I'm Lucy
"This is it?"
"Yep, this is it. Since no one else is going to be here you could always pick one of the other rooms. I'll give you a few days notice before I bring anyone around to inspect". The room was small with a single bed in the corner with faded lime green walls and a mahogany cabinet beside it. The entire house smelled of musk and dust with old books over all of the cabinets and shelves. I took a step into the room and placed my bags down at the foot of the bed, placing my hands on my hips whilst examining the small quarters. The floor boards were made of a hard wood that had been gradually stripped of its varnish and wanted replacing.
"This'll be fine for me" I stated as Liz stepped into the room with me. She wore a white shirt with a blue blazer over the top and held onto a clip board.
"That's great" she announced writing down on the board. "Now the neighbours are pretty friendly so you shouldn't have any trouble in that regard. They're not very close though so if you need them you'll have to drive. The phone line can stuff up occasionally so if you might want to invest in a mobile phone". I nodded and pulling my small phone out of my pocket to show her. "Great, and you know that while you're here you'll receive payment weekly for just keeping everything in check. Now we've had the property valued before you arrived so if you feel the urge to earn some extra pay by doing some maintenance we'll compensate you depending on how much the property value increases".
I nodded and looked around my new room. "Seems like there's a lot that needs doing".
"You're telling me" she remarked jotting down something on her paper again without looking up. "I'm doubtful that the property will sell without the house being bulldozed so maybe property work first?"
"Yeah, makes sense" I stated leaning against the wall and hearing it creak. "I'll do what I can. I won't kill myself working on this place if it might end up getting knocked down".
"It's all up to you. You're going to receive your decided on pay regardless".
"Well this should work out great I think. If you have any trouble then ring me and we'll get it sort out, great?"
"Yeah, uh great" I replied noting her fondness for that word. I brushed my hands over the front of my *** shirt. "Anything you forgot to mention before I spend the night?" I asked as she opened up her car door and stepped inside, her skirt sliding up her leg as she bent down though I tried not to notice.
"Oh yeah it's built on an Indigenous burial ground and the last tennants were murdered in their sleep. Good luck" she joked while starting up her car and giving me a wave as the dust flew up from her rear wheels. I moved to a small wooden log at the front of the house and sat down in the Sun.
The house before me was large with two storeys. The outside showed it's brick and wooden frame with dirty windows on the top and bottom floor, the shutters hanging off on an angle or fallen away long ago. The driveway leading to the building had large a collection of pine trees that ran from the main road to the house. The property on the left was thick forest whilst on the right the farming fields ran for miles until it ran into the base of a snowy mountain. The mountain ranges surrounded the property on all sides and gave me the perspective of being a tiny ant surrounded by nature's giants.
Before the house had become run down it would have been safe to assume that it was a very luxurious place to live as behind the house was a large pool and picnic area, though now overgrown and the pool empty with many dead leafs inside. Everything in the back area of the house was hard to navigate around since the fences were overgrown with weeds and vines which gave the impression that it was purposefully made as a maze.
All of the trees were enormously tall and there was never a moment when a leaf wasn't falling from the canopy. The concrete path that had been cemented into the ground was covered in the brown and orange foilage. Walking along the path I kicked some of the fallen branches away, my hands in my trouser pockets as I enjoyed the peace and quiet. I wasn't a city person but I had spent the last few years living there, it gave me a great appreciation for the silence that the country gave.
I'd spent the last few months skipping from job to job, mostly doing manual work or engineering to pay for accomodation and beer money. I read in the paper that a property needed to be house sat until a new buyer could be found. I'd assumed that the person who lived her previous had passed away but apparently no one had owned the property in years, the last sitters only sticking around for no more than a few weeks.
I paced around the household slowly and taking my time, absorbing all of the new information into my brain and wondering where I should start if I were to try and fix some of the house back up. The gardens needed trimming, weeds needed to be urooted, areas needed paint and I could swear that an area of the garden was growning marijuana. My journey eventually took me to the run down barn, the upper wooden planks of the barn were falling apart and the large doors at the front had broken away.
Inside I was hit with the familiar smell of old leather saddlery and the dry hay. Stables lined the inside of the barrn and a ladder that led to the rafters, the saddle room on one side and the hay piles across from there. My boots made a clunking on the cement floor as I walked from one side to the other, the only noises coming from birds and clicking insects outside. I was almost out of the far end when I heard a soft snorting noise from behind me.
