The Stolen Child (32 page)

“Why's that?” Rachael said,
eyes narrowed
.

“I was having a little wander around the grounds.  There's something I want to show you,” Micah said, nodding in the other direction.

“What is it?”
Arsha
said.

“Just trust me,”
h
e replied, with his usual boyish grin.

Before long they found themselves outside of the manor walls, walking down a rough path that cut across the open fields of the estate.  
Though there were uniformed men at the last gate, no one
made any move to stop them.  
A soft wind blew over the
mesa,
making the long grass whisper as they walked.  
Micah had brought lunch with him, roti and fresh mango juice, which they ate as they walked.  Even though the spiciness of the food made her eyes water, Rachael still asked for a second roti, wolfing it down in three bites as if it might have less time to burn her tongue.  
Micah went ahead of them,
eventually leading them
to the crest of a gentle slope which
they
could not see beyond.  Silhouetted against the
blue
sky, he turned and beckoned to them.

As they crested the hilltop, Arsha looked down and saw what Micah had meant to show them.  A worried expression creased her face, and she felt a nervous fluttering in her stomach.
 

“Horses,”
Rachael
gasped.

There were three of them, slender and beautiful, grazing in the sun as if nothing in the world could bother them.  Already
they could see Micah approaching the nearest of the creatures, a
reddish-brown mare
that was
a little shorter than the other two.  Very gently he whispered to the animal and stroked at its mane.  For a moment the creature tensed, seeming nervous, but he slowly calmed it, speaking softly and stroking its neck and flank.  Eventually, he lead the horse over towards the girls.

“Girls,
t
his is Amber,
and Jamal tells me
t
hat's Ruby, and Opal.”

“
Who's Jamal?” Arsha said.
 

“Huh?  Oh, he's the stable-boy.  I went out for a smoke and we got chatting.”

“Hi Amber,” Rachael said, sweetly.  She seemed enraptured, gazing intently into the horse's huge brown eyes.  Arsha found herself becoming more fascinated by Rachael's demeanour.  The girl was always so guarded, like she was expecting a fight.  It was strange to see her speak and act so softly.

“Can I?” Rachael raised a hand, gingerly, towards the horse's nose and looked up at Micah excitedly.

“Sure.  She's friendly.”

With something between terror and delight, Rachael ran her fingers down the horse's long snout.  It sniffed, sharply, and Rachael pulled her hand back in alarm.

“Stroke, don't tickle,”
h
e said.  “She's a big girl, you won't hurt her.”  
Micah
demonstrated, running his own hand
along
the mare's snout, quite firmly.  Amber leaned into his palm, appreciatively.

“Here,”
he
said, dipping a hand into
his
bag and producing a small apple, red with spots of green.

He
showed
it to Amber, who devoured the offering greedily.  Clearly fascinated, Rachael tried it herself,
giggling as Amber's thick tongue slapped at her palm,
and soon all three horses were gathered around, jostling
the girl
for treats as Rachael laughed.  Arsha stood back, watching.

“So,” Micah said, “you girls want to go for a ride?”

Rachael turned to look up at Micah with an incredulous expression.  The girl seemed genuinely speechless.
 

Whatever objections Arsha held, they were worthless against Rachael's expression of pure delight.  Before long Micah had rounded up all three of the horses and brought them back towards
the stables outside the manor walls.
 
He saddled the beasts quickly,
setting about the straps and buckles with a practised hand, all whilst Rachael prodded him with a hundred questions.  Arsha could scarcely believe the change that had come over the girl.

Eventually the horses were saddled and ready, and Micah set about helping each of them into the saddle.  Rachael took a shot at vaulting up onto Amber's back, but she couldn't seem to find the right place to grip, and the girl quickly ended up on her ass, looking embarrassed.  Arsha covered her mouth to keep Rachael from seeing her laughing.  Still, she caught the scowl that was thrown in her direction.
 

