Chapter 5 ~ Horse Shows and Bad Moods
Iris is awoken very early the next morning. At four a.m, not even the sun is out to greet her. She suddenly recalls the previous night's events. Instinctively, she reaches up to her chest where the cold stone still rests.
For a second, she thought it must have been a dream, but the necklace around her neck would have no explanation if it was.
Iris sighs, not sure what to feel at this moment. She's become an expert at ignoring daunting situations, so she decides not to feel anything at all. Instead, she gets up and gets dressed in barn clothes. They have to get the horses ready for the show this weekend, after all.
Hannah bursts through Iris' door seconds after she pulls her rubber rain boots on. The blonde girl is smiling excitedly as she greets her friend.
"Morning!"
"Hey, Hannah," Iris says, her words slurred by a yawn. Her friend stifles a giggle. She knows exactly how it feels to be new at showing and waking up in the early hours of the morning to get ready. It gets easier after the first few times so Hannah plans to make it as easy on Iris as possible.
"Come on, everyone is waiting downstairs. They insist on us going to the barn together," Hannah says before turning and practically skipping down the hall. Groggy from sleep, Iris follows with much less enthusiasm.
Downstairs, everyone except Kanan is waiting in the living room. Iris rolls her eyes. Of course, he's still ignoring her. She still doesn't understand why he'd be upset with her since she didn't do anything wrong. His irrationality when it comes to his emotions has always been irritating to her, she realises.
"He's already gone down to the stables," Hannah says sympathetically. Iris merely shrugs. She doesn't want anyone else to be involved in her and Kanan's one sided fight.
"Don't worry, Iris, he's just being moody. He'll get over it," Naoh drapes his arm over her shoulder as he speaks. Iris leans into his shoulder, grateful that he isn't mad at her like Kanan is. The two guys are very close and she'd expected him to avoid her with his friend. She likes Noah and she's happy that he seems to like her well enough, too.
They all head to the barn together a few minutes later. It's close to sunrise but the sky is still dark. The barn lights are already on and, as they draw closer, Iris sees Kanan carrying a saddle to the trailer attached to his truck.
"Sin doesn't travel well with the other horses. He'll be taking him on his own," Zander explains when he sees her confusion, referring to Sweetest Sin, the mischievous stallion Kanan has been training. Iris nods in understanding. She realises that Theo doesn't do well with other horses either. Nerves resurface with a surge that makes her nauseous.
"We gave Theo a mild anesthetic. He'll be calm enough to travel," Noah says, seeing her sudden look of panic. She relaxes. It's weird how these people read her so easily, but she doesn't pay much attention to that. Her nerves have her occupied.
The next few minutes are complete chaos. Everyone rushes out of the cars, realising they are behind schedule. They gather their tack and equipment, loading everything in the yard's state-of-the-art horse truck, before tending to their horses.
Iris is surprised by the sheer size and layout of the truck. It can hold eight horses, just enough for the amount they plan to take, and has sleeping quarters that can accommodate up to five people. There's even a tack room for them to put their gear. It's better than anything she's ever seen.
Her chosen horses for this particular show is Theo, of course, and King. She has the most experience with the two since both came with her from Redwood. She hopes King will make her life easier and be the obedient of the two horses.
Kayla is supposedly taking her own horses with her. She "doesn't want them to spend time with people like them" for too long.
Kanan loads his other horse, Robin, and leaves before Iris can say a word to him. She feels subtle anger boil beneath her skin. He's being childish and it's ticking her off.
One by one, they load their horses. Finally, they're done and everyone piles into the truck, leaving their cars in the parking lot. Daniel takes the first driving shift and Hannah joins him in the front. Zander, Noah and Iris are left in the small living room together.
Noah tries talking to Iris, and she replies the first few times, before exhaustion gets to her and she passes out on the couch, her head in Noah's lap and her feet on Zander's.
***
It's midday when Iris finally wakes up to Zander shaking her. He smiles when she groans at the bright light flooding through the small window.
"You sure sleep heavily. Both me and Noah have taken turns in driving and Noah nearly dropped you when he got up a moment ago," he points out, making Iris roll her eyes.
"I had a long night," she states. Zander nods in understanding. He heard her open her balcony door, even though his room is on the opposite side of the house, and was about to go ask her if she was okay but fell asleep a moment later.
"Come on, we're here. Your horses are waiting for you," He tells her before standing and taking a step back. Iris is immediately jolted into reality. She realises that the truck isn't moving anymore and she's suddenly wide awake.
Swiftly, she gets to her feet. Her and Zander make their way out the door and into the sunlight.