The horse had a shiny brown coat with a long black unkept mane and tail. The creatures eyes were closed as breathing gently whilst asleep. I thought it was strange that the equine hadn't noticed me yet as they were generally light sleepers.
"Hello?" I greeted walking back to the stable and not sure why the realiter hadn't told me I'd be caring for a horse. As I spoke she opened her eyes rapidly and shuffled backwards in surprise as she probably wasn't used to seeing people given how unkept everything was. "Don't worry, you're alright" I stated softly as I reached her stall. She was a smallist horse that was only slightly taller that me when her head was up. Her eyes examined me thoroughly before she leaned forward and nibbled against my shirt. "Who the hell are you? I wasn't told to look after a horse?" I asked still keeping my voice in a friendly tone. "Do you have a name?" I asked looking over the stall door for a name. A small wooden title was screwed into the door but the name was too faded to make out. She gave my face a small sniff before shuffling backwards and looking to the ground. I noticed that the door was locked and there didn't appear to be any hay or feed in her small space for her to eat, since no one had been here for weeks there didn't seem to be an explanation unless she'd been moved in the last day or two.
I ran my hand over the horse's nose before moving to the barn's ladder and pulling myself up into the rafter area. Upstairs was mostly empty except for a large steel cabinet and old wooden pieces of furniture that had become faded and splintered. A key on top of the cabinet with a leather string around it unlocked the metal door and revealed that it was in fact a gun cabinet. I'd grown up around firearms but only for practical uses like vermin control and keeping wild dogs and dingos away. They were old and not in the best condition but being locked in the cabinet for so long probably kept them at least in working condition.
"If you don't work, I'll break you!" I threated smashing the old tv's side with the palm of my hand. It was cearly old as it used a channel tuner similar to radios and all the buttons were stuck in one way or another. There was no technology available in the building aside from the occasional power point, of which wasn't always working or gave me a shock when I tried to use it. The television burst to life with a small cracking noise. The sound it released was crackling and filtered while the program was something about antiques. I gave a frustrated groan before unplugging the set quickly so it wouldn't bust the fuse in the power box.
The kitchen light flickered loudly and wouldn't stop as I moved to the fridge. There were very few foods inside which was thankful since the ones there were rotten and smelt. "No milk?" I asked myself but did then notice a small carton in the bottom. It had been there so long that the smell was gone and turned to a green yogurt. "You know...you're not really selling yourself to me here" I yelled looking up at the ceiling not far above me as though talking to the house itself. I reside to grabbing a few snacks that I'd brought with me in my luggage and sitting on my small bed with my laptop.
Sitting within such a tiny room while the entire house was bare seemed almost like a waste of space, but being in the small bedroom felt comfortable. My laptop needed an extension cord to remain plugged into the internet since the port in the room was broken. I had a small satellite internet USB plugged in so I could send emails and talk to the outside world. I'd been here less than one day and I was already feeling as though I'd travelled back in time. The entire property had a quaint serenity to it that I felt most people couldn't appreciate. The accumulation of dust and the cracked floor boards, faded paint and overgrown plants gave everything it's own unique feel. In the city lights were constantly flashing and music blaring no matter where you were so my mind needed some time to slow down to the subtle countryside.
I enjoyed waking up later in the morning and able to start work whenever I wanted. Breakfast consisted of water with Pringles and chocolates since they were the only things I could salvage from what I'd taken with me. I first set up a grazing area for the unnamed horse outside of the barn in the nearest field with plenty of grass then began maintaining the fences that ran over the entire property. Most of the fence posts were eroded and broken down whilst others had simply fallen apart.
A dust cloud running along the dirt road leading up to the house was getting closer. I was standing underneath one of the trees along the driveway and pulling a heavy fencepost from the back of an old truck. I'd found the vehicle in a small garaged area and fixed it to a barely working condition, the clutch barely worked and the breaks were non existent but just allowing it to roll to a stop worked well enough as long as you took your foot off of the accelerator early enough. I was still holding the fence post when the delivery car rolled up beside me.
"Hey there" called a voice from the driver seat. I dropped the post and walked over to the car, wiping the sweat away from my face but only spreading motor oil. The driver was a woman with light red hair and freckles and a wide smile over her face.
