At no time in any of his correspondence did he mention racing or trainers. It was true Arthur was a thoroughbred Arabian, but Fenixx, Hendrixx and I bred him with other things in mind for him. The Triple H used mainly stock horses for working, they were hardy animals and sure-footed for the rocky and hilly terrain we had around here, but the guys and I liked the idea of introducing cutting horses to do the cattle work. Cutters were quick on their feet, could turn on a five-cent piece, and generally were a joy to ride.
Princess was a typical stock horse, and I loved her dearly, but getting on Lady Guinevere to work with a small herd … there was nothing better.
The sound of a horse whining came from the outside pen we let Lancelot stay in during the time for cleaning out his stall. We never let him go out with anyone other than Princess and Lady G, the big black beast had a jealous streak a mile long, so it was safer for all the male horses to keep him out of their way.
Glancing over my shoulder, I smiled when Lancelot pranced over to the railing, the stallion seeking me out for his morning sugar cube, I was sure.
“Excuse me, Mr Roberts, I won’t be a minute.” Excusing myself, I hurried over to my big boy, my hand reaching into my jeans pocket and fished out two cubes.
“Hey, sexy fella, what’s with all the noise? You know I would never forget about you,” I crooned as soon as I reached the fence. Standing on the second rung, I leaned over and stroked Lancelot’s soft muzzle, laughing at his attempts to get to the cubes. Hendrixx would kill me if he knew I was feeding him more treats, he liked to accuse me of trying to give our horse diabetes. He didn’t fool me, though, I knew where he kept his own personal stash of cubes in his office. Hendrixx was just as big a softy as I was when it came to the horses.
“Oh, stop it, you big lug. It isn’t as if you didn’t get three this morning already,” I scolded him softly, keeping my voice low. Lancelot didn’t like shouting, we didn’t know why it affected, him he had been that way when Hendrixx bought him. As far as we knew, he had not been badly treated, so we concluded someone must have yelled in his ear too loudly.
“Him! I want him!” An excited male scream came from behind me, frightening not only me but Lancelot, who was in the process of eating the sugar cubes from the palm of my hand. Mr Roberts’ ridiculous shout spooked the stallion so badly he did what came naturally and reared up on his hind legs, then quickly pivoted kicking out powerfully. Unfortunately, one hoof connected with my collar bone, the impact knocking me off the fence and landing me fair on my arse.
“Shit, fuck, bugger, crap, ouch!” My cry of indignation laced with pain caught the attention of Eddy, who was at work shoeing one of the stock horses. Eddy threw down the file in his hand and bolted straight for me, shouting out for Hendrixx as he passed the stables’ main door.
Oh, good. Now, Mr Roberts was going to experience a size eleven boot up his arse. Stupid rich wanker.
“Blake, what the hell happened?” Eddy asked frantically as soon as he skidded to a stop in front of me. Pain throbbed at my shoulder but all I could think about was Lancelot.
“Go see if Lance is okay, he got spooked pretty bad when this dumbarse screamed like a schoolgirl,” I muttered, not sparing the suit and tie a look.
Eddy didn’t look like he wanted to leave me, so I gave him my best pout despite the pain.
“Please Eddy, he will be upset because he hurt me, I don’t want him to sulk and think it is his fault.”
“Girl you and your beliefs, that he can understand human emotions,” Eddy muttered, looking over his shoulder to see if Hendrixx heard his yelling.
Two seconds later, he got his answer when a loud, angry, bellow announced the arrival of my man. I watched as Hendrixx sprinted across the paved path and down the steep hill that led to the horses’ exercise pens, where I was sitting on my butt, praying that my collar bone was not broken.
“Blake baby, what happened?” Hendrixx demanded, dropping to his knees, his face contorted with concern and worry.
“This idiot came up behind me while I was feed—ah, petting Lancelot and yelled out something scaring our stallion, which led to him reacting by kicking out at me,” I explained in a strained voice. “Please tell me it isn’t broken honey, please,” I sniffled, no longer able to hold in the tears.
“Let me have a look sweetheart, don’t move baby, I don’t want you to hurt yourself more,” Hendrixx fretted when I sucked in a hiss as I tried to move my body around so he could have a better look. Taking it slowly, Hendrixx unbuttoned two of the buttons on my shirt and gently peeled it back, his hiss was followed quickly by a growl when he saw what the damage was to my shoulder.
“Fuck Blake, I don’t know if the bone is broken, but there is a deep gash that we need to get looked at.” Hendrixx gently tucked my shirt back over the area, then leaned down and kissed my forehead.
“Where is Lance?”
“Eddy has gone to see to him, it wasn’t his
