They Don't Ride Horses in L.A. Anymore by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub

CHAPTER 12: STARS AND STUNTS, ABOVE AND BELOW

(Summer 1959)

​ June 29th had been Antonia’s birthday. Alivia had missed it. She had just been so busy the past month with the mounted archery showcase that she and Charity had been working on. It had been Charity’s idea, initially, brought up in a conversation some six months earlier, not long after they got acquainted.

​ “I actually followed your career for a while,” she had said to Alivia while practicing at the range one day. “You’re remarkable! What you did for women in Hollywood, your athleticism, the way you stood up for yourself when needed? No wonder you got into archery after your stunt work ended! You’re a true heroine. Your story of how you became a stuntwoman in the first place is legendary, at least for those in the know. The woman who leaped on the runaway horse and got pulled in to double for Fay Wray in King Kong ! And now you teach archery… we need to put those together… how about training people to shoot a bow while riding a horse?”

​ Alivia had been delighted at the suggestion, of course, but came back with the obvious question. “It sounds very… romantic and something out of Robin Hood … but I’m not sure there’s any practical use for it.”

​ “Why does it need to be practical?” Charity had replied. “People don’t develop skill in archery for practical purposes nowadays. You can hunt with a gun. The police and military use modern weaponry. People don’t ride horses for practical purposes either. We drive cars now. None of it’s about practicality… it’s about the adventure! You mentioned romantic , well… I’m a romantic at heart, I guess.”

​ Alivia needed no more convincing. Charity had connections through local stables and used them to connect the archery range with horses. By early March, Alivia was teaching classes on mounted archery, showing people how to shoot at both stationery and moving targets while on horseback.

​ Charity was a columnist. She worked for the paper. It wasn’t long before there was considerable publicity about former stuntwoman Alivia Chambers teaching equestrian archery in the Los Angeles area. The Pasadena Roving Archers’ membership grew, and classes were soon filled. Alivia suddenly found herself in demand, with Charity helping her promote her newfound calling.

​ Antonia had heard about it as well, of course, but through the same channels as everyone else, not through her partner directly. She had spoken to Alivia about it one Sunday morning at breakfast, showing her the full-length article in the Los Angeles Times written by Charity.

​ “I’m very proud of you for this,” Antonia had explained. “I’ve always supported your dreams and ambitions, and I think doing something you’re skilled at, teaching others, something you love, is wonderful. The only thing about this that confuses and concerns me is why it’s been going on for the past couple of months and this is the first I’m hearing about it… through the Sunday paper.”

​ Alivia didn’t have a very good answer.

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.