Legacy

Chapter One-2-2

"Not that this gives you any excuse to be nosy and pushy for the lesson," Lucy reminded Dee as the chestnut chewed her carrot.

Lucy made a quick trip to the tack room, bringing everything down at once. And after saddling and bridling, she headed into the arena and found that she was the first one there. Rattenber hadn't arrived yet, but Lucy knew his policy by now—get on and start warming up; waste no time. She was a little nervous to find out what the Rat had in store for them today. There was no doubt that he was going to push them hard after break. But Lucy was up for a challenge, especially with Dee.

But the burn is real, Lucy thought as she gritted her teeth against the slight pain she felt in her legs—legs that had been cramped and curled up on the sofa for the past four and a half weeks. And of course, it was no one's fault but Lucy's own. Sure, she may have hopped on Chip bareback about twice. But the little Fjord pony couldn't be worked hard—a few laps of cantering around the arena was quite enough exercise for him for one day.

Shifting a bit in the saddle and readjusting her position, Lucy figured she'd take Dee across the diagonal of the arena at a trot, just to make sure that the mare began the lesson listening to her signals and directions. And Lucy was at first unsure that Dee would be attentive, considering that her own long (and much deserved) break had started even before Lucy's winter break. But Lucy realized that she had nothing to worry about when the mare bent easily in the direction Lucy asked without any complaint.

Afterwards, she circled Dee and asked her to halt, right under the clock on the wall, so that Lucy could see the time. If Lucy was reading right, it seemed as though her lesson was now running ten minutes late, which was never the case for the prompt, punctual instructor. Or her teammates. As she was looking upwards, though, the closing of the lounge door caught her attention, and a set of blue eyes met her gaze as Elise walked from the door over to the railing above.

"Is the lesson cancelled today?" Lucy asked, "Rattenber's never late."

Elise's face was serious, but her eyes crinkled slightly—a sure sign that the senior was amused, "And you're rarely early, but here you are, warming up twenty minutes before your lesson is supposed to start."

"But it starts at five," Lucy said, "It always has."

"You didn't check your email, did you," Elise concluded, laughing now.

"Uh...that may have been something that I forgot to do," Lucy remembered, sighing, "Tell me the time changed."

"Five thirty is when your lesson starts," Elise said.

"Oh, well...then I have twenty minutes to do nothing. Yay," Lucy sighed again, mentally slapping herself for forgetting to check her email.

Four and a half weeks off and you've already forgotten the simplest task of college existence.

"Well," Elise said, "It's kind of pointless to just sit around and do nothing while Dee's already tacked up. And I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate just standing around in her stall with her saddle on."

"That's true. But what do you want me to do?" Lucy asked.

Elise shrugged, "I mean if you want, I don't see why I couldn't give you a lesson. I can just tell Rattenber, and it's not like it'll be a problem with the team since it's only me and Rattenber who report absences, anyway."

Lucy's heart leapt at Elise's suggestion. She would love for Elise to teach her lesson. But...she wasn't so sure that she would necessarily be able to focus just on her riding, per se.

The uncertainly must have been visible on Lucy's face, because Elise spoke once more, "I mean, it's up to you. I know I don't jump, but a flat lesson here and there never anyone. Actually, it's probably better for you, easing back into it. Rattenber probably wouldn't have you jumping all that much today, anyway."

"No, yeah, that sounds...great, actually," Lucy said, "But where will we go? Because half way through...my...lesson, Owen and Belle will need the indoor."

"We've got a second indoor, you know," Elise said.

"Um...no. I don't know, actually. When did this happen?" Lucy asked.

"We've always had it."

"You're telling me I've worked here for a whole semester and missed an entire indoor arena?"

"It's behind the house. Separate from the barn. It was our old outdoor arena, but then we go it covered when we put in the new outdoor. So I guess it's kind of half indoor half outdoor, but it works. If you're up for it."

"I'm totally up for it," Lucy said, "I'm sure it'll be much better than the t*****e that Rattenber's going to put us through."

But as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she knew she shouldn't have said them at all. While Elise's tone was teasing, she knew that the senior retained a hint of seriousness when she said, "I certainly hope you don't think I'm going to go easy on you."

In essence, this was now a challenge. And if Lucy's legs hurt now, they were going to hurt like hell in an hour. But Lucy had said before that she was up for any challenge, and so, a challenge she would accept.

"Bring it on," Lucy said confidently.

Once Elise met Lucy and Dee in the arena, she said, "Just follow me. There's some snow on the ground, but Dee should be fine. There's no ice on the path to the house. And she was certainly fine galloping around in the field during turnout yesterday, so I don't think the snow bothers her."

"Clearly it doesn't bother you, either," Lucy said, remembering Elise's comment about the cold and noticing the senior's blue, short sleeve polo shirt, all while zipping her own jacket all the way up.

