Chapter 6

Later that afternoon, Ebony, Harrison, Paddy and Mira sprawled in the sun on the tail gate of Mira's truck. There was a light breeze ruffling the trees and lifting the horses' manes as they stood here and there in yards or tied to floats, swishing their tails and casually picking at their hay. Mira's mother had packed a hamper of smoked salmon and camembert quiche, potato salad, Roma tomatoes and olives, which her three friends had swooped on at lunchtime, knowing that Mira's mother always packed enough to feed an army. Paddy tossed up olives and caught them in his mouth, while Harrison poured each person a sparkling apple juice into a miss-matched plastic cup. Ebony bit into a juicy tomato whole, and felt it squelch on her chin, they were so ripe and juicy, she had to wipe away the seeds from her chin, and a few had gone down her front. Mira tossed her a towel.

Ebony rocked back on her milk-crate, tilting it so she could lean on the wall of the truck. She shut her eyes and breathed deeply the smell of horses, and listened to her friends gossiping and ribbing each other. She was so relaxed that she didn't notice how quiet her friends had suddenly grown – until it was too late. Paddy had snuck up beside her with a handful of ice, and before she knew it, she felt a bite of cold on the back of her neck, inside the collar of her polo shirt. She shrieked and grabbed at her collar, upseeting her milk-crate which slipped on its balanced edge and deposited her very unceremoniously onto the ground.

“You rotten...!” she screamed, lunging for one of the sponges Mira had used to sponge down the horses and throwing it sloppily at Paddy. It hit him in the crotch with a splat, and left a large wet patch which sent Mira and Harrison into fits of giggles. Next thing they knew, the sponge hit Harrison in the face, making him sputter. His first reaction was to fix his hair, which sent Mira into more giggles until Harrison grabbed her arm and began to threaten her with a glassful of apple juice, while Ebony snatched up the sponge, dunked it into a bucket and hit Paddy square in the back as he ran for cover. Sponges, ice, and towels flew through the air and buckets were over turned as the playful water-fight turned to all-out war. Ebony stealthed up to the side of the truck with a wet towel in hand, Harrison's Ralph Lauren-shirted back in her sights. She sidled up beside Goosie, hiding herself behind his bulk, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

“Scores are up, if you wanna come look,” it was Ryan, looking quizzically at the towel.
“Oh, um, yeah. Cool. We all had a fight. Sponges were thrown.” Said Ebony, squeezing out the towel. The next minute Ebony's breath left her lungs in a rush. Paddy had snuck up, and dumped and Goosie's entire water bucket over Ebony's head. Her cute white T-shirt was soaked to her ski, and she sputtered and wiped her eyes in shock. Paddy and Ryan roared with laughter, and Ebony was laughing too hard with shock to notice that her t-shirt had gone completely see-through.

Later Ebony found a spot near Cathy to stand with Buddy while they waited for their turn in the Showjumping Arena. Cathy's horse was a big bay with a long ewe neck and a coarse head. He was wearing a running martingale which hung in loops from his neck as he slept dozily with one hind leg resting. His long ears and the long leather straps made his neck look even longer, and suddenly Buddy looked slightly less ridiculus.
“Dont we make a pair?” laughed Ebony, indicating to Cathy the similarities between their mounts. A bark of laughter burst from Cathy, and she shook her shoulders quickly.
“Thanks – that helps me feel a lot less nervous!”
“Are you?” said Ebony understandingly “How's this guy to ride?”
“Oh he's ok. He's inexperienced, but basically sweet. Probably not an Olympic prospect, but he was all I could afford after...” Cathy's voice trailed off and she shut her eyes briefly “...after everything. You know, the fire and stuff...” Ebony saw her mentally shake herself, and take a few deep breaths.
“Cathy, I heard about it from Ryan. I'm so sorry.” But Ebony felt dumb. Like 'sorry' was enough. Like 'sorry' was gonna help anything when the poor woman had lost it all.
Cathy met her eyes and smiled a little. “I appreciate that; thanks.”
“I know it's not much, but if you need anything. You know – feed, rugs, a paddock for a while, you only have to let me know. I dont have much, but I know what it's like to struggle, and if there's anything you need...?”
“I will, I will – thank you so much, Eb. Everyone's been so great. Ryan with the float and the feed; my land lady letting me use her land in exchange for taking care of her cattle and horses. Even my adopted brother – he lives down in Jindabyne and brought me back two brumbies as a present from the Snowy Mountains. They're young, but I can train them to sell or something. Plus I found this guy going cheap off the racetrack – so he's my little project to work on for now.” Cathy ruffled the bay horse's forelock playfully and he butted his ugly head against her hip. He actually was quite a sweet horse, now that Ebony saw the way he buried his head under Cathy's arm and snuffled his mistress.

Wow, thought Ebony: And she was adopted! Ebony had realised that Cathy was of Asian descent, but 'Generation Y' was increasingly multicultured, multicoloured, and multi-lingual, so Cathy's features hadn't stood out to Ebony more than anything else about her. Cathy had obviously grown up Australian; she had no trace of any accent, and she wore jeans and t-shirts and stuff. But Ebony wondered where her birth-parents were. She must be an amazing person to be so positive, and be able to bounce back from everything that had happened. Next moment Cathy's number was called.

“I'm up – wish me luck!” she smiled, springing lightly up onto her big ex-racehorse.
“Take it easy – remember to breathe!” laughed Ebony as Cathy did a few warm up jumps to settle the big bay. Ebony instantly admired Cathy's riding: She rode quietly and sympathetically, making small adjustments here and there, but ultimatly leaving the horse alone to jump unhindered. The bay horse wasn't confident, but he was kind, quietly picking his way over the small fences and bobbing his ugly head. No, not an Olympic horse; but a fun horse. A confidence booster. A project for Cathy to keep her busy while she got her life together. Ebony smiled as the big bay putted around the course finishing with 8 faults. She decided she really would try to help Cathy out if she could.