Wild Horses (20 page)

“Well done,” Attila said, his voice neutral. “Now we’ll let him live with it.” The stirrups were secured in a raised position—letting them dangle low would have let them brush against Cayenne’s flanks, alarming him.

Kai walked back to Attila and leaned against the fence. He opened his mouth to say something, but Attila put his hand on his shoulder. “Shhh. Don’t move.” Now it was time to remain still. They watched Cayenne dance in place. The horse broke into a gallop, ripping up and down the gentle slope of the paddock with Sen trailing him like a white shadow. “They sound good,” Kai said when they were out of earshot.

“Cayenne is faster.” Attila didn’t know why he said that. His rational mind knew Sen had nine years on Cayenne, who was still a playful kid, and that Sen had been raised for dressage and intelligent response, not for wild racing. None of that mattered—when compared to the younger and faster red horse, Attila’s favorite mount, at sixteen and gelded, was suddenly subject to the tooth of time.

Middle-aged.

“What’s wrong?” Kai shouldered his companion.

Attila shrugged. “I wish they had our lifespan.” He was absolutely positive he suppressed every bit of pain in his voice.

“He’s wonderful,” Kai said. Attila knew Kai was talking about Sen. “You do well by him. He’s healthy. You were talking about going out and competing again.”

Attila nodded. If he were to compete seriously, he’d have to train a stallion, but training a stallion seemed disloyal to Sen. He suppressed the thought and focused on Kai instead. “It would do all of us good, I think. You, too. I want you to enter a show on Dusty in September. You won’t place, but I want you to experience the pressure.”

“So I can train Cayenne better?”

“Yes.”

They watched the horses slow down and approach the water trough, then drink their fill.

“You’re so wonderful,” Kai said.

“Why?” Attila made no secret of hiding his bewilderment, and Kai didn’t have to turn to know that the man resembled a startled cat just then.

“You just are. You can’t help it.” Kai whistled to capture Cayenne’s attention. Then he turned his back, and Attila did the same.

“When they come to us, you will have the opportunity to ride him, Kai.”

The redhead froze.

“There is no bridle yet. You shall have to rely on your legs. He will move away from pressure, just like Dusty. That is both his instinct and, I think, some training in the past.”

“Okay,” Kai breathed. “You really think I’m ready?”

“Well… no. Nobody is ever ready for a horse like this. I brought your helmet.” Attila paused, then he spoke again. “Do it only if you think you’re ready, and only if he feels receptive. Make it a short ride—no trauma, no excitement. Give him his head. He’s in charge until he decides to stop. Then show him some love.”

“I can do that.” The determination in Kai’s voice thrummed with tension.

“No. Not like that. Relax. If you’re tense, he’ll be tense.” Attila turned Kai by the shoulder so his back rested against the fence. He leaned into him and kissed his neck, letting his lips trail their way up to Kai’s smooth-shaven jaw until he felt Kai relax under him. He nodded. “Yeah, like that. You’ll be fine.”

Attila attempted to pull away, but Kai pulled the other man in, scraping his neck with his teeth.

“Hungry,” Kai growled as he scraped his bared teeth against Attila’s sensitive skin. His breath halted and full of expectation, Attila was confused when Kai stopped.

“What’s that on your skin, Attila?” The younger man’s voice was heavy with concern. “There’s a dark, shiny bead stuck right under your ear. I think you have a tick.”

“Impossible,” Attila pronounced. “I have not been to the woods.”

“Let’s go to the house and take it out.” Kai insisted.

Attila’s firm eyes fixed Kai with an all-business gaze. “Cayenne is coming. I think this is a good time. We’ll take care of the tick later.”

Horses come first.

“C
OME
,
Cayenne!” Curious, Cayenne made his way over and the two men maneuvered him toward the fence. Kai grasped the pommel of the saddle, relying on Attila to keep the horse distracted with apple slices. He leaned on the saddle experimentally.

So far, so good.

He leaned in some more—then he eased his toe into the left stirrup and swung his other leg over Cayenne’s rump. He knew to settle down softly. Before he could find the other stirrup with his toe, Cayenne danced to the side. Attila held his halter with one hand, the other holding the stirrup still for Kai to find with the other foot.

