Country Rivals

by Zara Stoneley

  She might have made it, if Sam hadn’t chosen just that moment to drive through the gateway, the soft top of the sports car down, radio blaring out a happy tune, with Roxy and Scruffy in the back. Seeing the horse and rider speeding towards them, she stopped the car, flicking up her sunglasses to take a closer look, and her dog, seeing the pack approaching, gave an excited bark and made a bid for freedom.

  Scruffy leapt over Roxy, who clapped her hands with excitement, and he was out of the convertible before Sam had even pulled the handbrake on.

  ‘Oh my God how amazing, look at that Roxy. They’re filming on the—oh no, oh Scruffy darling, don’t babe. Come here.’ Flinging the door open, she took chase after the dog, who was fast approaching the cameraman, Lottie, and Seb from the rear.

  ‘Oh sugar. Scruffy pet, Scruffy.’ Kicking off her high heels she got a glimpse of Seb as he spun round, his mouth open, face aghast, and knew this called for urgent measures. Throwing all her energy into a last sprint, Sam realised that Scruffy was almost within reach and, trying not to think about grass stains, she dived for him, arms outstretched.

  ‘Woohoo, girl.’ There was a shout from the watching crowd – safely contained behind a tape (not electrified, rather to Billy and Rory’s disappointment) – before they burst into a mix of spontaneous applause, catcalls, and laughter, with shouts of ‘she should be in the film’ and ‘loving them knickers’.

  Sam giggled and straightened up, her hand still on the dog’s collar, but she was no longer the centre of attention.

  Seb was glaring outraged at the recaptured Scruffy when the sound of barking alerted him to a new danger. He spun back round to see the pack of dogs headed straight towards him. Or rather towards Lottie, who was only a few feet away.

  ‘Oh no, Harry.’ At the sound of his mistress’s voice, Harry barked and put a new burst of speed on, and Tilly yapped in excitement, which set off the other terriers.

  ‘Christ.’ There was a yell from the cameraman on the Segway as Ella, spotting Harry, who she was besotted with, streaked in front of him, intent on joining in the fun.

  He veered off course, to the delight of the crowd, who had now realised that their five pounds had been well spent.

  Seb was so busy shouting, he didn’t even hear the pounding of hooves that announced Tab’s arrival. There was no ‘cut’, so with a ‘that’ll teach him’ curse under her breath, she just kept going, galloping through the narrow gap between Seb and Lottie so that Seb staggered to one side, dropping his clipboard and launching into a new tirade of expletives that Tab was sure she’d never heard before.

  Tab didn’t stop. On she galloped towards the onlookers, who were reaching for pad and paper, convinced that she had to be a star with an autograph worth getting.

  ‘And what the fuck are rent-a-crowd doing here?’ By now, Seb had lost it, his blond hair on end he lurched towards Lottie, arms waving about wildly, face puce with rage.

  ‘I told you.’ Lottie emerged from under the pile of dogs and Tilly ran circles round her barking. ‘We charged them to come in and watch, to save the lanes getting blocked, and’ she finished reasonably, ‘they’ve been very quiet and well behaved.’

  ‘Unlike these bloody, fucking animals.’ His arms dropped down by his sides, fists clenched and his tone turned scarily robotic. ‘Well you can tell them to all fuck off home. I’ve paid for exclusive use—’

  ‘Well, no, you haven’t actually, we looked—’

  ‘And the insurance doesn’t cover us for accidents. You’d better not be filming this.’

  The cameraman, who had been watching intently, shook his head, clamped his mouth shut and tried not to laugh.

  ‘Oh wow, isn’t that fab, babe.’ Sam staggered over, still bent double so she could hang on to Scruffy’s collar as he leapt about, determined to get to the other dogs. She grinned disarmingly at Seb. ‘You must be so clever to think of all this,’ and waved an expansive hand.

  Seb was used to his wife’s ways and his cold look would have sent Lottie running, but Sam seemed oblivious.

  ‘I didn’t write the script.’

  ‘Aww sorry, I thought you were somebody important, seeing as you were stood over here.’ She did a double-take and laughed. ‘Oh, you joker, it is you, isn’t it Seb? You saying you’re not clever, and we all know you are. Oh my God,’ she caught sight of Tab, who was heading back their way, ‘it’s Tab.’ And stopping to clap her hands, she forgot about her dog again, who sensing freedom jumped over Harry and then set off back across the lawn, the other dogs in pursuit.

