Greener Pastures - Alyssa Brugman [27]
While she was waiting for it to load up she turned to Erin. 'So who did Chad go on a date with?'
Erin shook her head. 'You're an idiot.'
14 The Consult
After school Shelby saddled Blue and was about to head out onto the trails when Clint stopped her and asked if she would go with him to look at Chance instead. Shelby agreed, mostly because she was pleased Lydia had asked for help, but also because she was happy for an excuse not to go into the Gully.
It was kind of like when one of her favourite episodes of The Simpsons was on television. She was happy to watch it, but she'd flick through the rest of the channels anyway, just to make sure there wasn't something more exciting.
She pulled the saddle off and let Blue back into his paddock with the other school ponies. As soon as the halter was off his nose he tucked his head down, bucking and kicking out.
'You don't have to look that excited,' Shelby called out to Blue.
He glanced at her over his shoulder and then galloped to where the other horses were standing. He headed straight for the middle of the herd and scattered them like billiard balls. Soon they were all running around, kicking their legs in the air and tossing their heads.
She hopped into the passenger seat of Clint's red ute and wound down the window. As they drove along, the wind whipped around her face. They didn't talk much, mostly because Clint had been snappy with her last time, so Shelby was quite subdued. Clint seemed happy to sing along to a CD by a band that Shelby hadn't heard of before.
'Do you mind if we stop at home for a minute?' he asked. 'It's on the way. I just want to pick up some tools.'
Shelby shook her head.
Clint's place was very different from how she imagined. He had a house on the top of a slope. She followed him through the house. It was scattered with toys and clothes, like her own house. It looked lived in.
Shelby had never met Clint's wife before. Cassandra was pretty, with short hair, and was obviously very pregnant. Their daughter was playing on the veranda with some plastic farm animals. When she saw Clint she raced into his arms.
'Hi there, my princess,' he said, laughing. He tossed her up into the air and the little girl squealed with delight. 'Back in a tick.'
Shelby looked out over the veranda. She could see over the whole property. It was set up differently from any property she'd ever seen before. There was a track, like a racetrack, around the outside, except it wasn't even. It bulged in parts and narrowed in others. It spiralled and then ended with a large dry-lot – a Jenny Craig paddock in the middle. Between the tracks were large garden beds. Shelby wondered how they kept the horses out of there.
There was a herd of about ten horses – mostly bay stock horses, from the look of them – wandering along the track.
It was a beautiful property. Clint must earn a good living, she realised, to be able to afford a property like this.
Cassandra sat down on one of the veranda chairs. 'Clint has been experimenting with a track system,' she said.
'Looks pretty elaborate,' Shelby commented.
'You're the girl who owns Blue.' Cassandra's daughter crawled into her mother's lap and Cassandra ran her fingers through the child's hair.
Shelby nodded.
'I hear he's a beautiful boy.'
'He's pretty good,' Shelby said, shyly. She knew that Clint had told his wife stories of the silly things she and her friends had got up to and she was embarrassed now that she was meeting her in person.
Clint appeared in the doorway. 'Ready to go?' He kissed Cassandra and the little girl and they headed back to the car.
'What's a track system?' Shelby asked.
'The track is about a kilometre long,' Clint explained. 'In the narrow parts we've put down a range of surfaces – pea gravel, river sand, mud. We put out grass hay in the wider parts. The drinking water is in the shelter in the middle. The horses walk around and around, over all those different surfaces, all day long.'
'So they exercise themselves,' Shelby said.