It's surprisingly hot today. The heat has Iris taking off her jacket, something that's very uncommon for this late in fall. Everyone, even Kanan this time, is waiting for the two of them.
Kanan doesn't spare her a glance. Instead, he turns his attention to Sin, who is already tied to his trailer. The large dark bay stallion is looking around excitedly. Iris rolls her eyes in annoyance. She doesn't understand how Kanan could still be upset with her for something she doesn't even know about.
Iris unloads her horses, Theo still being a little loopy from the drugs and King being his perfectly behaved self. She watches everyone else unload while the two horses graze at her feet.
"Come on, I'll show you to our stalls," Hannah says, leading her only horse she brought with her closer to Iris. The dressage riders prefer only riding one horse at shows like the one they are currently attending.
The two girls walk off with their horses in tow.
The show grounds are neat and professional. There is a big outdoor jumping arena with bleachers, where Iris will most likely be competing, a smaller indoor jumping arena for the lower classes, a warm-up arena for the jumpers, two dressage arenas and a warm-up for the dressage riders. There are two large barns, both neatly kept with one slightly larger than the other.
Hannah leads Iris into the smaller of the two.
"Xa- I mean Mr Kingsley," Hannah corrects herself, remembering that she can't call him by his first name in front of an employee, "Made sure we get stables with maximum security and minimum commotion. He doesn't want the horses to be messed with by curios tourist."
Iris notes that Hannah talks about Mr Kingsley very fondly. She seems to like him and, even though Iris has never really spoken to the man, she trusts her friend's judgement. She's sure they'll get along just fine if Hannah likes him.
"Does Mr Kingsley ever come to see the horses?" Iris asks, recalling how Mr Roberts never even came to the stables to check on his horses. She's sure he didn't even know most of their names.
Hannah frowns, but nods. "Yeah. He comes to watch everyone ride. Why wouldn't he?"
"Well, my previous employer never gave the horses the time of day. He never used to come anywhere near the horses, claiming they were filthy beasts, or some nonsense like that," Iris' voice is filled with dislike towards her previous boss. She disliked him as much as he did her.
"Well, that's sad," Hannah looks at the horse she's leading. Diva Dancer is her favourite of the two horses she trains. She can't imagine someone calling the high spirited horse a beast in front of her. She'd lose her temper immediately, even though she's one of the most patient people she knows. "Here are our stables."
Hannah stops and beacons to a few stables to their left. Iris sees that their yard name is engraved onto plaques attached to a bunch of the doors. Hannah leads her mare into the first stall and Iris put her horses in the two next door.
Iris agrees with her friend. She hated talking to Mr Roberts. Her explosive temper very nearly cost her her job a few times.
***
After taking care of their horses, everyone goes to their seperate quarters to rest before the gala later that night. Hannah informed Iris that they will all be going together. Apparently, Mr Kingsley will pick them up later.
Iris doses off for just a moment after closing the book she was reading, Fateful by Claudia Gray, before Hannah comes rushing into the small living room of the horse truck.
"Time to get ready!" Hannah squeals as she jumps on her friend, who is still half asleep. Iris groans. Why does Hannah have to be this excited about literally everything. She doesn't think her poor, fragile body can handle this for very long.
"Get off, Hannah!" Iris tries to shove her friend away but the girl is unbelievably strong. She doesn't budge.
"You need to get up! We'll be late if we don't start getting ready right now," Hannah whines, making Iris glare at her.
"I can't exactly get up if you're sitting on me," she points out.
"Oh, right," Hannah says sheepishly. She finally gets up off of Iris' stomach and offers her a hand. Iris takes it and allows herself to be helped to her feet.
The two girls get dressed in the living room, making sure to lock the doors of the truck so no one accidentally walks in on the sight.
"That necklace clashes with your dress. Here, let me help you take it off," Hannah goes to unclasp the necklace from Iris' neck. Iris immediately takes a step back, a hand protectively wrapping around the cold black stone. She doesn't know why, but she isn't comfortable with taking the thing off.
"No," she says venomously. Only when Hannah frowns at her does Iris realise how she sounded. Quickly, she tries to fix her mistake. "I like it. I think it looks nice with the dress."
"Alright," Hannah says, still a little hesitant, but accepting her friend's odd behaviour as something personal and she knows not to pry.
*ð©*
"We accept the love we think we deserve."
I really suck at this whole updating schedule thingð Meh, I'm tired. Plus, this chapter isn't revised at all so I'm sorry for any errors.
Please vote and comment if you liked this chapter!
~ Danielle