Stayin' Alive

Chapter Five

They all came down the staircase together a few minutes later. I was leaning on Allen's chest while we watched Davy Jones fall in love with yet another girl on The Monkees. The guys came and sat on the Victorian-style sofa to the right of us.

     "So, you like The Monkees too?" Barry tried to make conversation. 

     "Oh yeah! I love The Monkees! They're pretty funny." Allen played with my hair and leaning over me, placed a gentle kiss on my forehead. 

     "Do you guys like horses?" 

     "We've ridden a few times. Why?" Maurice asked.

     "Well, do you wanna go riding now? I have a few horses."

     "I guess we could." He looked to each of his brothers for their approval. 

     "That sounds quite nice actually-"

     "Alright! It's settled then! Let's go for a ride!"

  I grabbed my cowboy hat off of the hatrack and skipped out to the barn with the others following close behind me. The weather was perfect today. The sun was hot, but not to the point where it was uncomfortable. There was a slight breeze coming off of the plains surrounding us. The cicadas sang their usual Spring song. Allen fell into step beside me as we reached the tackroom.

     "How much experience do you guys have with horses?" I asked. It was a pretty pretty general question that could receive many answers, but I wasn't too worried about these guys. I mean, let's be real here, these are The Bee Gees we're talking about for crying out loud. 

     "Maurice and I had to learn English riding techniques back when we filmed Cucumber Castle. We were pretty good at it then, although I don't know how good we are now."

  I thought for a moment. Reckless should go with the most inexperienced rider, because of his calm temperament. I would put Robin on Reckless, Allen would ride Comet, my old Quarter Horse, then Maurice and Barry would ride my parent's horses: Sheena and Mistic. I would ride my old Arabian, Prince. I'd had him for years but hadn't ridden him since January. This would be an interesting trail ride, for sure.

  I handed them all the horses' halters to put on once we reached the pasture. Allen and I got Comet and Prince's halters on first so we could assist the others in haltering the horses. Barry was buckling Mistic's halter, while Maurice was still getting the noseband onto Sheena. Robin seemed totally lost. 

     "Need a little help?" I asked as the halter slipped off of Reckless' nose once again. He nodded and I positioned his hands around the halter. "Hold it like this. Now slide it over his nose." He slid the halter on and waited for my next instruction. "Okay now buckle this strap to the second hole. It shouldn't be too tight on him, just snug." He got the halter all buckled and I looped the leadrope up correctly for him.

     "Thanks, Veronica is it?"

     "Yeah that's right," I smiled. "You're welcome, Robin." I smiled meekly at him and whistled to Prince. He raised his head with his ears perked, before trotting over to me, his leadrope dragging on the ground beside him. I coiled his leadrope around my hand and led him to where Allen was standing with Comet. 

     "Is he ready yet?" Allen asked snarkily. 

     "Yes he's ready. You need to shape up Allen! Just because someone is a little confused about something, doesn't give you the right to get pissed at the world! Maybe he doesn't live and breathe horses like we do! Have you ever thought of that?" 

     "Jeez sorry. I didn't mean to make fun of your boyfriend." Allen huffed and shuffled off with Comet in tow. 

  I only shook my head and grabbed both Prince's and Reckless' leadropes, before following Allen to the barn. Barry and Maurice arrived in the barn only moments later. 

  Okay, Allen, can you get Mistic, Sheena, and Comet in crossties? I'll get Prince and Reckless taken care of."

     "Yes." 

     "Thanks man. You guys can start brushing down your horses while you're waiting." 

  I put Reckless and Prince in their separate crossties while Robin brushed Reckless. I marveled at how natural he looked while grooming Reckless. When I was younger, I used to be terrified of grooming Reckless until I was at least five years old. I guess that was just a childish habit though.

  I patted Reckless' nose and used a curry comb to get all the mud out of Prince's coat. Little pieces of caked on dirt fell from his fur like water droplets sliding off of an icicle. Small clouds of dust billowed off of his coat while the mud loosened up. 

  When we had all finished grooming our horses, I instructed them to get the saddles and saddle pads out of the tackroom from the saddlerack marked with their horse's name. 

  Allen and I adjusted the saddle pads and saddles so they were positioned between the withers and loins, and helped them all bridle their horses. 

  Robin had it the easiest of them all. Reckless accepted the Snaffle bit with ease, and lowered his head so Robin could get Reckless' ears between the browband and the crownpiece. 

     "There you go! Now buckle the throatlatch to the third hole and you're all set!" 

  I bridled Prince and hooked his reins around the horn of the saddle while I got his crossties undone. Allen and the other two unbuckled their horses and copied what I did with Prince's reins. 

     "Are we all ready for a fun and exciting day of trail riding?" 

  I got several "Yeps" and "you bets", and let them all mount their horses.

  We all set out from the barn with a new feeling of determination within us. In no time, they'd mustered up the confidence to enter a trotting pace. 

  We cantered the rest of the way to the canyons with a warm Oklahoma breeze, and nothing but the vast red plains surrounding us. 

Thanks for reading!:)

                                                                        ~~~**Peace and Love**~~~