Taking the Reins

by Dayle Campbell Gaetz

  Mrs. Morris pursed her mouth. She was only a few years older than Katherine’s mother, but while Mrs. Harris was still slender and young looking, Mrs. Morris’s waist and hips were thick from all the sweets she ate, and she had the beginnings of a double chin. “And what makes you say such a thing? Margaret is a lovely, gracious girl, and pretty too. I expect she has plenty of friends and admirers even if her parents don’t have money enough to send her to a suitable school. Not with all those boys of theirs who need a proper education.”

  Margaret has lots of friends who do her bidding, Katherine thought but could not say. She must not upset Mrs. Morris, who would go running to Mrs. Steeves and tell her everything. Mrs. Steeves would surely tell Margaret, who would find new ways to make Katherine’s school life miserable. “I expect you’re right,” she agreed.

  Mrs. Morris took her umbrella from the stand near the door. With one hand on the door handle, she glanced back at Katherine. “Yes, well, I shall be off then.”

  Relieved that Mrs. Morris didn’t press the matter, Katherine spent a few more minutes searching the shelves, then hurried upstairs to change her clothes. She would go to Beckley Farm and visit Nugget in spite of the rain.

  Sunday morning, Katherine sat in church beside Mrs. Morris. Being early, she used the time to watch people file in. James Douglas, Governor of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, strode down the aisle in his dark suit and high starched collar. His grey hair curled down his neck but was in short supply over his forehead. Thick white sideburns grew almost to his chin. As if he sensed Katherine watching, he turned her way, his face stern, a sad look to his round dark eyes. Beside him walked his wife Amelia, kind-faced and matronly, her black hair mostly hidden by her bonnet. Their two youngest children, James and Martha, followed close behind. And behind them someone else. A tall young woman who looked like – yes, indeed, it was – Emma Curtis! The Douglas family settled in their pew at the front of the church, leaving Katherine to speculate.

  It seemed she was right. Emma did not live with her parents at all but with the Douglas family. Since Emma wasn’t one of their daughters, who were all married now except little Martha, Katherine decided she must be a niece. As often happened, Emma likely had been sent from a remote Hudson’s Bay fort to stay with relatives while she completed her schooling at an expensive school for girls.

  Still, that didn’t explain why Emma was more free to do as she pleased than other young women who had two parents watching their every move. Katherine studied the back of the governor’s head. From what she knew of him, he was an exacting man who expected all around him to behave with the strictest of etiquette. Which meant any relative living in his care would be held to the highest possible standards.

  Katherine’s thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the Steeves family. They settled directly behind her and Mrs. Morris.

  “The nerve of that girl!” Mrs. Steeves said in a whisper meant to be overheard. “Imagine turning down an invitation to our home!”

  “Katherine Harris has disliked me from the day she arrived, Mama. I suspect she is jealous of our social position.”

  “I expect you’re right, dear. Of course, I only invited her out of the goodness of my heart. I felt sorry for the poor, dreary child.”

  The service began, and Katherine blocked the two of them from her mind. During the interminable sermon, she fixed her eyes on a church window, hoping for some sign the endless rain had stopped. Finally, as the last hymn began, a glimmer of sunlight sparkled through the glass. Katherine could hardly wait to get out there.

  It was mid afternoon before she managed to get away, having told Mrs. Morris that she was going for a walk in the sunshine. Not that Mrs. Morris cared where she went, the only reason the widow allowed Katherine to stay with her at all was to collect the room and board Katherine’s parents paid her.

  Katherine had the sidesaddle on Nugget and was bent over to cinch it up when she heard footsteps approaching. She recognized them immediately. The little shuffle, as if her leg hurt, gave Emma away and made Katherine smile to herself. Edward was right: Simply let her alone, allow her to choose her own time, and Emma would soon show an interest in the horse. “Did you bring an apple?”

  “No, I...uh, not today.”

