The Mediator

Chapter Five

I followed Quatre to where Trowa stood with Valley and Trixie. I hadn't really thought that Quatre was the type to lose his temper, but he was definitely pissed off at the moment. Trowa noticed too, because he gave Quatre an odd look.

Quatre sniffed, the very picture of a miffed kitten. "Trieze was being rude, as usual. He thinks he's so special because he rides English style. As if Western riding wasn't good enough. And he's always wearing those prissy pants and coat. He looks like such an idiot."

They heard the clip-clop of an approaching horse. "As if scruffy jeans and t-shirts look better?" Trieze looked down his nose at them from atop his horse. "Duo, you really ought to be careful who you choose as friends. People could get the wrong impression about your preferences."

Quatre turned beet red.

"Enough. Go run your jumps Trieze, we're going riding." Trowa handed Valley and Trixie's lead ropes to Quatre and turned to me. "Now, next lesson: Riding. Always mount from the left. Put your left foot in the stirrup and hold on to the back of the saddle and Steel's mane. Jump and swing your right leg over his hindquarters. I'll help, since Steel is so big it might be hard for you to mount up."

I gave Steel's back an appraising look. "No problem, just like jumping through a window sill." I put my left foot and hands where Trowa had told me to and hoisted myself up into the saddle. It might not have been graceful, but it was effective. "Hey, cool."

Trowa gave him a small smile. "Good job. Some experienced riders still can't manage to mount Steel without a block." He shot a sardonic look in Trieze's direction. "Now, these are the reins and you hold them like this." Trowa adjusted my hands into the proper position. "Steel is plow-reined, which means that you used the reins to pull on the side of the bit you want him to go. If you want to go left, tug the left rein; if you want him to go right, tug the right rein. How sharply he turns will depend on how hard you tug the reins."

"Right. Got it. Where are the brakes?"

Trowa snorted with laughter. "If you want him to stop, pull back on both reins at the same time. To get him to go forward just give him a little kick in his sides."

"Doesn't that hurt him?"

"Kicking doesn't hurt them. Riding crops do, of course." Trowa shot another look at Trieze.

I was beginning the think that Trowa and Quatre didn't like Trieze. Wonder what gave me that idea?

"Alright, your feet should stay in the stirrups at all times. Toes up, heels down. Sit up straight. Stay here while Quatre and I mount up."

Obediently, I stopped slouching and stuck my feet in the stirrups. I found that sitting on Steel's back was actually quite comfortable and exhilarating. I watched as Quatre easily mounted Trixie. Trowa was even more graceful and looked perfectly at home in the saddle on Valley's back.

Curiously, I glanced over to where Trieze still watched us from atop his little horse (well, little compared to Steel). The older teen had a slightly sour look on his face, due in part-I'm sure-to Trowa's veiled insults. I allowed myself a small smirk.

The smirk was immediately wiped off my face when Trieze's horse began to buck and rear. Steel skittered sideways and tossed his head, putting distance between himself and the other horse. I clung onto the saddle horn for dear life, trying not to drop the reins. Noises to my right made me glance at Trowa and Quatre. Their horses were dancing around and freaking out as much as Trieze's mount.

That was when I noticed Beth, standing near the barn and laughing her head off. She noticed me looking at her and winked. I couldn't help but gasp. The little bitch! She knew she was the cause of the horses' panic and didn't care! Was she trying to kill someone! My question was answered as Trieze went flying into the dirt, apparently unable to stay on his horse any longer. He landed with a cry of pain directly under his horse's flailing hooves.

I screamed out a rather pointless warning. Yanking my feet out of the stirrups, I leaped off of Steel. I'm not sure what I thought I was going to do, but I wasn't going to just perch on high and watch someone die. Trowa was faster than me, however. He was off Valley and yanking Trieze out from underneath the scared horse before I even hit the ground. Rather roughly, he shoved Trieze toward the barn and turned back to the horse.

I realized quickly that Trieze's mount wouldn't calm down until Princess Leia was gone. Not thinking about witnesses or how oddly any of what I was about to do was going to look, I took off running towards the barn, where Beth was still laughing her head off. She saw me running toward her and stopped laughing. Her eyes widened when she realized what I was about to do, but she didn't have time to dematerialize.

