Page 104 of Waiting for Ru
“Change legs. Circle again,” Paolo called. “Now faster. Posting canter. Keep your weight off the horse’s back… Figure of eight… Change legs. Good.”
Ru was impatient to hit a ball, but he did everything Paolo had told him to do.
“Figure of eight again. Faster. Then race in a straight line, off the saddle, and do what I tell you… Swing the stick. Offside. Nearside. Turn! … Turn! … Turn!”
Ru cantered up the field with Paolo behind him, turning faster and faster, following Paolo’s instructions.
“Stop,” Paolo yelled and Ru pulled Joni up. “Good. Back towards the gate. Turn! … Turn! … Now ride me off.”
Fuck.Paolo came up next to him as they cantered down the field, and Ru edged Joni’s shoulder into Bolt. Bolt backed off.
“Good. That’s one of the defensive moves allowed. But do it harder. You’re not trying to knock the other rider off his horse but you are aiming to put him off his line, spoil his concentration, make him take his eye off the ball. But only if the two ponies are moving at roughly the same speed and shoulder to shoulder. Okay?”
“Yes, boss.”
“The other move is the hook when you use your mallet to block an opponent’s swing. You can only do it if you’re on the side where the swing is made or you’re directly in front of or behind an opponent. We’ll try that later. Now I’ll let you hit the ball. You know the shots?”
“Nearside forward, nearside back. Offside forward, offside back.”
“That’s it.” Paolo trotted around dropping balls. “Don’t raise your elbow when you swing. Don’t flatten your mallet in the downswing. Right. Nearside forward shot for all of the balls.”
Ru was desperate not to miss.
Paolo was yelling instructions. “Keep your eye on the ball. Fluid motion. Follow through. Lean! Don’t hold the mallet too tightly.”
Paolo made him do everything over and over, then once he’d shown he could do all four strokes, Ru had to do them in a random order while he cantered all over the field. Finally, Paolo called him in.
“Enjoy that?” he asked.
“It was fun.”
“Don’t let this go to your head, but you’re the best beginner I’ve ever seen.”
Ru risked a little smile. “Thank you, boss. All that riding around slashing the heads off dandelions with a stick paid off, then.”
Paolo laughed. “I think it did. Considering you’re not riding a polo pony and this is your first time, I’m seriously impressed. I was going to call it a day but let’s go and stick and ball with the others. Watch your knees. Without pads, they’re vulnerable.”
Ru played with Paolo who fired instructions at him, but he could feel himself being watched. He was even more desperate not to miss the ball now, and his joy when he didn’t, stole the air from his lungs. He and Paolo joined up to play against Poppy and Ben, and Joni was an absolute star. She did everything he asked of her.
When they finally headed back to the stables, there was not one part of Ru that didn’t ache: his ribs, his shoulders, his back, his fingers, even his hair. But he’d loved every minute of that. Joni hadn’t shied away or freaked out. She was as fast as the others, stopped when he asked, accelerated like a race car and could make really tight turns.
Ru stroked and thanked her as they walked back. He took care of her in her stall, made sure she’d not suffered any injury and chattered to her in Gaelic as he groomed her. The moment he walked out of her stall, Mike cornered him.
“Go and collect the poop from the stick and ball field and the small paddock.” He tossed a set of keys to Ru, who failed to catch them.
“Keys to the quad bike. Work it out. Put the keys back on the hook when you’re done.”
Mike walked off and Ru picked up the keys. He’d taken so long looking after Joni that there was no one else around to ask for help. When Ru stood next to the bike and poop-scooping trailer, he was too nervous to use it, so he took the keys back. It crossed his mind that Mike might have tried to trick him. Maybe he’d want Ru to mess up or he’d claim he hadn’t told him to take the quad. So instead, Ru went out with the wheelbarrow and the rake. When the wheelbarrow was full, he pushed it back to the muck pile, dumped it and went back. It was almost seven by the time he’d done the stick and ball field and he was exhausted. He didn’t have time to do the small paddock as well. He’d get up early tomorrow and do it.
He took a shower, and made himself a sandwich, then put on his helmet and cycled up to the house and down the drive. He had to put in the code to make the gates open, then set off down the road towards Batt’s Lane. Maybe Jasim hadn’t thought about this because one of the problems of meeting on the road was that if anyone decided to take the car out or get an Uber, they’d see him waiting. So once Ru was sure no one was coming in either direction, he lifted the bike over the gate into a field and climbed after it.
Ru fastened it up with the chain and looped his helmet in there too, hoping it was safe enough in the hedge bottom because there was nothing to secure it to. Then he waited out of sight and kept an eye on the time.
At exactly seven thirty, he heard a car pull up. Ru peered through the hedge, saw Jasim’s vehicle and climbed over the gate. He got in the car and as he was fastening his seatbelt, Jasim pulled away.
“Hi,” Ru said.
Jasim shot him a smile. “Hi. Enjoy yourself today?”
