Dream On (Dare to Dream Book 2), page 9
A sheep scuttled across the hillside just below them, and Maggie lifted her head to watch it go. Jake glanced at the pony, silhouetted against the sunset, her ears pricked and her short mane ruffling in the wispy breeze. He reached over to pat her warm neck, and Marley opened her mouth to remind him about Maggie’s quick teeth, but the pony stood quietly, flicking an ear back and forth. Marley watched as Jake ran his hand down the pony’s neck, and the mare shifted her weight and rested a hindleg, relaxing still further under his touch.
“Huh, that’s funny,” Marley mused. “She won’t even let my sisters touch her, and she almost bit Seamus’s arm off the other day just for standing next to her. But she likes you.”
Jake shrugged, dropping his hand to his side self-consciously, and looked out across the hills. The sun was disappearing fast behind them, and he turned away. “We should get back.”
Marley nodded, turning Maggie around and walking her steadily back down to the farm, with Jake and Kermit following behind.
CHAPTER 5
For the rest of the week, Marley took Maggie for short rides around the farm before dinner. Every day they took a different route, sometimes going down to the river, other times going up over the hills. Maggie gradually relaxed and even began to feel like she was enjoying herself. By the end of the week, Marley had tried a gentle trot, and although the pony had been tense and quick, she hadn’t once bucked or tried to run away with her, which Marley counted as a victory.
But on Friday afternoon when Stacey’s father showed up, Marley was more convinced than ever that Maggie shouldn’t be allowed to leave the property. She arrived home to find him already there, sitting in the kitchen with Kris politely sipping at a mug of coffee. He stood up when Marley walked into the room, brushing his hands off on his trousers.
“Here she is at last!” he said loudly. “I was just telling your sister that if I’d known your bus would take that long to get here I’d have picked you up from school myself.”
His smile didn’t reach his eyes, and Marley stepped around the other side of the table, going straight to the fridge.
“Mar, go and catch Maggie for him please.” Kris spoke in a firm, clear tone, but Marley shook her head.
“No.”
“Excuse me?” Gordon stared at her, his mouth half open.
Marley ignored him, opening the fridge and leaning on the door, staring at the meagre assortment of food on the shelves.
“There’s nothing to eat.”
“Don’t change the subject,” Kris snapped. “I asked you to go and catch Maggie.”
“And I said no,” Marley replied firmly, staring her sister down.
“Do you think this is a joke?” Gordon said, advancing on her angrily. “That pony belongs to me, and you can’t stop me from taking her away.”
“Go catch her yourself then,” Marley told him, slamming the fridge door closed and marching out of the room, ignoring the sound of Kris yelling at her to come back and apologise. She went out to the barn, where Van was picking out Covergirl’s hooves.
“Ready to hand over the problem child?” Van asked conversationally as she let the mare’s leg down. She caught a glimpse of Marley’s dark expression and raised an eyebrow at Covergirl. “Someone’s walking around under her own personal thundercloud today.”
The mare snorted and Van looked down the track to the house to see Kris coming towards her. Gordon was puffing along behind her, his face red as he gesticulated angrily. Van glanced towards Marley, but her sister had disappeared into the tack room, so she shrugged and moved on to Covergirl’s hind feet. When Kris reached her, Van just motioned with her head.
“She’s in there.”
As she spoke, Marley came out with a halter in one hand and a helmet in the other. “I’ll catch her for you on one condition.”
Gordon looked relieved. “Name it.”
“You let me ride her.” Marley ignored Kris’s immediate refusal, looking defiantly at Stacey’s father and waiting for his response.
He was frowning. “What makes you think you could manage her?” he asked sceptically.
“Because I’ve been riding her all week and she’s been fine.”
Van choked out a startled laugh as Kris’s jaw dropped. “You’ve been what?”
Marley shot her an apologetic look. “Sorry I didn’t tell you, but you wouldn’t have let me.”
“Too right I wouldn’t! What were you thinking?”