"Hey, what's up?" I asked leaning over the car roof, she leaned against the open car window with her forearms while the engine still rumbled.
"Delivery girl" she stated pointing to herself.
"Jesus!" I yelled suddenly and jumped forward. The sudden nip on my shoulder came from the only other being within miles that wasn't me or this delivery person. The horse snorted in amusement of my shock. "You bastard" I cursed giving a small laugh as I rubbed my now stinging neck, the lady in the car snickering with the horse. "How did you get out?".
"Fences aren't any good here you know. You're just lucky she at least came here rather than run away" she stated pointing to the area of the fence I was maintaining before she arrived.
"I thought I tied her up a fenced area, less she walked straight through it" I stated rubbing my fingers through my hair. "Sorry. You're a delivery girl?"
She nodded, still amused at the situation. "Yeah, they didn't tell you? I make the deliveries once a week for whoever's living here".
"Really?" I turned to the horse then back to the red haired woman. "So the one reason I had to visit the civilized world...I don't have anymore?"
"Guess so" she shrugged. "I'll drive up and drop these off" she announced before heading down to the house.
It didn't take me long to get back up to the house and catch up with her, the persistent horse following behind me. I had to jog to get to the house whilst she just walked easiy behind me. The delivery woman was already at the back of her car unloading two heavy boxes. She had a rather thin figure as she would grab another box and bend down to place it on the ground, her tight jeans hugging her hips firmly as she did. She wore them with a tight red shirt that was tied around her neck and behind her chest with sunglasses and a wide brim had.
"Let me help" I stated as I reached her. She smirked before shutting the car's boot quickly.
"Nope, I'm all done" she announced dusting her hands together. "So you've got the Cromwell place, huh?"
"I guess so. I guess the Cromwell's were the last ones to live here?"
"Yeah" she started placing her hands on her waist. "It must have been about five years ago now. No one seems interested in buy this place now".
"Haunted?"
Her expression changed from amused to slightly upset. "The Cromwell's lived here with their daughter. She disappeared and they moved away afterwards". I felt my chest drop as she said this, seeing as I'd just put my foot in it.
"Did you know them?" I asked walking closer and trying to brush the sweat out of my eyes. She laughed as more motor oil was spread over my forehead.
"Here" she offered moving forward and pulled a hankerchief out of her pocket and began scrubbing the substance off. She was rather rough in her attempts to clean me and gave me a bit of pain. "Handyman?"
"You have to be useful to be handy, I'm just a housesitter" I stated with a smile as she pulled her now black cloth off of me. "You?"
"Oh yeah I'm very handy" she stated giving a laugh at the inuendo she'd inadvertedly made. "I deliver things on the weekend and work wherever I can during the week". She looked around the property while squinting in the Sun despite her dark glasses. "Well I think you're set for the next week. Anything else I can do for you?"
I shrugged. "Not unless you'd like to do some fencing?"
"Thanks but no thanks" she laughed while reaching up to the car's boot and slamming it shut. "Hey, there's a birthday party in town on Friday. Most of the people there are going to be our age if you'd like to come along?"
"Thanks, but I would feel awkward coming to a birthday party for a person I didn't know". I walked behind her till she jumped back into the driver's seat. "Besides, it sounds like invitation only".
"You could come as my date?" she asked sitting sideways out of the vehicle. "You get to come to the party and since you're my date you can buy my drinks for the night". I gave a small shrug. "I'll take that as a yes. Just remember that it starts at seven Friday night and you'll probably be back about...well it depends how much fun you're having".
"Alright, you've talked me into it. I'll see you there. Formal or Informal?"
"Either, just as long as there's no oil on it". She brought her car back to life and began driving back towards the road, kicking up more dust while avoiding the holes in the road. As I waved her away the equine behind me neighed.
Opening up the boxes with my knife I found that they were filled with everything I'd need. Things from cereal and long life milk to the occasional chocolate bar and strangely enough laxitive inducing pills.
"You want these?" I asked holding the pills up to show my parnter who had stuck her head through the kitchen window. She gave a small snort at this, I was starting to imagine that every time she snorted, neighed or whinied she was actually responded to the situation around her. "You're pretty smart aren't you girl", another snort. "You want a treat?". Snort. "How much wood could a Woodchuck Chuck if a Woodchuck could Chuck wood?". Nothing.
