Across the Years

Chapter 17: The Ride

Lisa's POV

I found myself unable to sleep very well that night. I was too busy thinking about my ride tomorrow with Jennie. I was excited, to say the least. Fortunately I had nowhere to be in the morning so I could sleep in.

After getting up, I washed up, made myself some breakfast with some eggs I bought from a local farmer and read some on my kindle. At the time approached to meet Jennie, I suddenly got a bit nervous. All I had for lunch was a meat and cheese sandwich.

Though it's a pain to have to buy everything fresh, either from the local farmer or the sometimes farmers market, some of the food is quite good. Not to mention no preservatives. But one must be careful to buy only what you can use that day. Most of that stuff won't keep long.

Not having any proper riding clothes as Jennie did, I dressed in my traveling clothes; cavalry boots, pants and a white shirt. The day itself was overcast, windy and a bit cold, so I did wear my coat. The last thing I did was, to comb my hair so it looked perfect.

At 2 pm sharp I came to the barn where I found Jennie waiting, just inside.

"Hello Lisa. I have your horse ready for you. You can ride Leo. I will ride my own horse, Kuma."

"Thanks." As I walked in, I got a strange look from Lucas. I was one of the servants like he, only I was going riding with Jennie. What I was doing was most unorthodox, to say the least.

Ignoring Lucas, I went to my horse and checked the saddle. Once I was satisfied that everything was secure and as it should be I mounted my horse. I found myself being very glad that I took the riding lessons before I came here. I used to hate horses, thinking they were stupid. Now, I don't mind them so much.

"So, where are we going?"

Jennie smiled enigmatically, then quickly motioned for the horse to take off on a full gallop out of the barn and towards the park.

"Why you little..." I muttered as she set off in pursuit of Jennie. For almost 5 minutes, I chased after Jennie. The brunette would occasionally look back and giggle, all the while her long brown hair was flowing with the wind. It was a very beautiful sight.

By the time I had caught up with Jennie, we were at the far end of the park, nearing the edge of the fields and meadows beyond. Jennie then laughed and eased up a bit to let me ride along side. But my competitiveness got the best of me and I quickly zoomed ahead of the surprised Jennie.

"Hey! I was slowing down for you." Protested Jennie.

I merely waved goodbye as I raced out onto a meadow, towards a group of trees at the far end. Soon Jennie and her horse galloped past me. Obviously she had no intention of being beaten.

Quickly Jennie raced ahead and reached the stand of trees a good 10 seconds before Lisa did, where she stopped.

"Lisa, I figured that you would have beaten me easy. Your horse is as fast if not faster than mine." Jennie said, looking briefly puzzled.

I thought quickly how to respond and shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not used to this horse. Not sure what it can do." In reality, Jennie was a much more experienced rider having years of experience, Lisa on the other hand had only few months of lessons. In the back of my mind that did exist as a worry, that I would be seen as a fraud. But that worry, sat along with all the other anxieties about how well the day would go.

Jennie nodded, seeming to accept the excuse and gently nudged her horse towards a nearby road. "Come on"

I followed and for a short while, we rode a somewhat awkward silence.