# Story



## EquineLover (Jan 24, 2011)

My Dad slammed on the brakes and I jolted foward. 
"Dad!" I screeched, as the contents of my bag spilled out onto the back car-seat, "what did you do that for?"
"We're here." He replied, calm as ever and I made a mental note never to travel with my Dad again. 

A vast expanse of green streched out for acres, dotted with colour. Ponies! 
"Bye then." I muttered, swinging my legs out of the car and grabbing my shoulder bag. 
"See ya!" With a dismissive gesture, he pulled away from the curb, splattering my cream jodphurs with mud. 
Cursing, I headed for what I guessed was the stable block. Starting a new stables was never easy. New ponies, new people, new instructors. I blinked back tears as I remembered Spot and Dusty, and how I would never see them again. 
"Snap out of it." I told myself, and strode towards a stone building. The yard was desolate. I dithered uselessy, one hand on the door handle. Why was I even here?
"Ahh!" A hand muffled my scream as the door flew open. The hand seemed to belong to a bald, rotund man dressed in a polo top and jodphurs that were four sizes too small for him. 
"Hello..." He uttered a greeting, removing his hand from my face. "And you would be..."
"Kaitlyn." I answered, still wary of the re-sized Munchkin that stood before me. 
"Ahh. The new stable girl, well, follow me."


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## manca (Feb 23, 2011)

I love the beggining! Go on, I want to know what will happen next!


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## EquineLover (Jan 24, 2011)

My Dad slammed on the brakes and I jolted foward. 
"Dad!" I screeched, as the contents of my bag spilled out onto the back car-seat, "what did you do that for?"
"We're here." He replied, calm as ever and I made a mental note never to travel with my Dad again. 

A vast expanse of green streched out for acres, dotted with colour. Ponies! 
"Bye then." I muttered, swinging my legs out of the car and grabbing my shoulder bag. 
"See ya!" With a dismissive gesture, he pulled away from the curb, splattering my cream jodphurs with mud. 
Cursing, I headed for what I guessed was the stable block. Starting a new stables was never easy. New ponies, new people, new instructors. I blinked back tears as I remembered Spot and Dusty, and how I would never see them again. 
"Snap out of it." I told myself, and strode towards a stone building. The yard was desolate. I dithered uselessy, one hand on the door handle. Why was I even here?
"Ahh!" A hand muffled my scream as the door flew open. The hand seemed to belong to a bald, rotund man dressed in a polo top and jodphurs that were four sizes too small for him. 
"Hello..." He uttered a greeting, removing his hand from my face. "And you would be..."
"Kaitlyn." I answered, still wary of the re-sized Munchkin that stood before me. 
"Ahh. The wanna be stable girl, well, follow me." 

I was convinced the stables could not be that desperate, that they'd find someone older, with qualifications. 

Well obviously they were desperate. The boss ,Paul, a fat man smoking a cigarette and every now and then taking a sip of something from an anonymous can, hired me with little questioning. He stood up and I got a better look at him. Not that any sane person would want to get a better look at him. His belly protruded over his thick belt and he had hair all over, everywhere except his head. His skin was greasy and loose, to match his greasy hands smelling of chip fat and meat and his breath. Alcohol. 

A strand of loose hay blew across the floor and I bent to retrieve it before the man could set light to the stables with his lighter. He was flicking it on and off now, watching the flame re-appear and then disappear with noted fascination. Twenty minutes trapped with him in a confined space was enough. Desperate for some civilisation, I asked to look around.
“Yep. Heidi or one t’ other kids ‘l show you ‘round.” He said, sitting down again and taking another sip from the can. Giving a loud burp and a signal I supposed was a wave, he went to sleep.



