My Second Chance

Chapter Four

I saw Chloe's head pop up suddenly from the other side of the grey horse. She laughed at my expression and called to Ranger to leave me alone.

"Thanks," I said, my voice shaking as I kept a close eye on the big dog.

"What are you doing out here, I thought you were busy mooching around inside," she said. It was in an odd tone, not one that dug at me on a personal level, but not just a casual question.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped.

Ranger growled at me when he heard my harsh tone, but I ignored him.

I expected to hurt her, or at least surprise her, like I did with my old friends or my therapist, or the social workers, but to my surprise, she turned around and said in a cold, icy voice," Do not talk to me like that in my barn."

I scoffed. "Its not yours, its belongs to your parents."

"How would you know? You haven't even be here a whole day."

I let out a sarcastic laugh, but I didn't have an answer.

With a glare, she turned back to her horse and began strapping a saddle on his back. Of course, my anger faded almost instantly and I almost felt ashamed of the way I had spoken. After a few moments of awkward silence, I shuffled closer to the horse and said," So, what's your horse called?"

"Tommy," she said shortly.

She didn't look at me. I didn't mind, and I didn't blame her, but it felt as though she was pushing me away, and I was not used to that feeling. I sighed rather loudly and she looked at me. Her eyes locked onto mine for several moments before she approached me, as if she were going to hit me but then she pushed past me and walked around the the right. I didn't follow her, but her dogs did. All of them. I sighed again, knowing that I'd blown my first impression.

As I stood in the stable alone with Tommy quietly eating his hay, another horse, a mare, stuck her head over her stable door and sniffed my arm. I didn't realise that she was there until she nudged my arm, looking for a treat of some sort. I smiled and lifted my hand to stroked her muzzle. It was velvety soft and warm. She seemed to like me. I lifted my hand away from her muzzle and patted her neck. At that moment, Chloe came around the corner again and saw me stroking her horse. I jumped away, as if I wasn't allowed to touch them but she surprised me and said," I don't mind you touching them. Her name is Ava."

"She's lovely," I said kindly, turning around and patting her again," Is she yours?"

"Yes, all of the horses in here are mine," Chloe said as she slipped a bridle over Tommy's head, before she then said sarcastically," Oh, wait, no sorry, they belong to my parents."

I ignored the comment and said," How many do you have?"

"Sixteen mares, three gelding and a stallion," came the reply," And more are coming soon."

"Wow," I said, not knowing if there was any other word to say," That's a lot."

Chloe didn't reply, so I continued to pet Ava while she led Tommy towards the middle of the barn. She got him to stand by himself while she took a small run-up and did a frog-leap up onto his back, landing perfectly in the saddle and walked past me with him. I walked up to them and she stopped him next to me. It was at this point that I realised how big Tommy was and it made me slightly nervous.

"Look, Mum told me what happened with you and your brother, so why don't you choose a horse and I can show you how to ride," she said without looking down at me," Keep your mind off of things. You can choose any horse except the mares at the end of the stable. I'll see you in a couple of hours."

And with that, she left with all of her dogs running alongside. I watched her go and thought about her question. Why would she ask me something like that? I thought I made a horrible impression and she didn't like me. Maybe I was wrong. As much as I didn't say it, I really did want to have a good relationship with my cousin. Maybe deep down she wanted to be friendly with me. Or maybe her mother has talked to her and told her that she wanted her to befriend me so I would feel better about myself. I shook my head. Elizabeth would never do anything like that. She was one of those people who kept her thoughts and feelings to herself, but then again, I hardly knew these people. I gave Ava one last pat before walking off to meet all of the other horses.