County Lines Rider

by Samantha Bassett

  I know I am supposed to embarrass Adam with stories of our youth, but I’ve only just got to know him properly again. So, I can only say that he is amazing and Kate, well Kate is someone I look up to. I would love to be as strong as her. I know my brother is going to be an amazing husband and Kate will be a very strong wife.

  Can I be honest with you all, as you are all friends and family, I am a bit jealous of both of you and the life you are going to have together. And, I have to say that it will be without me. I haven’t given you a present, so instead, I need to drop a bit of a bombshell. I’m leaving.” There was a gasp from Adam, Kate and the staff. “I’m giving up the stables…” I glanced down and saw Kate and Adam muttering between themselves. “Oh please don’t get upset, hear me out…” I was aware that there were murmurings around the room. “I am giving up the stables. They were bought with illicit money and I don’t feel I should benefit from it. I’ve thought long and hard about this.” I pulled out a bunch of keys, glancing at Adam I threw them in his direction. He fumbled and dropped them on the table. “Sorry, I didn’t put a bow on them.”

  There as a silence, I waited for the penny to drop. It was Kate who looked up at me first, a shocked look on her face. “Yes…” I pulled out an envelope. “And, to give me some time to move out.” I handed the envelope to her. “You need a honeymoon, I think you liked the spa day so there is a nice spa somewhere sunny for you to enjoy some downtime. You deserve it.” Kate leapt up, hugging me, almost knocking me from my feet.

  The rest of the evening was a bit of a blur, we danced, we drunk and ate well into the night. In the end, I realised I wasn’t going to sleep and the sun was rising anyway so I took one last look around the yard before leaning over the fence and looking out to sea.

  “So, you couldn’t sleep either…” I looked up as Adam leaned beside me.

  “I didn’t want the day to end. Shouldn’t you be with your wife?”

  “He is…” Kate walked towards us, she hugged me. “You don’t have to leave, you know.”

  “Oh, I do…” I smiled, taking their hands. “I can’t be a gooseberry in the farmhouse or let you live in the staff flat with the others. This is my way of giving you the best start as a couple. ”

  “But what about you?” Adam frowned.

  “Don’t you worry about me, little brother…”

  43

  A New Reality

  “It’s only for a short while…”

  “Amanda Bishop… Stop looking so stressed out.” Dan laughed, taking me into his arms.

  “It’s lovely, it’s so much nicer than my flat and I really don’t care how long it’s for.”

  I’d made the decision about my yard before I had even heard it wasn’t going to be confiscated. I had resigned myself to the fact that I might lose it and so had spent long nights soul searching and thinking before the solution was presented to me.

  I’d realised Dan had also been stressed about something, it was clear he had wanted to ask something for some days. He sat down on the sofa with his head in his hands and told me the Met police wanted him to join a special national task force thanks to the work he had done with our case. It was a major promotion for him, coordinating efforts across the UK with many police forces. He explained he could do a lot of the work remotely, and it would take him across the UK, but he would need to move closer to London. I don’t think he had expected my overjoyed reaction.

  “You don’t mind?” He was incredulous and confused. “I thought you would have wanted to stay in Cumbria.”

  “Could you commute from Swindon to London when you needed to?”

  Now, a couple of months later, the plan had come to fruition. May had been delighted to offer me my old flat, it was empty again as they had a local girl working for them as a groom. I thought Annie would explode when she was told, she was beside herself to have her sister back and promised early morning hacks again.

  Of course, I needed work, and this was where Dan had helped me again. Thanks to an introduction he made for me, I’d been interviewed, and despite having the black mark of my potential conviction hanging over me, had been accepted and would be starting with Wiltshire Police as they were reopening their mounted division and needed a stable manager. I knew I was now safe from Patrick and Edwin, but having a policeman as a boyfriend and working for the local constabulary, was a belt and braces approach to my own personal safety.

  We had redecorated the flat, it was very cosy and we knew our life here would be perfect. I helped out on the yard at times and shared Sunday lunch together with Meg and Annie in their farmhouse. Truly, we could not be happier.

  I totally knew I had the right man, however when he asked if he could try riding it made my heart sing. It was baby steps first as he was a bit nervous of the horses, but Duchess had looked after him and it wasn’t too long before he would join me on a hack, albeit it a bit tamer than the usual gallop I would take with Annie, and he would spend hours grooming Duchess on his days off, to be honest, the two of them had become rather attached to each other, not that I was at all jealous of him being with another woman.

