Picturesque

Chapter 17: Manor Farm

"There's a clove of trees right past there, over the hill." She pointed past me, and I turned, looking at the large hill where about a dozen horses were calmly grazing. "I'll race ya," she whispered. As I turned back to her, she suddenly rushed past me, bumping into my shoulder as she started racing towards the hill.

Catching my balance, I stared after her. "What?! Jo!" I started jogging a little bit, but she kept on sprinting, and something in me pulled after her. I was aggravated at first, having to run in my tight green pants and sandals, but there was an adrenaline that pumped through me as I caught momentum. I stared after her rush of wild, fiery blonde hair as she struggled to run up the steep hill.

I struggled harder, already out of breath, but I was gaining on her. She lowered down to use her hands to crawl faster up the hill, turning her head and looking surprised to see that I was right behind her. She let out a shriek and a raspy laugh as she started to climb faster, the horses at the top of the hill stirring in fright.

"Jo!" I shrieked, my own laughter boiling inside my chest. We struggled up the hill, my hands inches away from the heels of her knee-high riding boots which tore through the damp grass, until finally she tumbled over the top of the hill, and I tumbled right after her.

I didn't realize how hard I was laughing. My heart was beating painfully hard in my chest, my lungs aching as I wheezed for air. My own ribcage throbbed from my unconscious giggles, and as I looked up, I froze.

I also hadn't realized how close I was to the horses now. They were all standing right in front of me, a few of them eyeing me wearily. They were much bigger now than how small they looked from down the hill. Slowly, I stood, not wanting to scare them. A few of them huffed and kicked their front legs, and I gasped, stepping backwards. I felt my foot slip on the edge of the hill, but Jo's hand caught my elbow and pulled me away from it.

"They won't hurt you," she said calmly, her breath ragged from running.

"I think we scared them," I whispered, face blushing from the exertion and from her hand grasping my arm.

"No, they're used to it by now. Come here, Willow's over there." She pointed past the horses and to a dense cluster of trees where one was grazing alone.

Jo's hand slid down my arm and clasped my hand, her fingers entwining with my own. We set out in a light jog towards the trees, and I tried to ignore the way her hand was squeezing mine, the way the ends of her long hair grazed my cheek as she ran slightly in front of me.

We slowed as we made it to the trees, and her hand left mine cold. Awe fluttered in my chest as Jo started to walk towards the horse. This one was taller than the others, the tallest horse I'd ever seen, though I hadn't seen very many. She was completely black, her fur and her mane so black that it made her dark eyes appear lighter than herself. There were flecks of gray in her mane and on her face, and I noticed the way she kept her weight off one of her back legs a little bit. She was mindlessly grazing the bits of grass on the ground when Jo approached her.

"Hey, Willow girl," Jo cooed, and the horse's face perked up, her eye boring into Jo's figure. I felt like it looked at me for a moment before it looked at Jo again, and it lowered its head in a final decision of happiness, trotting to Jo and butting its head gently against her shoulder.

"Hey, there," Jo cooed, pressing her face against the bridge of the horse's nose as her hand reached up and brushed all over its neck. "How you been, Willy girl?"

"This is Willow?" I asked, feeling dumb that I thought they had been talking about a real human woman.

"Of course," Jo said. "I've had Willow since I was a baby. She was one of the first horses here." Jo walked along the horse's side, her hand reaching up and patting its back. "She's my best girl, she is." She slapped the horse's hide, and it huffed, kicking its back legs.