23. Galen

Chapter 23

Galen

B y the time Monday morning rolled around, he was ready for breakfast. Afterward, he gathered his team and took them to the paddock.

There, three horses waited patiently, halters on, chewing on hay nets that had been left for them. They flicked their ears in Galen's direction as he led his team right up to them.

"Horsemanship starts with this moment," he said, pausing at the gate in the wooden fence. "Did you know that a horse can hear your heartbeat from four feet away? They can, and if you are calm, and keep your heartbeat steady and slow, they will feel safe. If you're not calm, if your heart is racing, then they will think something is wrong, that they are in danger. It's your responsibility to make sure your horse feels safe at all times."

He looked at his team as they watched him, like they were waiting to see which way he would jump.

They stood in a row, properly dressed for a riding lesson. Cowboy hats. Cowboy boots. Long-sleeved snap button shirts. Blue jeans. Even Bede was keeping his sleeves rolled down, at least for now. Which was good, because it meant that Galen could concentrate on the lesson, rather than anything else.

"We'll start by grooming the horses, and learn the different parts of the horse," said Galen, feeling confident about his ability to teach good horsemanship skills from the ground up. "And then we'll saddle them?—"

"When're we going to ride?" asked Toby, his voice loud, disrupting the morning. Two of the horses jerked their heads up, their ears going flat.

"It's a progression," said Galen, keeping his voice even, reaching out to pat the neck of the nearest horse. "And did you notice the horses' reaction to the loudness of your voice?" he asked. "You should keep your voice calm and even around horses. Around any livestock. Understand?"

Toby nodded with wide eyes, his shoulders tight as if preparing for a hard smack along with the gentle scolding.

"I didn't mean to scare ‘em," he said.

"I know you didn't," said Galen. "Let me assign you your horse, and then I'll show you how to act around them. Toby, you're on Penny. She's the one with the long eyelashes. Owen, you're on Diamond, so named because of that white diamond in the middle of his forehead. And, and Bede, you're on Ripley. I think he's named that after the movie, The Talented Mr. Ripley . Maybe because he looks like Matt Damon?"

All three horses were ordinary chestnut horses, Penny being the only mare, the other two, geldings. The horses might not have been purebred, but they looked at Galen with steady brown eyes, as if they knew he was the one in charge, their ears flicking forward and back as Galen explained the various part of the horse, demonstrated how to untie the lead, and how to hold the lead when walking a horse around the paddock.

After a smooth twenty or so minutes of this, Galen sent Toby into the shed to bring back a small handful of horse cookies, and showed his team how to keep their hand flat to feed a horse a treat. Then he reached into the bucket with the grooming tools and instructed his team on how to use the body brush.

"Slow and easy," he said. "Front to back, always with the horse's coat. If the horse moves, move with it. Always be present, in the moment."

He handed each one a brush and told them to go stand by their assigned horses. Naturally, they all stood in the wrong place, near the horse's haunches and too far away to do much good, even Bede. Gently, Galen guided them closer to the horse's head, at least to start with. Then he used Toby's body brush to demonstrate what he meant and urged them to try again.

Soon, the wariness of his team settled into something more like attentiveness, with each of them looking at Galen every now and then as if to make sure they were doing it right. Then he showed them how to clean the horses' hooves, and how to comb through their manes and tails.

"Ease the comb through, don't tug," he said as he walked around each horse, keeping a close eye out. They would do this task before and after each riding lesson so they would become more familiar with not just being around a horse, but also how to take care of it.

When finally it came time to saddle and bridle the horses, he could sense their excitement rising. He used Penny, Toby's horse, to demonstrate how to throw a saddle blanket on, and how to tug the blanket in the direction of the horsehair, not against it. How to land a saddle gently on a horse's back. How to tighten the cinch. How to loop the stirrups over the saddle and adjust their length.

He heard Bede muttering "What now?" so he went around Ripley's backside, smiling at Bede's frown of frustration.

