Ru didn’t think anyone had seen that. “Just a trellis pattern and she’s not a nag.”
“Fucking poofter.”
Ru said nothing.Just because I made a mane look pretty?Or was Mike only lashing out and didn’t actually mean it? Ru had no experience of people like Mike. He was a bully and Ru wasn’t sure how to handle him. He gave a quiet sigh and tried to walk past him out of the stall, but Mike shoved him back. Ru just managed to keep upright.
“You wear ladies’ underwear too?” Mike sniggered.
“What are you talking about?”
“You should have been a hairdresser, gay boy.”
Ru thought through the consequences of admitting he was gay. Even though he knew he’d be putting Jasim at risk, he wanted to sayso what if I’m gay?Instead, he said nothing. He’d learned on the farm that silence was sometimes his best defence.
“Get all the blankets, cloths and bandages and wash them. Then disinfect the isolation stables because we have more ponies coming. After that you can look for lost balls in the field.”
Ru tried to get past him again and Mike stuck out his foot and tripped him up. This time, Ru fell to the ground and jarred his hands. It went through his mind that he could hit Mike, though Ru had never hit anyone, but Mike would twist any retaliation to suit his purposes. So Ru picked himself up, brushed himself down and started to gather all the items needing to be washed.
When he saw Poppy, Ben and Mason watching him, Ru dropped his gaze. They hadn’t seen Mike trip him. They’d only seen him faceplant outside the stall. He wasn’t going to say anything. Mike was Jasim’s groom when he played in matches. He was essential to the team’s success and the biggest match of the season was coming up. Ru wouldn’t risk upsetting anything. He started the washing machine, then hurried back to make a sandwich before he went to the isolation stables.
They looked spotless but he hosed them out anyway and when he emerged, several grooms were heading out on ponies, polo mallets resting on their shoulders.
“Have you picked up the balls?” Mike swivelled round to ask him.
“Not yet.”
“Fucking slow-arse. You’ll have to do it later. Go and collect poop with the quad and the scooper in the lower field.”
“I don’t know how to drive the quad.”
“For fuck’s sake. Use a wheelbarrow then.”
“Mike!” Poppy scowled at him. “Don’t be so mean.”
“Do you want to do it?” Mike asked.
“No,” Poppy said.
“Then shut the fuck up. Use the wheelbarrow.”
As Ru walked back to get one, Paolo rode up. “Ru, saddle either Cookie or Joni, put boots on them, and grab a stick. I’m going to teach you how to play.”
“Thank you, boss.”
Ru ran to get Joni from the field, and took her back to the stables, his heart pounding in excitement. He tacked her up as fast as he’d ever managed it, two reins and a martingale, and set the stirrups shorter than he’d usually have them, as he’d seen the others set theirs. He roached her tail, and did a quick job pinning her mane. Ru had no idea which mallet to pick so he chose the shorter of the two lengths, and rode to the field fastening his helmet as he went.
He could hear grooms yelling, the pounding of hooves and the clash of sticks even before he got there. Joaquin, Marcelo and Jasim were in the field with the others. Paolo sat waiting on Bolt, a chestnut mare, on the other side of the gate to a different field.
“We’ll go in here first,” Paolo said.
Ru rode in and shut the gate behind him. He held his reins in his left hand, the polo mallet upright in his other hand.
Paolo handed him a glove. “For your right hand. You can wear two, but you definitely need one. You’re holding the mallet the correct way. That’s a good start. You should be wearing knee and elbow pads, but you’re not going to be in contact with anyone today. The saddle’s wrong too. It needs to be a close contact one, but Joni knows you, so she’ll do her best.”
Ru nodded.
“But now you need to forget how you ride.” Paolo chuckled. “I know Joni won’t be used to what you’re going to do, but it’s good practice for you to be on a horse that doesn’t usually play. Strong lower leg, soft hand. Ride in a circle. Go.”
Ru set off with the mallet upright as he’d seen the others do.
