Teagan's Amazing Experience (Story - Chapter Five)

With a sigh, Teagan went into the first stall in the long line.  It was a fine stall, like those she had seen at the best of the horse farms around her. There was a dirt floor, covered with those special rubber mats and the mats in turn covered with wood chips. She had seen both pitch forks and shovels out in the long aisle and, as she went to get one, found Werd waiting there.

“Come along and look at the second stall first,” he motioned.

She followed and saw that this stall was identical to the first except that the mats were covered with straw. She looked questioningly at Werd.

“It’s the way we do it here,” he said, the smile still gone from his face. “And it’s the way we expect you to do it as well.” He gestured back to the first stall. “You’ll clean the wood chips out of there, clean the mats as necessary and then put straw in that stall. In this one you’ll clear out the straw, clean the mats, and then cover the mats with wood chips.”

“That seems totally silly,” she countered. “Why would you alternate the straw and the wood chips like that?”

“Simply because that’s the way we do it here,” he said rather matter-of-factly.

“Still, it seems so silly. Why don’t I just use one or the other?”

“Silly girl,” he snapped out, “speaking of silly. We do it that way because that’s the way we do it.” He paused to let that sink in. “You’re welcome to say what you think, and to think it’s silly if you so choose. But, you are not welcome to do it in any other way than the accepted way. I would have thought you would have learned that, even in your young life.” He sighed and shook his head. “The ones we get now are so different than they used to be,” he rather mumbled under his breath.

Teagan had never taken lightly to being insulted, no matter who the “insult-er” might be and this was certainly no exception, Acinorev or not. And this Werd was certainly not acting like any boyfriend she had ever known. She quickly put a hold on that last thought since a couple of her boyfriends had indeed been much as Werd seemed to be at the moment.

Rising to her full height she said, “I take offense at what you just mumbled. I haven’t done a thing yet and you’re already finding fault with me. What kind of prejudicial statement is that?”

“Not meant as an insult at all,” he said bruskly. “Simply a statement.” He actually smiled a little while saying that. “Now, just go ahead and get started with the stall cleaning and when you think you’ve done enough to earn your saddle, give me a yell and I’ll check.”

“How will I know?” she said, now totally puzzled.

A shrug of the small shoulders was all she got. “You’ll probably know,” he tossed back over his shoulder as he left the stall and was gone from her sight.

With a huge sigh, Teagan went outside the first stall, grabbed a shovel, tossed it in the big wagon and wheeled the wagon to the stall door. Familiar with the routine, she shoveled the chips into the wagon, checked the rubber mats which seemed very clean, and then wheeled the wagon outside to the pile of old chips she had seen on the way in. She dumped it, wheeled it to where the fresh straw was stored, then pushed it back to the stall again. “Totally stupid,” she mumbled as she spread the straw in the cell, careful to do a good job as she was sure that Werd would be a very strict taskmaster.

She repeated the procedure in stall number two, this time exchanging the straw for new wood chips. The work was tedious but not extremely difficult and she paused after the first two, wondering just how many she’d have to do to earn the saddle. And once again that thought crept into the back of her mind; what was this and where was she and what was actually going on here?

She began on the third stall, and then the fourth and the fifth. They seemed very randomly filled with either wood chips or straw, and didn’t alternate as she first thought they would. It didn’t really matter but she had just assumed things here would be carefully organized. Perhaps she was wrong. And besides, she was getting a little tired and needed a break.

She slipped out of the fifth stall, went back down the long aisle to the big main door and out into the sunshine. The warmth felt good and she stood there, eyes closed and let the warmth. When she opened her eyes she could see the huge field with all of the horses and she just wanted to ride. She sighed again. She … just … wanted … to … ride!

Suddenly Werd was standing beside her. “How’s it going?” he asked.

“Pretty good,” was her reply.

“How many do you have done?”

She made the decision in an instant and wasn’t sure quite why – except that she wanted to ride. “I’ve done 10. How many do I need to get the saddle?”

“You just said the magic number,” Werd said with a huge smile. That should do it to get you a saddle and a ride.” He winked at her. Just follow your nose to the far end of the barn, to the tack room and pick your saddle. Then, go into the field and pick your horse. Gate’s at the back and the trails head off from there.”

Without waiting for another word Teagan jumped up and headed back into the barn and headed toward the sign at the far end that she knew said “Tack Room”. She passed stall after stall, still amazed at how many there were, and wondered if there were more barns here just like this one. With all the horses in that field she was sure there had to be more. And the thought of more barns and more stalls made her stomach flip just a little bit.

She was almost there and the anticipation was building, both for the saddle she might choose and the horse she knew she was going to find. She had known from the first what she wanted and it was just a matter of minutes before she was riding . . . that is if she could find it in that huge field of horses just outside the door.

She burst through the door – then came to an abrupt stop, mouth open wide. There was someone in the room.

“Teagan?” the girl said, puzzlement clouding her voice.

“Michelle?” Teagan said, equally amazed. “What are you doing in my . . . fantasy?”