"NO. Please don't." Amy repeated. "No. Leave me alone."
Ty raced into the guest room. The light from the hall streamed into the room, shedding light on her. He could clearly see her, sprawled out on top of the covers, she was sweating, struggling a bit, like she was restrained, breathing in pants. Standing next to her bed, he leaned over her, touched her shoulder lightly to wake her. "Amy. Wake up. You're dreaming." He said in a hushed even tone. He didn't want to startle or scare her.
"Don't touch me. Leave me alone." She hissed, recoiled away him, still locked away in her nightmare.
"Ames. It's me. Ty." He shook her shoulder ever so gently. "Wake up."
"Ty? Help me!" She implored, pulling him into her dream, still not conscious. "Ty. Make them go away. Tell them to leave me alone!"
"I'm here. Amy. You are dreaming. You're safe." He said tenderly, trying to wake her, reassure her. He lightly nudged her shoulder again.
Her eyes slowly opened, unfocused, then she blinked several times, took a deep breath.
"Ty? Where am I?" She said, still dazed, as she sat up. She drew the back of her hand across her forehead to push away the wisps of golden hair from her eyes.
"We're at Mrs. Bell's house, in her guest bedroom." He explained as he grasped her small hand, stroking it lightly, taking a seat on the bed, facing her.
She nodded. "Did they leave? Are they gone?" Still groggy, she tried to sort out reality.
"Who Amy?" Ty asked.
"I don't know who. Those men. Are they gone?" She asked, still hazy.
"Amy. Listen to me. Other than me, there aren't any men here. You were just dreaming." He said calmly, comforting her. "It's just you, me and Mrs. Bell." He explained, then looked toward the white haired woman standing in the doorway, the light from the hallway illuminating her and the silvery strands of hair. She looked as though she wore a halo.
"Mrs. Bell?" Amy asked, her voice cracked.
"Amy, honey. It's okay. I'm here." She said tenderly.
Amy smiled weakly.
"Tell you what. I have just the thing. I am going to make some nice herbal tea. Some peppermint and chamomile, perhaps?" She asked. "That will help."
She nodded, looked over her shoulder to Mrs. Bell. "Thanks."
"Here Ty." She handed a squirming Ruth to him. "Please hold her. I have tea to make."
Amy smiled seeing her puppy. "Ruth." She sighed, then taking the puppy from Ty, drew her close to her chest, folding around her, her hair falling forward making a curtain of sorts.
"Amy. That must have been some dream." Ty rubbed her shoulder.
Without looking up, she began. "It was awful. It seemed so real. I couldn't escape." She took a deep breath.
"Escape from what?"
"From them. I was taking a shower. The curtain somehow opened. Men were just standing there. In the bathroom. Right there. I tried to cover myself. They just stared, leering, then they started laughing. I yelled at them to leave. But they just came closer. There was no where to go. I was trapped." She was talking slow, her eyes closed, her voice shaky.
"That does sound awful," He reached to her, drew her hair away from her face, tucked it behind her ear. He touched her cheek, trying to comfort her. "But it was a dream. It's over now." He said calmly, masking his worry about her.
She nodded.
"Why do you think you dreamt that?"
She didn't respond.
"Wanna talk?"
She shrugged.
Just then, Mrs. Bell came into the room with a tray, with a china tea pot with a pink and green floral design and two matching tea cups.
"Here we go." She put the tray down, pour each a cup. "I brought honey and cream, if you need them." As she handed a cup to each, she saw their expressions, read the angst.
"Thank you Mrs. Bell."
"You are welcome dear." Then she looked directly at Ty. "Both of you need to drink up. Two cups each. I'll wait."
They did as she requested, downed two cups.
"Good." Then she advised. "Now remember. Listening is often the only thing required." She nodded at him. "Good night." She turned, walked away.
"Want some more tea?" He asked her.
"No thanks."
"I am gonna get some water. Want some?"
"Please."
"Sure. I'll be right back."
She played with Ruth, tickling her fat little tummy, rubbing her soft black ears. "How's my pretty little girl tonight?" She put her down on the quilt to let her explore a bit, turning her when she got too close to the edge. "You are a little adventurer, aren't you. No matter. I will always love you."
Ty stood at the doorway watching her play with the tiny setter. His gaze softened as she nuzzled her, kissed her and then encouraged her to explore some more.
"Hey." He said as he handed her a tall glass of water, her journal tucked under his arm.
"Thanks." She took a long sip of the cool water. "Boy. I was thirsty."
"Yeah. Me too." Taking a big swig, then chugging the rest of the glass. "Okay if I crawl in beside you?"
She nodded.
Sitting up, back against the headboard, he drew his arm around her shoulder pulling her closer. She leaned into his side, as Ruth snuggled into her lap.
"Penny for your thoughts." He said.
She shrugged her shoulder. "You first."
He inhaled, then exhaled. "I am glad that you wanted me to read your journal. You know. I didn't want to. At first." He shook his head.
"Figured."
"Yeah. But. It really opened my eyes. The tour. What it was like for you. It's not what I imagined."
