# Lockslee Farm: Forget About It



## Gossip (Sep 26, 2011)

*Chapter 2*
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Working with horses made me feel calm, in a way that seeing a therapist wouldn't. I had avoided the 'talks' my mom and dad wanted to have with me, and instead I had started seriously working with Flash, to improve our relationship. Trying not to think about the image of the body just lying there was a lot easier to do when working with a horse as difficult as Flash. I decided to go back to the basics and just work on leading Flash around. He had gotten significantly better, and this tiny victory made me feel a lot better, but my work was not over yet.
Holly had come over a lot in the past couple of days. We didn't talk about what happened all that much, but she gave me comfort. In fact, I was expecting her to come over later that day. Kendall hadn't showed up since we found the body. We both had to go be questioned by the police tomorrow, and I wasn't looking forward to seeing her snotty face. The days without her had been peaceful. 
I led Flash into the round pen and walked him around, then let him loose. Since he had tons of energy, I knew that no lunge whip was needed. I used my body to steer him the way I wanted him to go, and my arms and voice to manage the speed. First, my goal was to just have him walk on a circle around me. It seemed like a simple demand, but turns out that Flash had other ideas. He decided to switch directions and gallop around, joyfully bucking, while I tried slow him down with a non-effective 'whoa'."Maybe this would be easier with a lunge line," I mumbled to myself. 
"Ya think?" 
I whirled around to see my best friend leaning against the fence, with a goofy grin on her face. Her wavy, red hair was put up in a pony tail so you could see all her freckles. Her green eyes had a playful look about them. I had always envied her striking good looks. I was bland in comparison, with straight, dark brown hair and brown eyes. "Holly! Would you mind handing me that lunge line?"
"Sure," she said. Even with the lunge line Flash still wanted to change directions constantly, so I used the lunge whip as an extension of my arm and shooed him back into the direction I wanted him to go. It was so easy lunging a horse like, say, Happy. I could just stand still and slowly go around in a circle. But with Flash I had to practically chase after to keep him going consistently in one direction without stopping and spinning around on his haunches. After a lot of hard work, and a lot of sweat soaking up my face, I finally got Flash to move consistently in both directions, if only for a little while. We were both breathing hard, so I decided to call it quits. Holly helped me lead him to the wash rack.
"I have great news!" Holly gasped, as if she'd been holding her while waiting to say it. 
"Hmm?" I couldn't imagine there being 'great news' after seeing a dead body only a couple days before, but I decided to hear her out. 
"Ok, so, there's a guy." I raised my eyebrow. "Oh, stop it. You know I hate it when you raise your eyebrow like that, I've always wanted to be able to do that. But his name Nick, he's super cute, he's 16, he competes in show jumping, and the best part...He's moving his horse to Lockslee Farm!" 
I raised my eyebrow again. "And?"
"And? AND? Don't you see? You can just charm your way into Nick's arms, and then you, Nick, Chase and I can all go on a double date!" I should have known, Holly had always had fantasies of going on a double date, but I haven't exactly been successful in the boy area.
"I'm pretty sure a boyfriend is the last thing I need right now," I replied.
"Oh, you'll come around. You'll change your mind as soon as you catch a glimpse of him."
I rolled my eyes, but secretly felt butterflies fluttering in my stomach. Gossiping about cute boys was part of a normal teenage life. That's exactly what I needed after Rick's death.


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## Gossip (Sep 26, 2011)

*Chapter 3*

*Chapter 3*
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"Riiiileeyyy!" I heard Holly's call from the barn aisle. Stepping out of the tack room I noticed a dark truck and horse trailer pulling up into our driveway. I sprinted over to Holly's side and watched as the trailer parked, and a horse whinnied loudly from inside. My mom dashed out of the door of our house and joined us in the yard. A man in his forties stepped out of the drivers seat, and a boy who's definition was tall, dark and handsome, stepped out of the passenger seat. 
"Oh." Was all I could get out of my mind. "Oh, oh, uh-oh," I muttered as I turned around and made a beeline for the stable bathroom.
"Hey, you can't go anywhere!" Holly exclaimed. 
"I need to check my hair!" My hair was in a high ponytail. After pulling out a few strands of hay from it and smoothing it out, I looked presentable. Boy was I glad to me wearing my black v neck instead of a lighter colored garment, because then I would've been so dirty. I had on my brown breeches and tall green socks, with black sneakers. 
"I think you look fine," Holly sighed, exasperated. "Now come on!" She dragged me by the arm back outside, where the guy (Nick, right?) was unloading his horse. The horse was a beautiful dapple grey, with a shiny, clipped coat and polished hooves. He had a long, silvery mane that flowed down to his shoulder. Nick walked him into the barn and turned to my mom. "Hi, Mrs. Fletcher. Nice to meet you, I'm Nick."
"Nice to meet you too Nick, we're glad to have you."
"Where should I put Figaro?" 
"In any of the available stalls. Riley will show you the choices, you may choose. And for turn out he can go into the two acre pasture. Riley will show you that as well. How silly of me to forget...Riley is my daughter. Riley, Nick, Nick, Riley. Now off you go. Riley will answer any questions you have and of there are any major concerns come talk to me." 
I smiled awkwardly at Nick. "Hey. This is my friend Holly. Come on I'll show you the stalls." Our barn had a total of 18 stalls, 10 on one side and 8 on the other with a tack room, bathroom and wash rack. I walked all the way to the end of the barn where there were three empty 14 x 14 stalls. Nick decided to put Figaro in the corner stall. "So, his name is Figaro right?"
"That's his barn name, yeah. His show name is Defying Gravity."
"Wow, and you show jump?" Holly joined the conversation.
"Yup. Now how about we have a look at that pasture." I led Holly and Nick outside and over to the 2 acre pasture, and he had a good look at it before finally nodding. "Looking good. You guys mind helping me move my stuff into the tack room?"
"Sure!" Holly and I said in sync. The rest of the day flew by as we came to know Nick. 
"I'll let Figaro settle in today," Nick said as he was leaving. "Tomorrow you two will get to see me ride," he added with a wink.


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## faiza425 (Dec 21, 2012)

I really enjoyed reading this! You write very well. The plot is interesting, the different characters and elements of the story blend well, and the storyline moves along quickly enough that I don't lose interest. I can't wait for more!


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