  ***

  Our honeymoon was amazing, I even stopped worrying about the horses after a few days knowing that Annie was taking charge with our more than able grooms. She had promised to stay on to help out and we appreciated her help.

  Coming back home had been weird, unlocking the door of the farmhouse and finding it empty was a little sad, however knowing that this was now all ours made it so special. We had big hopes for the Glebe Farm Equestrian Centre under our new management. We were surprised to find on our return that there was a massive article in Horse and Hound with our story and wedding photos as a centre-fold, it would no doubt be good for business, and a copy had been framed and hung on the wall of the hall. Hopefully, the first of many more photos to line our walls.

  I stood looking over the yard, our yard. Kate wrapped her arm around my shoulders. The grooms, our grooms were out sweeping the yards down as the sunset over the bay. “It’s all ours… Mrs Bishop.”

  “Yes, Mr Bishop. Now have the girls finished filling the haynets?”

  “Yes, they are just about to go up for the night. Why do you want to know?”

  “You’ll see…” Kate grabbed my belt and led me across the yard towards the barn…

  44

  Epilogue

  I sighed as I watched Dan kiss Amanda as she prepared to go to work. She was soon on her way with Dan following in his own car. It had been just that weekend that Amanda had, excitingly announced Dan had proposed. They’d gone out hacking together to the top of the Ridgeway on Hackpen hill. On the hill itself there is a giant white horse carved out of the hillside and filled with chalk, we could see it looking down on us every day on the yard, and so he knelt by it’s eye to ask her and present her with a beautiful ring.

  I was excited for them, honestly. I realise that mum had been somewhat annoyed when I’d left the dinner table and run to the stables. She’d followed me sometime later.

  “Annie, please be happy for them.” I’d turned to face her, having spent a good half hour crying into Tiny’s shoulder I knew my face was a mess. “They’ve been through a lot.”

  What she really was saying was that they had been through a lot, ‘together’. There was no together for me. I had, of course apologised to Amanda and Dan who had both been lovely and told me they understood.

  I threw myself into my work. I didn’t want for money, Sean, who was awaiting extradition back from the US had made sure I was financially sound so I made the best of working to support mum’s livery yard.

  ***

  Another Christmas passed. Thankfully there were no horses trapped in the brook this year, we’d laughed as we sipped wine, but I’d still gone out and double checked that Tiny was safely in his stable.

  He’d just ignored me, going back to munching from his haynet. “How come you are always so happy, eh?” He’d snorted, spraying me with snot which I suppose was as good a
n answer as any.

  ***

  Winter eventually became spring. I always forgot how much the short, cold days and the boot sucking mud in the gateways depressed me so I was glad to see the dawn of new life with buds on the trees and a freshness in the air.

  To be honest, I didn’t go looking for love, it sort of found me. So, I guess we really found each other.

  ***

  It was April when one of our long term liveries said she would be moving on. A change in her work meant she would be leaving Wiltshire. We’d said our fond farewells and she’d driven away in a hired horsebox to pastures new. We didn’t need to advertise for a replacement, the local network of equestrians ensured that we were soon inundated with people who wanted to share our brick stabling with direct access to the Ridgeway and year-round grazing.

  In the end, after a number of phone calls and meetings with prospective clients, we had whittled away the ones which mum had recognised as ‘trouble’. This was, sadly always a large proportion of the people who applied, however as mum said it was necessary to be careful as we were basically inviting people to share our home. We saw the stables as an extension of our home and having guests who were nothing but trouble was draining and caused more frustration than it was worth. After years of building the business, she could afford to be choosy. She’d call other yards to see if they had reasons why the prospective client was leaving. If the other yard manager was gushing in their approval and stated they were perfect and without reproach, mum would cross them off the list. It was obvious when someone was trying to get rid of a person who would nitpick, bully or bitch.

  In the end, we welcomed Phillipa Cantrell into our livery family. Phillipa was just a few years older than me. Her horse ‘Dave’ was a skewbald cob with a flowing white tail and a luxurious moustache, I loved him immediately. The fact that he would pull faces to garner attention and potentially titbits from passers-by made him the life and soul of the yard.

