by Ruby Loren
Chloe nodded, taking a step forwards and reaching out to hesitantly pat Hadrian’s nose. The big horse tilted his head in her direction and looked at her with one dark eye before he lowered his head again and let her carry on. “Okay, let’s give it a go,” Chloe said and Hayley knew she’d already won.
The swallows were high in the sky and the warmth of the August day was still in the air when they led Hadrian down to the riding school ring. Hayley gave Chloe a leg up and just to be safe, she led Hadrian around the ring a couple of times with the lead rope. After two rounds, it became clear that Hadrian was behaving as well as any thoroughbred could be expected to, and Hayley could tell that Chloe was brimming with excitement. “Okay, let me off and we’ll go round a couple of times on our own,” Chloe said.
The big horse twitched his ears but carried on following her instructions. Anytime he tried to pull ahead the instructor checked him and Hayley knew she’d picked the right girl to handle the headstrong gelding. “I’m going to go for it!” She called in the dim light and Hayley saw her nudge Hadrian onwards and turn him towards the first jump. Holly said a silent prayer of thanks that she’d already personally tested him over jumps.
It was like living in a dream watching Chloe jump Hadrian in the fading light. Birds chirped their summer songs and Hayley felt herself relaxing for the first time since she’d arrived at Emeline Equestrian. Everything was going to be okay.
“What do you think you’re doing?” A voice hissed right behind her in an urgent whisper. Hayley jumped and turned, coming face to face with Rich, the riding instructor. His eyes were fixed on Hadrian and Chloe and his face was set in an expression of extreme disapproval. Hayley made sure she was looking him straight in the eyes.
“Look, you were right. No one is ever going to ride Hadrian if we wait until he’s completely in the clear. He’s made huge improvements over the past few days and I think his initial problems may have looked worse than they really were.”
Rich kept his eyes on the horse and rider, his knuckles white on the fence.“You’re forgetting, if he improves fast he can also go in the opposite direction, just as quickly. What if he snaps when he’s being ridden? You don’t know what it was that set him off and it could happen again at anytime. This isn’t safe,” he said, pushing the gate open and trying to walk past Hayley. She reached out and grabbed his sleeve.
“Please, give her a chance with him. If he’s not ridden now, he won’t be ridden ever. He needs this chance to prove himself. I know it might fail and I know it’s a risk but so is getting on a horse - full stop. Chloe is being as safe as she possibly can. She’s not pushing him, she’s just feeling it. Can’t you tell when a horse wants to work?” She asked, nodding at the pair who were approaching the final jump - the fake brick wall. She held her breath but needn’t have fretted. Hadrian sailed over the jump more than a foot clear. Chloe whooped as they landed and she slowed Hadrian to a trot. It was then she noticed Rich. Hadrian ground to halt, snorting indignantly at the sudden change from his rider.
“Come on, Rich, they just rode a brilliant clear round. If Madison were here watching this, I’m sure this would be exactly what she wanted for Hadrian,” she said and received a look from Rich that told her he knew exactly what game she was trying to play. “I know you’re worried about the way he was after the accident but I’m not so sure it happened the way everyone assumed. Taylor is still saying he saw another horse and rider and that Molotov was attacked. Molotov had a cut to his chest that didn’t look self inflicted, and some of Hadrian’s injuries, on closer inspection, appear to be the same. I don’t think it’s a coincidence,” she pushed but Rich’s expression darkened further.
“I’ve heard about this ghost horse theory,” he said, his disapproval evident in spadefuls.
“I’m definitely not saying it’s a ghost horse. I think there might be a real horse and rider out there somewhere, who are involved. I’m not sure if it’s been deliberate or accidental but I think everyone should be on the lookout for that horse,” she said, pleased to have diverted his attention away from the illicit riding.
“Whatever it was, you still shouldn’t be letting someone ride a horse that doesn’t belong to you. I hope you’ll call the Hamel-Torys and ask them whether or not they approve of this,” he said, raising a dark eyebrow at her.