"Oh?"
"It wasn't all parties, fancy restaurants, glamorous places and rich people."
"It really wasn't."
"You worked really hard, had really long days. All those competitions, the press. Plus, working with those other horses."
She nodded. "Yeah. It was as a lot of work. I was exhausted a lot."
"Your eye for horses was incredible. You picked winner every time." He cocked his head so he could catch her eye. "Amy. I am proud of you. Everything you set out to do, everything you accomplished."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Really."
"Thanks. That means a lot."
"Um. And. It was nice to read that you missed me."
"Of course I missed you." Amy replied. "You seemed surprised."
"I wasn't sure." He said honestly.
"I'm sorry that you thought that I didn't." Then she asked. "Did you miss me?"
"Yes. A lot." He quieted his voice. "I tried not to think about it though." He quieted his voice. "I tried to stay busy."
"Yeah. Me too." She whispered back, then sighed. "That part, the missing, was really hard."
"Yeah." He agreed.
They both sighed, pondered that possibility, then got lost in thought for a few moments. Ty said. "So. What's on your mind?"
She gathered her thoughts before she spoke. "Ty. I want you to know that being in Europe, going on tour, working with the team, the horses, most everything was incredible. I learned so much. I did change. I became more confident, more mature. I grew. I gained a better grasp of what is possible for me. Like you said, it was the chance of a life time. It shaped me, good and bad. But, I truly loved it."
He nodded, tried not to frown.
"I really loved traveling to new cities. Eating incredible foods, seeing beautiful places, stunning works of art, the history, the landmarks. Meeting new people. I like being treated with respect. I liked that people actually listened when I spoke."
"I can see that."
"And. I actually got paid, and paid well, for my work. Work that I love, that I am good at."
"You are extremely talented Amy."
"You know. Nobody expected me to work for free either."
He didn't respond, he only nodded.
"Its just not the life I want to lead."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I am sure. It was fun to do it once. But once is enough."
"Okay."
She scrunched her face, then continued. "But. For all the good parts, there were other parts too. Things that upset me. But, because I had a job to do, had a contract that bound me, I tried to forget about the bad stuff. Tried to not dwell on those things. Tried to move on best that I could. You know, focus on my job, the good parts."
"I get that."
"And, looking back I see that I wasn't always equipped to handle those certain situations. I see things now that I didn't then. Things seem add up now, that didn't then."
"Like what?"
She shrugged. "Sometime I would get this weird feeling. Like someone was watching me. Like I was being followed."
"How so?"
"I couldn't go anywhere without someone showing up, just coincidentally." She used her fingers to emphasize coincidentally. "Ahmed, Syed, or Adela would just show up out of the blue or do something for me like they knew what I was thinking, feeling, doing."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. The security guys made me feel very uncomfortable. This will sound strange. When they looked at me, it just felt like they knew my every thought, my every move." She paused.
"Tell me."
"Well. They had all those cameras...everywhere. I mean I used the video from the arena to review the horses but...it was more than that. It was like they were always watching me, listening in." She swallowed.
"What did you do?"
"Nothing really. Mostly I tried to ignore it."
"You didn't tell any one?"
"No. Who would I have told? Who would have believed me?"
"You could have told me."
She shook her head. "Um. They at least intercepted one of my texts to you."
"Amy. Are you talking about Abbott?"
She nodded. "You read that?"
"Yeah. I am sorry that happened. It must have been awfully hard."
"It was really hard. They saw me in my...um...underwear. I was horrified, embarrassed." She didn't look at him. "But. I got through it. It's okay."
"No, it's not okay. What he did was wrong. And it's probably illegal. He stole something important, precious from you."
"It's my fault. I shouldn't have..."
"Amy. It was not your fault. You did nothing wrong."
She considered, then disregarded his words. "Ty. Why didn't you say anything about the picture? Didn't you like it? Did I embarrass you?"
He pulled back so he could look at her, gently lifted her chin so her in the eyes. "Oh Amy. That picture of you was so beautiful. So incredible. Every picture of you is. But that one was..well.. it took my breath away."
"Then why? Why didn't you say anything?" She needed to know.
"Amy. I didn't know about it until I read your journal. Then I looked through my texts and found it. I don't know how I missed it." He tried to explain, tried to pull her into his arms. "I am sorry. Please forgive me."
She resisted slightly. "Delete it. Now. It's stupid. I don't know what I was thinking." She said firmly, tightly clenching her jaw.
"Amy. Its not stupid. It is beautiful. And. You were thinking that it was private between you and me." Seeing that she was getting upset, he added. "But, I will delete it. Right now if you like."
"Delete it. It only caused problems. I caused the whole stupid episode."
"Amy. Listen. You did not cause anything. You did nothing wrong." He tried to catch her eye. "He intercepted your text, stole your beautiful picture."
She didn't respond, she wouldn't look at him.
Then he asked. "Did you tell RCMP about this?"
She shook her head. "No. Not yet. But. I was planning on giving them my journal when you were done."
He nodded. "Did you tell Summer and the lawyers at UC?"