The next couple of days went by slowly and was only getting slower. Without the constant distractions every minute went longer and every hour lasted twice as long. My routine consisted of having breakfast then going to release the horse with no name from her stall. I'd spend the rest of the day fixing the entire fence piece by piece with my barely running truck which I had to turn off while still moving and about half a kilometre away from where I wanted to stop. In the afternoon I maintained and fixed certain areas of the house, even starting on the pool.
I was in the deep end with a tough broom sweeping away the leaves and dried up foilage which proved harder than I'd thought as they stuck to the pool's walls. I had made it a habit of taking my shirt off in the afternoons as I didn't have to worry about the Sun burning me. Though from all of the work I was aching and experiencing a lot of muscle pains I could feel myself gradually growing stronger since my previous employment didn't have me doing as much physical work as what I was now.
As I swept I heard an all too familiar snorting sound. I paused for a moment before looking up with the palm of my hand on the broom handle. My horse friend was standing at the side of the pool and looking down on me, her neck extended over the edge of the pool as she let out a few snorts again.
"Careful horse" I warned holding my hands up to her before jogging to the edge of the pool and pulling myself up. "Get away from there, you fall in and you'll break yourself" I stated guesturing for her to walk my way. She lifted her head up and hastily walked my way. "Come on stupid, let's go back to the barn. It's quitting time anyway" I stated with a smirk and happily she was away from the pool's edge.
As we walked through the unkept garden and to the barn she gave me shoulder a hard nip, her teeth grazing my exposed skin. "That was because I called you stupid wasn't it?" I asked as we entered the barn, the horse whinied and nodded her head happily. I frowned at this as her reactions were getting more and more accurate. She walked into her stall happily as I closed the door on her but didn't walk away just yet.
I rested my hands on the stall door while leaning into her small room. "You really need a name don't you. I know that it's not my job to do that but I can't just keep calling you 'horse' can I?" I scratched my head as the air began to get cooler with the Sun setting. "A name should define someone. If we all had names that reflected ourselves we could know what a person is like without ever having to interact with them. Unfortunately you can't tell what kind of person a baby is going to grow up as". These were thoughts that entered my mind occasionally as I worked or had some time to think, though they weren't conversation starters with a normal human. Being alone in a giant valley surrounded by mountains was daunting, especially when the only living being didn't understand a word I spoke.
"I knew someone named Keith and I always imagined Keith as a kind name. He was a jackass. I knew a girl named Bridgette and she was one of the nicest people I've ever met. What kind of person...what kind of horse are you? What kind of name would you hold? Who are you?"
"I'm Lucy".
It was like those moments on a rollercoaster or a Giant Drop ride. That moment when you zoom so fast you feel the lining of your stomach at the pit of your stomach. The moment when she spoke made me wish I were even taller so my stomach had further to fall. I stumbled backwards as the blood rushed out of my face and the rest of my body.
"I'm sorry" she stated, her lips moving like a humans would. The voice was distinctively female and kind, the type of voice you hear in your mind when reading. "I didn't mean...". I felt dizzy and had to lean forward against Lucy's stall to prevent toppling backwards.
"This has to be some kind of joke" I told myself resting my head on my hands with my eyes clenched.
"Please. I didn't mean to startle you like this. Please don't be frightened". The voice right above me was spoken as though she were whispering.
"I'm not frightened, I'm feeling sick" I rebuttled to defend myself. I picked my head up and looked to Lucy intentely, trying to guage whether I was hallucinating or not. "You're. You can talk?"
"Yes", her response was specific and firm. Her lips moved perfectly in sync and in the way any normal human's would except they came from a foreign source. I gave a hard grunt as I knew this was real, taking a deep breath to get my bearings.
"You're a smart horse? You've got a good brain and taught yourself to speak...alright".
"Not exactly" she claimed turning her head to the side to avoid eye contact. "It's a very long story. But I'm Lucy, my name is Lucy and I'm...I'm a horse" she stated with a small amount of amusement in her voice.
"I can see that".
"Please don't be angry".
"I'm not angry. This is just a little shocking" I remarked scratching the back of my head. "Though not all that surprising considering you were following me around everywhere". We stood there for a long while in silence, the Sunset casting an orange tint through the barn as we waited. Though she was a horse I felt I could understand how she felt; that revealing herself to me was a risk she'd been considering for a while now and now that she actually had done so she was beginning to regret it. I was unsure what to do since I'd never been social with a creature that wasn't human before. "Do you have a last name?"