“I’ll do that as soon as Hadrian’s back in his stall,” she said, mollified. Rich gave her a smile to let her know there were no hard feelings and they all looked in silence at the big dappled grey who was stood perfectly still, occasionally tossing his head. Hayley watched as Rich’s expression relaxed until he looked more pensive than concerned.
“I wonder how he is at dressage,” Chloe speculated out loud and then covered her mouth. Hayley shot a worried look at Rich who just rolled his eyes and didn’t look surprised in the slightest. He knew exactly what she was thinking of doing. It was what Hayley had been planning for her all along.
***
“Taylor, you won’t believe it! I want you to be the first to know…” Chloe practically bounced into the barn two days later. Taylor was mucking out Molotov but he immediately stopped and brightened up as soon as Chloe walked in. Hayley watched from where she’d been mucking out Hadrian’s stall. Surprisingly enough, there were still no takers for that job.
“What’s up?” Taylor asked, leaning casually on the open stall and getting gently hoofed by Molotov who seemed to be doing his best to stay the centre of attention. Hayley tried not to smile too widely. She already knew what was coming next.
“Mr and Mrs Hamel-Tory saw me ride Hadrian and they’ve agreed to let his entry into this year’s competition stand, with me as the rider!” Chloe burst out.
Hayley peeked around the corner at Taylor’s stunned expression and hoped for the sake of their romantic future he replaced it with a smile soon.
“That’s great! I mean, it’s great that you’re in the competition,” Taylor finally managed. “But… Hadrian?”
“Not exactly anyone’s first pick, I know but… you should watch him go! He’s a bit overenthusiastic in dressage but with the way he goes for cross country and show jumping, I think we might actually stand a chance,” Chloe said, all smiles. “I never imagined I’d get to compete riding a horse like him,” she said and Taylor finally smiled properly.
“Chloe that is amazing news. I can’t wait for us to ride together,” Taylor said, far more genuinely. Hayley turned away and grinned as she hugged him, letting them have their moment. Hadrian shoved his head back inside his stall and snorted air at her. She smiled and rubbed his nose, pleased that for once, everything seemed to be going well.
She should have known better than to think it would last.
CHAPTER SIX
Flare
“Hi there, are you lost?”
Hayley stopped leaning on the gate and turned to see a man with dark blonde hair walking up behind her. He smiled when he saw her face and she tried to ignore the dimples that appeared in his cheeks and that ridiculously chiselled jaw line. Was there something in the water that made the men working at riding schools in the area especially attractive? Perhaps she’d just been single for too long.
“Hi, yes, I mean, no… not really. I wanted to visit the Rippley Stud and Riding School. Is that here?” She asked, feeling like an idiot in front of the good looking stranger. He probably thought she’d come to spy! She actually had come to spy, but she didn’t want him thinking that.
“You’re in the right place! I’m the son of the owner. My name’s Riley. What can I do for you?” He asked, extending a hand which Hayley shook, hoping her palms weren’t as sweaty as she suspected.
“I’m Hayley Argent, I work as a horse psychologist but I’m actually looking for a place to stable my horse as I’ve just moved to the area. He’s a big, dapple grey thoroughbred. Do you have other thoroughbreds here?” Wow, subtle, she thought, furious that she was making such a mess of this.
Riley nodded and opened the gate for her. �
��Sure we do, we breed them. The Rippley Stud is legendary around here.” He paused and looked at her with such thoughtfulness, she was afraid she’d been found out. “You know what? Why don’t I show you my horse. He’s one of our very best. I’m going to ride him in the Inter-Stable Championship. I’m sure my father would say I shouldn’t be letting strangers look at him before such an important competition but I don’t know… I’m pretty confident about our chances and,” he looked straight into her eyes, his green meeting her blue. “I have a good feeling about you.” He grinned. “Actually, I’m not even seriously entering the competition. I just help out with the stud and we usually sell all of our best horses. Goldie is an exception because, well… you’ll see why. But yeah, our little stud is hardly going to compete with the big boys,” he said self-deprecatingly. “All of those expensive lessons have to got to count for something, right?”