I hauled back and punched her in the nose.

She screamed in pain and disappeared, but not before I noticed a very satisfactory stream of blood coming from her nose.

I didn't do her any permanent damage, of course, with her being dead and all. She hadn't been dead very long and probably didn't realize that the pain she felt was only there because she expected to feel it. Thankfully, I'd never met a ghost who stopped expecting pain when they got hit in the nose. Otherwise my job would be much harder. As soon as she stopped thinking about it, the pain would stop and her nose would heal.

Almost as soon as Beth dematerialized the horses began to calm down. Quatre had dismounted at some point and now held the reins of both Valley and Trixie. Since Steel had simply started munching on the leaves of a nearby tree, he obviously wasn't interested in running anywhere. Trowa was gripping Trieze's horse's halter and murmuring in a soft voice. Trieze was dazedly sitting on the ground staring at the horses.

Hey, no one must have noticed me punching thin air in all the chaos and ruckus. Cool.

Except Quatre was now giving me a funny look.

Well.

Shit.

I gave him my best charming smile and shrugged, praying that he'd leave it alone.

He did, thank God. Instead of asking me potentially awkward questions, he moved to the hitching post and tied Valley and Trixie before going back to Steel to drag him away from his little snack. Trowa tied Trieze's mount up too, before moving towards the other guy to check him for injuries. I joined him next to Trieze, being very familiar with various injuries, including, but not limited to: broken bones, burns, cuts and concussions.

Hey, what can I say, ghosts can be mean little buggers.

Trieze didn't seem to be injured, but Trowa advised him to call someone to drive him to Urgent Care for x-rays. Privately, I thought the guy was probably fine, just a little bruised and shell-shocked from the fall. In my opinion, he was being a major wuss.

Quatre sighed, sounding more exasperated than upset over our little adventure. He smiled at me apologetically. "I guess we probably shouldn't ride today. The horses were pretty spooked and they're still nervous."

I shrugged to let him know I wasn't particularly worried. "Hey, it's cool Q-Ball. No biggie."

"Alright," Trowa said calmly. "Let's unsaddle the horses." He gave Trieze an unreadable look. "We'll take care of Fancy."

Trieze didn't argue, but nodded and pulled a cell phone out of his jacket pocket. He quickly dialed a number and began talking to someone who was probably his mother. I snickered slightly at his obvious discomfort before Quatre drug me away to learn how to unsaddle the horses. Let me tell you, unsaddling is a lot easier than saddling, considering you just take everything off of the horse.

Trowa drove us home in his red truck, dropping me off first. I was actually kind of grateful to be home. I immediately went upstairs to take a shower, considering I smelled of horses, dust and hay. It had been a long day, so I showered quickly then filled my tub and soaked for a couple of hours.

While soaking I mulled over the Beth situation.

She was obviously pretty pissed off at something or someone. Most likely Trieze, since I hadn't noticed her paying any particular attention to Trowa or Quatre. From her actions, she was angry enough to want to cause some serious damage. Trieze was lucky she was newly dead. Right now she had no idea of what she could do as a ghost, but it wouldn't take her long to figure it out.

"I told you she was dangerous."

I barely managed to bite back a scream that probably would have sounded incredibly girly. Sitting cross-legged on the floor near the tub was Heero. He was giving me an odd look, which probably had something to do with my reaction. While I had been able to stop myself from screaming, I was not able to stop myself from jumping out of my skin.

"What are you doing in here?" I hissed at him.

"She's very, very angry at this Trieze person."

"I think I figured that out. Now, get out of my bathroom. I don't have any clothes on."

Heero snorted, which sounded odd coming from him. I mean, really, the guy seems pretty much as in touch with his feelings as a brick wall. Which only makes sense; they didn't exactly have Oprah or Dr. Phil back in his time.

"Baka," he muttered and disappeared.

I glared at the place he had been sitting. I was pretty sure I had just been insulted, but I had no idea what 'baka' meant. Hell, I didn't even know what language he was speaking in.

That little thought sent me on another tangent. Exactly what was Heero's ethnicity? His eyes looked slightly Asian, but were there Asians in this part of the country when he was alive? Has he not been dead as long as I thought? How did he die anyway? What was his unfinished business?

I sank deeper into the bathtub, contemplating my dead roommate.