Dreams (2 page)

“But if he sees you riding Solo and knows it’s been done so easily, then he’ll have to believe in it.”

Joe laughed drily. “Is that a pig flying past me? Come on, Els, you know what Dad’s like. He’ll just say Solo’s an easy pony and dismiss it that way and then we’ll have an argument.”

“But if you’re not going to show him what you’ve done, what’s the point in doing it?” Ellie looked at him in frustration.

“The point is that it helps the horses.” Joe patted Solo affectionately. “If I can get every youngster started like this, it’ll make the whole process easier before Dad comes to them. That would be a good thing to do, wouldn’t it?” he appealed.

“I guess,” Ellie agreed reluctantly. She still felt they should use the opportunity to show Uncle Len what could be achieved.

Joe saw her face. “Ellie, you’re not to say anything. It really would cause trouble. I don’t want that.”

She looked at him.

“Promise you won’t?”

She sighed. She could see why Joe didn’t want to get into trouble with his dad. He had a fierce temper and often lashed out at Joe when he was angry. “OK, I promise.”

They reached the pony barn. There were two American-style barns at High Peak Stables as well as two schooling rings and a smart main courtyard with neat hanging baskets, a wash barn, tackroom and rugroom, and ten spacious stables around three of the sides.

A small bay pony inside the barn whinnied shrilly as he heard their voices. He was too little to do more than poke his nose over the top of the door. Joe led Solo nearer and leaned over to pat the pony’s neck. “Hey there, Merlin.”

Merlin had been Joe’s first pony. He was kept on the yard for when children came for lessons with Len. “He’s looking well,” Ellie said, stroking Merlin over the door too. The pony nuzzled her hand, searching hopefully for treats.

“He’s looking much
too
well with all this spring grass. He could do with some more exercise.”

“We could take him and Spirit out for a ride later,” Ellie suggested.

“My legs are down to his knees now!” Joe laughed.

“But you’re not too heavy for him.” Although Joe was quite tall, he was slim and wiry. The sturdy Welsh pony would have no problem carrying his weight.

Joe didn’t need much persuading; he still loved riding Merlin. “OK. Should we go out at lunchtime?”

Ellie nodded. “Cool!”

They smiled at each other and, as she met his familiar greeny-gray eyes, Ellie felt her heart skip a beat. In an instant, she was back to a time barely two weeks ago when she and Joe had almost kissed. They had been interrupted and neither of them had mentioned it since, but Ellie hadn’t forgotten.

Her cheeks started to redden and she moved quickly away from the door, glad Joe couldn’t read her mind. “Shall…shall I put Solo away?”

Joe checked his watch. “Look, it’s almost seven o’clock. Dad’ll be out for morning feeds in a few minutes. Why don’t I sort Solo out, then you can see Spirit before feeding starts?”

“Thanks!” Ellie leaped gratefully at the thoughtful offer. Joe knew that once the morning routine started she would be too busy to see Spirit until lunchtime.

“I’ll see you in the feedroom then.”

“Don’t be late though, will you?” Joe said anxiously. “You know it’ll only make Dad mad.”

But Ellie was already hurrying away, her thoughts too full of seeing Spirit to reply.

SPIRIT WAS KEPT IN
one of three large foaling stables set slightly away from the main courtyard down a quiet path. Len liked Spirit to be kept out of sight so that potential clients who came to look around the yard would not be put off by seeing him. Although Spirit was in much better condition than when Ellie had bought him at a horse sale, his ribs still showed and the scars on his legs and shoulder would be with him always.

“Spirit!” Ellie called softly as she turned down the path.

Spirit whickered, coming to his door. Slipping into the stable, Ellie could feel his happiness at seeing her. She would never forget the day they had first met. He had been standing in a metal pen, neglected and in very poor condition, but he’d lifted his head and stared straight at her and in that moment the world had changed; she’d felt like she knew him—that she had always known him. She’d never experienced anything like it in her life. The love had been instant and, once she had felt it, she had known she couldn’t go home without him. Impulsively, she’d bought him and then had faced the task of persuading her uncle to let her keep him at High Peak Stables. It had been touch and go for a while, but eventually her uncle had agreed.

Stroking Spirit’s neck, she slowed her breathing and focused.
Spirit?
she thought.

