Born Dark

by H G Lynch

  “Wrong. Four fingers,” he laughed, making her smile. It was a warm, genuine laugh, and it did funny things to her insides.

  The car started up again, buzzing, and they drove for only a few minutes before it stopped again. She heard the car door open on Reid’s side and then slam shut. Her door opened, a faint breeze coasting across her thighs, and Reid helped her out. As soon as she was standing, he let go of her hand, but she could feel he was still close. An array of smells hit her at once. Some smells were familiar, evoking flashes of memory from back home. Hay. Leather. Sawdust. Apples. And an animal smell she could pick out in petting zoo. The smells that weren’t so familiar, at least not mixed with the other smells, were soap bubbles and rose blossoms.

  “You can take off the blindfold now. Unless you want to guess where we are?” Reid actually sounded a little nervous for some bizarre reason. She’d never heard him nervous before. It was almost endearing.

  “I don’t need to guess. Stables. I’d know the smell of horses anywhere.” She tugged off the blindfold with an incredulous smile. Reid looked almost impressed by her assumption, because she was exactly right.

  They were standing in a large clearing in a thicket of pine trees. There were three rows of stable blocks, all built with red bricks and polished mahogany doors. The ground was paved in flat, grey stones, and there were finely-clad stable hands tending to gorgeous horses of all sizes, colours and breeds. It was like a little slice of heaven in the middle of a random hidden clearing.

  “What is this place?” she asked stupidly, feeling the amazed expression on her own face. The place was so beautiful, so clean and bright and cosy-looking. Reid grinned at her, his face alight with… something. Something she couldn’t quite identify.

  “It’s just something my parents had built for me when I was younger. I used to love horses, and they always encouraged me. I got tired of it once I turned eleven,” Reid replied with a shrug, “But I remembered something you’d said about falling off horses the other night and thought you might like to see it.”

  Ember turned and saw that they’d driven up a long, narrow pathway, through the trees. There was small tack room just to the side of the pathway, painted white with a dark, polished wooden door. It was so quaint and pretty. “It’s… amazing,” she breathed, turning back to look at Reid. He looked ecstatic, his blue eyes bright and a smile spreading across his mouth. The fragrant breeze lifted fair strands of his hair that shone in the light filtering through the trees.

  “Glad you like it,” he said, bowing gracefully. She laughed. He held out a hand elegantly, pulling off his beanie with the other hand. “Want to go for a ride?”

  Had Reid Ashton just offered to go horseback riding with her? Seriously? What happened to Acorn Hills Academy’s resident bad boy? Ember decided she would have fun here and pulled on an outraged expression. “What do you think I am? I’m not one of your usual whores!” She shrieked, whirling away with her arms crossed. She bit her lip on a grin.

  It was all of two and a half seconds before Reid burst out, “Hey! I didn’t mean it like that! I meant the horses! You know I wouldn’t… Look, not that I wouldn’t… What I mean is-” Reid let out his breath and she turned to see him clutching his hair, a blush creeping up his face. Ember burst into laughter, doubling over.

  “Why, Reid Ashton, did you really just blush?” she gasped, seeing his astounded, puzzled expression. “I know what you meant. I was just messing with you. Chill out.” She finally stopped giggling, and added, “But seriously, how many girls do you take here? Half a dozen a month?” She teased, snatching his beanie from his hand and skipping away. Something about his momentary embarrassment had made her more confident. It was a slight crack in the impenetrable force field of Reid’s coolness.

  “Uh, actually, the only other people who know about this place are the guys. I’ve never taken a girl here before. Normally, there’s only one recreational activity on the schedule when I’m with a girl.”

  Now she knew why Reid had sounded nervous to start with. Right now he was avoiding her gaze, rubbing the back of his head absently. Ember looked around again, admiring a small bay pony being led along by a stable hand, swinging Reid’s beanie in her hand. “Well… That doesn’t surprise me,” she said softly, not knowing just what to say exactly.

  “Why is that?” he asked, wandering over and snatching the hat back. She grinned then pretended to sulk, making him grin in return.

