What if all you trusted was to crumble about you?
When a new pony arrives at Valley Riding School, volunteer Abby has no idea of the integral role that he has to play in the unfolding of her life. She goes from riding once per week to preparing for...
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"What do you mean by taken?" I ask, craning my head over Spring's vast frame in order to see Sara, the others having gone back to the house. "Was she stolen?"
The horse walks with a swinging gait, faster than I can keep up with at a comfortable pace. Not calm and tranquil like Autumn. She tosses her head every so often to gaze at a shadow in the trees, and each time I am impressed by the ripple of muscle in the dark. However, with each hoofprint that rings against the floor of the path I can't help but think of her frightened and alone in a strange place. I am disgusted at the mere idea that somebody would tear her from her home for their own gain, and my mind flicks unbidden to Kerys.
"Not her," says Sara, as though reading my mind, "But she didn't help. It started the night that I fired her- did Matt tell you about that?"
The scar. How it rises and falls and cuts a line across his stomach. A shard of broken glass.
"Partly."
"Matt came to us that night. It was raining- hard- and at first, we couldn't see the blood against his sodden pyjamas. It was all dark, but his weak frame as he leaned upon the support of the low slung porch told us everything we needed to know.
"Raj took him inside while I called the ambulance, and within an hour we were there with him in the hospital, listening to the doctors. The police were there as well, but Matt wouldn't talk to them, beyond explaining that he had fallen, that it was his fault, that they didn't need to worry. He was silent when they asked why he had come to us.
"Nobody said where Kerys was, why she hadn't answered her phone, but we all knew. Could all tell.
"Matt didn't want to press charges. He blamed himself, the poor thing, and we had to respect his wishes. The police had agreed that he could come home and live with us, and prosecuting Kerys would have distressed Matt more than leaving her free. Maybe now I regret that, but it was Matt's decision. It was never mine to make."
Sara stops talking when we reach the stable block, and silently helps me untack Spring. The stable looks warm and inviting, steam rising from the mare's damp coat and mingling with the scent of fresh straw. Spring tucks hungrily into her haynet, only pausing briefly in order to check me for treats, and turning dismissively away when realising that I have come empty handed.
"Did Kerys come back for him?" I ask, afraid of either answer.
"No. We hadn't seen her for seven years."
---
The others wait in the kitchen of the main house when we arrive, and Raj presses a mug of hot chocolate into my numb fingers. I notice that it has been made with a chocolate dipper, and I smile tentatively at Matt-I share his love of hot chocolate.
I thank Raj, then we make our way to the living room. Mr. Smith reclines in an old rocking chair, myself in an armchair with Matt perched on the arm, and Sara and Raj pressed together on the small sofa on the back wall. The house is small, and certainly wasn't designed for this many people. When they notice that I am here, Mollie and Jasper run to greet me. I put out a nervous hand to stroke them, but their wiry coats feel unpleasant and coarse.
They soon get bored of me, much to my relief, and Sara continues her story:
"The letters and e-mails dwindled as fast as the money. At first they came in thick- angry words practically leaping out of the page, claims that I had trained and sold horses that were terrified to jump, horses that had been abused mercilessly. It was only half true.
"Then came the e-mails from friends. Links to newspaper articles condemning me for crimes I had not comitted, then for crimes that even Kerys had never comitted. The business ran completely dry, but I held out. I attempted to sell horses that were not necessary for breeding, but nobody would buy from me.
"My name was like dirt, and nobody would come near me. Not even Kerys, who never attempted to seize either Autumn or Sonnet Coch, but instead had no problem claiming online that I had ruined her prolific show pony. I was stressed and distraught, which is why I bothered to go outside one night after hearing the call of a horse.
"It was unusual, of course, for the horses to neigh in the middle of the night, but it shouldn't have woken me. Sometimes I wish it hadn't, and I would have been spared the agony of knowing just how close I had come to preventing this next tragedy.
"Instead, all I saw was the back of the trailer, speeding through the distant but clearly broken gates.
"I only registered one thing. Running, pounding, the hoarseness of my voice as I yelled his name for all to hear. He was gone.
"My beautiful black stallion, the love of my life.
"I don't know how long it was until Raj and Matt noticed that I was gone, but it can't have been more than a few minutes. One arm of the former was around me as I wept, the other arm holding the phone to his ear, and calling the police. The latter ran from field to field, but had no luck.
"'Autumn's gone,' he said, disbelief etched into every corner of his voice, every crevice of his face.
"After I had calmed down and checked each paddock, I realised that only the horses near Seven had been taken: Kerys' mare, Autumn, and Spring. I suppose it was lucky that no more were gone- but why those four? What had I possibly done- now or in a past life- to deserve that?
"I never stopped searching for them. Even after the police gave up, said that it was not worth the effort, I looked. Every auction, every sale, I was there. Every evening I was scrolling frantically for horses listed on advertising pages. Every time I came across an equine magazine I checked for the horses in the back.
"Nothing.
"Needless to say I had to sell the family farm. Dad didn't speak a word of dissent, but pain was written all over his face- I was undoing all that he had worked so hard in his youth to keep together. He told me later that it was a pain almost as bad as when my mother died, for the farm was his only connection left to her. After all, it had been a last ditch attempt to save the farm that had led him to London that night.
"The horses eventualy were sold, for far less than they were worth, and the farm went soon after, paying my legal fees and leaving me with a small amount of money with which to re-build my life.
"Re-build everything."
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Hi, I'm sorry for the rubbish chapter... I'm losing interest in the backstory now, hopefully you aren't too! I think the second half of this is worse than the first XD.
How was the pacing? Was it rushed?
Do you feel that any characters have been left behind? I'm finding it very difficult to include them all :/
Which other ways do you think this could be better?
Please remember to vote and comment if you enjoyed!
