Page 63 of Yearning Difficulties

He’d saved me. When everyone else, myself included, hadn’t known what to do, he’d gone into action.

However, when he was finally hauled away from Dave, Killian stalked to the far end of the arena. Chris and Anderson had jumped down from the wooden bleachers and were chasing after him. He stopped at the exit, casting one final glance back at me. He stared at me. Then after seeing that I was all right, he was gone.

Twenty-Two

Stable

Today’s Track: ‘Ruin the Friendship’ by Taylor Swift

Sunday’s show at the Medieval Faire was cancelled, but not purely due to the chaos from the night before. There was also a storm coming. There were red weather warnings and the possibility of flooding and so I spent the day studying and fighting off my parents as they continually crept into my bedroom, panicking about concussions even though I’d been given a perfect bill of health from the medic.

When Ma sent Regine in with a sandwich, I exhaled and packed up my stuff into my bag.

‘I’m going to the library,’ I called out.

My parents protested but I reminded them that I was eighteen and that they were driving me out of my sanity. I stepped into the street, surprised by the force of the wind. Autumn leaves that had been swept up into neat piles were now swirling around Main Street and people scurried from their cars to the safety of their homes.

I didn’t go to the library.

I took the car, blasted Cherry’s album and drove a little out of town to the stables.

Old Man Majors gave me a look of sympathy as I stepped inside. It was the closest he’d ever looked to kind. He was brushing Thunder in his stall, wearing a worn pair of boots and a flat cap. I hovered in the entryway of the stables, pulling awkwardly at a hangnail on my thumb.

‘You all right, Zella?’

‘Yeah,’ I said, forcing myself to smile. ‘Can I see . . . ?’

‘Cyrano?’

‘Yes.’

‘Of course. He’s . . . feeling better. He’s in the field.’

I nodded once and passed through the stables to the meadow on the other side. I saw the large black horse alone in the field and I knew the very moment he saw me, because his ears instantly moved. Like antennae, searching the atmosphere for information.

Old Man Majors followed at a respectful distance.

‘He didn’t mean it, miss.’

I turned at the sadness in his voice. ‘Of course he didn’t. I know that.’

He grimaced. ‘I’m glad you see it that way. Some people . . . they hold animals to the wrong standards. He’s a wild thing at heart and wild things don’t feel sorry for themselves. Or other people.’

I moved towards the fence. Cyrano watched me cautiously but came a little closer when I stood calmly by the tall wooden barrier between us.

‘He’s a good boy,’ Old Man Majors added softly. ‘The sweetest boy. To tell you the truth, I don’t like the Valvert kid riding him. He’s too entitled! Too impatient.’

‘I agree.’

I reached out my hand and Cyrano inspected it. He snorted, clearly annoyed at my lack of a gift.

‘He knew there was a storm coming,’ Majors went on. ‘Last night. That’s why he was antsy.’

‘I understand.’

I stroked Cyrano’s nose and felt strangely emotional all of a sudden, a lump forming in my throat and that same familiar old ache starting to hurt. The wound acting up again.

‘I think you just got sick of having to put on a show,’ I said to him quietly. ‘Didn’t you, boy? Tired of all the pretending.’