Chapter 14 Cynthie #2
We all nod in agreement, and I try to ignore the flutter of nerves in my belly. Having to stay in character while another part of my brain is trying to make a horse do choreographed moves, sounds like a nightmare, but I try to remember what Hattie told me.
“Just an armchair with a tail,” I murmur.
Domino makes a huffing sound, deeply offended, and Hattie gives me a thumbs-up.
It takes us a while to get into position, and then—as expected—the first couple of takes are a write-off.
All five of us are so busy wrangling the horses and remembering where we’re supposed to be, that I’m not the only one who falls out of character.
Eventually, though, I start to feel more comfortable with the rhythm of it, and Domino is reassuringly chilled out.
“When we finish this, you’re getting all the apples you can eat,” I murmur to her, and her ears twitch.
I pat her neck and think maybe all this time I’ve been a secret horse-person.
Maybe horses and I just get each other and I’ve missed my true calling as an Olympic equestrian.
Plus, I bet I’d look amazing in the boots.
On the next take, I’m actually able to get into it, and I’ve reached the part of the scene where I’m riding beside Jack, when I notice that his hands are shaking, all the muscles in his arms held tight.
His horse—Reckless Ed—takes a couple of skittering sideways steps, and Jack is clearly trying to stop him from pulling away in the wrong direction.
“Cut!” Logan calls, and he and Lucy, the horse trainer, hustle over.
“What’s the problem?” Logan asks, as Lucy holds Reckless Ed’s head in her hands and murmurs to him.
“I don’t know,” Jack grits out. “He’s fighting me on every step. I think something must have spooked him.”
Logan looks to Lucy, who shrugs. “He seems fine now,” she says, after checking the horse over.
“Okay, let’s go again.” Logan nods. “Reset.”
Unfortunately, the same thing happens once more, and Jack isn’t able to get through his lines, too busy focusing on keeping the horse under control, as Reckless Ed repeatedly tries to charge down toward the cameras.
“I’m so sorry.” Lucy looks flustered, having checked him over again. “I have no idea what’s wrong. He’s never done this before.”
“That name seems a little on the nose at the moment, Reckless,” I say to the horse, trying not to look smug from atop my own perfectly behaved animal. I’m definitely planning on hand feeding Domino an entire packet of Extra Strong Mints as soon as we’re done.
“Are you doing this?” Jack hisses at me, as we take our places to try again.
“What?” I ask, startled.
“Is this some stupid prank?”
I blink. “I mean I’m glad you’re acknowledging my pranking prowess, but no, I haven’t yet mastered the trick of getting giant horses to do my bidding. I’m not Doctor Dolittle.”
“Don’t fuck about, Taylor,” Jack says through gritted teeth. His cheeks are pink. “We’re filming; this is serious.”
I inhale sharply. “I’m not doing anything. How could I be doing this?”
Jack only makes a rumbling sound of frustration.
“Maybe if there’s something bothering him, we should give him his head for a minute, and see what he does,” Lucy suggests after another aborted effort at the scene.
It certainly seems that Reckless Ed has his own agenda, because the second Jack relaxes his hands on the reins, the horse heads straight for the cameras… no, not the cameras, but the folding seats next to them, where my best friend sits, having returned with a travel mug of tea.
Reckless Ed trots over to Hannah, letting out a happy whinny, while Jack sits on his back, looking totally bemused.
“Errrr, what…” Hannah manages to squeak, her eyes enormous, before the horse butts his huge face up against hers.
She shrinks back in the seat, but he huffs a breath that ruffles her hair and then begins gently nuzzling her shoulder.
“Um. Good horse,” Hannah whispers. “Good, giant horse with giant horse teeth.” She looks desperately in my direction, but I have no idea how to help her. “Horses are vegetarian, right?” she asks, quaveringly.
“Huh,” Lucy frowns. “That’s weird. He only usually behaves like this with his favorite groom. Have you been spending time at the stables?”
“The closest I’ve ever been to a horse is seeing one out the car window,” Hannah says, and now that it seems unlikely Reckless Ed is about to take a bite out of her, she reaches tentatively up to pat his neck. The horse makes another happy, huffing sound, and I can’t bite back my laughter.
“He’s in love with you, Han,” I giggle.
“Can’t blame a lad for trying!” Rufus guffaws.
“Here,” Lucy says, grabbing hold of Reckless Ed’s harness and leading him away. “I’m sorry but I think if maybe you could remove yourself from the set, we should be fine.”
“Absolutely.” Hannah gathers her things and practically sprints back toward base. “Just let me know if you need anything on the walkie-talkie, Cyn!”
I’m too busy laughing to reply. Rufus, Hattie, Simon, and half the crew are also in hysterics. Jack looks deeply pissed off, and that only makes me happier.
As predicted, now that Hannah is gone, Reckless Ed seems more than happy to cooperate, and the rest of filming goes smoothly, although it takes longer than expected as the sun keeps going in and out and we have to make sure we cover the scene, getting every shot in sunshine and under cloud, while the head electrician, Sam, stares up at the sky shouting things like “sun in about three minutes” like a very shit Nostradamus.
“So, are you going to apologize for accusing me of sabotage?” I ask Jack when we finish the final take. My feet are back on solid ground and my legs are shaky. My nonexistent core is also suffering—muscles that I didn’t even know I had are aching.
He scoffs. “I wouldn’t put it past you to stuff your friend’s pockets full of sugar lumps, just to make me look like a fool.”
“If only I’d thought of it,” I say smiling sweetly. “But then, it doesn’t look like you need any help from me. Don’t worry.” I pat him on the arm. “You can apologize tonight… The drinks are on you, posh boy.”
Then I walk off, a definite spring in my step. It seems the universe is firmly on my side in the prank war. Maybe Liam was right and karma is going to catch up with Jack in the end. Still, it’s always fun to give karma a bit of a nudge.