Two more days passed. Jae had continued to heal at a rapid rate and was now back to her old self.
"Hey Jula, do you want to go horseback riding?" she asked her sister one evening after supper.
"I don't know; Jae, you know I don't like horseback riding.."
"Pleeeease?" begged Jae, giving her sister the famous 'puppy eyes' look.
Jula rolled her eyes.
"Fine, but cut the puppy eye crap!"
"Yes!"
"But first, you might want to ask the lady if we can go, since I don't know where the colonel is."
"Right..."
Jae wandered over to Lady Tavington, who was conversing with the colonel's second in command, Capt. Bordon, and waited for an opening before saying, "Is it all right with you if my sister and I go riding?"
"It depends on where you're going; do you have your work finished for your lessons?"
"Yes ma'am, both of us are finished, and we'll only be in the gardens, not the woods." Jae replied with a nod.
"Alright then, place your work on the colonel's desk before leaving. And don't forget, do not use Asmodeus if he is there. Use Ember; I believe Phantom is also available for riding."
Jae nodded and said a quick thank you before heading off upstairs with her sister.
Once the papers were on the colonel's desk, the girls hurried out of the estate and down to the stables, quickly saddling Ember and Phantom before heading off to the gardens at a gallop.
"Hey, look who it is!" Jae said to her sister as she pointed at Gen. O'Hara, who was walking around in the gardens ahead of them. "Slow your horse down to a walk, and we'll take the back way around. That way, we can give him a good scare."
Jula smirked.
Yup, my sister's definitely back...
Slowing the horses down to a walk, Jae and Jula took them around to the back of the gardens, where they could still see the general standing in the same spot he was to begin with, completely unperturbed.
"Alright, on the count of three, we charge him. But remember, get out of the way just before you hit him."
Jula grinned eagerly.
"One..."
Ember's muscles tensed eagerly beneath Jae, as she felt the mare building up energy.
Two..."
Phantom pawed the ground, waiting for the final count.
Three!"
Both of the horses burst forth like two black bullets pelting towards the general at breakneck speeds.
Jae let out a cry of delight as the general suddenly glanced over his shoulder and let out a high pitched girly scream as her and her sister hurled towards him, breaking away only when they were a mere couple of feet from him. Then without missing a beat, they turned the horses around and did it again, slowing Ember and Phantom to a walk only about ten feet after the second assault on the general.
"You!" Gen. O'Hara shouted once he was able to come to his senses.
"Yes?" Jae asked, an evil grin not unlike Col. Tavington's curving the corners of her lips up.
"You.. This is the most unladylike behavior I have seen from the two of you thus far! If the colonel was to hear of this-"
"He would fall down and die laughing." Jula finished, while her sister burst into a fit of giggles.
"Sorry General, but you were right there, and well, we couldn't resist a little target practice."
"Oh really? Such a wise choice you have made to pick me!" the general replied sarcastically.
"I know." said Jae.
"You foolish girl, I have the power to have him court-martialed!" replied the general with a maniacal grin. "And perhaps with this incident, I will."
"Well then, I have an offer. Why don't I race you? If I win, you do nothing. But if I lose..."
"Jae, are you mad?" Jula asked in surprise.
O'Hara smirked.
"Miss Barrington, are you sure you know what you're attempting to do? I am a soldier, and it is in no way proper for us to race."
"Are suggesting that you're afraid of racing me?"
"No, I'm suggesting that this is a foolish wager on your part, as I will obviously win."
"Don'r be so sure."
"You're riding sidesaddle."
"And your point is.."
"I believe it's obvious."
"Well, whether or not it's obvious, I believe you'll find I'm more skilled on a horse than I appear; I've been riding for years. Not to mention, I've had some extra training since arriving. Col. Tavington is a very fine horseman to say the least. Now, will you take my offer or not?"
"You are a fiery one.." O'Hara sniffed. "Very unladylike, but very well, I shall accept the offer."
"Alright then; we'll ride down to camp and have the race there."
Gen. O'Hara's eyes widened.
"What is it General? Did you not believe that I would have an audience before us?" Jae purred, grinning like the devil.
"Very well, but mark my words Miss Barrington, it will be I who will be walking from this race victorious."
"Whatever you say.."
With that, Jae, Jula, and Gen. O'Hara headed for camp.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once at camp, Jae, Jula, and the general dismounted their horses, tethering them to some nearby trees. Spotting Col. Tavington nearby, Jae turned to her sister and said, "I'll be right back."
"You're going to leave me here with that?"
"No, you can come if you want."
"I don't know, the colonel's got that emotionless face on; I can't tell if he's pissed off or not; and I sure as hell don't want to bug him if he's pissed off."
"He's not pissed." replied Jae.
"How can you tell?" retorted Jula.
"I just know. Now are you coming, or staying here with Gen. Pervert?"
"I am not a pervert!" Gen. O'Hara shot.
"Whatever, shut up." replied Jae without looking at him.
"Do you have a gun on you?" Jula whispered.
"No, why?"
"Because I'm staying here; if you're going to get in trouble, I don't want to be an 'associate' with it."
"Well, you could always go hide out by Asmodeus."
"Uh, no. That jerk of a horse doesn't like anyone, except Col. Tavington and Lady Tavington. Never mind, I think I'll just go."
