Chapter 1 ~ Contract
With one final buck, Iris is flung through the air, landing a few feet away from the chestnut stallion with a painful thud. She hears the male stable hands laughing as Theo throws his head into the air triumphantly.
Jerks. The whole lot of them.
"Theo, the buyers will be here any minute," she whines as she rises, dusting herself off. The horse pays no attention to her, instead deciding to charge at the guys. They instantly stop laughing, jumping out of the horse's way.
Serves them right.
"Yo, Iris. Isn't he supposed to be calmed down by now?" Jimmy asks as he ducks behind a jump. Iris rolls her eyes. Of course he's supposed to be calm. He was never supposed to be like this today in the first place.
"He's supposed to be a lot of things," she mutters as she takes a few steps towards the horse. He instantly stops to look at her in curiosity. She takes his reins and he obediently follows her to the exit of the arena.
Strange horse.
As they step outside, a few cars come driving through the gate, coming to a halt in the parking lot. Well-dressed individuals climb out of the cars, looking around the yard. They eye the old buildings with disdain. Iris rolls her eyes.
The buyers are here. Just what they need right now.
Sale days are Iris's worst nightmare. Not because she has to spend the entire day with a bunch of stuck up rich people, even though that is pretty bad. It's because there's a possibility of losing Theo.
Even though he's probably the most psychotic creature on this planet, he's the only thing she has that still keeps her sane. He was like a shoulder to lean on when her life first fell apart. He's basically her best, and likely her only, friend.
Carroll, the yard's sales manager, comes rushing out of the barn to greet the guests. She's dressed in all things Redwood related. Redwood skinny jeans, a Redwood polo shirt, a Redwood baseball cap. She looks like a walking gift shop. Iris scrunches her nose at the sight.
Carroll greets the guests as Iris stands and watches. She can tell they have a rider here to test the horses by his appearance. He looks to be around thirty, blonde hair cropped short. He's wearing the most expensive riding clothes Iris has ever seen outside of a magazine, matching his comrades and their perfectly tailored suits.
What kind of person wears suits to a riding yard? Wealthy business pricks, that's who.
Iris has seen this time and time again. Wealthy a**holes come to see the yard's best horses in their fancy clothes but never end up buying any of them because the yard is "below their standards". She always wonders why they even show up in the first place.
Carroll turns and freezes as soon as she sees Iris and Theo. A smirk plays at Iris's lips at her reaction. Of course, she doesn't like her. Very little people do. Iris has a tendency of pissing off the customers. It's bad for business, apparently.
Also, she's currently covered in dirt and probably looks like a homeless person. Theo doesn't look much better, either. Both parties look like they've run a marathon. Through a swamp. Filled with horse sh*t.
"Mr Kingsley, this is our jumping trainer, Iris," Carroll introduces her. The group of people follow behind her as she walks up to the girl and the big brown stallion, smiling sweetly.
"Iris, this is Mr Kingsley and his partners. They're here to look at some of our horses," she says as she reaches them, as if Iris didn't already know why they were here. Sometimes she swears Carroll thinks she's an idiot. She rolls her eyes, again.
The man Carroll calls Mr Kingsley is surprisingly young. He can't be much older than twenty-six. He's very tall, almost a full foot taller than Iris, with brown hair. His eyes are covered with sunglasses, so she can't fully make out what he looks like. By the little she can see, she's guessing he's quite attractive.
Mr Kingsley gives her a respectful nod, which Iris returns. Carroll starts telling the group about the farm and its history as the group, along with Iris and Theo, makes it's way back to the arena.
"I'm guessing you'd like to try Theodore out first since he's already here?" Carroll shoots Iris a mischievous look. She narrows her eyes at her. She's doing this on purpose.
The group agrees and Theo is taken from Iris by the man with short blonde hair. He mounts swiftly, not giving Theo a chance to think about the fact that he's a stranger, and a man, which Theo has a distinct disliking towards. He shortens his reins dramatically as he puts his feet in the stirrups.
Iris winces as soon as he digs his spurs into Theo's side. This makes the big chestnut stallion jump forward in surprise. He's never been ridden with spurs since she was assigned to be his only rider. He also hasn't been ridden with such short reins since then.
As Iris expected, as soon as he realises what's going on, the horse comes to a dead stop. The man on his back frowns before prodding him with the spurs again. Theo rears up very suddenly, making the man lose his balance.
He comes back down after a second, not giving the man a second to readjust himself before ducking out from under him, sending him flying.
***
After Iris has ridden the last of the horses for Mr Kingsley and his people, she goes to the barn to take care of them while Carroll stays behind to discuss everything with the group. They looked pleased enough by what they saw, so she doesn't doubt that they're going to be able to sell at least a few of the horses they showed them.
The guy Theo threw off had a slight concussion. That's why Iris had to ride the horses instead of him.
"Iris," she's startled by Fred's voice at the stall door. He's the yard's oldest stable hand and Iris' favourite by far. He tends to keep to himself and not bother Iris like the other, younger stable hands do. "They want you in the office."
