Undercover - In China - Book 7

Part 39 - Horse Driving Lessons

 Before dawn the next day we were awakened by Zhang Fei who introduced a man with a blood stained scarf tied around his elbow. Licia told us, 'Kongming has left us already. This is Deng Fu. He's going to teach us how to drive a horse.'

Zhang Fei rode away on his little horse as Deng Fu tethered his horse to the back of our carriage and climbed stiffly up beside Licia. He handed her the reins as Miguel and I stretched out on top of the rice bags. Licia looked at the horses rump and said, 'Go, horse.' The horse turned its head to look at her with one sardonic eye.

I started laughing. 'The horse thinks you should let him drive, Licia, and you can do the pulling.' The horse nodded its head emphatically as if in agreement which started Miguel laughing. Deng Fu slapped the reins on the horse's rump and the horse leaned into the harness. 

 'How do I turn?' Licia said in alarm. She pulled hard on one side of the reins. The horse stopped, twisted its neck and started to walk backwards as if trying to trample Licia for incompetent driving. Miguel and I started laughing again. 

 'Licia,' I chortled, 'you didn't give a turn signal.'

'She can't find the turn indicator,' Miguel laughed. Deng Fu gently took the reins and draped them over the left side of the horse's neck and the horse began to step delicately sideways, turning the two wheeled carriage around. 'Don't pull hard,' he explained. 'That will only confuse the horse. It has been trained to turn away from the reins.' 

 When the carriage was facing the other way, Licia slapped the reins and the horse started to run. We were soon bouncing over the rough road at a gallop and rapidly catching up with Zhang Fei. 'Slow down!' Miguel and I yelled together.  'We're going to fall off.'

Licia shouted. 'Slow down, horse!' 

 It ignored her. 'It won't listen!' Licia screamed desperately. 

 Deng Fu lifted the reins up off the horses back and it promptly slowed to a trot and then a walk. 'The horse is not smart but it does think,' Licia relayed Deng Fu's remarks. 'It will follow the road and other horses if you let it. Who's next?' 

 Miguel changed places with Licia and quickly got the hang of driving a Chinese horse. 'I've done this before but in Venezuela the horses understand Spanish.' I had listened intently to Deng Fu's instructions so, by the time I took the reins, I was confident that I had memorized all the commands. Unfortunately, I got a few backwards. When I wanted to go, the horse backed up. When I tried to turn left, the horse turned right. When I tried to stop, the horse broke into a gallop. When I gave up, the horse stopped and turned its head, with the same sardonic look, to see who was driving.

 Licia and Miguel were both laughing.