Disclaimer: Still
don't own anything but Susana and her mare, Jacinda-no Monty Python's Spam Song
ownership for me. Also, despite how
painful it sounds, horses don't really mind having their manes pulled too much. Susana and Jono are bad monkeys for riding
without the proper safety gear, but as no one ever looks good in a riding
helmet, I decided not to talk about them.
Notes:
sound
*thought*
} telepathic
conversation {
Setting: The
Mansion- Susana's room and the stable.
Monday afternoon, about 1:00 PM.
Susana dropped a
CD into the stereo, then grabbed the remote control and walked to a cleared
space on the floor. Dropping to a
seated position, she pushed a button on the remote and the room filled with the
drumbeats of vaguely Arabic-tinged music as she stretched and meditated. As she stretched, she winced a little at the
residual soreness from yesterday's yoga session with Jono. *Poor guy...I hadn't realized quite how hard
I was pushing. If I hurt, he's got to
be in some serious pain right about now.*
Standing, she stretched for a few moments more, then walked to the desk
in the corner of the room. Lifting the
screen of the laptop, she opened an Internet window and logged in to check her
mail. "Lovely spam! Wonderful spam! Spam spa-a-a-a-a-am." She sang as she deleted the junk mail
filling her inbox. After reading the
two 'good' e-mails she'd gotten, she closed the laptop, pulled on jeans and a
pair of boots, and headed for the stables.
A few hours
later, she was happily exploring the woods around the mansion on
horseback. Shifting her weight in the
saddle, she urged her mare towards a field where someone had set up a series of
small jumps. Nudging the mare's side
with her heel, she sped up into a canter and approached the first jump. Leaning forward, she balanced in the
stirrups as the mare leapt the obstacle, then settled back into the
saddle. *Perfect. I've still got the ability, that's good to
know.* Susana felt a wide grin
spreading across her face, and reaching down to pat the mare's lathered neck,
she turned her back toward the stables.
"Let's quit on a good note, shall we, Jacinda?"
Back in the
stableyard, Jono was looking for Susana, completely at a loss as to why an
apparently sane person would possibly want to spend time around the overlarge,
dirty animals that populated the stable.
Susana rode up the path behind him, and laughed out loud at the
incongruity of his customary black outfit in the stable setting. Walking the mare up behind him, she leaned
down from the saddle to ruffle his hair affectionately. "Hey there handsome,
you looking for me?"
He turned slowly,
and she was momentarily regretful at the pained look that crossed his
face. She quieted her regrets by
reminding herself of the bruise his discarded combat boot had left on her hip
when he bumped her off the bed and onto the floor. *A few aches and pains from yoga should be appropriate
compensation for that. I'm not going to
sit right for a week!* She dismounted
and looped the reins around her hand, then wrapped her other arm around his
waist and pulled him and the horse toward the barn. "Come on, as soon as I get Jacinda cooled down and groomed, we can go back to the house
and I can get a shower. I think you
should probably be happy you can't smell me."
She wrinkled her nose delicately.
"I stink right now. But I had SO
much fun. You should come ride with me
some time. That'd be fun."
}Fun is not the
word for what that would be. Horrific,
or perhaps terrifying- those are words that would appropriately describe
it. I think I'd rather just watch
you. You looked happier on that horse
than you have the entire time you've been here.{
"And you don't
think that might've had something to do with riding up and seeing you? I know you don't particularly like
horses. I was happy that you came out
here to find me."
She stopped and
stood on tiptoe to press a kiss to his cheek, then shoved the reins into his
hand and turned back to the mare.
Uncinching the saddle, she pulled it down and carried it to the tack
room, then re-emerged with a brush and a halter. Removing the bridle, she replaced it with the halter and gave the
lead rope back to Jono to hold while she put the bridle in its proper place. The mare nosed Jono in the shoulder, and he
rubbed her nose absently, watching Susana flitting back and forth in the
doorway of the tack room. Her equipment
stored, she came back out and began brushing Jacinda's bright chestnut coat.
Smoothing a hand over the small, stocky mare's flank, she nodded
approvingly. "I think you're clean,
dry, and ready to go play, girlie.
Here, I'll take her now. Thanks
for the help." She held out a hand for
the lead rope Jono held. He walked
around the mare's head and handed it to her, then reached down for her free hand.
}Is this ok?{
"Sure, unless she starts to get antsy...which I don't
think she does too often. She's a good
horse, reminds me of the horse I learned to ride on." She smiled fondly at the memory.
"He was trained for so much more advanced stuff than I was capable
of...it probably wasn't a very good idea for me to be riding him. But he was always calm, unless you got him
in an arena with barrels set up. Dear
God help you if you were dumb enough to do that." She chuckled softly, then continued. "I'm sure
you're horribly bored by all my thinking out loud. Sorry about that."
