String of Fate

Chapter Eighty Three

I sat in the car, glaring at the scene before me. It should be a car garage with mechanics moving parts around and fixing motors, smelling of grease with the sound of drills. Instead, I was looking at a stable yard with small girls in jodhpurs walking horses around, the smell of what comes out of the back end of a horse, and the sound of neighing.

"Don't look so gloomy. It was either or school. At least this way you don't need to be stuck in a classroom while everyone else is off doing work experience." My mother said from the driver's seat. I turned my glare to her and she just laughed. "Get out there and do your work experience. You might actually enjoy it."

"I highly doubt that." I grumbled, opening the car door and grabbing my backpack before getting out of the car. I expected my mother to start up the car engine and reverse out of the space but she surprised me by getting out of the car. I stared at her. I did not need my mother to introduce me at my work experience. I was sixteen for crying out loud! Well, almost sixteen. "What are you doing?"

"Since I'm here now, I can say 'hello' to my little darling! I bet he's missed me all weekend." She spoke in a softer tone, clearly talking about her horse. She cared about that stupid animal way too much – and it was the reason why I was here. Working at the same place that she kept her giant poop machine wasn't ideal – or wanted at all. She zapped her keys to lock the car as she ambled to the stable that the horse was kept in. "Abi! Kieran is here for you. Make sure he's kept busy and pulls his weight."

"Good morning, Jean. I'll keep him busy." Abigail replied, poking her blond head out of a stable. She saw me looking and smiled. "Good morning, Kieran. You can come and give me a hand in here once you've hung your bag up in the tack room."

"Sure." I told her, holding back a sigh. Mother was partially right – this was better than being stuck at school. I dumped my backpack in the tack room, leaving it hanging on a previously empty hook before heading to the stable. I expected her to be empty in there considering how many horses were already out in the fields, but there was a horse in there, too. "Aren't they usually in the fields at this time of day?"

"Not him. Well, not until tomorrow. The field isn't ready yet." Abigail explained, fussing the head of the horse as she scraped the straw towards a pile she was making near a wall of the stable. Then, she held the shovel out to me, giving me a small smile. "You should make yourself useful and get all this dirty straws into the barrow. Then, I can show you the much heap."

"That sounds like a fun place when all the cool kids hang out." I commented, taking the shovel from her and quickly filling the wheelbarrow. I rested the shovel against the wall to the side of the stable door. When I looked Abigail, she had her head resting against the horses, her hand scratching under his chin. Her mouth was moving and, now that it was quiet, I could hear her singing very softly to the horse. Then, I noticed that the horse looked a little agitated. "Why does he look so stressed?"

"He doesn't like men." She explained, turning to me. I suddenly didn't like the idea that I was standing between the stallion and the outside world. I didn't realise that my face had changed, but Abigail laughed. "He'll be fine. Just head outside first and then I'll show you where the muck heap is."

Most of my morning was spent mucking out various stables. I noticed that, apart from the first stable, the rest were empty. I was glad that I didn't have to deal with more horses. Dealing with what came out of them was bad enough. In the afternoon, as we were carrying hay nets to one of the fields, Abigail's head tilted as she looked at me. "If you don't like horses, why did you work at a stables for work experience?"

"I wasn't meant to be coming here. I was meant to be going to a garage but at the last minute they said that they couldn't get to Health and Safety clearance with the school." I rambled as we crossed one of the unused fields to reach the horses. "Mum talked nice to the owner and I was given the choice between here or go back to school. Mum didn't really let me think about it, though, before she agreed to this."