Chapter Twenty
The three horses in front of me were enormous and I was certain the only way I could get into the saddle was with a cherry picker lifting me into place.
Yvette took the reins of the dark bay, patting the horse’s neck affectionately while Harvey adjusted the saddle. Then Harvey took the reins of the black horse, leaving TJ holding the chestnut horse.
“Are you sure?” he asked, glancing at Harvey.
“Of course!” Harvey smiled brightly and waved to me to take the reins.
“But…”
“Lexi is an expert equestrian. There’s no horse she can’t handle,” he said. “Right, Lexi?”
The chestnut pawed the ground with its hoof. Its nostrils flickered. My throat bobbed. “Right.”
“We’ll mount over there,” he said, pointing towards the school, “then head out.”
“Good luck. Prince is a little feisty,” said TJ as he handed over the reins. I patted the horse’s neck and it watched me with wary eyes.
Harvey was already mounting and Yvette waited patiently.
“C’mon,” I said to the horse, giving the reins a gentle tug, and it followed me.
Perhaps this would be easier than I thought.
I still hoped all we were going to do was mount and walk the horses down to the school which was emptying of riders and their horses.
From there, it was just a case of going in circles.
How hard could it be? All I had to do was hang on.
“Let’s swap,” said Yvette suddenly. “It’s the next best thing to having Jessica. Riding Prince will be good for me. You take London.”
“Okay,” I agreed, swapping reins. Yvette’s horse, London, was a teensy bit smaller than Prince so when I inevitably took a swan dive down, perhaps I would be hurt just a teensy bit less?!
Yvette mounted swiftly and guided Prince away from the mounting block.
“I have the perfect route,” Yvette called, as I climbed the steps. “You’re going to enjoy it.”
I paused at the top. “Route? Where are we going?”
“The horses will love it too,” said Yvette. “Hurry up!”
I slung my leg over the saddle. My legs went straight past the stirrups and hung limply either side. I felt like I was straddling an arm chair.
“You don’t want to use stirrups?” asked Harvey. His horse stomped and huffed in anticipation. “Interesting.”
“Oh, I do, I just… um…” I held the reins with one hand and lifted the saddle’s flap with the other, wondering what to do.
“I always do that for Lexi,” said Lily, arriving in time to save my hide. She lifted the flap and fiddled with something underneath and pulled out the stirrup. I slipped my foot into it when she walked around the other side, repeating the motion, while she asked quietly, “What are you doing?”
“They insisted on going for a ride,” I hissed as I leaned towards her. “I couldn’t say no.”
“You can’t ride.”
“I know that!” I looked down. The ground was a long way below. “This horse is huge.”
“Just hold the reins and you’ll be fine,” she said.
“Let’s go,” called Harvey, turning his horse and heading towards the track leading away from the school.
“Aren’t we going into the school?” I called, panic rising in me.
“Of course not!” replied Yvette. “We’re going for a nice walk in the woods.”
“That does not sound like you’re going for a nice walk,” said Lily. “I don’t know about this.”
“If I get off now, they’ll know I can’t ride,” I whispered, my alarm nearly becoming audible. “I can’t ruin our cover.”
“Fall off as fast as you can.”
The horse began to move of its own accord and Lily fell into step alongside. “I’m not falling off. It’s too far down!” I whimpered.
“Ride into a branch and blind yourself.”
“Seems a little drastic.”
“Stop and let them ride ahead and lose them. Then turn around and come back.”
Now that was a plan. “I can do that,” I said. “How do you turn a horse?”
“Lexi!” Yvette snapped loudly.
“How do I ride?” I asked, suddenly aware I didn’t even know how to make the horse go forwards. I hadn’t done anything to make it move now. It was just plodding along contentedly behind Harvey and Yvette.
“Hold your reins like this,” said Lily, reaching to adjust the reins in my hands. “Steer like a car, left and right. Don’t tug. Squeeze with your heels to go forwards. Lean back to stop.”
“I can do all that too,” I said. “See you soon.” I squeezed with my heels and the horse moved a little faster, its big body undulating under me. “I can do this. I’m riding. I’m a rider. Yep. I’m okay,” I said to myself as we followed the trail. The horse’s ears flicked back and forth.
For the next few minutes, I was thrilled.
The horse walked beautifully, his muscles rolling smoothly below me, and with my straight back and chin thrust upwards, I was certain I looked like I’d been doing this for years.
I rolled my shoulders and rocked with the motion as we stepped out of the farmyard and onto a bridle path.