  Katherine straightened up and reached for the bridle. Should she ask if Emma wanted to try riding today? Would that be pushing her? This girl was far too sensitive for her own good. Katherine had figured that out by now, and so she hesitated to ask any unnecessary questions. Right now Emma was gazing at Nugget with such a faraway look in her eyes Katherine wondered if she saw the horse at all. Emma looked unhappy, and Katherine thought she knew why. “Mr. Bentley tells me you’re going off to start a farm next spring,” she ventured.

  Emma blinked. She turned to Katherine with a mixture of surprise and confusion on her face. “I’m considering it,” she said in her slow and guarded way. She turned toward the door, dismissing Katherine.

  All right then, Katherine thought, if that’s the way she wants to be, then fine. There was no point in trying to get to know this Emma Curtis, who made it quite plain she had no interest in talking to her. From now on she would simply take care of Nugget and stay clear of this unfriendly girl.

  “Has Tall Joe been by here lately?” Emma asked, still eyeing the door.

  “Tall Joe?”

  “I mean Mr. Bentley. I call him Tall Joe because that’s the name he got up in the Cariboo, where he mined for gold.”

  “Oh, I see. The name suits him, don’t you think?”

  Emma turned back to Katherine but didn’t reply.

  Katherine almost changed her mind then. She almost asked Emma why she would want to leave Victoria and go off to start a farm with this Mr. Bentley, who seemed so gruff. But Nugget chose that moment to paw the ground and snort her impatience.

  Emma jumped back.

  “Don’t worry, Emma, Nugget is only anxious to get going. She needs a good run.”

  Emma watched Katherine lead the horse from the stall. On her walk to the farm today, Emma had considered trying to sit on the horse, in the yard, with no one watching and Katherine holding the reins. But now she changed her mind. She would be daft to climb on such a wild beast, snorting and pawing the ground as it was, and under the control of a girl who seemed to think that great beast should belong to her. Well, but Tall Joe bought the horse and gave it to Emma, whether either girl liked it or not.

  At the door, Katherine stopped and looked back. “I have an idea,” she said. “Why don’t I take Nugget for a run on the track at Beacon Hill and come back? Once she has burned up some of her energy, she’ll be much calmer, and you can try riding her.”

  Emma walked toward the door, giving herself time to think. This Katherine might be confused, but she did know about horses, and that’s for certain-sure. “I might try it today,” she said, “but I shall follow you to the track. I want to watch the horse gallop and see how you ride without bouncing off on your head.”

  “All right then.” Katherine led Nugget to the block and climbed into the saddle. She bent her right leg around the pommel.

  Emma stared at that saddle, at Katherine’s right knee twisted around that curved pommel. She felt ill. Her own poor knee ached at the thought of bending so sharply.

  Katherine studied her face. “I have a perfectly marvelous idea,” she said. “I don’t expect anyone will be about and I have yet to see a soul on the track at this time of day. So I’m going to take off this sidesaddle and ride the way I find most comfortable.”

  She dismounted, led Nugget back inside, tied her reins to a post, and set about switching saddles. “You must promise not to tell,” Katherine said, when she had the new saddle in place.

  “I promise,” Emma whispered.

  Back at the block, Katherine hitched up her long skirt and swung her leg smoothly over the horse
’s back to ride astride. Her full skirt bunched over the horse’s withers and hung down to the tops of her boots. She tapped Nugget with her heels. “I’ll see you soon, then.”

  Emma’s stomach twisted in alarm. “Wait!” she cried, raising her hand, desperate to change her mind.

  But Katherine trotted off, looking straight ahead, sitting gracefully in the saddle, with its high back and saddle horn at the front. Emma’s hand fell to her side.

  She followed in the direction Katherine had gone, wanting with every step to turn around and walk as fast as she could in the other direction. But she would rather die than have that Katherine girl think she was scared. So she continued on, making every effort to disguise her uneven gait. One wrong step and she’d find herself lying in the slippery muck they called a road, and that’s for certain-sure.

  10

  Katherine slowed Nugget and approached the track cautiously, peering in every direction. “Just as I hoped, girl,” she said. “There’s not a soul here, no one to raise a fuss over my choice of a man’s saddle – which is none of their concern anyway, if you ask me.” She tapped her horse lightly with her heels.