She was silent.
"Amy. I think this is important, it may be evidence in your case. The picture you took of Abbott's phone. Maybe even the picture on my phone."
She frowned.
"We have to make Ahmed take responsibility for this. He allowed this to happen."
She nodded. "Ahmed did take responsibility. He fired Abbott after he found out."
"Do you think that he didn't know before that? He didn't know what they were doing?" Ty was astonished.
"I don't know. When Ahmed saw the picture, he seemed so surprised and mad. Then he fired him."
"I can't imagine that Ahmed didn't know everything."
She sighed. "You're probably right."
"You know. Sometimes when you wrote that you had texted or called me, I checked my phone. Nothing. No text, no call. It's weird."
"Do you think when RCMP worked on our new phones, it got deleted?"
"Maybe. Or maybe someone was blocking our communication?"
They both fell silent, their conversation weighing on them.
After a few minutes passed, Ty confessed. "I still have some journal reading to do. Would like to read it together?"
"Okay."
"Good. I going to start where I left off. Maybe a little before do you can tell more about it. Okay?"
She nodded.
Then he began to read aloud.
Amy's Journal Day 107
This may be the second worst day of my life. The first being the day I found out mom died.
Amy sighed heavily.
"You sure you want to do this, you know, read it, together?" He asked.
She nodded.
The day started as a normal training day. I stayed late to work with Rein and Redmond in the inside arena. Afterwards, I watched the videos of the horses in the security office. When the cell phone sitting on the desk rang, I glanced at it. The call went to voicemail, I was shocked to see my picture light up as the screensaver. It was the picture with me in my underwear, the one that I texted Ty. It felt like my heart stopped, like I couldn't breath, like I was going to vomit.
He could feel her body tense up. "Keep going?"
She nodded, yes.
I didn't know to do. I had no idea whose phone it was or how they got that picture. So I called Adela to come get me. I was upset, crying, probably a bit incoherent. Then for some reason, I took a picture of the phone and that stupid screensaver.
When head of security, Abbott, came into the office looking for his phone, I confronted him. I told him that I had seen the picture. I asked him to remove it from his phone. He just laughed. Called me a stupid piece of Canadian ass.
Then, Ahmed and Ali, his personal security, arrived. Ahmed asked if I was okay, asked what had happened. I told him the situation. Abbott denied it.
Ahmed took Abbott's phone then called it from his own. When he saw the picture, he became visibly upset. He slammed the phone on the desk smashing it. He said something to Abbott in Arabic. Abbott didn't respond.
"See. Ahmed was so mad, he smashed the phone, yelled at him, fired him, then he apologized to me. I just thought it was Abbott. And the security guys in the barn." Amy explained.
"I can see where you'd think that." Then he added. "What do you think he said to him in Arabic?"
"I have no idea."
"What if he said to play along? Or that he'd protect him?" Ty said.
She sighed. "I guess anything is possible."
"I really think Ahmed knew." He sighed, then turned his attention back to the journal.
Then he fired him, told Ali to send him back to Saudi Arabia to face the consequences. Abbott begged him to reconsider but Ahmed ignored him. Then he told Ali to investigate, to scan the phones of all staff.
Ahmed apologized profusely to me, asked me if I was okay.
I said that I was. But, I couldn't look at him, I could hardly speak. I felt so ashamed, embarrassed, stupid, angry, everything emotion was coursing through me. I felt like my whole life was over. I wanted to crawl into hole and die.
Why did I take that stupid picture? Ty didn't even seem to care, didn't even mention it. All I could think was Lou telling me that she told me so, that I am so stupid, so naive. And, Adela telling me a lady would never do that. How could I have let this happen?
Ty whispered, "I am so sorry Amy."
She nodded again. "You know. I worked so hard to be professional, to work with the team, to earn their respect. This whole thing, this one stupid act, taking a stupid picture, wiped it all out in one second."
"It must have felt that way. But, Amy, it didn't. One event does not define you."
"I don't know. Maybe." Signaling that she was ready to go on.
Amy's Journal Day 108
I called in sick this morning. I felt physically ill, nauseous, achy, exhausted, had a headache. I felt like I had a bug or something. I felt bad enough calling in sick but because we were leaving for the UK, I felt doubly bad, guilty.
"You know. I just didn't want to face anyone. Especially the security guys. Especially Ahmed. I mean... my boss and my coworkers saw me in my underwear."
"That must have been really tough."
"Yeah. I felt stupid. I was so embarrassed."
"You had nothing to be embarrassed about. They were the ones in the wrong."
She shrugged.
No matter. Adela called to check on me at 7 and told me that Ahmed called a mandatory meeting at the chateau at 8. Despite still feeling bad, I went anyhow. Adela came with me, which was unusual.
When we got to the conference room, I was surprised and so happy to see Syed. Though had only been a week, it seemed like years. He said Bea was doing well, recovering after surgery to put a stent in her blocked artery so she was healing nicely.
