by Jacky Gray
‘Where are the little ones? They need to come in and get washed up for dinner. Go and get them Pete.’
‘Sure Mum.’ He pointed at Archer. ‘I’ll get you later.’
‘You’ll have to run a lot faster than that to catch me.’
‘Gosh Julie, what’s happened to Peter?’ Dawn seemed surprised. ‘I haven’t seen him this cheerful in ages. You must be having a good effect on him, Archer.’
‘Oh he certainly gives them a good example; he’s always helping with the clearing up. He’s the most thoughtful boy I’ve ever known.’
‘Stop it, you’re making him blush.’
‘Nonsense. Everyone could use a bit of praise now and then. You seem to be getting on better with Pete now Archer, is that right?’ Julie looked happy and relaxed in her sister’s company.
‘Yeah, he’s cool.’
‘Good.’ She smiled over at Peter who was holding his arms out like an aeroplane and running with his cousins either side of him, copying his moves. All three were making engine noises as loudly as they could.
The meal went well; the adults sat at one end of the table and kids at the other. Geena was proud that she didn’t need a high chair any more, but she kept wriggling about on her booster seat until it nearly fell off the chair.
Dawn was jumpy with concern. ‘Try to keep still or you’ll have to sit next to me.’
‘I felled.’
‘No, you nearly fell.’
‘I did fell. On the ground. But I didn’t hurt. Bunny was hurt and Archer saved her.’
‘What’s this? You didn’t say anything, Pete.’ Dave’s tone was sharp, stopping all conversations round the table. All eyes were on Peter who was blushing to the tips of his ears.
Archer reached for a roll from the bread basket to distract their attention. ‘There was nothing to say, it was an accident. Geena tripped and fell. I caught her but she dropped her toy. Nothing to worry about.’
‘She nearly banged her head on the tree.’ Mikey’s voice piped up just as Pete’s colour was returning to normal.
Once more, Archer tried to defuse the situation with a normal tone of voice. ‘But she didn’t. Everyone was a bit shaken up so we ran down the hill to take away the fright energy. No-one was hurt, so we didn’t mention it.’
‘My goodness, that was a smart thing to do. We were just lucky you were there to catch her.’
‘Pete tried as well, but I was closer, so I got there first.’
‘A couple of heroes. Extra portions of pudding, I think.’
‘Yeah, well done Pete, Archer. I’m proud of you.’ Dave’s words meant so much to Peter that Archer was glad he’d embellished the story.
The new-found friendship continued throughout the evening as Peter introduced him to Monopoly; he was happy to show off his skill at the complex game. It made little sense to Archer, he struggled to adjust to the idea of paying rent to landlords and for services. There was nothing like that in his world; people built their own houses when they outgrew the family home. Peter was curious about living in a world where there was no electricity, bombarding Archer with questions about how they managed to do things without it. He also got into Julie’s habit of explaining some of the expressions he used, every time he saw the blank look on Archer’s face.
Archer was intrigued by the sleeping arrangements. Peter offered him the choice of sleeping on the top or bottom of the bunk bed.
Archer was surprised at this generosity from Peter; it was quite clear he would prefer the top bunk. ‘I don’t think I would like to sleep that far off the ground. What would happen if I turned in the night and fell? You have the top one.’
‘Are you sure? It’s got safety barriers. You must have seen a bunk bed before, Jack and Kyle have got one.’
‘I’ve never been in their room. I bet Jack has the top one though.’
‘How did you guess?’
‘He does seem to rule the roost.’ It was Peter’s turn to look blank. ‘Like on a farm. All the hens look up to the rooster. Oh never mind. Like with a litter of puppies, one of them always has to be stronger and take the lead.’
‘Like top dog.’
‘Exactly. Jack is top dog and the rest of you dance to his tune. Although you seem to be rivalling him just lately.’
Peter’s face turned nearly as red as it had at dinner. ‘I guess we were a bit mean to you, but it’s what happens in foster homes. Survival of the fittest.’
