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Jan. 11th, 2011 11:00 pmTry as she did, Carlotta couldn't like either of the evacuees very much at first. Arabella, the teenager, refused to do a scrap around the house or stable. She soon latched onto Fern, Will's cousin, who was staying with the family, and spent her days doing her nails and hair in new ways.
Amelia, the six-year-old, is a bit more willing to help with things, but spends a lot of time crying and becomes hysterical every time a horse comes near. After a couple of days of this, Carlotta has had enough of this nonsense, and takes the little girl in hand.
"Amelia, you're nearly seven, you're not a baby." she says, firmly but kindly. "I've been riding on a horse since I was two, with help."
"I wany my Mummy!" Amelia wails.
"I know you do, but Mummy isn't here." Carlotta says. "Crying won't make the war finish faster, it'll just make you tired and miserable the whole time."
Amelia wipes her nose on the back of her hand. Carlotta rolls her eyes and gives her a handkerchief.
"Wouldn't you rather not be tired and miserable?" she tries asking the kid.
Amelia nods, sniffling.
"Come on then, I'm going to show you that horses won't hurt you."
"I don't want to go near them." Amelia says quickly.
"I'm not asking you to." Carlotta says. "I just want you to stand at the edge of that field, behind the fence, and not cry like a baby."
Amelia rises to the challenge and stands at the edge of the field. Carlotta hops over the fence to Orion, gets up on him bareback, and performs a large part of her routine. She catches sight of Amelia's wide-eyed stare as she stands on the horse's back.
She brings Orion around to a few metres from Amelia, until the little girl looks like she's about to bolt off, then jumps off with a somersault.
"... SMASHING!" Amelia yells, staring. Carlotta grins and sits up on the fence.
"You see, if horses were innately dangerous, I wouldn't be able to do all that." Carlotta says. "Not that you can do it without a lot of training, but if horses went around biting and hurting all the time, you wouldn't be able to train them."
"What's innately mean?" Amelia asks.
"Inside, sort of." Carlotta says, hopping down from the fence. "The stuff that regular riders do is a lot safer than what I just did. Even little children much smaller than you can do it if you're sensible and wear the right headgear. Let me show you."
She takes Amelia's hand and leads her into the tacking room, showing her all the different bits. She managed to even get the kid in a hat.
"Would you like to see the new foal? The baby horse?" she asks. "It'll be behind a door so it won't touch you."
Amelia nods. Carlotta takes her through to the quiet stable where the foal is. There, she quietly tells the child about baby horses.
"Amelia, I don't think you're a scaredy at all!" she says quietly, as they finish. "I think you're very brave! I think you're so brave that you could meet a very gentle, grown-up horse!"
Amelia looks quite flattered, and follows Carlotta through to Maisie's stall. After watching Carlotta make a fuss of the old mare, she eventually manages to touch the mare on the nose.
Carlotta feels a bit better about things by the afternoon, when they start digging the Anderson shelter. Amelia is crying less and is helping put mud on the corrugated metal. They're nearly done when Arabella comes storming out of the house.
"Amelia, you're filthy!" she exclaims, looking the child up and down in distaste. "This is servents' work!"
"Arabella, everyone chips in and helps here." Carlotta says. "It's a big stable and a lot of the hands have gone off to war. Amelia did a good job, and clothes can be cleaned."
"I'm not having Amelia showing me up by going around like a dirty circus ragbag." Arabella says, looking down her nose at Carlotta. "You can't put either of us to work; you're not our mother."
"No, I'm not. But I am Amelia's foster-mother." Carlotta says.
Arabella snorts. "You're nothing like a mother. You're only a few years older than me." She takes Amelia's hand and drags her inside. Amelia shoots Carlotta an apologetic look.
Carlotta finishes off the anderson shelter, then goes into her caravan and flops on her bed. The fear has started again. The fear that her honeymoon night with Will has left her pregnant. She puts a lock across the door and gets out the book she borrowed from the bar.
