A Riding Lesson
Mena Schmid
Mena Schmid is an ECHS senior. This is her first FM story. It
is more like an introduction to a novel rather than a story in
itself. But perhaps you should hear the story first.
The horse, ears flattened against its head, nervously pawed the
ground. The iron shoes rang against the cobblestones in the courtyard.
A small slender boy of about ten years clung to the horse's back.
His knees gripped the horse's flanks, and his fingers entwined
themselves in its mane.
"Not like that, my lord. Your present posture is uncomfortable
to the horse. Relax. Loosen your knees, and don't yank like that
on the mane." Ehranyn did not hear the gentle words of the riding
master. He saw only the cobblestones far below and felt the tense
muscles of the horse beneath him.
The instructor laid her hand on the boy's shoulder. "Ehranyn."
At the sound of his name, he turned and stared wildly into the
woman's eyes. She extricated his fingers from the now tangled
mass of mane. She smoothed it out and again showed him how to
place his hands. His knees relaxed and she placed them properly
on the horse who now stood passively in the courtyard.
"See? Isn't this much easier? You won't tie up this way. Your
tenseness only unnerves the horse."
"Yes, ma'am," he mumbled.
* * * * *
The riding instructor lithely leaped onto a tall grey gelding.
After a slight nudge with her knees, the horse started slowly
forward and Ehranyn's horse loped along behind. She paused, allowing
him to catch up. As they inched their way out of the courtyard
she examined her pupil. She could she him beginning to tense up
again.
"Relax," she crooned, "we're taking it slowly. We're just going
to go to the meadow behind the castle, and we're not even out
of the courtyard yet. Relax."
He relaxed slightly, yet his gaze bored into the back of the horse's
head.
Out in the meadow, the grasses glistened with the morning dew.
The bright sun sliced through the crisp air to glint off the nearby
castle. As Ehranyn felt the warm touch of the sun, he loosened
his shoulders, and they fell away from his ears. Slowly, his gaze
shifted from the horse to the sky. There, the sparse cottony clouds
sailed gently west towards the mountains capped with snow from
a receding winter. Out of the mountains a hawk rose, and Ehranyn
watched it spiral slowly downward riding on the air currents.
Then his attention was captured by a yellow and orange colored
butterfly that flitted through the air in front of him. Ehranyn
loosened his hold on the mane.
A cat screamed, shattering the calm. Ehranyn jerked to his senses
and froze. His fingers dug into the mane. The horse neighed and
reared, corkscrewed, and Ehranyn was thrown. The instructor watched
in horror as Ehranyn fell to the ground. His eyes, wide with fright,
stared at her hopelessly as he fell, and he fainted. The instructor
leaped off of her horse and grabbed the other horse to keep it
from running off or trampling the boy. After stroking its neck
a few times to calm it, she led it over to the gelding.
She gently lifted Ehranyn off the ground and laid him against
her shoulder. She motioned for the horses to follow and then set
out for the castle.
Once within hailing distance of the back tower, she called out
to the guard, "Guard! Send for Lady Dveryn and a servant. Lord
Ehranyn has fallen."
"Aye, ma'am," he replied and left.
When she reached the gate, two stablehands took the horses and
led them off to the stables. Several worried servants flocked
around her. They shifted the boy to their control and hurriedly
carried him off to the castle muttering among themselves what
a horrible disaster this was.
The instructor solemnly greeted the queen. "My lady," she began,
"I feel to blame. I . . ."
"Of course," replied the queen, "but allow me to hear the story
first. Then we shall decide whether or not you should feel to
blame. Begin."
The instructor recounted every detail of the lesson as they crossed
the courtyard and entered the castle.
Copyright 1988 by Mena Schmid. Unauthorized duplication,
posting, or publication is strictly prohibited.
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