‘But you are not a foster child. They are your real parents.’
‘You wouldn’t think so sometimes,’ Peter muttered as he turned away, but Archer’s sharp hearing picked up on it. Before he could say anything, there was a knock on the door and Julie came in, telling them people were trying to get to sleep.
10 The Race
Breakfast the following morning was more like those Archer was used to, a proper family affair with everyone sitting together and helping themselves from plates piled with bacon, sausages, mushrooms and beans. Fluffy yellow eggs and tomatoes added colour. Dawn set down a plate of triangular potato shapes she called hash browns. ‘Sorry there’s no fried potatoes, but I had a rough night. I had to keep Chestnut walking, trying to stop his gut twisting from colic. He’s been nibbling at the green hay again; I can’t keep him away from it, no matter what I do.’
Archer had experienced this with Finn’s horse, Artemis. ‘Have you tried rubbing his belly with …’
‘You name it, I’ve rubbed it.’
‘What about a broth with chamomile, valerian and peppermint?’
‘Really? I haven’t had much success getting him to drink anything.’
‘Add some sweet cicely or lady’s mantle and he will not be able to resist. Make sure it’s blood heat, but no more.’
‘Sounds good, I might try that, later. Do you ride?’
‘A bit, but I’m not very good.’
‘What, there’s something you can’t do well? Never.’ Peter grinned to show he was only joking.
‘I was going to ask Pete to take two of the mares out for a bit of exercise. One of the stable girls has rung in sick and I’m all behind. If you two take them it would be a big help; you could do the longer route.’
‘Sure, we’d love to, wouldn’t we Archer?’
‘I’d be happy to help, but you must let us clear the table and wash up first.’
Peter did not look happy to do this, but Archer made a game of it, trying to use the phrases he learnt yesterday in sentences. It got very silly, with Peter deliberately giving false translations, but it passed the time quickly and the job was soon done.
‘That wasn’t so bad was it?’ Archer hung up the towel.
‘What, you saying Jack is not as bright as the kitchen light? It’s probably true; at least the light knows how to shine when you switch it on.’
‘No, I meant helping out in the kitchen. If you do it with a mate and have a bit of fun …’
‘Sorry, but coming from a sixteen-year-old boy that is just too weird. It’s the sort of thing my mum would say. Or Aunty Dawn. You’re not telling me that all the boys in your town are like that. They all do this “whistle while you work” routine?’
Archer’s face hardened. ‘Either you do your share of the work or you don’t get your share of the food. It’s that simple. If everyone does their bit, it doesn’t take long and yeah, we do try to have some fun to make it less tedious.’
‘Well I get it, but it doesn’t make me want to do it. I’m only a kid and that’s what grownups are for. I’m just supposed to go to school and learn things; that’s my job.’
‘Don’t forget about making your mum’s life a misery.’
‘Absolutely. Dad too. If they didn’t want to do things for me, they shouldn’t have had me.’
Archer didn’t want to risk breaking their tenuous bond by suggesting that Peter was being selfish. If the TV shows were anything to go by, he was just being a normal teenager. He shrugged and let it go as they went to find Dawn.
She was so
pleased with their help she gave them a chocolate bar, saying she would meet them by the stables in ten minutes.
Archer munched happily as they wandered through the yard. ‘See, you wouldn’t have got that if you hadn’t helped.’
‘Big deal. If you think a mouldy old chocolate bar is going to make me offer to wash up at home, you can think again. The others would completely take the piss out of me. Anyway, I know where Mum keeps them, I can have one whenever I want.’
‘You would take one without asking? That’s stealing.’
‘How is it? It’s my house and she buys them for me, so how can it be stealing?’
Archer didn’t have an answer for that, so he changed the subject. ‘That sounds painful.’
‘What does?’
‘Completely taking the piss out of you. Do they have a machine for doing that? Some kind of pump?’
‘No, it’s an expression. It means … you know what it means, you were making fun of me.’
