The Tower Grave by J.E. Moncrieff Read Free Book Online Page B

then go ahead.”
                  “We’ll just stick to the horses for now, if that’s ok?” Charlotte said, laughing. “He is the boss after all!”
                  The entire team chuckled as Charlotte found a mare and sprang up into her saddle, soothing the beast’s neck gently. John picked a young gelding and slowly climbed into the saddle, feeling slightly unsteady while the other three found a horse and stood nearby.
                  “Are you ok?” Jane asked quietly as she passed John’s horse.
                  “Yeah, I should be,” he said, awkwardly as it shifted about uneasily beneath him.
                  “Just relax your legs, ok? Keep your toes firmly in the stirrups and push your heels down to stay comfortable rather than squeezing your legs to stay still. You’re making him want to go,” she said, touching his thigh and loosely squeezing his leg muscles with her hand. “You’re too tense, John. Relax,” she added, grinning as he tried to relax but shifted nervously under her hand on his thigh.
    “You’re putting me off,” he said quietly and smiled .
                  “We’ll work on it,” she said, and grinned before turning away.
                  “Now, Jake. Hands on the saddle, left foot in the stirrups, pull yourself up and take your right leg around the back to the other side.” She frowned as he laughed at her blunt teachings and shrugged her away to grip the saddle and step up by himself. Seeing his grin as he stepped up with his second foot, she slipped behind him and slapped the mare’s rump making it lurch forward a few paces.
                  “Fuck!” Jake exclaimed fearfully as he barely regained his footing without falling over, and skimmed across the floor before stopping and clinging on to the saddle tightly. “Oh, ok. Have a good laugh,” he said blushing, then quickly stepped up and mounted the horse the way he’d been told to.
                  Chris and David followed suit, with David’s horse snorting softly at the arrival of its rider, while Chris’ began to circle slowly backwards making his knuckles turn white and his jaw clench.
                  “Stop pulling the reins so hard, Chris,” Jane shouted at him. “Are you ok?” she asked, stepping in and finally bringing him to a stop.
                  “Just a bit nervous up here, that’s all,” he replied. “I haven’t ridden before.”
                  “Ok, I’ll stay by you. Charlotte can you take John and Jake through some drills outside and I’ll lead Chris and David through some basics in here?”
                  Charlotte nodded and led the two men out of the barn doors and began to circle with them in the field.
                  “Right,” she said. “Give a gentle squeeze with your legs and try to move into a trot.”
                  They both did as they were told and John found himself enjoying the small, circular ride.
                  “This is fine, Char,” said Jake. “Let’s go faster.”
                  “One, don’t call me Char. And two, you’ve never ridden before. I can see by the way you sit that you’re not ready to move into a canter. Stay at a trot.”
                  “Nonsense, this is easy,” he said arrogantly as he kicked his heels into his horse’s flank.
                  “No!” he heard Charlotte shriek as his horse tensed and bolted below him. Still on a turn, Jake instantly lost balance, making him pull even harder on the left rein and turn the horse even more tightly while it whinnied and stamped its feet all over the place. Jake finally let go of the reins as the horse bolted forwards a few paces and he rolled backwards over his head past the rump to land flat on his face on the hard dry ground behind