What a wonderful summer day. I'd say probably the most perfect day to come to Arendelle Stables and muck.
The thought brought a smile to Holly's face as she scooped up the soiled shavings from an empty stall, transferring them to her wheelbarrow. Despite the fact that she was covered in dust and had straw poking out of her clothes and hair, she loved every bit of the seemingly disgusting chore. Once the barrow was full, she picked it up and carried it outside to the muck heap, enjoying the scenery on the way.
Arendelle Stables was an expansive horse farm that sat on rolling hillsides that were just far enough away from the city and suburbia. The many acres of Arendelle Stables were made up of fenced pastureland and fields and forests to ride through. Holly began her riding career here in her early teens and every last inch of it, she loved.
Because Holly's parents didn't see the use in paying for anything as frivolous as equestrian sports, Holly agreed to work in exchange for lessons. It kept her in her happy place, out of her parents' hair and was free labour for the stable so everyone was happy with the agreement. Every Tuesday and Thursday night and all day Saturday, Holly would happily work in exchange for a one-hour private lesson with her favourite guy in the world: a small Norwegian Fjord lovingly named Olaf. He was originally the owner's daughter's pony but since she outgrew him, his days were spent in the pasture or as the occasional beginner school horse. Since Holly was smaller in size and took an interest in him, he became her closest companion and her new training mount.
But there was no way she was going to get to spend time with him unless she got the barn cleaned out.
Holly began to whistle a tune as she busied herself with the rest of the stalls in the row. She was nearly done when she felt someone tap on her right shoulder. Knowing the trick, she looked over her left to see a well-built blonde boy smiling at her.
"Figured me out already?" Kristoff said with a disbelieving chuckle, also drawing one out of herself.
"It's not exactly the newest trick in the book, Kristoff."
"Ya I know," he confessed with an unapologetic smile, "I'm nearly ready to go, but you should come see Sven," he said with raised eyebrows. Kristoff was a regular at Arendelle Stables and was in the last Saturday group lesson, but his horse Sven was a border there.
"Alright," Holly said curiously with a shrug and followed him down the hall toward his horse's stall. Holly particularly liked Sven: he was a bay North Swedish Horse who despite his heavy build, was a gentle, carrot-loving sweetheart. He was the kind of horse you could always go see when you felt terrible and he'd lift your spirits with nothing more than a nuzzle and sniff.
Holly didn't even need to follow Kristoff all the way down to Sven's stall to see what he was referring to. Sven stood patiently in crossties and although it was late June, Kristoff had dressed him up in a Christmas headstall that sported a nice pair of antlers.
Sven was clearly not impressed.
Holly stifled a chuckle when she saw Sven and went over to him. "Aw Sven, what is Kristoff doing to you?"
"He's out to embarrass me," Sven seemed to say from behind her in a burly voice. Kristoff had taken to answering for his horse for nearly as long as she had known him. As nerdy as it was, Holly liked it in all its weirdness.
"Well he is a little odd-"
"Hey!" Kristoff chided as he crossed his arms and spent the next few moments glaring at her.
"I love how Sven is all of a sudden speechless. Ever though that he'd agree with me?" Holly said with a smirk.
Kristoff did nothing more than roll his eyes at the situation. She could see a retort building in his mind until their spat was derailed by a crisp 'hello' above a set of clopping hooves on concrete.
Turning toward the barn's entrance to the pastures, a red-headed girl not much taller than Holly strode in confidently with her warmblood gelding. "Hey Kristoff, Hey Holly," Anna chirped as she set her horse in crossties and bounded over to them, red braids flying behind her.
"Hello Anna," the pair said almost simultaneously, causing everyone to laugh.
"So what's the game plan?" Anna asked eagerly. Her and Kristoff's lesson was the last one of the day so they could do anything they pleased afterwards.
"Should we go on a hack?" Kristoff suggested followed by Sven shaking his head violently. You could practically read the horse's mind: I'm not going out in the fields in this getup.
Seeing poor Sven dressed like that, Anna turned to Kristoff with her hands on her hips. "What are you doing to that poor horse? Look at him!"
"That's what I said," Holly agreed. She and Anna got along very well and were relatively alike in appearance. The only thing that told them apart was Holly being shorter, slighter and having curly honey hair rather than red braids. Their alabaster freckled skin though was uncanny despite Holly sporting more sun spots from being outdoors.
"He's fine," Kristoff said trying to wave both girls off, "so would you wanna go? We could check out the construction so far on the cross-country course," he added excitedly.
Anna made a face and turned back to her horse a few feet away. "I can't, I'd love to. My sister's supposed to be 'keeping an eye on me'," Anna emphasized with air quotes, "while my parents are away. If we met in town, I probably could go because Elsa probably won't hang out here."
