The Magic Lands

CHAPTER TEN • CARTER

Later that day I had my first army practice. I had asked Peter if he had a spare horse and I was in luck. His dad owned about five horses in the village. He told me I could ride one named Aviator and walked me over to his father's barn.

"Alright here he is, we call him Aviator because if he runs off on you, you're flying off." He stopped when he saw my face. "But, he rarely does, you'll be fine. He just spooks sometimes, that's all." He added in and I walked over to his stall. He turned to face me and rested his nose against the bars of the stall, allowing me to pet him. However when I made the move, he jerked away but then rested his nose on my hand on his own.

He had a grey colored coat, dappled with white specks. His eyes were a chocolate brown and he had a dark grey mane and tail. I went with Peter to find all of his tack and he and I got our horses ready. Aviator wasn't as hard to bridle and saddle as Valerie had been. Plus, Bax taught Katie and I how to tack up horses.

"Alright ready to go Carter?" Peter called to me as I grasped Aviator's reins.

"Yeah, lead the way." I responded and we led our horses out of his barn and to a large arena with other boys on horses. Most of them I recognized from Peter's group but a few of them were new to me.

"Ah, I see we have a new member. I am Mr. Harpin, you are?" He asked me. I spoke quietly, but just enough where he could hear me. "Well Carter, welcome to training. Now I want you two mounted and Peter will run you through the exercises." He said with his commanding voice and I went over to a set of steps to get on. Aviator danced a little, but I was able to get on before he trotted off at a slow pace.

Peter quickly came to join me. "Have you ever ridden before?" He asked and I shook my head. "Welp, first rule of riding is, don't fall off. Aviator can move around well but you have to do most of the work. I can help you along the way but you have to do your part, come on let's get a training bow and arrows." He trotted over standing up and down in his stirrups. I tryed doing the same but got bounced around.

He grabbed one bow with a small collection of arrows and tossed me another at a close distance I clumsy dropped it but caught it before it fell all the way down. It was just a basic wooden bow and the arrows, instead of having a sharp tip, they had a little piece of hard foam.

"Ok, so see what the others are doing? You a trying to hit the chest, head, back, or neck. Who ever gets 5 hits first wins." He said and filled me in on a little more about getting a horse to move. "Got it?" He asked and I nodded. "Alright, start in three, two, one!" He exclaimed and cantered his horse at a safe distance. I tried fiddling with my bow and arrow. but I felt a little tap on my forehead "One Point!" Peter called.

I cantered Aviator towards Peter and managed to release my arrow. It soared in the air before finding its way, luckily, on Peter's chest. "Nice job keep it up!" He said then when I wasn't paying attention he shot me again this time hitting my neck. "Second point for me!" He called out and I got my bow and arrow ready. But, by the time I got it to stay on there I had been shot 2 more times by Peter.

I finally got it in the arrow set and fired. It was a pretty good shot but just skimmed the top of his head. He cantered his horse and fired at me when doing so. I moved out of the way just in time but then once I tryed getting my weapon ready to fire he shot me again hitting me on the chest.

"Five points, I win. You have to be quicker than that Carter." He told me and I let out a sigh.

"I don't really think this is working out, with the bow and arrows. But I could use a bit more practice riding." I said and he nodded.

"I guess, keep practicing with your bow, you never know when you might need it." Peter said and I gave a small smile.

"Alright gentlemen, practice is over. Place your bows and arrows in the bins." Mr. Harpin called from the center of the arena. I trotted Aviator over still bouncing around on the saddle. He let out a little neigh as I tossed my training weapons into the bins. I really don't think this was any use, I mean I am terrible at riding and shooting.

I slipped off Aviator landing on the ground hard. I grabbed his reins and went over to Peter, who was standing with his horse, Jade. She called out to Aviator and he responded to her call. Peter and I walked back to his barn planning on when to schedule my riding lessons from him. I wasn't even entirely sure if I should even take more riding lessons.