Dreams (6 page)

“The best. I’ll get him to the Horse of the Year show,” Luke told her confidently.

“Unless
I’m
the one who qualifies him,” said Anna. “After all, I am going to take him in some of the shows myself.” She looked up at him with a challenge. “Maybe we should see which of us can get a ticket first.”

Luke grinned at her. “You’re on. I like a challenge.” He held her gaze.

Anna blushed and looked down.

Ellie rolled her eyes. Luke couldn’t seem to meet a girl without flirting.

“Look, we’ll leave you guys to chat,” Joe said to them. “There’s work to do. Come on, Ellie.” She hurried away after him.

As soon as they were out of hearing distance, she imitated Luke. “
I like a challenge!
” She shook her head. “Honestly! He’s not supposed to be flirting with her—your dad said—and what about Sasha? He’s supposed to be going out with her.”

Joe shook his head. “Since when has that ever stopped Luke?”

“I just don’t get what everyone sees in him.”

Joe glanced at her. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s got something to do with the fact that he’s tall, dark, good-looking—”

“Well, I wouldn’t go out with him,” Ellie snorted.

Joe looked at her for a moment. “No.” He smiled suddenly. “But then you’re not like anyone else, Ellie.”

She looked at him with pretend suspicion. “I hope you mean that in a good way.”

He grinned without answering.

She punched his arm. “Ow!”

As they reached the pony barn, Joe turned to her suddenly. “Ellie?”

“What?”

“I was just thinking. We haven’t done anything fun for ages. How about going to see a movie on Friday night?”

“A movie?” Ellie echoed.

“Yeah.”

“Just us?” Ellie felt excitement spark through her.

“Nah, I was thinking of asking Dad, Sasha, Helen, Stu…Of course, just us, you idiot.” His face started to close up as if he was already regretting asking. “Oh, forget it, we’re so busy. It was just a mad idea—”

“No!” Ellie interrupted quickly. “It would be cool. Let’s! I haven’t seen a movie since I came here.”

“OK.” Joe looked pleased. “It’s a date then. I mean, not a date,” he added hastily. “Just friends going out. You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, yeah…of course.” Ellie looked at the ground, hoping he couldn’t see her face. When he’d asked, she thought he’d meant a date. She couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed, but going out, even just as friends, would be fun.

“We’ll have to decide what we want to see,” Joe said.

“No horror,” Ellie said firmly, trying to match his practical tone.

“No slushy movies,” said Joe.

“No movies with talking animals,” declared Ellie.

“Oh, please,” Joe teased. “Please can’t we watch a talking animal?”

“Well…” Ellie pretended to consider it. “
No!
”

Laughing together, they went into the barn.

WHILE ELLIE GROOMED AND CLEANED
tack that afternoon, she kept thinking about Friday night. “You’re in a good mood,” Luke said to her as she practically skipped into the tackroom.

“Yep!” she said, putting her grooming kit away.

“How come?”

“I just am.” She couldn’t stop herself; she wanted to share it with someone. “Joe and I are going to the movies on Friday.”

“Oh, right.” Luke raised an eyebrow. “And that’s why you’re so happy?” He shook his head. “You seriously need to get out more.”

Ellie just grinned; she wasn’t going to let anything dent her excitement.

Just then, Len called Luke’s name from the yard. Luke went to the door.

“Give me a hand, will you? I’m going to turn Lucifer out to see if it calms him down.”

“Sure,” Luke said.

Ellie followed them curiously. Whenever a new horse went out for the first time, Len marked out a separate area in the field with electric tape, so the horse could see and sniff the other horses over the tape but have a few days getting to know them before being turned out with them.

Lucifer pranced and jogged on the way to the field, Luke on one side and Len on the other. Hearing him coming, the horses in the field put their heads up and stared inquiringly. Len led Lucifer around the taped off section of field, showing him the tape, the wooden fence and trees along one side, the water trough and the cattle grid that separated his field from the fields behind, left over from when the stables had been a farm in the past. After Len had walked the horse around, he took Lucifer’s leadrope off and let him go free.

Merlin came over to Lucifer’s paddock first, trotting up to the tape that separated them. Lucifer acted as if he’d been shot. He squealed and thundered at the tape at a gallop. Merlin skidded to a surprised halt.

