The Cowboy's Secret (Cowboys After Dark: Book 3) (19 page)

Caitlin had managed to turn the horse around and was trotting back towards the cross rail when Jiminy heard his lovely human’s call. He pricked his ears, which Caitlin interpreted as a precursor to the small jump, and feeling apprehensive she grabbed his mane in case he did a leap bigger than she was expecting.

Amelia knew exactly what the pricked ears meant and trilled again, this time a little louder; Jiminy stopped, and spinning his head around peered intently in the direction of the call.

“What’s he doing?” Caitlin barked, attempting to kick him back into his gait.

Amelia bolted to the back of the barn and trilled through the barn aisle, then dashing to the empty back field where Jiminy spent most of his days she trilled again.

There was no view of the ring from where she was standing, but she heard the satisfying sound of Caitlin’s screams, and knowing Jiminy would have taken the most direct route to reach her, Amelia was sure he would have jumped out of the ring.

Standing in the middle of the field, her pulse racing and breaking into a sweat in spite of the cold air swirling around her, she heard the thundering of the big horse’s hooves as he galloped around the barn. Seconds later he was in sight, and to Amelia’s astonishment Caitlin was still on his back.

Amelia trilled again to let him know where she was. She’d left the gate open but the big horse didn’t care about the gate, or the terrified girl hanging around his neck, all he cared about was reaching Amelia. Heart in her mouth Amelia watched Jiminy do what he did best; leap over the field’s fence with an easy grace.

Don’t fall off, don’t fall off, don’t fall off,
she fervently prayed, staring at Caitlin holding on for dear life as the horse left the ground.

To her great relief her prayers were answered, and Caitlin was still on his back as the big horse landed. He cantered a few strides before breaking into a trot, and finally reaching Amelia he came to a stop, dropping his head to her shoulder. Caitlin, shaking and horrified, immediately slid off his neck and fell in a quaking lump on the ground.

“Are you all right?” Amelia asked, feigning concern.

“What the hell have you done with him?” Caitlin shrieked, scrabbling away. “He’s crazy, absolutely fucking crazy.”

Clint and Sam were running into the field, but Amelia didn’t care, and ignoring her hammering heart she calmly looked down at the girl and shook her head, as if puzzled by her remarks.

“I don’t know what you mean?”

“Who the hell are you?” Caitlin quivered.

“I’m Amelia, are you sure you’re okay?”

“No, I’m not fucking okay. I could’ve been killed,” she howled.

“Huh, weird, he’s never run away with me,” Amelia replied, shrugging her shoulders, “and I’ve been jumping him over four feet.”

“That’s impossible, he’s only a three-foot horse?” Caitlin protested, unsteadily getting to her feet.

Amelia could see Clint and Sam closing in, but continued on, determined to convince Caitlin Jiminy wasn’t the right horse for her.

“This horse? Oh, no, if he was sold to you as a three-foot horse you got scammed. He’s a jumper.”

Caitlin stared at her, a bewildered look crossing her face.

“I don’t believe it,” she frowned.

“You shouldn’t be riding a horse like this unless you have a lot of experience,” Amelia said somberly. “You could get really hurt.”

“But he’s not a jumper,” Caitlin insisted.

“Didn’t he just jump over that fence with you?” she pressed, but she could see Caitlin was digging in her heels, so decided on a different tack. “I’ll tell you what, how about I show you,” Amelia smiled as if she was doing the girl a huge favor.

“Don’t bother. I’ll just take him back and have my trainer fix him,” Caitlin growled. “I like big horses, they make the jumps look smaller.”

The hell you will,
Amelia silently snarled.

“You can’t make a horse that loves to jump big, jump lower over small obstacles,” Amelia replied. “He’ll jump them big regardless. If you only want to go up to say, three-three or three-six, this horse is completely wrong for you.”

Amelia was talking to her like a potential house buyer, reasonably stating facts, not offering any kind of emotional response.

“Show me,” Caitlin demanded. “I have to see it for myself.”

“Sure, no problem,” Amelia agreed, then turned her attention to Clint and Sam who had finally reached them.

Clint was staring at her, clearly puzzled, wondering why Jiminy had bolted and ended up in the back field with her.

“Hi Clint, could you give me a leg-up?” she asked, ignoring his quizzical gaze. “Caitlin wants to see her horse jump the big stuff.”

