Gale snorts.
He turns, taking us into town. Cars drive past us, but he doesn’t flinch. He gets onto the sand, and his steps become lighter. I take my feet out of the stirrups and lie back, staring up at the mass of grey clouds that is rolling and bubbling.
Gale takes us down to the water, and I sit up and lean over him.
“Ready, Gale?”
He snorts and half-rears.
“Okay, baby, go for it.”
He explodes into motion, his mane and tail flying. I lean over him, the cold wind biting into my skin, his powerful body moving under mine; I could almost be flying. All he’d need to do is leap, and I’m sure he’d sprout wings, and we’d be gone.
When we’re together like this, it feels like we’re one being. Like he’s me, and I’m him. He huffs and slows down, bucking slightly and spinning in a circle before he takes off back the way we came.
I hold on, throwing my head back, laughing.
He slows to a walk, and we amble our way back home. I strip him down, brush the salt and dirt out of his coat and make him beautiful again, and he goes contentedly into the paddock, happily munching on grass.
I lean on the fence, watching him for a long time, thinking about nothing but how much I love this horse.
“Hey, baby, I thought I’d find you out here.”
I turn and find Mum, she holds out a mug and my phone.
I take the drink gratefully, but look at my phone as if it’s a snake.
“Those boys called and called and called. They’d like to take you on a date.”
“A date? But it’s not a Light Knot Night date-”
“No, they want to take you on a real date by the sounds of it.”
Mum hesitates.
“What is it?”
“How do you know there’s something?” mum says with a laugh and leads me into the house.
“Because I know you.”
She curls up on the couch, pulling her feet under her. “Fine. Lynn Marino is trending.”
I groan and sit down, putting my head in my hands.
“And I may have shown them.”
“MUM!”
“Well, I need to know what they are going to do. And they just…”
She stops talking and gets this smug little smile. She rests her chin on her knees and makes a happy humming sound.
“They what?”
“They didn’t care. They were more worried about seeing you. That’s all they wanted. You, not her.”
“We’re the same person,” I protest.