Kai felt secure for now. Attila eased the soft rope reins over Cayenne’s ears and handed them to Kai. They were attached to a rope halter with no bridle, but the saddle had a saddle strap to hold on to.

The horse danced around, uncertain what to make of the extra weight on his back but listening to the stream of Kai’s soft words. Then all of a sudden he got fed up and took off.

Kai felt Cayenne gather under him and pressed his heels down even harder.

Sit up straight.

Hands forward.

Heels down.

The rolling motion of the horse’s back felt familiar by now, and Kai made himself relax and go with it. They ran up the hill, toward the fence. Kai wanted to go left, and he pressed his right calf into Cayenne’s side.

Turn, turn… c’mon….

Moving away from the stimulus, Cayenne banked left, running along the fence that bordered the woodlands.

“Good boy, Cayenne! Good horse… yeah….” Kai let go of the saddle strap and shifted the reins from his right hand to both hands, holding them as though they actually did something. He could only tug on Cayenne’s halter with a gentle hand—there was no way he could have forced the horse to do anything without a bit. Then again, this wasn’t about forcing, exactly…. Kai was more inclined to make polite requests.

The end of the paddock loomed in the distance, but Kai resolved not to wait. Curious whether Cayenne would turn upon request, he dug his right heel into his side. Sure enough, they turned again, careening down the hill. Kai leaned back, compensating for the slope with natural grace. Then a right turn—his leg pressed against his mount’s side, and indeed, Cayenne turned in a burst of speed that almost took Kai by surprise. They circled around the large area once more before Cayenne chose to slow down to a trot. This time, Kai expected the change of gait and sat back a bit, compensating for his forward momentum. He steered Cayenne toward Attila, who stood by the fence with a small smile on his face.

A
TTILA
’
S
eyebrows rose—this was a good ride, better than he expected. Attila’s chest swelled with pride, remembering the way his newest student’s heels sank even deeper into the stirrups as the younger man found his seat. Even now, just walking Cayenne around, he was glued to the saddle like he was born to it: graceful, focused, secure. Attila fished inside his pocket for another apple slice and extended it toward the horse.

“Good job, good boy, Cayenne! You’re so awesome. Oh yes you are….” Attila listened to the way Kai sang praises as he leaned down, stroked Cayenne’s neck, and scratched his mane. The horse held his head up proud, head high and tail swishing. He positively pranced.

“Both of you are awesome,” Attila said, apple still in his extended hand. Only then did Cayenne grace him with his attention. He took a few deliberate steps forward and accepted the offering, yet when Attila wanted to pet his neck, he moved away. “What is your next step?” the trainer asked.

“Uh….” Kai’s eyes were filled with wonder. “Walk him, untack him, and let him back out?”

“I suggest you take him in and groom him, too. He has been doing better—and he is tired now, so he will let you handle him easier. Just the brush, and make sure to pick his feet. Then you can turn him out together with Chicago and Sen.”

“You don’t think he’ll hurt Chicago?” Kai asked, frowning.

“No. Not after he has been worked.” Attila paused. “Observe them for a few minutes, see how things go, but I expect Sen to keep the peace, just in case. We need to start introducing him to the other horses, see who he’ll get along with.”

“But no mares?”

“No. Never, unless you want a foal. Or unless you want Cayenne bloodied by a mare who’s defending her space.”

“Alright.” Kai tried to walk Cayenne the way he would Dusty, but Cayenne was far from done.

“Watch out!” Attila yelled as he saw the horse flicker his ears, but Kai was on it already, having felt the powerful muscles bunch under him. Then they were off.

Attila had to prepare for lessons, yet he didn’t dare leave Kai on Cayenne without company. Anything could happen, and he needed to be there to see both of them—especially Kai—safe. He heard a car pull into the gravel parking lot by the barn. Soon, Mona and Lindsey appeared by his side.

“Hey, is that….” Lindsey peered up the hill. “Is that Kai on Vermillion?”

“It’s Kai on Cayenne. He picked Vermillion’s nickname.”

“I was hoping I’d get to pick his nickname,” Mona said at Attila’s left.

“Kai has been working with him two or three times a day. He has earned the privilege.”

Attila felt Mona still next to him. Dismay radiated from her, but Attila knew she had not been making full use of her own six horses, and felt no guilt. Mona’s horses were used for lessons and exercised daily to make up for her neglect.

