Nothing but Trouble

Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

MY NERVES JANGLED as I waited for Jenny to answer the phone. Would she teach a complete beginner? And if she agreed to give me lessons, how long before I could go?

I needn’t have worried. “You’re exactly the type of rider we specialise in,” she said. “We’ve got some lovely quiet horses, and our instructors have experience with all levels.”

“Do you have vacancies at the moment?”

“We’ve got a course starting the day after tomorrow, as it happens. There are two other girls coming. They’ve ridden a bit before, but we’ll assign you a groom of your own to teach you stable management. I firmly believe that learning how to care for the horse is as important as the riding. You build up a much better bond that way.”

So I’d be scooping poop? Wonderful. But at least I could go soon. “Do you have any accommodation free? Or should I try to find something nearby?”

“Both the cottages are booked, but we’ve got a free en-suite room in the barn.”

“The barn?” I pictured a cow-stall, complete with straw and a manger for my dinner.

Jenny laughed. “Don’t worry—it’s been converted into living quarters. You’d just have to share a kitchen and lounge with the others.”

“I don’t mind doing that.” Some company would be nice. I was already feeling a bit lonely now I’d finished at Payright, at least, as lonely as I could feel with a freak stalking me and my ex camping in the porch.

“I’ll email you all the details, and we’ll see you on Saturday then.”

As soon as I told Todd the news, he squealed down the phone line, “That’s fabulous news! Have you got the right outfits?”

Outfits? I hadn’t even thought about that. What did one wear to go horse riding? I glanced up at one of Edith’s paintings, an old hunting scene that took pride of place above the fireplace in the dining room. The riders all wore red jackets and puffy trousers. Surely not?

I needn’t have feared because Todd had done the research for me. Two hours later, I snuck out of the back gate into the service road that ran behind the house, wanting to avoid another conversation with Terry, who was still sitting on the doorstep.

“We’re going to a tack shop,” Todd announced. “I found it on the internet.”

Forty minutes later, we pulled into a farm, and Todd led me into a huge warehouse filled with weird and wonderful things, half of which looked like torture implements.

“What do you reckon this is for?” I asked him, picking up a metal thing with a hook at the end.

He turned it over in his hands. “Hanging things on?”

“It’s a hoof pick,” came a voice from behind us. “You use it for getting the stones out of horses’ hooves.”

Ick, no way was I getting that close. The four-legged monster would probably kick me.

Todd and the salesgirl laughed. Oops, did I say that out loud?

“Do you need any help?” she asked.

“In every way possible,” Todd said.

Thanks, Todd. I poked him in the side. “I’m going on a riding holiday, and I need to buy things for that.”

“Do you ride often?”

“I fell off a pony once.”

I sorely regretted telling Edith that story as I very much suspected it was why she’d set horse riding as one of my challenges. Many times over the years she’d said, “If you fall off the horse, you need to get straight back on again.” Just as many times, I hadn’t managed to do it. Now was my chance to prove I could.

The girl’s eyes widened. “That’s it?”

I nodded, a sigh escaping at the same time.

“So you need everything for a beginner, then?”

“That’s right.”

I soon found out why horse riding had a reputation as a rich man’s sport. A pair of boots, a crash helmet, two pairs of jodhpurs, gloves, and a waterproof jacket set me back almost five hundred pounds.

“You look cute, though. Very Country Life magazine,” Todd said.

That was all right then. As long as I looked the part. The phrase “all the gear and no idea” sprung to mind. I might get away with the charade for a few hours, but the moment I went near a horse I’d get laughed out of the stable. Could horses laugh?

I’d planned to get the train to Linden Hollow, but Grant insisted on driving me.

“You’ve packed your own body weight in those two suitcases. I don’t know what you’ve got in there, but I can’t see you dragging them round a train station without needing medical attention.”

I glanced down at my luggage. Well, Edith’s luggage. She used to go on holiday twice a year without fail. Once to Ibiza for the clubs, yes really, and a two-week cruise around the Med. I’d learned my packing skills from her.

“Thanks,” I muttered.

He squeezed my shoulder. “Just cheer up. Look on the bright side, your squatter might be gone by the time you get back.” Terry had been sprawled out and snoring when Grant arrived, so he’d come in through the back. “I could get some of the guys from the gym to give me a hand removing him if you like?”

Terry was an i***t, but he was harmless. “I’m hoping his presence will deter Mike.”

“There is that.”

The drive to the Cotswolds took longer than we’d hoped, mainly due to a surfboard falling off someone’s roof rack in the fast lane and causing a traffic jam on the M4. Quite why anybody would want to venture into the sea at that time of year was beyond me. The temperatures may have been above average for February, but the water certainly wouldn’t be balmy. By the time we reached Linden Hollow, I’d got fidgety and desperate for the loo.

When Grant pulled into the driveway, I saw how the place got its name. The farmhouse, stables and the other buildings nestled into the dip at the bottom of two hills, a picture postcard of perfection. Rolling fields spread out on either side, and even the car park was decorated with tubs of colourful winter pansies.

We’d only just parked when a girl came bustling up to the car. “Hi, are you Ella?”

