Page 42 of The House at Hope Corner
Caroline gave a slight glance back over her shoulder and leaned in a little closer. ‘But I thought you werekiddingwhen you said you hadn’t ridden before,’ she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
‘Caroline, why would I even make that up?’ Flora replied, trying to keep the edge out of her voice. ‘I honestly have never been on a horse before in my life.’
For a moment Flora thought that Caroline was just going to abandon the whole thing as a ridiculous idea, but then she gave Flora a warm smile. ‘But the girls have come over especially. I really wanted you to meet them, they’re such fun and well… otherwise, who are you going to make friends with?’
She had a point. Flora could already see that life on the farm wasn’t going to give rise to many opportunities for social outings. Ned worked too long hours and unless she wanted to go out by herself, which she didn’t, where would Flora meet anyone her own age? And besides, she was the stranger here, the townie without a clue, and Caroline was doing her best to help her fit in. She pulled the smile back onto her face. How hard could this be?
‘You’re right,’ she said, ‘I’m just a bit nervous… well, a lot nervous actually. But we’ve all got to start somewhere, haven’t we? And I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it if you just show me the ropes… or rather the reins…’ She lifted the leather straps and grinned. ‘I don’t even know how to hold these.’
Caroline showed her. ‘And as long as you don’t pull on them too hard, you’ll be fine. Samson will just trot along behind us and—’
‘Trot?’ squeaked Flora.
‘Sorry, a figure of speech… What I meant is that he’ll just follow us. We normally ride two abreast but I’ll ask the girls to ride together so that I can keep an eye on you. Just sit so you have a straight line through your ear, shoulder, hip and heels – don’t let your legs fly forwards or lean back; then just relax and let your body move with the horse. You’ll be fine.’
Flora tried to do as she was told but she felt anything but relaxed, and they weren’t even moving yet. She nodded at Caroline. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘Let’s do this.’
The first hour was the worst…who was she kidding?At this rate she wouldn’t make it past the first ten minutes. Flora was hanging on for grim life and, despite a constant stream of chatter from Caroline and the others, she could scarcely take in what they were saying.
She concentrated on trying to go with the flow, letting her body move in time with Samson’s, but just when she thought she’d got the rhythm right, she would miss a beat and bump uncomfortably in the saddle.
‘Sorry, Caroline,’ she said. ‘I missed that. What did you say?’
They had just passed through a gateway into a field and the five of them were able to spread out a little.
‘I was just asking what your wedding plans were?’ she replied. ‘I asked Hannah, but I got the feeling she didn’t want to tell me, or she didn’t know…’
Flora risked a glance across at her. ‘No, well, Ned and I all happened so fast that we didn’t really have time to discuss anything before I came to the farm and now, what with Fraser, well… but we were thinking of sometime in the autumn, when things are a bit quieter, hopefully.’
Chloe was riding to her right. ‘Yes, that’s awful isn’t it, about poor Fraser. Oh, but it’s still exciting though. We haven’t had a wedding around here in ages. Not a proper one anyway. Mind you, you’ll need to get a move on. Won’t everywhere worth having be booked up? The Castle has a waiting list as long as your arm, but then I suppose if you’re not in any hurry, you could always make it next year, that way you’d get where you wanted.’ She gave Flora a searching look. ‘You’re not in any hurry, are you? You know…’ She patted her stomach suggestively.
‘God, no,’ spluttered Flora, blushing bright red. ‘Is that what everyone thinks?’
Chloe exchanged a look with the others. ‘No, I’m sure Caroline was just teasing when she said that, weren’t you? Although…’
‘Oh, take no notice, Flora,’ said Caroline. ‘Of course I was. Chloe’s just jealous because her fluttering eyelashes didn’t attract Ned’s attention. I think it’s very romantic having such a whirlwind romance.’
Flora returned her smile but wasn’t altogether sure how to take the girls’ comments. While it was true she and Ned hadn’t been together very long, they were both in their thirties and pretty sure of who they were and what they wanted from life. To her it didn’t feel whirlwind, it just felt right. Except that the conversation felt miles away from her life at the moment. She’d almost forgotten that she and Ned were meant to be getting married at all.
‘What’s this castle place you mentioned though, Chloe? It’s not an actual castle, is it? That sounds a bit grand for what we’d have in mind.’
‘Oh, it’s terribly grand, but that’s why you have to have it there of course. Anyone who’s anyone around here does. Its real name is Ravenswick Hall, and it’s a hotel, but it has a turreted tower at each end of the building so everyone calls it The Castle. My cousin had her wedding there last June, and oh my God…’
Flora shifted her weight cautiously, trying to find a more comfortable position. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be ‘anyone’ – she just wanted to be her.
‘Well, that’s one to bear in mind then. Thanks for the tip, Chloe. Obviously I’ll have to see what Ned would like, and Hannah and Fraser too. I rather get the feeling that Hannah might like to have the reception at home…’
‘No question about it,’ said Caroline, from her other side. ‘Which is all the more reason why you need to have somewhere in mind. Otherwise, if you don’t have an alternative ready when it comes time to decide, you’ll get stuck at the farm without you even realising it’s happened.’ She clicked her heels slightly against her horse’s side. ‘Come on, Flora,’ she said. ‘It’s too nice a day to dawdle and we’ll never get back in time for coffee at this rate.’
Flora felt Samson pick up his pace as Caroline pulled ahead of her, and she jostled uncomfortably in the saddle, trying to keep her balance.
‘Don’t go too fast,’ she cautioned, ‘or we’ll never get back at all.’
‘Oh, but you’re doing brilliantly!’ cried Emilie, moving from behind at a trot before slowing right down to walk alongside her. ‘You’re obviously a natural. We’ll have you cantering in no time, just you see.’
Flora gave her a nervous smile.
The conversation continued in fits and starts as the group made their way out of the field and onto a track which wound its way through a small wooded area before beginning to climb. Flora managed to join in with some of it, but she didn’t watch the television programmes they were discussing, or know the hairdresser’s in town which had justabsolutely butchered Lucinda’s hair, and now that Samson was going uphill, she was pretty busy trying to master a slightly different technique for hanging on.
