The Last Train Home

Chapter Nine

Even with war declared, there were still jobs about the farm that needed to be done so the next morning, Mr Goodwin and I wandered down to the stable to mend the holes in the roof.

The stable sat just behind the chicken coop, down a different track and almost hidden from view but with plenty of space for the horses to be ridden around. Mr Goodwin said he had originally purchased the horses for far work like ploughing the fields and pulling carts up the hills, but thanks to Mr Thompson, they weren't used for that purpose. Instead, Mr Goodwin rode them to the village and back but they didn't get as much exercise as he wanted them to.

There were two horses in a stable built to hold at least four. One had a midnight black coat with its mane and tail the same shade and the other was a strange, almost pale gold colour with white patches across its body and a black mane and tail.

"This is Romeo and Jigsaw. Jigsaw is the patterned one, usually called a skewbald and his main colouring is a buckskin," Mr Goodwin said. "We need to get them out of the way before we can do anything with the roof. The last thing we want to do is shower them with wood where they could get a splinter."

"Right," I said, looking at the horses. I kept my distance from the horses, not wanting to get too close to the animals that were a fair bit taller than me and made strange noises. Although I had seen photographs of horses, I had never seen one close up and I hadn't expected them to be so tall.

"You don't have to be afraid of them, Romeo and Jigsaw are sweethearts and wouldn't hurt a fly. Come and say hello."

"Are you sure they won't hurt?"

"Not at all. If you can walk into a chicken coop and collect their eggs, then you can say hello to the horses. Trust me, horses are much more even-tempered than a chicken."

Mr Goodwin laughed and gestured for me to take the few steps forward so I could get closer to the horses. When I took my first step, Romeo made a strange noise and shook his head, causing me to step backwards in alarm. I glanced over to Mr Goodwin who offered me a reassuring smile and a nod that the horse wouldn't hurt me when it reacted like that. Still, I didn't like the idea of it potentially smacking me in the head with its nose or trying to bite my hand off when I went to stroke it.

Instead, I inched away from Romeo and walked towards Jigsaw who watched me rather than reacted. I reached my hand out slowly, my fingers twitching a little as they got closer to Jigsaw's nose. I could feel the horses warm breath against my fingers and paused just a short distance from his nose and I took a deep breath to try and pluck up the courage to actually touch the horse. I could deal with dogs and cats because they were small, horses were taller than me and from what I knew, could pack a mighty kick.

Before I could touch him, Jigsaw moved his nose so that my hand rested lightly against his fur. He nodded his head a few times, almost to encourage me to stroke him rather than just stand there with my hand close to his face. I slowly run my hand up and down his nose, feeling his smooth fur underneath my fingertips. Jigsaw didn't go to bite me or make any sudden movements and just let me stroke him without making even a noise.

"There you go, you're a natural!" Mr Goodwin said, stepping forward and giving Romeo a light pat on the nose. "He likes you."

"I think he wanted me to stroke him."

"Clever things, horses."

"Are they?"

"No idea." Mr Goodwin laughed. "Come on, let's get these two out of here and get to work. All you need to do is clip this onto his bridle and then you can lead him out and tie him to that post over there. There's plenty of grass for them to feed on so they should be fine."