Lucy nodded. "Cromwell".
"You belonged to the Cromwell's before they moved?"
"No, I was a... I'm Lucy Cromwell. I used to be human". The familiar dizzying feeling returned to me.
"Forgive me if I say that I don't belive you".
"It is though. What other explanation could..." she started. I turned and began walking out of the barn befoe she could finish. She move to the end of her stall and watch me walk out on her.
"Hello?"
"Yes hello, is this Liz?"
"Yeah, oh hey. How's the house? I hope everything's working out great". Liz sounded as though she had been sleeping when I'd called her, despite that it was only seven at night.
"Yeah everything's great. I just had a few questions".
"Shoot".
"The last people who owned this place were the Cromwell's weren't they?"
"Yeah. They were there a few years ago, why do you ask?"
I scratched my hand as I held the phone to my ear and tried to think of an excuse. "I was cleaning up and found a few papers in a desk. Where are they now?"
"I couldn't tell you off the top of my head. Why the interest?"
"I found some things they might find interesting".
"Don't count on it. They left that place long ago and from what I remember they didn't look back. I could get there contact details if you'd like?"
"Yeah that would be great!" I replied, blinking rapidly as her habit of using the word great was rubbing off on me. "Do yo remember why they left?"
"Yeah, don't worry it wasn't because the house has aspestos or anything. Their daughter ran away, well they said she disappeared but you don't just 'lose' and eighteen year of girl".
"Did she ever turn up?"
"No, that's the entire reason why they moved. It's generally thought she ran off into the mountains and got herself killed by some hungry thing".
"What was her name?"
Liz gave a small sigh and rubbed her hand over her eyes for lack of sleep. "Kaitlin I think. Of course this was ages ago. What did you find anyway?"
"Just some documents that they might need at some point. They left their original birth certificates here so it'd be good to get this stuff to them".
There was a long yawn on the other end of the line. "Yeah, that's great. I've got to work in three hours so I can get to Winchester before dawn and show these people around. Do you mind if I get back to sleep?"
"Oh no I'm sorry to wake you. I didn't know you had late night plans".
"Yeah, have a great night". I started to shut my phone. "Wait! Her name was Lucy, so if she turns up while you're there with hairy underarms and needs a shower you let me know".
"Yeah, I'll be sure to do that" I replied shutting the phone properly and slumping down on the bed.
Naturally I couldn't sleep. I merely looked up at the ceiling as I recalled my actions towards Lucy. She didn't deserve to be treated like that from someone she was reaching out to but it was too much for my mind to comprehend then. Since the incident I'd had some more time to think about it and how I should have reacted, feeling guilty and waiting for karma to drop an anvil from above.
The moon outside was completely full, shining down on the property and the looming mountain tops surrounding. It wasn't often I apologised to anyone so I wasn't sure where I'd start. I wore my black jacket as I entered the barn with my torch and headed to Lucy's stall, the night air was cool against my face and exposed chest as I wore no shirt underneath.
Lucy had her rear to the stall door and head wedged into the small corner, her breathing was occasionally jumping as though she had been crying or the closest thing to it that a horse would do.
"Nice night?". She picked her head up and looked to me from the side. She remained unresponsive to my question and returned to her corner. "I thought I should apologise for how I reacted before, it took me by surprise". Lucy remained quiet and didn't move besides blinking and breathing. "Don't try and pretend that you're not smart, I'm not going to forget the fact that you can talk".
She remained silent and unmoving before finally giving up when she realised I wasn't leaving. "Yeah well I should have expected as much. What're you doing up this late?"
"Couldn't sleep, you?"
"Couldn't sleep". I nodded slowly, forcing coversation with a equine was new to me. "It's been a long time since I've had the opportunity to use my voice with someone who understood it".
"Who else do you talk to?" I asked clicking the flashlight off and leaned against the stall door as per usual, my eyes took a while to focus in the dark but the full moon helped. I felt thankful there weren't many mosquitoes out tonight.
"I used to talk to a volleyball I named Wilson. He popped himself in the end" she remarked. I gave a small chuckle at this. "What's so funny about it?"
"You're not kidding?"
