She rolled her eyes and walked away. “I’ll be in the arena. Waiting.”
I bit my tongue, shrugging at Sally and went to tack up her horse, determined to speak to Hilary later.
* * *
I’d become somewhat spoiled by having one to one tuition with Hilary. It was clear her attention was firmly on Olivia now. I circled the arena having set my horse up to jump a warm-up oxer which had been placed in the centre of the arena when, during my approach, I was cut off by Olivia who crossed my line. I called out, just to have her tell me I was too slow and should be more competitive if I wanted to succeed. The rest of the three-hour session was very similar with Miss Wright-Turner showing a total disregard for arena etiquette or even basic manners as she totally ignored anything I was doing and had forcefully ridden into my horse at one stage yelling abuse at me for getting in her way.
By the end of the session, I was exhausted, not least from biting my tongue and resisting saying what I wanted to. I brought my horse down to the yard, Sally leading Olivia’s as she had decided the work was done and so deserved lunch, she was last seen driving her white convertible BMW towards Harrogate.
As Sally and I returned to the tack room I could feel the tension. There was a movement behind us and Hilary stepped into the room.
“I know what you are going to say…”
“Do you?” Sally snapped. “You are pandering to that stuck-up cow! She is either here to work or she can piss off…”
“Sally, you don’t understand…”
“I understand that you are being spineless and pathetic if you cared at all about…” Sally stopped, falling silent as Hilary started to cry. “Hilary?”
Hilary was a wonderful person, brave and friendly as well as being immensely strong. Part of her strength was her perfect persona. I’d heard others call her cold, but she was always aware of how she was presenting herself; she didn’t allow herself to become flustered and, from Sally’s reaction to her tears, it seemed she did not cry. Now she was standing before us with her shoulders shaking and tears spilling onto the concrete floor of the tack room. I gestured to Sally to make contact with her, unclear what to do, Sally seemed to be frozen in fear.
“I…I’m sorry…” Hilary stuttered between sobs. I don’t mean to hurt you, Sally you’re right… I am being spineless…”
I shoved Sally towards her boss, this seemed to snap her from her reverie. She grabbed Hilary in her arms, hugging her tightly, tears starting to appear on her cheeks. “Oh, Hilary… Don’t cry…”
“I need sponsorship. If Grace stopped the funding…”
Hilary left the words hanging; however, it was clear her world was immensely fragile. The times when sponsors would be fighting to become involved in this sport were long gone, now, after years of international austerity, finding someone willing to pay out a massive investment for a relatively small return was a rarity, and if Grace had threatened legal action, there was no solution for Hilary. She had to suffer whatever indignity Grace forced upon her.
“But it doesn’t excuse throwing Sally out of her home Hilary…” I looked across at Hilary’s anguished expression and immediately felt bad for my outburst. As true as it was, I could see this was something which had been a necessity.
“Oh, Adam… You’re right. I was so stupid allowing that to happen. Grace frightens me.”
Hilary Wessington, a woman who could ride at almost forty miles an hour across a cross country course, flinging herself and her horse over dangerous jumps with impunity and a total lack of fear, but dealing with her sponsor caused her to revert to being a timid schoolgirl.
“Sally, move into the house with me. I should never have made you live in that caravan, that’s only fit for…” She looked up at this moment and our eyes met. “Oh shit… No, Adam, I meant it’s for working pupils!”
I laughed. “Don’t be silly… It’s fine for me and I am more than happy to share. Look, it’s clear Olivia is not here to work. Let’s be honest, she wants to ride which I am sure is fine. Sally and I can do the stable work together while I’m here, she coped without me so I am sure she can again. There need to be some ground rules though, she’s a bully and rides like an oaf. You need to speak with her so that she has some ring craft or she is going to get disqualified, again…”
“Okay…” Hilary took a deep breath, drying her eyes. “Thank you… I will try to teach Olivia the importance of proper riding in the arena. And Sally… You’re one of my oldest friends as well as my groom. I should never have done that to you. I feel really bad. Can you ever forgive me?”
Sally smiled warmly, grabbing Hilary in her arms and hugging her. They both started to cry again and I felt this was a good moment to step away.
* * *
I’d made time for a sandwich and a cup of tea, texting Kate with the latest instalment of the excitement which was happening with Olivia. By the time I returned to the yard Sally was whistling.
“Oh, we’re a bit cheerier!”
“Oh, Adam… Thank you… I think we can get through this now, we won’t let that cow beat us. Now, how about a hack around the reservoir this afternoon. It’s a lovely afternoon for a ride.”
Swinsty Reservoir was a huge stretch of water just a short distance from the yard, it supplied water to much of Yorkshire and provided a quiet environment to take the horses to. Sally and I rode along the water’s
