The Boy Who Loves Horses (Pegasus Equestrian Center Series)

by Diana Vincent

  “Let’s leave him in peace,” River said and they slowly backed away and left the black to eat his hay without an audience.

  *****

  4 Allison

  To practice equestrian art is to establish a conversation on a higher level with the horse; a dialogue of courtesy and finesse. - Nuno Oliveira

  *****

  “What are you going to wear to homecoming?” Allison Ferguise, Sierra’s best friend, asked on Monday as they wove through the tables in the cafeteria.

  “Wear?” Sierra responded in sudden horror. “I haven’t thought about it.” She worried about being out on an actual date with Luke; wondering what she would say and how to act. It was one thing to be around him at school or talk to him on the telephone; but quite another when she visualized him picking her up at her house and being alone with him in the back seat of a car. She hadn’t thought about what to wear. She didn’t even own a dress. Her entire wardrobe consisted of jeans, tee-shirts, sweatshirts, riding breeches, a show shirt, and a hunt coat.

  “Sierra, you’ve only got two weeks,” Allison stated. When she saw the look of dismay on Sierra’s face, she took charge. “Okay, we’re going shopping this week. I hope there’ll be dresses left. I’ll text my mom and see if she can pick us up after school.” They reached an empty table and Allison dropped her backpack, already searching its contents for her phone.

  “Allison, you know I go to the stable every afternoon.”

  “Then after supper. The mall is open until ten. What night do you want to go?” Allison waited with phone poised.

  “But I don’t have money to buy a dress.”

  Allison shrugged her shoulders with an ‘oh well’ look and said, “I guess you’ll just have to wear your best jeans and most formal tee-shirt.”

  Sierra sighed deeply as she shrugged off her own backpack and took her seat. “I think accepting this date with Luke is a big mistake.” She had been so excited and happy when Luke had asked her to the dance. But as the days passed, her apprehension mounted. She had almost as much fear and dread of the event as she had excited anticipation. And now this clothes thing!

  “What do you mean?” Allison frowned and set her phone down carefully.

  “It’s just…well…okay; you’ve gone out with three different guys since school started, and now you’re pretty much going out with Peter Eisenberg. Do you have fun?” Sometimes Sierra harbored a bit of envy toward her best friend; in her opinion one of the most attractive girls in the school with her mixed race heritage of white, black, and Asian. But more than her beauty, Sierra envied whatever it was Allison possessed that gave her the ability to think of quick and clever retorts whenever guys flirted with her (and they flirted with her a lot), to never blush, and that aura of comfort within her own skin. She could not imagine Allison ever tongue-tied.

  Allison studied her friend, sensing the insecurity and worry in the question. “Yeah, I have fun; but Peter and I mostly just talk,” she answered in a serious tone. “If you want to know about normal dates you’ll probably have to ask someone like Katrina.”

  “Do you kiss him?” Just asking the question caused Sierra’s face to heat up.

  “Who…Peter?”

  “Yeah, or any of those other guys you went out with.” Sierra wondered about Allison and her relationship with boys. Other girls gossiped easily and loudly about their experiences in details that caused Sierra to blush just overhearing the conversations. She knew many of her classmates were no longer virgins and seemed proud of the fact. But Allison so far had never revealed to Sierra details of her dates.

  Allison smiled and said, “I have kissed Peter, but kissing is not Peter’s best quality…yet.” Her eyes twinkled. “He’s brilliant; that’s what I like most about him and he’s much better at talking than kissing.”

  “Do you like kissing him?” Sierra asked just above a whisper. It embarrassed her to ask these questions, but she really wanted to know from someone she respected.

  This time Allison laughed. “I do, and I like kissing him better than other guys who might be better looking and more experienced but have nothing between their ears.” In a more serious tone she advised, “Sierra, don’t worry so much. Just let Luke do all the talking. He’s good at that. You’ll be fine. Now, what about a dress?”