  Nugget needed no further encouragement. She stretched her neck, lengthened her stride, and galloped around the track, fairly vibrating with joy. That joy passed itself on to Katherine, who tossed off all her worries and thought of nothing except the sun on her face, the wind in her hair, and her wonderful, magnificent horse.

  When Nugget began to tire, Katherine pulled gently on the reins and trotted toward the trail where Emma should be waiting. But even now the girl was nowhere in sight. It seemed she was not going to show up after all. No one could take so long to walk such a short distance.

  “I simply don’t understand that girl,” Katherine told Nugget, “but at least now we have time to explore that path I noticed. I wonder where it goes?”

  She walked Nugget along the edge of the trees until she spotted a path that she had glimpsed earlier, as Nugget galloped by. Almost hidden beneath a stand of young oaks and dense undergrowth, the narrow path wound its way into the woods.

  “Easy now, Nugget,” she whispered, ducking to clear low-hanging branches. Like the prow of a steamer, Nugget’s shoulders pushed aside a sea of undergrowth, swishing and crackling around her. As Katherine had hoped, the path continued in the general direction of Beckley Farm. “This looks perfect,” she whispered. “I expect it will provide exactly what we need.”

  Katherine followed the path for a few minutes longer, until a sudden thought struck her. At the same moment, Nugget stopped walking. Had Katherine pulled back on the reins? She didn’t think so. “Did you think of it too?” she asked. “Or are you so tuned in to my thoughts you stop without being told?”

  Turning around wasn’t easy on this narrow path. Dense undergrowth closed in on every side, but after a few minutes of jockeying back and forth they were headed back toward the park.

  “How stupid of me,” Katherine said. “Of course Emma will take longer than most people. As much as she tries to hide it, there is something quite wrong with Emma’s right leg, and did you see the way she stared up at the sidesaddle with her eyes wide like a frightened deer? I know it hurts her, but she’s so proud I’m afraid she’ll only get angry if I dare ask what’s wrong.”

  They arrived back at the track in time to see Emma emerge from the trees, picking her way over the uneven ground. Katherine trotted Nugget toward her. “You’re just at the right time,” she called. “Nugget had a good run and she’s not so bursting with energy now.”

  Emma looked up uncertainly, as if she would change her mind again.

  “But if you’re too frightened...”

  “I am not frightened of anything,” Emma informed her.

  “All right then.” Katherine led Nugget to a large, flat rock and dismounted.

  “I’ll hold her steady while you climb on. Remember, you always mount a horse from her left side. That’s what they’re trained to expect.”

  Emma nodded and climbed onto the rock.

  “Good, now grab hold of the saddle horn and the back of her saddle...put the toe of your left boot in the stirrup... You’re doing well! Now, pull yourself up and ease your right leg over the horse. And you’re there!”

  Sitting high up in the saddle, Emma looked down at Katherine, her face flushed warm with pride. “That was not so bad as I thought it would be!”

  “I think you’re a natural-born horsewoman,” Katherine told her. “Now let me lead you around a few times, and then you can take the reins yourself.”

  Emma’s lips twitched.

  “Don’t worry, Nugget is very well trained. She’ll do exactly as you tell her.”

  Liberty, Emma almost corrected but changed her mind. With her sitting up so high and wobbly in the saddle and Katherine down there holding the reins, this did not seem a good time to make the girl angry.

  Half an hour later, Emma was seated quite comfortably on Liberty and was walking the horse around the grassy field on her own. By laying the reins one way or another across Liberty’s neck, she could make the horse turn left or right. A gentle tug and the horse stopped. If she had known it was this easy, she would have tried sooner.

  As if reading her mind, Katherine called out, “There’s more to riding a horse than simply walking her! Are you ready to try a trot?”

  And why not? What was a trot if it wasn’t just a faster way of walking? “Of course,” she called back. “What shall I do?”