“Caitlin, are you doin’ okay?” Clint frowned. “That was a heck of a ride he took you on.”

“No, I’m not okay, my arm hurts, and so does my hip,” she complained. “I don’t know what you’ve done to him, but he’s not the same horse.”

Not wanting to respond to the diatribe, he turned to Amelia.

“I thought you were up in the house,” he remarked.

“I was, but, uh, I’m here now,” she stammered. “Can you give me a leg-up?”

Clint tilted his head to the side, trying to figure out exactly what had happened, and what was now happening directly in front of him.

“Please,” Amelia pushed, staring at him, trying to send the message that she knew what she was doing; a moment later, to her great relief, she saw the penny drop.

“Sure, of course,” he nodded.

Amelia adjusted the stirrups back to her length, checked the girth, then stroked Jiminy’s neck to help settle his nerves, waiting until he let out a loud snort and shook his head.

“That’s my boy,” she whispered. “Okay, we’re ready,” she declared, and took up her position, poking out her foot ready for Clint to lift her into the saddle.

“You’re nuts to get on like that,” Caitlin remarked.

“Probably, but it works for us,” she said airily,
and if you want to see someone who’s truly nuts, go look in a mirror.

Clint hoisted her up and she started forward, but the small group couldn’t keep up, and looking over her shoulder Amelia was delighted to see Caitlin was limping.

“I’ll see you at the ring,” she called as Jiminy picked up his pace.

As she rode him towards the arena she could feel him relaxing, and once in the ring she began to warm him up, then watching Clint and Sam put the fences back to their original height, she continued trotting around, making sure the horse knew his workout wasn’t yet finished.

“This is such bullshit,” Caitlin declared as Clint and Sam joined her outside the arena. “There’s no way that horse can jump fences like that.”

Amelia, hearing Caitlin’s words, suddenly felt a rush of nerves; everything depended on this one ride. Pulling Jiminy to a slow stop she closed her eyes, thinking back to her show days.

Three deep breaths. Don’t try, let the jumps flow towards you and trust your horse.

The memory helped; feeling assured and confident she picked up the canter and began the course of fences. The first was relatively low, but they grew increasingly in size, and the last one was two horizontal poles set high, several feet apart. Called an oxer, it asked the horse to jump big and wide, not an easy feat.

As Clint watched Amelia navigate around the jumps, he glanced down at Caitlin; she was incredulous at the sight of Jiminy effortlessly leaping over the jumps with Amelia perfectly in control.

“She’s not doing that oxer, is she?” Caitlin breathed. “That thing is huge.”

Amelia turned the corner and cantered towards the big jump, but as she galloped forward she gave an extra cluck just to make sure Jiminy would offer the extra lift the big fence needed. It wasn’t something she generally did, but she rode from her instinct, and her instinct dictated she make the encouraging sound.

Jiminy knew exactly what the cluck meant and thundered forward. Amelia’s heart skipped a beat; he was flying towards the oxer, and just as she’d suspected he would the big horse left the ground a stride early, turning the large oxer into something almost twice its size.

Standing at the side of the ring Clint could not believe what he was seeing. The horse had turned the jump into an Olympic sized obstacle, and not only had Jiminy cleared it, he’d done it with room to spare. That Amelia had been able to stay in the saddle he found completely astounding.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Caitlin muttered. “That’s the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen in my life. You people are all crazy. I’ve seen enough, get me out of here.”

As the horse landed on the other side Amelia’s heart was pounding so hard she thought it was going to jump out of her chest, but Jiminy simply cantered away, and continued until Amelia slowed him to a stop.

“You are the most stupendous horse,” she exclaimed breathlessly, rubbing his neck.

Looking towards the gate she was surprised to see Caitlin moving briskly away from the ring with Clint and Sam running after her. Dropping the reins so Jiminy could walk around and relax, she watched anxiously for Clint’s return, and when he came jogging back she picked up the trot and hurried to the gate to meet him.

“So? What’s happening?” she asked urgently.

“She thinks we’re all crazy, she thinks Jiminy is a complete monster, and she wants nothing more to do with us, or him,” Clint grinned.

“Really? That’s fantastic,” she bubbled.

“That jump, holy crap darlin’, you scared the bejesus outta me. Did you know he could jump like that?”