After everyone gathered, Ahmed congratulated us on our latest successes. He went on to say that our competition was keen on knowing our methods and strategies and would push the boundaries to secure that information. Given that and our departure for London later, he said he was compelled to change and increase security precautions. Then he announced that the entire barn security team, Abbott, Feisal, and 4 others, had been replaced with a team highly trained for this specific purpose.
Then Ali, his personal security, then introduced Camil and Bahar, and six other men who were replacing the barn security. He also announced that random laptop and cell phone scans to check for suspicious content and spyware would be instituted. No one asked any questions, or even said a word.
"When he announced these changes to everyone, I felt embarrassed at first knowing the real reason. But when Ahmed made it seem like it was all routine because we were winning, I was immensely relieved. He didn't say a single thing about that picture. It seemed like he was trying to protect me." She explained.
Ty scrunched his brows. "I guess I can see that."
"Well. I thought so at least, at the time."
"Did the new team make you feel better?"
"I don't know. I was just glad that Abbott and his team were gone. I never really saw the new guys. They didn't hang around the barn much."
Ty took it all in. Amy signaled to keep reading.
Ahmed introduced Calla Toma, a young woman as my new training assistant. I was surprised, but not disappointed. I could certainly use the help with the horses, fences and equipment. He also said that Adela was going to now accompany me everywhere...guess I won't have any alone time except in bed. :( good thing that I like Adela.
By the time the meeting was over, I felt some better. I appreciated that Ahmed took my concerns seriously, acted quickly and removed Abbott and his team. But I must say that even though they are gone, I still have a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach, kinda like I am being watched. Hopefully that feeling will subside soon.
"You still felt watched?" He asked.
"It was always strange when Ahmed or Syed or someone would just pop up out of the blue. Or know something that I didn't tell them. It happened at Heartland too."
"In Hudson?"
"Yeah. Right before the Futurity Race, Ahmed told me that he was following me. Apparently he watched us working Charger."
"He was in the arena?"
"That's what he said. He told me that was why he wanted me to be their head trainer...because I never quit."
"Well you don't ever quit, especially when it comes to a horse." He asked. "But. Why didn't you say anything?"
"Aside from Charger, we weren't talking much at the time."
"Oh Amy." He took her hand, brought it to his lips, kissed it. "I am so sorry. I never meant to I hurt you. I really thought I was doing right for us, for our future."
She nodded. "We both keep hurting each other. I am sorry too." She sighed.
As he pulled her in closer, Ruth stretched legs out stiff as boards, rolled over in her lap, sighed, then fell back asleep, making them both laugh, breaking the tension.
Afterward, Calla, Adela and I headed to the barn, which seemed weird to have two shadows. Anyhow. Bella, Dr. Antar and I spent most of the time getting the horses ready for transport. Adela mostly sat in the sidelines talking or typing in her phone. She seemed rather irritated and snippy.
Calla, on the other hand, was friendly and terrific help. We worked side by side throughout the morning. Turns out, we're both twenty-two, both started riding at four, and have only one older sister. She seems to anticipate what needs to be done next. Think I am going enjoy working with her.
We are keeping the same line-up as the Belgium completion.
Ahmed - Emir
Hassan - Noble Cause
Omar - Winter's Snow
Jamal - Solstice
Malik - Zeus, Jameela
By noon, we had the horses loaded and ready to fly to London.
Our flight wasn't until four so the three of us planned to go home, rest and pack. As we were getting into the car, Ahmed asked to speak with me. He apologized again, asked me if I was okay. I said that I was fine. And I thank him for handling things. I told him that Calla seemed to be a good fit, helpful and appreciated.
Then I told him that as much as I like Adela, I didn't need or want a babysitter. He told me that I clearly had a mind of my own. And, surprisingly he reluctantly agreed. Adela will be happy. We both will.
The flight to London was quick, not much more than an hour. I didn't feel like chatting with anyone so I pretended to sleep.
The competition in London is being held this weekend at Greenwich Park, a spectacular venue for equestrian events and for riding in general. The park is a former hunting park in Greenwich, one of the largest green spaces, and located on the River Thames. Once we landed, Dr. Cairo, Calla, and I checked on the horses, who seemed to have made the flight without issue. Even Emir seemed to be unfazed. We hand walked the horses, then did a bit of lunge work around the a round pen just to give them an opportunity to stretch out the kinks, work their lungs after the flight. After a thorough brush, the horses got dinner.
It was well after nine when I got to the hotel, the De Vere Devonport House, a stately red brick Georgian built in the late 1700s. Per usual, Adela and I shared a suite. By the time I got here, she had already unpacked, ordered room service.
Talked briefly with Ty. He sounded good, but tired. He had an exam today, he thought he did well. Hearing his voice always makes me miss him more. :( I opted not to tell him about the picture. I didn't want to worry him. Plus, the issue is resolved.
"Ames. I really wish you had told me." He murmured.
"What would you have done? Besides worry?" She reasoned.
"Of course I'd worry. But I'd also try to be supportive. Let you know you weren't alone. That I love you." He offered, to which she nodded.