Outside, there were three teenagers chatting enthuastically about me. They didn’t know they were talking about me. All three of them made quite a startling trio. One of them was the sort of girl you’d pick out in a crowd of three thousand, she looked like a rainbow. The super-model of all rainbows. She had dark hair styled into a bun, with wool plaited through it and hanging down to her shoulders. She was wearing the bog-standard uniform of Wisterias High, but had customized it, and she now looked like something out of the latest copy of some fashion mag. She was wearing P.E shorts with bright red buttons sewn onto the front and denim pockets had also been added. Her top was a badge covered white polo top and she was wearing black and red tights under the shorts. I almost gasped. The second girl looked like a model too, but in a totally different way. I realised I was out of my depth, in more ways than one. She had long, blonde hair sweeping her hips. She wore tight, skinny jeans that hugged her curvy figure. Her nails were clear, but perfect and unbitten, unlike mine. She managed to make a standard riding top look brilliant, not baggy like they always seemed on me. The third was just as different and distingushed as the other two. She was wearing shorts over fuscia pink tights. (again) Neon trainers and about ten plastic bangles. Her shirt had been tied up, and it showed her flat, tanned stomach. Her hair was sculpted into a perfect, undisturbed bob. WOW. I glanced self-consciously down at my skinny, pale legs and thought of my stomach. Flat but an unattractive flat. Bony flat. 
"Hey!" I interrupted their conversation. They parted, revealing a small, pale girl in jods and a shirt. She was freckled, thin and had flame red hair. I recognised her from the flats. Her name was Judie, but preferred to be called Jude, and we talked sometimes. 
"Hey, Cassie. Everyone, this is Cassie. She lives in the flats with me. Cassie, this is Holly-Jade, Rebecca and Taylor."
OK. So the rainbow super-model was Holly-Jade, the Barbie lookalike was Rebecca, and the Natural Beauty was Taylor.
"Becky."
"Holly."
"Taya."
They corrected Jude, and went about questioning me. 
God. This was like a game of 50 Questions. But I did find something out about them all.
Holly-Jade was adopted because her real parents had drowned on this ship on the way to Australia when Holly was eight. She was fifteen now, and the horse she liked to look after her was a majestic grey named Mystical Wars. 
Taylor's horse was named Gold Drums, and he was a bay. She loved cross-country and was very daring.
Rebecca was very sweet and adored a bay named Frankenstein. I learnt my responsibility was a grey named Joker. He was gorgeous, but I couldn’t keep my eyes away from the bay in the adjacent stable. 16hh and muscled, beautiful and strong, he captured my heart. 
“Stay away from him, he’s bad news.” Taya had warned as she showed me the routine, scrubbing hard at a feed bucket.
“Why? He’s so… beautiful.” I whispered, gently stroking the bay’s neck fondly. His hard, troubled expression softened and he flicked his ears back. I felt his neck muscles relax. Then they tightened again as I quickly jerked my hand back, seeing Paul stride towards me. 
“Hey, kiddo. Stay away from Déjà vu. He’s nothing’ but trouble.”
“Couldn’t I just try riding him? He’s so gentle.” I stroked him again, my fingers softly brushing against his sweaty back, trying a massage technique mum had shown me on Colorado. _Yeah_. Days were different back then. Dad would happily hum a merry tune while me and mum brushed Colorado, happy days.
“Sure, if you want to break your back.” He laughed. Suddenly, nothing meant more to me than riding this gentle giant. I became stubborn. I’d get my ride. I knew it.

The next day dawned bright and early. When I awoke, the sun was just rising, and the sky a milky pink interspersed with peacock blue and lavender. _Breath-taking. _With the sun rose the birds, and the people, and the animals, until the whole village was alive.


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## EquineLover (Jan 24, 2011)

Pedalling towards the gate of Birchwoods, sweat poured down my face and my legs began to flag. The sun beat down on my back, and it was little short of 36 degrees. The hottest it had been all summer. And I was biking two miles. 

"Hello... Kerrie?" Paul greeted me as I dismounted my bike, gasping for air. 

"Kaitlyn." I corrected him. 

"Yes. Anyways, Kate, can you fetch Gold Drum and Joker in for me. They're having their jabs this morning. And make sure no one takes them out, they'll be sore." Wow. The longest sentence Paul had ever produced in my company. He deserved an award. 

The leadropes swung agaisnt my legs and the large maple trees shaded me from the heat. A few other stable girls were arriving now, Jude and Holly were chatting enthusiastically. 

I opened the paddock gate and called for Joker. He came galloping up, eager for attention. Gold Drums, his lazy self, was dozing in a corner, eyes half closed. 
"Goldie!" I yelled, feeling as though I were calling a Goldfish. "Goldie!" 
He came plodding up. "Hkw come you can gallop around that cross country course all day but can't be bothered to walk a few yards for ME?" I scolded him. He looked up at me.


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## EquineLover (Jan 24, 2011)

He looked up at me, as though be were the grandfather and I were a three year old. 
"Come on then, grumpy." I muttered, and buckled the halter. Joker accepted his headcollar, obidiently putting his head down. 

Joker was spritely, and pirouetted around on his heels, giving little kicks and spins. 
"Cut it out!" I reprimanded him, tugging the leadrope. Gold Drum paused to snatching up some grass. "What is with you two?"
"Want some help?" A male voice from behind me made me look up. Am I pleased I did. 
The god... I mean BOY standing before me was tall and tanned with a bright, almost artificial smile and surfer dude hair. He looked like a prince. 
"Kind of." I grinned sheepishly. He reached for Joker's rope, still grinning. I tugged Gold Drum up and we walked on, him still grinning. 