"Of course I am, I've seen that movie too". Lucy wasn't laughing at her joke but I could hear the joy in her voice. I assumed it was because when a horse was amused they normally let out a whiny or something like that. "I've never spoken to someone before. It too me about two years to teach it my myself again".
I took a step back and picked up an old milking stool before opening up Lucy stall and taking it in with me. "You're the Cromwell's daughter aren't you?" I stated more than asking as I sat down on the stool. Lucy nodded slowly, her ears flickering slightly in either disappointment or sadness.
"I was about five years ago. Not anymore".
"How could this happen?" I queried in a concerned tone.
"It's a...strange story".
"Hey girl. How are you tonight?" she asked walking through the field's long grass, the brush end of the blades rubbing between her thighs and legs. The entire valley covered in the grey light , from the Crescent Moon. Lucy stepped up to her horse happily and began patting over her side, she wore only her pink panties with a bra that held back her firm bust. She sported long brown hair and had a thin, long physique.
Her horse was named water and she'd been Lucy's for many years. She was brown with a silky coat and trimmed black mane, rather tall and was grazing easily by herself. Lucy pressed her cheek against the horse and listened to her heart beating. Lucy remained their with her skin against her horse's warm fur.
Lucy's head was rest against Water's upper thighs as she looked at her braided tail and through the darkness she could barely see her sex. The night was cold and dew was already beginning to accumulate one every individual grass blade, the soft wind carrying it's chill up Lucy's body.
Lucy began running her fingers over Water's tail softly before releasing the hair and feeling her hot sex beneath. "Your very warm sweety" she whispered before leaning her face forward, rubbing her nose softly on her hind. Lucy's hand pressed comfortably against Water's warm folds, the large horse began to walk back slowly against her own.
Water was one of three horses that the Cromwells owned but they were all mares. Lucy wanted to get Water a stallion either to get her in foal or just for some company, but unfortunately that had never come to fruition. Lucy smiled to herself as her fingers circled around Water's sex before gently pushing in to pleasure her. Water enjoyed the feel but Lucy felt awkward and grimaced at the feel of her warm flesh over her fingers as she dipped more in.
"You owe me one" she whispered as she moved behind Water completely and pushed her thumb in which was followed by her palm and wrist. Water shuffled on her feet while backing up to Lucy's hand further, her sex pulsing and enjoying the feel of her owner's arm disappearing deeper inside. Lucy began getting her own pleasure from Water as she slid her other hand beside her forearm and pushed it in too. She linked her fingers together inside and gave a few small thrusts in and out.
Water breathed hard as her sex clenched down on Lucy's arms and gave a powerful pull, sending her in further and her face pressed against her tail's base. She gave out a huff noise as she was pushed and sucked in repeatedly with Water creating the arm's thrusting and clearly getting pleasure from her owner. A more powerful pulse from Water's body and Lucy's head and shoulders were pulled inside her sex. She could feel her horse's inner warm walls pulsing and squeezing around her face and body while her hands began to disappear into the womb. Lucy screamed inside but it was only a muffled plead that Water could barely hear.
Water would thrust some of Lucy's body in and out before giving a harder suck to devour her in further, her chest and belly now further inside and only hips remained in the fresh air. Water was thrown into intense pleasure as she pulled Lucy's waist inside and down to her knees before releasing her body and relaxing.
Through the night Lucy's feet remained outside, her boots still held on whilst she tried to push back out but found it was impossible. Water grazed lazily as though nothing had happened until the morning Sun. At the house Lucy's parents began their usual day as though it were like any other with Water waiting for her morning feed, waiting until her owner's mother arrived before sucking her in completely. The boots fell down from Water's sex as Lucy disappeared.
It was morning by the time Lucy had explained what had happened to her, how she was re-birthed as what she is now and how painful it was to watch her parents searching for her but unable to tell them she was ok. Her recalling of events was so immersive I had look around me to get back to reality.
"...Happily ever After?"
"Something like that". She stated softly, during her story she'd lowered herself onto her underbelly with her legs buckled. "It feels good to get it all off of my chest after so long, and to actually talk to someone about this".
"I've enjoyed listening. You've got a beautiful voice" I stated unsure what else I could compliment on.
"Thanks, at least I've got that going for me. I don't attract many people anymore".