“Alright, let's try this,” Micah said, helping Rachael to her feet.  Then, with scarcely any warning, he grabbed the girl by the hips and hoisted her up into the saddle.  Rachael's look of surprise made it even harder for Arsha to silence her laughter.  As Micah turned away, Arsha couldn't help but notice how red Rachael's cheeks were, or the way the girl's eyes followed Micah as he walked.

“
Your turn,
”
h
e said,
standing at Arsha's side.
  “
Come on now, you've done this before
.  Put one foot up, and I'll help you up the rest of the way.”

“
Yeah, and the last time I fell off and got mud all over myself.  And the time before that I scared the horse so bad it ran off,” Arsha said, pouting.
 

“OK, yeah, try not to do that again,” Micah said, chuckling.

That first step was almost impossible.  
Arsha
finally forced herself to lift one leg and set the ball of her foot into the stirrup.  Then Micah lifted her by the waist, just enough that she could throw her leg across the saddle.  When Opal shifted under her, a jolt of terror r
a
n down her s
pine
and
she
felt sure she would fall.  
A
t the last second she grabbed at the front of the saddle and held herself in place.

“OK there?” Micah said.  Looking down at him, she forced herself to smile.

“See... Not so scary,”
h
e said, smiling back.

Arsha glanced over at Rachael, who was trying very hard to hide how nervous she was.  The girl's knuckles were white on the reins.  
I
t was
oddly
reassuring, knowing that she wasn't alone in that.

“Just sit tight there,” Micah said.

Taking the reins from
them
, he held one in each
hand
and began to walk, leading one horse on either side of him.

“Just concentrate on sitting right.  Hold the pommel if you need to balance better... That's the little ridge at the front of the saddle.  Rachael, keep your back straighter.  You have to keep your shoulders over your hips.  That's right.  Arsha, press your legs in more.  
G
rip with your calves.  
Come on, you've done this before.
”

They walked
back out across the fields
, Micah reciting a soft litany of instructions as the horses plodded along at a gentle stro
ll
.  Arsha found that her nervousness slowly faded as her attention was consumed by the awareness of her own body and that of the creature that carried her.  She realised, with a little jolt of surprise, that she could feel Opal's heartbeat pulsing up through her
ribcage
.  She could feel the slow expansion and contraction of the horse's chest as it drew each breath.  Occasionally
the mare
would let out a sudden snort and
Arsha
would feel a ripple run down
her
back.  There was something
strangely beautiful
about being so completely connected to another creature, so aware of every tiny movement of
her
body.

They started to get the hang of it,
and before long Micah gave them the reins and mounted up on Ruby to ride with them.  
Arsha fell off once, and Rachael took several tumbles, mostly from trying to pull Amber into sharp turns that
the horse
was all too willing to comply with,
whether her rider was ready or not
.  No matter what, Rachael was on her feet the moment she hit the ground and springing eagerly back into the saddle.  As they began to master bringing the mares up to a
gallop
and back down to a walk again, Arsha saw a look of
delight
firmly root itself on Rachael's face.  She seemed entirely lost in the moment.

E
ventually Arsha began to slacken off a little, easing her horse into a slow trot as Micah focused his attention on correcting the finer details of Rachael's posture.  
Soon enough the two of them set off on a proper run, leaving Arsha to take a breather by a narrow creek
.  Opal lapped at the water as Arsha
rested in the saddle
.

As she gathered herself
a little,
she
heard
the
approaching
sound of hooves
.  
When she looked up it was not Rachael and Micah she saw, but a stranger on a black horse.  As he drew closer, she realised the boy was about her own age.  He had wavy hair and
bright, attentive eyes.  He was good looking, she had to admit, though it was not hard to see the Bhandari family resemblance in him.  She felt a chill when she noticed the rifle slung over his shoulder, and the brace of dead birds hanging from his saddle.  Hawks, she realised.
 

“Hey, you there,”
h
e called out.

“What?”
s
he said, turning Opal to face him.

