Dream On (Dare to Dream Book 2), page 8
“Of course we don’t,” Marley said quickly, crouching down next to the dog, who lay nervously still as Tucker and Dash sniffed him over inquisitively. “He can stay here as long as he wants.” She reached out and stroked his head. He grumbled a little, deep in his throat, and Dash quickly growled back at him, warning him against snarling at her mistress.
“Hush up Dash, we don’t need an intervention,” Marley told the terrier. “I’m allowed to pat the new boy.” She stroked his ears gently, and his grumbling died away. “There’s a good pup. You’re safe now.” The dog looked at her with big dark eyes, and slowly wagged his tail. The phone rang, and Kris left the room to answer it as Van shook her head in disgust.
“He’s skin and bone. I know Jeff’s a bit rough around the edges, but I never figured him for an animal abuser.”
“He’s not. It’s not his dog,” Mike explained. “It belonged to an old hermit who lived up the valley. The old guy kicked the bucket a few weeks back, and the dog took off. It’s been hanging around but nobody could get near it. Jeff said it nearly took his arm off, and he didn’t want to feed it because that’d encourage it to stay. He hadn’t seen it in a while so figured it had run off again, but it holed up in his shed and then got itself shut in. He didn’t know it was there, but was more than happy for us to take it away.”
“Does he have a name?” Marley asked.
“Not yet. Any ideas?”
“Mike wants to call him Hermit,” Jake muttered. It was the first time he’d spoken since he’d come into the house, and Marley startled at the sound of his voice as he crouched next to her.
“That’s a terrible name,” she said immediately.
“What’s wrong with it?” Mike asked defensively.
“It will just dredge up his sad past every time you say his name. It’s depressing.”
“He’s a dog,” Mike replied. “You’re not going to give him a complex. Besides, he responds to it. Right Hermit?” The dog looked up at him and thumped his tail vaguely. “See? Too late to change it now.”
Marley pulled a face. “Not if we change it to Kermit,” she said. “That’s much cuter. What do you think, Kermy?” The dog wagged his tail again, and opened his mouth in a smile. “He likes it!”
Mike rolled his eyes. “Kermit the dog. Kill me now.”
Marley looked at Jake. “He’s your dog,” she said. “What do you think?”
Jake looked surprised, then shrugged. “Kermit’s fine.”
“Don’t sound too enthusastic,” Marley told him sarcastically. “He has to be called something, so unless you have a better suggestion...”
“It’s fine. It’s a good name,” Jake said, and was rewarded by a smile from Marley.
“I think so too,” she agreed as Kris came back into the room.
“I have news,” she announced. “That was Gordon Winchester, Stacey’s dad. He’s arranged for Maggie to be picked up on Friday afternoon, so Mar you’ll need to catch her for them when they arrive.”
Marley rocked back onto her heels and looked up at her sister. “Okay. How’s Stacey?”
“Still in hospital, but recovering well, he said. She won’t be able to ride for a few months though. He’s keen to be rid of the pony but Stacey’s insisting that they give her a second chance and he doesn’t want to upset her, so they’re sending her away to be professionally schooled until Stacey can get back on board.”
There was an edge to Kris’s voice as she spoke that didn’t escape Marley.
“Schooled by who? Where’s she going?”
Kris avoided her sister’s eyes. “To the Reagans, in Cambridge.”
Marley stood up. “What? No!”
“Yes. She’s their pony, so it’s their decision.”
“That’s not good enough, Kris! We can’t let her go to them, you know we can’t. Not the way they train horses. They’ll try to break her spirit, and she’ll fight them to the bitter end.” Marley’s voice shook. “Remember Blue Adrenalin? Remember what they did to him? You’ve always said it was a travesty, a talented horse destroyed by arrogance and ambition and a completely unyielding approach to horsemanship. They’ll do it again, if we let Maggie go to them. You know they will.”
Kris sighed. “She has to go somewhere, and she’s not staying here.”
“Why not?”
