Emajen

by Ashley Ledigo

Two men were standing just feet away from a dog. One of the men was desperately trying to grab hold of the dog by its collar.

  Teeth gnashed, dripping saliva. The dog yowled again.

  Destiny was about to launch herself at the man (what the hell was he doing?) when she realized what had happened.

  The dog had caught its paw in a loose strand of wire attached to the fence. In its desperate efforts to escape the pain, it had pulled the wire taut until it was cutting the soft flesh with unremitting intensity. The dog thrashed and screamed. It lunged at the man, unaware that he was trying to help and yelped again as the wire bit once more into its now slippery, scarlet paw.

  Destiny’s mind flipped into overdrive.

  ‘Stand on the wire!’ she screamed.

  The men spun round in astonishment. With a flash of understanding, the man who was standing watching rushed forward, planting a sturdy boot firmly on the wire.

  ‘Wire cutters.’ Destiny gasped. The other man sprang into action. Destiny approached the dog slowly.

  ‘Hey, young lady, don’t …’

  But Destiny was in a world of her own. She stared hard at the dog until she caught its eye. Then she licked her lips, sighed and turned her head away. The second man returned with the clippers and cut the wire, which immediately loosened its vicious hold on the dog’s paw. He turned to comfort the dog, which was whimpering now, but it snarled and cowered, shaking.

  ‘Hey, Harriet, hey, girl, it’s okay,’ he half soothed, half pleaded.

  Destiny ignored him. She kept fixing her gaze on the dog, then sighing, licking her lips and looking away. When she was only a foot or so away, she squatted down, talking in a low, soft voice, careful now not to look the dog straight in the eye.

  ‘Harriet,’ she crooned over and over, ‘is that your name? Good girl. Good baby’

  The dog visibly began to relax. The shaking gradually subsided. Still Destiny didn’t make any attempt to touch her. Around them, in the yard, there was not a noise to be heard. The whole ranch seemed to hold its breath.

  Unaware of anything but Harriet, Destiny waited patiently, not moving, just crooning gently. At last Harriet gave a little whimper and licked her lips. Finally, she stretched out her neck to sniff at Destiny. She licked the girl’s hand. Slowly, calmly, Destiny stroked Harriet’s head, talking soothingly all the time. Within a few minutes Harriet had buried her nose under Destiny’s arm and was allowing her to look at the damaged paw.

  When Destiny finally looked up, she had a smile on her face.

  ‘No permanent damage, I don’t think, but you’d better get the vet just in case.’

  ‘I sure don’t know how you did that, ma’am, but thank you all the same!’ The man who had run to fetch the wire cutters held out his hand.

  ‘Dan,’ he said, by way of introduction.

  ‘Destiny.’ The reply was somewhat squeaky as her hand was crushed in a grip of iron.

  ‘DESTINY!’

  ‘Oh, oh, I’m in trouble!’ Destiny’s smile faded. Jenny came striding across the ground with long, angry steps.

  ‘What the hell …’

  Sensing a threat to her newfound friend, Harriet sprang to Destiny’s defence, planting herself firmly between the girl and her aggressor. Lips quivered with menacing warning and a low growl rippled between them. Jenny stopped in her tracks. A look of astonishment replacing the angry concern.

  It was one of those moments that seemed to stretch like an elastic band into a void where you could almost hear a pin drop …

  It was broken by a throaty chuckle as Dan slapped his thigh.

  ‘Sure ain’t nothing wrong with that paw!’

  The elastic band snapped.

  Everyone began to laugh!

  As Destiny and her mother walked to the cabin that was to be theirs for a fortnight, Jenny made a half-hearted attempt to berate her daughter.

  ‘You know you could have been really hurt!’

  Destiny muttered, ‘Sorry,’ in what she hoped was a shame-faced voice, but she couldn’t help noticing a certain pride in her mother’s complaint.

  ‘I really didn’t think. I just saw a dog in pain, that’s all!’ She half expected her mother to say, ‘You never do think, that’s the problem,’ which was her usual response. However, Jenny just grunted which Destiny, somewhat relieved, took to mean that the scolding was over.