“I think you might surprise yourself,” Hayley said, already hearing the dedication this man had to horses in his voice. She could also tell he was kidding himself that he wasn’t feeling competitive.
Hayley was glad when he turned and led the way, leaving her to her blushes. Get a grip! She told herself. This was the second riding school she’d visited in the area - the first was a bust. Now she was going all silly over a man she’d just met instead of sticking to her task. She didn’t know him from Adam. He might even have something to do with… She lost her train of thought as they rounded the corner and Riley stopped outside the edge of a grassy paddock.
“Goldie, get over here!” He shouted and there was an answering whinny and the sound of hooves galloping over grass. The horse appeared on the brow of the hill and Hayley felt like she’d been punched in the stomach.
Goldie was a chestnut thoroughbred with a flax coloured mane and tail. It was an incredibly rare colouring for a thoroughbred to have.
“He’s beautiful isn’t he?” Riley said, grinning as the horse cantered towards him to see what all the fuss was about. Hayley decided right there and then that there had to be an explanation. She’d learnt to trust her intuition and it was telling her right now that there was no way that this man was responsible for what had happened to Madison and Taylor.
“Riley, I haven’t been honest with you but I’m going to come clean this instant. I’m trying to help a horse over at Emeline Equestrian. His rider was killed when they were out riding in a storm.”
“I heard about that,” Riley said, his voice grave, and Hayley noted that he looked truly sorry.
“The reason I’m telling you this is because while I’m working really hard to help the horse, Hadrian, go back to being a normal thoroughbred that people would love to work with, I also want to find out what happened to make him change. I know it would be traumatic for a horse to lose their rider, but there was evidence left at the scene to suggest another horse might have been there.” She took a breath and continued, trying not to look too closely at Goldie, who was now stood next to Riley. “Last time we had a storm, another rider from the stables was out in the forest. He said a horse came out of nowhere and attacked the horse he was riding, causing him to fall. Do you… do you know of a horse that might do that? Perhaps a horse who’s had a bad past and occasionally lashes out?” She said, trying to make it easier for him to come forward and admit the truth. She couldn’t see him acting violently deliberately, but perhaps he’d chosen the stormy nights as a quiet time to ride out and had unexpectedly come across both riders. She could understand why he’d chosen to keep quiet rather than come forward. Madison had died and Taylor had looked dead. Panicking would be natural.
“You think it might be Goldie, don't you?” Riley said, sounding hurt.
Hayley bit her tongue and felt horrible. “I’m not accusing you or anything like that, it’s just… well, the horse Taylor saw when he fell off Molotov matches Goldie’s description pretty well. Plus you said there was a reason you didn’t sell him?” She said, wishing she didn’t have to. But someone had to get to the bottom of the mystery, even if it meant losing what could have been a friendship.
“Goldie would never… anyway, we don’t ride out that way. We wouldn’t go near the other riding school.” Riley rubbed a hand through his hair, looking at Goldie and then at Hayley again. “Look, it’s like an unwritten rule. You don’t ride your horse near the other schools. We all share the forest, but it’s divided up into informal territories. Trespassing just isn’t done. As for why we didn’t sell Goldie, it’s because it would have caused bad relations between riding stables. The last time we had a horse born his colour it was sold to Mr Emeline, the founder of Emeline Equestrian. He was unbeatable on that horse and my father and I agreed we shouldn’t sell because it wouldn’t be fair to start a bidding war. The Inter-Stable Championship was set up to bring the local studs and riding schools together. We didn’t want to be responsible for pushing them apart again, all for the sake of an old legend. It’s also unfair to expect a horse to live up to his predecessor, just because he looks the same,” he said, ruffling Goldie’s forelock.
