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The Circus crew drifted away from the stage, having completed Caine’s tree cutting adventure in record time. Jax was smug at having eliminated the opposing team by dropping a tree trunk on the NPCs, short circuiting Caine’s planned adventure-competition and giving them the rest of the day free.
Pomni paused, letting her stomach settle from the two rapid portal teleportations. She was getting better at not throwing up on rapid movements but she still didn’t like it.
Ragatha was walking toward the tent’s exit but stopped to look back to check on Pomni. “Are you okay, Pomni?”
Pomni gritted her teeth together and stood up straighter. “I’m fine,” she assured. “Just a bit motion sick or something.”
“I was going to go out to the stable. You’re welcome to join me.”
“That sounds good. I should visit D.B. more.”
“I’m sure she’d like that,” Ragatha agreed gently. Ragatha waited and Pomni caught up to her and started walking beside her. Ragatha’s hand opened and closed, thinking about offering her hand to Pomni but instead rubbing her own other arm.
They exited the tent and walked over to “Caine’s Incredible Adventures Rememorial Stable”. The CIARS was a large red barn with a fenced in pasture behind it, with a large sign reminding visitors about how great Caine’s adventures were. The door clicked unlocked as Ragatha said “Thank you Caine for the adventures.” Once the password was spoken, with a bit less force but a bit more earnestness she adds, “and thank you for the stable.”
The door opened and the scent of clean hay filled Ragatha’s nose. She walked down the aisle, checking on the mounts in each stall. She brushed her hands on the equines’ heads as she passed. “How are my lovelys today?” She received nods, snorts, and ear flicks in response; the horses and pony seemed happy and healthy. She suspected that they didn’t need to consume food, but she refilled the feed and water in each stall.
Most of the mounts looked like they had in the cattle drive adventure but Gangle’s and Zooble’s mounts had changed the most. Gangle’s horse now had gold veins repairing the cracks, giving Horcelain a refined Japanese look to her porcelain form. Horcelain’s ribbon hair and tail had been braided lovingly by Gangle during one of her visits with Zooble.
Zooble’s motorcycle was currently in the middle of some mechanical repair or swap in the adjacent stall. The motorcycle’s stall was missing some of the touches of life such as a food trough or water bucket, but instead had a simple bookshelf and two mismatched chairs in the corner. On the shelf was a dog-eared copy of “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”. Zooble refused to give the barn’s password to enter but was willing to enter after Gangle or Ragatha opened the door for them. Ragatha smiled at the thought of Gangle and Zooble spending time here in peace, working on parallel projects.
Pomni had walked over to Double Barrel, her pony and was brushing the pony’s hair and talking to the pony softly. Ragatha gave Pomni her space and went to Button’s stall.
Button the ragdoll horse was very pleased to see Ragatha and Ragatha smiled back gladly. “Are you up for a ride today, Button?” Button nodded and earflicked agreement. A pleasant breeze blew through the barn and the weather continued to look calm. Ragatha smiled and harnessed Button with saddle and tact.
Ragatha opened the stall door and the back barn door to the fenced pasture. Ragatha led Button out and begam leading Button in a large circle holding the reins. Ragatha watched, checking Button’s fit and health. Once Ragatha is confident that Button is good, she stepped up into the stirrup and eased into Button’s saddle. Ragatha rode around the edge of the pasture, doing a gentle loop, warming up Button and getting herself into the rhythm of riding.
Ragatha made three slow loops of the pasture before she spotted Pomni watching her ride Button. Pomni stood beside Double Barrel, with the hair brush forgotten in her hand as she watched the pasture with an entranced look on her face. When Ragatha came around for her fourth loop, she slowed Button and came to a stop within easy conversational reach of Pomni.
Pomni looked embarrassed at being caught staring but Ragatha smiled disarmingly and asked, “Would you like to learn how to ride Button?”
Pomni stammers a bit before getting out, “Um, I’m not sure. Maybe. But I don’t want to take Button away from you. You seem to be enjoying yourself. Like a lot.”
