I sat in the car, glaring at the scene before me. It should be a car garage with mechanics moving parts around and fixing motors, smelling of grease with the sound of drills. Instead, I was looking at a stable yard with small girls in jodhpurs walking horses around, the smell of what comes out of the back end of a horse, and the sound of neighing.
"Don't look so gloomy. It was either or school. At least this way you don't need to be stuck in a classroom while everyone else is off doing work experience." My mother said from the driver's seat. I turned my glare to her and she just laughed. "Get out there and do your work experience. You might actually enjoy it."
"I highly doubt that." I grumbled, opening the car door and grabbing my backpack before getting out of the car. I expected my mother to start up the car engine and reverse out of the space but she surprised me by getting out of the car. I stared at her. I did not need my mother to introduce me at my work experience. I was sixteen for crying out loud! Well, almost sixteen. "What are you doing?"
"Since I'm here now, I can say 'hello' to my little darling! I bet he's missed me all weekend." She spoke in a softer tone, clearly talking about her horse. She cared about that stupid animal way too much – and it was the reason why I was here. Working at the same place that she kept her giant poop machine wasn't ideal – or wanted at all. She zapped her keys to lock the car as she ambled to the stable that the horse was kept in. "Abi! Kieran is here for you. Make sure he's kept busy and pulls his weight."
"Good morning, Jean. I'll keep him busy." Abigail replied, poking her blond head out of a stable. She saw me looking and smiled. "Good morning, Kieran. You can come and give me a hand in here once you've hung your bag up in the tack room."
"Sure." I told her, holding back a sigh. Mother was partially right – this was better than being stuck at school. I dumped my backpack in the tack room, leaving it hanging on a previously empty hook before heading to the stable. I expected her to be empty in there considering how many horses were already out in the fields, but there was a horse in there, too. "Aren't they usually in the fields at this time of day?"
"Not him. Well, not until tomorrow. The field isn't ready yet." Abigail explained, fussing the head of the horse as she scraped the straw towards a pile she was making near a wall of the stable. Then, she held the shovel out to me, giving me a small smile. "You should make yourself useful and get all this dirty straws into the barrow. Then, I can show you the much heap."
"That sounds like a fun place when all the cool kids hang out." I commented, taking the shovel from her and quickly filling the wheelbarrow. I rested the shovel against the wall to the side of the stable door. When I looked Abigail, she had her head resting against the horses, her hand scratching under his chin. Her mouth was moving and, now that it was quiet, I could hear her singing very softly to the horse. Then, I noticed that the horse looked a little agitated. "Why does he look so stressed?"
"He doesn't like men." She explained, turning to me. I suddenly didn't like the idea that I was standing between the stallion and the outside world. I didn't realise that my face had changed, but Abigail laughed. "He'll be fine. Just head outside first and then I'll show you where the muck heap is."
Most of my morning was spent mucking out various stables. I noticed that, apart from the first stable, the rest were empty. I was glad that I didn't have to deal with more horses. Dealing with what came out of them was bad enough. In the afternoon, as we were carrying hay nets to one of the fields, Abigail's head tilted as she looked at me. "If you don't like horses, why did you work at a stables for work experience?"
"I wasn't meant to be coming here. I was meant to be going to a garage but at the last minute they said that they couldn't get to Health and Safety clearance with the school." I rambled as we crossed one of the unused fields to reach the horses. "Mum talked nice to the owner and I was given the choice between here or go back to school. Mum didn't really let me think about it, though, before she agreed to this."
"Doesn't she know that you don't like them?" Abigail wondered, struggling to keep pace with me as I ambled across the field. I slowed my pace a little so we were soon walking side by side again. She looked at me, waiting for an answer but I just shrugged. Hitching the hay net a little higher on her shoulder, she continued walking alongside me. "It's kind of mean that she's making you come here for work experience then."
"I think she's partially hoping for a discount on the full livery of her horse." I commented.
"I highly doubt that will happen with the owner. He's a bit of a tight wad. I mean, the main barn needs the roof to be fixed but he refuses to pay for that." Abi explained, kicking the head off a dandelion that she passed. "Luckily, it hasn't rained yet, but that could happen any time around here. I need to get up there and try to do something about it before it does start raining."
"Do you have any idea what you're going to do about it?" I asked, glancing ahead to the field we were heading to and seeing the horses make their way to the fence.
"I'm hoping that I can cover it with a tarp or something and that will keep them dry." She said, picking up her pace a little as she saw the horses. I easily kept pace with her.
"I can help out with that later, if you want? I don't mind going onto the roof to cover it." I offered, thinking that it would be an excuse to not clean up after a horse.
"We'll sort something out. Don't you worry." She told me, starting to attach the hay nets to the bars of the fence. I watched her hands as she tied the knot, but I wasn't able to catch how she tied one before throwing it up and over, almost hitting a horse in the head. She turned to me, seeing that I was confused. "Here, let me show you how to do it."
The two horses nearest to us started fighting over the hay net and I jumped back out of surprise but Abigail stepped forward, reaching her arms out and trying to calm them. She didn't seem to be making much progress until I heard her start singing. I looked at her, confused as to why she thought singing would help, but then the horses began to calm. She managed to separate the two and they began to share the hay net that they had been fighting over. She turned to me, raising an eyebrow. "Singing calms them. You should try it if something happens."
"It's fine. I don't sing." I pointed out.
"Alright, it'll be your funeral." She joked, laughing as she saw the reaction on my face. I just shook my head and started attempting to tie the hay net up. She quickly had to help me.
After my mother had picked me up, complaining that I was covered in mud, I loaded up my laptop rather than going on my Xbox and did some research on horses. I didn't know why but maybe it could help. Especially with the grumpy horse that did not like me. It didn't take me long to find a lot of information about the creatures.
