“What? Yeah, sure. You’re such a?—”
“Fine. Then follow me.”
I strode away, hoping she would follow. Around the back of the machinery shed, I glanced behind me. She was picking her way across the dry grass, wincing every time a rock bit her bare feet.
I led her to the brumby’s yard. Comet was on the far side, her ass toward me. She turned her head and snorted.
“Yeah, it’s me,” I called to her.
The name Comet suited her. Fast, fiery, and damn near impossible to catch. I hadn’t been out here since the morning Sapphire arrived. It was the longest I’d gone without seeing the brumby since I’d started training her.
I leaned against the rail. Comet stayed at the far end of the yard, but she’d turned toward me, head high, ears pricked forward.
“Hey, girl,” I said, keeping my voice low. “Miss me?”
She snorted and pawed at the dirt.
I climbed over the fence and dropped into the yard. Comet didn’t bolt, she just watched me with those dark, wary eyes.
I took a step. Then another.
She held her ground.
“That’s it,” I murmured. “I’m not gonna hurt you. You know that by now, don’t you?”
Behind me, Sapphire climbed onto the bottom rail and leaned her arms on top of the fence. I didn’t turn around, just kept my focus on Comet. I paused ten feet from her, hands low.
The filly stretched her neck forward. Her nostrils flared as she sniffed the air between us. Then, for the first time since I’d brought her here, she took a step toward me.
My heart hammered.
“Easy,” I whispered. “That’s it. Good girl.”
She took another step.
“She’s never come toward me before,” I said to Sapphire.
“How long have you been training her?”
“A couple of weeks. She’s stubborn.”
“Just like her trainer.” Sapphire giggled.
I hadn’t heard that laugh in over ten years. Damn.
Sapphire was right. We used to have fun.
What happened to us?
Comet bobbed her head and stepped close enough that I felt the warmth of her breath on my outstretched hand.
I didn’t move. Didn’t breathe.
Her muzzle pressed into my palm.
“That’s it. Good girl.”
“She’s beautiful,” Sapphire whispered.
