Dance with Death

2

The next day Arabella showed up bright and early to the Shelby Parlor. She knocked on the door but the was no answer, so she waited outside by the door, shivering in her socks.

Tommy eventually came with Finn on his heels. Tommy flicked his cigarette to the ground.
"Good morning." Arabella politely said. Tommy nodded with a slight tip of his hat and so did Finn, with a small childish smile.
"Finn bring the car around." Tommy said and Finn went jogging in the other direction.

They all sat in the car. Finn driving and Tommy next to him. Arabella sat in the back seat catching glimpses of the shiny blades sewn into the front of their hats.

They arrived shortly, pulling up on the cobble ground. The lot stepped out of the car and walked to the stalls. Arabella looked at her surroundings. They were right by the water, the area was quiet, plenty of space for a horse to stretch out it's legs. They were about a 20 minute walk from town. And a 5 minute walk to Charlie's scrap yard.

As she got closer to the stalls she saw that it was a small, shack like building and there were two barn doors on either end of the structure. Tommy opened the first set of barn doors and Arabella entered with a look of joy in her eyes. She had missed being around animals. There were four stalls to one side and tools and such on the other. Only 3 of the stalls were occupied by Tommy's horses. One was a pitch black, which Arabella assumed was Tommy's personal horse, and the other two were a cream color and a tan color.
While Tommy opened the second set of barn doors, Finn was petting the tan colored horse. Arabella took this as her chance to show she was capable.

She took off her coat and hung it on a hook on the wall. Under her coat she wore a large white button up, with the sleeves rolled up just above her wrist. The bottom of her shirt tucked into a pair of trousers, a couple sizes too large for her, the legs were roller at the end, exposing her lace up riding boots.

She started by grabbing a bucket and scooping out the gold fish, swimming around in the horses water. She then picked up the the horses buckets of drink water and dragged them across the floor, taking them outside and dumping the dirty water. Good thing that the buckets were practically empty, or else the poor small girl would have not had a chance picking them up.

Tommy and Finn stared at the girl, surprised by her ability to work in a stall.
Arabella pumped fresh water into the horses buckets and put the fish back in. She then finished by giving them fresh hay. She pat the cream colored horse on the nose as she ate. The horse gave out a loud breath, as a thank you.
"Impressive, didn't think someone of your stature would be able to do the morning routines." Tommy said tilting his head to the side to light his cigarette, cupping his hand over the flame, a small smirk on his face from his joke. Arabella could only smile as she pet the horse.
"Her names Spirit. Just got her. She's a jumpy one. Surprised she's even letting you pet her."

"Yeah, I tried to saddle her the other day and she almost reared me." Finn recalled how the nervous horse nearly killed him, with one of her deadly back kicks.
Arabella couldn't keep her eyes off the horse before her, a smile resting on her face.

"Right then Arabella. I want you to get on that horse." Tommy said, one hand in his pocket and one hand pointing his cigarette at the horse. Both Finn and Arabella shot their heads up at him. They looked at him like he was crazy.
"What?" They both said at the same time.

"She'll get bucked off before she could even get both legs around her." Finn outbursts. He knew that a nervous horse and an inexperienced rider could be fatal. Tommy gave him a stern look and Finn shut his mouth and looked down at his feet, regretting his outburst. Arabella took a deep breath.
"It's alright. I'll ride her." She said.

Arabella had gotten the strap situated on the horses head.
"I'll get the saddle" Finn said and quickly picked up one of the many saddles. Once the horse caught a glimpse of the saddle she began to look around nervously. Arabella kept her eyes on the horse and it's behavior. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"No it's alright, I won't be needing it." She softly spoke. Finn shared a look with Tommy saying 'you can't let her do this'. Tommy only side glanced him and looked back at the curly haired girl.

Since Arabella was short and there was no saddle to help her get onto the horse, she found herself climbing onto the wooden fence that separates the stalls. Tommy and Finn watched bemused as the girl hopped onto fence. She stayed crouched on the fence for a second like a cat. She contemplated her chances of getting bucked, before slowly slipping one leg over one side of the horse, slowly letting go of the fence and letting her other leg fall to the horses side. She quickly adjusted her self so she was perfectly balanced on the horses back. She grabbed a hold of the horses head gear, getting a positive nod from the horse. Arabella let out a shaky breath before beaming a smile at Finn and Tommy. Finn looked shocked, while Tommy had a hint of a smile on his face with a look of approval. Finn opened the stall doors and the horse calmly walked out with Arabella on its back, a soft proud smile on her face.

She looked oddly graceful and powerful sitting on top of the all white horse, riding it bareback. She turned the horse towards Tommy and looked at him for his approval. Tommy nodded in approval.

"Now Finn get on a horse." Tommy said looking down as he took out a cigarette.
"Why?" Finn asked off guard. Tommy looked at him as if he was an idiot.
"To race her of course." Tommy placed a cigarette in his mouth.

Finn and Arabella sat on their horses side by side in the field next to the barn. Charlie and Curly came from the scarp yard to watch the race.

"GO"

The pair took off down the field. At first Finn took the lead as he was already accustomed to his horse. Arabella was close behind, still adjusting to riding an unfamiliar horse. Finn was the first to reach the large oak tree, with Arabella hot on his tail. As the two races back Arabella quickly took the lead and won the race with no hesitation.
"Who is she?" Charlie asked as the two slowly walked their horses their way.
"That, uncle Charlie, is our new holster." Tommy said pointing his cigarette at the girl. She rode in a circle letting the horse walk off the race. An intense look on the girls doll like face, as the adrenaline died down.

The two riders came to a slow in front of the audience watching. Tommy looked up to meet Arabella's intense dark eyes, with his piercing blue ones.

"Welcome to The Shelby Company Limited, Arabella." Tommy said. The girls face lit up. Finn hopped off his horse heading towards her.

"Good race." Finn said looking up at her. Arabella attempts to hop off her horse and hope for the best since she didn't have a saddle to help herself off. Finn saw her struggle and instinctively grabbed her small frame, by her waist and gently put her on the ground. Arabella couldn't help the blush on her cheeks as she shyly smiled.
"Thanks." She said her eyes never leaving Finn's face.
"My pleasure." Finn quietly said, the blush on his face giving him away.

"Come on Finn. Keep it in your pants." Tommy said mumbling the last part, but everyone still heard. Finn's hands, that were still somehow on the girls  waist, shot behind his back. He glanced between Tommy and Arabella a couple times in embarrassment, before throwing the doll like girl one last look and running after Tommy.

The tan girl watched their backs as they walked towards the car. Tommy then turned around.
"Arabella are you coming or not?" Tommy asked half heartedly. Excitement filled Arabella's body, as she nodded happily. She looked back at the horses she has to put back.

"That's alright miss. We'll put the horses away." Curly said with a kind smile. Arabella timidly smiled and gave a nod as a thank you, before she started running towards Finn, who waited for her.
Charlie chuckled.

"When was the last time we've seen little Finn that happy?" Charlie said looking over at Curly who shrugged with a large grin on his face.