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I decide to go down to the stables and go out for another ride on Nikita. Anything to keep me away from the evil sister. I’m sure she’ll be using all those tunnels in the house even more now to watch my reaction to her news. Well if she’s watching me now she’ll see me taking Nikita out and looking like I don’t believe a word she has told me.
Cindy
I smile my thanks at Boris, who, despite the language barrier, seemed to understand perfectly that I wanted Nikita saddled up just from my hand gestures. He holds the reins for me while I mount her. I’m getting better and better at getting onto her every time I do it, and if I keep riding twice a day for the rest of the break, I might even get to be reasonably graceful at it.
Boris hands me the reins once I’m seated. I thank him and tap my heels into Nikita’s sides and she starts to move. I stroke her neck as we leave the courtyard and head out into the fields. I will not spoil my ride by thinking of the lies Petra told me. I will trust Alex. I take Nikita in the direction Alex and I went this morning. I’d quite like to take a closer look at the orchard.
I’m not confident enough riding yet to gallop when I’m out on my own, but I want to feel like I’m moving, to feel the breeze in my hair. I want to feel free like I did earlier, to feel like I am flying. I settle on the middle ground; a fast canter. It’s not quite as much of an adrenaline rush as a full-on gallop is, but it feels nice and I feel like I’m in control.
We dash across the greenery and I look to each side, taking it all in. Even though I’ve seen it already just this morning, I’m still taken by the beauty of this place. If I stayed here for ten years, I don’t think I would ever reach a point where the natural beauty didn’t awe me. If I saw it every single day, I would still want to take it all in each time I passed through it.
I’m on the outskirts of the orchard, ready to slow Nikita down so we can take a slow, lazy walk through the orchard and I can really appreciate it all when I hear a loud noise. In the still, silent orchard, it sounds like a gun shot. A small squeak of surprise leaves my lips, but my reaction is nothing compared to Nikita’s.
The sound spooks her completely and she rears up, a terrified whine escaping her lips. I cling to the reins for dear life, as I try to soothe Nikita, telling her it’s ok, but there’s no soothing her. She snorts in fear as she comes back down on all fours, but it is only for a split second.
Then she rears up again.
This time, I can’t hold on. I feel the reins jerk through my fingers, and before I know what’s happening, I’m rushing through the air. Not flying, but falling backwards, toppling. I slam to the ground and pain explodes through my body. My shoulder hits something hard, a rock maybe, and my ankle twists beneath me. I feel my head bang against the ground. For a second, I actually see stars, and I think I will pass out, but the moment passes. I take deep breaths. I’m alive. I’m fine. I’m probably just winded.
Nikita bolts over the open fields and I’m left out here alone. Except … I am not alone. Seconds before the noise sounded, I saw a flash of pink through the trees and I was about to head in that direction to check it out, but the noise that sounded like a car backfiring or a gun going off filled the air and I was thrown off Nikita’s back.
It dawns on me that Petra was wearing a pink dress at lunch today.
This only convinces me further that the friendly routine was all an act. She was trying to come between Alex and I. Maybe she saw I didn’t look as shaken by her revelation as she expected me to be. She must have worked out that I didn’t believe her and decided to get her revenge on me in this way. Revenge for what though? I still don’t have any idea what the hell I’ve done to her to make her hate me so much that she’d pull this kind of stunt. If my head had hit the rock my shoulder hit, I could have been killed. Hell, I could have broken my neck.
This has to be more than just some petty jealousy over Alex’s fiancée.
I sit up gingerly, half afraid Petra will burst out of the trees with a knife or something, ready to finish the job. I hold my breath listening, but the only sounds are the leaves rustling in the breeze and birds chirping. All I can see in every direction is shades of green.
