My Second Chance

Chapter Sixteen

We didn't get any more sleep that night. We just sat on the stairs in silence. At the crack of dawn, Chloe got up to tend to the horses and I went to get changed. When we had finished all of the chores, Chloe said," Do you want to go for a ride? I need to go into town and get some food."

I nodded and ran to tack Ava up. I was so desperate to ride Buck but I knew that he needed to be backed properly before could try anything. We rode into the local town which was about three miles away from the farm. It was a beautiful little place but with everything that had happened in the last few hours, I wasn't bothered by anything. It was like Dad all over again. Although the funeral had only been a few days ago, I had gotten over it pretty quickly because if Buck, Ava and Chloe. But if this was like Dad, I wasn't going to let Chloe sell that farm. It was all I had left and I didn't want to loose it. We collected everything we needed from the little grocery. As we left, I began to fire questions at Chloe.

"So what do you think we should do about this situation?" I asked.

"I don't know," Chloe said," I really don't-"

But the she stopped and stared at something that was behind me. I turned around and saw a flyer:

Brighton Horse Race 2017
Monday 15th May
Prize: £100,000

I looked back at Chloe and she had a cheeky grin on her face. I stared at her for a few minutes before I said," You're crazy."

"Am I?" she asked," I could win that race. I could win it with Fly."

I gave her a confused look and she said," My black thoroughbred stallion. I rescued him several years ago and he's the fastest horse I have ever seen. He can run for miles without tiring and even then I can push him into a faster run. I am going to enter that race."

"The chances are you'll fall off and be killed," I cried," I can't let you."

"You don't have to," Chloe said," I'm going to enter for that race as soon as I get home!"

                                  ****

"I still don't like this idea," I said.

"Well, there's nothing you can do to make me change my mind," Chloe said," So you might as well go along with it."

I sighed and said," Well, can you train before the race. There's still three weeks."

Chloe laughed and said," I'll give you that much."

We spent most of the morning reserving her a place and looking up all of the other contestants. Most of them were professionals and had been racing since they were five or six years old. I swallowed as I caught sight of a huge bay stallion named Big And Fast. He was 19hh easily whereas Fly was quite small for a thoroughbred, around 16hh. The course was two miles and just a simple flat course. This would be easy for Fly because he often did cross-country with Chloe. After a little while, I got bored and decided that Buck was ready to be taken out. I tacked him and we walked out of the barn door. I decided to go up the secret path which led out onto the hills. I pushed Buck on and he responded immediately. We made it up to the top of the hill within half an hour and I let Buck gaze at the marvellous view.

"That's funny," I said to myself," This isn't where we went the other day."

I thought for a moment before shrugging it off and deciding that there was no harm in it. I took a look at the view before pushing Buck into a fast trot and we trotted across the hill. We trotted for a while before I wondered if I dared try a canter. I had cantered many times with Ava but never with Buck. I decided that it would be fine and pushed him into a slow canter. He tossed his head, wanting to go faster but I wouldn't let him. Suddenly, I heard something behind us. I turned around and coming out of the bushes was a fox. Then came several more and then even more. Buck was fully aware that they were there now and as soon as he felt the tension in my grip, he turned on his heels and ran in a flat out gallop. The foxes ran up behind him and snapped at his feet. I screamed.