incident seemed to have set him back at least a couple of months. He had been doing so well.
April grabbed a dandy brush from the tack room and ran it over Triumph’s shiny, red coat. His chest and neck were still sticky with sweat and she grabbed the hose. She rubbed the cold water into his coat and let her hands run down each of his legs.
Her hand came away crimson.
Blood. And not just a little.
April hurried to shut off the water and grabbed a towel from the tack room. Triumph had cut the inside of his leg somehow in his panic in the arena. She hadn’t noticed it. The area around the wound was hot and swelling fast.
“Everything okay?” Caleb asked, coming out of the barn.
April shook her head and showed him her red hand. “He’s hurt. Can you help me?”
Caleb leaned the pitchfork he was carrying against the barn and hurried to April’s side. “Bad?”
“Bad enough.”
“How’d he do it? The inside of his leg, I mean.” He untied the horse.
April stood up and looked into the arena behind them. As she scanned her eyes fell on a broken board at the far end. She pointed. “There. He must have put his foot through the board and cut himself pulling it out. Everyone was too busy with Lex to notice.” She snarled the name and gritted her teeth.
“He’ll need a cold hose to bring that swelling down before we wrap it. At least twenty minutes,” Caleb said.
“I’ll do it.” April reached for the rope.
Caleb shook his head. “No, I’ll do it. Or Hailey will do it. Not you. Go inside; you’re exhausted.”
Once Caleb pointed it out, the fatigue started to hit April. Her legs felt like jelly and her eyes were heavy. She nodded. “Thanks,” she said.
Wandering inside, she slipped her boots off and was met at the door by Kip. He reached out and pulled her into a hug.
She laughed. “What’s with you today? You’ve seen me work with horses more dangerous than Triumph.”
“Not for a while,” Kip said. “But that’s not why I’m hugging you.” He squeezed her tighter and put his lips next to her ear. “Lex is telling everyone that he knew right away the horse wasn’t dangerous and that you were simply making a big deal out of the situation.”
Suddenly April wasn’t tired anymore. She pulled away from Kip. “He’s saying what?”
She shoved past Kip and rushed into the lodge. Lex sat surrounded by his entourage and Hailey.
“Honestly, a child could ride that horse. Next time, I’d like something with a little bit more ...” Lex searched for the word. “Pep.”
Hearing this, April felt almost blinded by anger. How dare this man come into her home and tell everyone that she overreacted when he almost ruined a horse that she had spent months trying to fix. If someone didn’t hold her back, she was going to hit him.
“You want a horse with more pep?” April stopped in her stride and glared at Lex, daring him to continue.
Lex jumped to his feet and Cash immediately placed himself between his brother and April.
“Darlin’, there’s really no problem here.” Cash’s voice was as sweet as sugar. “If it doesn’t work out, then no harm done.”
“No harm done? You have no idea!” April yelled at Cash. “Your lie about how experienced Lex was has set me back months with a horse I have just been able to get through to! Now I have to spend even more time on Triumph, trying to fix what you just caused!”
“Look, sweetheart, we get that you care about that animal, but your time shouldn’t really be an issue here. We are happy to pay you for your time.”
April was fuming. “That animal? It took me two months before that animal would even let me touch him! Another two months before I could ride him and now because of you it’ll probably take another two months before he will actually trust someone again.”
“April, calm down,” Hailey said.
“Listen to your friend, sweetie. Calm down.”
April turned her hate-filled eyes back to Cash and her fist twitched. “You lied to us. You put Hailey in danger. You put your own brother in danger. And on top of all that, you’ve injured my horse. How can you stand there and tell me to calm down?”
Lex grabbed his brother’s arm and pulled him out of the way. He looked down at April.
“What happened? He was fine before.”
April was suddenly more exhausted than she’d been in a long time. She felt defeated. “He put his back leg through one of the boards in the arena. Because of you.”
Lex shook his head. If April hadn’t known better, she might have said he looked genuinely concerned. “We’ll pay. We’ll pay for the vet bills.”
Anger flared again but quickly resided. “Pay? You think I want your money? That’s all it ever is with you people. Money. It’s not
about the money. It’s never about the money.”
Lex looked helpless. “What can I do?”
“Nothing,” April said. “You’ve done enough.” She turned on her heel and passed her father in the doorway.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
She glared over her shoulder, fighting back tears. “Why don’t you ask them?”
April shoved past him and rushed up into her room where she collapsed on the bed in tears. It had been an exhausting, overwhelming day. She was thankful that Caleb had taken care of Triumph; she didn’t think her legs could hold her up any longer. Part of her knew she should be with Triumph, in case he freaked out about anything, but she was just too tired to get up. She scrubbed her eyes and sniffled. She hated crying. She felt like such a child when she let her emotions get out of control.
A knock on her door made her jump.
It was Kip. “Can I come in, April?”
He poked his head around the door frame and hurried to her when he saw that she was crying. He slid onto the bed beside her and pulled her into his arms. April let her head fall against Kip’s chest and heaved a great sigh, feeling a fresh wave of sobs about to erupt in her throat.
“Caleb told me about Triumph. Do you think he’ll be okay?”
April sniffed. “I think so, but it’s the training he’s going to need that is getting to me. I have no time as it is. And they don’t even care.”
“I thought you got through to him just now? I thought you fixed it.”
April shook her head. “I managed to catch him and calm him down, but I didn’t fix anything. You should have seen him, Kip.”
Kip kissed April’s forehead. “We’ll get through it.”
“I’m just so angry. I don’t think I’ve been this mad before. How could anyone be so inconsiderate and heartless?”
“You have to realize that they don’t know any different. They don’t understand. They’ve lived their entire lives thinking that money can fix everything. Maybe they’ll learn something while they are here. Maybe you can show them the amazing relationships we can build with a horse if we try.”
April knew Kip was right. She shouldn’t blame them. But the anger inside her was still strong. Even if Kip was right, she hated all of them.
Blue Haven (Sunshine & Shadow Book 1) Page 2
