Kate Sherwood - Dark Horse 02 - Out of the Darkness

Copyright
Prologue

T
ATIANA
is concentrating on her technique. She’s been instructed, she’s observed, and she’s practiced, but still… perfection eludes her. She knows she has an audience today; Robyn, Michelle, and Sara are all watching her with interest. And she’s fine, not nervous at all, but then Dan appears from around the corner, looking perfect as usual, and she thinks of how effortless he makes everything seem, and it barely seems worthwhile for her to even try. But she
will
try, and she will succeed, if not this time, then the next, or the next….

She braces the handle of the shovel along her forearm and moves, and the angle is perfect, the velocity is precise, and she scoops up the entire pile of droppings in one smooth movement, no broom or second shovel needed. There’s a moment when one tiny, round ball balances on the end of the shovel and threatens to fall off, but she controls it, as much with the power of her mind as with the tilt of the handle, and the ball rolls back to join its comrades in defeat. She beams at everyone as she crosses to the manure wheelbarrow and deposits her burden.

Dan is coming toward her, and he shakes his head. “I can’t believe you hadn’t learned that until now. What kind of an education are you getting at that fancy school of yours?”

Tat loves it when Dan talks to her like this, teases her like she’s an adult, a friend. “I really don’t know,” she responds with a head shake of her own. “
They
seem to think it’s all important….”

He snorts in mock disgust. “Some people have no sense of life’s priorities.” He’s looking at the board, the chart that shows who’s done what work with which horse, and when. “So who are you thinking about riding today?”

Tat likes that, too, that he’s found a balance between giving her what she wants and supervising her. So many people would just roll over; even though she’s only fifteen, her family owns the barn, so she’ll ride who she wants. Dan
asks
for her preferences, but he asks the other trainers, too, and he’ll object if he doesn’t agree with their priorities. He treats Tat like a regular person, someone he likes for herself, not for her money. Oops, he’s waiting for an answer. She pretends that she’s just been giving her choice some careful thought. “Sunshine, always— maybe a light ride up on the course, take a couple jumps but not go crazy?” Dan nods, and Tat’s proud of herself. “And then Chaucer, right? Can you help us with the flying lead changes? I don’t think either one of us is exactly sure what we’re doing....”

Dan smiles.
Another
thing she loves about this guy—even though everything seems so easy for him, he understands that it can be hard for other people. “Why don’t I bring Chaucer out for a while when you’re on Sunshine? You can do some changes on her, make sure it’s clear in your mind—cause she could do them in her sleep—while I refresh Chaucer’s memory, and then we can switch, and you can try it on Chaucer while I cool Sunshine out.”

“That sounds great, but… is it okay that I don’t cool off my own horse?” She knows how important it is to Dan that everyone takes responsibility for the care of the animals.

“Tat, come on, I’m not laying traps for you. If I suggest something, it means I think it’s okay.” He doesn’t really seem impatient. “I’d rather be riding a horse than standing in the middle yelling at you, so there’s no problem.”

That’s excellent, then. “Okay!” She turns back to the board. “And then the rest… I don’t know, whatever you need.”

Dan nods. “Okay, yeah. I thought we might all do some hill riding this afternoon, give some of the up-and-comers a workout. Sound okay?”

Not Tat’s favorite thing, but at least if they all do it at once, there’ll be people to talk to. “Sure, yeah.”

Dan grins like he knows exactly how she feels about hill riding, but he doesn’t mention it. “All right, then… go get Sunshine ready.” He looks at the board some more, comparing it to some papers in his hands. Tat had sneaked a look at the sheets a few times, and they seemed like gibberish to her—charts and notes and unintelligible shorthand—but they seem to work for Dan.

She heads down the aisle to Sunshine’s stall, smiles as the mare comes over to greet her. “Hey, sweetie. Ready to go for a ride?” She takes the halter off the hook on the outside of the stall, and Sunshine obligingly pushes her head into it then follows Tat out of the stall and into the aisle. Crossties, grooming, tacking up—it’s all become a total routine for Tat, and she loves it. Sometimes she’ll catch herself doing things automatically and remember that just a couple of weeks ago, the same things had felt strange and had required her full concentration. When she’d taken lessons with Jeff, the barn she’d gone to had really spoiled its riders, and Tat had rarely if ever looked after her horse before or after riding. She likes Dan’s philosophy better, likes to think of herself as a horsewoman, not just a rider.

Robyn’s taking Winston up the hill with her, and Dan comes on Monty. The big horse is excited of course, acting like he’s never been outside before, but Dan just ignores him, and it’s not long before he calms down. Tat’s still working on that, still trying to get enough confidence that she can be on a horse who’s misbehaving and not get tense. She knows that the horse will sense her nervousness and act even worse, but knowing it isn’t the same thing as being able to do something about it.

She doesn’t have to worry about that today, though, because Sunshine is as calm as ever. She loves to jump, and Tat knows that she’ll want to go fast as soon as she’s on the course, but when they’re just hacking, she’s as calm as Smokey. Tat hasn’t admitted it to anyone, but she’s glad that her brother wouldn’t buy Monty for her. Sunshine is a much better fit, at least for now, and Evan’s decision to buy all of the horses meant that she still gets to dream about riding Monty someday, when she’s good enough. Tat knows that people had worried about Evan being the one to take care of her after their parents died, but she has to admit, he does a pretty good job. The most aggravating thing about him is how often he’s right.