Amy's Journal Day 109
Early morning. Calla was already with the horses when I got to stalls at 5:00am. Given the two day competition tomorrow and Sunday, I opted to go easy on the horses and riders this morning. So after breakfast, each rider put their horse through a very short Liberty session and flatwork. No issues except a loose shoe on Zeus, which John fixed promptly.
We had a press conference at noon. Ahmed handled all the questions, including one concerning Redwood and why such an expensive horse wasn't at the competition. No pun intended, but Ahmed made some lame excuse. Haha.
He grinned at her.
"My own lame attempt at humor!" She laughed.
"I love to hear your laugh." He said quietly, then began again.
The afternoon was focused on each rider and horse through just one course of jumps. We made one correction with Jamal and Solstice. They were cutting the third turn too wide. So after mapping the route on paper, I had them walk the course a couple of times.
Funny. Afterward looking at the paper with the course charted, I thought of the Final Finale and Ty's pretzel. That seemed so very long ago.
"Really? You were following my pretzel methods?" He grinned at her.
"I learned from only the best!" She quipped back.
As a team, we went to dinner at Mosob Restaurant, a small, cozy place with Eritrean fare. Given that we had all the riders, grooms, Dr. Cairo, Adela, Calla and me, we pretty much took over the entire place. Eritrea, I learned is an eastern African country, which accounted for all the African artifacts on the walls. Anyhow, the chef suggested that we get a tasting menu so we had almost everything in the menu. My favorites were Azifa, lentils cooked in garlic, turmeric and chiles and Awaze Quluwa, lamb sautéed with onions, tomatoes and other spices. Just yum, I was so full.
"As you can tell, I still like to eat." Amy smiled.
"I see.
"The food in Europe was truly incredible. Thankfully the portions were not Heartland sized portions."
"Or so you say!" He grinned.
She laughed then bumped into his side. "Oh you." An impish smile formed on her lips. "I think you need a good tickling."
As her fingers made contact with his stomach, he gasped, grabbed both her wrists with one hand.
"Oh no you don't." He cautioned her with lightness in his voice.
He tried to tickle her back, but one of her hands wiggled loose, reached under his shirt and tickled his bare skin.
"Ha! Gotcha!" Amy laughed.
"Argh." Ty let out a half scream, half laugh making him sound like a little boy, causing both of them to crack up, fall together as they catch their breath.
Ruthie let out a whimper, almost a cry.
"Oh poor Ruthie. We woke you up!"
"She's not the only one. You two sure do make a lot of racket." Mrs. Bell stood at the door, hands on hips.
"Sorry Mrs. Bell." They said unison like scolded school children, their heads hung low in guilt.
"You two need to get some sleep. If not you, I certainly do." She told them.
"We're reading my journal Mrs. Bell." Amy explained.
"Hmm. We'll keep it down. I am going back to bed. Good night." She smirked, turned away.
Ty and Amy looked at each other trying to muffle their giggles. He started reading aloud again.
We headed back to the hotel early so we could get to bed early.
But, I stayed up and talked with Soraya for almost an hour. I reserved two tickets in the stands for her at Sunday's competition. I cannot wait to see her.
Amy's Journal Day 110
Clipped to the page was a business card for Patrick Little, Head Trainer for the Ireland Equestrian Team.
"Patrick Little?" Ty asked.
"Oh yeah. This is a crazy story. Keeping reading."
Syed was at the hotel at 5:25am. He seemed distracted as he pulled out into traffic and almost collided with a red double decker bus. He pulled over, after all the honking and yelling, and put his head on the steering wheel. After some prodding, he said Bea was not doing well. I asked how he was doing. He said, My Bea is my strength and my weakness.
Then he pulled backed into traffic and drove to the arena without another word. I could tell he needed his space so I gave it to him.
"I felt so bad for Syed. He missed his family so much. We talked about being away from the ones we loved."
"Missers' Club?"
"Yeah. You remembered." Amy was surprised.
"Do you think that distance makes the heart grow fonder or do you think it's out of sight, out of mind?" He queried.
"Hmm. Maybe a little of both. I suppose. I could not wait to see to you. But, it was hard to be away, so I tucked the missing part away." She wrinkled her nose, then asked him, not wanting to know. "You?"
"Both probably. I guess. Oh. I don't know." He rubbed his chin, tried again. "Amy. I missed you so much. And. I wanted you to come home but only if you wanted to. I guess I didn't know where you stood. On anything. So I tried to put you out of my mind. Just in case."
"Oh Ty. I was always planning on coming back to you and our life together." She frowned. "But. We both put the ranch and making money ahead of us. And. Our timing was awful. We didn't have time to work on us, resolve all that junk with Charger, before I left. Then everything when I came back. I am sorry. But I always was coming home to you. It's only ever been you."
"Our timing was awful. So it made things hard."
They both reflected on their words. Suddenly each tried to talk at the same time.
He laughed, "You first."
"This is good. It's hard, but good. Us talking. You?"
"Yeah. This is good." He patted her hand, then began to read again.
The stables, grounds, arena, everything was abuzz when I got there. Calla was already there checking out the equipment as the grooms were getting the horses show ready.