‘No, I was taking the piss.’ Archer anticipated that Peter would react violently and dodged the friendly slap, almost running into Dawn.
‘Right you two, we don’t want that kind of horse play round the horses, they’ll get the wrong idea.’
Peter was behind her and spun his finger round at his temple. ‘Thank you, Peter, but I’m not crazy. And yes, I have got eyes in the back of my head and I do know exactly what you’re thinking. At all times.’
Peter’s face was the picture of bewilderment and Archer grinned. His foster mother back home, often said something similar. He listened as Dawn ran down a list of do’s and don’ts and gave them both helmets.
Peter groaned. ‘Do we have to wear these things? I hate them.’
‘Of course you do if you want to ride a horse. It’s for safety. I bet you always wear a helmet don’t you Archer?’
‘Actually no. We don’t have them.’
‘Well you’re not going out without them; I’ll just have to call one of the other girls…’
‘No it’s ok, we’ll wear them. Look, you have to do the straps up like this.’
Archer was surprised at Peter’s change of attitude, but when he put the helmet on, he understood his reluctance. It felt uncomfortable and it looked strange on Peter. ‘Do I look like a dweeb in this?’
‘Oh yes. A proper geeky dork.’ Peter smiled back, enjoying the joke.
‘When you two have finished speaking Klingon, or whatever it is, I want you back here in forty minutes. You mustn’t keep them out too long.’
Riding with Peter felt similar to when Archer was out with Fletch or Finn, with the same hint of competition. They were quite sedate at the start until they were out of sight of the stables. Peter immediately took his helmet off and seemed surprised that Archer had beaten him to it. ‘I thought you’d be all goody-goody and do as you were told.’
‘Just because I believe in helping out and studying hard doesn’t mean I have to follow all their rules. The only time I wear a helmet on horseback is in the joust.’ Archer hooked the helmet strap onto the saddle.
‘You do jousting? Like in knight in shining armour jousting?’
‘Yeah we have to wear full armour. We train on the quintain without armour and we’re not allowed on the tilt until the last year of juniors.’
‘What at eleven? Isn’t that a bit young?’
‘No, fifteen. We start seniors at sixteen.’
‘I’ve heard of those medieval re-enactments. Dad promised to take us to one at Warwick Castle, but he never did. What is a quinter?’
‘A quintain. It’s a post with a big wooden arm on it. One end has a shield which you hit with the lance. A bag filled with sand on the other end swings round and tries to knock you off. You need to be quick enough to duck or strong enough to resist it.’
‘Sounds like fun.’
‘It is. Except when you do get knocked off. Landing on the ground in armour is not my idea of fun and you have to beat out all the dents.’
‘Which you have to do all the time.’
‘Only once, when I was …’ Archer realised that Peter was winding him up and smiled. ‘I’m sure you would be falling off every time if you tried.’
‘Rubbish. I’m a proper horseman, me. Watch.’ He tapped his foot on the mare’s flank and she seemed to know what he wanted instinctively, speeding into a gallop in an instant. He raced across the fields, pulling up at the edge of a small thicket. He was quite impressive, but nowhere near as good as Finn, or even Fletch; however they rode daily, whereas Peter probably only got to ride when they visited the farm. Archer followed at a slower pace; it was unfamiliar terrain and he needed to know his mount much better before allowing her free rein.
‘You wouldn’t stand a chance against me in a race.’
‘Not on this mare, but on Apollo, it would be different.’
‘You’ve got your own horse? I thought you lived with foster parents. They must be loaded.’
‘Loaded with what?’
‘Dosh. Spondulicks. Money. They must be rich.’
‘Are Dawn and Phil rich?’
‘No, but they own a farm, so they have horses.’
‘As do Sed … my foster parents.’ They dismounted and led the horses to a patch of grass, tethering them to a tree and sitting on the grass.
‘It sounds really different where you come from, more like it was for my grandad. The way he goes on, it’s almost like Victorian times when they sent children up chimneys to sweep them. He’s always saying how they had to help out and how easy we have it today.’