“Attila, your hair looks so nice down, like this.” The compliment was a veiled question, which Attila chose to ignore. Mona Putney had always shown an uncomfortable level of curiosity in his own affairs, and had been suggesting that they should become “something more” since her divorce.

“Attila… our lesson is today, right?” Mona’s question was now asked in a somewhat uncertain voice.

He nodded. “Yes. I need you to pick a horse you want to ride, and saddle up. Lindsey, I need you to saddle Zorro again.”

“Kai isn’t helping us?” Mona asked, and bit her lip.

“Kai is on Cayenne until Cayenne sees fit to stop and cool off. He isn’t using a bridle.”

Lindsey gasped. “He has no control?”

Attila shrugged. “He can steer, but no, not in the classical sense of the word. He is at Cayenne’s mercy.”

The press of Kai’s chest against his leg, the delicious drag-and-thrust while he tested the rope around his wrists, the secure weight upon him a few minutes afterward….

The flashback of having been at Kai’s mercy sent blood to all kinds of places. Attila sneezed.

“Are you coming down with something?” Mona frowned.

“No, I am not.”
Not down, exactly.
“After you saddle up, warm up the horses, then trot them. Do your usual sequences—two up one down, two down one up, two-point,” Attila reminded them of their customary balancing warm-ups. “And… no jumping while I’m not there.”

“Yes, Attila,” Lindsey said, not bothering to hide her excitement. Attila smiled, knowing Lindsey saw his request as a promotion of sorts. Being entrusted to ride in the arena without direct supervision was a definite step up in his confidence in Lindsey’s riding ability.

“Are you sure?” Mona asked, her eyes sliding toward her daughter.

“I would not have suggested it otherwise.” Attila only hoped his satisfied tone would alert Mona to notice numerous improvements in her daughter’s form.

F
IFTEEN
minutes later, Kai was off and cooling Cayenne by walking him on a lead rope while Attila took hold of his long whip and headed for the arena. It had been amazing, riding Cayenne like that. Kai knew they had a long way to go, but the progress of having stayed on his back and turning, then taking a short break and doing it again—it was downright addictive, and he hoped to do it again the next day.

He put Cayenne in the cross-ties by attaching the clips on the ends of the chains to rings in Cayenne’s rope halter. The horse tugged, not thrilled at the restraint. “Shh… it’s okay. I’ll just unsaddle you, all right?”

Kai was cleaning the stables when he came across Lindsey. She had untacked Zorro in his stall and was carrying his saddle to her locker behind the tack room. “Hi, Lindsey,” Kai said, noting that her face bore signs of a gathering storm.

“Hi….” She passed him, putting her gear away. Her brief reply piqued his curiosity. She was well on her way to becoming his friend, so he made sure to stick around in the barn until she came back.

“So… how did it go, having your lesson with your mom again?” he asked, not beating around the bush. She turned toward her horse and sighed.

“It sucked.”

“What happened?”

“You don’t have to feel sorry for me.” There was an edge to Lindsey’s voice. “I’ll never ride like you do. Attila will never let me go on Vermillion.”

“He’s Cayenne now. And, actually, the question is, will Cayenne let you ride him? That’s up to Cayenne, not up to Attila or anyone else.”

“And now you’re snarky.” She whirled, her anger apparent in her flushed cheeks.

She was like a mare getting ready to bite, Kai reflected before he let his gaze wander to the side, giving a noncommittal shrug. “Nah… I’m just nosy. I’ve seen you do so well, so I’m curious to see what went wrong this time. But you don’t have to talk about it.” He turned to grab his basket pick, playing hard to get.

“Well, actually….” He heard her hesitant voice pipe up behind him. “It started out okay, and I was doing well with the basics using the double reins… and then something wasn’t working out for me. Attila told me to try again. You know how he is—he gives you a chance to figure it out by yourself? Well, my mom is nothing like that. The rest of the lesson was a constant stream of suggestions and helpful hints from her. I couldn’t focus with her going on, and my efforts were, like, totally pathetic toward the end.”

“Yeah.” Kai nodded.

“Wait, you watched?” Lindsey’s dismay was palpable.

“Not this time, but Attila was worried that this would happen. He’ll try to separate you again.”