"This is going to ruin my manicure," said Bede, pretending to complain, which only made Galen laugh out loud. "I don't know what length the stirrup should be."

"You could guess," said Galen, gently, as that was what he imagined Bede had been attempting to do. "But here. Put your fist under the leather flap and lay the stirrup on your arm. The edge of the stirrup should hit the bone of your shoulder. If it doesn't, it's either too short or too long. Here."

Up close, he could smell the scent of horse on Bede's skin. See the gleam of his eyes from beneath the brim of his straw hat. Which made it really hard to focus.

Galen did his best, demonstrating how to measure the length of the stirrup with his arm, keeping his eyes on Bede the entire time to make sure he understood. Then he had Bede repeat the motion, and when Bede nodded that he thought the stirrup was the right length, Galen nodded in return.

"I'm such a city boy," said Bede, a bit plaintively, as if he wanted to be let go from the entire lesson.

"That you are," said Galen, and it didn't sound like an insult at all. Rather, it felt flirty and sweet, as if watching a city boy struggle to turn into a country boy was one of his dearest-held fantasies.

No. He needed to focus on the lesson for his whole team, and fast. So he went back over to Toby's horse, Penny, and demonstrated how to mount, how to sit in the saddle, and how to dismount. When his team were all on their horses, he looked at them with a bit of pride.

"Well, you look like cowboys at any rate," he told them, smiling, turning his gaze away when Bede, in the style of all the best cowboys in any western movie ever made, tapped the brim of his cowboy hat and winked at Galen.

Bede sat thick-thighed in the saddle, the reins looped around the saddle-horn as he, yes, rolled up his shirtsleeves in big square folds, as if he knew his forearms were like poetry to Galen's eyes.

Yanking his attention back to the lesson yet again, Galen led them through how to neck rein, and how to urge the horse into movement.

Once they were all walking their horses around the interior of the paddock, all in a row, he reassured them it was okay that they were going slowly because that was the way to start.

After two times around the paddock, he sensed his team getting a bit bored, so he urged them to trot. Which they did, the horses' hooves scuffing up dust in little clouds just above the ground, tails flicking, heads shaking, making the bridles jingle.

Then Toby kicked Penny and, startled, her head high, she burst into a canter and tumbled into Ripley, who reared up and sent Bede flying into the fence with a loud bang.

Galen's heart stopped, anger pulsing that Toby had been rough with his horse, and terrified that Bede was badly hurt.

Rushing over, Galen thought to settle Penny, and then Ripley, but he hadn't accounted for Owen, who dismounted and simply let Diamond go racing around the paddock, reins and stirrups flying. Toby, still astride Penny, was pulling on her reins, hard, and he needed to stop.

"Toby, dismount," Galen said, reaching out for Diamond, grabbing the tail ends of her reins. "Owen, hold your horse. Bede ."

This seemed most important, that Bede was utterly still beneath the lowest wood railing, as if, in another second, he might roll out of the paddock, just to get away from sharp hooves, and never return.

Bede was on his back, his hands hovering as if he was reaching for invisible reins, a grip, anything to steady himself. But he wasn't moving.

His face numb, fear jolting through his whole body, Galen went to his knees, but didn't allow himself to touch. He knew better than to move Bede, knew that he needed to determine whether Bede could move himself.

"Bede," he said, low, leaning close. "You okay? Bede ."

Desperation flourished in his gut, his throat, but then Bede blinked, and looked up at Galen, squinting.

Galen moved between Bede and the blazing sun, and touched Bede's face, the long scrape along his cheek from the fence, brushed the dust from his chin. Traced his hair back from his forehead with a few faint fingers.

"Can you move?" he asked, ignoring the flutter in his heart when Bede's eyes closed, and he went pale beneath his tan.

"Give me a minute," said Bede, low, husky, a wince passing over his features.

