Down Time (Myssi)

[Cara]

Cara sat under the tree not too far from the pasture fence, her long hair was loose and tumbled over her shoulders as she leaned over the sketch book that she was busily working in. The picture - something she would call a doodle - was slowly coming to life as she added shading to the shoes of the ballerina who was drawn lightly in the background of page in front of her. In the foreground, there was the outline of what would be a pony who was flying over a treble. Her charcoal pencils were spread on the ground beside her, each one in a place that was easily reachable should she need to swap pencils, all of them striated from darkest to lightest. It seemed that no matter what was happening in her life, she could always turn to her books if she needed to slow down.

She looked up from her work and her eyes quickly scanned the field and landed on the chestnut pony who was grazing not too far away from her. She was thrilled with how the Connemara cross was coming along! Missy's ribs were no longer visible through her glossy chestnut coat, she no longer stood at the back of the field and hid under the trees down there. She even willingly approached the human when Cara entered the field. However, no matter how well she was coming along, this girl knew it would be a while yet before she began moving the mare in at night. Things were going so well that she was afraid that "locking" the pony in would only seem like she was breaking the trust the equine had put in her.

The girl sighed as she went back to her work, using the hand that wasn't holding the pencil to brush her long locks away as they tumbled across her face, covering the page that she was working on.

[Myssi]

The two geldings were quietly standing in their pasture, grazing peacefully together. Toby, though, lifted his head when he saw the tall teenager approaching the pasture. A deep nicker rumbled in his chest, his ears perking forward in delight. Havoc looked up, then snorted as he lowered his head down once more.

Seamus grinned at the yearling, who wasn't quite a yearling anymore. Soon, he would be a two-year old. Seamus would start to train him to accept signals and commands for ground work at that age, and a few years after that, he would break-in Toby.

At the heels of the eighteen year old, two dogs trotted, tails wagging, mouths parted in a smile. Well, one dog trotted, and the other, who was still a puppy, gallumphed after Seamus on clumsy legs. The tall Saluki was obviously Neith, and the puppy was Seamus new foxhound pup, Holmes.

Neith suddenly pulled gently on Seamus jean leg with her teeth, set into an elegant muzzle on her narrow face. The boy turned and looked out at what the dog was looking out, byut saw nothing more than a field with a little chestnut pony in it. The mare seemed to be of Connamara origin, and her sides seemed slightly gaunt. She was a fine looking horse though, and Seamus was content to watch her for a few seconds. What the boy hadn't realized was that Neith was not looking at the horse.

[Cara]

Cara had moved on to another picture, this one was a sketch she had drawn of Risk. The picture only took up half the page as the bottom half of the page would be left for the after picture as she knew that the delicate pony would change a lot in the next few months with careful work on this girl's part.

She lifted her head, giving a slightly vexed hiss as her hair fell in her face, at the sound of the horse in the next pasture. They were both new horses that she hadn't seen around the place, the youngster however had the trace of familiarity that she couldn't quite put her finger on. It was the youngster that had caught her attention as he released a deep nicker. She couldn't see a lot through the fence, other than their legs, but was assuming that the horse had seen his owner.

She dropped her head back to her book again. However, her pencil paused in midair as she had the strangest feeling that she was being watched. Looking up again, through the fence railings, her eyes met those of Neith's. Her eyebrows lifted as she shook her head, this couldn't possibly be the dog she thought it was.

Her normal nature would be to remain where she was and keep to herself, but in this case she wanted to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. Rising to her feet, she placed the sketch book on the ground so that it remained open, and walked the short steps to the fence. The emotionless mask slipped from her face as she looked into the next field and instantly recognized the person standing there. "Seamus?" Her soft voice carried through the air.

[Myssi]

The older male froze, feeling as though the beating of his heart may sund throughout the air as it hoped to God that he wasn't imagining that voice, like he'd imagined it so many times before.

He turned, and there she was, standing with her eyes wide in disbelief. Seamus grinned at her, his warm voice flowing out of his slightly deeper vocals. "Cara." It was a simple word, a comfirmation of the slight lift in her voice as she asked the question that turned out to be his name.

