The Little Girl Left in the Dark (Elizabeth Olsen X daughter)

Part 21- Horses

It was now 2 days after we arrived here in London, the past few days have been crammed with meet and greets, signings, press conferences and more. But today would be different. Today I decided to do something special with my daughter, just the two of us.

I noticed she keeps drawing pictures of horses, it must be an interest of hers, so I booked a horse riding lesson in Richmond park. At first, I was worried she would be too young for this but I saw that they can allocate smaller horses for her.

Of course, she doesn't know my plan since I plan on surprising her once we get there.

"Mammmaaaaa!" Speak of the devil. I open my door to see the little girl with a shirt stuck over her head. "Mama, I'm stuck!" She wines and I let out a small chuckle.

"Come here, baby," I kneel down to her and pull the top down, covering her torso. She sighs in relief and hugs me quickly before smiling and running off. "Are you ready to go?" I ask just as she comes back into the room with her small white T-bar shoes.

"Yes," she nods and sits down on the floor, buckling her shoes up slowly since I just taught her how. "Where are we going Mama?" she asks curiously as I turn the tv off and grab my phone, tucking it into my back jeans pocket.

"We are going to the park across from the hotel," I answer and she nods, standing up and walking to the door. I follow suit behind her and help her open the door since she is too short.

"It's warm," she states as we walk across the street, her holding my hand as I guide her through the busy London traffic.

"Do you want your jumper off?" I ask and she nods, stretching her arms above her head. I pull the warm woollen jumper over her head and tie it around her waist before continuing to walk down the footpath.

She was dressed in a pink jumper, pink skirt, white t-shirt and white glossy T-bar shoes. Her dark blonde hair was braided into two neat Dutch braids that landed just below her shoulders as her sky blue eyes glistened in the sunlight.

I wore simple light blue navy skinny jeans with a baggy graphic tee tucked in neatly, I went for more of a comfy look today.

We got into the park and I led her to the Stag Log Stables and her eyes lit up as she saw all of the horses in their stables. A woman smiled kindly at us and put down a bucket of feed, coming over to us.

"Hello Lovelies, do we have a booking?" she asks and I nod politely.

"Yes, under Olsen," I smile and she tilts her head, and stands behind a computer.

"As in Ashely and Mary-Kate?" she jokes around and I let out a nervous laugh. "Alright, do you have any riding experience?" she asks and I shake my head.

"No," I answer quickly and she nods, typing something up on the device in front of her.

"Alright, it seems it's already paid for so let's get you two gals saddled up!" she smiles enthusiastically. Tatiana holds my hand tight but is in wonder at the majestical animals beside her. "For the little one, we have a cute little pony here named Buck. I assure you that he does not live up to his name," she smiles and I laugh, nodding.

"Do you want to ride him, Tatiana?" I ask the girl and she bites her lip, a little nervous.

"Can I ride that one?" she points to an all-black stallion and the woman sighs and shakes her head.

"Unfortunately he is too big for you, young lady, but buck loves little girls like you!" she points to the pony and Tatiana nods with a smile running up to him and holding out her hand for him to lick.

"Thank you," she smiles up to the woman and she aww's cutely at the small girl.

"No problem, love," she leaves her with the pony and gets out another horse, but this time bigger. "And this lovely lady is for you, Miss Olsen," she gives me the lead rope and I thank her.

The woman saddles up the black stallion that Tatiana liked for herself to ride with us and helped us mount the horses outside the barn. First was Tatiana.

"Alright, no need to be scared," she walked up to Tatiana and the little girl laughed, shaking her head.

"Of course not," she replies and places her foot in a stirrup, pushing herself up and over into the saddle in a fluid movement. I blinked my eyes in disbelief as the lady nodded, a smile on her face. 

"Wow, we've got a cowgirl on our hands," she laughs and takes the reins from the small girl, leading the horse out. "Alright, to go forward you squeeze his tummy here," she pushes Tatiana's legs in and the horse started to walk but soon stopped as his reins were pulled. "To turn, you turn your belly button to the direction you want him to go, and hold out the reins to one side," she demonstrates again and Tatiana nodded, but I could tell she was holding back her thoughts.

"Do you already know this, Tat?" I ask randomly and the lady looks questioningly over at me. Tatiana nods shyly and the instructor smiles.

"Oh well, if you need help, just give me a shout, love," she taps her knee and Tatiana smiles as the lady walks away to help me up.

After I learn the basics of how to make the 1,700 pound animal below me move, we start to walk off on a side trail through the park with the instructor in front of us, leading the way. I study the small girl in the middle of us as she sits up with extreme poise, riding like it was nothing.

A smile was on her face the whole time, which in return made me feel elated for the small girl. We then come out to a huge field of paddocks of green grass, it was beautiful. Tatiana turned out of our line and walked along the grass, the instructor following the small girl with me. Tatiana put her arms out, soaking up the sun as she balanced on the horse with only her small legs. 

"Wow," I hear the woman mumble to herself, smiling at the girl.

"What?" I ask and she turns towards me.

"Oh sorry, are you sure she's never ridden? There's just no way," she exclaims and I look at Tatiana with curious eyes. What don't I know about you?

"I don't know," I speak softly and I see Tatiana kick her horse into a trot.

"Tatiana!!" I yelled and she stopped, turning her horse around. "Please stick to walking!" I called across the field and she huffed, continuing to walk toward us.

"Actually, If you don't mind, I want to see what she can do?" The woman suggested and I furrowed my eyebrows in question. "I'll be with her of course, I'm just as curious as you, Miss Olsen," she tries to persuade me and Tatiana walks up closer to us.

I hesitate before answering her, "Okay, I just don't want her to get hurt," I plead and the woman nods with a huge smile on her face. 

"Thank you," she gallops up to Tatiana and they talk for a bit. Tatiana looks back over to me for approval to run and I nod. A huge smile comes to her face and kicks the horse, leaning forward as they go into a full gallop. My stomach squeezes in fear for her but I see how well she is doing on her own. The black horse goes back faster than her pony but she is still having the time of her life.

After a few minutes of solid cantering, they meet up with me by the start of a new track. "Hey, you did so well, babe!" I praised my daughter and she beamed with joy.

"Thanks, Mama, you have to come with us next time!" she offers and I laugh, shaking my head.

"Walking is good enough for me, thank you, sweetie," I decline and she nods with a smirk, before running ahead of me to walk side by side with the instructor, who leans down to give her a high five as they laugh.

The question still stands though, Who is she and where does she come from?

A/N: ... Alright I'm sorry!🥺  I didn't mean to leave it so late late but I just kept putting it off for so long. Will I say that I will change? Yes. Will I actually give you more than a chapter per month? No, no I will not. 😌

-S

21

18/04/2022