“Honestly, I didn’t, it was, it was…I can’t even describe it. Had to be one of the most thrilling things I’ve ever done. I don’t think I’ve ever jumped that big. It was absolutely incredible, he’s absolutely incredible,” she beamed.

“Why did he leave a stride out?” Clint asked.

“I clucked, and I never cluck. He just did what he thought I wanted,” she replied.

“It sealed the deal,” Clint remarked. “Caitlin said it was one of the most terrifying things she’s ever seen, and there was no way she’d get on him again.”

“That’s really weird,” Amelia frowned. “I had this feeling I had to cluck as we were galloping towards it. There was no reason for it, none, we were totally on track.”

“Well,” Clint sighed shaking his head, “the horse Gods were on your side today, and they must have whispered in your ear.”

“I guess they did,” she grinned as they started back towards the barn.

“Are you okay to take care of him by yourself?” Clint asked. “I need to run up to the house and take care of something, it’s important.

“Sure, but will you take his saddle off for me first,” she asked. “I’m still a bit shaky. I don’t want to drop the darn thing.”

“Of course,” he smiled.

When they reached the barn and Amelia slid off Jiminy’s back, Clint put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze.

“Oh, thank you, I needed that,” she sighed.

“I know you did,” he said warmly. “You were spectacular out there. You took my breath away. I’ve seen you ride many times, but there was something magical goin’ on. It was as if Jiminy knew he had to give the performance of his life. He was frickin’ flawless, and so were you.”

“I think he did know. It sounds crazy but I really do, and when I clucked he knew what he had to do, even though I didn’t,” she sighed, feeling the heat in her throat.

“Tell me,” Clint said casually as Amelia placed the horse in the cross-ties, “exactly why did you go into the field, and how did Jiminy know you were there?”

“I’ll be right back,” she said quickly, “I have to get his brush box.”

Clint grinned as he watched her run into the barn.

“You go ahead, I’ll see you up at the house,” he called, and jumping in the golf cart he headed up the driveway.

Oh, my darlin’ Amelia. You really think that’s gonna work? I don’t blame you for doin’ what you did, and I don’t know how you did it, but you’re gonna tell me, and then we’re gonna have a chat.

A
melia was still on a high when she hiked back up to the house, and as she entered through the kitchen door she found Clint sitting at the table drinking a beer.

“Been waitin’ for you,” he smiled standing up.

“Hi, wow, what an afternoon,” she exclaimed walking across to him.

“You need a hug,” he declared opening his arms.

“I need a huge hug,” she replied, and laying her head against his chest she sank into him, relishing the comforting warmth of his arms.

“How’s Jiminy?” he asked.

“Jiminy is terrific. He’s blanketed, eating, and none the worse after having that brat on his back, but I think he’ll enjoy his Sunday off tomorrow. I know I will.”

“You wanna beer?” he asked.

“No, I want a hot cup of coffee,” she replied breaking away, and pulling off her jacket she headed to the thermos.

“Amelia, do you have-,” Clint began, but a knock on the kitchen door startled them both, and Clint walked quickly across to answer it.

“Sam? Hey, come on in, what’s up. Wanna beer?”

“No, I’m good, thanks, won’t stay. Just wanted to talk to Amelia for a minute. Is she here?”

“Yep, I’m here,” Amelia called out.

Sam wandered in and found her leaning against the counter holding her coffee, warming her hands against the sides of the mug.

“Did you get the Princess back to her plane safely?” she asked.

“She needs a good whippin’, that one,” Sam muttered under his breath.

“She needs something, that’s for sure,” Amelia agreed. “I don’t think I’ve ever met a nastier, more arrogant person, man or woman.”

“An unhappy heart, is her biggest problem,” Clint remarked, “but she has other issues, no question.”

“So, Sam, what’s up?” Amelia asked as she sat at the table.

“Annie, or rather, Anastasia, she really wants to learn how to jump and ride in an english saddle. I wondered if you had a horse amongst your lot that she could learn on, and if you could give her some help. She’s got a natural flair for ridin’.”

“Of course, I’d be thrilled to help her, and yes, I have the perfect horse. His name is Henry, and I rescued him from a riding school that went under. He’d an old guy but he loves his job, and he’s safe as houses.”