All for One
By: Pop of Scarlet
"His name is Sean Dunavy," Carole whispered to Lisa, "Red told me his mother used to ride grand prix. He's supposed to be very good."
"That's crazy," Lisa replied, "the son of a grand prix rider, right here at Pine Hollow!"
The two girls peered from around the tack room door, watching Red speak to his Sean and his parents. He was giving the wealthy, well-groomed family a tour of the stable. The mother, Katherine Dunavy had a very serious commanding presence, despite her lacking stature and her husband Rex had a look of disdain in his eye as he surveyed the farm.
"I admit he's cute," Lisa said to Carole with a grin.
"Absolutely!" Carole squealed, squeezing her friend's hand.
"Sean Dunavy is not cute," Veronica diAngelo sniffed, coming around the corner behind Carole and Lisa, "And he would never even look at the two of you."
"What do you know about Sean Dunavy, Veronica?" Carole demanded.
"Nearly everything," Veronica replied snootily, "The Dunavy's have been family friends for years. They sold me Garnet, in fact."
"You've got to be kidding," Carole rolled her eyes.
"I'm not," Veronica smirked and flounced off.
"I wonder if the Dunavy's even like the stable," Lisa said to Carole, "Sean's father doesn't look so happy with it."
"He's probably just another clueless businessman," Carole observed, "It's really Katherine's decision."
The girls looked out from their discreet spot once again, only to find that Red and the Dunavy's were heading towards them.
"They're coming to the tack room!" Lisa gasped.
"Look busy," Carole hissed as she picked up Starlight's bridle to clean it.
Red led the family over the threshold to the tackroom, laughing cordially at a joke made by Rex Dunavy. He winked at Carole and Lisa, noticing their blushing faces. The girls turned away.
"This is our tackroom," Red said to the Dunavy's, "Saddle racks to your left and right, and the bridles hang on this wall straight ahead. Each rider is assigned a saddle rack, and each horse is given a bridle rack. It's a pretty basic system."
"Veronica," Katherine Dunavy noticed suddenly, walking towards the saddle rack with the name on it, "Is this Veronica diAngelo?"
"Yes, yes it is," Red nodded his head.
"How lovely," Katherine said, without any hint of true emotion, "The diAngelo's are lifelong friends of ours, yes Rex?"
Her husband nodded solemnly, "Yes, good man that diAngelo."
"And these are two of our other riders," Red smoothly changed the subject, to the horror of Carole and Lisa, "Carole, Lisa, this is grand prix rider Katherine Dunavy, her husband Rex, and their son Sean. They may be joining us here soon at Pine Hollow."
"Hi," the girls said sheepishly, both their faces flushing once again.
"Pleasure to meet you ladies," Rex said, with a cheesy smile. He extended his beefy arm and shook each girl's hand.
"Which horses do you girls have?" Katherine inquired.
"My horse is Starlight," Carole said proudly, "The buckskin three stalls down."
"Mmm, I see," Katherine cleared her throat and turned to Lisa, "And yours?"
"Well…I don't exactly own a horse," Lisa stammered, "But most of the time I work with Prancer."
"Prancer is that thoroughbred you had your eye on, Mrs. Dunavy," Red clarified.
"I see," Katherine said again.
Throughout the interaction between his family and the girls of Pine Hollow, Sean Dunavy stayed perfectly silent, his eyes wandering the tackroom. Carole and he made eye contact at one point, but he swiftly darted his eyes from her curious glance. Neither of his parents expected him to say a word, and it seemed like Red had grown used to the silence of the boy over the course of their tour, but Carole and Lisa couldn't help but wonder why he never said a word.
After a few more minutes of forced chit-chat, Red led the Dunavy family out to the outdoor arena where Max was teaching a riding lesson to a few of the younger riders. Carole's dad had come to pick her up, and Lisa remained in the stable.
Lisa was undyingly curious about the mysterious Sean Dunavy. He was a very handsome boy, and a very wealthy boy, but that was all that Lisa knew. It was all really anyone knew of him, well, except for Veronica.
"Oh, Prancer," Lisa let herself in to the stall of the chestnut mare, who nickered at her happily, "What do you think about that Sean Dunavy?"
Lisa heard a lighthearted chuckle from outside Prancer's stall; she looked up to see Red walking by at that very moment.
"You girls," he chuckled again.
Lisa was embarrassed, but managed a little giggle at herself for Red's sake. As the stablehand walked away, she sighed. She had to find out more about this Sean Dunavy.