  “Okay, you’re right,” Sierra agreed. “And with what João has given my mother and me, I guess I can afford a dress. We can go any night this week.” She added a weak smile. “It will be fun.”

  “Of course it will be fun,” Allison laughed. “You are so funny.”

  They finished their lunch and then wove again through the cafeteria tables toward the exit. Back in eighth grade, they had started going to the library during the lunch recess to work on homework together, and continued the practice now. With her time taken up at the stable, Sierra needed to get as much homework done at school as she could, and working together, the two girls could work through the assignments much faster.

  At the back of the cafeteria near the exit, Sierra suddenly spotted a boy sitting at a table by himself. “That’s River!” Sierra exclaimed.

  “Who?” Allison asked and then noticed where Sierra stared. “That’s River?”

  “Yeah, this is the first time I’ve seen him at school. I wonder if he has a new schedule.”

  “Introduce me,” Allison suggested. Sierra had often talked to Allison about River; how well he rode, how difficult he could be to work with sometimes, that she suspected his father abused him, and that he planned to quit school.

  “No, I don’t think…”

  “Come on.” Allison grabbed Sierra’s wrist and pulled her along to River’s table.

  “Hi, River,” Sierra greeted as she and Allison approached.

  He looked up at the girls and mumbled, “Hi.” Sierra couldn’t tell if he was glad to see her here away from the stable or not.

  “This is my friend Allison. She wants to meet you.”

  Without waiting for an invitation Allison had already pulled out a chair and sat down. Sierra sat down next to her, feeling uncomfortable.

  River took a bite of food, chewed and swallowed, before he looked up at Allison and asked bluntly, “Why?”

  “You’re a legend. Sierra has told me all about you; how beautifully you ride. When she talks about you, you sound like a masterpiece…a work of art. I love art.”

  River stared at Allison, frowning and with an expression as if he wondered if she was making fun of him. Then he flashed a disturbed look at Sierra.

  Sierra felt the hot rush of color from her neck to her forehead and she dropped her head, embarrassed. She had no idea Allison would say that to him.

  “Is it true?” Allison asked.

  “What?”

  “Are you a work of art?”

  “I don’t know. Ask Sierra.”

  Allison burst out laughing. “You’re exactly how she described you.”

  River sat back with arms folded and studied Allison through narrowed eyes. “What do you want?”

  “I want to get to know you,” Allison flashed her most disarming smile.

  “I don’t think so,” he answered.

  “I’d like to watch you ride sometime.”

  He hunched forward, shoveled in the last bite of food and then abruptly stood up, gathering up the tray.

  Sierra somehow felt like she should apologize. “River...”

  “I have to go get ready to flunk a test,” he stated, cutting her off.

  “What test?” Allison asked.

  “American History.”

  “With Mr. Kennedy?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I can help you pass that test.”

  “I doubt it.”

  “No, really; I just took the test. I have him second period.” She brightly rattled off a series of questions and answers. When she finished, she grinned impishly at him.

  River watched her, looking bewildered during her recitation. His expression shifted to a frown and he turned and w
alked away. He didn’t even say goodbye to Sierra.

  Allison watched him go with a look of amusement on her face. “Sierra, he is absolutely gorgeous.”

  “What?” Sierra almost choked.

  “Totally…in that sort of James Dean melancholy angst sort of way.”

  “Who?”

  “Never mind,” Allison laughed. “Just a dead actor my mother likes.”

  “Allison, you can’t be serious about River. You like intellectual types.”

  “I’m not interested in him like that. He intrigues me. And I think he is not as dumb as he’d like you to think.”

  Well, Sierra had always thought that about River. “Didn’t you just cheat? Giving him test answers?”

  “Perhaps,” Allison answered sheepishly. “I guess I didn’t think. But if giving him answers can help him pass a test, it just might provide him with a little motivation. Sierra!” She turned to her friend with her eyes bright with excitement. “We can help him.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “We can help him get through school, help him study…sort of like a project.”

