I’ll have to talk to Tom sometime about Stadium playing at the pub every weekend. I want to keep doing it, but don’t want to look unreliable.

  I’ve seen where that can go watching my old man.

  And Tom surprised me, he agreed to taking Hunter into the clinic and getting him checked out.

  “Did Tom say what the results of the scan were?”

  Milly nods. “There’s no permanent tendon damage. Alan thinks either it’s still a bit bruised or he’s afraid it will hurt if he doesn’t limp.”

  “Horses do that. Some are real wimps.”

  “How do we fix that?”

  “I don’t know. Keep walking him until he gets over it?”

  Rest and time might be the answer.

  In the meantime, maybe Milly should move on. “Are you going to look at those other horses?”

  Milly screws up her face like she hasn’t decided. Real cute.

  Then sighs. “I’m still sad about Wildfire and miss her and I wish Hunter was fine, but Mum said if I had something else to focus on it would help me feel better.”

  I like that she’s focussing on me.

  “When will you go?”

  “Next week. Do you want to come?” We wander together over to the fence and watch Hunter grazing happily in the house paddock.

  We’ve spent most of the last month looking after this horse. I should probably take my job a bit more seriously from today or Tom is going to get pissed off with me. He hasn’t said anything yet, but it doesn’t take two of us to look after Hunter anymore.

  “If you’re thinking of bringing them back with you, I’m not driving the float.”

  “No, Dad said we’d take the horse truck.”

  “Good.”

  Then Tom comes out of the house and comes over. “I thought we’d go and look at those horses this afternoon instead of next week, Princess.”

  “Okay.” Milly pushes herself away from the fence. “Are you coming, Cole?”

  “Do you need me?” I ask Tom.

  “Yes, it’s always good to have someone who knows what they’re doing if you’re handling strange horses.”

  “How many are planning on buying?”

  Tom shrugs. “We’ll see when we get there.”

  We drive to Cyril Hasting’s property. I drop Tom and Milly off at the house and then drive to the parking area near the stables and park the truck.

  When I find them again, Milly and Tom are talking to Hastings and examining the two horses, one a nice looking grey, and the other as black as Midnight Shadow.

  I lean on the rail fence and watch the talking, the leading and the running of hands over tendons. Tom and the owner talk about every part of those horses, the way they move, what they’ve been fed since they were born. And what the stallions that sired them achieved, and the mares.

  Finally, Milly leaves the two men and comes over to me. “I couldn’t be bothered listening to stories about the grandparents,” she says. “Dad and I already checked their lineage and form.”

  “Have you decided if you’re buying them yet?”

  Milly shakes her head. “Dad wants to see how they go with me riding them.” She nods at the paddock with a show jumping course set up on it. “I’m getting my boots and helmet. Mr Hastings is going to saddle them for me, and I’ll take them over the jumps.”

  “How long will that take?”

  “Not long, ten jumps each?”

  I lean against the fence beside Tom and Hastings and watch Milly enter the ring on the grey and approach the first fence.

  “She looks good on Karim,” says Hastings.

  I look at the man. Of course, she looks good on that horse. Milly always looks good. Today she looks beautiful in old jodhpurs and the long black riding boots with the zips down the back, gloves and whip. About as appealing as I’ve ever seen her.

  Hastings waves his hand to take in the course. “We’ve set the fences low, but you’ll still see what Karim and Tobias can do.”

  The horse flies over the fence and moves smoothly towards the next.

  “She placed him well,” says Hastings. “Show-jumping tests the technical jumping skills of the horse and rider, including suppleness, obedience, fitness and athleticism.”

  Tom nods wisely. Hastings has to be talking for the sake of talking, he must know Tom knows that.

  Milly steers the horse in a wide curving run to the next fence.

  “These fences are brightly coloured and consist of elements that can be knocked down. Unlike cross country obstacles,” says Hastings to me.

  More talking for the sake of it.

