In the news there were reports of cops shooting innocent civilians, after working undercover in the bar consuming alcohol. She was reminded of mr. mounted cop's haunting announcement when they'd recently worked the trade show together, "you only get two." She couldn't articulate what bothered her about it exactly but it was good to be away from it all.
The moon was casting shadows as Jill and Jim walked around the jumper ring her first night on the property.
The next morning, as they were bringing horses in, she saw the big full moon, still glowing in the sky. When she commented on its beauty to Jim's brother in the barn, he said he hadn't seen it "because it was gone," and she felt a tiny bit sad somehow.
A moment later, as Jim came in leading another chesnut horse she asked him if he had caught a glimpse of it. He returned her enthusiasm saying "It's still out there. It's huge! It's beautiful!"
*
She noticed how he had to shovel up after her in the manure spreader, though he would never criticize her or suggest she do anything different, so she apologized for being a crappy dumper. She could have sworn that he started taking forever in the stalls to make her, the newcomer, look less slow. And, she was pretty sure the way he went around with his helmet still on once in a while was for the sake of her reputation as well, ha. She'd been lunging the really, really naughty chesnut very carefully...
*
"They were both good!" said Jim's brother, to his partner, who's horse Jill had been out on. Implying for some reason that they had ridden together, when in fact they had only spent the last 5 minutes together.
Before that she'd been struggling with her mount's insecurity about being alone, something even the boss had trouble with... but also something she had been making great progress on with the great big dapple/flea bitten baby grey. Her ride had been very challenging, the horse was spooking and trying to run off with her, and winnying and carrying on, and was, in short, definitely NOT "good." But she didn't bother to correct the misrepresentation. The way she figured it, the future horse's behaviour would eventually speak to the truth about her uncredited/invisible abilities...
*
Jill liked how the boss announced to them, as coworkers “I have to leave now because I have a date with your brother.” The boss had joked earlier that day that the way Jim was cantering around on Spanky was reminiscent of the way the stars from the old show Planet of the Apes rode their horses. Jill laughed out loud at Jim’s beginner-ness during that lunch, at the big house, because it was so true. And she could see it was sort of hard on him to be the rookie and least skilled athlete on the farm.
But, the truth was, that Jill was secretly jealous that Jim had been so long at the sport before her, especially out on hacks with many other girls in the past, while when they went out together she was hacking out with a boy, on his own borrowed horse, for the very first time in her whole life. In a way, she felt like a beginner…
You said that's a sugar gum tree right?" Jill asked as they hacked past. "Yup," Jim replied adding "it's hard to split. The wood twists."
She loved it when he brought her flowers. And she flirted with him too. “I like, feel my back show or something, when I bend down sometimes, and instead of feeling shy about it, and covering up, I, like hope you notice, you know?” she surprised herself with the facts, and by stating them out loud. “Like when you’re putting on Buddy’s boots ? Or picking out a hoof?” he confirmed.
They were sitting on the couch in the apartment and he told her how a horse had come through the bunkhouse wall once. The poor creature had freaked out during some kind of vet treatment. You could see where it was patched up with caulking. As close as her quarters were to the stalls, Jill found it nice to hear the horses rattling their buckets for the grain in the morning, and thought the occasional winny or snort, heard through the walls was a very special pleasure. The very first morning after sleeping there, Jill had looked out her window to see a handsome grey looking back at her with a sunny smile, through his stall window, and to this day, making eye contact with her equine friends so conveniently brought her joy.
*
Jill was sure Jim's brother wanted the unruly and mean horse trotted right then, to check his ongoing and unchanged lameness, right before his breakfast, out of spite and torture. She didn't know which was the bigger pain, the horse or the supervisor, ha.
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