Page 21 of Waiting for Ru
Ru walked on to his room, quietly closed the door and locked it. There was another door on the left and it opened onto a small bathroom. No towels, soap or shampoo though there was toilet paper on the holder. He needed to go to a supermarket. But not tonight. He’d manage. Ru unpacked the few things he had into a chest of drawers and hung his jacket in the wardrobe. He unrolled his sleeping bag on the mattress, grateful for that, but wondered if he could return the tent and get his money back.
On the other hand, maybe he ought to keep it, just in case. Bela’s cage went onto the bedside table near the window. He checked she had water, then put a handful of roasted, unsalted peanuts in their shells into the bottom of the cage. He’d deliberately not made Bela dependent on him for food, just in case anything ever happened to him. He just gave her treats every now and again and didn’t think too hard about what she’d be eating in the wild. Crows were omnivores and not that picky.
When he’d set out all his stuff and stowed the backpack in the wardrobe, he got ready for bed, stripped off to his shorts and climbed into the sleeping bag. It was still light outside, but he was tired. He plugged in his phone and called his brother.
“Hi, Ru.”
“It’s not too late, is it?”
“You can call me any time. Are you okay?”
“Yes. I have a job.”
“Wow, that’s great. Doing what?”
“Looking after horses. Can you believe it! I get accommodation provided too.”
“You sound excited.”
“I am. This is what I needed. To work at something that I know I can do. It’ll give me time to think and sort myself out.”
“That’s great, Ru. I’m really pleased for you. Send me details of where you are and make sure you keep in touch, okay?”
“I will. Night.”
“Night.”
Ru set the phone down next to Bela’s cage where she was busy opening the peanuts, and smiled. He thought everything would be fine now, but he wouldn’t tell Ink where he was yet, just in case he ended up leaving.
Ru jolted awake at the banging on the door. He scrambled out of his sleeping bag and almost tripped as he hurried across the room.
“We start work at five.” Mike glared at him. “Don’t keep Paolo waiting.”
Ru closed the door and raced to get dressed. Bela had left her cage and he made sure the window wasn’t going to close in case she came back. Ru cleaned his teeth and drank water from the tap before he left, pocketing the key. He couldn’t hear anyone else around and as he left the block, he saw the clock above the door said it was quarter past five.
Once he was outside, he didn’t know where to go so he followed the noise to a large stable block and went inside. Ru thought about the tiny barn he and his uncle had at the farm and gulped. This was like a palace, but it smelled the same, of fresh hay, horses, saddle soap and linseed oil. Some of those he’d met last night were raking hay and carrying buckets of feed. They were dressed in a uniform of blue polo shirts, khaki trousers and black work boots. Ru didn’t even have the right footwear.
While he stood wondering what to do, an older man who was shorter than him, strode towards him. He had shiny black hair and a beaked nose. Ru thought of Bela and almost smiled, but the expression on this guy’s face stopped him.
“You’re Ru,” he snapped.
“Yes.”
“I’m Paolo. I’m in charge. Mike is my deputy. You do everything that you’re told to do and we’ll have no problems.” He raked Ru with his gaze. “You’ve worked with horses before?”
“For twelve years.”
“Polo ponies?”
“No.”
“Hmm. You need clothes, Georgia will see to that and your paperwork. She’ll want your national insurance number. I’ll show you round here, then you go and see her.” He looked at his watch. “Not yet. She doesn’t start this early.”
Ru nodded. Paolo showed him how each stall had a checklist for the horse it housed that covered grooming, feed and turn out. Each stall also had a bright bin outside filled with the tools needed to care for the animal, all of them labelled with the horse’s name. Some stalls had bundles of bridles hanging outside on hooks, others didn’t.
“These are extremely valuable ponies. You won’t have responsibility for any of them until I’m sure you know what you’re doing.”
“Could I look after Cookie and Joni?”
