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Chapter 4
She didn't expect anymore gifts that morning but as she awoke there was a horse riding helmet, boots and clothes all set up neatly on her coffee table, waiting for her. After getting over the initial awe of what he did, she thought about how he managed to get into her house. And worse, why wasn't she worried that he was there in the first place.
She remembered the spare key under the carpet and felt a little better, but it was Klaus he didn't mean her any harm. As she took a closer look, another letter presented itself underneath the helmet.
"Caroline, I hope you don't mind, I told the liberty of using your spare key, you know the one under the carpet mat? I would have left these things outside but they're quite expensive and well, we don't want anyone else running off with them do we. I hope you enjoy riding today, love. I will be thinking of you. Remember what happens in London, love Klaus"
It was the first time he had written 'love' in one of his letters, it took her aback slightly. Caroline didn't expect to read that word in his handwriting. His very first letter had 'love' on it but it wasn't the same, then it was a formality but now it seemed a little bit different, either that or she was over thinking the motive behind one word. She figured she was overreacting as she began putting on her new horse riding clothes.
She peered at herself in the mirror and smiled. A perfect fit, either he must have a very good judgement of her clothing size or he really was stalking her. Normally the idea of a stalker would freak a person out but Caroline didn't feel scared, she felt loved, she felt compassion.
"Morning Caroline" she jolted with shock, as her car began speaking to her. She looked around the car, but it was just her
"Hello?" she queried her Sat-nav, she shook her head, it was nothing. It must have been her own imagination, as she began driving to the Tower Bridge, the voice spoke again
"We're going to take a slight detour" her Sat-nav perked to life, showing a new route "Don't worry, I'll take you there" a little bit scared, Caroline followed the route as told; still unsure where the mysterious voice was coming from. She ended up at a barn like place; she could smell the strong country scent of manure. She wasn't a country bird and now she remembered why
"Caroline?" that typical British tang hit her hard, was this going to be the day that she met Klaus? She smiled as she began to turn, to be faced with something who wasn't him
"Oh hi, could you possibly tell me why I'm here?" the man gave a sweet grin and nodded
"You're here to have a few riding lessons, well I say lessons more like a summary of the basics. You know, how not to fall off and break your neck" Caroline faked a laugh, this guy was blunt. Talk about straight-to-the-point, thought Caroline as she follow this tall grey haired stranger. He took her into the stable, it was completely dark. Caroline sent a silent prayer; this is where I'm going to die isn't it? She thought solemnly to herself. The sound of horses grunting in the distance, gave her confidence, maybe he meant what he said.
"Take your pick"
"Sorry, take my pick of what exactly?" he opened the doors to let in light and there before her eyes, was a ray of horses. All different shapes, sizes and colours, they were all so beautiful. Her eyes scanned the row, searching for her horse, when a beige beauty struck her eye
"Her" the man nodded, walking over to the horse and unlocking the stable doors. Caroline watched as the tall mare, trotted over to her, its long blonde hair blowing in the breeze. She was truly something
"Lady"
"Yes?"
"No" the man gave a laugh, that made Caroline shiver "Her name is Lady". She stroked her long mane; letting Lady nuzzled the small of her neck. She traced the white patterns along her back as the man saddled her up.
"On you pop then, pet" she looked at him in confusion like he was speaking another language
"Me... Up there? Oh no, I like my feet on the ground"
"How are you supposed to have horse riding lessons, if you don't get on the horse, pet" the man chuckled "Klaus was right"
"He's spoken to you too?"
"Yes, Yes, Pet. He said you may be a little difficult" he laughed "Well actually he said, you've got your knickers sewn so tight that you're a little uptight"
"Oh he did, did he? Well I'll show him" she gave a forced smirk and clambered onto the horse, uptight, I'll show him flipping uptight. Before she knew it, the horse was moving and Caroline was gripping onto Lady's neck, like there was no tomorrow
"Now miss, you need to sit up straight and grab hold of the reign, nice and tight. That's it, pet" if he called her pet one more time, Caroline was going to rip his head off, that was when she got off the horse. She felt so vulnerable, sitting up there like she was on a pedestal. Eventually she was getting into it, taking every trot in her stride. She was only trotting up and down in the stable. It was all good, until the man said "Gallop, Lady"
"Pet, where you going? Stop!" Lady was galloping alright, galloping right out of the stable, into open grounds.
