Horsing Around (Lindsey/Becca)

[Olivia James]

Skipping was one of those joys that Ollie only really did when she was superly epicly happy. Like when she feels her world is complete and everything is just so perfect. Which was probably why she was doing exactly that while she made her way toward the stables with all the horses.

Ollie had never gotten to ride a horse by herself. But because she had known Lindsey for a couple years now, even before she started going to Hammel, she had gotten to ride a horse with Lindsey. Holding around her waist, like she was hugging her friend the entire time, and bouncing with the motion of the horse trotting. It was all soooo much fun. But today was finally different, because today, now that Ollie had her powers that meant she was starting to become a woman, and that meant she could learn to ride a horse by herself.

Although technically she could have started earlier, they had tried, and Ollie just didn't really have the patience enough to get through the prep work for getting the horse ready for riding. But she was adamant this time in doing it! She sooo wanted to learn how to ride by herself. She loved horsies! And Her favorite one was Criminal, which apparently was also the best one for her to try and learn to ride on.

"I can't wait. I can't wait! I missed the horsies! And I missed you too Linlin!" Ollie exclaimed as she halted her skipping once she had gotten to the first of the horse stalls. She balanced on her tip toes and reached over the door to pet the horse that was in there, close enough for her to touch his nose. Her smile was blooming full time, before she pulled back and turned to look at Lindsey. "I promise I'll do everything this time!"

[Lindsey Turner]

Lindsey was always excited to go to the stables and see her horse, as well as the others. Sure, she went just about everyday, but for Lindsey, that didn't kill the magic of it all. Especially not when there were people who weren't so used to the sight bouncing around, giddy over the very existence of the place. And with new people arriving at Hammel everyday, there was never a ebb to the flow of new people around town and around the barn. But today was special. It had been a while since Olivia had been out with her, so Lindsey was glad her younger friend would be joining her today. And who knew, maybe today would be the day.

The older girl drove the sedan that she had convinced her parents to leave over Christmas in exchange for the minivan that had been her and Becca's means of transportation. As she pulled into the barn, the whinny of her own horse from a paddock nearby greeted her, earning a large grin an a carrot that Lindsey had brought along with her. Sadly, the silver and black mare was too heavily pregnant to do much riding, and she was too flighty to really be good for Olivia, who was just learning. No, Pirouette would be best left out in her small pasture for now. Lindsey could always groom her later.

Instead, Lindsey headed into the shade of the barn where her sister's horse, Criminal was falling asleep with her head in the aisle. Grabbing a brush, Lindsey slipped into the stall and started brushing the sleeping golden-and-white mare. It was nice and warm next to the large animal, and peaceful and quiet in the mostly empty barn. At least until the sound of the younger girl coming echoed around and woke Crim up. "I missed you too Ollie. You ready for this?" The horse was a trail horse. Calm and basically bombproof and tolerant of just about anything. There was no way Crim would go running off like most of the horses her family owned. As Ollie made her promise, Lindsey couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Everything? "Well come in here and help me brush her then. I can go get the bridle and saddle."

[Olivia James]

The energy would have been vibrating off of Olivia if it wasn't for the fact that things tended to blow up if Ollie let herself get out of control with her excitement. And she would probably make all the horses freak out and not want to be around her, if she did that! So that was no good.

Still Ollie practically bounced as she made her way, skipping once again from the end stall to the stall Lindsey was in before she came to a halt. She was beaming with a smile in her long red shirt and overalls, as she lifted a hand up to pet Criminal on the nose. "Good Criminal! Good girl..."

Ollie ran her hand along Criminal's neck and mane, before hugging the horse where her neck met her shoulders. Once she pulled away she looked at Lindsey and held out her hand for the brush. She could do this, she had brushed hair plenty of times! And Criminal was so nice and was sleeping until briefly. Ollie just hoped Criminal wouldn't be mad at her for waking the poor horsie up.

"Do you think Criminal is mad that I woke her up?" Ollie asked Lindsey, before she reached her free hand out to pat the horse's neck lightly. Ollie at least seemed a little less intense than she was a minute ago. She was at least learning when to be hyper. Well, at least when to control herself better. Once she had the brush she started running it across Criminal's sides in light strokes, and spoke up quite loudly. "Did I tell you how much fun school is now, with all the people with powers?! And I made some new friends too like right away! This one girl with super cool boots and a bag named Lucy. And then this girl with really pretty blue eyes, named Caroline. I'm having so much fun!"

[Lindsey Turner]

Lindsey couldn't help but smile as the younger girl hugged the horse and fretted over whether Criminal would be mad at her for the simple reason of interrupting her slumber. As if Criminal could be mad at anyone for anything. The painted horse was a saint. She put up with Becca after all. Oh, okay, Lindsey shouldn't say that. After all, Lindsey had seen her sister with the horse. It was the one thing Becca wasn't cruel to. Still, she'd never seen the mare get mad at a fly for biting her. Lindsey shook her head. "No, she isn't be mad. She'll just fall back to sleep later, that's all."

When Ollie took the brush, Lindsey quickly slipped from the stall to the tack room two doors down to grab the saddle and bridle, though she was still paying more attention to what was going on in the stall. If the mare did something uncharacteristic and Ollie got hurt, Lindsey wouldn't be able to live it down. Thankfully, the words tumbling from the bubbly young girl's mouth made it clear that nothing was going wrong, and Lindsey was safe to grin at her as the leather-ware was brought out.

"You didn't tell me, but I'm definitely glad you've made friends. I'm fairly sure I've heard of a girl named Lucy, but I haven't met a Caroline. Or anyone with a bag named Lucy. Actually, I'm not sure I've ever mat someone who named their bags." Lindsey's grin widened playfully. Of course she was kidding, but it wasn't like this was something to take super seriously. She grin didn't fade as Lindsey put the cloth over the horse's back and heaved the heavy saddle on top. Despite Ollie wanting to do everything, Lindsey wasn't sure the saddle wouldn't be too heavy for the girl. Still, Ollie could have a crack at the girth.

"You can put the brush down if you want. I want you to take this strap and pull it as tight as you can and buckle it, okay? To make sure the saddle doesn't slide around and make you fall."