  ‘Jesus Christ will somebody get rid of all these fucking animals.’ Seb covered his eyes briefly with his fists, then straightening up he took a sobering deep breath before bellowing into his walkie-talkie. ‘Jamie get your arse over here with my car. I need to get out of this dump and get a fucking drink.’

  Chapter 13

  ‘Who rattled his cage?’

  Lottie glanced up with relief at the sound of Rory’s voice, just in time to see him being rudely shouldered out of the way by a very irate Seb. ‘Sorry I let Harry out.’ He grinned, not looking one tiny bit sorry, and sat down on the grass next to his wife. ‘I didn’t realise you’d put them all in that loosebox. I opened the door and he shot out and Tilly followed him. Where’s she gone now?’ Hearing her master’s voice, Tilly was on her way back, with Harry behind and Ella determinedly tagging along.

  Sam joined them on the grass. ‘He’s a bit of a one isn’t he, that Seb? Do you think he’ll calm down soon? He’ll give himself a heart attack if he carries on like that. There was this football manager that Davey used to have and he was just the same, effing and jeffing all over the place. He threw a boot at Davey’s head once,’ she giggled, ‘but he missed cos he was only little and you know how tall my Davey is when he stands up. Well, he retired, like, and he still went to all the matches and was jumping up and down one day like he was still on the touchline, and you know what? He dropped dead, he did.’ She stood up. ‘Dead as a dodo in the middle of a big game. Caused a right kerfuffle, what with the ambulance and everything.’

  The cameraman finished packing his things away as they watched Seb get into his car. ‘He’ll be fine when he’s had a drink. More of a prima donna than the actresses, that one is, sacks us all on a weekly basis then has forgotten all about it next day, though you’ll never get an apology out of him.’ He peered more closely at Sam, then stuck his hand out. ‘You’re married to that goalkeeper, David Simcock, aren’t you? Pleased to meet you. Damned good tackle you did back there.’ He winked.

  Sam ignored the hand and gave him a kiss on the cheek. ‘Lovely to meet you too, babe. I hope we didn’t upset him too much, what with Scruffy and everything. He’s probably the artistic type, and he does have that Pandora to put up with, doesn’t he? Bless. Ah well, I’d better get off and find Scruffy. He’s probably in the catering trailer, if I know him. Can you keep an eye on Roxy, please?’

  ‘Sure.’ Rory glanced over at the car and waved at the little girl, who was doing her best to undo the child-proof buckle of her car-seat.

  ‘Aww, you’re a gem, Rory. Make a lovely father, you will. Won’t be long, I just need to find my shoes. See you in a bit, babe.’

  ‘A lovely father.’ Rory winked and squeezed Lottie’s thigh as Sam waltzed off. ‘How about it? I know we said we’d wait, but I think we should just get on with it.’

  ‘No!’ Lottie was shocked at how loudly the word had exploded from her.

  Rory’s eyes opened wide and he moved his hand. ‘Oh. That’s telling me.’

  ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to say it like that. I just, oh Rory, we can’t, I don’t want to.’

  He sighed. ‘Then tell me why.’

  ‘But I can’t …’ She didn’t know how to put it into words, this dread that filled her every time the conversation came up. Lottie pressed her fists into her eyes.

  ‘I thought we trusted each other, talked about everything.’

  ‘We do.’

  ‘T
hen talk to me. Let’s plan for the future, Lottie.’

  ‘You never wanted to plan before, we just got on with things.’

  ‘Maybe I’ve grown up.’

  His lopsided grin forced a lump into her throat. She loved him, and she wanted to make him happy, but she wanted to be honest with him too. ‘What if I couldn’t have kids?’

  ‘Oh, darling.’ He’d moved back closer. ‘Don’t worry about stuff like that. We could adopt, people do it, or get help. You daftie, why would you think that?’

  ‘No, I mean, if I didn’t want them, couldn’t be …’ A mother was what she wanted to say, and couldn’t. She glanced up over her knuckles to see the look of confusion, mixed with what she was sure was disbelief. His body had stiffened. How could she do this to him? ‘I just don’t want a baby, Rory.’ The empty feeling at the pit of her stomach seemed to expand. She’d said it. She wanted to add ‘ever’, but it froze in her throat.

