Setting Sun

Little Runaway

"No."

Margret jolted with a blink. "What?"

"I said no." Iris finished polishing her black hunting saddle and placed it back onto the rack marked with Luxury's name. "She's not riding my horse."

"But you never ride her anyway!" Leslie argued, ignoring Margret trying to shush her. "You just said that you never have the time!"

"Listen," Iris said with a sigh. "I'm sorry about what happened to your pony. I really am. He was cute. But no, you're not riding Luxury. She's too expensive to be ruined by a teenager."

"What if we made you an offer? Mom's got $5,000 in the bank!"

Iris huffed a laugh and turned to Leslie. "I spent $30,000 on her. If you think I'm selling her to you for $25,000 off the original asking price, you've got another thing coming."

"I promise that I'll be super careful!" Leslie watched with horror as their mother's face swiftly drained with colour at Luxury's price. The mare was slipping away from her with every passing moment. "I won't go any faster than a trot! It'll be a 15-minute ride, tops!"

"You know what?" Iris sat down on the stool, crossed one leg over the other and pinned Leslie down with a stare. "Now I don't even want you near her. I don't want you petting her, I don't want you talking to her, I don't want you interacting with her at all. I'm going to ask Poppy to leave her outside on the days you have your horse riding lessons."

"W-We understand," Margret stuttered, grabbing Leslie's hand by the wrist. "I'm sorry she pushed so hard, and I'm sorry we disturbed you. Have a good rest of your day!"

Iris' answer was muffled as Margret dragged Leslie out of the tack room. They resisted her the entire way until she threw their hand down and turned on them.

"That was completely unacceptable," she seethed. "She said no. I thought I taught you better than that, Leslie-Anne."

"You taught me to always strive for my goals," Leslie argued. "Well now my goal is to ride Luxury!"

"Well congratulations, Leslie! You just shot your only chance at completing that goal to bits!"

"That's not fair! I was only trying to ask!"

"You DID ask." Margret's voice shook with anger. "She said no, and you kept pushing. You are not entitled to a horse that doesn't belong to you!"

"I want to be entitled to her! I want her to belong to me!!"

"Leslie-Anne Catrine, you are acting like a toddler!" Margret pulled herself up to her full height. "Get to the car. You are grounded until further notice and I want you to write an apology to Iris as soon as possible."

"FUCK YOU!!"

"Very well, then." Margret turned away. "I'll be in the car once you get over your temper tantrum."

Leslie seethed with rage as Margret turned and left the stable, the thump of her shoes slowly fading away. The teenager pushed the heels of her hands against their eyes and backed up until their back hit the wall, slowly sliding to the ground. They knew they were acting irrational. She knew that she was in the wrong. But all they could think about was their chance to ride her dream horse, to be happy again, vanishing into a puff of smoke.

She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. They wanted to tear this entire stable apart with their bare hands and ride away on Luxury's back to live somewhere far away forever.

The tack room door opened and closed. Iris hesitated for a moment before leaving, her expensive riding boots striking the ground with a hoof-like sound as she went. Leslie waited until they were sure she was gone before they raised their head.