Ellie gasped—for a moment she thought Lucifer was going to break through the tape or jump it, but he didn’t. He simply turned around and kicked out viciously with both hind legs. Merlin backed off with an alarmed snort. The black horse swung around, his ears flat against his head. A few of the other horses, including Spirit, came over and though he didn’t seem quite as fierce with them he chased them off too. Every bit of his body language screamed
keep away
as he trotted up and down the fence.

“He thinks he’s the boss,” said Len, watching through narrowed eyes. “We won’t ever be putting him and Hereward out together, that’s for sure.”

“It’d be like World War Three,” commented Luke.

Ellie nodded. Hereward was the undisputed boss of the geldings.

Len turned to Ellie. “Can you stay here and watch him for a bit, check he’s OK? I’ve got a client coming for a lesson. Any problems with him, find Stuart or Luke.”

“Sure,” Ellie said. She had no objections to sitting in the sun and watching the horses for a while. It would give her a chance to watch Spirit too and see if he was still stiff.

Len and Luke left. For a long while, the black gelding paced up and down as if daring the other horses to come any closer. It wasn’t until they were all a good distance away that he dropped his head and started to graze, taking quick short nervous bites of the grass.

Ellie frowned. She knew her uncle had said Lucifer was a dominant horse, but, watching him now, she wasn’t so sure. Underneath the layers of aggression she had the feeling that he was scared, yet a dominant horse surely wouldn’t be fearful. Truly dominant horses like Hereward and Starlight were always brave and confident characters. That wasn’t how Lucifer seemed to her at all. She could almost feel the anxiety radiating off him. His aggression seemed designed to keep people—and other horses—away.

What’s going on in his head?

Maybe she could find out. She’d planned on talking to a different horse—well, why not Lucifer?

Perhaps I can help him
. Looking at the black horse, she made up her mind. As soon as she had the chance she would speak to him.

Ellie’s opportunity came after supper. Joe went off to study for his exams, Luke was watching TV and Len went out to meet a client. Ellie slipped out of the kitchen.

All the horses were in their stables and the night sky lit up with stars. A cat trotted through the shadows and there was a snort from one of the stables. Lucifer was staring out over his door, moving restlessly from side to side.

“Hey, boy,” Ellie murmured, going closer. Lucifer shook his head at her warningly. Ellie tried to reach out to him just as she had with Troy.
It’s OK
, she told him, sending him waves of love.
I’m not going to hurt you. You can talk to me.
She waited confidently, expecting to feel the shift in the atmosphere, but nothing happened.

Speak to me
, she urged him.
I’m here. I’ll listen.

He pinned his ears back and Ellie frowned. Ignoring his hostility, she went closer.
Come on. You can talk to me, fella.

Lucifer retreated into his stable. She could feel he wanted to be left alone but she was determined to talk to him.

Lucifer, it’s OK.
But Lucifer just stayed at the back of his stall, his hindquarters facing her. It was clear he didn’t want to talk. Eventually, frustrated, she gave up and went to find Spirit.

He whickered softly to her. Letting herself into his stable, she told him what she’d been doing.

Ellie felt encouragement flowing from him.
Just listen. Be patient. Wait
, he said.

I did wait and I did listen, but he didn’t speak.

Spirit sent a picture of her and Lucifer together. In the image, she was standing a little way off and the black gelding looked calm and peaceful. She was talking to him.
You can do it
, Spirit told her.

But how?

The picture grew brighter but nothing happened in it. Ellie felt sure she wasn’t understanding the message. She sighed, wanting a solution that was easy to understand. Putting her arms around his neck, she hugged him and he nuzzled her back.

It’s OK, don’t worry
, she told him
. I’ll figure it out. So how are you feeling now, Spirit? How are your legs?

She felt the ache again in her own calves and ankles.

They still hurt?

Yes.

A clump of nettles sprang into her mind again. Ellie pushed the image of the plant away. She really had no idea why he kept showing her nettles, but she wanted to concentrate on the ache.
Is it here?
she said, touching his fetlocks.

Yes.

She stroked his legs, wishing she could help. He nuzzled her.
You were happy earlier today
, he said.

