Chapter 17
It is not, it turns out, anything like riding a bike.
Bikes are significantly smoother, for one thing; and a whole lot easier to control. Plus, there’s virtually no chance of a bike deciding it doesn’t want you on its back any more and randomly tossing you into the ocean. But horses? Horses have minds of their own – as Bex has just found out.
Fortunately for me, though, Bramble doesn’t seem to be particularly interested in getting rid of me (which makes him the only one here who feels that way, but this isn’t the time to dwell on that .
. .), and instead allows me to urge him first into a lolloping canter that feels a bit like being on a rocking horse, and then into a slow gallop, his thick mane streaming out behind him as he takes off in pursuit of Bex, who’s still clinging valiantly onto her pony’s neck.
I’m vaguely aware of the sound of hooves thundering on the sand behind me, and a lot of shouting from the group by the picnic blanket, but I’m too busy concentrating on staying in the saddle to pay much attention to anything else.
Rain rushes into my face as we fly over the wet sand at the edge of the water, spray from the sea mixing with the steady downpour in an icy cold froth.
It’s quite exhilarating, really, with the wind snapping at my face and the rhythmic pounding of hooves echoing in my ears.
For just a moment, I allow myself to forget about everything else – the chaos behind me; the sheer horror of the video; Ian holding up that cucumber – as I lean forward in the saddle, the wild beauty of the beach stretching endlessly ahead.
‘Rosie! Look out!’
Hunter’s voice reaches me just as I spot Bex up ahead, her pony moving more slowly now that the initial fright has passed.
It’s still showing no signs of stopping, though, and Bex looks like she might slide off at any second, so I close my legs around Bramble’s burly sides and encourage him to speed up until we’re just behind, and then almost level with them.
‘Hold on, Bex,’ I yell, the words whipped away by the wind as soon as they leave my mouth. She turns her head towards me, her eyes wide in her pale face as, with a last burst of effort, Bramble finally gets close enough for me to lean forward and grab hold of the other pony’s reins.
It takes me a few seconds – which feel like hours – but eventually the pony starts to respond to the pressure on the reins, slowing down to a canter, and then dropping into an exhausted walk, its head low, as if it’s just realised what it’s done, and is embarrassed by it.
I know how you feel, little pony. I know how you feel.
‘Rosie! Bex!’
Hunter’s horse comes crashing towards us through the shallow water just in time for him to catch Bex, who slides out of the saddle as soon as the pony stops, looking very much like a fairy-tale princess falling into the arms of her handsome prince, as he rescues her from the wicked witch.
Trust Bex to look good even when she’s falling off a horse.
I climb clumsily down from Bramble’s back, very aware of the large rip in the seat of my jeans, now that the initial panic is over.
‘Is she OK?’ I ask, shivering as my feet land in the frigid water.
‘No,’ says Bex plaintively.
‘Aye,’ says Hunter, who’s still holding her easily in his arms, making me feel ridiculously jealous, considering that she’s just escaped mortal peril.
‘Aye, she’ll be fine. We best get her back indoors, though; she’s had the fright of her life, and she’s absolutely frozen. Can you bring the horses?’
‘Sure,’ I reply, deflated by the lack of any reaction to my daring rescue. Surely that was worth a bit more than just, Can you bring the horses?
It looks like that’s all I’m going to get, though, so, stifling a sigh, I somehow round up the three ponies and set off along the beach behind Hunter and Bex, who I’m pretty sure could walk on her own if she really put her mind to it, but who appears to be content to lie there, curled against Hunter’s strong chest as I trail along behind them, forgotten once more.
The invisible woman indeed.
* * *
Fortunately for me, Sabrina and Dante are too busy flapping anxiously around Bex to pay much attention to me as we all make our way back to the beach.
‘She needs to see a doctor,’ demands Daniel, who snatched his wife from Hunter’s arms as soon as he saw her in them but turned out to be not quite strong enough to carry her the rest of the way to the hotel and had to put her down halfway there. ‘Somebody call a doctor.’
‘I’m fine, Daniel,’ says Bex quietly. ‘Stop making a fuss.’
‘No, I agree with Daniel,’ interjects Sabrina, who’s clearly more worried about potentially being sued than she is about Bex and her ordeal. ‘Dante, call a doctor.’
‘From where, the 1930s?’ snaps Dante. ‘I don’t know what it’s like in London, but doctors don’t make house calls out here, Sabrina. You’ll have to take her to the hospital; the nearest one’s in Inverness. Or I think there’s a vet in the village that might agree to take a look if you’re desperate.’
We’ve reached the entrance of the hotel by now, and they continue to squabble among themselves all the way into the lobby, Bex now loudly protesting that she does not want to be taken to the vet.
‘Here, I’ll take those,’ says Hunter as I pause at the bottom of the steps. He reaches for the reins of the three ponies, which I’m still towing along behind me. ‘The van from the stables will be coming to collect them all in a few minutes.’
I hesitate, reluctant to go inside to face the consequences of my first and last viral video; the one that just guaranteed me an early exit from the hotel, like the first person to be voted off a reality TV show.
I silently hand Hunter the reins, then stand watching as he collects the rest of the ponies from Zara, Millie and Yasmin, who follow the others into the hotel, Millie wondering aloud if anyone else thinks the vet will put Bex to sleep once he’s had a look at her.
‘That was a brave thing you did, earlier,’ Hunter says without preamble as he turns back to me. ‘Stupid, mind. But brave.’
‘Oh. It was nothing, really,’ I reply, wishing he hadn’t added the ‘stupid’ bit, but basking in the compliment nonetheless.
‘And surprising,’ adds Hunter, ruining the moment somewhat. ‘I didn’t think you had it in you.’
‘I have quite a lot in me that you don’t know about, I’ll have you know,’ I reply with dignity. ‘And I told you I used to take riding lessons.’
‘Aye, but then you couldn’t even get on without help,’ he points out. ‘So I didn’t really expect you to go charging off like that. Anyway, like I said, well done.’
‘You didn’t say “well done”,’ I can’t resist pointing out. ‘You said I was stupid but brave.’
‘And you are,’ he says, nodding. ‘All the same, though, you should be proud of yourself. Bex is lucky you were there.’
I open my mouth to say I’m sure he’d have rescued her if I hadn’t, but discover I’m too flustered to speak, so I just close it again, my cheeks flaming red in spite of the cold air that’s biting into every inch of exposed skin.
‘You better get yourself inside and warm up,’ says Hunter, seeing me shiver. ‘Oh, and also,’ he goes on, with a wicked little twinkle in his eye, ‘I can see your arse through that rip in your jeans. So you might want to get changed before anyone else sees it.’
With a yelp of embarrassment, I walk backwards up the steps to the lobby, then, finding it mercifully empty, turn and run for my room, relieved to discover I’ve finally managed to memorise the route to it, just before I’m inevitably made to leave because of that stupid cucumber video.
I open the door and head straight for the closet to peel off the now-ruined jeans, which, just as Hunter said, must have been giving everyone around me an absolute eyeful; especially Hunter himself, as I raced along the beach in front of him on horseback.
Maybe it’s actually for the best that I’m probably going to be asked to leave this place sooner rather than later. Even though I have absolutely nowhere to go.
It’s only as I exit the walk-in wardrobe, fully clothed once more, that I see it.
Sitting in the exact centre of the four-poster bed, in a spot in which I definitely didn’t leave it, is the turnip I bought from Ian at the market earlier.
And sticking out the top of it is a very sharp knife.