Ivy closed her eyes.
‘One, two, THREE!’ Rebecca and Olivia counted together.
Ivy hauled herself up and swung her leg over. When she opened her eyes, she was amazed to be sitting in the saddle.
‘Oh my darkness,’ she breathed.
Topic shifted her weight underneath her and Ivy felt a rush of adrenaline. She had done it! She was riding a horse! Well, OK, technically it was sitting still on a not-moving horse, but she never thought she’d get this far. Then she looked at the ground and realised she was pretty high up.
Gulp.
‘Perfect!’ Rebecca called up. ‘Olivia, you mount up and we’ll go on a little walk.’
Olivia got up on Honey easily, and Ivy felt better having her sister at the same height.
Rebecca started to lead Topic around the ring, and Ivy was amazed. Topic didn’t seem to mind her at all. Ivy had no idea what to do or how to control her, but the horse hadn’t bolted or freaked out. The steady rhythm of her plodding was soothing.
Ivy felt her heart race. She had a slightly different view of the farm. Suddenly the disapproving chickens seemed smaller and the dark wooden stable didn’t look so imposing.
‘I’m letting go now,’ Rebecca said. ‘Use the reins to point her nose in the direction you want her to go.’
Ivy felt the leather strap in her palm.
Can it really be that easy? she wondered. She pulled a little to the left and Topic obeyed.
‘Wow,’ Ivy breathed.
Hank and John, the stable hands, were watching from just outside the fence and applauded her.
‘Go, Ivy!’ John called. ‘Ride ’em, cowgirl!’
‘See what I mean?’ Olivia called from just behind.
Ivy nodded. Suddenly, instead of demon horses, she could imagine racing along green fields on Black Beauty …
‘Told you I’d never failed to find a horse for a rider!’ Rebecca said.
But just then, Topic tossed her head and sidestepped. Ivy hadn’t done anything. ‘Wh-what?’
Topic whinnied and pawed at the ground.
‘Steady,’ Rebecca’s voice came from somewhere to the side, but Topic was already starting to buck. ‘Steady!’
Ivy panicked; her mouth went dry and it felt hard to breathe. ‘What do I do?’ she shouted, pulling on Topic’s reins as she bounced up and down.
‘Stay calm!’ called Rebecca. ‘Steady, Topic!’
With one loud whinny, Topic reared up and Ivy couldn’t hold on. She was falling. She landed with a thud on her side and cried out, feeling a shooting pain in her ankle.
‘Ivy!’ Olivia was at her side in a moment, while Rebecca grabbed on to Topic, who was still spooking.
Ivy tried to control herself, but tears streamed down her cheeks.
‘I’m just not meant to do this,’ Ivy said to Olivia.
Her sister didn’t say anything and gave her a huge hug.
‘Are you OK?’ Rebecca had handed Topic’s reins to Hank, who had rushed over.
‘My ankle,’ Ivy said.
Topic gave an apologetic whinny as Hank led her back across the yard.
Rebecca carefully removed Ivy’s boot and looked at her ankle. ‘It doesn’t seem broken. Can you stand on it?’
Ivy stood up and put her weight on it. It hurt but wasn’t unbearable.
‘I think it’s just a little sprain,’ Rebecca said. ‘I’m so sorry – I should have stayed closer. You just seemed as natural as your sister.’
Ivy sniffled. ‘I think me and horses don’t go together.’
‘Don’t say that,’ Rebecca said gently. ‘I know that was scary, but it wasn’t anything you did that spooked Topic.’
Ivy didn’t believe her.
‘Look.’ Rebecca pointed to the edge of the ring near where Ivy had been riding a moment before. A mother duck and her three ducklings were waddling under the fencing.
‘Topic is scared of ducklings?’ Ivy asked, baffled. It might have been funny if she hadn’t wanted it to be true so much.
‘I know it sounds unlikely, but horses can get scared of lots of things,’ Rebecca replied. ‘Listen, let’s get you inside to put that foot up. We can try again another time.’
Ivy dusted herself down. She had tried horse-riding once and, as far as she was concerned, once was enough. As she limped back to the farmhouse, Ivy had to face the fact that she would never be a horsewoman like her mother.
Ivy sat on the porch swing, with her leg up and her notebook on her lap. She was trying to write a sonnet for English class but wasn’t getting very far. She hadn’t even had a chance to look at her mother’s diary before Olivia had gone off with Rebecca, Hank and John on the trail ride.
Ivy was stuck at the farmhouse with a bruised ankle. They wouldn’t be back for hours, so she’d sent a text to Brendan: Cowgirl sings the blues. Could use city boy to help change her tune.
Brendan had texted back right away: Mounting my iron steed. Giddy up.
Finally, she saw the little cloud of dust coming up the long driveway.
She wanted to run to greet him, but all she could manage was a few limping steps. Brendan put his brakes on, skidding in a half-circle to a stop in the yard.
Before he said anything, he held up his phone on full volume, playing ‘I Wear My Sunglasses at Night’.
‘No more cowgirl blues, please,’ said Brendan. Then he grabbed her in a big hug.
‘Careful of my ankle!’ Ivy squealed, but she was so happy to see him.
Brendan scooped her up and carried her back to the porch. He sat her on the swing pillows and squeezed in next to her. She told him what had happened. ‘I’m sorry you got hurt,’ he said, ‘but I’m very impressed that you were up on a horse in the first place.’