by Ruby Loren
The big, dapple grey horse regarded her with one dark eye and she held her breath before he lowered his head a little and allowed her to approach him. She only breathed again when his nose came up to her hand and she was touching him, in reach of those front hooves and teeth, which had so recently been lashing out.
“Whoa,” a surprised voice came from behind her and Hayley nearly jumped out of her skin. She turned back to Hadrien whose ears had flicked back but to her relief, he just snorted and turned away. She quickly exited the stall, silently thanking the horse for not jumping the way she had.
“Hi Mark,” she said a little stiffly, rather annoyed that he’d interrupted something that was going so well.
“Are you allowed to be in there with him?” Mark asked with such disbelief that Hayley didn’t know whether to laugh or get mad.
“I am a professional, Mark… this is all part of what I do. I’ve been hired to help Hadrian,” she said. Mark tilted his head and Hayley tried to ignore the way his eyes were sliding up and down her body. Here we go, she thought, already annoyed.
“Horse psychology… that’s not a thing though, right?” He smiled a lopsided grin that he was clearly used to getting some kind of reaction from.
Hayley just folded her arms and turned away from Hadrian.
“It’s just what I call myself as horse whisperer doesn’t have much of a place in today’s world. Anyway, I’m a little different from the old whisperers. I use computer analysis to track progress and to help me know when it’s time to take the next steps with a horse in order to progress…” She trailed off when she saw Mark’s eyes glazing over.
“You’re going to be here for a while, right?” He said, taking a step closer to her. Hayley resisted the strong urge to move away, determined to stand her ground. “We should get to know each other more.” Hayley turned her head away as Mark lifted a hand.
“I’m here in a professional capacity to do a job. Don’t even think about it,” she said to him, surprising herself with the strength of her rebuke. To be fair, she’d had quite a crappy evening.
Mark raised one dark eyebrow. “Don’t think about it the way you were thinking about it when Rich the riding instructor walked in?” He smirked as Hayley felt the colour rise to her cheeks. Had it been that obvious? “I can see what you’re looking for but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t mix business with pleasure,” he said silkily. To Hayley’s horror he stepped forward again, his hands stretching out to grab her and pull her in. There was an enraged neigh and Hadrian’s head appeared between them, his teeth nearly snapping shut on Mark’s fingers. “Jesus!” Mark said, staggering backwards as Hadrian snorted and tried to have another go. “That thing needs to be put down!” He barked, his feigned interest vanishing in a second.
Hayley slowly reached her hand out and was relieved when Hadrian let her stroke his cheek. “I don’t see anything wrong with him,” she said, flashing Mark a triumphant smile. “I think it’s time Hadrian got to come out of his stall for a bit,” she decided, the flush of victory over Mark pushing her onwards.
“Don’t expect me to come running when he tramples on you,” Mark said, his voice icy. Hayley unlocked the stall’s door to hurry his exit.
As soon as her unwanted company was gone, she turned to Hadrian who flicked his ears forwards. His ears twitched when he heard the first rumble of thunder but she could feel calm emanating from him. She somehow knew he was in a good place and now was as good a time as any to walk him out. From the quick progress they’d made today, Hayley had an inkling that while on the surface, his damage seemed extensive, beneath it all, he was so close to being the horse he’d been before the accident.
“I’m not so sure you were the one who went crazy,” she said to the horse, remembering the Hamel-Torys saying that there had been a clump of hair from another horse at the scene. They’d all assumed it was possible that Hadrian had torn it from another horse when he went mad, but what if the truth was a different story? “What really matters if that we get you back to your old self and looking good enough that the right person will be unable to say no to riding you!” She told the horse and he nickered quietly, as if in agreement.
“Now or never,” she said to Hadrian, unclipping one of the leading ropes and walking him out of the barn. She reassured and patted him with every step but Hadrian was as placid as a lamb, despite the growls of thunder that were only getting louder. “At the very least, we can use this opportunity to give your stall a good clean out,” she said and grabbed the pitchfork abandoned by the lads, making sure Hadrian knew she wasn’t going to do anything bad with it.