  Hastings keeps it up. ““Karim is a thoroughbred and is bred to race. He’s a four-year-old, so has been through racing preparation. But after he’d had a couple of runs, it was obvious he wasn’t going to be a champion. Eventing could be the way to go with him.”

  “Would a racehorse be competitive?” From what I’ve seen racehorses are happy just running, not doing the stuff I’ve seen Milly doing with Hunter and Wildfire.

  Tom leans against the fence and watches Milly step up from a canter to make a fast circuit right round the outside of the jumping course.

  “It depends how they’ve been handled.” Tom seems to be riding with Milly in his mind.

  “If the horse has been brought on carefully, and if they can jump like Hastings says this one can, then the racing pretraining can be beneficial.”

  He changes his balance and moves his hands the way Milly is doing. “A racehorse, if you get a nice one, is much more advanced than a purpose bred horse at the same age.”

  That sounds reasonable. I watch Milly slow down, then steer Karim towards the next jump. The horse takes it effortlessly and looks like he lands well.

  Milly heads for the next one.

  “Going well, Milly,” calls her father.

  Hastings rests his elbows on the rails. “That horse has been handled from six months, put through sales preparation, so he got used to everything from a young age and was broken in early. He’s bomb-proof.”

  Bomb-proof sounds good. Karim flies over the next jump too, no stumbling as he lands.

  Tom watches Karim jump. “Immaculate. If they’ve been brought through by a good trainer, they’ve seen the racetrack, they’ve seen the people and they’re used to travelling and new surroundings. It’s a good start. You end up with a three or four-year-old horse that’s had all this experience.” He turns to Hastings. “We’ll take this one.”

  Hastings nods. “But before you make the decision. Let Milly ride Tobias too. He’s a purpose-bred eventing horse. He’s never been out in public and nobody could call him bomb-proof, but he’s got real potential.”

  “All right. She can have a go on him too. But I’m going to take some convincing.”

  “You’re just biased towards racehorses because that’s what you know. If you have a purpose-bred sport horse, and you do everything with it yourself, then the horse should have no reason to get upset.”

  Tom still doesn’t look convinced. Milly makes it around the course without coming off or knocking a fence down, then rides over to us.

  “Do you like him?” asks Tom.

  “He’s lovely.”

  Hastings leads Tobias over. “Now a different ride completely.”

  I hold Karim steady while Milly dismounts. She seems tired.

  Tom must think that too. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, Princess.”

  “I’m fine.” Milly spends a few minutes gentling Tobias then swings up.

  This horse has a bit more fire than Karim. He dances sideways, but Milly gets him under control. She walks him to the entrance of the course and then canters towards the first jump.

  It all looks fine, but at the last moment, the horse veers to the side. Milly reins him in. She takes him in a wide circle and then heads for the jump again. This time the animal flies over it.

  “That a boy.” Hastings turns to Tom. “Of the two, Tobias is the better jumper.”

  Tom nods but concentrates on Milly. The horse takes the second and third jumps well. The fourth one, he clips a rail but gets over.

  “He has a natural jump,” says Hastings. “But then he’s by a horse that won everything for years.”

  On the fifth jump the run up looks fine. Then the horse gathers up ready to go over, then refuses at the last moment. Milly can’t have been ready because she flies over the horse’s head and lands on the ground.

  And I can’t believe the way I feel when I see her fall, and the panic and fear that she might be hurt.

  She lies there very still.

  “Jesus.” I need to get to her.

  I vault the fence and run. By the time I get there, Milly is sitting up. She takes her riding helmet off.

  I crouch beside her. “Are you, all right?”

  She nods. “It was my fault. I got it wrong.”

  Her father runs up. Then Hastings arrives. He’s caught Tobias.

  Milly leans against me, still unsteady. “We’ll take both horses,” she says to Hastings. “Karim is ready now, and I can’t wait to see what Tobias will do with a bit more training.”

  I can’t believe it. “But he just threw you.”

