ONE WEEK PRIOR
Flora burst through the door of the professor's office, her school bag draped over her slim shoulder, and a paper flying in one of her hands. Luke sped in after her, his facial features tightened in a slight frustration as he ran.
Professor Layton sat in his chair, a cup of black English breakfast tea in hand. He set it down on the pewter platter as Flora rushed up to him with the flyer, her arm extended so as to push the paper in to his face.
"Oh my, what has you so excited?" Hershel reached out to take the sheet of paper and examine it.
"It's- it's a horse show! Here in London!" Flora beamed, "The National championships for showjumping!"
The professor looked perplexed, gaze switching to the two youngsters in his midst. "A horse show?"
"Please professor? My birthday's coming up, you know how much Luke and I love animals!" Flora tried to persuade the professor.
Layton looked at Luke, trying to discern what the lad thought. He didn't seem as excited as Flora, but he did pipe up "I've never seen a real horse up close. I'd like to meet one."
The professor nodded, looking at the sheet. He had his own curiousity regarding the equine species. Layton rubbed his chin holding the paper up, they were remarkable creatures, especially when it came to athleticism. He had seen dressage and racing, but showjumping must have been quite the spectacle. Finally, he smiled and turned to the two, setting the paper down. "All right, we'll go to the horse show this weekend."
THAT DAY
"This isn't my beautiful Saschel!" Her voice rang out through the stables. All the grooms and riders turned to look as the young woman screamed, her arms folded across her chest, black hair pinned back in a pony tail with a red ribbon. "In fact, NONE of these horses are in the right stalls!"
The Professor stood, in curiousity as well. Looking on as the young woman glared at the frantic stablemaster. He looked down at look, opening the suggestion of solving the little presented to them by her plight. Luke caught the professor's eyes, and grinned.
"Leave it to me Professor!" The young boy in blue jogged right up to the girl.
PUZZLE 001 - WRONG STALLS
There are four horse stalls in a row, each stall is labeled with a number and a horse's name
01 - Saschel
02 - Temporari
03 - Kandell
04 - Tazzy
05 - Scandal
06 - Regaletine
07 - Barista
There are seven horses, a Chestnut stallion, a Black stallion, a Palomino mare, a chestnut mare, a chestnut gelding, a bay gelding and a grey gelding
Here are the rules;
A stallion and mare can not be next to one another
Two stallions can not be next to one another.
No two horses of the same color can be next to each other
No bay horse has a name beginning with an S or a T
"Aha!" Luke pointed to the stalls "There! Nothing fools Layton's apprentice!"
"Oh, you two.. Thankyou so much for putting my horse back in his proper place, I was worried for a second there." A young blonde woman stood before the two, a small smile on her crisp young features. Her horse had his head poking out of the stall's opening, his neck craned down and nose inches from the crook of the boy's neck, he let out a huge snort of hot air, spooking Luke. The lad jumped away with a yelp and rubbed his neck, eyeing the horse warily.
"He seems to like you - I'm Karen Venn, this is Regaletine. Though, he goes by Regal" The girl was of average height, probably in her late teens or early twenties. Her hair pinned up with the ends sticking out of the large the clip. Her bangs were long and hung on either side of her face, making a frame. Dressed in a Navy riding coat, with white breeches and a matching stock tie. Her tall black boots were pristine and free of any littering mud or grime.
Luke grinned and reached up to pet the horse on the nose. Hershel glanced to the boy as he laughed and made friends with the large animal. The professor himself smiled as well.
"My name is Professor Hershel Layton. This is Luke." He gestured to the boy who was giggling childishly, then, to the handsome chestnut stallion "He's quite the specimen. Just, what kind of horse is he?" The professor lifted the brim of his hat to better examine the horse.
Karen's gaze followed the professor's, "He's a warmblood, I think - actually, I can't be sure. You see, I have no idea where he's from. I rescued him in an abandoned barn in the countryside."
"Rescued him?" Luke looked up, sadness hinting in his eyes as the stallion licked the side of the boy's face playfully.
"Yes, he was in terrible condition, skinny as a rail and his hair was matted and gross. You wouldn't believe he was the same horse."
"Ah," The professor rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That's quite the story."
"It is, isn't it." Karen patted the stallion's neck as the horse watched the professor, Luke now using his sweater to whipe horse spit off of his cheeks. "I'm sort of nervous. This is our first time competing at this leve-"
"AHEEHEEHEEHA!" A sharp, nasally laughter burst through the barn and the Professor turned to look at the origin. Karen looked at her feet, her hands folding in front of her.
A black haired girl with a scarlet riding coat and tan breeches stood with the back of her hand covering her lips and a smug look in her eyes. "Oh don't be nervous little Karen, everyone knows my precious Saschel is the best horse here, he's going to beat every horse here, especially your little mutt."