  “Because you’re Reid Ashton. Resident bad boy, man-whore and asshole. Girls want you for obvious recreations because you’re the kind of guy that only wants girls for the same reason.” She paused, “As for why on Earth you brought me here… I’m guessing it’s different when you save the girl from being raped in an alleyway and want to ensure she doesn’t turn around and have a mental breakdown, right?” Ember laughed, following close behind him as he walked to the first stable block. Reid didn’t reply and he didn’t turn to look at her. It was disconcerting not having a Reid-like reply to her comment for once.

  She followed him past three gorgeous horses in the first stable block: A grey Dartmoor pony, a chunky Shire and a perky Shetland. They stopped at the stable at the end, and Reid gestured for her to take a look inside. There was a beautiful, liver-chestnut Arab in the stable.

  “Let me guess. Thirteen hands and three inches?” She guessed the pony’s height expertly.

  Reid nodded, clearly impressed. “I figured she’d be just your size. Her name’s Sasha. She’s seven years old and she’s a speedy little pony.” Reid grinned, and Ember had never felt closer to a guy in her life. No guy she’d ever known had had any interest in horses. Yet here was her sworn enemy.

  “This is why you told me to go with these boots!” The revelation hit her and she felt dumb for not having worked that out sooner. Reid laughed and slung an arm round her shoulders. She shrugged it off good-naturedly and followed him back to the little tack room.

  The tack room was a lovely, spacious room with a wooden desk at one end, and two walls lined with saddles on racks. Reid lifted a well-kept brown leather saddle off a rack and handed it to her, dumping the bridle on top.

  “I’m guessing you know how to tack a horse?” he asked, but he seemed just a little sceptical.

  “I could do it with my eyes closed!” She grinned, adjusting her grip on the saddle to carry it properly, and waiting for Reid to grab his own saddle. He took her back to Sasha’s stable and dumped his own saddle over the door of the stable next to it. He then opened the sliding bolt to let her into Sasha’s stable, and watched her tack up the beautiful pony. To her, it was the most natural thing in the world. Positioning the saddle correctly, straightening the numnah, doing up the girth, unrolling the stirrups. The bridle was next. Sasha tried to bite her on the first attempt but with a firm, steady hand, she got the bit into the pony’s mouth easily, and slipped the straps over the ears. She did up the throat lash and noseband and untwisted the reins.

  She finished and turned back to Reid in under ten minutes, then saw his astonished expression. His mouth was actually hanging open. “Uh… I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone saddle a horse so fast and so easily,” he commented, looking a little doubtful. He let her out and glanced at his own saddle on the neighbouring stable door. “To be honest… I’ve never actually tacked up a horse before. When I was younger, I always had one of the stable hands do it,” he admitted sheepishly. Well, well. This was a very different Reid to the one she loved to hate.

  “Seriously? Do you want to learn? I could show you if you want,” she offered, feeling only too glad to show the ever-arrogant Reid Ashton how to tack a horse.

  “Uh, sure. I guess so.” He smiled weakly, his blonde hair falling in his eyes.

  The horse Reid had chosen was a lovely, fifteen hands high, skewbald cob; chunky but friendly, and quietly docile. This one was named Harry, and he was eight years old.

  Ember dragged Reid into the stable and had him carry the saddle to the horse. She showed him where
to position it and helped him smooth out the saddlecloth. She showed him how to do up the girth and check whether it was tight enough. She double-checked that part herself just in case. She didn’t really want his saddle to slip if they started cantering. Giving him a little leeway, she did the bridle herself, knowing he’d likely get his fingers bitten. Inexperienced stable hands did that a lot. She let him do up the throat lash, telling him which hole to buckle it on. And then they were set. But after all that, Reid was still Reid.

  “Saddling a horse is a woman’s job anyway.” He shrugged, giving her a sideways glance.

  She slapped his arm hard and scowled at him. “Just because I can do something you can’t, doesn’t mean you have to revert to being an asshole. You were actually decent for all of ten minutes.” She shook her head, sighing. Reid chuckled and led his horse out of its stable, sliding home the bolt on the door. Ember collected Sasha and they led the horses out to the yard.

  “Do you need a stepping stool?” Reid taunted as she lowered the left stirrup on Sasha’s saddle.

