Playing Princess

Playing Princess 1.10

The moment we were deep within the shelter of the trees, I let out a yelp from the sheer terror billowing through my veins as Bolt trotted forward very calmly. I could feel every one of his muscles shifting under my legs as he moved and the fact that he kept looking at me every now and then didn’t help the unease growing in my chest.

“Easy, Princess. Bolt won’t hurt you.” I caught the wicked smile lighting up his boyish features and scowled at him.

“Just you wait,” I whispered furiously, glancing at the horse as if he could understand me. “Bolt’s going to buck me off to Pluto!”

“Drama queen. And here I was thinking Izzy was the dramatic one but no. You’re both equally worrisome for no apparent reason!”

“I just can’t believe I’m riding a horse,” I mumbled, my fingers growing sore from holding onto the saddle for so long. I refused to let go though: it felt like I would fall off if I did.

“All right let’s start with some walking by yourself.” Joey started backing away, slowly slipping the leather ropes towards me. “Grab the reins.”

“Are you crazy? I’ll fall off!” I shouted, grateful that I could make all the cursing and noises I wanted without anybody overhearing. “I’m going to die!”

“Astrid. Don’t tell me you’re serious.” A disbelieving look crossed his face, a ghost of a smile twitching at the corners of his lips. “How about you ride with me first until you get the hang of it? Will that ease your nerves?”

“Yes!” I blurted out, grabbing the saddle tightly and looked squarely ahead at Bolt’s long, shimmering black mane. “All right, Bolt. Sit.” The horse continued walking steadily with Joey beside me. “Stay. Heel. Halt!”

“That’s not how you do it!” Joey insisted, stopping Sadie and slipped off her with ease. Bolt continued on forward, not even acknowledging the horse that Joey was tugging along behind him. “Pass me the reins.” The long leather attached to Bolt’s halter hung loosely across the horse’s dark black neck, untouched by me.

I shot him a fleeting look. “Are you kidding me? I can’t let go of the saddle.”

“If you don’t hand them over, Bolt won’t stop.”

Overridden with panic, I shot out a hand and flicked the leather to the side, snapping my fingers back around the leather saddle again. “Oh thank goodness.”

“Drama queen.” Joey pulled back just the slightest bit and immediately I felt Bolt’s muscles stop shifting. “Okay. Come down now, Princess.”

I clenched my teeth, leaned forward and slowly started to lift my foot out of the stirrup. I gradually lifted it over the saddle. A chime of laughter bubbled in my throat. I was doing this by myself. Maybe it was just the thought of being on the horse urging me to jump off faster but –

“Gah!” I lost my balance and fell backwards and waited for the impact. Something caught me around my waist and supported my legs which went flying into the air. Inhaling sharply, I took that moment of pure, utter shock to stare blankly up at my saviour. “Th-Thanks.”

“No problem. It’s my job, to catch princesses.”

Heat prickled my cheeks and before I knew it, Joey had let me drop to the ground safely. I let my arms drop to my sides and sighed with relief. “Catch princesses? How many times have you caught Izzy?” If she had been anything like me the first time she rode a horse, Joey must have caught her from falling a dozen times.

“None. She had perfect balance the moment she got on the horse.”

“Right.” I popped my lips awkwardly then turned to give Bolt a blank stare. “I think Bolt hates me.”