Half an hour later, the stall was clean and filled with fresh shavings and outside the rain had started to pound down with a vengeance. Hayley untied Hadrian and paused, thinking about Taylor and Molotov out riding the cross country course in the storm. Shouldn’t they be back by now? In answer to her thoughts, she heard a whinny which Hadrian immediately answered, pulling on the lead rope. Hayley dug her heels in, seriously concerned she’d made a huge mistake and was about to lose control of the big, dappled grey gelding. She glanced at his ears and saw they were flicked forwards in welcome.
A flash of white caught her eye and she turned in time to see Molotov gallop into the barn, straight towards her and Hadrian. Stirrups bounced against his sides and his reins hung in strips where he’d trodden on them. There was no rider on his back.
It was then that Hayley realised he wasn’t slowing down.
CHAPTER FOUR
The Wild Woods
Hadrian snorted and stepped in front of her just as Molotov reared up. Fortunately, his hooves came down on nothing. Hayley silently thanked Hadrian and she could have sworn that the horse gave a her a look that said ‘now we’re even’. She managed to return Hadrian to his stall, leaving him untethered. Hayley clipped the leading rope straight on Molotov who was pawing the barn floor impatiently.
“What’s happening? I thought I saw a runaway horse?” Mark said, strolling into the barn with Jen, one of the two unfriendly girls from earlier, and Chloe.
“I think something’s happened to Taylor. Molotov turned up looking like this… We have to go and look for him,” she said, trying to ignore the storm that was now raging outside. It looked like it was working up to being the storm of the year and Taylor was out there somewhere.
It was then that she noticed the blood.
“Oh no…” She said, slipping around the front of the agitated Molotov and looking at the gash on his chest. To the casual observer, it looked like it might have been made by a hoof. “So there is another horse…” She muttered and felt with deepening dread that they had to find Taylor right away. She just prayed they weren’t already too late.
At first, they tried shutting Molotov back in his stable but he refused to budge, neighing and wheeling around, pulling for the entrance of the barn. In the end, Hayley gave into his determination and swung herself up into the saddle. She gathered the pieces of rein in her hands, but left them loose. She sensed she wouldn’t need them.
“Are you crazy? He’s probably gone the same way as Hadrian!” Mark shouted and the sentiment was echoed by the two girls he was with. Hayley noted that Chloe’s eyes were filled up with tears and she hoped Taylor would live to find out for himself that there was a good chance that the riding instructor echoed his feelings.
“Sometimes horses and their riders have very special bonds. I think this is one of those occasions,” she said, raising her voice above the noise of the pounding rain. She whispered a few words of encouragement into Molotov’s ear and then they were off, going from standstill to full gallop in one leap.
She just hoped that whatever had happened in the forest to Taylor and Madison, she wasn’t galloping, headlong towards the same fate.
***
The wind whipped through the trees as Molotov raced away from the riding school and onto the cross country course. Hayley clung onto the shreds of reins for dear life as she gave Molotov his head a
nd prayed he really was leading her to Taylor and hadn’t turned as wild and unpredictable as Hadrian had been.
They approached a log with little red flags in it and Hayley realised all too late that they weren’t going past the cross country course, they were going through it. She shifted her weight in the saddle and prepared for the ride of her life. She just hoped Taylor was right to have as much faith in Molotov as he did. If he was wrong and they fell… she didn’t want to think about it.
Hayley could hear her heartbeat drumming in her ears when Molotov finally dug his heels in and slid to a halt, wet dirt flying everywhere. It took Hayley a few seconds but she spotted Taylor, slumped over a fallen tree.
“Oh no,” she breathed, fearing the worst. Molotov nickered softly and she slid from his back, knowing he wouldn’t run now. She walked over to the prone form of Taylor, steeling herself. She stretched out a hand and touched his shoulder and nearly fainted with relief when he moaned. Taylor rolled over and Hayley immediately spotted the large bump on his head. She smiled at him, her heart still racing.
