The October Horses by Genevieve Mckay

Author:Genevieve Mckay [Mckay, Genevieve]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: StonePony Studios
Published: 2020-04-25T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

“You do have your driver’s license, right?” Lorne asked, rolling down his window as soon he pulled into the driveway the next morning.

“Er, yes, technically I do. I haven’t driven in a long time, though. Not since before I got sick.”

“Perfect, hop in then.”

“What?” I stared at him in astonishment as he clambered out of the driver’s side and ushered me in behind the wheel. “No, I can’t. I don’t even remember how.”

“Bah, it’s not rocket science. It’s just like riding a bicycle. I’ll be right here if you get in trouble.”

“Lorne.” I crossed my arms over my chest and stared him down. “I’m not driving your car. What if I crash it? I can’t pay to fix it, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll worry about that if it happens. The truth is that all this driving is murder on my back and hip. I have to cut back on either riding or driving. Too bad because I thought we’d try a new trail today.”

He sent me a hopeful smile.

“Okay, okay,” I said, giving in. “Fine, but if we get pulled over by the police, you’re taking all the blame.”

Luckily, I lived on a very quiet street because it took me a few minutes to remember where everything in the car was. Like the gas, brakes, and turn signals, and a few important things like that. A few blocks down was a small plaza with a big parking lot and Lorne made me pull in there and practice some circling, stopping, and backing up just like when I was starting out riding Nipper. After twenty minutes of that, I wasn’t doing quite so much lurching and we pulled out onto the road again.

Mid-morning traffic was pretty-low key but still, I stayed hunched forward, peering defensively out the windshield, gripping the wheel with both white-knuckled hands and saying fervent prayers in my head.

Once we’d reached the country roads I was able to relax a little and by the time we pulled into the barn driveway I was limp with exhaustion but a little triumphant too.

“Good job,” Lorne said which was completely underwhelming considering that I’d actually gotten us there in one piece. He really had no idea how much danger he’d been in.

Nipper and Bear were already at the gate and I led them in one by one, put them in the cross-ties and gave them their carrots.

“Are you boys ready for your trail ride?” I asked them and they both pricked their ears and bobbed their heads, which I took as a yes.

I’d assumed that I’d be riding Bear on the trail, but Lorne said no, I should tack up Nipper.

Despite all the good work Nipper and I had been doing together in the ring, I was still nervous. I couldn’t quite shake that image of him bucking and prancing that first day Lorne had ridden him.

You’re going to have to get over that, I told myself firmly. Nipper has been nothing but good lately.

Still, I had to do my breathing exercises to stay calm as I slid onto his back from the mounting block.

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