Chapter Text
The sound of the backwash hitting the boat is usually soothing. Several of the passengers were sound asleep while others tried to keep the lunch inside of their lips. I was too tense to relax. My hand snuck down my pocket to check for messages or calls. Eventually I gave up my attempts to rest and went up to deck. I saw lights in the horizon. The sky had been dyed with the evening-colours. Wonder if Jorviks nature was as beautiful like the pictures I saw in the brochure?
Maybe I should rewind. My name is Daniela aka Dani, I'm 15 years old, love horses and on my way to a new life. But not in a positive fashion.
I'm born and raised on the mainland. My parents are the most well-known lawyers in the country and have won several noticeable cases. Everybody at school and in the family thought I would follow in the same footsteps and become a lawyer.
They were in for a real shock.
Since the age of 10, I was crazy about horses. Mom let me ride to teach me about responsibility and leadership. Like if that was a thing, I normally finished my homework 2 days ahead of everyone so I could read about horses instead. In the beginning, it was once a week, then the instructor asked me if I wanted to join the youth-section. Dad was excited and said "I now will learn how to work with the opinions and ideas of others!"
May that be so. We hosted a bunch of activities and we got lots of positive feedback and praise. Though it was the others that got all the love, I never really was in. They listened to me but it was never said that it was my idea behind this. Like that.
Despite the section, I never felt I had friends. I prefered horses over people. Horses listened to me in a way my peers never did. They enjoyed the hugs instead of pushing me away. My favourite in the stables was a pony named Luna. Charcoal black with a perfect crescent-moon marking in her face. Adorable and a sweetheart in the arena, she was everybodys pet. Her groom didn't allow unneccessary visits which was good, that way Luna kept her good temper. She (The groom) never had a problem with me sitting there while telling Luna about school or my parents.
I graduated primary school at the age of 15 with topgrades or second highest grades in almost every subject, but it came at a price. Everybody kept asking me about what high school I would go to. The truth? I was fed up with the pressure from home and the nagging about becoming a lawyer. My grades was the main talk at home. Ever since day 1 of the final year it was grades, grades and grades. And the situation wasn't really helped by my classmates discussing grades and high schools.
Finally I couldn't take it any more and told my parents I didn't share their dreams. I wanted to spend my days in the stables and learning more about horses. Being locked inside an office-building doing paperwork sounded like my worst nightmare.
They were shocked to say the least when they heard I said no. The yelling started and towards the end they told me "Until you decide to make real money you're not part of this family!"
The words stung but I was sort of expecting it, they rejected the thought of my hanging out in the stables instead of doing my homework. So if I'm not going to a topclass senior high-school, where to then? To Jorvik, an island that worshipped horses. It was the place to go to if you wanted to go in for horses. The applications for the Equestrian institute was open as well as a stable near the ocean hired people for the summer camps. If I couldn't go to school I could work at stables and gain experience.
I made a plan the following morning. My parents had gone to the bureau and I wasn't keen on saying goodbye. My bag contained everything I could carry and the taxi waited outside. On the way to the ferry the taxi passed places I had spent my time and paid them farewell. My thoughts wandered to the note I left before stepping out from the house. 'I've made my decision. Contact me once you've accepted it. Until then, don't expect to hear from me.'
It maybe was a bit harsh doing that against my own parents, but if they can't understand my hatred of being in the spotlight and liked the big outdoors more, I'm a waste of space on the mainland. And no friends would miss me either, they learned quickly my free-time contained homework and didn't invite me to parties and such.
The chaffeur got a generous tip for helping me on my journey to my new life. The ferryboat would take some days and I did NOT want to remain home longer than needed. A friendly sailor showed me the way to my cabin, the kitchen, when the entertaining would start and so on.
After 4 days of waves it felt weird to have solid ground under my feet again. I made my way to the Moorland-bus on unsteady legs. The Moorland-stables organized riding-camps every summer with different levels of difficulty. From what I read in the brochure it was run by father and son and it was very popular. And speaking of which, the brochure didn't lie. Nature was magical! Through the window I saw horses grazing, horses being trained inside paddocks, stables in various shapes and sizes. I felt at home on Jorvik.
The night was late when I got off the bus. A tall guy welcomed me at the gates. "I'll show your cabin, come along!" The cabin had 3 rooms and was decorated in a cozy way. "Meet me in the courtyard tomorrow at 9 o-clock and I'll show you the place in daylight!" said the guy.
While I was getting ready for bed my thoughts returned to mainland. Had my parents seen my note? Very likely. My phone had been silent under my travel. "You did nothing wrong Dani, you have to live your own life and not your parents. Your new life starts tomorrow!" I told myself.