  Milly finally stands up and moves close to Tobias stroking the horse’s nose. “I told you, Cole, it was my fault.” She looks over at Tom. “I want them both. Daddy.”

  I can’t believe she wants a horse that has just thrown her, my heart is still pounding, and she stands there wanting this horse as if nothing has happened.

  Tom turns to Hastings. “We’ll get our vet to check them over and do the x-rays. If everything is fine, you have a deal.”

  “I’m sure they’ll pass. Take them now. We’ll sort out the paperwork after the vet check.”

  Tom and Hastings shake on it, and Milly’s go two new horses.

  When we get home, I watch Milly lead Tobias down the ramp of the horse truck. Milly is right, he’s a beautiful horse, black and shiny like coal, with a coat that bounces the sunlight.

  But Tobias threw her, so as far I’m concerned, he can’t be trusted, ever. I’ll be there watching any time Milly decides to ride him.

  Once Milly has Tobias on the ground, I go into the truck to lead Karim out. I prefer this horse. The silvery grey of its coat isn’t as spectacular as Tobias’s, but it doesn’t toss its head and prance anytime anyone gets near it either.

  Actually, I’d prefer a rocking horse if Milly is going to ride it. I don’t want to ever again feel the way I felt when I saw her fall.

  I lead Karim down the ramp. “What are we doing with them?”

  “I think we’ll put them in their boxes. Let them get used to being here.” Milly twitches Tobias’s rein. “Tomorrow, after I’ve ridden them, we’ll put them in the house paddock.”

  Tobias does a bit of prancing, but not too bad. Maybe the fall was just bad luck.

  Tom comes around to the back of the truck. “Cole, after you’ve cleaned the truck out, can you put it away for me?”

  “Yeah, of course.” I lead Karim and follow Milly over to the stalls.

  Tom walks with me. “There’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

  “Yeah.” I open the stall door and lead the horse in. My boss leans against the door.

  “I’m looking for someone I can train up as manager. I’m thinking about stepping away from the day to day running of this place. Would you be interested in starting off as racing manager and after a few years learning the ropes, then taking over?”

  “Me?” I hadn’t even considered the idea. I’d never thought this was a permanent thing, but I like the work.

  “Yeah, I’d love it.” I know what goes on and if I’d thought about it, the dream would have been the chance to keep working with the horses and have some responsibility. Tom really can’t be too upset about the time I’ve spent with Milly caring for Hunter if he’s offering me a promotion already.

  Tom straightens up. “I thought we’d work together for a while until you know the ropes and then if it’s working out all right I’d start stepping back?”

  “That’d be great.”

  “All right. Start tomorrow as the racing manager. I’ll leave the cleaning up to you tonight.”

  “Cool.” I can be the groom, or stable hand, or Fred’s assistant or whatever Tom wants me to be for one more day. Starting as trainee racing manager tomorrow sounds pretty good.

  Tom goes back to the house.

  In the horse truck, Milly leans on the divider. “Are you staying for dinner?” she asks.

  “Need to get home.” I’ll go get some sleep, start fresh in the morning. Start the new job. Probably should have asked Tom what the job description is.

  Milly looks disappointed. “If you’re sure.”

  I wander over, lean my arms on the rails each side of hers, and plant a kiss on her lips. “Certain.”

  Her arms slide around my neck, and I feel my body stir.

  “Did you know your dad was going to offer to train me up as the racing manager?”

  “Did he? He didn’t tell me. Are you going to do it?”

  “Yeah, I’m starting tomorrow.”

  “Good.” She has that half-smile on her lips, head tilted to the side. “Now, if you stayed for dinner, we could go for a walk afterwards and celebrate.

  My body agrees with the idea, even with a wooden wall between us I can feel the heat of her.

  “I’m not sure how much walking I’m up to, it was a big weekend, and it’s been a busy day,” I murmur into her mouth.

  Milly giggles. “I thought you had more stamina than that.”