They get to the top of the hill and break into a gentle canter along the mowed path. Well, Sunshine canters gently; Monty wants to gallop and is fighting Dan every step of the way. Dan doesn’t seem worried about it, though, just shakes his head and laughs. Winston is somewhere in the middle, not as calm as Sunshine but certainly not as hyper as Monty.

They get to the first jump, and Dan holds Monty back and gestures for Robyn to go first. The first five jumps are quite low and not all that difficult, so those are the ones that the riders use when they’re just looking for a light workout. Tat would like to do the full course every time she gets up the hill, but Dan has reminded her several times that her job is to
train
the horses, not to ruin them, so she tries to be more restrained.

After Robyn is over the second jump, Dan nods for Tat to go. She knew he’d put her in the middle. When Evan tries to protect her, it bugs her, but it’s just cute when Dan does the same stuff. Even though it’s pretty pointless this time—how is it any safer for her to be in the middle? Well, it probably gives Dan the opportunity to watch her and make sure she’s not being reckless….

She starts Sunshine at a controlled canter; the first jump is a vertical, and Sunshine won’t clear it if she’s all flattened out for speed. After they’re safely over, she asks Sunshine to extend a little to make up some time and then brings her back a bit for the next jump. The third one is around a twisty corner, and that’s where things start to go wrong.

Tat asks Sunshine to turn a little more sharply than usual; these jumps aren’t all that challenging, so Tat wants to ride them aggressively, get the most she can out of each one. But she’s a little surprised by how responsive Sunshine is to her request and gets thrown off balance. As she’s trying to haul herself back, one of her feet slips out of the stirrup. Tat knows she could stop, knows she should, but she’s trying to ride like she’s in a competition, and stopping in a competition would not be a good idea at all. So she feels around with her foot, trying to get the stirrup back, and Sunshine can’t figure out what Tat’s trying to get her to do and almost stops on her own, but then Tat almost gets the stirrup and kicks her foot into it, but she kicks Sunshine, too. The mare thinks it’s a signal to jump, even though she’s still a stride away from where she should be taking off from, but she’s full of courage and heart, so she gathers herself and makes a tremendous leap, but Tat was off balance to start with and she can’t stay on, and she feels herself slipping off as they’re in midair, and then she’s landing half on the jump, half on the ground, and she feels a horrible thudding pain in her shoulder, and then she’s hitting the ground with the rest of her body, and it’s suddenly impossible to breathe, and Tat’s panicking, fighting for air.

In some distant part of her mind, she really hopes that Sunshine is all right.
Chapter 1

D
AN
feels like he’s the one who fell off. He can barely breathe, he’s a bit dizzy, and his mind is far away, replaying a horrible scene that he never wants to think about again. Thankfully, the need for action outweighs his shock, and then he’s steering Monty clear of the spot where Tat’s lying and yelling ahead to Robyn and sliding off Monty and running.

Tat’s moving, and for a second he’s so relieved he almost loses it again. He can remember Justin, lying there so still with Willow still half on him, thrashing and moaning and rolling, struggling to get up and then falling again… but he has to shut that thought out. Tat needs him now; he can fall apart later.

She’s gasping a little, looking panicked, and he gently reaches out to her. “It’s okay, Tat. Is it hard to breathe?” She nods. “Okay, try to take a medium breath—you probably got the wind knocked out of you—it’s scary, I know….”

She breathes in, and he hears a little wheezy sound. “Yeah, that’s good. I think you’re okay.” He sees how much his hand is shaking and drops it to brace against the ground beside her. He doesn’t think she noticed, although she may be able to hear the tremor he’s feeling in his voice. He makes himself replay the fall in his mind. “You landed on your shoulder, right?”

“I don’t… maybe?” She’s crying a little, and Dan isn’t sure if he should acknowledge it, or if that would make it worse.

 

Finally, thank God, Robyn is there, jumping off her horse and hurrying over. “Oh, sweetie, are you all right?”

Dan backs off gratefully. Robyn has the same first aid training that Dan has, and she’s generally much better at this sort of thing. He keeps one eye on them in case Robyn needs help and looks for Sunshine with the other. She’s standing on the far side of the jump, calmly eating some grass. Dan’s still shaking, and instead of getting better, it seems like it’s spreading. He tries to take his mind off it and walks over toward Sunshine. He carefully goes to her far side, where the girls won’t be able to see him but he can hear them if they call, and he leans into her for a few breaths, almost gasping, trying to get her familiar horsey smell to bring him back to himself. The mare seems totally unconcerned, turning her head to look at him briefly and then returning to her snack.
Tat’s okay
, he tells himself.
It’s not the same. It’s not the same.

“Dan?” Robyn calls, and he jerks his head up.

“Yeah! Is she all right?” He stays with Sunshine, doesn’t really need either of them to see him trembling like he’s going through withdrawal.

“Her shoulder’s hurt. I don’t think it’s dislocated, but I’m not sure.”

It’s pretty clear from Robyn’s tone that Dan is expected to go and help her with this. He takes one more deep breath of Sunshine and walks back over. He’s wearing a work shirt over his T-shirt, and he takes the top layer off. “We need a sling, right?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Robyn takes the shirt from him and carefully loops it under Tat’s forearm and then back behind her neck. Then she takes a closer look at Dan. “Shit, Dan, are you okay? You’re gray.”