"Alright, but you're missing one hell of a race."
"Yeah, and staying out of trouble in the process. See ya."
With that, Jula re-mounted Phantom and left camp, while Jae walked over to Col. Tavington and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Jae, what are you doing here?" he asked turning around to greet her.
"I think I kind of got myself into a bit of a predicament..."
Col. Tavington's eyes narrowed.
"Jae, darling, what did you do now?"
"Hewasgoingtohaveyoucourt-martialed,soIwageredarace." Jae replied quickly, slurring her words together in her hurry.
"What are you talking about?"
"Alright, I started it. Jula and I decided to go for a ride and we saw O'Hara in the gardens and decided to charge him, of course, breaking away at the last minute. He obviously got mad and threatened to court-martial you, so I decided to make an offer in which he and I would race; if I won, he couldn't do anyting, but if I lost..."
"He could." finished Col. Tavington, glowering at Jae. "Damn it Jae, what do you think you're doing? He's a soldier! He's been around horses all his life! And besides that, look at what is at stake!"
"I know." replied Jae, averting her gaze. "But do you see how sloppy he rides?"
"I've only ever seen him trot, and he can do that satisfactorily enough."
"Yeah, but I don't think he can hang on at a full on gallop. I know I'll be riding sidesaddle, but I can do this!"
"You're going to have to."
"I guess so. I'm sorry."
"It's a bit late for that; when is this race going to start."
"As soon as we can find a suitable place and audience around here."
"Audience?"
Jae smirked.
"Just help me out here."
Col. Tavington rolled his eyes.
"Very well, but this is the last time you convince me to do something with this unbelievable magnitude of stupidity."
"Whatever you say.."
Col. Tavington gave a stiff nod and ordered Jae to wait for him, while he went over and talked to O'Hara. Then, when he was finished, he called her over.
"Yes?"
"Alright, the race will be held at the back of camp as soon as you two can get your horses over there. The dragoons will watch."
"Very well. I'll see you down there."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Three minutes later, Gen. O'Hara and Jae had reached the back of camp where Col. Tavington stood waiting with his dragoons. Some of them began to snicker, but the colonel held up his hand and silenced them with a piercing stare.
"Jae, General, you will start from behind the line." he ordered, gesturing to a length of rope that had been laid out before them. "The race will be a straight shot from one end of the back of camp to the other; there will be no riding through the woods, and no whipping the horses or manually shoving one another. I have an officer at the other end who will determine the outcome. Are these terms understood?"
"Yes sir." Jae replied, giving the colonel a small smile, while O'Hara merely nodded, staring at Col. Tavington disdainfully.
This is for you, Dad. I'm gonna win this.
"On my gun. Get ready; three...two.. one!"
And we're off!
Jae surged forward on Ember ahead of the general. But he was not to be outdone that easily. Urging his white gelding, Percy, forward, he was soon neck-in-neck with Jae and Ember.
"Did you really think that you could win just like that?" he snided.
"Oh no, I did expect you to fight back. but you'll still lose."
"Oh really?"
Gen. O'Hara moved Percy closer to Jae until they were rubbing against one another.
"Hey, get away from me, you freak!"
"As you wish." replied the general, his voice dripping with malice as he kicked Ember, knocking her slightly off pace and moving ahead.
Ass hole!
Regrouping Ember, Jae picked up speed to catch up to the general until she was finally back with him. Again, he tried to move up close to her, but she dropped back, moving Ember around Percy and the general and sidling back up to them on their left.
"Petulant girl.."
Without warning, Gen. O'Hara turned Percy into the path of Jae and Ember and stopped suddenly, spooking Ember so that she reared on her hind legs, screaming and pawing at Percy with Jae on her back, eyes wide with surprise and fright as the dragoons began shouting and cursing, Col. Tavington's voice the loudest amongst them.
Oh my god...
"Rein her in, Jae! Get her under control!" she heard the colonel yell.
Suddenly, Gen. O'Hara moved away, leaving a still spooked Ember and Jae in his wake.
Ok, rein her in... get control...
As if sensing the urgency of the situation, Ember got herself under control and sped off at breakneck speed towards O'Hara and Percy, again pulling equal with them.
"Wench.." he hissed urging Pecy forward.
Jae didn't reply; instead, she rotated her right leg around so that she straddled the saddle and pressed her heels into Ember, driving them ahead.
"Oh no you don't.." said the general trying to catch up, but it was no use; Jae and Ember crossed the finish line with O'Hara and Percy a hair's breath away.
"It is concluded: Miss Jae Barrington is the winner!" cried the officer.
"Yes!" Jae cried excitedly, dismounting and running over to Col. Tavington, who had followed her and the general to the finish line with his men.
"I did it! I won!"
Col. Tavington smiled down at her, taking her in his arms and spinning her around in the air above his head and then bringing her down into a tight embrace.
"You did." he whispered in her ear. "I'm very proud of you, but don't you dare do it again! I don't ever want you putting yourself in a risky position that could cause harm to yourself, or I. From now on, I will fight my own battles."
Gen. O'Hara watched the colonel's joy with his surrogate daughter in complete disgust.
Oh you may have won the race, Miss Barrington. And yes, for now I will bow to you. However, in the end, it will be you who will cower on your knees before me...