Sorry, Sarah. I always liked you as a kid, but as I grew older and developed some writing skills it appeared that the persons I loved had to suffer the most. Will, you are warned.

'I'm leaving.' Finally, he said it. Not the answer anyone had counted one. 'I'm leaving Horseland.'

'What…?' said Sarah with tears in her eyes. The others girls seemed to be of capable of murdering the young man and Bailey was really pissed off. 'You're leaving? Because of me? Because of what I just said?'

'Of course not, Sarah,' Will sighed. He would love to give her a hug, but it had probably the wrong effect. 'Everyone, sit down for a moment, please.'

Without a word the girls and his cousin did as he said. Besides Sarahs sobbing the stable was dead silent.

'Chris Ederan, the owner of GreenFire, offered me an internship at his business so I could learn more about riding, horses and instructing. John thought it was a good idea and well…I have the same opinion. Jeni will be your instructor while I am away. '

'And for how long will that be?' Bailey asked, insulted that nobody had told him anything.

'Two years.'

Eyes shot up. Was Will serious? Would he leave Horseland for two whole years? A Horseland without Will seemed…well…incomplete.

'Two questions, cous. One: why didn't you tell use earlier? And two: why did you take the offer? This is Horseland, your home! I'm sure mum and dad would have loved to give you the training you wanted. Besides that your family is here, your friends are here. Everything that you know is here.'

'And that is exactly the point! I didn't tell you, because I knew you would react this way! I want to gain more experience and they offer it at GreenFire. There, they don't have six to ten riders who come everyday at the stable year after year. I can get my certificates there. I can…' Will stopped himself from talking. It wouldn't be fair to take out his frustration on the kids. He wanted to leave, but most reasons were caused by something he didn't want to tell them. That was something

between him, John and Ava Marie.

Now that he told everyone the truth (partly that is), Will felt a lot better, but Sarah was still sobbing. Poor girl. Will took her by the hands and leaded her away from the others so they could talk in private. At first, there was not much to say. Eventually she congratulated him with the internship and forced a smile.

'If you would have stayed…would you…?' Sarah asked hesitantly. Will shook his head, unsure what so say to the girl he really liked as friend, but nothing more. No. Just no. Maybe when they had been fourteen years old. At that time Sarah had stood a chance, but now…

She didn't wanted to cry, but couldn't help it. First, she tried to find some comfort in the arms of Will, but realised she wouldn't find any here. The girl run back to her friends, leaving Will alone in the tack room. Oh well, he had to polish the leather anyway. Bailey entered furiously.

'Man, what was that all about?!'

'What? The fact that I'm leaving on short notice or the hassle with Sarah?' Will answered cool.

'Ha…Both! Dammit, both! How could you do this to her? Nicest girl on Horseland and you reject her.'

'If you are interested, she is still single,' Will said while gathering the stuff he needed for polishing Johns saddle. Bailey stood there for a moment completely silent.

'Jerk!' He shouted. 'What the hell is wrong with you? You know what? You can stew in your own juices. Really, I thought you liked her.'

And with those words Bailey left the tack room as furious as when he entered. Will only sighted. Apparently, everyone had imagined that Sarah was his crush.

But had nobody noticed that he had formed a heartfelt relationship with a foxy redhead on a wild mare?

'I thought we would eat paella this evening?' John said when Will putt a bowl of pasta on the table. The blond young man showed a brief irritated face, but his voice was calm as usual.

'I didn't have the ingredients for paella,' he answered. He walked back to the kitchen to get some glasses and water for everybody. Outside it was getting dark pretty fast. Grey clouds were chasing trough the sky. A storm was coming.

'It was your job to go shopping for groceries today,' Ava Marie said.

'I was occupied by Jeni's arrival and some other things which were more important than grocery shopping. I will go tomorrow,' Will promised. Ava didn't say anything, except something about a tasteless meal.

While pushing the meat ball back and forward Will made a list in his head for the chores of this evening. Dishes of course. And laundry. More leather polishing and cleaning the tack room. Ava added a leaking tap. It was already eight o'clock. Will didn't feel much for an all-nighter.

'Care to help me with the tack room, Bailey?' Will asked. His younger cousin hadn't said a word to him since the events earlier today. Knowing Bailey, he was still angry.

'Bailey has more than enough homework to do,' Ava said. Not true. Tomorrow it would be Wednesday and the only homework the boy could have was some math, his best subject. 'You can handle it yourself, Will Taggert. It's not that much.'

'He also has to gather his stuff,' John said. 'Would be nice to use the attic for storage again.'

'It already is,' Will mumbled.

'Hmm?'

'Nothing,' said Will and he quickly took another bite of his dinner.

'He doesn't need that much stuff at GreenFire. If they want him that bad as intern they can arrange his tack too. We already have to pay for the flight ticket for you and Jimber.'

'Can't you send some of my stuff to GreenFire by mail?' Will mooted.

'If that griper Chris pays for it, it's fine by me.' Will didn't dare to share his opinion about "gripers" and "riding school owners", but Chris was not that kind of person.

Bailey had enough about the whole table conservation. He stood up and went to his room.

'Bailey!' John called after him.

'I think that he is upset about the sudden changes,' Will said.

'Are you his mother?!' Ava sneered.

'No, but…'

'Than don't interfere with things you don't know anything about. It's you fault the boy is upset and, as usual, John and I have to clean up your mess!'

And with those words Ava followed her son. John put away his bowl of pasta. On his mobile phone Will saw the app for the pizza delivery service.

'Get to your chores, boy,' he said before leaving the room. Will took the dirty dishes back to the kitchen. The cutlery clattered in the sink. One week. One damn week until he would be released of those two.

Question for the readers:

I have a bit of a problem with the chronological order of the story. I want to see Will and his arrival at GreenFire, but at the same time I would like to tell you what happened when the animal stunt crew was at Horseland. (The story started in the middle as you might have noticed :-) )

In the first situation I would have countless of flash backs and a lot of explaining to do to make any sense. This really slows down the pace of the story. The second option promises a more chronological storyline, but yeah...I've already done that a few times.

So what are your thoughts as reader/writer?

Kind regards,

Idelle (Marieke)