Tree branches formed a lush green canopy overhead, allowing the sun to drift diffused light through the leaves.
The scents of warm earth and dewy grass floated up to me, and somewhere far away, a dog barked and a bird called.
My horse’s ears flickered and it let out a whinny but continued on at a steady pace.
After a couple of minutes, the path widened out, giving enough space for Yvette and me to ride alongside each other.
“How’s London?” she asked just as he bucked again and skittered sideways.
“Couldn’t be better,” I said, gripping the reins like they were a lifeline, hoping the notes of panic, then relief hadn’t slipped into my voice as I managed to stay astride.
“Wonderful. He’s a lovely ride,” she added, patting her horse’s neck.
Harvey twisted in his seat, calling, “How are we doing back there?”
“Wonderful!” trilled Yvette, flashing a smile at me. “This feels like a moment of normality,” she said, softer now. “Jessica and I used to ride together often. She raised Prince, you know. She bought him when he was only one,” she added.
“Oh?”
“She adored him, which was funny because none of us like him at all.”
“Oh?!”
“He’s one of those picky horses. Probably a good thing we swapped since you don’t know him yet. I hope you didn’t mind? I just knew in that moment I had to ride him.”
“Of course.”
“Let’s give the horses their heads,” called Harvey. In a flash, his horse burst forwards, speeding into a gallop.
Yvette flashed a smile at me and followed him.
“Oh, no,” I gasped as, without a signal from me, my horse launched forwards and bucked. I lurched in the saddle, squeezing my legs accidentally and sending him forward like a rocket. I wrapped my hands in his mane and tried to hold in the scream threatening to burst out.
~
“Are you okay?”
I staggered around the side of the barn and slumped against the wall. “I’m alive,” I muttered. I patted my arms, then my hips, and finally, my legs. “I’m intact!”
“I spoke to Kenzie after you rode out and she said that horse Harvey gave you is known for throwing anyone he doesn’t like. You were lucky Yvette swapped with you!”
“Yvette was insistent. She said Prince was her sister’s horse. Anyway, that would have been a lucky swap if the horse I got didn’t try and throw me at every opportunity. Do they always buck like that? All the freaking time!?”
“No,” said Lily. “Kenzie said that was the safer horse. Experienced and dependable.”
“It felt like it wanted to launch me like a rocket. Every time I thought it had settled down, it bucked, or skittered, or leapt forwards. It was like riding a bucking bronco and I didn’t even get a medal for staying on.”
“Let’s ride out again soon,” said Yvette, flashing me what looked like a smirk as she strode past.
I squared my shoulders and unbuckled the helmet. “Absolutely! Loved it!” I called after her, and I swear I heard her laugh.
“You looked pretty pale when you came back,” said Lily. She gazed at me with concern.
“I’m always pretty,” I said, focusing on the positive. “And now I can ride too. Actually, I’m probably an expert after that.”
“Great.” Lily sounded skeptical but she pulled out her phone. “You have two lessons and then a four o’clock finish.”
“Okay, no problem.” My knees remained wobbly and I wasn’t sure I could push off against the wall and then walk in a straight line.
Also, my legs felt like they’d been split apart.
It was no wonder cowboys walked so weird in old Westerns.
There was no way my legs would ever be parallel again.
“As soon as we’re finished, we need to find someone. ”
“A chiropractor?” asked Lily.
“Hmmm, good call. Actually, Yvette mentioned Jessica had an admirer. Sebastian Moore. She seemed to be implying he and Jessica might have been more than friends. Doesn’t that seem strange to you?”
“Coming from the woman having an affair with her sister’s husband? Yeah.”
“Maybe she’s trying to alleviate her own guilt or maybe…” I paused, contemplating the idea that had solidified during the ride. “Maybe she’s throwing in a few red herrings in case other people suspected something going on between her and Joel.”
“Kinda awful to try and ruin her sister’s reputation like that. Especially when Jessica can’t defend herself.”
“It’s something a killer might do,” I said, the words hanging in the air ominously between us.
“I need to text Lucas about this guy. If he were close to Jessica, she might have confided in him.” I used my phone to fire off an email to Lucas, asking him to track down Sebastian Moore.
I had no other information than that, and a connection to Jessica, and the vague idea he might live somewhere not too far from the farm, but if anyone could find him, Lucas could.
I pushed off the wall and tested the ground. Firm, unmoving, safe. Just the way I liked it.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” asked Lily. She narrowed her eyes.
“I’m invincible,” I said, savoring the vigor of survival. “Why did you take so many horseback riding lessons? I nailed it in under an hour.”