"Well for a horse you're stunning. You've got a nice coat and mane, a nice tail". Lucy gave an agreeing hum to my comments. "You know Samantha and I were best friends before this all happened". I nodded slowly as that name didn't mean anything to me. "She's your date for Matt's birthday on Friday".
"Oh, right of course".
"We did everything together, we used to ride along the mountain trail on our horses and sometimes sit on the ridge to look over the valley". I nodded slowly as she continued. "She rode me once when she was over here, thought I needed a bit of exercise".
"That must have been awkward" I stated bumping the stool closer to Lucy. I was sat still listening to her with my hands clenched over each other and having restless leg syndrome.
"Actually it was really nice just to be with her for a while. Having her sitting on me was awkward but other than that just hanging out was fun, I just wish I could have told her who it was she had ridden".
"Perhaps you should? I mean you told me and I'm pretty much some stranger you've never met before".
"We've been living together for almost a week now". I was still adjusting to the fact that Lucy had been around this entire time. While pretending to talk to a horse like they were a real person was difficult I was at least a semi-good actor.
"True, but a lot has happened since we first met. For instance I've found the horse I'm looking after is rather hot".
"Ew, I'm a 'horse!'"
"I'm well aware you don't have to worry. I'm just saying as far as horses go you're very nice".
"You into that kind of stuff?"
"God no. I'm just saying that..."
"I'm messing with you" she stated with a slight chuckle. She shuffled up onto her legs so she was fulling standing upright. "That's better" she sighed.
"You know you didn't really answer my question. Why don't you tell Samantha about yourself? She'd understand better than anyone else".
Lucy turned away from me. "What if she rejects me...as this".
"I like to think tha tif you try you don't always win and you don't always lose. But if you don't try, you always lose". Lucy shook her head and her ears lowered again. "I'm sorry, I don't want to appear as though I'm pressuring you".
"It's alright, it's just wonderful hearing a voice that's responding to mine again".
The rest of the day went by slowly. Not only because I'd discovered a human horse but because I'd spent all talking to her as opposed to sleeping. I tried to get back to work on the fences but eventually found myself falling asleep in the shade beneath a tree, Lucy not far away and also enjoying th perks that sleep brought. Above me a few birds would chirp and the occasional bug crawled up over my bare chest, Lucy waking first and walking over to me nervously.
"Are you awake?"
"Mm, I was having the strangest dream I'd found a talking horse" I stated sleepily. Lucy bent down and gave my arm a small nip. "Gah! I was only kidding".
"I know, but you're not funny".
"Alright" I remarked shuffling upwards to lean against the tree behind me. "What's wrong?"
"Well..." Lucy started, wondering what she would say. It was hard to read the expressions of a horse but she was obviously embarassed about something. "...you're very relaxed about all of this. You're not worried or frightened or anything?"
"Are you going to trample over me?"
"Not on purpose".
"Then I'm not that worried".
"That's good. It's just that aside from your first freak out you're going along with this really well, how many other talking horses' have you found?"
"Non baby I swear, you're the only one for me" I joked in a mocking tone, getting only a small chuckle from Lucy. "I don't want to alienate you by acting weirdly or wanting to examine you like you're strange".
"I am strange, you can admit it".
"You're strange, very strange. You're borderline weird!". Lucy nodded as her ears picked up. It was safe to assume her ears represented her either smiling or frowning. "You're a nice pers...you've got a good personality and that's all I care about. You do always look sad though".
"Because I've got a long face?" she asked jokingly. "Thank you though, I appreciate that you feel comfortable with us. You're being very supportive of me". Her hoof ground the grass. "Would you do something for me?" I sat up intently when my pants began vibrating.
"Sorry, one moment" I interrupted digging into my pocket for my phone, Lucy's ears dropping. My phone had rung once as a sign that I'd received a voice mail.
Hey! If you're there this is a heads up that I'm bringing a couple around to inspect the house. make sure non of your crap is lying around! I'm kidding! But you should know my planned exhibit in Winchester was cancelled so I can show them the place later this afternoon. Great?...oh yeah I found the number for that family who used to live there, that Cromwell couple. I'll bring it with me this afternoon and you can show me what you found that they might find intere...'click'.
I'd shut the phone quickly when Liz mentioned Lucy's family. The moment it was mentioned she began walking away quickly, her head bent down to the ground.
"Lucy! Hang on" I yelled to her as I stood up to chase her, but the sound of a quickly approaching car stopped me.