Several weeks into owning him, she had discovered that when she and Spirit were alone together, they could communicate with their minds. She didn’t know how it happened, but if she relaxed and thought about nothing but him, their thoughts would connect and then she could ask him questions and he would reply. Ellie couldn’t always understand exactly what he meant, but it was amazing to understand him even some of the time.

Ellie hadn’t told anyone about being able to talk to Spirit. She’d once tried to tell Joe, but even he hadn’t understood. She didn’t blame him. She had to admit, it did sound incredibly weird. But it was true. They really could communicate.

Spirit?
she thought again, concentrating her mind. She let the world shrink to just her and her horse, feeling the restless, burning energy that seemed to buzz through her most of the time begin to calm and settle. The air around her and Spirit seem to shift and then she felt the connection open.

Ellie.

Ellie felt a rush of delight.
Yes, I can hear you. Are you all right?

Yes.

When they had first started talking, Spirit had shown her images of the neglect and harsh treatment he’d suffered at the trekking stables he had come from, the trauma he’d felt when he had been badly beaten in his earlier days at a showing home, and his early happy life as a foal. He had listened, too, as she’d shared her past with him—the pain-filled memories of her parents, things she hadn’t wanted to talk about with anyone else. Now, although they still shared those things when they needed to, they also had a simpler daily communication as well.

Into her head came a picture of the field behind the stables.

You’d like to go out in the field?
she guessed.

A wave of positive energy flooded towards her.
Yes.

Ellie saw a new picture, this time of herself riding Spirit.
And you’d like to be ridden?

Only by you.

I’ll ride you later
, Ellie told him.
We’ll go out in the woods with Joe and Merlin later.

She became aware of a slight ache in her bones, particularly lower down her legs. She frowned, wondering if the feeling was coming from Spirit, but as soon as she started to focus on it, it disappeared.

She waited to see if she felt it again but she didn’t.

A picture of the field pushed back into her mind, this time with Spirit grazing in it in the spring sun.

Ellie smiled.
OK, I get the message. You can go out straight after breakfast.
She realized time must be passing and, stepping back, she let the connection between them fade.

As she did so, she heard doors banging on the yard and horses whinnying. She glanced at her watch. It was ten past seven. She’d lost track of time. “Oh, great,” she groaned under her breath, suddenly remembering Joe’s warning about not being late for morning feeds. “I must go,” she told Spirit. “I’ll be back with your breakfast soon.”

Shutting his door, Ellie hurried back towards the main yard. Even though she knew she was late, she was buzzing inside. She loved talking to Spirit. In the last few weeks, she’d also been wondering if she could talk to other horses in the same way. Picasso, one of the ponies she rode for her uncle, had become scared of the horsebox and so she’d tried to speak to him. She hadn’t managed to communicate with him as she did with Spirit, but she’d felt a slight connection and was sure he’d understood what she was saying even if he hadn’t replied. Afterwards he seemed to trust her more and, with Spirit’s calming presence, she’d managed to get him into the horsebox. She’d attempted to talk to him a few more times since then, but so far he still hadn’t actually answered. She kept hoping that one day he would—it would be amazing to speak properly with other horses too.

Maybe if I just keep trying
, she thought hopefully.

Reaching the feedroom, she found Uncle Len mixing the feeds while Joe piled up the buckets ready to take them to the pony barn. The yard was busy now. The grooms—Stuart, Helen and Sasha—had arrived and were busy refilling water buckets, and Luke, Joe’s eighteen-year-old cousin from the other side of the family who worked full time for Len, was on his way to the hay barn to get the haynets.

Len looked up with a frown as Ellie came into the feedroom. He was a short stocky man with gray hair cropped close to his head. His eyes were the same gray-blue as Ellie’s, but far harder, like granite. “You’re late.”

Ellie felt her temper prickle, but she controlled it. If she wanted to keep Spirit on the yard, she had to keep on the right side of her uncle. She couldn’t risk making him angry even though she hated his bullying ways. She gritted her teeth but kept her voice level. “I’m sorry. I was just with Spirit. I lost track of time.”

Her uncle’s expression left her in no doubt that he didn’t think that a good excuse. “If that horse of yours is going to start interfering with your work…” The threat was left hanging in the air.