Seamus pulled himself through the fence and pulled her close to him, holding her to his chest. It reminded him of the old times at BRRA, when they'd hugged. They'd been close back then, Seamus defending her against that bastard, Andrews.

The tall male wondered if all the emotions he felt for her were being transferred through his touch as he held her close - the way he'd missed her after they'd parted ways, the way he loved her. After so much time apart from Cara, he'd finally accepted the fact; he loved her, and he always would.

[Cara]

A pure smile lit every pore in the girl's face as she heard her name spoken from a voice she had longed to hear over the past two years. She had lost contact with all of those she had been to school with, through no fault of her own, and this was the person whom she had missed the most.

She shivered slightly as his arms encircled her, but not out of fear. It was more from a feeling of peace as she allowed her body to melt against his. She could easily bring to mind the image of the first time he had done this, held her close, and the same feelings of electricity ran through her every nerve ending. The feelings were both scary and thrilling, but she knew that with this person she had nothing to be scared of.

Rather than allowing herself to completely give way to this feeling of happiness, she placed her hands on his chest and gently pushed herself away from him. "I'm sorry we lost touch." She said softly as her cat-coloured eyes looked up at him. She shook her head as though in argument with her thoughts. "Youryearling looks familiar."

[Myssi]

Seamus felt her relax into him, something he was almost certain she only did when he hugged her. This made a small grin come to his face, though it faltered slightly when she pushed him away. "Oh, it's fine. As long as we found each other again, right?" He reached up and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, gazing into her feline eyes.

At her comment about Toby, a grin came to his face. Oh yeah, him. That little bugger is Loner and Loki's spawn." He whistled, and Toby pricked his ears before cantering over. Havoc looked up and slowly began to make his way over.

Meanwhile, Neith had began to gently nuzzle Cara, licking his hand a few times and gazing up at her. Holmes tumbled around the legs of the taller female dog, his whole body wriggling with uncontained excitement.

[Cara]

She smiled at his words and as he brushed her hair out of her face she reached behind her head and gathered her hair as she would if she were tying it up, hoping that it would remain behind her shoulders for now. If it hadn't been for the fact that her hair had been at this length for so long, she would cut it short.

She laughed in delight as Seamus told her who the yearling's parents were. "He looks a lot like his sire." She said softly as the gelding cantered toward them. She looked at the Vanner's face. "He will be a pleasure to train. No doubt a handful, but a pleasure none the less."

She knelt down on the ground and made a huge fuss over Neith who had been busy licking her hand, asking in the canine's polite way for attention. "Don't let him know." She told the dog in a stage whisper, her eyes twinkling. "But you're the one I missed the most."

She glanced over her shoulder as she heard Missy approach them. The mare had her neck stretched out toward the canines as she blew out through her nostrils toward them while her ears flickered back and forth. Her head shot up as she gave the human male a cautious look before stretching out to the dogs, once more blowing through her nostrils - making almost a woofing noise. "It's okay." The girl said softly as the mare stopped moving and just stretched her neck out, bobbing her head up and down. "You're alright." She took note that the mare's legs were positioned so that she could flee if she felt the need to run.

[Myssi]

Seamus felt himself relaxing in her presence, and his grin broadening when Cara gave a little laugh of delight. He perked his ears when she told him what the features of Toby's face told her, pleased with the results. Toby could be a little bit of a handful, and that was fine. Seamus didn't mind some fire in the horse he was training.

The man gave a pout at Cara's words to Nieth. "Well, then, I guess no one likes me after all." He told Toby, who perked up his ears and snorted, as though he agreed. Seamus smiled and ruffled the yearlings jumbled forelock happily. "Oh, right." He said, shaking his head in annoyment with himself. "Introductions. Cara, I'd like you to meet Toby and Havoc." He annouced each horse by pointing them out. "And the newest little demon to the gang, Holmes." He picked the puppy up and held him out to her.

Seamus looked at the mare, and lowered his eyes, so that he wasn't looking directly at her. In fact, after a moment, he turned away from her completely. But, he was very aware of the little horse. "Who is that lovely beauty?" He asked, before inquiring, "Where is Street? And Phoenix?"

