Page 53 of The Ones Left Behind
Grooms led out horses for the three men and she watched as Matthias handed his crutches over.
He placed his hands on the pommel and stared. “I do not know how to do this even with a mounting block.”
“We will help you,” Philip said. “You will do it yourself again when you are stronger.”
Kitty strained to hear, but was able to fill in the mumbled words.
Matthias gave a nod. She knew what this was costing him. Why would he force himself so? She gave a little shrug to herself. Gentlemen could be so stubborn. Peter would have been the same. A day not spent on his horse was like the worst form of punishment. Mayhap this would be good for Matthias, if he succeeded.
At first, she could tell, he did not want help by his determined expression. He climbed slowly on to the mounting block and tried to pull himself over with brute strength.
He made his hips to the saddle, but could not pull his injured leg over.
“May I help?” Waverley asked.
“’Tis no good on my own,” Matthias admitted.
Waving the groom away, Philip moved forward and held the horse, while Waverley gently edged Matthias’s leg over the saddle.
He leaned forward, resting his head on his arms. The pain must have been excruciating. She could see his breaths were slow and deliberate.
Waverley and Elliot waited until Matthias sat back in the saddle. “You go along and ride. I think I will need to stay in the paddock today.”
“We have nowhere else to be,” Waverley said.
She saw Matthias open his mouth, no doubt to protest, but Philip placed a hand on Matthias’s arm. “This could be any one of us. It was almost me. Let us do this for you.”
“I am weaker than Irish whiskey,” he said, looking fatigued after one lap around the small field. “But it feels good to be on a horse again, even if I am walking slower than I did my first time in the saddle!”
“I think you have done quite well. You have managed to stay on the horse,” Philip said.
“I am sure Waverley’s daughter can stay on top of the horse with more grace than I at the moment,” he retorted in a self-deprecating way that made Kitty’s heart clench for him. Seeing his friends here was a double-edged sword. They would support him through this, of course, but they also appeared to be whole.
“I could barely stay aboard my horse after my injury,” Waverley said. Kitty had not realized he had been injured. It must have happened after Peter had died.
“I fell from mine more times than I should like to recount,” Philip added. “It just takes time. You are doing the right thing by taking it slowly. If you cause further injury, you might not have the ability to sit a horse later, at all.”
“I do not want to be sensible,” Matthias argued. “I want to be whole so I can be the man Kitty wants.”
Her breath hitched. “Is that what he thought?”
“Kitty does not care about your injuries, man,” Waverley scolded.
“I had not thought so, but she keeps rejecting me soundly.”
“You both lost Peter and she has suffered a great deal since his death. It will take time,” Philip repeated reasonably.
“Time I do not have! There is already talk in the village and I cannot court one of my servants. You know it is not the done thing.”
“This is hardly a normal situation,” Waverley said. “and many have done just that.”
Matthias glared at him. “We are talking of Kitty.”
Waverley tilted his head in a gesture of non-committal.
“What am I to do?” Matthias’s voice held a note of anguish. “I cannot force her, but I cannot marry anyone else.”
Kitty gasped at his words.