Panic hit. “No, uh, we’re just lost.”

Grant rolled his eyes. “Yes, she’s Ella.” He leaned a little closer. “You’ve bought all the stuff now. You have to stay.”

The girl’s puzzled look turned into a welcoming grin. “I’m Jenny. It’s great to have you here.”

Her age surprised me. I’d imagined her as a tough-looking lady in her late forties or early fifties, but she didn’t look much older than I was.

“Er, do you have a ladies’ room I could borrow?”

She laughed, a hearty sound that spoke of her confidence. “Sure, I’ll show you.”

I left Grant to haul my suitcases out of the car while I followed Jenny. Twenty stables formed a U-shape around a central courtyard, and a few curious faces peeped over the half-doors at our approach. She led me over to the far corner, into a room filled with saddles, bridles, and a well-rounded ginger cat. The rich smell of leather permeating the air reminded me of the old sofa in Edith’s den. As a little girl, I’d loved curling up there for hours, reading. It sure beat going home.

She pointed to a door at the end. “The loo’s in there.”

Glamorous it was not. Bits of straw dotted the floor, and a decade’s worth of smudges covered a once white wall. My face stared back at me from a cracked mirror above the tiny basin Why did I go to the effort of blow-drying my hair this morning? I thanked my lucky stars that at least there was a toilet roll, then movement caught my eye and I glanced up.

Jenny and Grant both came running at my scream.

“What is it?” Jenny asked, forehead creased in worry.

I pointed with a shaking finger. “There’s a spider.” And not just any spider. A steroid-enhanced mutant spider that could most likely take out the cat if he put his mind to it.

Jenny laughed. “That’s just Gordon. He’s been there for months.”

She’d named a spider? Was she mad? The only thing I did with spiders was suck them up the vacuum cleaner. Actually, that was the one thing I missed about having Terry around. He used to deal with them for me.

“Uh, do you have another bathroom?” I may have been crossing my legs, but there was no way I’d set foot back in that one.

She chuckled again. “I’ll show you to the one in the barn.”

Grant followed along with my cases as Jenny led the way to a wood-framed building with an old red-tiled roof and pots of flowers either side of the door. After seeing the tack room, I’d been expecting the worst, but the barn was actually kind of cute. Once I’d done my business, Jenny showed me my room, and I was pleasantly surprised by that too. Not five-star, but definitely a solid three.

When we went back out to the living area, two other girls had come in. I may have been feeling overdressed earlier, but beside them I was the poor relation. Both wore country chic and had that snooty air about them that tended to be inherited rather than acquired.

I followed a little reluctantly as Jenny veered in their direction.

“Ella, meet Annabel and Felicity. They’ll both be with you on the course this week. They’ve done some riding before, but you’ll be assigned individual buddies to tailor your training.”

Annabel looked down her nose at me. “Good. I don’t want to be held back.”

Wow, that was friendly.

“Do you have your own horses?” asked Felicity.

I shook my head. “I haven’t really ridden before.”

She and Annabel gave each other a look. What on earth is she doing here?

Jenny seemed oblivious. “I need to get back out to the horses. Zoltan needs lunging. You two can finish showing Ella around, can’t you?”

They looked as if there was nothing they’d like less, but Felicity grudgingly agreed. The second Jenny stepped out, Annabel ignored me and turned her attention on Grant, tongue hanging out.

“I’m Annabel,” she cooed.

“Yeah, I got that,” he said. “I’m Grant.”

“And you’re dating Ella?”

“Uh...we’re friends.”

That earned him a smile that was almost genuine. “Would you like a tour as well?”

He must have caught the pleading look in my eyes because he sighed nodded. “Okay, I’ll come.”

With Annabel on one side and Felicity the other, Grant got shown the paddocks, the indoor and outdoor arenas, and the break room. Annabel pressed up against him as they leaned over each stable door, giving him a personal introduction to all the horses. Poor Grant. I shuffled along behind, feeling like a spare part.

Every so often, Grant would try to involve me in the conversation, but the tag team shut me down pretty quickly.

“Ella, what do you think of this horse?” he asked.

“She looks sweet.”

“Yes, but she’s old,” Annabel interrupted, taking his arm. “Let’s go and look at the stallion over here.”

Finally, when they’d shown him everything but their bedrooms, we found ourselves back in the lounge. From the way they kept eyeing him up, I suspected they’d both have willingly tested out their mattress springs with him.

“Do you want to stay and have dinner with us, Grant?” Annabel asked. “June comes in from the village to make our meals, and she’s a splendid cook.”

“Sorry, I can’t. I’m going out to G-A-Y with my boyfriend this evening, and I don’t want to be late.”

Both their mouths dropped open as he bent to give me a kiss on the cheek. “Good luck with that pair,” he whispered.

I was going to need it.

“Thanks for bringing me.”

“No problem. Just give me a shout when you want picking up.”

What had I done to deserve meeting such a kind man? I did share Annabel and Felicity’s opinions on one thing at least—it was a crying shame he was gay.

“Enjoy club night,” I said brightly, so the other two could hear.

He put on his campest voice. “Oh I will, dahling, I will.”