Winter's Snow according to her groom had a restless night. Dr. Cairo checked her but found nothing out of the ordinary physically. She seemed anxious, out of sorts when I spoke to her.
"What did she say Amy?" He teased her.
"Funny! Keep reading buster!"
I started with T-Touch which seemed to help some, but didn't ease her restlessness. So, we took a walk through the stables, hoping to sooth her anxieties. On the other side of the stables, Snow stopped at the stall of a silvery ombré horse with light eyes. It was astonishing how much the two horses looked alike. Snow snorted, her ears rotated, her head bobbed up and down. The other horse responded in kind, like they knew each other. She stretched her head out to the other horse, they greeted, nuzzled each other. I wish I had taken a picture!
The head trainer for Irish team, Patrick Little, recognized Winter's Snow and called her, surprising me. As it turns out, Snow is the twin sister of Winter's Drift, who is on Ireland's team. Both were on the team until Winter's Snow performance became lackluster so she was released from the team. That's how she came to be for sale through Horse Scout, where I found her. We chatted for a bit about the twins, other horses, the competition. He gave me his business card. Snow seemed to be satisfied with her visit with Winter's Drift and relaxed so we headed back to her stall.
"Wow. That's incredible."
"I know. Small World, even for horses. But, it gets better. Read on."
Because the competition was only set for two days, each rider horse combo had two jumps on Saturday and one on Sunday. Team scores were calculated on the team of four minus the lowest team member's scores. We were hoping for at least one member in the top three and the rest in the top 15. Given the increasing competition, especially from France, we were nervous but excited.
The press caught on before the competition that Winter's Snow and Winter's Drift were twins, on two separate teams so there was a bit of a buzz. And, somehow the two horses competed one after the other with Snow first. She jumped the course really well. Exiting the course, Snow looked at Drift almost challenging her. Drift nodded as she stepped up to the course. She jumped really well too. Her time was just slightly better than Snow's. So exciting.
At the end of the first round, Drift was third and Snow was fourth. The rest of the team performed well. Hassan and Noble Cause came in fifth, Jamal and Solstice in eleventh and Ahmed and Emir in eighteenth. Although we didn't place in the top three position as individuals, the team was in third place so we felt good.
The second round was just as exciting between the two sisters. Snow entered the ring with a new confidence, so it seemed. She held her head high, her motion exceptional fluid, graceful. She jumped perfectly, no faults, great time. She seemed to challenge Drift when the two horses passed each other. And Drift, didn't disappoint. She too upped her round, clean jumps, no faults with just a fraction of a second behind Snow.
At the end of the round, Omar and Snow were second and Drift third.
"That's amazing. Snow and Drift are competing."
"It is as crazy. So much fun to watch. They really spurred each other on. And the crowd really got into it. At one point they were chanting Winter." She laughed. "It was really neat to see."
"I bet."
Hassan and Noble Cause in fifth, Jamal and Solstice in twelfth and Ahmed and Emir in fifteenth. The team was still in third.
The press conference after the second round was entertaining, it seemed that a bunch of the questions were about Snow and Drift. As her owner and trainer, I was on the receiving end of their questions. Then, Patrick and Drift joined Snow and me for an interview and pictures for the local newspaper. Fun.
I opted to stay in tonight and ordered a hamburger and fries. Not bad but certainly not Heartland beef either. :)
Ty laughed.
"Well it was true." Amy pleaded.
Talked to Dad tonight for a few minutes. As always he's pushing me to expand my work with Ahmed. He said this tour will eventually end so I need to cement my relationship with him. Oh brother. It's always about money with him.
Amy grumbled. "Dad. He made things so difficult with Ahmed."
"How so?"
"He was always pushing, pressuring me to work more with him, to spend more time with him. Even when I was trying to help you with Charger. I swear all he ever cares about is money, never what I want or need."
He sighed. "As misguided...and tone deaf...as he is, he really does love you." Ty offered.
"Yeah. I guess." She conceded. Ty squeezed her shoulder.
Amy's Journal Day 111
Attached to the page was a newspaper article headlined Twins Competing for Different Countries. The picture showed Amy holding the halter of one grey horse next to an identical horse with its halter held by Patrick Little.
"That's a beautiful picture of you." Ty whispered in her ear.
She grinned. "Thanks."
"Snow and Drift are really good looking horses."
"Yeah they are really special."
"Patrick isn't as I expected." Ty confessed.
"How's that?"
"He's much younger, taller."
She laughed. "I bet he's probably in his early thirties. Nice guy. Pretty funny."
He nodded, moving on. "Did you sell Snow?"
"Yeah I did. But you'll have to read on."
"My horsey girl, so full of mystery."
"Ha!"
He started reading again.
As always morning came early. I was at the stables by 6, Calla was already there. Snow again seemed restless so I was preparing to walk her to Drift's stall. But, lo and behold, Patrick showed up with Drift, apparently she had a restless night too. In no time, we were swarmed with press, asking questions, taking pictures. The twins had become the feel good story of the competition.
