Perrow Celtic Thunder

1. Auflage 2011
ISBN: 978-1-61842-003-9
Verlag: Create Space
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 185 Seiten

What do you get when you put an insecure, inexperienced, but spunky teen on a spirited horse? A laugh a minute. Fifteen-year-old Xander Moloney receives an exciting invitation from her friend Brynn to go on an all-expense-paid horse riding tour in Ireland. The problem? She doesn't know how to ride! On the sly, she takes English riding lessons with hilarious results. While in Ireland, she meets new challenges like staying on a runaway horse, riding down the side of a mountain, and overcoming her fear of heights to save a friend. In the process, she grows from an awkward, naive girl to a more confident person who discovers she can do just about anything she tackles. Along the way, she experiences magical Ireland - the history, the people, the legends, the music, the dance, the food, the spectacular scenery - and has her first romance. This humorous, fast-paced adventure takes the reader for a ride she'll never forget!

Autoren/Hrsg.

Perrow, Angeli

Leseproben

Chapter 2. Following the lead of the other horses, Luke lifted his legs high in a bouncy trot. Xander slammed against the saddle with every step. “Ow…ow…ow.” “Passing on the outside!” The two girls trotted by, their little behinds moving up and down in perfect unison with their horses’ steps. “Push yourself up in the stirrups, Xander!” said Jake, hands on hips. “Up when Luke’s left leg goes forward. . . Keep squeezing. . . Heels down.” She wondered how she was supposed to do all that and steer, too. She tried to get her ups and downs in sync with the horse, but her crotch continued to take a beating. Luke, unconcerned with her agony, clipped along at a fast pace. He was moving up on one of the girls’ horses. “Keep him back!” the girl warned over her shoulder. “Max doesn’t like other horses near him. Look out!” Still bouncing in the saddle, Xander sawed on the reins. As usual, Luke ignored her. He tried to pass the horse in front of him. The gray horse lashed out with a back leg. Luke shied away, throwing Xander further off balance. She grabbed for the saddle horn that wasn’t there. Like a sinking ship, the saddle began listing to one side. “Whoa-o-o!” Xander screamed. This time Luke listened. He stopped short. In slow motion, Xander turned sideways with the saddle, sliding down, down, down, until she was hanging upside down under Luke’s belly. “Nice view,” she whispered. Then she plopped into the dust. “Are you okay?” asked Jake, running over. “Just dandy,” Xander muttered. Her baby-maker was wrecked for life. She was in for bruises the size of basketballs on her bum and, worst of all, she had made a complete and utter fool of herself in front of Jake Carlton. He held out a hand to her. “Forgot to tighten the girth, huh?” “Girth?. . . Uh, right. . .” she said, closing her eyes. “Silly me.” She wasn’t sure what a girth was, but obviously, it was important to staying on a horse. She dusted herself off while Jake righted the saddle. He then lifted a stirrup and yanked on the wide strap around Luke’s middle. “Ahh. . . girth,” Xander murmured. Jake hauled the mounting block back beside Luke. “Let’s try that again,” he said. “What? You’ve got to be kidding!” “You know the old saying. When you fall off a horse, you need to get right back on.” “Oh, crap,” Xander said. She took a deep breath and placed her left foot in the stirrup. Then she swung her right leg over the horse’s back. This time the horse’s neck was in front of her. “Well, that’s progress, anyway,” said Jake. “Now listen. Just walk Luke around the ring while I finish up with the other two. I want to talk to you after class.” He marched back to the center and began calling out directions. “Sit up taller, Abby. Heels down. . . Good job, Elizabeth. Keep him going.” “Great,”said Xander to the horse’s twitching ears. “First day of class and I’ve already got detention.” She squeezed Luke with her legs to get him moving. “All right, Luke old boy, let’s work as a team here.” His ears flicked back at her. He was actually listening. “Squeeze, release, squeeze, release. . . shorten the left rein on the turn. . . heels down. You do your part and I’ll do mine.” They made circle after circle around the ring. “We’re Planet X orbiting the sun,” she said, her imagination kicking into gear. “Jake is the sun, of course. Those others are just lumpy asteroids. Around and around we go. The sun is dazzling today. It is the closest to the sun we will be all year.” Xander sighed. “It’s probably the closest I’ll ever be to that sun. After this