“Because they want someone to ride her, and you’re not doing it,” Kris said firmly as Marley opened her mouth to object. “Mar, I’m serious. That pony is dangerous, and you could get hurt.”
Marley instinctively glanced at Jake, wondering if he was going to rat her out, but to her relief he was staring down at Kermit, saying nothing.
“I’m not going to catch her for them.”
“Yes you are.”
“Make me.”
Kris shot a pleading look at Van, who was listening attentively. “Are you going to back me up here?”
“Nope. I’m with Marley on this one, sending a horse to the Reagans is animal abuse. Tell them that I’ll ride it, if they want someone on board.”
Kris threw up her hands in exasperation as Marley snorted disparagingly.
“Good luck with that. Maggie hates you.”
Van shrugged. “You hate me, and I can still make you do as you’re told.”
“You wish!”
“Stop it, both of you!” Kris snapped. “Nobody here is riding that pony, end of conversation.”
“But-”
“I said no, Marley,” Kris repeated firmly. “I’m done talking about this. Now are you going to go and get your ponies exercised or not?”
When Seamus knocked on the door later that evening, Kermit was curled up at Marley’s feet as she slogged her way through a history essay. Dash and Tucker leapt up and ran barking down the hall to greet the newcomer, while Kermit whimpered, cowering against the base of Marley’s chair.
“It’s okay Kermy,” Marley told him reassuringly, stroking him with the sole of her bare foot. “They’re just saying hi.”
The dog remained tense, and he growled uneasily at Seamus when he came into the kitchen a moment later. He looked around the room, empty except for Marley and the skinny dog growling at her feet.
“Evening.”
“Hi!” Marley greeted him with a wide smile. “How’s it going?”
“Not bad. Yourself?”
“Starving, but otherwise fine.”
“You or the dog?” Seamus asked, as his eyes drawn to Kermit, who still had his lip curled up in the hint of a snarl.
“Both of us, but he’s been fed tonight, unlike me,” Marley explained as Kris came into the room.
“Quit moaning, would you? Anyone would think you hadn’t eaten properly in years. Don’t start,” she added in warning as Marley opened her mouth to respond. “Go get Van off the phone, so we can eat.”
Marley didn’t argue, slamming her textbook shut and hurrying out of the room. Kermit lifted his head and whined plaintively at the sight of her departing back.
“She’s be back in a minute,” Kris told the dog as she picked up an oven mitt, then turned to Seamus. “Hi.”
“Hello, nice to see you again. Can I help with anything?”
“Oh no, I’m fine,” Kris insisted as she pulled the reheated casserole out of the oven. “I hope this isn’t too dried up,” she muttered, taking the lid off and poking it cautiously with a wooden spoon.
“Sure it’ll be grand,” Seamus said confidently. “My mam’s a terrible cook and I managed to eat whatever she put in front of me.”
Kris raised her eyebrows. “So you’re saying that you’ve got low standards?”
“Very. If it’s edible at all, it’s ten times better than anything I’ve ever made,” he assured her with a grin, and she couldn’t help smiling back.
“Well if it’s not, the dogs will clean it up and we’ll just eat icecream for dinner.”
“Sounds fair,” Seamus said cheerfully. “I don’t think the bag of bones on the floor here would mind.”
“He’s new,” Kris said quickly. “Only arrived this afternoon, already in that condition.”
“I wasn’t for a minute suggesting you’d got him in that way on your own,” Seamus reassured her. “I can tell you take good care of your animals.”
The others came into the room then, and Kermit thumped his tail enthusiastically at the sight of Marley, who scooped up her textbooks and dumped them in a haphazard pile on the sideboard, while Van quickly engaged Seamus in a conversation about Effie’s hooves. He listened carefully, his dark head tilted slightly to the side and his calloused hands resting on the table as Kris started serving the long-awaited meal.
“That went well,” Van said, closing the front door as Seamus drove away, his headlights bobbing across the long grass. “We all got along famously.”
“Yeah.”