“Arsha, right?  Where's your friend?  The refugee?”

Arsha scowled.

“Rachael?  She's
riding
.  With Micah.”  

It seemed important to add the last part, somehow.  The boy nodded.

“
They'd best stay close to the house.  Father wouldn't be happy if anyone got hurt,” the boy replied, lip twisting in a sneer.
 

“Yeah.  Right.  I'll
them
that,” Arsha said, still scowling.  Seeming to sense her mood, Opal backed off a pace and snorted loudly in the boy's direction.  He nodded again, and glanced down at the mare.

“Be careful with that one.  Never got broken in properly.  She can be a bit dangerous.  Little too much spirit.”

Arsha felt a scathing smile creep across her face.

“Good thing she's with me then,”
s
he said.  The boy gave a derisive snort and wheeled away.  He was a distant
shape
against the horizon
when she heard Micah and Rachael approaching.  Rachael looked breathless, but del
i
riously happy, and Micah had a healthy glow about him.

“What was that about then?” Micah said, nodding at the distant shape of the boy on his horse.

“One of the Bhandari boys.  I didn't like him much,”
s
he said.

“Huh.  Yeah, that'd be Vasuki I'm guessing.  
I met
him with his dad at a function one time.  
H
e was an obnoxious little... Well, yeah,” Micah said.  “
Anyway, we should probably head back
.  I'm starving.”

Arsha turned to look over at Rachael.

“You had fun?”

The girl just nodded, clearly too out of breath to even speak clearly.

Micah was right about the time.  T
he sun was getting low, and the sky was slowly reddening.  
Micah took the lead, as Arsha and Rachael followed a little way behind him, their horses walking side by side.
 

“
Hey, thanks for doing this,” Rachael said.  “I know you weren't really having the best time out there and all.  I just… I really appreciate it.”
 

Caught off guard by the curious sincerity in Rachael's expression, it took her a moment to respond.
 

“
No, it's OK,” she said.  “I'm glad you had fun.”
 

Rachael smiled.
 

“
Yeah, I did.”
 

Arsha caught the way Rachael's gaze settled on Micah's back, his sweat soaked tunic plastered to his shoulders, and she couldn't keep herself from smiling.
 

“
Admit it.  You like him,” Arsha said.
 

Rachael's cheeks glowed crimson as the girl scowled.
 

“
I never… Shut up,” the girl stammered, as Arsha grinned at her.
 

“
Not even a little bit?” she said sticking her tongue, as Rachael stared down at the reins.
 

“
Yeah, I mean, he's OK if you like tall, muscle-y guys with perfect cheekbones,” she said, quietly.
 

As Arsha struggled to hold back her laughter, Rachael looked at her with narrowed eyes.
 

“
What, and you've never thought it?”
 

Arsha just shrugged.
 

“
Not really… I mean I've known him since I was, like, seven?  He's like a, you know, a big brother or something.”
 

“
Right,” Rachael said, with a knowing smile.  “You live with a guy who looks like that, and you never had even one dirty thought?”
 

It was Arsha's turn to fix her eyes on the reins, as she felt her cheeks tingle.
 

“
Maybe a little bit,” she mumbled.
 

She caught Rachael's eye, and almost in unison the girls stuck their tongues out.  A moment later Micah was looking back with a bemused expression at the both of them, doubled over in their saddles, trying not to fall off from laughing.
 

The sun continued to dip towards the horizon as a cool wind sprang up.  Slowly, the walls of the estate began to rise up ahead of them, and Arsha couldn't help but notice how the light slowly faded from Rachael's eyes as they drew closer.  Before long the girl had the same cold, guarded expression that she always seemed to wear.

They arrived at the stables, and Micah helped them dismount as a young man stepped forward to lead the horses away.  As they walked through the gates into one of the many courtyards, they saw the tall form of Dayaram Bhandari approaching them.  Arsha's footsteps slowed as the man fixed each of them with his icy cold eyes.