Chapter 70 – Elizabeth Rides

Tommy and Charlotte were half away across the lawn when she stopped him.

"I don't know what Nathan said to you." Charlotte said. "But you know that no one is going to stop him if he feels that you step out of line. Also don't think that your father or I will be giving in anytime soon. I totally agree with him and it was my idea for the boarding school."

Charlotte turned, grabbed Tommy's arm and continuing walking without giving him a chance to respond. Charlotte was upset and was afraid that she was going to lose it on Tommy.

"I knew that you loved JP more then me." Tommy hissed.

Tommy was pissed and decided that if he was miserable then he was going to make everyone else miserable as well. Charlotte bristled at what Tommy said, but didn't verbally respond as she knew that he was just looking for some sort of reaction from her. She gripped his arm a little harder and quickened her steps so it was hard for Tommy to keep up with Charlotte's longer legs. When they got to the arena, Charlotte handed Tommy off to Ed.

"All yours Ed." Charlotte said. "He is not to leave the tack room until either Dad or I come and get him for supper. He has already had a longer lunch break then we expected."

"Yes, ma'am." Ed said. "I have checked over a few pieces and they weren't up to par, so I am having him redo them."

"Whatever you say goes." Charlotte said.

Charlotte glared at Tommy daring him to say anything. Tommy muttered a few things under his breath and then turned to walk into the tack room. Charlotte turned to Ed to see if he had anything to say.

"Don't worry." Ed said. "I will see that he stays in line. I raised half a dozen boys myself. Just need to break the attitude once an awhile."

"Ain't that the truth." Charlotte said. "Have a good afternoon and do what you need to do. I will be in the office."

Ed tipped his hat to Charlotte and went into the tack room. Charlotte turned and went to the office. She was glad that Ed still worked for them. He had been there a long time and he didn't take anything from anyone. Charlotte knew that was just what Tommy needed. She also knew that Ed had no problem cupping him up the back of his head if Tommy stepped out of line with him. She had seen Ed do it her nephews when they were younger. She knew that if anyone was going to break Tommy's current attitude it was Ed. That was when an idea came to Charlotte. She was going to talk to her husband first, but if he agreed to it then she was going to talk to her father and Ed. She knew it might not work, but at this point it was worth a try. It was only the end of June and Tommy didn't leave for Rochester until the middle of August. She knew if they didn't do something, that it was going to be a very long summer.

When the group of friends got to the stables, there were four horses in holding pens. Jack was glad that the horses had been brought over. He didn't like to always be shuffling horses, but it was just easier to have some over at the house stable if they were going to be riding. He was thinking about keeping these over here and then just having a few more brought over for Sunday.

"So what is the plan?" Doug asked breaking into Jack's thoughts.

"I was hoping to get Elizabeth and Lee each on one of these." Jack said. "Then if we want to go for a ride, I was thinking that Nathan could take Athena. If he wants to jump her, he needs to get to know her better and she is fine for a short trail ride as she hasn't really been out in awhile."

"Who are you riding?" Elizabeth asked.

"Whoever." Jack said. "I have ridden all of these at one point or another. I can always take Bandit or Ghost. Which one do you want to ride?"

"I don't know." Elizabeth said. "I have never really gotten to pick before. I just want one that is pretty calm."

Jack walked her over to the holding pen, looked at the horses and then saw the one that he wanted.

"How about we see if you get along with Moondancer." Jack said. "He is a fifteen year old bay gelding. He use to race, but he is about as calm as they come now."

"Okay." Elizabeth said with a little hesitation. "Are they all thoroughbreds?"

"Yes." Jack said. "They are all older, so it is fine. They are all regular trail horses that we use."

"It will be fine." Lee said. "Jack won't put you on a horse he doesn't trust. I have ridden Moondancer. He is a nice ride."

"Okay." Elizabeth said. "Who else is in the pen?"

"The black one Captain Pepper." Jack said. "He is a twelve year old gelding. Captain Pepper was all black except for one white sock on his foreleg. The dapple grey one is Diamond. She is also fifteen. She would probably be the most spirited of the four. The last one is Lemon Drop. He is a thirteen year old gelding. He was a chestnut color with two white socks on his hind legs."

"So do you have a lot of geldings?" Elizabeth asked.

