CHAPTER SIX
Friendship … is one of the most indispensable requirements of life.
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII
The next morning dawned, frosty and clear.
It was a slow day at Dennis’s yard, which meant no galloping.
Sage managed her three lots without any real difficulty.
Skylark almost unseated her with a particularly athletic reverse pirouette but she managed to stick on – just – and was rewarded when she felt the filly’s power as they cantered up the Warren Hill gallop.
She flew into the house once she’d finished riding, eager to set off to see Dolly but full of nerves too.
Dolly had never liked Santiago and had made her thoughts known.
Sage could see Dolly had likely been desperate to protect her from making a colossal mistake.
It had caused some friction between the two of them and the distance had been complicated, but Sage had still wanted Dolly to be Hal’s godmother and had never regretted it.
Dolly had never missed an excuse to send birthday or Christmas presents to Hal.
Sage, now able to see her mistakes, had dearly missed the counsel of her clever, kind friend.
She was grateful to be galvanized into action, combining the prospect of getting Hal his very own pony with the hurdle of repairing fences with Dolly.
Hal was horse-mad and had been since first setting eyes on Magpie, the little piebald Shetland that Uncle Crow had bought for his grandchildren in Panama.
He had beamed from ear to ear when he had first ridden her – and when eventually lifted off the little pony, had bawled as though his heart were breaking.
At the time, horses had barely featured in their lives and Sage had certainly wondered at the strength of DNA and its long memory.
‘Morning, Maggie!’ she trilled as she burst into the kitchen.
‘Jesus, Mary and Joseph, girl!’ Maggie cried, clutching her chest in horror.
‘I’m not used to such exuberance here at breakfast time!
Your grandmother is getting young Hal dressed,’ she continued.
‘He’s about as excited as a small child can be this morning.
All he can talk about is that little pony. ’
‘I just hope it’s suitable. Sorry for frightening you, Maggie. Oh, bless you – thank you.’ Sage perched on the edge of the table, gratefully accepting a mug of coffee.
‘Morning, darling. What do you think of Master Piggott here?’ Betsy walked in with Hal, who ran straight up to his mother.
His blonde hair was dishevelled, his cheeks flushed, and his eyes bright with anticipation.
He was dressed in cream woollen breeches with tiny leather knee patches, and a little checked shirt and tie with a dark blue V-necked jersey over the top.
‘Oh my goodness, you look adorable!’ Sage felt her heart expand with love as she lifted her son into her arms and held him close. He smelt of sugar and rosemary. ‘Gammy, where did you find these little breeches?’
‘I couldn’t find any of your or Casper’s old things – your father must have them stored up somewhere.’
The casual use of the word made Sage’s heart jump.
She had thought of her father more and more since coming home, the house and horses stirring up memories, and making her long for his calm, kind presence that had been the foundation of her childhood.
It stung that he’d been in touch with Casper and not her.
Although she hadn’t been able to check her email since Santiago had broken her phone, so perhaps he had been trying to reach her too. But why now, after all this time?
‘Maggie and I ordered them when we heard you were coming home,’ Betsy said, totally oblivious to Sage’s distraction. ‘We have mastered the internet – haven’t we, Mags?’
‘To be sure we have, Madam Betsy, but I’m not sure two women who took just about three hours to work out how to choose “next day delivery” are going to be running Microsoft just yet.’ Maggie laughed her throaty laugh as she put a tray into the Aga. ‘Did you show him the little boots?’
‘Not yet. Or the hat! We are completely prepared, Sage darling. Come on, Hal – let’s try them on, they’re in the boot room.’
Hal took Betsy’s hand and followed her eagerly.
‘Will I make you a proper cooked breakfast again this morning?’ Maggie asked Sage hopefully, her maternal feeding instincts never off-duty.
‘A piece of toast would be wonderful, Maggie. I think I’ll need it on the hoof if my son is anything to go by this morning,’ Sage said, laughing. ‘It’s lovely to be here but we are going to exhaust Gammy. I’d better start thinking about finding a job and a place of our own.’
‘Oh, I think having you both home is giving everyone a new lease of life. Me included. Madam Betsy is in her element having someone to look after again. It’s been very quiet since you and Casper left.’
‘I doubt I’ll be able to find a job very quickly,’ Sage continued, wondering for the hundredth time if she was an imposition at North Place.
