The Summer Of My Life

Chapter 4

The next two days were sort of a warming-up phase. In the first two lessons, I once again had Molly, and Molly was okay as long as you didn't want to achieve higher goals.

My old riding knowledge slowly returned, and I tried things out with Molly when Therry wasn't looking. I sometimes succeeded, sometimes Molly succeeded with her pighead. In fourth lesson, I got another horse, Bobby. He was, despite his name, very energetic and finally someone willing to work. He was a bit cumbersome, but it was by far better than anything I ever had with Molly. Therry almost spit out the apple she was eating as Bobby and I cantered on the circle and suddenly we did a flying change.

I had to make excuses and put it onto Bobby doing it on his own, as she was close to putting me into another group. And still, she didn't look very convinced.

After the lesson, Fran and Kiki decided that I needed to know more about horses. They had no clue that I actually knew a lot, since we mostly rode parallel, and no one really came to watch the dwarfs ride.

"So, coat colours." The three of us hung on a fence, overlooking the paddock of the foals five minutes walking time from the stud away, parted by a little forest.

Kiki threw Fran a glance, Fran nodding as a reply. Suddenly slipping through the fence, I looked at them befuddled, making them grin and wave at me to come. "And I thought that was-." "It is." "Oh." I slipped through under the fence, entering forbidden territory.

"So, this is: chestnut. Easy to be detected by the brown coat without any black hair. The mane and tail are either same colour or lighter. Over there: gray, well dapple gray. Discoverable by the dark feet but rest coat rather white with those gray dapples."

We went through every single foal. But I did learn some things I didn't know.

Later on, we sat on our raised hide again, talking about some things after Kiki showed me some things in a big fat book she had carried with her.

"You won't believe it, Ele. Our lesson before, Inge had to go into the city so Lee led our lesson. The barbies, I swear, suddenly they didn't even know how to saddle a horse anymore." I laughed quietly, shaking my head as the sun set and made everything warm for the last time this day.

"Who is Lee again?" Fran leaned back, sighing softly. "Inge's son, the youngest one of the three siblings. Theresa, you know her, the middle one is Anna and the youngest one is Lee, a.k.a. Levi." Kiki nodded. "Dark brown hair, doesn't look bad I suppose, about this tall, well, rides." She rolled her eyes while Fran continued. "He's away for university this year for the first time, it's kind of something he really fought for, as Inge more planned him to stay and help, but with his Dad, he convinced his mom to let him go. He usually comes back on weekends, but well, today was kind of an emergency I think." "And university ends in a week." I nodded progressing all of it.

"And trust me, in a week, hell will break loose."
And still, Kiki put it more than lightly.

~*~

It started with breakfast.

The three of us were as always the first and mostly undisturbed, but not so much this morning. I was, as always, engrossed in my bread and the sport part of the newspaper, as the first of the repeaters came down, styled thrice the amount they were styled before. We were really sticking out with our sweatpants and modest short sleeved T-shirts.

I noticed the aim pretty soon. Levi was supposed to arrive in half an hour.

With every passing second the repeaters got more annoying. Fran, Kiki and I were about to flee as Therry called me over.

"Ele, could you pretty pretty please drive with the tractor to the far east end of the paddocks, you know the foal paddock? Fran! Come here! You three, please bring those beams to the foal paddock. Thoirni managed to ruin a whole fence unit. Dad is just repairing it, but I can't bring it to him now, I need to get Lee."
"Will do, Therry, don't stress." Fran patted her shoulder, making Therry flee to the car.
"Another journey, what'cha say?" Kiki said, slapping my shoulder blade.

"Just wonderful." I commented, making them laugh.

We took off with the tractor, the shovel filled with wooden beams. As we arrived five minutes later, Hannes waved at us from far. "I need a new accu, this one's giving up. It should be on the table in the kitchen." He had accepted the fact of me driving a tractor and didn't give us a second look. I had to grin. I liked that.
"Alright!" I shouted back, quickly unloading the shovel as well as Fran and Kiki before heading back the way we came from. Slowing down as I came to a crossing, I laughed as Therry sped past me in the direction of the stud. Hearing the honk, I grinned and honked back before following them.

Arriving thirty seconds after them, I parked the tractor right next to the entrance and knocked onto the door, sticking my head in. "Therry?" "Yeah?" "Can I come in? I need the other accu." "Sure!" I quickly went in, more focused on where Therry's voice had come from than how it looked inside. I found her in the kitchen, seeing the accu immediately. "Thanks." Grabbing it, I jogged back, suddenly surrounded by a dog again. "Oh, hey you!" I patted its head before opening the door again. "See you later!" Turning around, I right out knocked into someone, making me stumble back.

"Oh, sorry!" Not even looking at my opponent, I took the last few steps to the tractor and got in again, rearing the engine. Turning around hurriedly, I grinned for the fact that I got off smoothly, heading out to the fields again.