“Oh, I am but I’d love to share Button with you. And share the joy of horseback riding with you.” Ragatha rode button over to a stone mounting block. She dismounted on the other side but kept Button steady for Pomni. Pomni squeaked and rushed over to the stone steps. She stands on the top step and looks at Button worriedly.
Pomni looks at the saddle, the reins, everything and doesn’t know where to start. “How… do I get on?”
Ragatha indicates the saddle horn. “Grab the saddle horn to stabilize yourself. Then swing your leg over.”
Pomni attempted to do so. She grabbed the saddle horn with both hands and rigidly swung her leg over the saddle. She perched on the staddle but her legs didn’t reach the stirrups. Pomni made a lot of adjustments to try to stay on top but she became overwhelmed and grabbed the mounting block with her left hand. “I can’t do this.” She began crawling back onto the mounting block, shaking tears from her head.
Ragatha gave Button a likely unnecessary command to stay still before she rushed over to help Pomni. “What’s wrong? Is there anything that I can do to help?”
Pomni kneeled on the stone mounting block. With her eyes closed, she breathed in. She breathed out. “I don’t know. I saw how relaxed you were and… I wanted to feel that. But once I got on the horse, it felt so big. So uncontrollable. I don’t know…”
Ragatha reached out for Pomni but stopped herself. “It’s.. a trust thing. You need to trust the horse to listen to your commands. Button is very patient, she’d listen to you.”
Pomni hissed out her frustration. “Logically, I know that. I know that you wouldn’t put me on a horse that would hurt me. I trust you. But… I don’t know how to tell my brain to trust Button.”
Ragatha frowned thinking. “Sorry, maybe I rushed you. I thought you were ready. You did so good on the horse with me during the adventure.”
Pomni said softly, “I trusted you during the adventure, Ragatha. I wasn’t even thinking about Button as a danger. When I was with you, the part of my brain that worries about how everything can hurt me… it didn’t worry. Not as much.”
Ragatha put on a confident smile, that she didn’t fully feel but wanted to project. “If I can help you, I want to. Do you want to ride Button… with me?”
Pomni thought about it and gently nodded. “That sounds… nice. I think I can do that. If you’re with me.”
Ragatha flushed and choked out a nervous laugh.
She climbed onto Button easily, leaving space in front of her on the saddle, and held out a hand for Pomni to join her. Pomni held onto the saddle horn again and swung her leg over the saddle in front of Ragatha. Pomni’s grip on the saddle horn relaxed a small amount and her anxious adjustments were less, working on calming down.
“Good job, Pomni,” Ragatha says softly. Ragatha drew the reins into her hands and wrapped her arms around Pomni, gently but securely. Some more worry seemed to ease out of Pomni as she felt safe. That Ragatha would keep her safe. “We can do a few loops around the pasture, to see how you’re doing. Does that sound okay?”
Pomni took several slow breaths in, holding and breathing out before she answered. “That… sounds okay.”
Ragatha showed Pomni how to hold the reins and guide the horse. After a few loops, Ragatha felt Pomni had relaxed enough to let go of the saddle horn. Ragatha passed the reins to Pomni and let her guide Button a bit. “Very good,” Ragatha said reassuringly to both Pomni and Button. “Good job, ladies.”
Pomni laughed a bit, the ease coming back to her and she rubbed Button’s neck with free hand. “That wasn’t so bad…”
Ragatha gently suggested, “I think you have the basics, do you want to ride by yourself now? We can adjust the stirrups to be shorter.”
Pomni froze but shook her head. “I kinda want to keep riding with you, if that’s okay.”
Ragatha smiled. “That’s perfectly okay, hun.”
They rode circles around the pasture for another half an hour, feeling at peace. Pomni eased back into Ragatha’s body, letting the rag doll hold her. Pomni finally felt the ease and rhythm that she had observed in Ragatha riding, glad that Ragatha was willing to share it with her.