Van rolled her eyes. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“Kris. He’s willing to pay rent. He’s a nice guy. He’s going to shoe our horses, and look after our animals while we’re at shows, and he even said your cooking was delicious when we all know it was a bit crap tonight. I mean, if we’re being honest.”
“You still ate it,” Kris pointed out as she walked back to the kitchen.
“I was starving. But anyway, that’s not the point,” Van argued, following her through the door. “He even got Marley to do the dishes. He’s a miracle worker. What more do you want?”
“Nothing.”
Van frowned. “You do like him, don’t you?”
Kris was startled by the question. “What? Yeah, of course. He seems nice, like you said. And he’s moving in on Saturday, so we’re all sorted.”
“Exactly. Good. I’m going to bed.”
“Okay. Night.”
Kris stood alone in the tidy kitchen, unsure what to do next and wondering why she felt so confused. There was no reason for her to be opposed to Seamus moving in. He was everything they’d been looking for in a lodger, and more. He’d slotted easily into their family and had promised that he would barely alter their routine, assuring her that she didn’t need to hold up dinner for him in the future, much to Marley’s relief. He was good with the animals and would look after them while they were away competing, and was even going to teach Van to trim and shoe, which was a huge plus in and of itself. Kris couldn’t think of a bad word to say about him, and that, somehow, was what bothered her.
* * *
Maggie’s dainty hooves stepped carefully along the narrow track, following Marley’s footsteps.
“Just a bit further,” Marley told the pony. She led her on around the corner, checked over her shoulder that nobody was around, and reached into the bushes for the spare helmet she’d stashed there earlier while she was out riding Seattle. Maggie snorted softly and tensed up as Marley pulled the helmet out of the long grass and pushed it onto her head.
“Don’t act all worried when you’re the one who started it,” Marley warned the pony. “I was dizzy for days after the last time I tried this, and it made me even more useless at school than usual. But I’m not letting you go to the Reagans to be tortured into submission. Not on my watch. If someone’s got to ride you, it might as well be me, so you’d better be good and not break me. And don’t tell Kris, okay? She’d have kittens if she knew what I was doing right now.”
Marley fastened the chin strap and led the pony over to a tree stump that would make a suitable mounting block. Maggie followed willingly until Marley stepped up onto the stump, then she froze and backed up several steps, forcing Marley to jump to the ground.
“Come on now silly, you’re not going to die,” Marley assured the pony, trying to keep her voice calm even as her heart pounded guiltily. She started to lead Maggie back to the stump, but the mare planted her feet and refused to budge.
“I’m trying to help you,” Marley told her softly, stroking her nose gently. “But you have to let me.”
Eventually the pony allowed Marley to lead her over to the tree stump and step up on it without flinching away. Marley praised her effusively, rubbing her all over with her hand and telling Maggie how wonderful and brave she was. She felt the mare begin to relax, then as she was about to swing a leg over her back, a black and white shape shot out of the bushes behind her and came running towards them, barking. Maggie leapt almost a foot in the air and spun around, catching Marley off balance and pulling her face first into the dirt. She kept a tight hold on the pony’s halter rope, despite being dragged backwards for a couple of metres, before she finally managed to regain her feet.
Marley settled the pony as much as she could before turning on her heel to berate Kermit for sneaking up on them.
“Muppet dog!” she told him, then realised that Kermit hadn’t come up here alone. Jake was running up the track towards her, looking concerned.
“Are you okay?”
Marley nodded, glancing down at her scraped knees with a shrug. “I’m fine. Was that a planned ambush, or did we just liven up your evening stroll?”
Jake shrugged. “I saw you leading Maggie up here, so I thought I’d come check that you weren’t trying to ride her again.”
“What’s it to you if I am?”
Jake shrugged, and Marley turned her back to him and coaxed Maggie towards the stump again. Jake stood and watched as she climbed back onto it, and Maggie spun away from her once more, her eyes rolling. Marley was forced to jump back to the ground and stood next to her, biting her lip for a moment before turning to face Jake.