We hand walked the horses around the track to give them each a stretch. Calla joined us. Patrick told funny stories about being on tour over his 5 year career with the team as trainer and two years as alternate rider. Good way to start the day.
Except Ahmed seem a bit ruffled, maybe miffed, when I got back to the stables. Emir also had a restless night. So we worked on T-Touch together which seemed to settle him down immediately. Ahmed insisted that we hand walk him as well and do an extra groom. I actually think it was Ahmed that was the anxious one.
"Amy. He was jealous." Ty stated.
"Ahmed? Of who?"
"Patrick."
"No. That's ridiculous." Then she considered it. "Really?"
Ty shrugged his shoulders, smirked. "Definitely."
"Huh!"
Soon after Soraya called, she was outside the stables as security would not let her in. Calla and I walked together to meet her at the entrance. As soon I saw her, her huge smile, I just ran and hugged her. I didn't want to let go. She brought her friend Krista with her. She seemed real nice.
The day was absolutely beautiful, a bright blue sky, a gentle breeze, a perfect day to compete. And, everyone seemed excited. When we got to the arena, it became clear that a Winter Mania had taken hold. People in the stands were wearing T-shirts that said either Winter Team Snow or Winter Team Drift. It was crazy. When it was Snow's turn to jump, the crowd started chanting Snow! Snow! The announcer had to ask everyone for silence. I have never seen anything like it.
"Wow!" He uttered.
"I know. It was crazy."
"Not your typical stodgy, polite clapping."
"I know, right?"
And Snow didn't disappoint. She was so incredible. She sailed over every jump with such ease and grace. Her time was excellent too. Omar was thrilled, he couldn't stop grinning ear to ear. Exiting the ring, she nodded to Drift, who seemed to nod back.
When she entered the ring, the crowd went wild, started chanting Drift! Drift! Drift was funny. She kept nodding to the crowd, spurring them on even more. Again the announcer had to warn the crowd to be quiet.
Drift's run was just as flawless. Smooth, graceful, confident. Her score and her time was exactly Snow's. They were tied in that round. The crowd started chanting Winter! Winter! I think the announcer gave up, and just let the crowd go wild.
For that round, Snow and Drift tied for second.
"That's amazing. They tied."
"I was more excited about that then our team coming in third!"
"I bet."
Hassan and Noble Cause in fourth, Jamal and Solstice in fifteenth and Ahmed and Emir in fourteen.
After all the overall competition scores were tallied, in the individual event, France came in first, Snow and Omar came in second, Drift and Ireland came in third. Our team came in third in the team event!
We were so happy! Omar was ecstatic. That night we celebrated big at this incredible restaurant called Circus! Soraya and Krista joined us. Ahmed toasted Omar. Then every started chanting Snow!! It was funny. He toasted the team and me too.
Circus! Is a fitting name for the restaurant. It was part restaurant, part show. They had a cabaret venue with its acrobats and dancers in elaborate costumes and amazing mini routines. The black lighting made the restaurant, our clothes and food glow. I really don't remember what I ate. I mostly talked with Soraya, though it was really hard to hear at times. We had fun.
Amy's Journal Day 112
Attached to the page were two articles, one in Arabic with a picture of Omar and Snow and one of the team. The other article had a picture of a bunch of people wearing the Winter Team Snow and Drift shirts screaming and a picture of Snow and Drift.
"That's just wild." Ty pointing to the picture of the crowd. "Great picture with Snow and Drift."
"They look happy, don't they?"
"They do, actually." Ty responding, surprising himself.
Though we stayed up late, Adela woke me up at 5. Apparently Ahmed wanted to get home early and had changed our plans. We were on the jet by 8. I slept through the short flight home. I didn't have to pretend.
After we got the horses settled into their stalls, Ahmed called me to his office for a meeting. Adela accompanied me. It was clear that he was worried, upset. He said that he received a call from the crowned prince. Apparently they told him that it was not acceptable for him, the team's captain and a prince to repeatedly score the worst on the team. That in the next two competitions, he needed to place in the top three or he was out as captain.
Then he begged me to help him. Of course, I agreed. So we worked out a plan for me to work exclusively with him for four hours a day.
"Exclusively?"
"Ty. He's my boss. What could I do?"
"It's just I don't trust the guy."
"Ty. This is all done, it's water under the bridge."
"I guess." He started reading again.
I encouraged Ahmed to do everything for Emir over the next three weeks. Even if he didn't muck his stall, he needed to be there. He needed to be with him first thing at morning chores, last thing at night check, Surprisingly he agreed.
After a lunch at the chateau, we began in earnest with just a simple bath and grooming. Emir, like all the horses, were exhausted from the weekend in London. It was a lovely day, so we opted to do the bath outside. At first Ahmed was all stiff and uncomfortable, but as I showed him what to do he began to ease up. After I splashed him a couple of times, he finally splashed me back. He started to really relax and have fun. Emir really enjoyed it too.
"You had a water fight with a prince?"
"I wouldn't call it a water fight exactly...but kind of."
