Fiona by Meredith Moore

Author:Meredith Moore
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2016-03-21T11:47:30+00:00

After a long, hot shower, I go out to meet Albert at the car. He’s just come back from his outing with Blair to take me to Poppy’s school. “Where’s Blair?” I ask him.

He raises his eyebrows, as if surprised by the question. “I saw you two driving off a few hours ago,” I explain as quickly and casually as possible as I slide into the backseat.

“She had a fair amount of errands to run in the village.”

“Errands? In Almsley?” I ask. There’s only one store in the village, and I can’t imagine needing to spend longer than fifteen minutes inside it.

“No,” he answers slowly. “Perthton.”

I meet his eyes in the rearview mirror. “Perthton?” I repeat.

With my grandparents? I wonder. Is she there with them now, having tea while they coo over her and tell her she’s the granddaughter they always wanted?

I close my eyes, trying to push down the sudden urge to throw something. Instead I pick at my fingernails until one of them bleeds as we start speeding away from the estate.

Albert must see me fidgeting with anger and stress, because he keeps glancing at me in the rearview mirror, his dark brown eyes examining me with curiosity.

“Anything you want to tell me, lass?” he asks.

“No,” I say quickly. When I catch his eyes in the mirror, though, I can tell he knows I’m lying.

I feel a wave of relief once we reach Poppy’s school. Soon her happy chatter fills the car on the ride home, and I can avoid Albert’s questioning gaze.

Back at the castle, Poppy changes into her riding clothes, and I walk with her to the stables.

The storm has passed, leaving only puddles and dripping trees in its wake, but I can’t help but tremble as I look out at the woods. I can still hear my mother’s urgent voice in my head.

Gareth is out front saddling Copperfield as we approach, and I can tell the exact moment he sees me. His hands go still for a second, but only for a second, before he finishes tightening the saddle belt and comes around to help Poppy mount.

“Here for another riding lesson?” he asks me. His tone is easy and teasing, but he doesn’t look at me. Instead, he focuses on adjusting Poppy’s stirrups and hands her the reins.

“No,” I say quietly.

“It’s muddy out there today,” he tells Poppy. “Be careful where he steps. And make the jumps smooth.”

Poppy nods solemnly and touches her heels to Copperfield’s flank, guiding him over to the paddock where they’ve set up the jumps for her to train.

Gareth and I watch in uncomfortable silence as Poppy starts Copperfield at a trot, then brings him up to a canter. She expertly leads him over one jump, clearing two low bars. The next jump is higher and more difficult, two sets of three bars. My heart’s in my throat as I watch her push Copperfield into a canter again, and then they soar over the jump in a graceful arc, Poppy’s body melding into her horse’s until they are one intention, one pure movement.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.