  “He will never agree to that. He wouldn’t even let João help him.”

  “We’ll see,” Allison persisted with a wicked grin.

  “Besides, River is a person, not a project,” Sierra insisted.

  “Hi guys,” Katrina Lund, a girl who boarded her horse at Pegasus and had become friends with Sierra, joined them at the table. “Sierra, was that River?”

  “Yes,” Sierra answered. “It’s the first time I’ve seen him here.”

  “Oh, his tutor probably quit. She was working with him at lunch time,” Katrina stated.

  “He has a tutor?” That was news to Sierra.

  “Yeah, my brother’s girlfriend’s best friend works as a tutor and I overhead her complaining about River. He didn’t pass most of his classes since he missed so much school last year when he ran away, and she got assigned to him. She says he’s rude and he doesn’t try and she wanted to quit,” Katrina related.

  It was all news to Sierra, but then River never talked to her about anything except horses.

  “What are you wearing to homecoming?” Katrina changed the subject.

  *****

  5 Demon

  By nature, horses are very sensitive – consider, for example, how strongly they react to a fly! You should endeavour to retain and make positive use of this sensitivity in your communication with the horse. - Kyra Kyrklund, Dressage With Kyra

  *****

  After school, Sierra rode her bicycle into the stable yard and parked it in its usual spot. She stopped to pet Storm, basking in a spot of sunlight, and then headed for the stable to say hi to River before she brought in her assigned horse to ride today. She found River at the crossties getting Silver ready for Gloria’s lesson.

  “Hi, River,” Sierra greeted, stepping up to stroke Silver’s nose and feed him a piece of carrot from the supply she always carried in her pockets.

  River was bent over, snugging up the Velcro flaps on a splint boot he had placed on Silver’s front leg. When he finished, he stood and turned to look at Sierra with a cold expression. “Why are you talking about me to other people?” he asked in a low voice, tight with anger.

  “What?” Sierra physically stepped back from him, shocked at the intensity of his mood, almost as if he had slapped her. What did I do?

  “I thought you were my friend.”

  Sierra had often seen River angry at Tess and some of the boarders, usually over treatment of a horse, but never had his anger been directed at her. Her stomach cramped into a knot and radiated uncomfortable heat throughout her body. Her face flushed. “We are friends,” she responded defensively.

  Gloria came up to the crossties, dressed in her riding clothes. “Is Silver ready?” she asked.

  River shifted his gaze to Gloria, his expression unchanged. Gloria stopped in her tracks, taken aback by his demeanor, and both she and Sierra stood frozen as he turned back to Silver, the animosity palpable in the air. He tightened the saddle girth, and then slipped off Silver’s halter, replacing it with a bridle. He tossed the reins to Gloria and wordlessly walked away.

  “What a jerk,” Gloria grumbled, leading Silver out of the crossties.

  Sierra stood indecisively a few moments, still confused by what had caused River’s anger. Then she set off at a jog to catch up to him halfway down the lane between the paddocks. “River,” she called to his back. “What is wrong?”

  He stopped and waited for her to catch up to him. “I don’t like that girl and I don’t like people talking about me.”

  “Who, Gloria?” Sierra already knew he didn’t like either Crystal or Gloria, so that didn’t make sense.

  “Your friend at school.”

  “Allison?” Sierra was beginning to feel this argument was ridiculously unnecessary.

  “How can you be friends with her?”

  “She’s my best friend at school,” Sierra replied in bewilderment.

  “What did you say to her about me?”

  “River,” Sierra replied, exasperated. “You heard what she said. I’ve told her a lot about you, especially what a great rider you are. Friends talk about things that are interesting and that they care about. I care about you. That’s not a bad thing.”

  “She cheats.” He spoke through tight lips.

  “Okay, that was a mistake, but she wanted to help you.”

  “I don’t cheat.”