  The cabin turned out to be more like a mini ranch house. It smelt of wood and Destiny immediately relaxed and felt at home. All mod cons were supplied, including satellite TV.

  ‘I bet that’ll never even get turned on!’ challenged Jenny.

  ‘Bet it will!’ But Destiny was too busy leaping the stairs two at a time to make the point by turning it on straight away. In her bedroom the bed was huge and soft, though not saggy. She crossed to the window and was staggered by the view.

  ‘Bet there’s nothing else to do once you’ve looked at that a hundred times,’ she muttered, belatedly remembering that she was supposed to be cross about the whole holiday.

  As she descended the stairs, there was a knock at the door. A boy about Destiny’s age put his head through the opening and grinned. Destiny decided it was a nice face: cheeky, dimpled smile under blue eyes and unruly blond hair.

  ‘Dad says if you come on up to the house there’ll be a welcome drink … and a thank you one.’ He grinned at Destiny.

  ‘You go ahead, sweetheart,’ said Jenny rather too brightly. ‘I’ll follow in a minute … just got to finish this case.’

  ‘Muuum.’ Destiny’s tone was alarmed. Her expression clearly stated that her mum couldn’t possibly be expecting her to go off, on her own, with a strange boy she’d only met for two minutes.

  However, Jenny’s raised eyebrows and puckered mouth suggested that it was one of those ‘non-negotiable’ things that cropped up from time to time.

  The boy – Anthony, as Destiny discovered he was called – chattered amiably, telling her about the stables and the horses.

  ‘I’ll show you round later, if you like.’

  ‘Oh, thanks!’ Destiny realized she hadn’t really been listening, but she discovered that she felt completely at ease with Anthony. She also noticed something else.

  ‘You know it’s weird,’ she mused, ‘you don’t really have an American accent.’

  Anthony’s brow clouded for a moment.

  ‘It’s a long story,’ he said gruffly. Then he grinned. ‘I think your mum has decided to play chaperone after all!’

  Destiny glanced behind. Sure enough, there was Mum hurrying along about two hundred yards back.

  ‘Wow! You’ve got good hearing!’ She was impressed.

  ‘Mum always said I could hear a pin drop a mile off.’

  Destiny noticed his use of the past tense, but decided now was not the time to be nosy. Instead she turned around and smiled at her mum who, slightly breathless, had caught up with them at last.

  The gathering was very pleasant. Anthony’s dad introduced them to the people who worked there and to a handful of other guests who were also staying there. There were no other children and it suddenly occurred to Destiny that Anthony must be very lonely. It was also fairly obvious that there was no Mrs Grey on the scene, although Mr Grey introduced them to his sister whom, he said, was the best cook this side of the Rockies.

  Later on, when Destiny and her mum were sitting in the porch of their cabin, she asked Jenny what she thought had happened to Anthony’s mum.

  ‘Didn’t I tell you?’ Jenny asked surprised.

  Destiny frowned. ‘Tell me what, Mum?’ She looked at her mum suspiciously, as understanding began to dawn on her. ‘You already know the Greys, don’t you!’ she said accusingly.

  Jenny gave her a rueful smile and admitted, ‘I haven’t been entirely forthcoming, but I wanted you to make your own decision about the Greys and this place, without being influenced by me.’

  As Destiny looked bemused, Jenny hurried on. ‘Nicole – that’s Anthony’s mum – and I used to be very
good friends at school. We lost touch for a while and then met up again when you and Anthony were babies.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘And – she got seriously ill.’

  ‘Oh!’ Destiny pulled a sympathetic face to show that Jenny didn’t need to explain further. ‘So how come the ranch in America?’

  ‘Well, it was something that Nicole always laughingly called her “pipe-dream”, that she and Matt would one day own a ranch where all the horses would be trained their way. I think they call it Natural Horsemanship.’

  ‘Oh yeah, I read about that in an article once.’

  Jenny raised her eyebrows, but decided she wasn’t really surprised. Destiny would struggle through anything to do with animals, no matter how hard or technical.

  ‘Anyway, after she died, Matt decided the only way he could pick up his life again would be to live the dream they had both wanted. That’s it!’

  ‘How long ago was that?’

  ‘You were about four, I think. Anthony must be about six months older than you.’

