Seeing Stars

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The sound of my alarm clock playing ‘After the Storm’ gently wakes me from my sleep. I open my eyes and am blinded for a second by the sunlight shining in through my window. I twist my head towards my alarm clock, 5:43am. I groan and sit up, stretching out before throwing the covers off my bed. I place my feet on the ground and stand up. I make my way over to the window and look out just in time to see Adrian enter the barn.

I turn away and walk to my cupboard and grab a pair of jeans and a t-shirt before heading out of my room and down the hall to the bathroom. I have a quick shower and get changed before pulling my damp hair up into a ponytail. When I unlock the door I find Joel leaning against the wall opposite, “How long does it take you to get ready?” He asks as he pushes off the wall.

I roll my eyes and smack him lightly on the arm as he passes. “Don’t be rude!” I say and grin at him before heading down the stairs into the kitchen. I grab myself some toast and eat quickly before grabbing my phone off the counter to check the time before heading out of the house, 6:30am. That means I have just about 2 hours before Taliah arrives for her early lesson this morning.

As I enter the barn I notice Adrian lying back on a stack of straw in the corner, “Are you actually going to do some work or are you just going to lie there?” I ask him.

He gives me a grin as he sits up, “I want to just lie here but I feel like you will try and kill me if I leave you to do all the work.”

“That is very true, so come on. Get a move on. You have to feed them all.” I say and move off to the end of the barn. While he has to change their feeds and replace their water, I just need to turn out the horses that aren’t being used today and then work them later on. I step into the office and am not surprised to find my mother already there with papers scattered all over her desk.

“What’s wrong?” I ask worriedly when I notice that her face is full of concern.

She instantly brightens up, “Oh nothing. I’m just doing a bit of paperwork and you know they stress me out a little.”

I don’t quite believe her but let it slide anyway and change the subject. “What horses are we using today?” I ask her as I move over to the board with the names and times of all the lessons today.

My mother stands up and joins me as we read the board, “Okay so we have Taliah from nine until ten and then a class of 3 and then at 2 we have Tamsin.” I nod alongside her as she thinks out loud, “We’ll put Taliah back on Ebony then we will use Ghost, Ruby and Bailey for the class and then Flicka for Tamsin?” She asks and looks to me to see if I agree.

I nod my head, “Yeah. That should work.” I say and write the names up on the board. Once I am done I drop the pen back into the pot and start to leave the room, “What time is Mr. Meyers getting here at?” I ask her, pausing at the door.

“I’m not sure.” She says, “He just said it would be between ten and two.”

“Okay. I’ll keep my eye out for them.” I say and step out of the office back into the main barn. I look along the line of stalls and decide to start at the end closest to the door. Over the next 30 minutes I turn out the 5 horses not being used today and I make sure to lock the gate behind me after I am done.

I then return to the barn and see that my brother is done with the feeds. “Come tack up Ebony with me.” I say

He nods his head and follows me to the tack room where I grab her bridle and he grabs the saddle. We walk back through to her stall. Ebony, like her name suggests is a black horse, darker than my Rogan. She nudges my pocket, looking for a biscuit as we enter.