“I wanted to know what she was like. And she’s not dangerous, not really. I’ve ridden her all over the farm, and she’s been really good.” She didn’t mention what had happened the first time. “Jake comes with me,” she added to Kris, but her sister didn’t seem reassured by that.
“Great, so he’s in on it too,” she grumbled. “Marley, we talked about this…”
Gordon interrupted by clearing his throat impatiently. “Enough bickering. If you think you can ride her, go ahead and get on with it.”
Kris started to object again, but Marley was already on her way to Maggie’s paddock. Gordon strode after her, and Kris hurried in pursuit, her stomach churning nervously and her desire to throttle Marley increasing every second.
Marley opened the gate and called to Maggie, who raised her pretty head and calmly watched Marley approach, a tuft of grass hanging casually from one side of her mouth.
“Hello beautiful.” She slipped the rope over the pony’s neck and haltered her, then ran her hand down Maggie’s glossy neck. “You have to promise to be good, okay?” She glanced over her shoulder and saw Kris and Gordon standing at the gate. Swallowing hard, she pushed her helmet onto her head and clipped up the chinstrap. “And whatever you do, don’t let me fall off.”
Kris leaned on the gate and gnawed at her fingernails as her sister vaulted onto the mare’s back, torn between concern for Marley’s safety and the thrill that it gave her to watch the volatile pony being ridden by a sympathetic rider. As Marley urged Maggie into a floating trot, Kris had an overwhelming desire to trade places with her sister and be the one on the pony’s back. She imagined the mare’s powerful stride opening up beneath her, her flexed neck in front of her and her hands on the reins, giving and taking and being endlessly soft and sensitive, gently turning the pony from a stiff, unyielding mess into a supple, willing mount. Nothing in Kris’s life had ever given her such a buzz as feeling the change in a horse that had learned to move correctly, and she missed it with a pang that was sharper than any of the pain in her back. But Marley had a similar ability to bring out the best in horses, and Kris watched the pony’s initially rushing trot settle into a steady rhythm under her sister’s calm guidance.
Marley circled the pony, changed direction, steadied her stride, spoke soft words of reassurance. Maggie’s ears flicked back towards her as she spoke, her proud neck was arched and she was starting to relax underneath her. Marley decided to test her luck, and asked for a canter.
It was a mistake. The increase in pressure spooked the flighty mare, and she shot forward, yanking the rope through Marley’s hands. Putting her head between her knees, she threw several wild bucks as she raced across the paddock. Marley’s heart thumped in her chest as she realised that Maggie was heading straight for the fence in the corner, which wasn’t high but had a steep drop on the other side, and would be extremely dangerous to try and jump. She pulled hard on the halter rope, desperately trying to get Maggie’s head up, to slow her or at least turn her, but Maggie was completely switched off, and nothing Marley did made a difference. For a second, Marley wondered if it would be safer to just throw herself off and hope she didn’t land too hard, but then Kermit ran into the paddock. He planted himself between the fence and the bolting pony, barking loudly, and Maggie threw her head up and spun hard to the right. Marley lost her balance and slipped to the left. She gripped as tightly as she could with her legs, but she was waiting for Maggie to throw her. It would be effortless for the mare to dislodge her - one swift step to the right and Marley would be on the ground. She prepared herself for the inevitable, but to her astonishment, Maggie slowed down and moved the other way beneath her, and Marley regained her balance.
“Woah,” Marley breathed, as she eased the pony back to a walk. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”
She turned to see Kris hurrying towards her, white as a ghost and shaking. She grasped Maggie’s lead rope, holding it like a lifeline, and stared up into her sister’s face. “Get off. Now.”
Marley hesitated, even though her own knees were trembling. “It wasn’t her fault. I pushed her too far.”
“Marley, I swear to God I’ll disown you if you don’t get off that pony right now.”
Marley slid to the ground, her legs shaky. “She’s just scared.”
“She’s scared?” Kris asked, her voice shaking. “How do you think I feel?”
Marley looked over her shoulder at Stacey’s father, who was talking on his cellphone and glaring at the pony. “We can’t let him send her to the Reagans. We just can’t.”
