Silverstone: Perfection is Not Enough

Chapter 13

Dedicate to switchthediagonal for voting on all the chapters and posting such a sweet comment! You're amazing!

I start to settle into the routine of Silverstone Horse Riding Academy. It's a whirl of classrooms, lesson, and horses. Buts it's a good whirl; I can honestly say that I'm having the best time ever. 

Silver is going amazingly for me in lessons, and I've been riding Arrow every day after my horse riding lesson. Lucy's given me permission to use the outdoor, as it's quite cold in the evenings and any teachers or someone who needed to do something after school would use the indoor. 

Tabitha, Bertie and Rose are slowly becoming some of the best friends I've ever had. At least one of them is mostly there when I'm schooling Arrow. But I haven't forgotten Lilly, I phone her every few days. 

The incredibleness of it all is undescribleable. The school, for a start. It's thousands of emerald green acres, beautiful, century-old buildings and modern, state-of-the-art facilities. It's so unlike anything I've ever experienced before.

It's amazing.

•  •  •

"Jess! Jess!"

I turn over and smile into the squishey pillow. It's been a week today since the day before I got here, when I was packing like crazy, and I said my final goodbye to Blue and everyone at Sunny Creek. 

"JESSICA BROOKE WAKE UP NOW!"

I sit bolt upright, look around, and glare at Rose.

"Rose! What is it? It's Saturday!"

She grins, and rolls her eyes. "Come on, Jess, don't you want to go on an early morning hack?"

I sigh. She's got me. "Obviously, but what time is it actually?"

She checks her phone. "Seven thirty."

"What?!"

She shrugs. "I like hacking this early. It's all quiet and still."

"Fine," I grumble. I stumble out of bed and quickly pull on my own grey jodpurs and fluffy burgundy jumper, and slide on my own short boots and my own velvet helmet. They might be a little battered, but they're mine. They're worn in to my feet and head and they remind me of home.

"Come on, then, Jess!" Rose says impatiently from the door. "Tabitha and Bertie are already down there."

I half walk, half hop after her, tripping over a step on the staircase and having to grab onto the handrail for dear life. She tuts.

"Jess, I thought you would know by know that your feet do exist."

I hit her lightly on the arm. "Be quiet, Rosey."

The house is super quiet at this time of morning on a Saturday, and we jog quickly to get to the stables. The yard is nearly empty, apart from the odd stablehand mucking out. And Tabitha and Bertie, sat on Leona and Toblerone, with annoyed expressions, looking at us. 

"Seriously, people, we've been here for twenty minutes," Bertie says exasperatedly. 

"Sorry, Sleeping Beauty couldn't be bothered to get up," Rose explains. I blush.

"Sorry."

"Hurry up then!" Tabitha laughs.

I rush into the barn, quickly pat Arrow over his stable door, check Silver over, and quickly get her tack and tack up. Then I lead her over to the mounting block and jump on. 

Leapfrog canter-walks out of the barn, with an unsteady Rose hanging on by the skin of her teeth. We all laugh, and Rose shoots us a glare, to which Rose and I respond by laughing more. Tabitha walks over and hold Leapfrog while Rose sits up and settle herself in the saddle.

"Seriously, you guys are the worst friends ever."

"Aw, you don't mean that, Rose," I pout. 

Bertie rolls her eyes but grins. "Come on, you guys, I wanna hack!"

We follow Bertie, with me going last, and she leads us down a path I didn't see before, into some sparse forest. The early morning light streams through the leaves on the silver birches, dew sparkling on every blade of grass. It's so quiet, the only sound I can hear is the hoofbeats of the four horses. 

"Everyone want to trot?" Bertie shouts, and we all send back a "yeah". 

We trot along briskly, Silver's smooth stride eating up the ground. Bird calls ring out from the treetops, a harmony of perfect music. 

Rose was right; hacking out early is great, because obviously, nobody else can be bothered to get up this early in the morning, so the bridleways are virtually empty.

One of the evenings, Luxy gave us a lecture on which bridleways to stick to, as many of them eventually lead out of the school grounds. And now, we go past a large wooden sign, reading, "You are now leaving the grounds of Silverstone Horse Riding Academy. Please take care."

"Bertie, are you sure-"

"It's fine, I know where I, going," she replies shortly. Okay then, I guess I'll just have to trust her with this.

The forest eventually flattens out into wide, lush pastures, rolling fields, and tall hills. After a while, we reach a wide, dirt track.

"You want to canter?" Bertie asks. Rose, without replying, lunges foward with Leapfrog, and they race away, churning up dust behind them.

"Guess that answers my question," Bertie mutters, suppressing a laugh. Then, she follows Rose, speeding down the track. 

I exchange a glance with Tabitha, before turning Silver in the same direction as Rose and Bertie.

Silver's smooth trot blends into a flawless canter, her nimble hooves thudding against the ground in a steady rhythm. Wind whips through my hair, pulling it back from my face, and I crouch low over Silver's neck, urging her on faster. The ground disappears beneath us as she gains speed, racing past Bertie and Toblerone, until we're neck-and-neck with Rose and Leapfrog. 

Rose grins playfully at me, and nods foward at something in front of us. I look up to see a fence and gate, about fifty metres away. 

I ride Silver on, but it's obvious that Rose isn't going to pull up, so I gently pull Silver back into a trot, then a walk, then halt just as Bertie and Tabitha reach us. Tabitha shakes her head at Rose, who's still speeding towards the gate. 

"She's going to crash," Bertie bites her lip as Rose gets closer and closer to the fence. 

"Nah," I grin, feeling adrenaline running through my veins, "she's going to jump it."

The fence has to at least be a metre ten, probably the biggest I've ever jumped in my life.

But with the way Leapfrog bounds over it easily, with Rose so all over the place and yet so in control, so balanced, and so calm, it looks like Rose has. 

She circles back round, and opens the gate this time, riding through it.

"Yes! I won!" She cheers, pumping her fist in the air. 

"Yes, and you could have died, too," Tabitha laughs.

"Well, I didn't, did I?" Rose sticks her bottom lip out. 

Bertie laughs. "Come on. If we want to help Jess with Arrow, we'd better get back soon."

I suddenly feel guilty. "Look, it's fine-"

"No, I like watching you ride," Tabitha says quietly.  "You and Arrow really look good together."

"Thanks," I reply, sending her a small smile. I just wish I didn't feel so guilty.

A/N: 800 VIEWS?! WHAT IS THIS?! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

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