”Nice.”
Birdsong twittered through the silence. One of the horses blew quietly and let a hind leg go slack as it dozed. Tired as she was, it would have been incredibly easy just to close her eyes and fall asleep to the hush of birdsong and the profound silence behind it Far, far away Margo heard voices, the words indistinguishable with distance. And beyond the voices, the faint hoot of a train.
Margo hadn’t realized the world before automobiles and jet aircraft could be so quiet.
”Ready for that riding lesson?”
Margo opened her eyes and found Malcolm smiling down at her.
”Yes, Mr. Moore, I believe I am.”
”Good.” He offered her a hand up.
Margo scrambled to her feet, refreshed and ready to tackle anything. Today, she told herself, I become a horsewoman.
The horse-of course-had other ideas.
Margo learned the first critical lesson about horseback riding within five minutes. When you fall off, you get back on. Heart in her mouth, she tried again. This time, she rechecked the cinch first, as Malcolm had told her before lunch-and which she’d forgotten in the interim then clambered back aboard.
This time, the saddle held She started breathing again and relaxed her death grip on the mane. “Okay, I’m on. Now what?”
Malcolm was busy mounting his own horse. Mar discovered an intense envy of the ease with which he floated into the saddle and found a seat. “Follow me and copy what I do.”
He set off by thumping heels sharply against the horse’s belly. Margo tried it Her hack moved off sedately with a placid “I have a novice on my back” air about him.