Chapter 3 ~ Mr Kingsley
Iris never thought she could be like she was back in high school, before Kanan left and she found out about her parents' death. But now, it seems like she can. With the right kind of people, of course.
Hannah is quite scary when it comes to 'disciplining' the boys, as she likes to call it. They tend to mess with her a lot. Especially Noah and Zander, two brothers with a very mischievous disposition.
Daniel is like everyone's father around the house. Apparently, Hannah and him are dating. They sure act all lovey-dovey.
It's early Sunday morning. Iris is zipping up her old, tattered riding boots when Kanan bursts through her bedroom door. He looks nervous as he glances back down the hall, as if to make sure no one was there.
"You have to hide me," he says as he slowly closes the door behind him, flinching when it creaks slightly. Iris frowns in confusion. He tiptoes towards her, careful not to make any noise.
"Why?" She asks. Kanan holds a finger over his lips to quiet her. He dives in behind her bed as soon as a shrill scream erupts from downstairs. The door swings open once again to reveal Noah and Zander, both with grave looks on their faces.
Quickly, they dive over the bed, landing on Kanan with a thud. Grunts of pain can be heard, followed by a few profanities, before everything goes quiet.
Loud, angry footsteps come running up the stairs. They stomp through the hallway and again, Iris's bedroom door is thrown open, revealing a fuming Hannah with a wooden spoon in hand.
Iris has to suppress a laugh as she realises why Hannah is so mad. Her hair and clothes are full of a white powder, probably flower. She looks around the room, before pointing the spoon at Iris.
"Where are they?" She growls. Iris frowns, feigning innocence.
"Who?"
"Noah, Zander and Kanan! They did this to me!" Hannah gestures to the mess on her clothes. Iris shakes her head.
"No idea. Maybe you should try their rooms," she suggests. Hannah stands at the door for a moment longer, eyeing the other girl suspiciously, before turning on her heals and storming off in the direction that she came.
"You guys are dead," Iris tells them as soon as Hannah's out of earshot. They smile innocently before getting up off the floor. Iris points to the balcony door and they mutter a thanks before opening it and going outside.
They better run, she thinks.
***
They arrive at the stables early Monday morning. It's Iris's first official day as a trainer at the new yard, and she's more than slightly nervous. She's never actually trained anyone before.
She's led through a large archway and into one of the most beautiful barns Iris has ever seen. Everything is state-of-the-art, from the large wooden stalls to the wash bay, which she's already excited to put into use.
"It's great, isn't it?" Kanan nudges her as he gestures to the barn. Iris merely nods. She can't get over how beautiful the place is. Kanan chuckles slightly at her response.
"Why don't we get started? Iris, why don't you assign the horses of Redwood to us? We haven't decided who belongs with who since we thought you'd like the honour," Daniel says.
So Iris does just that. She splits the horses between the lot of them, including the other rider she's yet to meet. Once everyone has their assigned horses, they set off to get their first horses for the day.
Iris follows Kanan as he leads her to Theo's stall. She's missed her horse, even if she's seen him only two days ago. She's that attached to the big red horse.
His head is in the isle, his eyes shut. He wakes up with a start when Iris and Kanan come to a halt at his door. Immediately, he pins his ears and snaps at them, until he realises who they are and his expression changes to one of excitement.
"Hey buddy," Iris runs a hand down his face. He nudges her with his nose, making her giggle slightly. Of course, he wants a treat and Iris willingly gives him one. He greedily takes the mint from her.
"Let's go get his tack. I'll help you saddle if you want," Kanan offers, to which Theo pins his ears back, as if in reply. Iris laughs at him as Kanan frowns.
"He isn't particularly fond of men. I suspect he was mistreated as a foal," she explains as Kanan leads her to the tack room. Kanan nods in understanding. He's dealt with a horse with a similar past.
They collect the tack from the tack room, making small talk all the while. As they step back into the barn isle, they very nearly bump into a small red haired girl.
"Kanan!" The girl squeals, launching herself into Kanan. He looks taken aback and almost drops his saddle as he tries to regain some balance.
"Oh, hi Kayla," Kanan says, shifting uncomfortably. The girl lets go of him and turns her attention to Iris, who she only now notices. A look of disdain makes it's way to her features. When she speaks, her words are laced with disgust.
"And who might you be?" She asks Iris, who is about to respond with an equally poisonous answer when Kanan interjects.
"This is Iris. You know, our new trainer," he tells Kayla, trying to prevent the very hot-headed redhead from saying something to upset his equally temperamental friend. Goddess knows how that would go.
Kayla shoots Iris a glare, but nods. She sends Kanan a flirtatious smile before passing the two of them to get into the tack room. She bumps Iris' shoulder forcefully as she passes, making her stumble into Kanan's side.
The two of them head off in different directions, both needing to get to their horses, Iris growing angrier with every step she takes away from the red-headed girl.
She's never been one to take kindly to people like Kayla. Impulsive and aggressive, Iris has always found trouble in handling heated situations like the one that was starting to brew back at the tack room.
