Sanctuary

Chapter 12

Luke

Jaynah grabbed Misty's reins and walked of the stables. I couldn't tear my eyes away from her as I watched the confident way she swung up into the saddle. She had the easy confidence of someone who had grown up around horses and had been riding them all her life.

Grant tapped me on the shoulder and handed me a pair of reins. I looked around and my cheeks darkened when I saw that he had saddled Apollo for me. "Tami's got about half an hour left in her lesson. Apollo needs exercise and you need to go after your girl."

I glared at him, but he chuckled and went back to cleaning out the stables. There was little for me to do, other than do as my kinsman had some suggested. I don't have the experience in the saddle that Jaynah had, but I am a decent rider and I soon caught up with her. She had reached a part of the property I hadn't known existed. It looked like someone had set up a steeplechase course in a forgotten corner of the stronghold.

Whether it was Jaynah or another person, didn't matter. What mattered was the grin on Jaynah's face and the ease at which Misty took the first fence. There was hesitation at some fences from Misty, but Jaynah spoke to the horse and reassured her. I could see a partnership forming between horse and rider that reminded me of when Mum was alive.

Misty had been a present for their tenth anniversary and Mum had ridden her every chance she got. We didn't know much about her history, just that her previous owner had used her for equestrian competitions until a bad fall when breaking in a colt that left the owner paralysed from the hips down. Her initial skittishness around people made me wonder if someone had mistreated the horse at some point.

Mum and Grant took six months to get Misty to where she would allow them to ride her. The first time Mum could swing up into the saddle I could hear the cheers in the stronghold's dining room. After that, it took another six months to form the partnership between horse and rider I was seeing with Jaynah after just a few days.

Beneath me, Apollo snorted and stretched out his neck towards the grey mare. I stabled the two next to each other for a reason. They got on well and Apollo was protective of his friend. Jaynah reached out to stroke his nose. Misty stepped closer, and I watched as Jaynah moved her leg out of the way so it wouldn't be crushed between the two horses. "Hello handsome. So you convinced your rider to get back into the saddle, huh?

I got the shock of my life when Apollo nodded in response to her, Jaynah laughed and talked to him as if he understood every word she was saying. Misty shifted out of boredom, nudging Jaynah's leg into Apollo's flank. "Okay Misty. We'll go for a gallop in a minute. What about it Apollo? Think Luke can handle a race? We'll go from here to the driveway then back to the stables. Winning horse gets an extra ration of hay." Apollo looked around at me and snorted. I swear for a second he rolled his eyes before he turned back to Jaynah and nodded again.

He shifted until he was standing next to Misty and facing in the same direction. "Looks like he wants to race."

Jaynah patted his neck and smiled. "He does. Hope you're up for it." She stopped and looked towards the stables. "We appear to have a guest." I followed her gaze. Someone was sitting on a tree stump about halfway between where we were standing and the corral yard. A smile crossed my face as I recognised the man.

"Wait here. I think I know who that is." She nodded, and I rode over to the stump. Jared smiled and stood to greet me as I rode over to him. I leaned down to give him a hug in greeting. "I'll be about half an hour if you can hang around for a visit. Apollo here needs a good run to stretch his legs. Dad's giving Tami a riding lesson in the yard behind you and I'm sure they'd both love it if you could stay long enough to say hello."