May 16th, Spring, year 36

The younger kids decided they didn't want to go to the races, so we left them with Muffy, who agreed to play baby-sitter for the day. I can't blame the kidlets, they're still young enough that they don't quite get why the races are fun.

Muffy's a good babysitter too, so they should have some fun.

Also… Pony asked me to stand in for her. I accepted. This ought to be… interesting.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Skye asked for what felt like the fiftieth time in the past ten minutes.

Had they not been riding on the way to the races, she would have kicked him. Cheerfully. And probably hard. Or possibly smacked him. Which she did contemplate briefly.

"It's not the first time she's asked me to stand in," she pointed out, holding on to her fraying temper out of sheer force of will.

"But it's the first time you've accepted."

She took a deep breath and counted to ten. Twice. Wisely, Jamie and Laurie were staying out of the discussion, hanging back just enough to avoid getting involved while catching every word.

"Skye…"

"I'm just worried!" he interrupted, reaching across the distance to touch her hand. "You've never accepted before…"

"Oh for the love of…" Claire scowled her annoyance, and bit back the rest of the words. "Gray hurt himself again, so I couldn't exactly refuse, could I?"

It wasn't the whole reason, but it was enough of the truth to satisfy Skye, albeit with obvious reluctance. Claire let out a huff of annoyance and relief when he finally subsided, grateful that she didn't have to try revealing the other reason behind her acceptance.

Jill had been surprised too, but was undeniably more grateful than shocked. She had a title to defend after all.

And Claire wouldn't be able to explain to either her sister or her husband the force behind the sudden change of heart. It was the same feeling that was pushing her to finish the dresses as quickly as possible, pinning extra fabric up in case any of the girls hit a growth spurt after their dress was finished.

Something was waiting at the edge of her consciousness, pushing, pushing, pushing. Not hard, but very insistently. Something was going to happen, and Claire wanted to do something she hadn't before, just in case the 'something' ended badly.

Tension was thick in the air by the time they reached Jill's farm. Claire and Skye were, for once, not speaking to each other. Jamie and Lauren were both too wary to break the silence, so when Jill came up to them with her bright smile the twins were relieved.

"Ready to take a crack at racing again sis?" Jill's amethyst eyes glittered with warm mirth, melting the tension. "Follow me and we'll kit you out."

Skye made a faintly unhappy sound, prompting Claire to give him an annoyed look.

"Oh relax Skye," Jill grinned. "I'll return her to you undamaged. Cinnamon's a good racing horse."

"That's not what I'm worried about," the silver-haired man huffed under his breath.

"Dad's lucky he's out of reach, or Mom would have hit him for that," Jamie whispered to his twin.

"No kidding."

Jill and Claire headed into the farmhouse, leaving Skye and the twins to put the horses away.

"Dad, what's up? You two are… snapping at each other.." Lauren's voice was tentative. "It's weird."

"Your mother hasn't ever actually raced before… She usually refuses, so I'm… worried," and Skye's smile was rueful. "I should trust her, but I've never seen her race so I don't know how good she might be. She's never even told me if she's really raced before."

"It's Mom," Lauren laughed. "She's too stubborn to fail."

Jamie snorted his agreement, and even Skye had to acknowledge that fact. He didn't like it, but he acknowledged it as truth. Claire was stubborn… sometimes too much so.

He just shook his head lightly, sea-green eyes reflective. The twins exchanged knowing looks, and rolled their eyes in unison. Parents were so weird…

Claire and Cinnamon were in the second race of the day, and it wasn't until she was actually up on the horse that she started to feel the beginnings of nerves.

"Just trust the horse," Jill called from the fence. "He knows what to do!"

"Right," Claire muttered, "as if I needed the reminder."

Several other racers gave her idle, curious glances now. They recognized Cinnamon, but not the blonde woman riding him. She lifted her chin, setting her jaw stubbornly.

She had a title to uphold, and no pompous jerk from the City was going to take her sister's place, not if she had anything to say about it. Forcibly she closed everything out, focusing only on feeling the horse and his movements.

He too was nervous, knowing that this was the usual race, but not his usual rider. Claire soothed him in the only way she could, running her fingers over his shoulders and mane, the only parts of him she could reach.

"We're going to win this," she stated. "We are!"

Jill had placed hefty bets on Claire, trusting in her sister's nature. Skye watched her for a long moment, brows coming together in a faint frown.

"What?" Jill demanded after a minute, flicking him a curious look.

"Doesn't it seem odd to you that she's agreed to race?" he said.

"No, with Gray hurt and my kids to young to enter the races legally, it made sense that she would actually step up," Jill shrugged her shoulders lightly.

"And you have every trust in her ability?"

"You have never seen my sister race," and Jill smirked slightly. "Relax Skye, Claire and I are siblings. We all learned to race from our Dad, and even though she's never entered before… well, you'll see."

But it was because Skye hadn't seen that he was worried, and after a minute Jill laid a hand on his arm.

"Jack is the best, it's true," she said quietly. "But if Claire ever wanted to, she could easily take my title. It's just not in her nature to be competitive with either of her siblings. Not anymore, at least."

Skye looked down at his pregnant sister-in-law, and slowly, started to relax.

Up until the starter pistol went off, making them both jump about a foot. Jamie and Lauren, returning with roasted corn and cotton candy, both laughed.

It was a feeling that Claire had almost forgotten, the dreamlike quality of the starting seconds. She could feel Cinnamon bunching under her, and gave the horse enough of a head to stretch his legs, while keeping enough reins in her hands to control him and prevent accidents.

She slid, leaning her weight forward and rising up slightly in the saddle as he shot out of the gate, her hair a braid of sunshine whipping out behind her, the rush of the wind drowning out the sounds of the cheering crowd.

Oh yes… this was a feeling that she had missed. But past her early teen years, competing with her siblings had lost it flare of fun, which was why she had stopped racing in the first place. It made her wish, for the first time, that there could be a race held out in the Valley.

It was over all too quickly. The flash of the camera nearly blinded her, and she swore under her breath, wincing as she pulled Cinnamon back from a headlong controlled gallop into a stately trot, then down to a walk.

She could hear Jill's cheering over anyone else, and tipped back her helmet to grin in the direction of her sister. Skye's expression—shock and awe—made her laugh that bright, carefree laugh that could—and always had—brought up answering smiles.

That had been marvelous!

That. Was. Awesome! I'd forgotten how much fun racing was. And Skye's stunned bunny 'I can't believe you just did that' look was priceless!

I could hardly get off the horse without help though, talk about adrenaline… I'm glad I didn't try, the subsequent falling down on my butt would have totally ruined the image.

I think I'll have to take Honey out running more. Not to train, but because I love that feeling… The way the wind rushes around me, the scenery flying by… Mmm. I wonder if Skye will race with me?