  “I need to go into training if I’m going walking with you all the time.”

  This time she laughs. “I’ll see you in the morning then?”

  “Yeah. What time?”

  “Early.” Milly disentangles, picks up the broom she’s been using. I grab the shovels and followed her out of the truck. We put the gear away and then Milly wanders back to the looseboxes.

  She goes to Tobias. “We need to start work, don’t we boy?” She strokes his neck.

  I watch Milly with the horse. She’ll be up at dawn, so, I’ll be here before daybreak. I’ll keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn’t get hurt.

  She runs her hand over the horse’s back and down his leg. I can imagine how that would feel. Maybe I should stay for dinner.

  No, I need to get up early and get here when she decides to ride that horse.

  “What time will you be here?” she asks.

  “Six?”

  Milly hugs me. “That would be wonderful. We can spend all day together.”

  “I think your dad will want me to work some of the time.”

  “You will be working. You’ll be helping me.”

  “I’m not sure Tom sees it that way.”

  “Of course, he does,” says Milly. “He always sees things my way.”

  It suits me if Tom is happy to take his time introducing me to what he expects and will let me help Milly. For now, I’m more than happy to make sure she’s safe and doesn’t take any stupid risks.

  She moves over to the next box to pat Karim. “The whole of tomorrow with my two favourite things.”

  I’m not even sure she includes me in that comment.

  When I get home, the place is tidy, dinner cooked, and the old man has managed to get up and have a shower.

  I’m impressed. “What happened?”

  “Thought I’d get my act together before you traded me in.”

  “I haven’t yet.” My old man mightn’t be perfect, but he is the one who stuck around after I was born. “What about a job?”

  “I started looking today. Got a couple of prospects.”

  “Great. And I just got promoted.” I help serve the food.

  “Doing what?”

  “Trainee racing manager.”

  The old man’s face creases into a pleased grin. “That’s great Coley.”

  I sit down to a meal I haven’t had to cook. Things are looking up. Milly is great. The old man should be working again soon. And I’ve been promoted. Life is good.

  Chapter 18

  Milly

  COLE MAKES IT to the stables just before six. It’s still dark, just the false dawn lighting the building but all around there’s the usual early morning bustle of exercise riders and stable hands with the racehorses. Everyone carrying on with their own work. The track is lit, and I can see a few horses galloping around in the mist.

  “Hey, Milly.” Cole grabs his jacket out of the ute and puts it on. It’s cold. Then he gives me a peck on the cheek. Must still be worried about Gary and Ewan. He looks over at the track too. “Where’s Tom?”

  “In the stables with Tobias and Karim.”

  Fred goes past leading a horse I haven’t seen before.

  “Hey, Fred, got a new one?” Cole asks him.

  “Yeah, the owner delivered him last night.”

  “He looks good.”

  Fred stops. “The boss tells me you’re going to be the new racing manager.”

  Cole shrugs. “Yeah, you’re stuck working with me now.”

  “You’ll do.” Fred nods at the stables with looseboxes they’d put Tobias and Karim in. “And you’re helping with those two today.”

  “I am?” He looks at me like, so you got your own way as usual.

  It’s my turn to shrug. Not that it took much persuading for Dad to agree. I think he’s still happy for Cole to help me. He has his doubt about Tobias too.

  “Yep, sounds like it,” says Fred “I’ll have to find someone to replace you.”

  “Not possible,” says Cole with a cocky grin. “Milly says we’ll only be working with them for an hour or so. I’ll help afterwards.”

  “That’d be good. If Tom doesn’t need you, I’ll be here.” Fred wanders off with the horse.

  We go over to the stalls.

  “Good morning, Cole.” Dad’s leaning on the rail watching Tobias and Karim.

  “Hi, Tom.” Cole hooks the door back.

  As he comes over to the looseboxes, I say to him, “Don’t they look wonderful?” Tobias and Karim are perfect.

 

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