  He looked harder, then laughed, relaxed and hugged her. ‘You are daft at times. Oh Lottie, it’s scary. I get that. Yeah, I suppose adoption isn’t for everybody, but we’ll be fine. I think you’re over thinking this.’

  ‘I know you want children, Rory, but—’

  ‘I never seriously thought about it before, but I actually do. I’d love a kid of our own like Roxy.’ He kissed the tip of her nose. ‘Well, maybe not quite like Roxy. I love you, darling, but I get it if you’re not ready. It is scary, but everybody does it.’ He shrugged. ‘Can’t be worse than jumping a four-foot hedge.’

  It was more than scary, but he’d obviously decided she couldn’t possibly be serious about not wanting children. Everybody did it. He just took it for granted that they would too. And she couldn’t. But the thought of losing him was far worse than jumping any hedge. ‘I’d rather put Black Gold in foal again.’ She knew her grin was weak as she tried her normal diversionary tactics, but this time Rory didn’t bite straight away.

  ‘Not quite the same, is it? Don’t you ever get fed up of just having the animals to cuddle?’

  ‘I’ve got you.’ She glanced up and he was looking at her so earnestly that she had to look down again quickly.

  ‘It would be nice to have a family of our own.’

  ‘But we’re so busy, Rory, and we’re totally broke.’

  ‘Lots of people are broke and still have children.’

  ‘And I’m not sure I’d be a good mum.’

  ‘Bollocks, you’d be a great mum. Come on, don’t look like that.’ He put an arm round her. ‘Look if there was a problem and we couldn’t have kids, then that would be fine, but there won’t be.’

  ‘I don’t think we can’t have them, I just really don’t want …’ Her words were drowned out by the bellow of frustration that came from Sam’s car.

  Rory sighed. ‘I better go and rescue Roxy before she takes the car to pieces. We’ll chat about this later, okay?’

  * * *

  The look on Xander’s face was enough to tell Tab she was in trouble when she finally made her way back over to him. One thing was for sure, it wasn’t the look of love. That appeared to be reserved purely for his little dog.

  It was at this point that Tab remembered she was supposed to be looking after Ella. It had been one of her tactics to get him interested in her. Surely if she looked after the dog the man would follow? Well, that had been her reasoning, but now it looked like it could be her downfall. I mean, how was she supposed to know that Harry would get loose? She was well aware that Ella looked on the springer spaniel as a big brother, and would happily follow him anywhere. But the last time she’d seen him he’d been with Lottie, following her around while she skipped out stables and exercised horses.

  ‘What the hell are you playing at? You were supposed to do that shot then ride straight back.’

  ‘But I—’

  ‘This isn’t the pony club, have you any idea how valuable that animal you’ve been galloping around on is?’

  ‘So this is about money?’ Her self-defence mechanism kicked in and she fought back.

  ‘I wasn’t talking about money, it’s about animal welfare.’ His eyes were steely. ‘And what about Ella?’ He pointed behind him towards the little dog, who was now curled up on her blanket, and raised an apologetic eyebrow. ‘Did you forget all about her?’

  ‘But you knew I was riding. You can’t blame me for not keeping an eye on her. She was curled up on her blanket when I went. She’s your dog. What were you doing?’

  ‘Okay.’ He held up his hand, then ran his fingers through his hair. ‘I’m sorry. Sorry. I’m overreacting. I admit I should have noticed when she took off, but I was too busy watching you. Give me the horse and then go and get changed.’

  Jamie, who had been hovering on the sidelines, nodded his head in the direction of the trailer. ‘Come on, I’ll wait while you get changed.’ He had her by the hand and was dragging her off before she had a chance to retaliate. ‘Don’t mind him, you were brilliant. He was actually laughing when you flattened Seb.’

  ‘What the hell has got into him?’ Tab didn’t wait for a response. ‘I don’t know why he has to be that grumpy.’ It seemed so unfair to Tab. What had seemed like so much fun at the beginning had turned into a disaster of a day. Xander thought she was an irresponsible idiot, and Seb would probably pack up and leave the very next day.