Before I knew it, my mother was warning me to go to bed otherwise I would be too tired for work experience. I didn't think that it would make much of a difference but I still got an early night anyway.
The next morning, I found Abi in the stable with the horse that didn't like men. I only needed to follow the sound of her singing. I poked my head around the doorframe and saw her brushing him, one hand patting his neck as he stood there for her. When he saw me, he stepped back, away from Abu, causing her to look up and see me. "Morning. Is he going out today?"
"He is indeed. The field is nice and dry but it's a little cold so I'm going to put his rug on him." She replied, setting the brush to one side and pulling the rug from over the wall. "Good boy, Pegs."
"What did you call him?" I asked, wondering what his name actually was since that was something that I had yet to learn.
"Pegs. It's short for Pegasus." Abi explained, draping the rug over his back and starting to fasten it under his stomach. I looked a little confused. This beast was called Pegasus? Aby saw me looking confused and smiled. "The owner's granddaughter named him. It was either Pegasus or Sparkles, so, you can see why he's got that name. It's kind of ironic that he hates men and you hate horses."
"True. I didn't think of that. Maybe we can help each other get over our fears." I admitted, looking at the horse. Pegasus looked at me and his ear flicked as Abigail patted his neck. She reached for the head collar from the wall, easily slipping it onto his head. She buckled that in place and held the lead rope out to me. "Why are you trying to hand that to me?"
"Because you need to get over your dislike of horses and he needs to get over his dislike of men." She told me, moving the hand that was holding the lead closer to me. "Come on. I'm sure it'll be alright. Just stay on his left side and walk through the door first."
"Sure." I replied, slowly reaching my hand out to take the lead from Abi's hand. When he saw me taking the lead, his ears went back and he immediately tensed up. Abi looked between the two of us, wondering how I was going to deal with the situation. I glanced at her – she knew the horse better than me, after all – and she just stepped back. That was going to be a great help. I took a deep breath and slowly stepped towards him. "Hey, Pegs. I'm not going to hurt you. You're going to be a good boy and let me lead you out to the field, aren't you?"
When I spoke his name and the word field, his ear twitched. I kept talking to him until I slowly closed the gap between us, continuing to talk as I carefully placed a hand on his neck, being as gentle as I could. I kept fussing him and talking to him until his ears were back to normal. "Right then, Pegs, are you ready to go out?"
I gestured for Abi to lead the way to the field and I led Pegasus from the stable. He was well behaved as I followed Abi to the field, and even waited patiently just inside the gate as I unclipped the lead rope. Then, he ran around the field while Abi and I slipped back out.
"You handled that so well!" Abigail exclaimed as we leaned against the now closed gate. I looked at her to see her smiling. She leaned over and gently bumped against my arm. "We'll make an animal carer out of you yet."
"We'll see." I laughed, thinking that I may actually like horses by the end of this work experience.
For the next week, Abi made sure that I was kept busy around the yard. She also made sure that I was kept in close proximity to the horses and I began to get used to them. I even stated to like spending time with Pegasus, who was one of the kindest horses that I had met. Abi did teach me the secret of the mints trick, though. That had really helped with becoming friends with Pegasus. He even came over to the fence when he saw me approach the field – and I had no trouble reaching out to fuss him as he came within arm's reach.
"Hey, Kieran. I thought I'd find you here." Abi said, coming to lean on the fence beside me as I fussed Pegasus in the Friday afternoon. I noticed that she had a lead rope wrapped around her arm. "Is your mother still not here yet?"
"I doubt she'll be much longer. She's probably talking to one of her yoga buddies and lost track of time." I explained. My mother insisted that yoga on a Friday afternoon helped her to relax. I just thought that she used it as an excuse to go and talk to her friends. "Are you brining Pegasus back in?"
"Yeah. They've scheduled rain so I'm bringing them all in just in case. They'll all be back out in the morning as long as it's dry again." She rambled. I held my hand out for the lead rope. "Are you sure that you want to do that?"
"Why not? Pegasus and I have gotten to know each other quite well this week. He's a lot easier to handle than some of the other horses, too." I explained, slipping the lead rope off her arm. I turned to Pegasus and easily clipped it onto the head collar, turning back to Abi. "You go and make a start on the other horses. I'll get Peg's in."
"Thank you." She replied before heading off towards one of the other fields.
The next morning, I was enjoying my lay in on the Saturday when I felt movement beside me on the bed. I opened my eyes to see my cat there. Reaching out to fuss him, I noticed that there was a string on my left hand. I'd even forgotten that it was my birthday. I gently moved the cat from the bed and started grabbing my clothes, pulling them on as quickly as I could. I really needed to follow my string.
"Kieran, can you come up to the stables with me? Abi is short on people and needs to get the horses out." My mother called from the landing as I pulled my shirt on. I opened the door and looked at her. "I know it's your birthday but I thought I'd ask."
"I can spare a bit of time, but can you take me to follow my string once we're done?" I questioned. Her eyes widened a little. She had probably been expecting me to say no. "Come on, we need to go and let the horses out."
We pulled up at the stable not long after. The first thing that I noticed was that Abi was alone when she was taking the horses out. The second thing that I noticed was that my string was attached to her hand. As my mother and I got out of the car, Abi looked at us in surprise, but then she smiled at me. "Thank you."
"It's fine. I'll grab Pegasus in a moment, butfirst." I told her as I headed towards her. She stopped walking and the horsestopped, so, I looked one arm around her waist and used the other to tilt herface up as I kissed her. "Right, I'm going to take Pegasus to the field. Backin a moment."