Gordon came striding towards them, returning his phone to his pocket as he walked. Maggie tensed up, her nostrils flaring warily as he reached them, and held his hand out for the leadrope.
“I’ve seen enough. Hand her over.”
Marley reacted quickly, unknotting the rope halter and pulling it off Maggie’s head, freeing her. Maggie spun away immediately, putting as much distance between herself and Gordon as possible.
He looked at her furiously. “I’ve had enough of this from you!” he yelled. “Give me my pony back, right now!”
Marley threw the rope halter to him. “Catch her yourself.”
“We had a deal!”
“You can’t send her to the Reagans.”
“I have no choice,” he replied. “Stacey won’t let me get rid of her, so I need someone to make her safe for my daughter to ride.”
“Then let her stay here.” Marley’s head swivelled fast to stare at Kris. Her sister’s voice was steady, and she met Gordon’s gaze calmly as she spoke. “Marley will ride her.”
Marley’s heart was pounding as she stared at her sister in amazement.
Gordon scratched his chin, considering this for a moment. “Doesn’t look like I have much of a choice,” he said irritably. “Are you sure?”
Marley nodded emphatically, but his eyes were on Kris. She nodded slowly. “For a fee, of course. The same as the Reagans were charging you.”
He scoffed. “She’s a child! They’re professionals, and have the facilities to match.” He glanced around the farm disparagingly, with no appreciation for how much time and effort the girls had poured into it over the years. “She can have half of what they would get,” he offered, but Kris shook her head.
“Half now, half when you pick her up.”
“If Stacey can get on her and ride her safely,” he countered, and Kris nodded.
“Fine.” She held out her hand, and Gordon shook it.
“Done.”
“Tell Stacey that she’s welcome to come and see her any time,” Marley added.
Gordon nodded. “I’ll tell her.” He looked over at Maggie, grazing in the furthest corner of the paddock, and sighed. “Well, good luck.”
“How do you do it?”
Marley shrugged, kicking her heels against the grain bin as Van made the evening feeds. “Persistence, charm and luck. Mostly charm.”
“That must be where I’m going wrong,” Van replied drily.
“Seems likely,” Marley agreed as Mousetrap jumped onto her lap and butted her chin with his wet nose. “Hi Mouser, you flea-ridden bag of bones,” she greeted him affectionately. “Caught any rats lately?”
“He wouldn’t know what to do with one if he saw it, let alone be able to catch it,” Van said as she portioned out the oats into feed buckets.
“Well you’re the one that brought him home instead of buying an actual mousetrap like you were supposed to,” Marley reminded her.
“I have been known to make mistakes, on occasion,” Van replied, and Marley snorted.
“Say that again. I want to record it for posterity,” Marley told her.
“Missed your chance,” Van replied, tossing a scoop of oats into a nearby bucket. “So tell me Mar, how are you going to manage competing five ponies this season?”
“I’ll work one before school, and talk you or Kris into lunging one during the day,” Marley replied. “Then exercise the other three after school. Good thing I’ve stopped getting so many detentions.”
“I meant how do you plan to get them all to the shows? Truck only takes six.”
Marley frowned. “I didn’t think of that. Well, you’ve only got two. And Maggie won’t be competing for a while.”
“And when she is? You’ll have to leave Breeze at home.”
“Or you can leave Ajax.”
“Doubt it.”
“Breeze can’t stay behind, she’s the only one who wins prize money these days,” Marley replied swiftly as Mousetrap dug his claws into her thighs. “Ow, Mouser! Cut that out.” She removed him from her lap, then glanced at Van’s tight expression and decided to change the subject. “Hey, Seamus moves in tomorrow, right?”
“He does.”
“Good. Maggie needs her shoes done.”
Van snorted. “Lucky him. At least let him unpack before you give that feral creature another go at tearing his arm off. He’ll make a pretty useless farrier with only one arm.”
“You’re so funny,” Marley said sarcastically, “that I forgot to laugh.”
She collected up feeds and walked out, leaving Van with the Mousetrap, who gazed at her owlishly.