“You’re alive! That’s good,” fell from her mouth.
Taylor felt the bump on his head, shook his hair out and frowned. “I came off Molotov. I never fall off Molotov,” he said and the horse neighed loudly. Suddenly, Molotov’s big white head was nuzzling Taylor’s face. “Shoo, you silly horse,” he said, not meaning it at all. Hayley quickly explained how Molotov had arrived in the barn and then refused to go back to his stall. Taylor nodded all the way through the story. “He’s more like a big dog than a horse, I swear.”
He frowned as memories came back.“We were having a really good round and then something happened. There was another horse. A horse came out of the trees from nowhere and it went for Molotov. We didn’t have time to react but this horse kicked him and he tried to jump away. That was when I fell and hit my head.” His eyes unclouded and he looked up at Hayley. “The horse looked like a thoroughbred. It was a chestnut colour with a flaxen mane and tail. I didn’t get a good look at the rider but I’m sure about one thing… the same rider must have got to Madison, only she wasn’t as lucky as I was. Someone is out there with a violent horse and I think they’re deliberately attacking riders from this stables.” He sucked in a deep breath as realisation flooded his face. “The Inter-Stable Championship. I bet it’s to do with that. First the missing items, then the spooky stories and now this,” he said.
Hayley decided not to disagree with him, or question him about what exactly he meant by ‘spooky stories' and instead helped him get to his feet. Molotov was still bleeding a little from the gash on his chest and Hayley knew they’d have to get a vet to see him. “Better you mount up and I lead,” she said and Taylor nodded obediently. Being knocked out was no joke and he’d taken quite a bump to the head.
“How’s Hadrian?” He asked her on the way back and she happily updated him, including the way he’d moved in front of her when Molotov had galloped in. A wry smile appeared on Taylor’s face. “It sounds like he might be the horse for you. Do you have any horses?” Hayley smiled and shook her head.
“No, I couldn’t! I meet so many that I fall in love with, I couldn’t take them all home. I own half of a riding stables, but I’m away for work far too often to give a horse the time and attention it deserves. Maybe when I win the lottery, eh?” She said with a smile. They walked on in silence for a bit with just the squelch of the mud and the torrential rain for company. Occasionally, lightening flashed through the sky and thunder contributed its deep, bass boom, but Molotov never flinched. He looked as placid as a fat, riding school pony.
“I’m glad that whatever happened in the woods… Molotov seems fine,” she observed and Taylor reached down and patted the fluffy grey.
“Not much fazes Molotov, which is why what happened earlier was so unexpected.” His expression grew stormy but he sighed and let it go, making Hayley glad. She still didn’t know what to make of his story. “I’ll get the vet to fix him up, keep my fingers crossed that the owners will help me pay for it and I think he’ll be fine for the competition. They’ll have to do better than that if they want us out of the running,” he said, more to the horse than to Hayley.
“You’ll do great, I’m sure,” she said. If passion was what it took to win, then she couldn’t imagine anyone caring more, but she knew it was never that simple and life was far from fair. Could Molotov, who definitely lacked the traditional appearance of an eventing horse, outdo his hotblooded rivals?
***
It was the next day that Hayley first heard someone whisper the words ‘ghost horse’. She turned and watched as a group of girls walked by with Mark at their centre. She didn’t look away fast enough and Mark saw her and walked over, still flashing that tried and failed smile.
“Hayley, you’re a horse psychologist…” He paused while the titters of the girls died down. Hayley suffered it in silence. “What do you think would motivate a horse to come back from the dead as a ghost and begin attacking the horses and riders who stood no possible chance of winning the competition?” Mark asked, his voice falsely serious.
“A ghost horse?” She enquired, choosing to ignore everything else he’d just said. Mark’s grin let her know she’d just slipped up.