  ‘He’s just a bit overprotective about his horses.’ Jamie shrugged, then pushed her up the steps into the trailer. ‘Ignore it, he’s better with animals than people these days, and he’s probably worried about the mood Pandora will be in. I reckon we should get a move on before either Seb or Pandora comes and gives us an earful.’

  ‘Too late, I’d say. Seb’s gone back to the hotel, but look who hasn’t.’ Tab leaned down from her vantage point, took Jamie by the shoulders, and swivelled him around so that he could see Pandora heading their way. ‘Uh-oh, she looks cross.’

  ‘You, yes, you. Jamie. Why did you fetch Seb’s car? Where was he going?’

  ‘Back to Kitterly Heath, I think.’ Jamie shrugged. ‘He’d had enough of all the, er, animals.’ He glanced up at Tab, who was doing her best not to giggle.

  ‘Oh, for heaven’s sake. How I am supposed to get back? He never thinks about me, does he?’ She looked Jamie up and down. ‘And where has Xander got to now? That man is never about when I need him. You will have to drive me.’

  ‘You know I haven’t got a car. One of the crew …’

  ‘He’ll do.’ Without another word Pandora veered off. Jamie and Tab looked in the direction she was taking. She was not heading for either her brother or one of the crew, but straight towards Lottie and Rory.

  ‘That’ll go down well.’ Tab frowned. ‘Lottie and her don’t get on well at all. Maybe you should get somebody to head her off while I get changed?’

  Jamie grinned. ‘I was actually hoping I could help you get changed.’

  ‘Sod off.’

  He laughed. ‘Okay, hurry up, I’ll persuade her to go back with one of the crew, or Xander.’

  Tab found that ‘hurrying up’ was easier said than done. The girl in the wardrobe trailer, who had expertly dressed her, was nowhere to be seen.

  She’d wobbled about for quite some time trying to undo the knee pads, before giving up and sitting on the floor, which made the job slightly easier. She was still a bit out of puff, and was in her underwear, peering under chairs, when Jamie got back. Tab had a problem, quite a serious one.

  ‘Aren’t you done yet?’

  ‘Hang on.’ The wardrobe mistress obviously liked to keep things tidy. ‘I can’t find my stuff.’

  ‘You sure you don’t want a hand?’

  ‘No I don’t. Stay out there.’

  ‘I can close my eyes.’

  ‘It’s your hands I’m bothered about not your eyes.’

  Deciding that it really couldn’t be that difficult to find her clobber in such a small space, Tab started a methodical search – and finally found a box in the far corner of the room.


  ‘Ha! Found them.’

  ‘Oh.’ In just one syllable Jamie managed to express enough disappointment to make Tab laugh.

  By the time she’d put her own clothes on and felt more like her normal self, Tab had completely got over her Seb-and-Xander-induced bad mood. ‘You got rid of old Panda, then?’

  ‘I did. Somebody agreed to chauffeur her, she likes the idea of a chauffeur and they liked the idea of not having to talk to her.’

  Tab giggled. ‘They’re a weird lot, aren’t they? Why do you work for them?’

  ‘I like my job.’ Jamie paused. ‘And I like it here.’ He gave her a sidelong look, which she chose to ignore.

  ‘Seb seems to hate the countryside. I really don’t get why he’s doing a film like this. He hates us, hates the place, and he really hates the animals.’

  ‘Well I wouldn’t say “hates”.’ Jamie fell into step with her. ‘He’s just uncomfortable, he likes to be in control, and it doesn’t always work that way here, does it?’

  ‘You can say that again.’

  ‘Seb’s life is clean and tidy, it’s all organised, not dirt and chaos.’

  ‘Dom can be a bit like that, but he’s not such a complete arsehole.’

  ‘He seems okay to me.’

  ‘He’s a lot better since they had Alice, not as snooty. So why is Seb shooting this film at all?’

  ‘Pandora’s idea.’

  ‘Really? Wow, he always does what she wants? She’s just an actress.’

  Jamie laughed. ‘Pandora isn’t just anything. But he doesn’t always do what she wants, well not really, she tries to make him think things are his idea, but he’s not daft. He likes to keep her onside, and he says she’s actually got a good eye for trends, things that will be a hit. He’s good at his job though.’

  ‘So why can’t he use those green screens, you know special effects? He doesn’t need to use horses at all, does he?’