Holly had heard about Anna's sister Elsa. It wasn't much but enough to know that she didn't seem like a horse nut. She thought about Anna's offer to hang out in the city but since her parents were usually adamant about curfews for her and the car, she decided against it.
"I'd like to but I haven't ridden Olaf all week. Plus, you know what my parents are like," Holly answered brusquely. Successive nods from the pair answered that and they all went off to their work. Holly got back to the stall she was working on but she didn't notice Kristoff had followed her there until he leaned against the stall door.
"Can we still go for a trail ride afterwards? I wanna talk to you about something without Anna around," he asked placing his hand behind his head, just like every other time he felt awkward.
"Okay Kristoff, you know where to find me when you're done the lesson."
Holly had finished up her work not long after Kristoff and Anna's lesson started. Once all her equipment was tidied and put away, she walked out to the pastures to fetch Olaf for his evening feed. With a piercing whistle, she saw the return to her call via pricked ears in the pasture. Olaf let out a little whinny before trotting over towards the gate.
"Hello handsome. How's the one-and-only man in my life?" she cooed to him once he reached her. Immediately he nuzzled her pockets hunting for treats. With a chuckle, she clicked the lead line to his halter and opened up the gate. "No treats until after dinner," she said with a smile as she led him indoors and to his stall where a nice array of hay and sweet feed awaited him.
After he was settled in and happily snacking, Holly climbed up to the hayloft like she usually did to sit and think. The hayloft was her personal hiding place. It was no secret since everyone knew she was always up there, but everyone respected her attachment to the dust-filled room and left her be up there. Initially, her thoughts were about her life and its comings and goings, then it drifted to her last words with Kristoff. His secrecy was unlike him and confused her and made her worried. Her thoughts were cut short though by the arrival of the thought source himself not long afterward.
"You daydreaming up here again? I thought we were going out!" he whined once he reached the top of the ladder.
"Alright, alright just gimme a sec! I had to let Olaf eat dinner anyway. You gonna move so I can get down?" she asked with mock impatience before climbing back down the ladder to the barn floor and heading to the tack room. Holly had to walk by Anna to get there and noticed she was taking longer than usual to get her horse untacked. "Need some help?"
"No I'm okay, thanks though," Anna responded quietly. Holly noticed the dirt stains on her clothes and initially thought she was quiet because she took a tumble, but Anna was usually still peppy after falls. Holly furrowed her brow worriedly as she walked into the tack room, grabbed a saddlepad and bitless bridle and headed back out to Anna.
"You sure? You don't seem yourself," Holly said leaning up against the wall to look at her friend. Anna was a year or two younger but Holly understood her nearly as much as she did herself.
"I'll be fine, you two have fun," she said with a hollowness to her voice and immediately Holly understood. She took the saddle from her friend's arms and gave her a hug Once she set it down.
"It won't be a regular thing, it wouldn't be fun without you. Plus, we all know me: Kristoff is really not my type so we won't get all gushy on you. I bet someday you and Kristoff will have trail rides without me and it'll be more fun than ours," Holly said trying to reassure her without rambling too much. Her words brought a half-hearted smile to her face which made Holly feel like there was more to it than Anna was telling her.
"Thanks Holly, you always know the best things to say," she said with a hint of sadness still in her voice and turned to look at Kristoff leaning against the doorway, "Don't have too much fun without me."
"Never do!" Kristoff called back and patted Sven who he held patiently while Holly finished tacking up Olaf. Once she was ready, all three of them headed out the doorway of the barn which lead towards the pastures and the parking lot. Holly watched Anna check the lot and set her gaze on a small silver hatchback: her sister's car.
"If you want Anna, I can lead Kai out to his paddock and you could go ahead and go with your sister," Kristoff suggested.
"Would you? Thanks a million Kristoff!" Anna exclaimed happily and passed off the lead line to Kristoff while Holly took the opportunity to mount up. Once she was seated on Olaf's back, she waved goodbye to Anna as she jogged off toward the car. She was just about to ask Olaf to follow Sven and Kai when a voice stopped her short.
"Sis, you're filthy! I brought an extra pair of shoes but not clothes so you'll have to wait until we're home to get changed."
Holly turned to see a beautiful young woman around her age who must have been Elsa. She was taller with platinum blonde hair that made Holly double take. Anna had conveniently left out the part that her sister was drop dead gorgeous. Despite the fact that her clothing was more comfort based, she still looked stellar. Though Holly didn't care about that sort of thing. She spent most of her life in a barn anyway.
"Hey you coming or what?" Kristoff called out to her, already having put Kai away. With one last look, Holly shook herself out of her daze and turned to trot after him.