Walk This Way

[Eira Gould]

The thought of having to wait several more days before she would have Homer and even longer before she would get to see Ash had Eira tumbling through more emotions than she would like to admit. She barely put anything in her room away before she said goodbye to her mother and yanked on some barn boots. Most of her clothes were tossed on her bed still, only being pulled out of the suitcases so her mom could take them back.

The barn though, just the smell of it, sent Eira into a whole different state of mind. Having her horses this close to her rooms was a dream come true, rather than the thirty minute drive they used to be. That fantastic sound of breathing, crunching and hooves thrilled her. She didn't really have a plan, other than actually coming to the barn, but she made her way down the aisle. Each stall she passed she made sure too peek in and say hi.

She only stopped halfway down the corridor when one of the horses actually poked their head out to check her out. Eira beamed and held out her hand to let the horse smell her. After a quick whiff, she stepped forward and started petting the beauty. "Hi there, lovely." She kept smiling as she stroked the horse, feeling slightly guilty that she didn't bring any treats.

[Stefano Rice]

Seth was in the middle of what he was classing as his teen-life crisis; he was in his senior year and was really no taller than he had been as a freshman! His mom has assured him that he would hit a growth-spurt before he finished high school, though he guessed he'd be lucky if he shot up sometime before he finished college!

He huffed as he sulked his way toward the barn, heading in to see Pixie, the pony he rode for mounted games. This was where he was pleased that he hadn't grown, as he was enjoying riding the sweet Welsh, and had learned so much about riding from her - not that he would tell Ms Carr that.

As he walked down, he saw an unfamiliar girl petting Poe, not surprised that the gelding was sucking up ant attention he could get. "You're a picture of loveliness yourself." He said in reply to her words - not caring that she had been so obviously talking to the horse. "Careful with that one, one pat and he'll expect them, every time you walk passed." He had treats in his pocket for Pixie, so he wasn't going to get too close to the gelding, and have them sniffed out.

[Eira Gould]

Eira grinned broadly as the horse nudged and nosed his way around her pockets. Sure, her jacket had treats in it once and she could feel the powder of what was probably a peppermint one, but she wasn't mean enough to tease the beaut. Her hands traveled around the big horse's head, rubbing lightly by his eyes as he leaned into it. If only Homer was that friendly for some treats her life would be made immensely easier.

At the sound of another voice, she whipped around. Although she smiled, she did her best to hide the redness in her cheeks. "Oh, well thank you, her voice was soft as she looked towards the boy's feet. "Would this boy be yours then?" Her head tipped up as she spoke, "That would explain his infatuation with me." Eira couldn't help but tease him while she stuffed her hands back in her pockets after a good last pat.

[Stefano Rice]

Seth raised his hands in mock surrender and gave her a grin as he lowered them. He laughed and shook his head at the question. "I wish my horse looked half that flashy!" He said, shaking his head again. He only felt slightly guilty for his words, and that was because hoot was in the other barn. "He belongs to a cheerleader, who's name I can't think of right now. The horse's name is Poe."

He glanced further down the barn, not surprised to see that Pixie wasn't even looking over her door. "I'm Seth, I came to visit the mare I ride for mounted games, while my horse is no doubt acting neglected in the other barn." Knowing the horse, standing within reach of the door, pulling what Seth could describe as a horse-pout.

[Eira Gould]

The boy's surrender made her laugh and shift her weight away from the door she had been leaning on. "Ah, that would explain the attention seeking then." Eira said with a teasing smile and bobbing her eyebrows.

"Oh that's sweet! I'm sure my boy is doing the same thing back home." Eira grinned and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "I'm Eira, nice to meet you, Seth," she beamed. "My father won't be here with the horses until the weekend so I'm getting my daily dose of horse where I can." She looked sidelong at the horse who was expecting more attention and smiled.

[Stefano Rice]

Seth grinned. "I could point out all the attention-starved horses in the barn, if you want me to." He offered. "I rode a couple of school horses until I recently got my own, much to my father's dismay; but what's done can't be undone." He didn't know what was going to happen when he graduated in June, but he guessed that he'd talk to his grandparents to see what would happen with Hoot.

[Eira Gould]

Eira smiled playfully."Actually, if you didn't mind, that would be amazing!" Though she was only half joking, it would be better than sulking around, missing <i>her</i> horses. More than a day felt too long, let alone almost a week.

"That's very true," She nodded, knowing well that you can't change the past. "Can I ask though, why wasn't your father happy about it?" She could come up with a few guesses, but preferred not to make an assumption.

[Stefano Rice]

Seth grinned as he began to point around the barn. "We have: Radio, Rio, Remi, Sunny and Rabbit. They are all school horses who don't have assigned riders, though Maeve still spends a bit of time with Remi as she started off riding her." He pointed to another stall. "In there you have Ms Robinson's equids, the cutest mini donks ever!" He flash a wolfish grin. "And then you have all the mounted games ponies... er, mounts: Pixie - though she's the reason I'm in here, so not totally neglected. Ripple, Rocket, Glory, Fern, and Mo - who also has the cutest cat." He grinned and shrugged. If he could remember school stuff as well as he could the horse's names, his parents would be so proud of him!

His smile slipped a little at her question. "Because daddy dearest is a control freak, and when he decided that I could in fact go here, I was only ever going to ride school horses. My grandparents found Hoot for me, so it's another mark against me as far as my father is concerned, as though I arranged the whole thing behind his back." He shrugged. "I don't care though, as he can't threaten to stop paying the fees, because that's not being funded by him either." And he thanked his lucky stars for that every time he got off the phone with his parents.