“I believe you. I also noticed that Goldie isn’t missing any hair from his mane, so it can’t have been him. As for not selling him, that makes sense too. Now I know why some people back at Emeline think it’s the ghost of Mr Emeline come back to haunt contenders. It makes a strange sort of sense if the pair really were that legendary,” she said, still unwilling to accept any form of supernatural occurrence.
There was an awkward silence where neither of them knew what to say and Riley patted Goldie who happily snickered, oblivious to the tension. “Thanks for your help anyway. I just figured, there couldn’t be many horses this colour in the area, but I must be wrong,” she said, smiling a little weakly at him.
Riley’s green eyes grew serious. “You’re definitely looking for a horse that looks like Goldie?”
“Yes, chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail,” she confirmed, watching his facial expressions. He knew something, but he was deciding whether or not to tell her.
After what felt like an age, he spoke again. “My father has tried to breed horses like Goldie for decades. As I said before, he only managed it once,” he said and Hayley nodded. “After that, there was Goldie and a year later, the same stud and mare pairing produced another horse with the same rare colouring, only the mare died soon after the birth.” He sighed. “We think… my father and I that is, think that the lack of contact with her mother ruined the filly’s temperament. Flare came from such excellent breeding stock and should have been the pride of the stables, maybe even more than Goldie.” The horse snorted just as he said it and they both smiled a little. “We tried everything and eventually managed to bring the filly on as gently as we could and broke her in.” He sighed. “She’s rideable on a good day, but completely unreliable. You never know when she’s going to flip out on you and she’s always been kept in isolation because whenever she’s been introduced to another horse, she goes wild and attacks them. Nearly scarred Goldie here for life,” he admitted.
“I hate to say it, but it sounds like this horse was behind the death of one rider and the near death of another,” Hayley said.
Riley frowned and shook his head. “It’s got to be another horse. There’s just no way! Her owner knows full well not to ride her anywhere near other horses. We only sold the mare because our client wanted to see if she could help the horse. She said she wanted to do a good deed and that Flare was her way of giving something back. No way would she ride Flare out into the forest, especially near another Riding School.” He shook his head again. “I just can’t see it happening.”
Hayley tilted her head, knowing she’d have to choose her next words very carefully.
“Riley, the owner of Flare has other horses, right? Does she ride here?”
“No, she’s from a stable that isn’t anywhere around here. Flare can’t really be moved anywhere. There’s too much risk to other horses, so she pays us to look after her and visits and rides when she can,” Riley said.
&n
bsp; Hayley could tell that Riley believed what he was saying but the idea of visiting a horse that was miles away from all the other, far more biddable horses you owned, seemed strange. She’d love to believe that there really was someone that charitable out there, but something felt off about this whole situation…
“Come on Riley, please consider it. I know it’s hard, believe me. We both love horses and the idea of someone mistreating one is horrible but please… can we at least go and have a look at Flare and see if she’s missing a chunk of her mane?” Hayley was doing her best to be reasonable.
Riley bit his lip, his eyes fixed on Goldie. She could tell he was thinking about the stud and their own dark secret. A horse like Flare could destroy their reputation and she could tell it was only their kindness that had meant Flare hadn’t already been put down.
“We can go and look,” he finally conceded.
They left Goldie and walked through the yard in an uncomfortable silence. Hayley’s heart went out to Riley, but she could feel that she was just inches away from getting to the bottom of Madison’s death. There would finally be some closure for her poor parents.
They rounded the last corner of the stables and then walked across an open expanse to where a solitary stable stood. “You weren’t kidding about Flare being kept away from other horses,” she said, just to break the silence. Riley just nodded and then motioned for her to stay where she was. She watched as he slowly approached the beautiful mare who looked like the double of Goldie. When she thrust her head forwards and snapped her teeth, the likeness disappeared.
Hayley could hear the mare smashing her hooves against the stable door as she tried to kick out at Riley. To the casual observer, Flare’s behaviour might not have differed that much from Hadrian’s but to Hayley, they were worlds apart. Everything Flare did was full of malice. The beautiful thoroughbred, who could have had such a bright future, hated everyone and everything.