“He’s not,” Ellie said quickly.

“We did some good work with Solo this morning, Dad,” Joe broke in, trying to deflect attention from Ellie. “He joined-up and everything.”

His distraction worked. Len snorted. “Joined-up!” He pointed the mixing stick at Joe. “You’d be far better concentrating on the show ring, not messing about with silly things like ‘joining-up.’”

Joe didn’t reply. He simply bent his head and started to pile up buckets. Len watched him and blew out a scornful breath through his teeth. “Don’t you go getting ideas about things like that. It’s the show ring that matters. Just you remember that.”

Ellie felt herself really struggling not to say something as Joe responded with a nod, keeping the peace as best he could. “Should Ellie and I go and give these out, Dad?”

Len grunted. “Yes and no hanging around. We’ve got a busy morning. First off, I want the two of you in the ring on Barney and Picasso—they need some jumping practice. Troy needs to be brushed over and tacked up, as well. I’ll ride him straight after you’ve schooled those ponies; he was messing about yesterday. Right—” he mixed the last feed up and thrust it at them—“get yourselves moving.”

Ellie and Joe headed out on to the yard.

“I don’t know how you put up with your dad sometimes!” Ellie muttered under her breath as she finally let out her anger. “He thinks he rules the world!”

“I guess he does rule this little bit of it here on the yard.” Joe caught her eye. “There’s no point getting wound up about it, Els. Just let it go.”

“How do you do that, though?” Ellie appealed.

Joe smiled drily. “Practice.”

As they walked past the end stable of the courtyard, a black horse flew at the door. They stopped and watched him toss his head angrily. It was a new show horse called Lucifer. He’d arrived the evening before. He was jet-black with just a small white star, but ever since he’d come he’d been squealing at the other horses and threatening to bite anyone who went near his stable.

“He’s not settled in yet, has he?” said Joe.

Ellie shook her head. “He’s beautiful though. Do you think he’ll do well in the ring?”

“He’d better. Or there’s going to be trouble with Jeff Hallett.”

Lucifer was owned by Jeff Hallett whose company, Equi-Glow, sponsored High Peak Stables. Equi-Glow was a horse-food manufacturer and the sponsorship was worth a lot of money because it provided the yard with free feed. It was really important that Lucifer was successful.

“So how’s it going to work?” Ellie asked curiously. “Is Mr. Hallett going to ride Lucifer himself?”

“No. He’s for Anna, Jeff’s daughter. She wants to go in the hack classes, but she’s in college now and so Dad will produce him and train him, and for the shows Anna can’t make, Dad’ll take him in.”

“He’s wild,” said Ellie, looking at the black gelding who was now weaving from side to side, radiating hostility.

Joe nodded and glanced around. “Come on. He’ll settle down soon. We’d best not hang around.”

They went to the barn and emptied the feeds into the ponies’ mangers. Then leaving Joe to wash out the buckets, Ellie headed to the hay store to fetch the ponies’ haynets. Luke was in there with his terrier dog, Pip. Tall and dark-haired, Luke had come to live and work on the yard a year and a half ago when he had left his expensive boarding school. Ellie didn’t know much about Luke’s family life, but Joe had told her that his parents were rich, he hadn’t had the happiest of childhoods and he had spent many of his school breaks at High Peak Stables with Joe and his dad.

“Morning,” he greeted Ellie.

“Hi,” she said. Luke was the complete opposite of Joe—swaggering, confident, and seemed to be only interested in shows and chatting up girls. To start with he had really irritated Ellie, but at her first show a few weeks ago he’d given her some good advice and helped her get Picasso ready. He’d seemed in his element there—completely focused on the horses and loving the atmosphere. Ellie had had a brilliant time too, and since then she’d begun to feel there was more to Luke than the brazen act he put on.

“So what were you and Joe doing out on the yard so early?” he asked curiously as she began to help him sort the haynets into piles, while Pip hunted for mice among the stacked-up bales of hay. “I saw you bringing Solo in.”

She nodded. “Joe had just been joining-up with him.”

Luke’s eyes glinted with humor. “Oh, I see—
horse-whispering
.”

Ellie felt a flash of irritation. “Don’t just dismiss something when you know nothing about it! You’re as bad as Uncle Len.”