[Cara]

Cara looked at the puppy that was being held out to her. "Oh, aren't you just the cutest little thing?" She gushed as she petted the puppy.

She looked at Missy who was still reaching her head out to Neith. "This is Stylish Mistress, or Missy." She explained. "I got her from the auction. Completely malnourished and terrified of her own shadow. She's slowly getting there, I'm hoping to be riding her by the end of the month." She had big plans for the mare, as she had done a little digging around and found a little about Missy's history before she had hit rock-bottom.

All happiness vanished from her face as she thought of the horses she had lost. Swallowing hard, she turned to look off across the field as she wrapped her arms around herself. "Phoe I left at Blue Ridge." She closed her eyes as a tear slipped down her cheek. "I couldn't bear the thought of Andrews finding out that she was there so when asked which horses I owned, I could honestly leave her out as technically belonged to Miss Kane. All of my other horses were sold." She shrugged her back stiff as though it didn't mean anything to her. Of all the horses, it broke her heart to see Mihirri be walked away by another person.

[Myssi]

Toby's entire body wriggled with the force of his tail, which had transformed into a furry whirlwind. But, Seamus wasn't paying the puppy much mind anymore. His focus was purely Cara.

The girl was in a state of horrible sadness over her horses. That much was obvious to him. So, he put Holmes down and walked over to Cara, wrapping his arms around her. He was silent for a time, before talking softly to her. "You know, I bet that we can track them down again - Arlette, Street, Mihirri.... We could get them back. Andrews has no control over you anymore. You're eighteen. Anything he does now is against the law."

Seamus wished he could do something for her. All thses years, it felt like he was simply walking on a treadmile with Cara, but he'd never broken through to her. He fought the ground as much as he could, sometimes feeling like his heart may give out and burst, especially in the times when Andrews had been particulary rough on her - times when Seamus had wanted to scream for her, scream out her agony. Times when he'd wanted to be the sadistic lunatic she could never allow herself to be, and kill Andrews, just to simply watch the light die in his devil eyes.

[Cara]

She leaned back against his strong form as she pulled herself out of her inner sadness. She shook her head at his words as she placed her small hands over his. "It's been two years." She said softly. "They - Mihirri and Street - would have settled into their new lives, Arlette belongs to Miss Kane and Phoe needs to be in one place." She ran her index fingers along the edge of her eyelids to remove any residue of the tears. "I'm happy for them, and couldn't uproot them just to make myself happy."

She was glad that they had been sold, so much had happened between leaving high school and turning eighteen. And her horses didn't need to be a part of what had happened. Andrews got what he had always wanted, the perfect gymnast who didn't have horses to distract her from what she was supposed to be doing. The coach he had employed got what he wanted; a perfectly trained robot who did whatever she was told and a handful of cash from all the medals that she had been awarded. She had also been offered a college scholarship but they withdrew that when she broke her collarbone. She traced around his knuckles with her fingers to stop herself from becoming trapped in the memories of what had been. That happened too often, but she had found out that if she had something in the here and now to concentrate on, she could hold the memories at bay.

"Whatever brought you to Hertfordshire?" She asked, curious and desperate to draw the conversation away from herself. She would tell him everything she'd been through, but was hoping that could wait for a while. Her eyes traveled over to the sketchbook that lay open on the ground.

[Myssi]

A thrill shot through his body when she responded to his touches, her hands finding his larger ones. Seamus allowed a moment of peace to extend itself longer over him, his eyes closing slightly, happily, before he allowed his emotions to meld with her's and her sadness to overtake his heart. He matched his breathing to Cara's so that it may seem like they were one mind, heart, maybe?

As her hands traced over his knuckles, he felt the light touches on the smooth surface as a butterfly gently kissing his tanned skin. The question, combined with her slight caress brought a slight smile to his features.

