No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle
"Yeah! Bullseye!"
Katie hit the circular red and white target. Her dart hit right in the center. Percy who was standing next to her, however, wasn't doing so well. They had three tries but only one of his darts even hit the shield.
"Congrats, missy," The man standing at the booth said. He was looking amused at the beaming Katie and sulking Percy. "What would you like?"
"That yo-yo." She pointed at the red plastic object among all the plush toys. When the man handed the prize to her they walked away not to block the line and let the others waiting have their tries.
"Well, that was a waste of five bucks," Percy grumbled as Katie already started playing with her yo-yo.
After their little car chase, the two of them stayed at the treehouse a few minutes more just to make sure the police was gone. Then they took all 32 horses back to the stable. The horses for some mysterious reason were very fond of Percy. The kids expressed their gratitude to Steadfast for saving their butts by giving him an apple. For a horse, it was like a dessert for breakfast. Katie then decided that Percy should meet her father. And that's how they ended up at a carnival.
"Not my fault you have a sucky aim," Katie laughed. She was smiling so widely her dimples popped up. For others, it would be a sign of joy. For Percy, they meant pure evil.
He rolled his eyes. "So where is your father?"
They were interrupted by a loud cheer of a crowd of people. She ran up to that direction motioning for him to follow her. They reached a wooden fence the crowd was surrounding. The eight-year-olds were too short to really see anything so they had to hop on the wooden bars. Inside the ring, a powerful bull was going crazy. Dust was flying everywhere because of the bull's rapid movements. It was kicking its limbs in all directions and jumping as if it was being electrocuted. All to get the man riding it off its back. It was a rodeo.
"That's my daddy!" Katie yelled out excitedly.
It didn't take three seconds for the bull to violently shake off the man. At the same moment as Katie's dad hit the ground a few people quickly lead the bull back to his fence. The crowd cheered again. Percy didn't know why. He voiced his musings.
"What's the big deal? Doesn't it mean that he lost if he falls?"
"No," Katie said offended her dimples finally disappearing. "You can't hold on to a bull forever. It's the score! My dad stayed on that bull for over 9 seconds. See!" She pointed at the timekeeper. It said 9.23 seconds. "That means he won." To tell you the truth the rodeo scoring system was a lot more complex but Katie's explanation should be enough.
"Well, that beast did up a fight."
They turned around. There stood a man with a black cowboy hat on his salt and pepper hair. His clothes were all covered in dirt after being thrown to the ground.
"Daddy!" The girl exclaimed. She hopped off the bars of the fence and run up to the man dragging Percy along. "This is Percy! He is staying over."
The man was used to his daughter's demanding nature. She never asked for permission. She stated facts. He smiled down at them making his wrinkles deepen. "As long as he's up to some horse riding. Calvin Gardner, at your service!"
"Percy Jackson." The boy gave Calvin a firm handshake which satisfied the man. He believed that by a simple handshake you can tell how strong is your personality.
"Don't listen to him." Katie jabbed a finger towards her father. "He always takes people for a ride to see if they are worthy or something."
"It's a tradition!"
Calvin Gardner was actually quite a superstitious person. He was convinced that animals - horses specifically - were spiritual beings. That they had a soul of their own. He believes that his precious steeds are drawn to good people so he likes to introduce newcomers to the horses to see how they will behave around those people. That method hasn't failed him yet.
Ever since he was born he always lived on a farm. His family used to grow all kinds of plants and flowers. He himself used to be quite passionate about that. But then he met a woman who was equally maybe even more fascinated by nature. They hit it off instantly. Life with her beside him from then on was just more lively and colorful. But then he found out about her true identity and she explained to him why she couldn't stay with him and their newborn child.
Demeter was truly one of a kind. That's probably why he quit farming and decided on taking care of horses instead. All those flowers and generally the activity he did for a living reminded him of the happy times spent with the goddess and that they could never be together.
They were walking back to Gardner's household. It was a classy wooden house with a small lake nearby. It had two stories and an attic. The living room, the kitchen and a room where they stored the horse riding equipment was located on the first floor. The bedrooms, bathroom, balcony and 's little office was on the second floor. Now the attic was where Katie resided. Well, one-fourth of the attic was a little storage where they put things you usually keep in your attic. But the rest was all Katie's room.
"Calvin!" They heard a cheerful greeting. It was a man most likely in his fifties sitting on a swinging bench. He had a thick southern accent. "Ah, and little miss Gardner. I see you brought a friend."
"I wouldn't go far as calling him my friend." Katie propped up on the railing on the porch. "More like stray."
Percy stuck out his tongue at her. The old man laughed at that.