  Phillipa and Dave moved into the yard on a Saturday morning in late April. I hadn’t paid her much attention, spending more of my time admiring her horse. She was slim and pretty with blond hair and an infectious laugh. The other liveries welcomed her to our extended family.

  On Sunday I promised to show her the bridleways and hacks from the yard, it was a sunny day and we went out across the fields before breaking into a gallop up Hackpen Hill. It was a steep incline and soon both Tiny and Dave were breathing heavily, their pace dropping to a trot as we reached the summit and the Ridgeway itself. I’d explained the Ridgeway was Britain’s oldest road leading from Avebury for almost one hundred miles towards Oxford.

  We had ridden along chatting and laughing, our knees bumping as the horses nipped at each other. It’d been very pleasant and she’d thanked me once we’d returned to the tack room. I offered to clean her tack as well as my own and she had gone on her way.

  Over the coming weeks we hacked out more, enjoying the shared conversation and friendly company, it allowed me to exercise horses without having to be by myself. During one of the hacks, I’d felt Phillipa place her hand on my thigh. I thought nothing of it so said nothing. We were friendly, it was a natural thing.

  As we’d got back to the stables, she had called me into Dave’s stable, asking me to look as she was sure that there was heat in one of his legs. I went in, leaning down to feel down his pasterns, they were cool, but it was good to check. As I had done this I felt Phillipa standing directly behind me, I could feel her hand tentatively touch my back, it drifted down slowly until her hand was resting on my bottom. She’d lept back as I stood up sharply in surprise. She’d blushed, apologising for intruding on my personal space. I’d just laughed, after all we were all girls together.

  ***

  It was late May. Phillipa had come to the yard late, she’d seemed upset so I asked what had happened. She’d shrugged, telling me she’d had a tough day at work so I hugged her. I felt her body relax in my arms, she gripped me warmly before leaning in and kissing me on the lips.

  I was surprised, I squeaked in shock. She’d apologised, her eyes welling up before she ran from the tack room straight to her car. She’d driven away before I could catch up with her.

  I’d mentioned it to mum who’d laughed. “I think Phillipa has a bit of a crush on you.”

  I’d snorted in disbelief.

  “No, I’ve seen her and, well, the way she looks at you.”

  I’d gone quiet, unable to process what I was being told.

  The next day Phillipa came in apologetic, I’d asked her, was there something she wanted to ask? The poor girl just went bright red.

  “I’ve made a terrible mistake… I’m so sorry… I thought…”

  Kissing her was, in my opinion, the only way to put her mind at rest. We parted and stared at each other for a moment before I giggled. She started to laugh and we hugged again.

  I’d been struggling in my mind, finding myself starting to have feelings for this beautiful woman who was so out of my league, I had been somewhat flattered that she had wanted to be my friend, but each time she had touched me, electric shocks had pulsated through my body. So, this was love? I’d not really realised it before. I’d liked Sean, there had been considerable lust, but this was so much deeper.

  “Come in and have a coffee?” I stuttered.

  We walked into the kitchen together, kicking off our boots, I busied myself with the kettle. Mum was out so we had the house to ourselves. I sat down opposite her, beaming like a Cheshire cat.

  “I knew you were an amazing friend. I just didn’t expect any more…” She’d snorted. “No… You are, so pretty, No, more than than, beautiful. You have an amazing job, you’re so skilled. I’m…-”

  “You’re amazing. From that first day, I was just bowled over by you. I said to myself, Phillipa you have a boyfriend, Annie wouldn’t be interested. But you just enchanted me. You’re so funny, so beautiful.”

  I choked. “You have a boyfriend?”

  “Did… Past tense, he found a secretary who didn’t, and I quote, ‘stink like a stable’ and ‘love that bloody horse more than me’.”

  “Oh, I love Dave…”

  “Well, I think I love you, Annie…”

  About the Author

  Samantha is a keen rider who made horses her career from an early age. Having left school and worked as a working pupil both in riding schools and event yards she qualified and now works as a freelance instructor and coach.

  She started writing as she couldn’t find books about people like herself and wanted to create something like the pony books she had so enjoyed as a child. When she’s not teaching, or writing, she rides and looks after her own horses or walks her dog on the beach in Lytham Saint Annes.