‘And you don’t think you do?’
‘No way. We’re under massive pressure to do well all the time at school. Then there’s all the homework. And every club you join expects you to train three or four times a week and enter competitions and stuff.’
‘Club?’
‘Group of people. Like a rugby club or a football club.’
‘A sporting association?’
‘Exactly. I was in a swimming club for a while, but they wanted me to start going before school. Sod that for a game of soldiers, I have to get up far too early as it is.’
‘We usually get up when the sun rises. That can be four in the morning at midsummer.’
‘That’s manic. Mad. Crazy. Why would you do that?’
‘There’s always lots to do. Everything’s growing really fast and the crops need tending…’
‘Yeah, I suppose if you live on a farm. Dawn and Phil are a bit like that. Not quite sunrise though.’
‘Well we do take an hour to get ready and have a big breakfast before we start.’
‘I couldn’t eat at that time in the morning; the idea makes me feel sick. And you have to eat an hour before you swim, so I’d have to get up at five. As if. So then I tried the Ai-Ki-Do club for a while.’
‘Ai-Ki-Do?’
‘It’s a martial art like Judo or Karate. Unarmed combat. Fighting without weapons.’
‘We do that to improve balance and speed...’
‘Oh my God, look at the time, we’ve only got ten minutes to get back.’
They mounted up and galloped like their lives depended on it. Archer was holding back slightly, but as they came to the last field, his sharp eyes caught a flash of pink. It was Geena, standing right in the path of Peter’s horse playing with her rabbit. Archer shouted at Peter, but he just looked back and grinned, caught up in the exhilaration of the chase. Some of Archer’s desperate need communicated itself to his mare as he spurred her on. Flattening her ears and lowering her head slightly, she forged ahead. As they caught up, Peter took it as a greater challenge and sped up even more. Archer pointed ahead, but Peter was in the blood frenzy brought on by battle and just laughed.
Archer brought his brave mare closer and closer until he could almost touch the front flank of Peter’s mare, hoping to swerve her off course. Peter looked over in anger, but he must have caught sight of the pink. His expression changed to shock, then a desperate horror as he pulled on the reins and
tried to swerve round her. Geena had finally heard the noise and turned round to see what was making it. She stood rooted to the spot, holding her toy rabbit out in front as though it would protect her.
11 Bacon & Kisses
Archer knew that Peter couldn’t make it, but he had widened the gap, giving a faint possibility... With a prayer to Hengist, Archer attempted something he had only ever seen Finn pull off. He communicated his request to the mare through the pressure from his knees and she responded instantly, moving out a little way. At that speed it would be a huge risk, but it was almost as though, for that brief instant, Finn loaned him his gift. Grabbing the saddle head, Archer leaned over and scooped up the girl with his free hand. He held her tightly in his lap as he slowed the mare down and brought her to where Peter was waiting, looking as though he wanted to throw back his breakfast.
‘Is she ok? Geena, how are you?’
‘That was fun. Do it again?’ Geena had lost any sense of fear and was smiling happily.
Archer could see Peter was still shaken and took charge. ‘I don’t think that would be a good idea. The horses are tired, they need to rest. Come on, you can ride with me back to the stable.’
‘But I want Petey to pick me up like you did. It was fun.’ If she had been standing, she would have stamped her foot and Archer knew she wouldn’t let it drop.
‘Ok. I’ll put you down and Pete can pick you up.’ He looked over to check that he had recovered enough to do this, and Peter nodded his approval. They took the horses back and earned the job of grooming them.
They were silent for a while, as they carefully checked the horses’ hooves, then curried the coats. It was obvious that Peter was working through something serious. As he tapped the curry brush on the bottom of his shoe to clear the collected dirt, he shook his head. ‘That’s three times you’ve saved my bacon. Why would you do that after I’ve been so rotten to you?’
Archer’s sincere tone belied the spark of humour in his eyes. ‘I thought we only had bacon at breakfast and I certainly didn’t save you any.’