He walks off before she can ask him why. Sighing, she gives Theo one last pat on the neck as he munches away at his hay before opening the stall door.
The office is a small building closest to the parking lot. It's where Carroll takes the buyers to sign the contracts to the horses. Her heart sinks. They're buying Theo. That's the only possible explanation for why she's being called in. Carroll must really want to rub it in her face.
When she steps inside, she's surprised to see Mr Roberts, Redwood's owner and her boss, along side Mr Kingsley. Carroll has a sour look on her face as she shoots Iris a subtle glare.
"Ah, Ms Knight. Please take a seat," Mr Roberts smiles, gesturing to an empty chair next to Carroll, facing him and Mr Kingsley. Iris hesitates before cautiously taking a seat. Mr Roberts looks unusually joyful.
He's a short, chubby, middle aged man with pale orange hair. He has a moustache and a lot of freckles. He's not the nicest man on the planet, which makes his good mood awfully suspicious. Iris doesn't recall ever seeing him in a good mood before today.
"Ms Knight, we've called you here to congratulate you. Mr Kingsley here has bought your contract! Isn't that wonderful? You'll be leaving to work on his farm, which is quite prestigious, might I add," Mr Roberts grins and Iris's face immediately drops.
No wonder Mr Roberts is so happy. He's never liked her very much. The only reason he employed her and later signed the contract of ownership over her is because she's the best, and cheapest, trainer he could find. He likes her as a person about just as much as Carroll does.
The contract he's talking about is Iris's contract of ownership. It was the only way she could stay in North America without being shipped off to become a soldier. So technically, she's a modern day slave. Iris had almost forgotten about it until now.
Carroll lets out a low grunt by her side. By the looks of it, she's not very happy that Iris was 'bought' by a big-time businessman before her. She's been trying to get into a higher stable yard for years now. The only thing is that she's not a slave. Iris is.
Mr Kingsley looks at Iris with a neutral expression. He doesn't say anything as Mr Roberts rambles on about how good this will be for her. She doesn't think he's said a thing all day, actually. She doesn't remember hearing his voice at all.
"So, Ms Knight, you should go pack your bags. The truck will be leaving without you if you don't hurry up," Mr Roberts tells her finally, giving her a pointed look. He wants her to go without any problems. He knows she wants to object.
Knowing it won't do her any good, Iris stands and nods numbly, before turning and walking out of the office.
She stumbles towards the barn. She needs to see Theo. This will probably be their last few minutes together. She can't bare the thought of not seeing him again. This is all just a very cruel, sick joke, isn't it?
He's standing by the door, looking slightly drowsy as Iris approaches. He doesn't even lift his head when she comes to stop in front of him. She frowns, knowing instantly that something's wrong with him.
She peeks into the stall to see if she can spot anything unusual. He's wearing loading gear. That's odd. Did Mr Kingsley buy him too?
"Oh, Theo. I guess we're both doomed now. At least we'll be together, I guess," she says as she leans against him. He sighs in response. She closes her eyes, taking in his warmth.
Iris has always hated the idea of being owned. It makes her feel trapped. She'd do anything to be her own person again. She knows she can't, though. She needs to stay here in America more than she needs freedom.
She wishes every day that this war never started. If it hadn't, she'd still have parents. She'd be back home with Avalanche, her beautiful grey gelding. She sometimes wonders where he is. Her parents sold him to be able to afford her stay here.
Footsteps startle Iris out of her thoughts. She realises that she'd started crying when a salty tear makes its way to her lips. Quickly, she wipes her face with her sleeves before turning to face whoever is walking towards her.
To her surprise, Iris finds Mr Kingsley. He's not wearing his sunglasses anymore, giving her a good look of his face. He's even more attractive than she'd first thought. His eyes are a bright green, making him look much younger.
"I need to talk to you," his deep voice vibrates through the barn, giving Iris slight goosebumps. It's the first time she's heard him talk. His voice is cold, void of any emotion. His expression is still neutral. He comes to a halt in front of her.
"They informed me of your situation, and I have a deal for you," he says, his stony gaze focused on her. "If you're willing to show some of my horses and train my jumping riders, I'd be willing to pay you enough for you to buy back your own contract after a year's time."
Iris frowns, slightly confused.
"Of course, Theodore will be included in the deal. You'll take him with you."
Now she's even more confused. How did he know-
Carroll grins from the entrance of the barn. Understanding finally dawns on Iris. Carroll must have told him about her and Theo. For once, she's thankful for the yard's sales manager.
"Okay," she says, finally. Mr Kingsley nods curtly before turning and walking off. Iris is left, still slightly bewildered but exceedingly happy, alone with the horses.
*ð¥*
Tomorrow (noun)
A mystical land where 99% of all human productivity, motivation and achievement is stored.
Mmkay, so to be fair, this chapter was written VERY roughly. I'll come back to edit the whole book some time in the future. Also, don't judge the book just yet. We're only getting started. At least read 'till Chapter 2, which comes out next week Wednesday. But thanks so much for giving me and this book a shot and reading this far!
~ Danielle