  “Good…I’m glad. Allison doesn’t cheat either. She just thought if she could help you pass your test it might encourage you.” Sierra sensed immediately that was the wrong thing to say as River’s eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched tighter.

  “You think the only way I can pass a test is by cheating?” He spoke barely above a whisper which was almost more menacing than if he had shouted. But he didn’t just sound angry; he also sounded hurt.

  “No…, River…” He turned away but Sierra stepped up to his side and grabbed his arm. “Please, I’m sorry,” she pleaded. But she wasn’t sure what she was apologizing about; that Allison was her friend, or that she stood by while her friend gave him test answers even though she had no idea what Allison was going to do, or that she had talked about River to Allison. She didn’t know exactly how she was at fault, but she knew River was mad at her and that was unbearable.

  He pulled his arm away from her. “What was I supposed to do on my test? She gave me the answers. Should I have put down wrong ones? Well, I didn’t, so now I’m a cheater too.”

  “I’m so sorry. I honestly didn’t know she was going to do what she did. Please don’t be mad at me.”

  “I am mad at you.” He spun away and strode off, but called back over his shoulder, “Don’t talk about me.”

  She stood watching his back as iciness seeped from the middle of her spine into her heart. It was bad enough that he was mad at her, but to be mad at her for talking about him; well that was just stupid and unfair.

  River’s phone must have vibrated for he pulled it out of his pocket and answered gruffly, “What…okay.” Without looking back at Sierra he said loud enough for her to hear, “The vet’s here.”

  She took that as an invitation and followed him back to the stable.

  Dr. Patterson and Tess stood talking by the open hatch of his van, parked in the stable yard. As River and Sierra came into view, the vet waved and greeted, “Hi, kids.”

  “Hi, Dr. Patterson,” Sierra returned the greeting as they came up to the van.

  “Tess tells me River’s got himself a horse,” Dr. Patterson said, sounding amused.

  River nodded. “He’s down in the lower paddock.”

  “From what Tess has told me, I think we better take a look at Morris first.” He chuckled with a twinkle in his eye.

  “I’ll get him,” Sierra offered and left to bring Morris to the wash stall where River and Dr. Patterson waited. Tess left for the arena to start Gloria’s riding lesson.

  “He
doesn’t look like he’s favoring the leg at all,” Dr. Patterson commented. He bent down and undid the bandages. “Nice, it’s healing well; I think we can remove the sutures and leave the bandage off.” He pulled an instrument from his pocket and set to work.

  Sierra remained at Morris’s head but River bent over the vet, watching.

  “See what I’m doing?” Dr. Patterson said to River. “You try.” He handed the instrument to River and talked him through the process of removing the sutures.

  “Very good,” the vet said when River finished and they both stood up. “Keep him on stall rest for a couple more days and as long as there isn’t a return of swelling or any drainage, you can start turning him out in one of the smaller paddocks. You’ve done a good job caring for him.”

  “Sierra helps me,” River said, giving her credit.

  “I always feel confident leaving the care of an injured animal in both your hands. You’re quite the team,” Dr. Patterson complimented.

  A lump rose in Sierra’s throat at his words; for she and River might not be a team anymore. “Shall I take Morris back to his stall?” she asked, feeling uncomfortable.

  “Yes, and then we’ll go have a look at this wild horse,” Dr. Patterson replied.

  Sierra led Morris back to his stall and gave him the usual bit of carrot before returning to where Dr. Patterson waited at his van. River had sprinted on ahead to the lower paddock.

  “Hop in.” Dr. Patterson indicated the passenger seat. Sierra climbed in and the vet drove the short distance, explaining that he might need supplies from the van.

  At the paddock, they joined River at the rail. The black had backed into a corner and eyed them warily, his ears laid flat.

  “Oh my, oh dear,” Dr. Patterson said softly to himself, as he noted the black’s pathetic condition.

  “He doesn’t let anyone near him,” River stated.

  “Not even you?” The vet smiled at River.