“Since you’re here, can you give me a leg up?”
Jake shook his head and took a step backwards, hands raised. “Don’t drag me into this.”
“Come on, it’s not that hard. Just stand behind me and give me a boost.” Marley took her halter reins in one hand, and used the other to rub Maggie’s sleek back reassuringly. She lifted her left leg and looked at Jake over her shoulder. “Come on. Please?”
Jake was still frowning, but he walked up to Marley. “You sure?”
“Positive. Grab my leg and on the count of three, shove upwards. Ready? One, two, three.”
Jake lifted as Marley sprang up, and before Maggie had time to protest, Marley was on her back. The mare pinned her ears back, her head held high and body tense, but Marley spoke softly to her and stroked her with a gentle hand.
“See?” she told the pony. “It’s not so bad. We’re just going for a quiet walk. No big deal.” She looked down at Jake, who was watching Kermit wander ahead up the track. “Thanks for your help.”
He nodded. “I hope I don’t regret it.”
“You won’t,” Marley assured him. She nudged Maggie’s sides gently, but the pony just threw her head up and stayed rooted to the spot. She clicked her tongue encouragingly, urging her forwards, but the pony still wouldn’t move. Tears of frustration came unbidden to Marley’s eyes.
“Maggie, come on,” she begged. “You have to do this!”
“Why?”
Marley turned to Jake, who was looking at the unhappy pony with a frown.
“Because if she lets me ride her, I’ll be able to convince Kris to let her stay. Then she won’t have to go to those horrible people who are going to try and bully her into submission by tying her head into her chest and lunging her until she can hardly stand up.”
“People would do that?”
“Yep. That’s just the start of what they’d do, trust me.”
“But why?”
“Because they think that horses shouldn’t have their own opinions. They just want a robot that does what it’s told and never thinks twice. But theirs are the horses that will flip over on you if you put them into a fence wrong, because they won’t second guess themselves and they’ll make a mistake. I’ve seen it happen.”
Jake looked concerned. “Well then I see your point. But do you really think you can change Kris’s mind about letting you ride her?”
“I don’t know,” Marley admitted. “But I can’t just sit around wringing my hands and hoping. I have to do something.”
“Fair enough.” He looked up the track, where Kermit was roaming around. “Well, good luck. I’d better get back.” He whistled to the dog, who loped eagerly back to him. They started down the track, and Maggie spun on her haunches, straining to follow them instead of heading up the trail alone. Marley thought fast.
“Hey Jake, wanna do me a favour?”
He stopped and turned around, looking sceptical. “Another one?”
Marley grinned. “Yeah, it’s a two-for-one deal today. I want to take Maggie up the hill, but she won’t go. See if she’ll follow you?”
Jake turned and walked back to her. “This way?”
Marley nodded and he started striding up the hill, Kermit following devotedly along at his heels. “He’s not that strong yet,” Jake muttered, looking down at the dog as he panted heavily.
“It’s not far,” Marley assured him. “Just up around this corner, pretty much.”
Maggie walked nervously at first, tossing her head and sidling uneasily, but after a few minutes, she settled down and began to relax a little. Marley rubbed her neck encouragingly as they rounded the last bend and stood looking out over their neighbouring farms.
The sun was sitting low in the sky, bathing the paddocks below them in a warm orange glow, and the sky above was streaked with pink. Sheep grazed close by, their fluffy white bodies speckling the rolling hills, and far ahead, the flat edge of the ocean disappeared into the distance.
Girl, pony, boy and dog stood together on top of the hill for a long moment, staring out at the view. Marley stroked Maggie’s shoulder gently as the pony dropped her head to crop the grass at her feet. Kermit sank onto his stomach, breathing hard, and Jake reached down and gave him a gentle rub behind his ears.
“I don’t know how anyone could want to live anywhere else,” Marley said. “I’m sure there can’t be anywhere else in the world as beautiful as all this.”