"Most of our trail horses are geldings." Jack said. "Some we got that way, some we gelded ourselves. I take it you know what that means."

Elizabeth looked at Jack and he could see the trace of pink that was on Elizabeth's cheeks, but then again, he thought it was cute.

"Yes." Elizabeth said. "I looked a few things up."

"Okay." Jack said. "I thought I would check. Their tack should be inside. Let's go grab it and then we will get up set up in a round pen. I will stay by your side until you feel comfortable. I promise everything will be okay."

"Do I need a helmet?" Elizabeth said. "When I would go riding at the center near the city, we had to wear helmets."

"Do you want one?" Jack asked. "I won't require you to wear one, but I can get one if you want. Grandpa only requires them for children under sixteen or when you are jumping. I guess the jockeys also wear them when they are riding on the track."

"If you think I will be okay, then I won't." Elizabeth said.

"You will be fine." Jack said.

They went into the stable and grabbed all the tack that was needed. Lee had decided to ride Pepper. Nathan spotted Lee in one of the round pens. Jack helped Elizabeth. He let her greet the horse before he helped her to tack him up. He took the time to explain exactly what he was going and made sure that she saw how to do up the cinch and girth and adjust everything. When they were ready, Jack held Moondancer and then had Elizabeth mount up. It took her a couple tries to get up as Moondancer was a slightly larger horse then she was use to. Once she got up, Jack had her get comfortable and then he gave her the reins.

"Okay." Jack said. "I will lead him for a bit. We will stay in here."

"Okay." Elizabeth said.

"Elizabeth." Jack said. "Take a deep breath. If you are scared, he will pick up on it. Relax, nothing is going to happen to you."

"Okay." Elizabeth said.

"How about I come stand on the other side." Doug said.

"I would feel better for a little bit if you did." Elizabeth said.

"No problem." Doug said.

Doug came into the round pen, he held out his hand and let Moondancer sniff it. Doug then petted his muzzle. Elizabeth could see that Doug was also good with horses like Jack was. Moondancer immediately warmed up to Doug. Elizabeth was amazed at how the horses would just go right to the guys. She wondered if that would happen as she got more comfortable with the horses or if she was always going to have to work at it.

"Good boy." Doug cooed.

Doug came over to the other side of Elizabeth. He looked up at her and put his hand on her leg. He wanted her attention and he was also trying to keep her calm.

"Okay." Doug said. "Just relax. We are right here. We are just going to go for a little walk around the pen."

Doug nodded over to Jack and Jack started moving forward holding on to Moondancer's bridle. It didn't take long and Jack could see that Elizabeth was starting to relax. Jack kept Moondancer to a slow walk and they went around the pen three times. Jack looked over to Doug who gave him a nod to pull to a stop.

"Ready to try on your own?" Jack asked.

"I think so." Elizabeth said.

"We will both stay in the pen." Doug said. "But you will have control. No need to rush."

Doug and Jack stepped to the middle of the ring.

"Okay, Elizabeth." Jack said. "When you are ready, take your legs and give him a little squeeze. Just keep him moving forward in the pen."

Elizabeth did as Jack said and was moving around the pen while Jack and Doug watched her. While Doug kept an eye on Elizabeth, Jack looked over to see that Lee was fine. It took about twenty more minutes before Elizabeth was really starting to get comfortable on Moondancer. By the time that Jack had her stop, she had a huge smile on her face.

"Let's give him a break and quick drink." Jack said. "Then we will get sorted for a trail ride."

As they lead the two horses over to the automatic trough for a drink, both Lee and Elizabeth agreed that it was a good thing that they took the time to ride in the round pen.

"So." Doug said. "I want to check on Ghost. I was thinking of taking him on the trail."

"I think it should be fine." Nathan said. "The cut has scabbed over. I would still suggest covering it so the halter doesn't rub on it."

"I was thinking the same thing." Doug said. "Want to help me, then we can figure out the other horses."

"Sure." Nathan said.

Nathan and Doug headed into the stable to see about Ghost. It didn't take long for him to get sorted. They had the cut covered and Ghost tacked up and ready to go.

While Nathan and Doug went to get Ghost, Jack pulled Elizabeth close. Lee gave them some space, but stayed outside.

"You were great in there." Jack said.