  “Actually I think what you mean is a mounting block, and no, I don’t need one, thanks.” She stuck her foot in the stirrup and swung up onto the horse easily. She sat tall and straight, feeling funny to be on a horse without her riding-gloves and body-protector. Reid tossed a velvet-covered riding hat up to her and she clipped it on neatly. He pulled on his own hat and tried to steady Harry, who was skittering about nervously.

  Ember tried not to laugh as Reid hung his head in defeat. She swung off her own horse and held Sasha’s reins in one hand while holding Harry’s in the other. She steadied the nervous cob, holding the noseband underneath just for safe measure.

  “OK. He should be good now.” She rubbed the cob’s muzzle lovingly as Reid swung on. “Well done. I half expected you to get on the wrong way,” she laughed, releasing the calmed Cob and getting back on Sasha.

  “Hey, it’s been a few years since I’ve been on a horse. The last horse I rode was like twelve hands high. Sorry if I’m a little rusty,” Reid said in a mockingly sarcastic tone. Ember rolled her eyes at the blonde boy.

  They rode along a hidden pathway through the trees, a real hack through the forest. The smell of dirt and wildflowers and pine trees was wonderful, and the slow, smooth movement of the horse’s strides under her felt as natural as breathing. Sitting with her back straight and chin up, hands just right on the reins and heels tilted down, she was in heaven. Reid didn’t look quite so natural on his horse alongside her. He looked nervous, rigid and uncomfortable.

  “Relax. You’ll freak out poor Harry. He’ll think there’s something to be scared of and then he’ll get jumpy. That’s when you’ll fall off,” Ember instructed soothingly, giving a squeeze with her legs as Sasha slowed down.

  Reid glanced at her quickly. “What are you, my riding instructor?” he quipped.

  “For today, yes. Because you’ve obviously forgotten how to ride a horse. Point your heels down and sit straight. And relax. You need to absorb the movement in your hips. Otherwise, if Harry decides to duck down to eat grass, you’ll go flying over his head. Trust me, I’ve seen it happen a dozen times.” Ember shook her head, sighing. She’d seen too many nervous kids fall off that way, and then the kids were always too scared to get back on the horse. It was a pity. But Reid seemed to take her advice; he loosened up a bit and tilted his heels down.

  “There. See? Now loosen the reins a little, you’re pulling on Harry’s mouth. He won’t like that.” Ember watched as he struggled to correct the reins. She sighed and pulled Sasha closer, careful to ensure neither horse would kick out at the other. She looped her own reins over one arm and reached across to help Reid. She took his hands, keeping them positioned correctly on the reins, and slid them easily back. Her fingertips were warm where they brushed his skin. “Simple. Doesn’t that feel smoother?” Ember smiled, glad her voice didn’t waver despite the butterflies in her stomach. She knew how bizarre this situation was: Her riding on horseback through the forest, teaching AHA’s bad boy - her enemy until just a few days ago - how to ride properly. And more amazingly, she was enjoying it. Reid nodded stiffly, his blue eyes focused ahead.

  Ember took up her own reins again and directed Sasha a safe distance from Harry. She looked around her at the bright wildflowers and swaying long grass, the reaching pine trees and dirt path. It was so much like the forest she’d ridden in back home.

  Memories of her old riding school bombarded her; the wide spreading green fields, dotted with horses she could name and describe every detail about with her eyes closed; wandering through the main field, the fresh grass wet with dew drops, swinging a head collar in her hand; the first time she’d led three horses at once, struggling not to get tangled in all the ropes as she sloshed through the muddy track to the stables; grooming her favourite horses, chatting away to the animals while she watched the soft coat turn glossy under the body brush; the first time she’d cantered, her first real jump; laughing and partying with the gang in the tack room after darkness fell and the horses were tucked away in their fields; and, of course, her favourite pony of all time - a little grey welshie with tiny ears and huge eyes - trotting around her field and rolling in the grass.

  “Ember? You OK?” Reid’s gentle voice broke into her reverie and she realised her eyes were wet. She quickly wiped the tears away and put on a smile. “I’m fine. I was just remembering my riding school back home. I hadn’t realised how much I missed it until now.” She heard the longing and sadness in her own voice. Reid just looked at her curiously and she pointed sharply forward, reminding him to keep his eyes on where he was going. He turned his attention slowly back to the dirt path. Ember peered closely at the path up ahead, where the light seemed tilted differently. As they neared the area, she saw the path widen and the trees thinned out. Perfect.

