Legacy

Chapter One-2-3

Lucy did exactly as she was told before halting at the gate. Right in front of Elise. When she shot the senior a confused look, all Elise did was smile and push herself off of the railing with little effort—stop staring. Seriously. Get a grip—and walk over to Lucy. Without any warning at all, Elise tapped the side of Lucy's leg and said, "Take your foot out of the stirrup."

Lucy was now ten times more confused as she was before, but she obeyed. And the longer she left her leg dangling, the longer Elise seemed to stare at her expectantly.

"Yes?" Lucy asked finally?

"How do you expect me to take off the stirrups if you keep your leg there?" Elise asked, crossing her arms, "It doesn't seem very fair to Dee to have the stirrups banging against her sides if we're not going to use them at all after this."

"Oh, come on!" Lucy exclaimed, "You said an extra lap of work without stirrups, not the whole rest of the lesson!"

"I changed my mind. And I will not tolerate whining in my lessons, Miss Summers," Elise said, her tone serious, "Now move your leg, or I'll do it for you."

Okay. That's not going to happen. I mean, it'd be perfectly fine with me. But not here. Nope. I'd lose it.

Lucy shifted her leg, and rested it on top of the saddle, sighing as she tried to mentally prepare herself for the t*****e to come.

After Elise had taken both stirrups off the saddle, she walked to the middle of the ring, swinging the stirrup leathers absentmindedly back and forth in her hands, as she called, "I want to see a posting trot again. On the rail."

Lucy sighed again, asking Dee to move forward, and readjusted her position in the saddle to fit Dee's movements.

"Keep your shoulders back. But your leg is slipping too far back, and that's causing your entire upper body to tip forward," Elise said.

Lucy knew that she couldn't be perfect all the time. But still, she'd barely made it past the long side of the arena before Elise had corrected her position.

But you accepted the challenge, so grin and bear it, Lucy reminded herself.

Lucy fixed her shoulders easily, but her leg—that was a whole different story and Lucy knew it. It had always been a problem of hers, and it seemed that it would continue to be that way.

"Sitting trot. Your shoulders are in a good position. Keep them there. But work on that leg," Elise said.

Lucy was trying to think of so many things at once—keeping her shoulders back, fixing her leg, keeping Dee slow enough, steering...staying in the saddle seemed to be the last thing on her mind.

But then again, that's a good thing. Nothing to distract you...well, not quite nothing...but close enough.

"And keep your elbows in. By your side. The last thing we want is them flapping around like a bird."

"And I thought the animal comparisons were a Rat thing," Lucy resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Didn't your parents ever teach you to mind your manners, Miss Summers?" Elise asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Yes," Lucy said indignantly, "Yes they did."

"Good. Then I want you to walk and change directions, and let Dee take a break for a minute."

"Wrong day to forget a water bottle," Lucy sighed, her words only loud enough to be heard by Dee's ever attentive ears. She let the mare have long reins, and took a moment to stretch out her sore legs that were already screaming. Before they made it past the gate, Lucy shrugged out of her jacket and tossed it onto the top railing of the gate before continuing on.

The whole time, Elise hadn't left her position in the middle of the ring. And now those stirrup leathers were slung haphazardly over her shoulder as she walked around the center of the ring, and Lucy wished she'd just put them down already—

Because doesn't she know how freaking attractive that looks?

There had to be something wrong with her. First the whole thing with the last name, then the way the senior had been leaning on the gate, and now stirrup leathers? Lucy had never let such simple things turn into...well, turn-ons. This whole experience was going to kill her; she was sure of it.

"I want you to get Dee moving again. Make sure she has your attention. I want to see a canter transition from the walk, and then back down to the trot. But I want to see each transition exactly when I ask for it. And when I say transition down to the trot, I mean the trot. No walking."

"Do I have to post when we trot?"

Elise seemed to mull the question over before answering, "It would probably help Dee listen better. It would be easier for her to understand that you want her to keep trotting and not slow down, or go back to the canter...but it's your call. Got it?"

"Got it," Lucy nodded, knowing very well that the senior was right. It would be easier on Lucy to sit rather than post, but it would be easier to get the mare to listen if she posted.

Decisions, decisions, Lucy thought. Because this was going to be a fun one. Lord only knew this horse loved to run...but to stop on a dime and remain at a trot?

That was going to be the real test.

Lucy got the mare moving at a fast-paced walk once more, and the instant Elise called, "Canter," Lucy asked for the transition, which the headstrong mare responded to eagerly. She had forgotten just exactly how fast Dee could go, and although Elise called, "Sit back! Half halt her to slow her down," Lucy found that she was already making those adjustments herself, instinctively.

Once she had gotten Dee under control, Elise let Lucy transition down to the trot, which the redhead initially sat, too tired to put up the fight with her legs to rise upwards without tipping over. But the mare who was still all too eager to run took off once more at the canter, and Elise said, "What did I tell you? She thinks you still want to canter. You really do need to post after you transition. It'll encourage her to keep trotting."

Lucy slowed the mare again, and, although her legs and every single muscle in her body told her otherwise, she somehow managed to keep herself posting. And Dee listened, staying at the trot until Elise asked them to walk.

Lucy resisted the urge to relax her legs out of position, but knew that she would be called out for it if she did. And after a few moments Elise said, "Okay, you can change direction, and have one more canter. Nothing fancy with transitions. Just a canter, I don't care if it's from the walk or the trot. And I don't care if you come back down to the trot for a little bit, or go right to the walk. But, I want a canter in two-point."

Lucy gave Elise the best death glare she could manage, "If I'm not jumping, you can't force me to do two-point canter without stirrups."

"Well, no, I can't force you to. But I'm asking you to," Elise said, looking up at Lucy very, very expectantly with those wide eyes that Lucy swore she could get lost in for a good half an hour...

"Ugh, fine," Lucy grumbled, picking up the reins, and transitioning to the canter before she could change her mind. She managed to get up into an adequate two-point position that didn't warrant too much critique from the senior (although Lucy was positive it was because by this point, Elise actually felt bad for her). Her legs gripped the saddle like there was no tomorrow, she prayed that she wouldn't slip, and through her gritted teeth came three words matching the beat of Dee's canter, "You...are...horrible."

"I'm glad you think that, Miss Summers. For that I should have you go around once more," Elise grinned wickedly, "But, because I'm nice, I'll let you be done with this one."

"Thank you," Lucy said once she had Dee walking again.

She let her aching legs hang all the way down to Dee's sides, not even caring that her toes were pointed down and her shoulders sagged slightly. That had been a workout. She gave the mare loose reins and pat on the neck for listening fairly well. When Dee was cooled off, Elise said, "Are you ready to head back?"

Lucy nodded, and then said, "But I left my jacket somewhere around here," while searching the arena to see where she had placed it.

I could have sworn I put it on the gate...

"I have it," Elise said, holding it out to Lucy as the redhead walked Dee towards the senior.

"Thanks," Lucy reached down to take her jacket from the senior's outstretched hands, "And...thanks for the lesson."

"You're welcome," Elise said, "I'm glad you survived."

Lucy rolled her eyes, "Very funny," but when Dee shied to the right when Lucy managed to pull her jacket back on, and she was forced to get back into an adequate riding position in order to keep herself seated, she winced at the pain that shot through her left leg.

"Suddenly Rattenber's lessons don't seem so tortuous after all, huh?"

Lucy only groaned, making an overdramatic show of pretending to collapse onto Dee's neck, which only earned her a laugh from the senior.

You have no idea.