From behind him, Galen heard Owen say, "We tied the horses up," and Toby saying, over and over, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Shaking off everything, the pounding of his heart, the worried hovering presence of Toby and Owen, and the worry that he would never be as good an instructor as Zeke, Galen leaned forward, his arm slipping around Bede's shoulders.

He hadn't meant to do it, but now their faces were close, Bede's warm breath on his cheek. Close where he could see the wince around Bede's eyes, the struggle in his body against the pain of his fall.

"Anything broken?" Galen asked, reaching to touch the curve of Bede's cheek, then drawing his hand back. "Bent? Sprained?"

Bede opened his eyes, a flash of dark blue, and laughed under his breath. "If I say yes, that I'm hurt very badly, can I have the rest of the day off?"

"Yes," said Galen, smiling, taking a deep breath, his whole body sighing with relief.

If Bede could make jokes, then he was okay. But the lesson was a disaster. Galen doubted if anyone on his team had learned anything, but he needed to draw the lesson to a close in a professional way, so that his team would be willing to try again.

Galen gently helped Bede to his feet. He pressed Bede's hand on the top fence railing so he could steady himself, and looked him over.

Bede nodded as if to say that he was really okay. Galen was tempted to take Bede to the nearest emergency clinic to make sure he was okay, but then Bede took a step and another, and pushed his shoulders back.

"I'm okay," he said. "Stop fussing."

With a small snort of laughter, Galen took another breath and gestured Toby and Owen close. "Let's do everything in reverse. Let's take off their tack and put it away. We'll groom them, give them a treat, wipe down the tack, and then it'll be time for lunch. Okay?"

He got nods from all three, then watched closely as they unsaddled and groomed their horses, walking around each horse and man, reaching out to guide as needed.

The work seemed to settle his team and, in turn, that settled the horses. Their ears went forward and their heads were down, relaxed, tails switching the flies in a mild way.

"Good, Toby," he said, coming alongside Penny. "Slow pets to the neck is good. It's not just that you're grooming your horse, you are connecting with her. And next time, don't kick like that. It's cruel and unnecessary."

Likewise, Galen made sure to praise Owen as he drew the body brush slowly across Diamond's chestnut rump. "That's right, Owen. Keep your body close as you groom. That'll let Diamond know where you are at all times."

As for Bede, he looked a little stiff as he carried his saddle and blanket into the shed, but he wasn't limping.

The look he threw Galen as he came out of the shade of the shed indicated in no uncertain terms that Bede did not want Galen fussing over him. So even though he wanted to, Galen didn't fuss, but he did stay close until his team had finished the task, fed the horses their treat, and released the three chestnuts into the field.

The trio promptly went close to the herd, dropped their heads, and began nibbling on the short, summer-brown grasses.

"Lunchtime, guys," said Galen, waving them close. "You did good today. And while accidents happen—" Galen paused to let the idea of this sink in, giving Bede another once-over, "—they can be avoided by paying attention at all times. These horses are domesticated, but that doesn't mean you can stop paying attention. Okay?"

"Okay, boss," they all said in unison.

"This afternoon, we'll go back to treating those knapweed holes, and tomorrow, after breakfast, we'll have another lesson with the horses."

He sent them off to lunch. Bede followed the others, then turned, pausing as if to wait for Galen, but Galen waved him away.

He walked down to the lake along the path and stood in the shade of the few willows that grew there. The lake was flat and still and, with the sun overhead, a dusty blue, like the color of an abstract painting.

He needed a moment to himself.

Had he not gone slowly enough, explained enough? Toby hadn't been acting up, it had all just gotten out of hand. He wouldn't blame them if they asked for a different instructor in the morning. Someone like Zeke, for example.

With a sigh, he doffed his cowboy hat, ran his fingers through his hair, then put his hat back on. The afternoon would go better for sure. Tackling the knapweed wouldn't be so rough, if they were only doing it half days.

He would keep an eye on Bede and make sure he was okay. Then he would pull one of the other team leads aside and ask for advice. He could only do his best. That's what his dad had always said. He believed it before, he could believe it again.