“Yeah, the horse that Taylor says he saw, it sounds like the horse old Mr Emeline once rode. He founded the stables and since this competition is designed to show who the best riding school in the area is, it doesn’t surprise me that the old man’s risen from his grave and has started taking matters into his own hands to stop the reputation of this riding school being dragged through the dirt.” Mark took the opportunity to look down his nose at Hayley, not surprising her at all with his opinion.
She wasn’t like them. She wasn’t rich and she was working with a horse they all hated.“I’m sure there’s a much less supernatural explanation,” she countered drily before nodding curtly at them and walking towards the barn.
“Do you think this is another part of the jinx?” She overheard one of the girls say and finally understood what Taylor had meant when he’d mentioned spooky stories. Emeline Equestrian’s rumour mill was out of control and she had a feeling it was only going to get worse.
Mark’s words were still swimming around in her head when she reached Hadrian’s stall. She was pleased to find there wasn’t any further damage to the walls and found he was standing placidly chewing on some hay. If it weren’t for the scabs which criss-crossed his chest, he’d look like any of the other thoroughbreds at Emeline. Even his scabs were starting to heal up and she was sure they wouldn’t noticeably scar.
The problem was, there was no one to ride him.
She’d take him out and make sure he wasn’t going to do anything crazy, but that wouldn’t be enough to save Hadrian. She needed to find someone who was willing to ride him and she needed to do it very soon, or his reputation would be cemented forever.
A wild idea began to form in her head and she thought she may know just the rider to help her with Hadrian.
CHAPTER FIVE
A New Hope
Three days later, Holly had ridden Hadrian around the riding school ring several times, had jumped him, and had even braved the cross country track - in daylight and with no storms on the way. Hadrian hadn’t shown any signs of being out of practice, despite his change in rider and lack of recent training, and while he was certainly a headstrong horse, he showed no signs of spooking.
As far as Hayley was concerned, a miracle had been worked. Unfortunately, she was still lacking a rider to help her complete Hadrian’s rehabilitation. She needed someone who everyone around the yard knew and they also needed to be well… to be perfectly honest - a little bit desperate.
She walked out of the barn and looked down at the riding school ring, where a lesson full of young children seated on rather rotund ponies was currently taking place. Hayley watched Chloe trying to convince one pony to stop eating the thistle that had been growing by the edge of the sand and then have to
run over and pick up another child who’d fallen off - probably due to the fact her legs didn’t fit around the girth of her tubby pony. It looked like the lesson from hell. Hayley smiled to herself as she walked down to watch. Perfect.
***
The twilight was drawing in when Chloe walked into the barn, wearing riding gear. Her face was nervous but Hayley gave her an encouraging smile. “It’s okay, I’ve checked. Everyone’s gone home, even workaholics like Taylor,” she couldn’t help adding and noticed the riding instructor smiled a little when she mentioned his name. Good, there was still some hope there. She was glad that awful Mark hadn’t ruined it. Chloe must have her head screwed on straight after all.
Hayley opened the door to Hadrian’s stall, leaving Chloe stood outside, eyeing the big dappled grey horse nervously. She hoped her head wasn't screwed on too well, or there was no way she would agree to her yet-to-be-revealed plan.
“Don’t worry, he’s okay. You just have to show him you aren’t a threat,” she said to the riding instructor who kept a respectful distance as Hayley led the big horse out of his stable.
“The thing is… he used to scare be even before the accident, back when Madison used to…” She admitted, her voice fading. Hayley let the silence hang.
“He’s definitely a headstrong horse, but I saw you earlier in the riding school. You’re an experienced rider. You know your way around horses and weren’t you saying just the other day that you wished you had a horse of your own to ride? I know he wouldn’t be yours but I guarantee you’ll be the only one riding him,” Hayley couldn’t resist adding. She smiled and was relieved when the other girl returned it. “Anyway, there’s no pressure at all. We’ll go out and do a few laps around the riding school ring and then you can decide where to go from there.”