Iris is a few feet away from Theo's stable when she's violently shoved against the wall. She looks up to meet the dark eyes of Kayla, who is smiling sickeningly down at her. Iris isn't short, but the redhead is oddly tall for a female. She must be at least 5'10, about two inches taller than Iris is.
"Look, Iris," Kayla spits her name like it's toxic, "You do not belong here. You already annoy me, and we haven't even spoken yet. So just stay out of my way and you won't get hurt."
She very suddenly lets go of Iris' shoulder, which was starting to throb from the tremendous amount of pressure she was applying to it. Kayla grins, not giving Iris a chance to respond before strutting off, her designer riding boots clicking softly as she goes.
Iris feels her temper flare and immediately decides she hates Kayla more than she's hated anyone in a long time. It was easy to get on her bad side but it was very difficult to be completely resented by her.
She wonders why Kayla acts like this. She's never had someone dislike her so instantly. Sure, she has a lot of enemies, but they all have a reason to hate her. Also, she wonders if Kayla can say a single sentence without having to emphasise a word.
***
The next few days drag by. Every day, Iris is harassed by Kayla, who "just wants to make sure she understands". Honestly, it's getting old. She's made her point and Iris just wishes she'd leave her alone.
Kanan warned her against fighting back when Kayla bothers her. Apparently, the redhead is one of the boss' business partners' daughter. She needs to stay happy since her father is the one who funds the stables.
Iris is leading a horse called Vagabond towards the indoor arena late Thursday afternoon. Vagabond is an ex-racehorse who came to the farm only a month before she did. He's still very green when it comes to jumping, but he's also very smart.
Iris is just about to mount the horse when someone else steps into the arena. It's a man wearing a suit, which immediately sends Iris' mind back to the day Mr Kingsley and his men came to Redwood. They are the only tipe of people who would ever wear a suit to a barn.
This man, however, is nothing like Mr Kingsley. He's short for a man, maybe half an inch shorter than Iris, with a belly straining against his shirt buttons. He's grey and balding and quickly takes his sun glasses off to wipe the sweat from his face.
"Miss Iris Acacia Knight?" The short man reads from the front of an envelope. Iris frowns, wondering how anyone knows her middle name since she hasn't told anyone, not even Kanan, what it was.
"That's me," she says, leading her horse closer to the man. He smiles slightly and hands her the envelope.
"It's a letter from Mr Kingsley. He sent me to give it to you," the man says before turning on his heals and walking off, leaving Iris to stare quizzically at the envelope with her name written on the front in a very neat cursive font.
She decides to read it when she gets home. She only has Vagabond left to ride today. The letter can wait a little while.
***
Iris arrives home almost two hours later. Everyone left even before she took Vagabond out, so they're all home and seated in the living room when she gets there.
Daniel and Hannah are cuddled up on an armchair, acting like lovesick teenagers while Zander and Noah argue over the remote. Kanan smiles as soon as he sees Iris and gestures her over to him.
She sits down next to him and pulls out the envelope. It's practically been burning through her hoodie's pocket for the past two hours. She's been achingly aware of it's presence ever since she received it and is itching to open it.
"What's that?" Kanan asks as he pulls her closer to him. Iris stiffens for a moment, not quite sure if she's comfortable with him being this close to her. She dismisses it and scolds herself for being so awkward as she forces herself to relax. Her and Kanan are friends, of course, and they used to sit like this all the time.
"A letter. Some guy gave it to me earlier. He said it's from Mr Kingsley," Iris tells him. This time it's Kanan who stiffens. The room grows quiet as everyone's attention is turned to Iris.
She opens the envelope and takes out the piece of paper inside. Written in the same font as her name on the front of the envelope, the letter reads:
Dear Iris,
I would like to inform you that you will be accompanying me to the gala on Friday night. It's formal, so dress accordingly.
And, if you do exactly as told, your contract will stay in tact. If not, you can say goodbye to your freedom.
~ X. Kingsley
Iris frowns as she looks up from the letter. She knew the whole arrangement with her being able to buy herself back one day was too good to be true. And he would like to inform her? So she has no say in the matter? Guess not since he does hold her ticket to freedom.
"What does it say?" Hannah asks. She's removed herself from Daniel's lap and is now sitting next to him, concern etched on her face as she gazes at Iris and the letter in her hands.
Iris reads the letter out loud this time, leaving out the part about her contract. When she's done, she looks up to gouge everyone's reaction.
Hannah is now smiling from ear to ear. Noah and Zander nudge each other, smirking at Iris with mischief in their eyes. Daniel doesn't look at her, but instead is staring at Kanan next to her.
Iris looks over to him but he's looking away from her. She does, however, catch the tick in his jaw before he stands up abruptly and stomps off in the direction of the stairs.
*ð*
"If overthinking situations burned calories, I'd be dead."
I sense tension...
Lol, Imma tired and have no idea how this chapter even looks. Thoughts? I just realise how long this chapter is, too.
Please feel free to vote and comment if you liked this chapter! Thanks so much for reading!
~ Danielle