  “Can you trot?” she asked Reid, and saw him nod once. His eyes were unfocused, and brooding. A look that sat oddly on the face of the arrogant blonde. “OK then. Shorten your reins and let’s go!” Ember grinned and nudged Sasha into a smooth trot.

  She instantly fell into the easy rhythm of rising-trot, matching the pony’s strides perfectly. Sasha had a lovely stride, too; quick and light, unsurprising for such a dainty horse. She chanced a glance at Reid over her shoulder, and saw he was much more at ease, just slightly off on his timing of movement.

  After a good lengthy trot, Ember pulled back on her reins and sat back in the saddle. Reid pulled up next to her and flashed her a grin.

  “Well, that was fun,” he said, and Ember gave him a look, unsure if he was being serious or sarcastic. He shrugged. “I’m just glad I didn’t fall off. You’re a natural at this; I could never quite get the rhythm right, but you’ve got it perfectly. My old instructor, Miss Henna, would be impressed with you.” Reid was being genuinely complimentary and she blushed. She then felt stupid for that. After all, he was still Reid. Which he proved ten minutes later when they trotted again.

  He was watching her carefully as she moved with the horse, getting the rising-trot just right. When she slowed to a walk again she asked Reid what he was looking at and he replied with a typically Reid-like remark. “The way your hips move. It’s giving me ideas.” He grinned and gave her meaningful look, one brow arched.

  She wanted to throw something at him but instead she said, “Just keep your thoughts to yourself.”

  With a quick glance forward at the wide, flat path ahead, she squeezed Sasha into a fast canter. She wasn’t sure he would follow, but she didn’t care. She loved the speed, the thudding of horses’ hooves on the dead pine needle dirt. She kept her heels pressed firmly into the stirrups and tugged on the left rein to drive Sasha toward a fallen log. Ember gripped her reins and stretched her arms, almost hugging the horse’s neck as they cleared the log easily. Sasha was a great jumper, and Ember felt the thrill of whooshing air past her face.

  She was breathing heavily and grinning like a maniac when she pulled Sasha to a stop to wait for Reid. She h
adn’t realised how far they’d gone, she couldn’t even see Reid anymore. She giggled breathlessly and patted Sasha’s neck. “Good girl. That was brilliant. Good girl,” she muttered to the excited pony, prancing about and kicking up dirt. Ember circled the hyper pony a few times and let her eat some grass, the reins just resting loosely in her fingers. She was lost in her own thoughts when Reid finally trotted up next to her.

  “Finally. Too scared to canter? You missed my amazing jump over the log.” Ember beamed at the flustered blonde boy. Reid looked at her with wild blue eyes.

  “I was sure you were going to fall off.” He shook his head, as if realising how stupid he’d been to think that.

  “Pfft! Me? Fall off? Unlikely. Cantering is as easy as breathing to me.” She smiled sweetly.

  Reid rolled his eyes. “We should get back. Your friend will be wondering where you went. She might think I kidnapped you.” Reid turned Harry round and jerked his head.

  It was still light when they returned to the stables, but it was dimming slowly to a warm glow. The stable hands appeared to have gone home, and the stables were quiet but for the occasional whinny of one or two horses, and the whisper of the wind through the trees.

  “You know, I think you’re less of an asshole than you make out to be,” Ember said to Reid, hefting the saddle off Sasha and dumping it on the door of her stable. Reid was watching her, leaning his chin on his hands over the saddle. He looked thoughtful, an odd gentleness in his features that she hadn’t seen before. But the minute she spoke, the gentleness vanished, replaced by a sort of cold sharpness.

  “You want a bet.” He glared at her, his expression hardening. She sighed, despairing at the way he always did that; became the careless bad boy again after being fun and mischievous.

  “No, I don’t want a bet. We’re through with games, remember? I’d ask why you really brought me here but I know I wouldn’t get a straight, truthful answer.” Ember slipped off Sasha’s bridle and flung it over the saddle, making Reid jump back to avoid being whacked in the face. She smirked and slid out of the stable.