  ‘Funny though,’ Destiny mused. ‘What is?’ asked Jenny.

  ‘Well, Anthony doesn’t have an American accent.’

  ‘That’s easily explained.’ Jenny smiled. ‘He goes to boarding school in England.’

  ‘What! And his dad lives over here – and after he’s lost his mum as well!’

  Destiny was shocked and disgusted in equal measure.

  ‘He stays with his aunt and uncle,’ said Jenny firmly. ‘And it’s not for us to judge why Matt has made that decision.’

  Destiny felt rebuffed. ‘No,’ she said slowly. ‘I s’pose not.’

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Destiny and her mum slept late the next day, exhausted by all the travelling and excitement of the day before. Destiny had only just crawled out of bed and was gazing out of her window, across rolling hills as far as the eye could see when she heard a knock at the door. She opened it. It was Anthony.

  ‘Aunt Kath said you might want breakfast in bed this morning.’ He grinned.

  Destiny blushed, realizing she was still in her pyjamas.

  ‘Er, thanks.’

  Jenny appeared. ‘Breakfast, we are being spoilt.’

  ‘Only today.’ Anthony seemed to smile whenever he talked. ‘Usually people either have breakfast up at the house, or you’ll find you’ve got cereals and bread and stuff in the kitchen.’ He turned to Destiny. ‘I’ll show you the stables when you’ve finished, if you like.’

  She marvelled at how he chatted so easily to people he hardly knew, but she supposed he’d had to get used to it.

  ‘Thanks,’ she said.

  The yard was immaculate. Destiny wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but she wondered how it was possible to keep everything so clean.

  Anthony clearly adored the horses. He knew all their names and every single one whickered softly at his approach, as though greeting a friend.

  ‘Do they stay in their boxes all the time?’

  The horses seemed content enough, but Destiny thought it must be a very dreary life if they were standing around cooped up all day.

  If Anthony thought it was a stupid question, he didn’t show it. He explained that they were only in their stables because the farrier was coming. Usually, the horses were out grazing unless it got unbearably hot in the afternoon; then they came in to rest.

  It didn’t seem to matter whether Destiny knew anything about horses or not. She felt she could ask Anthony anything and he wouldn’t mind.

  ‘What if it rains?’

  ‘We rug them up and they stay out, unless there’s a hurricane or something.’

  ‘That doesn’t seem very nice.’ She frowned.

  ‘What you have to remember …’ and for once, Anthony looked serious, ‘… is that horses aren’t human. They don’t see things the way we do. For them it’s normal and right to be outside, whatever the weather. The only reason we put rugs on is because we do unnatural things like clipping them.

  (Destiny was to find that thinking like a horse would become a big part of her life. It was certainly something she would hear again and again during her stay.)

  In no time at all it was lunchtime. Whether it was the fresh air, they didn’t know, but both Destiny and her mum were absolutely ravenous. However, there seemed to be enough food to feed an army, with so much choice it was hard to make decisions and not just pig out on everything.

  ‘They won’t be able to find horses big enough to carry us after two weeks,’ groaned Jenny. Destiny grinned. She realized she was actually very happy.

  Riding, it turned out, would take place in the mornings and early evenings, because it was too hot during the middle of the day. Destiny felt butterflies crowding like bad-tempered kick boxers inside her stomach. This was the part she wasn’t looking forward to. When it came to saddling up time she stood miserably at the entrance to the yard, watching her mum chat animatedly to one of the ranch hands, Harvey. There was no sign of Anthony, a fact which half pleased and half dismayed her.

  ‘You must be Destiny,’ a low, pleasant voice said from behind her.

  She jumped and span round, only to be confronted by a shirt front that seemed to extend for miles, until she nearly got a crick in her neck looking up at the tallest man she thought she had ever seen.

  It turned out that this was Merlin, which of course immediately made Destiny think of a magician. He had been assigned to teach her to ride, while her mum went out for a hack with Harvey. Well he’ll have to be a magician to teach me to ride, she thought glumly. Her legs already felt like jelly and she wasn’t even on yet!