"Where were you, Joe! I was just competing in the rodeo!" Katie's dad said to his old friend.
"I had more important things to do than see you get trampled by some savage beast."
"That's Uncle Joe," Katie told Percy when the two men started bickering. "He's not really my uncle but he was married to my auntie once. But then they split and she moved out of Texas but Uncle Joe is still a family friend."
"Alright, alright," Calvin said to stop this nonsense arguing. "You can make it up to me by saddling up two of my fastest steeds."
"Oh, don't tell me," Joe pinched the bridge of his nose. "you wanna take the kid for one of those rides, you fool. He probably never rode a foal. Have you ever rode a horse, young man?"
"Well, there was this one time," Percy started to say but was interrupted by Katie who elbowed him in the ribs.
"He'll do great!" Calvin patted the boy on the back. "I can feel it."
"Oh boy, you be thankful your wife ain't here! She wouldn't have liked that," Uncle Joe said to Katie's dad who was making his way to the stable. He then added to himself. "Wives. I'm always thankful they ain't here."
~xXx~
They ended up saddling three horses - Calvin's trusty mare Domino, she was a black horse with white markings. Oakley, another mare which Percy will be riding on and Steadfast. Katie decided to join them.
"Remember my instructions, kid?" asked.
"Turn left, tug left and turn right, tug right?" Percy summed up as he stroke the chestnut horse's neck. The man laughed. He has explained how to ride in a bit more in-depth and detailed way but the boy pretty much fit it in one sentence.
"Alright, you ready kids?!" He didn't wait for an answer. He and Domino ran off leaving dust behind and thus starting the race.
Percy did not expect that to be so exhilarating. Back when he was on the run with Katie on Steadfast he was a too busy holding on for dear life and worrying that he soon is going to end up behind bars to really enjoy the thrill of horse riding. He was hunched over Oakley's back. His legs were clutching the animal's torso around the saddle. The wind was blowing. But it wasn't like sticking out your head out the car window. It was way better. He felt the pleasantly cold wind on his entire body. The sound of galloping hooves was also strangely satisfying.
They were running through an open space feeling free and wild. Domino and her rider were most of the time ahead of them but Katie and Percy were also speeding up. Katie was crying out shouts of joy and excitement. Percy also couldn't help it when they galloped through the lake water splashing everywhere making all of them wet. They were laughing the whole time on their way back.
~xXx~
It was evening and after having a big dinner all four of them sat down at a campfire.
After the ride, Calvin was happy to say that his daughter's new friend past his little test and deemed him trustworthy. At first, he was kind of wary of that boy. The fact that this strange kid with no parents around was hanging out with his daughter wasn't comforting. Oakley and other steeds treated the boy as if he was one them. Maybe even something above that. Which didn't happen often. He smiled fondly at the two kids laughing at a story Joe was telling them. Who knows? Maybe it's one of those lifetime friendships, Calvin thought.
"Joe, don't you think those rascals would rather go to bed now than listen to your exaggerated lies?" The man interrupted the oh so fascinating story about Joe taking down singlehandedly an oversized lizard that apparently spits acid.
"Why, those ain't no lies, my friend." Uncle Joe looked offended. "But you're right about one thing. It sure is bedtime, kids."
"Oh, but can't we just-" Katie started.
"Katie." Her dad warned. "I'm not going to have this conversation with you. Again."
She sighed. The two eight-year-olds exchanged a look and grudgingly stood up and headed to the attic.
It was very cozy. There was a clap door on the floor on the left side of the room. A wardrobe right next to it. A bay window on the other side of the room where you can sit on comfy cushions with a view out the window. Two bookstands were at either side of it. Beside a big bed and a desk, there was also a hammock hanging under a window that was on the tilted roof.
"You're taking the hammock," Katie said as she threw a pillow and a blanket Percy's face who barely caught it.
When he laid down he had a perfect view of the stars. He has never seen so many at once. You can't really stargaze at New York...
"Hey, Katie!" He whisper-yelled. She didn't budge. "Katie! Katie! Katie!" Still nothing. "Dimples!"
"What!" She snapped.
"Goodnight." He smiled innocently. She threw a pillow at him. "Ow."
That was a 'calm before the storm' kind of chapter. Or should I say 'fluff before the shit's going down' chapter?
Okay, so I didn't want to make Katie's dad all worried and have an interrogation and threaten Percy like 'who is this kid?', 'no funny business, young man', 'don't you mess with my little girl'. I wanted for him to give Percy his trust so I made him a super horse geek.
Next chapter: Percy will make Katie join the dark side.
Until my return.
Goodbye, fellow demigods.