“I thought it was a valid point,” she told the cat, who responded by sticking his hind leg in the air and licking himself noisily. “And she says I have no charm,” Van muttered, picking up the rest of the feeds and leaving him to it.
Marley brought Maggie into the barn early the following evening and groomed her thoroughly before fetching the saddle and bridle that Gordon had given them for her. Maggie was immediately uneasy at the sight of the tack, sidling away when the saddle was lifted onto her back, and nipping sulkily as the girth was buckled. Marley ran a hand down her neck, taking her time and trying to reassure her.
“It’s not so bad,” she said. “You’ve had one of these on before. And look, I changed your bit over.”
She held up the bridle to show the mare that she’d swapped out her heavy Pelham for a double jointed snaffle, but as soon as she raised it, Maggie threw her head up and swiftly backed herself into the corner, rolling her eyes threateningly.
“Hey now. It’s a bridle, not a grizzly bear.”
Marley spoke softly as she approached the pony, but Maggie only got tenser as she closed the space between them. The whites of the mare’s eyes were showing, and she had her jaw clenched tightly shut. This wasn’t going to be easy. Marley stopped, and lowered the bridle to her side, wondering how Stacey had managed to bridle her in the past. Stacey was a fairly capable rider, but she had never displayed any acute horse sense, and the possibility of her resorting to brute force wasn’t completely out of the realm of possibility. Marley refused to entertain the idea of forcing the bridle onto the pony’s head. It might take longer, but she was sure that she could do it gently. She moved closer, eventually reaching the pony’s shoulder and gently stroking her. Maggie flinched away from her touch at first, but started to relax slightly after a few moments of gentle, calm patting.
“It’s going to be okay. Nothing bad is going to happen to you, I promise.” She slowly raised the hand that was holding the snaffle bridle. “Van’s waiting for us, you know. We’re going out over the farm. And she’s bringing Ajax, so you have to promise to be nice and not try to kill him, okay?”
Marley held the bridle against Maggie’s neck, letting her feel the leather against her skin. Maggie shuddered, then pinned her ears flat and snapped violently at Marley, who barely flinched out of the way in time. The moment she stepped back, Maggie shot forward towards the stable door, then swung her hindquarters towards Marley, swishing her tail aggressively and daring her to step in range of her heels.
Van walked into the barn, leading Ajax. “Aren’t you ready yet?”
“I’m having a little trouble with the bridle,” Marley explained. Her voice was calm, but when Van looked over the stable door, she paled. The pony had Marley bailed up in a corner and was preparing to kick the living daylights out of her.
“Mar, you need to get outta there!”
“Relax, Van,” Marley said quickly. “And don’t try coming in here, because then she really will kick me.”
Van nodded. “What do you want me to do?”
Marley considered. “Move Ajax away, for starters. Then get some oats or something, see if you can distract her so I can get out of the firing line.”
Van shoved Ajax into the empty stall across the aisle and hurried off to the feed room. Marley looked at Maggie’s twitching hindquarters and wondered what to do next.
“Well, pony. You’ve got me in a bit of a predicament. If I move, do you promise not to kick me?” Maggie swung her head around to look at her, her ears swivelling back and forward uneasily. Marley dropped the bridle to the ground and held her hands behind her back. No sudden movements, she reminded herself, then took a deep breath, let it out, and walked as calmly as she could along the wall. Maggie turned her head to watch, allowing Marley to walk to the door unharmed.
Van was on her way back with a scoop of oats, but stopped when she saw Marley step into the aisle and close the door behind her. “You had me worried for a minute!”
“You and me both.” Marley leaned on the stable door and looked at Maggie sadly. “Why is she so terrified of the bridle?”
“Who knows?” Van shrugged. “Maybe she needs her teeth done. I’ll get Mike to come down and have a look soon. In the meantime, you might as well keep riding her in a halter.”
Marley nodded, turning back to Maggie and gently rubbing her face. “Come on, problem child. You have to at least try to be good. The day you kick me is the day you get kicked out of here. I just wish you could understand what I’m saying.”