"I didn't do too much after BRRA. I went home with Loki and Loner, but Loner died only a few months later. Loki foaled on the same day a month later. Mum and Dad were so impressed with Loki and Toby, that they kept her as a broodmare. I took Havoc as my own and started going to various schools, but never found any I liked. I took some Detective classes, along with some Police courses, thinking I may become apart of a mounted force somewhere, but Dressage has always been my true passion, and honestly, neither Havoc or Toby are right for the job. I found my way here when I heard that this is where a lot of BRRA people were here, hoping that I might find you."

He didn't bother to hide the last part. Cara had always been his only friend, closest friend at BRRA. She could interpret the words for their true meaning, or as a friend searching for a friend.

[Cara]

Cara's body barely moved when she breathed, another trick she had learned from all her years of rigorous training in both dance and gymnastics. It seemed to distract the judges eye if your chest was heaving up and down as she stood at the end of a runway.

She listened silently as Seamus explained what he had been up to since leaving high school. She looked up over her shoulder when he mentioned Loner's death. "At least you left you with a beautiful son." She said gently before lowering her head again.

She wasn't too surprised when he said that he had done some detective and police courses. He would be great in either field. "I'm glad you came here." She whispered. "I'm glad... I'm glad we found each other again." She gave a small laugh. There was a reason she didn't talk a lot and this was one of them, she was at a complete loss for words.

She closed her eyes as she took in a deep breath. She had shared with her, now it was her turn. "Have a seat." She said as she pulled out of his arms and sat down on the grass. She smiled up at him, words couldn't explain the feelings that were rushing around her. "After I had graduated, and was all happy about moving into the house that Uncle had just purchased... Yeah, that never happened. Uncle vanished off the face of the earth, I even phoned Father's mother, she told me she had never heard of him." She shrugged. "I should have known it was too good to be true. Being only sixteen, I went back into the care of my favourite person." She fell silent as a shiver ran through her. "After my babies were sold I was put back into training, I trained, I competed, I took all the top prizes, gave my coach the money he wanted. I had been invited to Trials, it's where gymnasts go to get picked for Olympic teams. I was doing a rotation on the uneven bars and slipped. My coach failed to catch me and I fractured my collarbone." She shrugged again. "My entire life down the drain. I was in hospital and some nosy nurse noticed that I wasn't eating all of my food. I was weighed, they asked me all these questions and I was placed in a group for girls with eating disorders! I turned eighteen, sent in an application essay for here - I didn't want to go to Oxford and this was the farthest place I could find from the States that had the equestrian programmes I wanted."

[Myssi]

He smiled at Cara's comment on Toby. "Beautiful now, and handsome when he's grown, I think." He turned one hand so that he could catch her own, and squeezed it gently as she spoke again. Then, she pulled herself away, and for a moment, Seamus' body seemed confused and dejected from the sudden loss of her, her touch, her warmth. But, nonetheless, he sat, not across, but next to her, listening silently to her story.

Emotions ripped through him at the words she wove to tell her tale. Anger at the fraud, Tony, and the missed catch made his chest ache in pain and what could have been had her head replaced her collarbone. The nurse just irratated him with her ignorance, and he shook his head once Cara finished. "Wow.... It's amazing so much can happen in such a short period of time." He was silent, knowing that the silence they shared was not one of awkwardness. Once, it may have been, but now it was a silence of enjoying each other's presence.

There was one thing nagging Seamus though. He felt like he should try to move their relationship forward, maybe something he should of done long ago.

"Cara." he began, "Would you like to join me for lunch tomorrow? We could meet in the stable and go somewhere in town - my treat." He gave her a sidelong grin to accompany his request.

[Cara]

Cara shrugged again. Yes, a lot had happened in such a short time. Almost too much than she could handle. At least when she had schoolwork, horses as well as her other handful of sports to keep her busy, the time seemed to fly past. The past two years however? Yeah, they had crawled past and every single minute seemed to take an hour, and rather than just being able to close her eyes and focus on something else, there was nothing else for her to think about.

At his next words, she looked over at him and lifted an eyebrow. "I would like that." She said, knowing that she wouldn't be eating a lot as she was still very careful of what she ate, but the thought of going out to eat made her heart flutter. "Can we meet at the vet and rehabilitation barn? I'd love to introduce you to Risk!"