  Katherine ran to catch up. Jogging alongside the horse she said, “Remember, a trot is a very rough ride. It takes a lot of getting used to, so you won’t want to do it for long. When you’re ready, tap Nugget’s sides very gently with your heels – not too hard unless you want her to canter – and don’t forget, when you want her to slow down again, simply pull on the reins as you did to make her stop.” She paused. “All right?”

  Emma nodded. “It sounds rather simple to me.” She tapped Liberty’s sides. The next thing Emma knew she was bouncing up and down on the horse’s back until she was sure every tooth in her head would rattle clean out of her jaws and every bone in her body would split apart. The horse went down, Emma bounced up. The horse bounced back up, Emma came down with a painful jolt. Up she went again. This may have been a mistake. Ow! This was a mistake. Ow! What now? Tap Liberty’s sides? Ow! No. She couldn’t think. Ow! Her brain rattled in her skull. Ow! Her hip hurt so badly. Ow! She was going to bounce clean off the saddle. Ow again!

  “Whoa there, Nugget. Whoa, girl!” At the sound of Katherine’s voice, the horse slowed and came to a stop. Nugget lowered her head and snorted her disapproval of the rider on her back.

  Emma’s entire body trembled. If trotting was so difficult, what chance did she have at a gallop, or even a canter?

  Katherine caught up, breathless. She held Nugget’s reins and stroked her muzzle. “Good Nugget,” she said. “Good horse.” Then she looked up at Emma. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I should never have suggested trotting so soon. Are you all right?”

  Emma lifted her chin. “I am fine.”

  “Good then.” Katherine grinned. “Do you want to try again?”

  Emma clutched the saddlehorn. Tried to stop her hands from shaking.

  “I did warn you it would be a rough ride.” Katherine’s eyes twinkled. She looked up at Emma, half-laughing.

  Emma felt a quick stab of anger. There was nothing funny about what just happened. She could have been killed! Shaken to her death on the back of a bouncing horse. Her bones split into a thousand pieces. Then, unaccountably, she felt a smile steal over her own cheeks. “Well, and you were right!”

  Katherine’s face crinkled and her eyes became little crescent moons. She laughed all the way from her stomach. Emma found herself joining in and quickly discovered that laughing while sitting shakily in a saddle with a sore
and tender backside did not mix well. And that made her laugh all the harder. “Oh,” she said. “Oh! Ow!”

  Emma could not fathom what happened next. One second, Katherine was laughing up at her, the next she gasped aloud and slapped a hand over her mouth. Her face contorted as if in pain. She slipped a hand into the pocket of her dress and pulled out a small cloth bag.

  “Are you ill?” Emma asked.

  Katherine swiped at tears that spilled from her eyes. Her fingers curled tight around the bag. “I’m fine.”

  Emma’s laughter stuck in her throat. It must be the horse, she thought. The girl is that upset to see me seated on her horse. And it’s not my fault, it’s Tall Joe who bought the horse and Mayor Harris who sold it. She tried to think what to say, but nothing seemed right and she couldn’t apologize for something neither of them could change. “Perhaps I’ll stick to walking the horse for today,” she said.

  Katherine nodded, staring at the ground. “That seems a good plan.”

  “You’ll want to dismount before we reach the farm,” Katherine advised, leading Nugget home with Emma riding. “You will need to stretch your legs so you don’t stumble.”

  “Why should I stumble?” Emma snapped.

  “Everyone is sore the first time they ride,” Katherine explained, wondering why Emma sounded so cross. “Your legs will feel weak and shaky when you first dismount and I don’t expect you’ll want to fall on your face in the event Tall Joe or Edward are watching.”

  To make Emma feel better, Katherine decided to tell her about that first day in Hope. She stopped and turned around. Emma scowled down as if she couldn’t stand the sight of her. But Katherine was getting used to Emma’s quick changes in mood, so she went ahead anyway. “Wait until you hear what happened to me. It was the first time I had ridden sidesaddle since we left England and the first time I had worn a skirt for some time. I rode into Hope with my brother and...”