"Hey!" Luke had whipped around, tiny hands folded in to tight fists, his cheeks flare pink and brows pinned down in a glare. "What makes you think you'll win!"
The Professor waved his hand at Luke slightly, hissing in a whisper "Luke! A true gentleman never yells at a lady." but Luke's arms folded across his chest, and he held his ground as the black haired woman spoke. The Professor maintained a stern look about him.
"Saschel is a supreme athlete, he's a purebred British Warmblood and his breeding is A-class. He's unbeatable - Everyone knows it." She folded her arms across her chest and half turned from them, "So sorry, but I have to be going now, I have to prepare a space in my cabinet for my new trophy - tootaloo!"
The black haired girl walked off to her end of the barn aisle, the professor and Luke returned their attention to Karen, who was still looking down.
"Ah." Luke stepped foreword, "Don't worry about what she says! I bet anything you'll win!" The boy's features tightened, and he held up a fist.
Layton watched the boy, whispering, "Now Luke, you shouldn't make bets." He looked back up to the girl, who still seemed disapointed.
"No, it's true. Lisette is right. Regal and I are the underdogs." She sighed, looking at the horse, who one might believe had a sympathetic appearence to him.
"Well that doesn't very well mean you'll lose." The professor smiled, "I'm sure you'll do your best, you've no reason to worry about what she says. We'll be rooting for you." The professor nodded.
Karen looked up, at first a bit stoic, but then smiled and nodded as well. "Thankyou, we'll do our best!"
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! TWO MINUTES FOR THE OPEN GRAND PRIX! TWO MINUTES!" The loudspeaker cracked throughout the arena and facility, echoing in the barn and the grooms and competitors rushed to finish preparing the mounts for the competition.
"Well, I'd best be going. It was a pleasure meeting you two, Professor, Luke. See you again!" She turned and darted off, looking over her shoulder to wave slightly at the two.
The Professor and Luke waved back, then looked at one another, the professor smiled, "Perhaps, we should take our seats?"
Luke beamed and nodded, "Mmhm!" He crossed his arms over his chest, and the two of them made their way to the stands.
Flora sat by two empty spaces in a center row near the aisle, she seemed worried and lonely, until the professor and Luke made their way up the steps to the stands. A smile finally found her features as they took their respective places beside her.
"There you are! Where have you been?" Chirping at the two, as the loudspeaker announced something.
"Sh!" Luke hissed, "There she is!" He pointed to the grassy arena below, among the jumps and obstacles was a young lady rider in a navy coat on a golden chestnut mount as they cantered towards the first jump.
PUZZLE 002 - PLACES PLACES
There are six riders in the competition. The rider numbers are 031, 072, 082, 125, 126, and 157.
The 2nd place rider's number is the difference of the 3rd and 4th place rider's numbers
The digits in the 3rd place rider's number adds up to 13
The digits in the first place rider's number has an odd sum
The 6th place rider has no odd digits in their number
Rider number 125 isn't in first or last place.
Rider number 031 is in fourth place.
So, what places did the riders receive?
"Yee haw! Lookit that professah! Look who they're giving the blue ribbon to!" Luke pointed excitedly over the railing. Flora tilted foreword and blinked, the Professor had his arms crossed over his chest as he did the same, straining to see the center of the arena.
"Ah. you're right Luke, it appears miss Venn did it." The professor smiled. Flora looked over at the two as Luke bobbed around excitedly for their new friends.
"Who?" Flora's soft voice squeaked and she looked to her friend and her mentor.
"A young lady we met earlier, her name is Karen Venn, her horse is Regaletine." The professor divulged.
"Ooohh." Flora clapped excitedly as a golden trophy was presented and a medal was placed around Karen's neck. Luke and the crowd were all ready at it.
The professor however was curiously fixated on the envious glare held by the second place rider; Lisette. "Hmmm.."
At the end of the festivities and the awards had been presented to the riders, the trio decided to return to the barn and congratulate their new friend.
..."REGAL!"
-NOTES-
PUZZLE 001 SOLUTION
Stall 01 - Saschel, black stallion
Stall 02 - Temporari, chestnut gelding
Stall 03 - Kandell, palomino mare
Stall 04 - Tazzy, chestnut mare
Stall 05 - Scandal, grey gelding
Stall 06 - Regaletine, chestnut stallion
Stall 07 - Barista, bay gelding
PUZZLE 002 SOLUTION
1st - Rider #072
2nd - Rider #126
3rd - Rider #157
4th - Rider #031
5th - Rider #125
6th - Rider #082
So far so good? Let me know. I'm writing purely for personal enjoyment but I figured, why not see how much better I can make it. So, some light criticism is welcome. I can be sensitive sometimes, probably not the best feature for a developing writer ): Oh well.
I intend to develope style a little more and make it less bland. Though, still striving to make it simple and pleasant like the games. Woot woot~!