As we groomed Emir, I encourage him as always to talk to him, to bring him in. Ahmed was formal as always, How are you? Nice day. That kind of stuff. I suggested that he sing a song. He refused. So instead, I sang I ride an Old Paint.
"You sang to him?"
"I sang to Emir."
He then sang a song in Arabic. It was haunting beautiful. I told him that he had a lovely singing voice.
Then we went to a short walk with Emir. Just around the stables. I suggested that was enough for Emir. For both of them. That they needed rest, relaxation. Tomorrow would be another day to connect. But not to forget about night check.
Syed drove me home. I took a bath and went to bed. I was exhausted.
At 9, Adela woke me saying that Ahmed needed me at the stables. When we got there, Emir was laying down, on his side. Ahmed wanted to know what was wrong with him. I told him that he was just relaxing, sleeping. Then he told me had had never seen Emir lay down. I just laughed. He seemed insulted. Then he said that he needed to Cowboy Up.
Ty just shook his head.
Amy's Journal Day 113
When I got to the stables, Ahmed was already there with Calla. As the groom cleaned out Emir stall, Ahmed had clipped him for grooming. Apparently he was waiting for me to assist. So we groomed him together. I encouraged him to talk to Emir about the upcoming competition. So he told Emir about the city, the venue, the rules of the competition. I even got interested.
I had Ahmed do a join up. It took a bit longer than I expected. Which really told me volumes about their relationship. After that, I suggested that Ahmed go for a ride on another horse. He insisted that we go together. I rode Redwood and he rode Zeus. It was nice to ride.
After lunch, the entire team except Ahmed did flat work then a bit of Liberty. Ahmed just watched. Then I worked with Ahmed and Emir on their flat work.
I was home at 7 for bath and dinner. Adela came at nine again, Ahmed called. This time he said that he just wanted the company. Adela hung out, playing on her phone while we did night check.
Amy's Journal Day 114
Another day, another early morning. Morning chores with Ahmed, grooming then a join up. This one went a tad better. Still have some work to do. Ahmed worked on his Liberty with Emir, but he's just so formal, it seems to get in the way.
I suggested that he hand walk Emir alone and to talk to him. Grudgingly, he did it.
I spent the rest of the morning with the team on flat and fence work. Snow seemed lethargic. I chalked it up to the travel but I really wondered if she was missing Drift.
After lunch, Ahmed and I rode, he rode Emir and I rode Redwood. I asked about his best friend. He said he thought of him often, then he talked about the perpetual existence of his soul. That he was certain that Khalil still watched after him. I asked what he thought Khalil would say to him now. He laughed and said that he would call him a fool. I asked why. He said Khalil would tell him to stop being stupid and to do exactly what his beautiful trainer told him to do. We both laughed. Then I told him that he needed to listen to Khalil.
I assigned Ahmed to practice Liberty with Emir by himself in the morning. And that he needed to try to enjoy it. :)
I spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening with the entire team. We did fence work but not too strenuous as we are headed to Austria on Friday. Everyone jumped really well though I am still worried about Snow. She clipped rails during her turn. I suggested to Omar that he ride her at a slow pace out in the field to take the edge off both of them.
At nine, Adela and I did night check with Ahmed. I am exhausted.
Amy's Journal Day 115
Another early morning.
Ruthie let out a huge squeal, signaling that she was hungry.
"Hey. You just relax and I'll be back with a warm bottle."
"Okay. I need to use the restroom anyhow."
"Okay. I'll take her with me then."
"Thanks."
Once in the kitchen, Ty tried to juggle holding the squirming puppy and filling the bottle. He swore as he knocked it over, spilling its milky contents all over the counter and floor. After mopping up the mess, he had to make a fresh batch. By the time the new batch was done, he was sweating and Ruthie was screaming at the top of her lungs.
Mrs. Bell appeared. "You are bound and determined to ruin my beauty sleep, aren't you?"
"Oh, Mrs. Bell. I am so sorry. I spilled the formula so I had to make another batch. Ruthie isn't happy."
"Being a parent is never easy."
"No kidding." As he popped the nipple into Ruth's open mouth, instantly quieting her.
"How's the journal reading?"
"Better than I expected."
"Wonderful. So you are listening."
"Yeah. I am trying. And asking questions."
"Very good."
"Well. I better get back. We have about 20 more entries to read."
"Ty?"
"I am proud of you. I know it's not easy."
He just nodded, he turned toward the bedroom with Ruth in the crook of his arm, greedily sucking on her bottle with rather loud smacking. When he entered the bedroom, he found Amy fast asleep, lying on her back, her wrists crossed on her chest. She looked peaceful, almost like an angel. He bend down, kissed her forehead. She didn't stir. Silently, he crawled in bed next to her, shoulder to shoulder, with Ruth on his chest. Soon all three were in deep sleep.
Hey Everyone!
Happy Easter. Hope you enjoy this chapter. It's kinda long. Let me know what you think.
I probably won't post until May as our son is getting married in a couple of weeks. We are overjoyed.
Be safe, stay healthy.
SBR