  Merlin chatted away while he was tacking up, and Destiny began to relax a little. He told her that, before long, she would learn to tack up herself. Yeah, right, she thought. It seemed impossible that she would ever remember the name of the hundreds of bits that needed ‘cinching up’ or whatever, let alone do the right thing with them.

  ‘Okay,’ he said at last. He gave Destiny a long look. ‘Nervous?’

  ‘Terrified,’ she agreed.

  ‘Right oh, then, there’s only one thing for it.’ He produced a small bottle from his pocket. ‘Just a small swig, it will help.’

  Destiny looked doubtful. Merlin laughed at the concerned look on her face.

  ‘I don’t think your mum would be very impressed if I poisoned you,’ he said gently. ‘It’s an herbal remedy to soothe your nerves and I already checked it out with your mum, just in case.’

  Destiny was well aware how important it was to be careful of drinks you were offered by someone you didn’t know well; she figured, in this particular situation, she was most likely quite safe. She took a small mouthful from the bottle. It wasn’t especially nice tasting, but it felt warm and comforting as it went down.

  The first ten minutes of her lesson had nothing to do with sitting on the horse, whose name was Wasp. Merlin explained that Destiny needed to get to know the horse and find out what kind of mood he was in before she got on his back. When she looked surprised, he told her that horses had moods the same as people and they felt better about you if they got to know you before you started getting too personal.

  Merlin made Destiny stroke Wasp gently but firmly (they don’t like being tickled; that’s what flies do) all over. She was uncertain about picking up his feet, but was nonetheless amazed by how easy it was to touch him down his legs and everywhere. She even found his ‘itchy spot’, just under his mane. Merlin showed her how, when she scratched Wasp’s itchy spot, he scrunched up his top lip and wiggled it about – a sign of real pleasure.

  ‘Now he’s ready for you to get aboard,’ said Merlin.

  Destiny took a deep breath. This was the bit she had been dreading.

  ‘But first …’

  Uh, oh, thought Destiny, what now? But she realized that, so far, Wasp had been as good as gold and Merlin hadn’t asked her to do anything she couldn’t cope with.

  What Merlin wanted her to do seemed a bit strange at first. She had to
stand on a block, put her foot in the stirrup and then just stand up so that she was twisting kind of forward over the saddle.

  ‘Look him in the eye as you mount,’ Merlin told her, ‘and give him a pat once you’re up there. It’s like saying “please” before you sit on him. Courteous like.’

  It had never occurred to Destiny that she might need to be courteous to a horse, but the way Merlin explained it made a lot of sense.

  Wasp stood patiently while she hopped up and down a few times, so swinging her leg over to sit on him seemed an easy step when it happened. Merlin showed her how to sit comfortably and how to hold the reins. The horse’s headgear was nothing like Destiny had seen before. Merlin called it a Bosal. It felt like there was nothing between Wasp and shooting off (and Destiny with him) apart from a bit of rope.

  ‘Okay, are we ready to have a walk?’

  So far so good, but now the prospect of Wasp moving seemed an insurmountable hurdle.

  ‘What we do with horses,’ explained Merlin, ‘if they’re scared, is just ask them to make a tiny try, just to see how it goes. You think you can do that?’

  ‘Okay.’ Her voice sounded very quivery.

  Merlin chatted away a bit more and then suddenly said, ‘There!’

  ‘What?’

  ‘There, that was a step.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Sure, want to do it again?’

  ‘Okay.’ This time her voice was a bit firmer. Destiny definitely felt Wasp take the next step and she decided it wasn’t really all that scary. Before long, Merlin was leading her all around the corral and they were chatting away like old friends.

  Then, with a jolt, Destiny became aware that Merlin was no longer holding Wasp. She squeaked. Merlin smiled.

  ‘You’ve been like that for the last ten minutes!’ He chuckled.

  Destiny relaxed.

  ‘Great, that’s a real good note to finish on,’ he said happily.

  Destiny found, to her complete surprise, that she was sorry the lesson was over.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Snake was so called, because he had a snake’s tail trailing in a sinister kind of way from the small of his back. It was about four foot long and he kept it coiled in a leather pouch that hung at his side. He had learnt to use it quite effectively. It made a sharp stinging whip and he had even been known to strangle Creations with it. A formidable weapon!