Caroline had her eyes closed so tightly, she held onto Lady's neck. Please, stop Lady she thought, hoping that she had a new found telepathic connection with horses. As the horse began to slow down she had hope, her eyes flickered; the wind was no longer brushing through her hair. Lady had stopped
"There there, love. Don't go wondering off now" the familiar voice struck her as she opened her eyes to see nothing but the emptiness of the stable grounds. She had hoped she'd see him, she longed to see Klaus now but still no lucky
"Caroline" the man puffed from behind her grabbing the reins "Are you alright?" she was still looking around the grounds, searching for him. There was nothing but green grass and blue skies. That strawberry blonde, handsome man she once thought of as a kind stranger was now no longer there
"Thank you" she whispered, hoping that if he was still there he would know that was meant for him. He saved her life, and for that she was thankful for
"No need to thank me pet, let's get you back in the stable" the man pulled the rein tight as he called Lady back to where they first started.
A few hours had passed and Caroline was now at the Bridge waiting for her next sign. He didn't say what she was doing, riding solo along the tower bridge wasn't much fun and frankly if that's all she was going to do, she wasn't looking forward to this challenge. The Bridge was busy, packed full of people; she didn't dare start walking so instead she hovered near the entrance.
It was strange, when she asked if she needed to bring Lady along with her, the man said no. Caroline thought the whole point of this challenge was to go horse-back riding along the tower bridge. That's what she was prepared for
"Hi, are you Caroline?" she stared at this petite blonde haired lady, staring up at her with a large smile on her face
"Yes, that's me"
"Oh good, he told me you'd be here. I'm Rebeka; I'm going take you on a tour of the high level walkways..." she could hear the young girl mumbling on about the history of the bridge and Victorian Engine room. All very important facts but Caroline was regretting wanting to thank Klaus, yes he saved her life, but he forgot to mention the bit where she had to have her feet way above the ground, once again.
She could see the girl looking at her, waiting for a response to something she must have asked
"Sorry, I didn't hear anything past 'high level'" the girl chuckled as she motioned for Caroline to follow her into the entrance of the bridge. She didn't know what made her do it but her head turned to look behind her and standing there was that strawberry blonde man, smiling at her and as she turned to look again, he was gone.
Was he really there or did she imagine it? As she began to catch up with Rebeka in front of her she wondered, maybe he really was with her after all?
It made no sense, he said he was busy but he was there to stop the horse and he was there again outside the bridge. Surely it would've been easier to just join her instead, thought Caroline. The workings of Klaus surprised her, he was different to other men she knew. Her previous boyfriends were strange but not as strange as Klaus.
She remembered her last boyfriend thought it was a good idea to re-gift presents, she wouldn't have minded but he would steal things that belonged to her and then present them to her. Why was she comparing him to her boyfriends? They weren't at that place and she doubted they would ever be. Thinking back to presents, she thought of how much this must be costing Klaus, the skydiving, the horse riding lessons, the new clothes, the London bridge tickets, it must all be costing him an awful lot of money.
And what was he gaining from all this? The satisfaction to see her do all the things he wished he could do? It confused her; the more she thought about the more she wondered 'why'
"Wow, this is high" choked Caroline as she almost grabbed the railings inside. It wasn't like she was in the open air; it was a little enclosed walkway that had glass floor to ceiling windows. If she wasn't so afraid of heights, she might have enjoyed the view. He certainly knew how to make her tremble, she needed to get her mind of the height
"So...have you met Klaus?"
"Well, yes. In fact, he's my brother"
© Ms Zola, Aug 2012