fiasco, he’ll look the other way when he sees me in school.” They ‘orbited the sun’ for the umpteenth time. “This is getting old, wouldn’t you say, Luke? . . . If we could just walk through Ireland, I’d be all set.” “All right, Xander, come over here,” Jake called. Xander turned Luke’s head toward the boy. “Okay, Luke Skywalker, here we go. The sun is exerting its gravitational pull on us.” “Stop right here,” Jake directed. “I want you to watch Abby and Elizabeth.” The other two horses trotted by with the Equestrian Princesses posting up and down. Dang, they make that look easy, thought Xander. “When you’re ready, girls,” said Jake, “move into a canter.” Both horses sped up and their strides lengthened. The girls rolled with the movement like they were sitting in a rocking chair. “Now that looks like fun,” Xander commented. As she watched, her mind drifted away on a bright cloud, imagining cantering with Brynn across the green Irish countryside, gaily waving to the farmers in the field. A stonewall loomed ahead. Brynn, on an elegant white horse, sailed over effortlessly. “No, no,” said Xander. At the moment she was about to crash into the wall, she snapped back to the present. “Are you all right?” Jake looked at her as if she was crazy. “Yeah, sure.” Xander felt her face redden. How many times in one hour could she embarrass herself? She had probably earned a place in The Guinness Book of World Records. “All right, then. Dismount, run up your stirrups and take Luke outside of the gate to pick his hooves. The pick’s on the shelf there.” Pick his hooves? This has got to be a bad dream, thought Xander. She was supposed to lift those big feet attached to those strong legs and pick them? Jake noticed her dismayed expression. “Never mind. Just wait for me out there.” He walked away, shaking his head. Xander blushed again. Crud. This horse stuff was like a foreign language. Well, she was learning Spanish in school, wasn’t she? She could learn horse lingo, too. In fact, she already knew more than she did an hour ago. Tack up, girth, posting – oh, yeah, she had really expanded her vocabulary today. The question now was how to get off the darn horse. She wanted to get off, but it was a long way down. “You can do this,” she told herself. “It’s just the reverse of getting on.” She swung her right leg over the horse and wondered what to do next.     “Well, no worse than jumping from the shed roof. . . Geronimo!” She let go of the reins and jumped. Her rear thudded into the dust. . . again. Xander ignored the snickers of the Princesses and picked herself up. Run up the stirrups? Whatever that meant. She’d like to run up the stirrups and out the door! She grabbed Luke’s reins and led him out of the Arena of Shame. “Okay, Xander,” Jake said a few minutes later. “I want you to level with me. You’ve never ridden before, have you?” He took the reins from her hand. “Sure, I have,” she protested. “Don’t give me some bull about some pony on a lead you rode at the fair when you were seven!” “Actually, I was six. . .” He glared at her. “Why didn’t you tell me you’re a beginner? There’s no crime in that. You could have been hurt.” Multiple places on her body throbbed. Could have been? “Well, I. . .” She refused to meet his gaze. “I. . .” “Never mind. . . So tell me, why are you taking riding lessons?” “My friend Brynn invited me to go to Ireland on a horseback riding tour. I have to learn to ride!”     “Brynn? . . . Brynn Winchester?” Jake looked at her with new interest. “Yes. Why? Do you know her?” Jake started unbuckling the saddle straps. “I’ve seen her around.” “Ohmigosh.” Xander clutched his arm. “Promise me you won’t tell her. Please. She can’t know about this.” “Uh, okay, sure. . . So, she’s a good friend of yours, huh?” “Yes, very good. And I want to keep it that way. You can get me ready in time, can’t you?” “How long have we got?” Xander screwed her eyes shut. “Six weeks, two days. . .” She opened her eyes and checked her watch. “Three hours and ten minutes.” Jake stared at her, long and hard. “It won’t be easy,” he finally said. “But I think we can do it if you take private lessons.” “Private? You mean just you and me?” Xander’s mind swirled around that thought. No Equestrian Princesses to worry about. A ‘date’ every week with Jake Carlton! “How much?” she asked, dreading the answer. “Thirty-five a lesson.” Her eyes widened at the thought of all that money. If she sold some of her clothes on eBay, mowed more lawns, spent more time with the monster child, she could just do it. “Deal,” she said. “Great,” Jake said, dazzling her with his smile. “We’ll have you riding in no time.” Xander...