She resolved to find a way to make herself useful.
‘A Classics degree doesn’t exactly lead you into any clear profession, and I have no other qualifications or skills.
By the time I find a job and an affordable house, I have no doubt that you’ll all be heaving a collective sigh of relief to see the back of us! ’
‘You’re not thinking of leaving already, are you, darling?’ Betsy asked worriedly, having heard the last part of their conversation as she came back into the kitchen. ‘You’ve only just got here! Your grandfather is hoping you’ll stay so that you can ride my filly.’
‘No, Gammy! I just need to start thinking about making a plan for the future. Santiago’s mother made it crystal clear that if I left I wouldn’t get a penny in the divorce.
Not that I want anything. But I’m not sure what sort of job I could even apply for, or how to sort childcare.
’ Sage visibly drooped, the enormity of raising a child with so little finance overcoming her.
It was such a worry that it threatened to seriously destabilize her, and so she kept pushing it away to the back of her mind.
‘We can help you with childcare, darling. You must consider riding out as a job – Bumpa is going to pay you for it. But if you want to get another job then I will happily have Hal here all day,’ said Betsy.
‘We get on well, don’t we, sweetheart?’ she added, holding her arms out to Hal, who had just appeared wearing little brown leather jodhpur boots and a dark blue velvet riding hat.
‘Yes, Gammy. I can live here with you and my pony!’ Hal went happily up onto his great-grandmother’s lap.
‘Thanks, champ,’ Sage said wryly, winking at him.
The two of them were safe with her grandparents but, realistically, she would have to stand on her own two feet as soon as she was not earning her keep at North Place.
Any independent income she had once had, including the remnants of her mother’s life insurance that had been split between her and Casper, had now run out.
Hers had been mostly spent on university fees.
She squared her shoulders. She could crack that puzzle another day.
‘Shall we go and see this yellow pony, then?’
Dolly met them at the yard, and her wide smile instantly eased Sage’s nerves.
She was just as beautifully, colourfully dressed as Sage remembered her.
A bright checked coat in a soft fluffy wool engulfed Dolly’s slim frame and as they hugged tightly, she breathed in her friend’s familiar floral scent.
The place was on the next farm over from where Dolly lived with her parents, both of whom taught at the school she had attended with Sage and Casper.
She was an artist who, although talented, had not yet had enough real success to make herself financially independent.
The fact that Dolly was also still living at home had made Sage feel slightly less guilty, too.
Hal was sitting happily on the aptly named Custard, stroking his cream mane with small, loving hands; the palomino pony was a triumph, all twelve hands of him.
Custard’s owner was a ten-year-old girl who had outgrown him but displayed how safe he was by bouncing an open umbrella on his neck and quarters as she rode him.
Hal had then been put up, and had immediately fallen in love with the sweet creature.
Dolly and Sage had bonded over a mutual love of ponies when they were at school together.
Dolly’s pony, Trooper, and Sage’s pony, Star, had neighbouring stables at Pony Club camp and the girls had been inseparable since the age of about eleven.
However, the literal distance between them of the last few years would make it difficult to just pick up their friendship where they had left off.
As they leant against the rails of the arena, they watched Hal pottering about on the sweet yellow pony being led by the girl, while Gammy chatted to the owners.
Sage went for complete transparency. ‘I’m so embarrassed. You told me that you didn’t trust Santiago. From the very beginning. I wish I had listened to you, Doll. I am a complete idiot.’
Dolly smiled kindly and waved this away.
‘He was very charming. And so handsome. I did understand the attraction.’ She turned towards Sage, hooking an elbow up over the railing.
‘You’re not an idiot. I just didn’t like the way he acted like he owned you.
It was creepy. And you became a completely different person when you were around him.
He stifled you. You were never silly or relaxed any more. ’
‘You’re right. I did become someone I can hardly even recognize as myself.’ Sage bit her lip. ‘Someone who shamefully abandoned her best friend.’ She rested her head on her hands. ‘I really am so sorry. And so embarrassed,’ she repeated.
‘You don’t need to be sorry or embarrassed.’ Dolly regarded Sage, putting a gentle hand on her face. ‘Did he do this to you?’ she asked softly, tracing the bruise on her eye. Sage hung her head.