AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He broke out in a smile. ‘Honestly? No, I really don’t.’
‘Then let’s hope it doesn’t. Although if it’s a new client then that’s a good thing?’
‘You know who I am?’ But then he laughed. ‘Of course you do.’
‘Everyone knows who you are, and I’m glad we finally meet. How are you settling in?’
‘We’re doing well, school has been good for my daughter Abigail too. She’s with friends today, at the ice-creamery.’
‘Kids work fast, don’t they?’
He chuckled. ‘They sure do.’ He hoped to make some friends of his own but accepted it would take time. He wondered how easy it would be in a village community like this one, but if the people he’d met so far were anything to go by, it would be fine.
Etna took his empty plate and left him to it with assurance he should holler if he needed anything else. When it was almost time for Abigail to come out of the ice-creamery, he went back to the car so that he was ready. It was rewarding to see her smiling and hear her talking about the other girls and ice-cream all the way to Heritage View Stables.
Watching his daughter with Hazel at the stables now, he knew that letting her go to the ice-creamery this morning without him had been a step in the right direction. He hadn’t liked it, but she needed it.
‘Are you excited about seeing Denby?’ Hazel asked Abigail as she finished picking out the horse’s hooves.
Abigail nodded. She’d been clutching Denby’s stable door sign against her ever since they got out of the car and Gus tilted his head to urge her to share it with Hazel.
Hazel cottoned on. ‘What do we have here?’
Abigail turned the sign around. ‘It’s for Denby’s stable door.’
‘Ah, yes, this will claim his stable, I’ll be sure to put it up.’
All the formalities had been covered, the contracts signed, now all they needed was Denby.
Gus admired the dapple-grey horse standing patiently for Hazel to continue. ‘Which one is this?’
‘This here is Franklin. He’s my dad’s horse, really, but Dad knows this is where he belongs.’
‘How do you choose the names?’ Abigail asked as Hazel picked up a grooming brush and began to work on Franklin’s coat, all the way down his shoulder and his belly, her hand smoothing his coat alternating with the swish of the brush.
‘Most of the names were chosen by our parents, but we did get some say. I suppose you have to think of the colour, the coat pattern, the personality. Franklin here is strong and bold, steady, so the name Franklin kind of fits. Something like Twinkle probably wouldn’t.’
Abigail giggled. ‘That would be silly.’
‘I expect Franklin would think it silly too,’ Gus joked.
Hazel grinned back at him. ‘He certainly would.’ She seemed happy to keep chatting and added, ‘He’s our oldest, wisest horse.’
‘Why didn’t your dad take Franklin with him to his new house?’ Abigail wanted to know.
‘He didn’t think it fair on Franklin. Franklin loves it here with all his horse buddies. And my dad still rides him when he comes back this way. They’re good friends.’
Gus wondered how much was hiding behind Hazel’s smile, because there had to be something. She couldn’t be this sure of herself one minute and the next, giving him mixed messages that made him wonder why she wouldn’t teach his daughter. He watched as a strand of golden hair came out of her plait and grazed the side of her face and the top of her chest. But his gaze didn’t linger long because in the distance he could see a horse box making its way from the lane and down the long driveway towards the house and the gates.
Abigail turned at the sound of an approaching vehicle. ‘Denby! He’s here!’ She yelled out the discovery before running towards the main gate to greet Joan and Denby with her frantic waving, as though they might drive on past if she didn’t flag them down.
‘I apologise.’ Gus frowned at Hazel. ‘She knows not to yell when she’s near horses.’
‘I get it, she’s excited. And this one doesn’t spook easy – as well as being strong and bold, he’s calm too, doesn’t let much bother him, do you, Franklin?’ She ran the brush across his body again. ‘He’ll be ridden by Bobby in the next riding lesson and then in the group lesson after that, by someone with very little experience. We need a horse like Franklin to do the best job in that situation, don’t we, boy? He doesn’t get in a flap or panic.’ She pulled the excess horsehair out of the brush and discarded it at the side of the paddock before dropping the brush back into the kit.
‘He’s all ready to be saddled up,’ she told Arnold as he came over with what looked like all the tack for the horse.
‘Cheers, sis. I’ll leave you to welcome the new recruit.’ He nodded a hello to Gus. ‘Send Bobby over as soon as you can.’