She straightened up and smiled.
Yes. It’s Joe. We’re going out together on Friday night. It’ll be fun.
She found herself wondering how Joe was feeling about it.

She put her arms around Spirit’s neck and kissed him. It was all so much easier with him.

Luke was in the kitchen making coffee when she finally went in. Pip was snuffling around the floor. “Where have you been?” he asked curiously.

She sat down to take her boots off. “I just went to see Spirit.”

“How is he? Still stiff?”

Ellie blinked, surprised Luke had remembered about Spirit’s stiffness. “Yes.”

“I know what Joe said, but you should get the vet out if you’re worried,” Luke told her. “You’ve got to trust your instincts with horses. Do you feel you should call the vet?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted.

“Well, if you start thinking you should, then do it,” said Luke. “I had a pony called Maggie when I was ten. I knew she wasn’t OK one night, I just knew it, but Dad and our groom said she was fine. We all left the stables. Turned out I was the one who was right. Maggie had colic and she got bad quickly after we’d all left. The groom found her when he did the late-night check. She’d been rolling and had twisted her gut.”

Ellie caught her breath.

Luke nodded as he saw her reaction. “Yeah. They tried to operate but she had to be put down.” His jaw tightened. “Anyway, it’s not important. But my advice is if you’re worried about Spirit, get him checked out. Don’t just ignore it.”

Ellie nodded. “I will. Thanks.” She didn’t quite know what to say. “That’s an awful thing to have happened, Luke.”

He shrugged. “It was a long time ago.”

Ellie had never heard him talk about his past before. She wanted to ask him more, but he’d picked up his coffee and was already heading through to the lounge.

Ellie didn’t forget what he’d said, though, and when her uncle arrived home she asked if she could call the vet the next day. Len listened and then nodded. “The vet’s coming tomorrow afternoon to give Lucifer a check over. He can have a look at that gray of yours at the same time. You’re right to want to call him.” Ellie was surprised that Len was so keen to get the vet until he added, “After all, it could be a virus and in that case we don’t want him near the other horses. We need to find out for sure.”

Ellie sighed. She should have known better than to think her uncle cared about Spirit. It was all to do with his precious show horses! Still, she felt happier knowing that at least the vet would be checking Spirit over.

He’ll be OK
, she told herself as she went to bed later.
He said he would be.
But with Luke’s story in her mind, she found it hard to sleep that night.

The next morning, Ellie got up even earlier than Joe and went to check Spirit before they started working with Solo.

He sent her a picture of a clump of nettles again. She sighed. “I’m sorry, Spirit. I just don’t know what you mean, but hopefully if there’s anything wrong the vet will find out.”

She gave him a hug, then went to join Joe and Solo. She felt light and happy as she hurried across the courtyard, really looking forward to seeing how Solo was that day. Joe was just leading the pony out of the barn. Ellie joined them. “Hi! So, will you ride him today?” she asked. “Properly sit up and everything?”

Joe nodded. “Provided he’s as good as yesterday.”

Solo was. It only took him a few minutes to join-up with Joe, then he stood calmly as Joe put on his saddle and bridle and experimented with leaning his weight over the pony’s back. Finally, Joe got on and slowly sat up. Solo’s eyes looked slightly nervous as he caught sight of Joe sitting on his back, but Joe stroked him and patted him and soon the pony was fine. Ellie led him around, then Joe rode him on his own. Solo didn’t buck once.

“He’s being great!” Ellie said as Joe finally halted beside her.

Joe’s eyes glowed. “I know. I can’t remember the number of times I’ve been bucked off horses and ponies when Dad’s been backing them. This is the way it should be done!” He dismounted and patted Solo. “Look at him, there’s no fear in his eyes. No stress. We’ll have to do it like this all the time from now on. Help as many horses as we can!”

“Definitely!” she said, caught in his enthusiasm. “You can join-up with them and I’ll help you. We’ll do it together!”

He grinned and pulled her into a hug. As she felt the rough material of his sweatshirt against her face and his arms around her, everything she had been thinking about in the last few days suddenly bubbled up and she couldn’t stop the words from coming out.

“Joe? Do you ever think about what happened in the horsebox?” She pulled back slightly to see his face. “When we almost…almost…”