"Thank you." Elizabeth said. "I still want to spend some time with you."

"I promise we will get some time." Jack said. "Everything has just gotten crazy. I hadn't planned to jump or do a show when I invited you up here."

Jack leaned in and gave Elizabeth a quick kiss. He quickly pulled back because he didn't want it to get to intense.

"I miss you." Elizabeth said. "I know that I see you, but it was different when we were in the city and it was just the two of us."

"I know." Jack said. "I also think that we need to be careful. I promised I would be a gentleman and it gets harder each time I am near you."

Elizabeth smiled at Jack and nodded her head.

"We still need to talk." Elizabeth said.

"I agree." Jack said. "I promise we will. I know that we need to talk about things, but can you please give me a couple of days. I need to sort things out in my own head and I want to deal with things with Ma and Dad as well."

"Are you having second thoughts about me?" Elizabeth asked.

"Absolutely not." Jack said.

To prove it, Jack leaned in and gave Elizabeth another quick kiss. When Jack pulled back, Elizabeth nodded and smiled that she understood.

When Nathan and Doug walked out, they saw a car pulling up to the stable. Doug recognized that it was Father Mark. They lead Ghost over to the holding pen and then went to greet Father Mark.

"Father." Nathan said. "Good to see you again."

"You as well." Father Mark said. "Doug, glad you could make it."

"Me too." Doug said. "Sounds like I will be jumping this weekend as well as at Sugar Creek."

"Well, good luck." Father Mark said. "I will be able to be at both shows. I also hear that you guys are putting on one the week after Sugar Creek."

"You heard right." Jack said. "Lee and Elizabeth have it mostly sorted out."

"To that." Father Mark said. "I forwarded your email Lee to the confirmation coordinator. She will let you know if there are any kids that want to volunteer."

"Thank you." Lee said. "We figured that it was worth a try, but I think that it might have been Elizabeth that emailed you."

"I don't know if you will get any." Father Mark said. "But you can try."

"Good to see you again." Elizabeth said coming over.

"Good to see you as well." Father Mark said. "How have you been?"

"Not bad." Elizabeth said. "Jack got me on a horse this afternoon. We were just getting ready to go on a trail ride."

"So what is the plan." Father Mark said. "I know that you wanted to talk, Jack."

"Yes." Jack said. "How about you and I talk. Then we can maybe catch up with the others if you want and we have time."

"Sounds good." Father Mark said.

"Okay." Jack said. "Nathan, Doug how about you take Lee and Elizabeth on the trail toward the stud farm and after we talk, if you are not back, we will head that way."

"Okay." Doug said.

Nathan took a step forward to leaned over to Jack.

"Are you okay?" Nathan said. "I heard you last night."

"I will be fine." Jack said. "I just need to talk about a few things."

"Okay." Nathan said.

Nathan stepped back. Jack turned to Elizabeth and pulled her to himself. He gave her a quick kiss, that didn't go unnoticed by anyone.

"Please go with Nathan and Doug." Jack said. "They will make sure that nothing happens and you are safe."

"Will you come later?" Elizabeth asked.

"If I get done talking to Father Mark." Jack said. "If not we will all ride on Sunday."

"Okay." Elizabeth said.

She leaned back in and gave Jack another kiss, this one a little more intense then the one he gave her. When they pulled back, Jack took a deep breath and looked Elizabeth in the eyes. She could tell that it was important to him that he talk and as much as she wanted to know what was going on, she was going to trust Jack that he would tell her when he could.

"Thank you." Jack said. "Now go help get the horses sorted. Watch Nathan saddle Athena."

"Okay." Elizabeth said.

Elizabeth walked away with Nathan to get Athena.

"So Athena likes someone." Father Mark said.

"Yes." Jack said. "Nathan was even able to jump her this morning."

"Impressive." Father Mark said. "Ever considered offering him a job working here. If he can reach that horse, he might do well with some of the other trouble makers around here."

"I have thought about it." Jack said. "But I don't know if it is the right time. Besides, I have other plans. Either way, I haven't talked to him about either."

"Okay." Father Mark said. "I will trust you."

Father Mark and Jack saw Nathan, Doug, Lee and Elizabeth off. The group headed out with Doug leading and Nathan following at the back. Lee and Elizabeth were riding side by side since their horses wanted it that way.