"Nope," Elise answered.

The two walked in silence, Elise close to Dee's shoulder. And in a moment when Lucy had barely been paying attention—focusing more on watching Elise walk than what was actually happening in front of her—Dee turned her head all the way in Elise's direction and found it the opportune moment to let out a snort, which sent a lovely mix of snot, dirt, and something orange that was oddly reminiscent of carrot (oops!) towards the senior.

Lucy bit her lip to hold back a laugh.

"Why thank you, Dee," Elise said, not even turning around, "You just earned Miss Summers an extra lap around the arena without stirrups."

Lucy knew that she should be mad...but...Miss Summers...

Lucy was certain that the senior had only called her by her last name because that was how Rattenber addressed his students. But the way it sounded coming from the senior's mouth replaced any thoughts of annoyance with thoughts of how surprisingly...pleasant it seemed.

Seriously? The only thing she does is call you by your last name, and it's a turn-on?

"So do I get to call you Miss Kyon, or...Rat doesn't really fit into your name. Or your personality," Lucy laughed.

"That's what you think now."

"Is that a threat, Miss Kyon?" Lucy joked, making her own decisions. She rather liked the way the proper title sounded...almost as much as she liked the way it sounded coming from Elise.

Elise simply shrugged, stopping in her tracks. And Lucy was momentarily confused, but when she drew her attention from the senior to what was now in front of her, she realized that they had only stopped because they had already reached the "indoor". True to Elise's word, it really was an outdoor arena—just covered on the top. The sides were pretty much open, and...

Dammit. No mirror.

Now she couldn't look at her position to see if she was sitting right. Sure, she could tell if she was off center, and surely when she was off balance, but if Elise was going to nit-pick every little detail—and Lucy knew she would—Lucy would have at least wanted the benefit of having a mirror. But, accepting the facts, she merely sighed, knowing that she would have no such luck.

Elise opened the gate so that Lucy could walk in with Dee. As she shut it behind her she said, "I want you to just walk Dee around the ring and get her used to it. She hasn't been out here for a while."

Lucy gave a nod to indicate that she'd heard, and then headed to the rail. Elise hadn't told her which way to go, so she went to the left (because it was her good side), and she let the mare examine the new surroundings while Lucy herself assessed the arena. It was definitely smaller than the actual indoor, but that was to be expected. The railings were all white, and the only gate was the one they'd come in from. There were a few jumps sitting disassembled in one corner, but Elise had said no jumping...so that wouldn't be a problem.

Oh, and there was a mounting block. That was always a good thing. Just in case Lucy somehow managed to end up on her butt.

Again, she thought, remembering suddenly that the last time Elise had instructed her (even though it wasn't a lesson), she had fallen off of Lance. So let's hope we never need to use said mounting block.

"Does Dee seem to be okay?" Elise asked.

It took a moment for Lucy to see where Elise was standing. She had expected the senior to be in the middle of the ring, but found Elise to be leaning against the rail by the gate, both elbows bent and resting against the top rail, and the heel of one of her boots hooked over the bottom rail, while the other remained firmly planted on the ground. And that was surely going to drive Lucy crazy if she didn't snap out of it.

Like now.

...

Right now.

"Miss Summers, I asked you a question," Elise stated, small smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"She's fine," Lucy managed, her voice barely audible.

But I'm not...

"Good. Then I want you to reverse at a faster walk. Dee's moving like she's half asleep, get her going."

Shit.

So much for her good side. Elise had seen right through that, hadn't she?

Lucy turned Dee on the rail, and gave the mare a small nudge with her heels to get her to move faster. Lucy knew that Dee didn't like the "in the middle" gaits, as Lucy liked to refer to them. The springy mare preferred to either be a speed demon, or lazily slow—whichever best fit the mood she was in.

Luckily though, Dee seemed to be listening today, falling into the faster walk without must resistance.

"Okay. Now, have her trot. Nice and forward," Elise instructed.

Lucy sat back in the saddle and asked the mare for a trot, which Dee gladly obeyed. But Lucy hadn't risen for more than two steps of the trot before Elise called out, "Wrong diagonal. Switch it."

Like I said. It's my bad side for a reason, Lucy thought, gritting her teeth.

Lucy had gone two laps around the ring when Elise said, "Sitting trot."

Dee was moving fairly quickly still, and Lucy pulled her back slightly to go slower before sitting, knowing she'd just bounce all over the place in a highly unorganized manner if the mare kept up the springy pace.

"Change directions, across the diagonal," Elise instructed.

And Dee was a saint as Lucy directed her across the ring and through the turn.

"I want you to trot once around the arena, posting, and then halt Dee by the gate."

Okay, Lucy thought, slightly confused. But at least I'll pick up the right diagonal this time...