}Not
bored at all, gel. If you want to talk,
go right ahead.{ He squeezed her hand
gently. }Did yer ever fall off?{ He and the horse both looked at her in mild alarm
when she doubled over, wheezing. }Yer
ok?{
She
straightened, and he could tell that she'd been laughing, not coughing like
he'd thought. Her face was marked by
tracks where her tears of mirth had rolled through the dust and grime covering
her skin. "No, I never fell off...a
horse."
}Sounds
to me like more explanation is necessary.
Wot, did yer fall off a cow or something?{ He gave her a mildly suspicious sidelong glance as she began to
speak.
"No,
not a cow. A fence." She looked up at him with a sheepish grin,
then giggled again.
}You've
ridden for most of your life, right?{
She nodded. }And you fell off a
fence rather than a horse?{
"Yup. I was watchin' my friend work with an
adopted racetrack Thoroughbred, and my boot heel slipped off the bar. Pitched straight backward into the dust, and
knocked all the breath out of my lungs.
It was not one of my more distinguished moments." He stopped, and she was forced to stop
herself and the mare. He pulled her hand
until she was within easy arm's reach, then he wrapped his other arm around her
waist and picked her up.
}You
are, without a doubt, one of the most entertaining women I've ever met, even if
you did subject me to the most gruesomely intense yoga workout I think
anyone's ever suffered through.{ She
had the grace to avoid his eyes, and her cheeks colored with shame.
"Err...sorry
about that. If it's any consolation, I
hurt too. And I've got a huge
bruise on my butt from landing on one of your stupid combat boots." She looked at him then, a wounded expression
on her face.
}How'd
that happen?{
"Funny
thing about getting pushed over the side of the bed and onto a big ol' pile of
clothes from the night before. Think
you could put me down now?"
}Nope,
I don't think that would be a good idea right now. You're officially being held hostage, and the only thing that'll
get you your freedom is the promise of a massage...and a kiss; I think I'd
fancy a kiss right about now.{ He
crinkled at her, and she knew he was grinning at her expression. With a feigned sigh of reluctance, she
dropped a kiss on his forehead, and another on his bandages.
"I
suppose I might be able to take a few moments out of my extremely busy
schedule for some therapeutic massage activity. What are you doing when you get back to the house?"
}I'm
escorting you to dinner, obviously.
Wouldn't want you exposed to any more of that horrid mustard stuff. We've got to protect you from yourself in
regards to that.{ He reluctantly set
her back on the ground, and they continued walking toward the pasture. Suddenly, Susana stopped, shook her hand
free, and tied the loose end of the lead rope to the ring under Jacinda's chin.
Sliding the rope up over the mare's neck, she grabbed a handful of mane
and hoisted herself up onto the mare's back.
Settling her weight, she reached down to him.
"Come
on, it'll be fun. I swear!" she
added. "Don't worry, you're not going
to hurt her. Is he, Jacinda? He's just being a big ol' wuss. Who needs him, anyway?" She looked pointedly around, making sure to
be very obvious about avoiding looking at him.
}Ok,
you win. But you'll have to help me up
there.{ No sooner had he said it then
she extended a hand down to him.
Pulling him up behind her, she instructed him to hold on tight. She leaned forward and turned to look at
him.
"See,
this is fun."
He
pulled her back so she was pressed against him. }Now this is fun.{ He
held her arms so she couldn't reach around and slap him. }You know, you're a bit too violent for a
well brought-up young woman. We'll have
to get rid of that habit.{
"Or
you'll have to stop doing silly things and I won't have to defend myself;
that's always an option." She kicked
the horse's side lightly and the mare began trotting along the path. Jono reacted to the change in speed by
wrapping both arms more securely around her waist.
}This
is supposed to be fun?{ his skepticism
was readily apparent. Susana tugged on
the lead rope, stopping the mare beside a closed gate. Disentangling Jono's arms from her waist,
she slid off and pulled the rope back over the mare's neck. Opening the gate, she led Jacinda inside and
closed the gate, then unfastened the halter and gave the mare's shoulder a
light shove.
"Go
on now...you've got grain over there in the trough." She slipped back out of the gate, then turned and latched it
securely. Hanging the halter inside a
small box attached to the fencepost, she brushed her hands on her jeans and
turned back towards Jono, the stable, and the mansion. "Shall we go, monsieur?"
He
extended an arm as he sketched an exaggerated bow. Under normal circumstances, the gesture would have been quite
impressive. However, the chestnut hair
coating the insides of his jeans legs rather ruined the effect. She took the arm anyway, and they set off
for the Mansion.