Then Joker ruined it all, and I was plummeting down from heaven back to earth. 

Joker bit him. He stopped grinning. 
"Joker! Honestly, he's not usually like this!" I apologised 
"It's fine." He insisted, but looked a bit unnerved.


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## EquineLover (Jan 24, 2011)

"I'm so sorry." I stared at the ground, blushing. 
"Yeah." There was a moments silence before we reached the yard, and the horse's hooves chimed agaisnt the concrete. 
"I really gotta go now. Will you be alright?" He finally spoke upon reaching Joker's stall. 
"Yeah. But just one thing. What's your name?" I inquired. 
"Oh. Sorry. Hayden." He replied, and began to walk off. 
"Kaitlyn!" I cried. He turned back and grinned. 

Wow. 

I collapsed agaisnt the wall, my breath stolen. 

I was officially in love. 

-----

"Saw you talking to Hayden earlier." Holly smirked as my face flushed bright red. 
"Um... yeah." I mumbled. 
"Ooooh!" Taylor teased, "Hayden and Kaitlyn sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
"Loony." I retorted, flicking a sponge in her direction. She caught it deftly. 
"Ha."

Holly eased herself off of the wall we were sitting on. 
"Well I need to go. See you guys." She waved and mounted her bike. 
"See ya!" Me and Taya cried in unison. 

I had quickly settled in at the stables. Holly and Taya were really friendly, and Jude her quiet self. The only person I hadn't hit it off with was Rebecca. Although her seeming sweet when I first met her, she was snooty and crafty with escaping jobs and gaining rides. 
"Hey!" I was snapped out of my thoughts by Taya, who had jumped off the wall. 
"Yeah?"


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## EquineLover (Jan 24, 2011)

"As I was _saying_ I've got to go. I promised Mum I'd help her with dinner tonight." 
"Oh. See you then, I suppose I'd better go too." I said reluctantly, hopping off the wall and landing neatly on the concrete below. 
"See you tomorrow!" We called as we parted our seperate ways, me to my bike, her to a bus stop I could vaguely male out in the distance. 

I sighed as the traffic light flashed red and our journey was delayed yet again. Me and Holly had arranged to meet up in town for a bit of retail therapy. The bus was proving to be very slow, but the other option had been giving up our lives and dying young by travelling with my dad. 

In the next seat, Holly was flicking through texts, also sighing. No doubt she'd received about ten texts from her Mum in the last three minutes. 
"We're here!" I exclaimed, catching sight of the shopping centre. 
"Finally." 
We stepped out onto the pavement and threaded our way through a string of Saturday morning shoppers. The shopping mall was full of them, all milling towards a jewellery shop. 
"What's going on there?" I thought aloud.
"Let's go see!" Before I knew it, I was being dragged into the shop door by Holly. 
"Wow! 85% off! No wonder!" I yelled above the noise, fingering several expensive looking necklaces.
"They're shutting down, so they need to get rid of the stock." A woman beside me explained before scuttling off.
"I'm buying this!" Holly declared, thrusting a golden bracelet in my face.
"I'll get..." I pondered which necklace to get. Knowing Holly wouldn't want to wait long, I grabbed a random necklace off the stand. "THIS!"
"Why?" I stared at the thing in my hand. It was silver, with a large solid circle hanging from it encrusted with jewells creating a shape. I knew that shape anywhere. The shape of a rearing horse. 

---
"I just can't understand why they would SELL that. Much less someone BUY it!" Holly looked at the chain around my neck with distaste. "Isn't it heavy?"
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## EquineLover (Jan 24, 2011)

"Nah. It looks like some kind of... amulet?"
"Yeah, maybe it has magic powers." Holly jokes, finely plucked eyebrows raised. 
"C'mon, Hols. This is our stop. I try to steer the the topic away from the object around my neck.


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## EquineLover (Jan 24, 2011)

We arrived at the stables ten minutes early. Holly ams I had offered to lead a riding lesson for Paul. We both had our certificates. We ended up doing MOST of the lessons for Paul. 

Drummer, Saint and Patsy were tacked up, waiting paitiently for their riders. 
"Its a jumping lesson today. Under two foot, so it shouldn't be a problem," Holly read the three names from the book. "Chelsea riding Drummer, Sophie riding Saint and Carl riding Patsy. Apparently, he cant ride all that great but his mum demamded he learnt to jump, so they put him on little Patsy."

Patsy was a plump strawberry roan who didn't put a foot wrong. Everyone loved her. Everyone, it seemed, except Carl. 

The lesson was a disaster. Carl kicked and whipped poor Patsy within an inch of her life.


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## gaelgirl (Mar 3, 2011)

Your story is so interesting! Keep going with it.


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