The odds don't look good. She's already worked out that she had sex at what is likely the most fertile time of her cycle. And then she read that page that said each sexual encounter releases millions of sperm. And then she read the list of symptoms, and the more she read the more she recognised...
She dashes into the caravan's tiny bathroom just in time to throw up. Then sits on the floor, feeling scared, not knowing what to do. Is she feeling sick because she's pregnant, or because she's so scared she's pregnant?
She takes some slow breaths, and tries to calm down. Maybe it's not too early to take one of those pregnancy tests from the future? She could get one from the bar.
She gets up and starts looking for a portal.
Amelia, the six-year-old, is a bit more willing to help with things, but spends a lot of time crying and becomes hysterical every time a horse comes near. After a couple of days of this, Carlotta has had enough of this nonsense, and takes the little girl in hand.
"Amelia, you're nearly seven, you're not a baby." she says, firmly but kindly. "I've been riding on a horse since I was two, with help."
"I wany my Mummy!" Amelia wails.
"I know you do, but Mummy isn't here." Carlotta says. "Crying won't make the war finish faster, it'll just make you tired and miserable the whole time."
Amelia wipes her nose on the back of her hand. Carlotta rolls her eyes and gives her a handkerchief.
"Wouldn't you rather not be tired and miserable?" she tries asking the kid.
Amelia nods, sniffling.
"Come on then, I'm going to show you that horses won't hurt you."
"I don't want to go near them." Amelia says quickly.
"I'm not asking you to." Carlotta says. "I just want you to stand at the edge of that field, behind the fence, and not cry like a baby."
Amelia rises to the challenge and stands at the edge of the field. Carlotta hops over the fence to Orion, gets up on him bareback, and performs a large part of her routine. She catches sight of Amelia's wide-eyed stare as she stands on the horse's back.
She brings Orion around to a few metres from Amelia, until the little girl looks like she's about to bolt off, then jumps off with a somersault.
"... SMASHING!" Amelia yells, staring. Carlotta grins and sits up on the fence.
"You see, if horses were innately dangerous, I wouldn't be able to do all that." Carlotta says. "Not that you can do it without a lot of training, but if horses went around biting and hurting all the time, you wouldn't be able to train them."
"What's innately mean?" Amelia asks.
"Inside, sort of." Carlotta says, hopping down from the fence. "The stuff that regular riders do is a lot safer than what I just did. Even little children much smaller than you can do it if you're sensible and wear the right headgear. Let me show you."
She takes Amelia's hand and leads her into the tacking room, showing her all the different bits. She managed to even get the kid in a hat.
"Would you like to see the new foal? The baby horse?" she asks. "It'll be behind a door so it won't touch you."
Amelia nods. Carlotta takes her through to the quiet stable where the foal is. There, she quietly tells the child about baby horses.
"Amelia, I don't think you're a scaredy at all!" she says quietly, as they finish. "I think you're very brave! I think you're so brave that you could meet a very gentle, grown-up horse!"
Amelia looks quite flattered, and follows Carlotta through to Maisie's stall. After watching Carlotta make a fuss of the old mare, she eventually manages to touch the mare on the nose.
Carlotta feels a bit better about things by the afternoon, when they start digging the Anderson shelter. Amelia is crying less and is helping put mud on the corrugated metal. They're nearly done when Arabella comes storming out of the house.
"Amelia, you're filthy!" she exclaims, looking the child up and down in distaste. "This is servents' work!"
"Arabella, everyone chips in and helps here." Carlotta says. "It's a big stable and a lot of the hands have gone off to war. Amelia did a good job, and clothes can be cleaned."
"I'm not having Amelia showing me up by going around like a dirty circus ragbag." Arabella says, looking down her nose at Carlotta. "You can't put either of us to work; you're not our mother."
"No, I'm not. But I am Amelia's foster-mother." Carlotta says.
Arabella snorts. "You're nothing like a mother. You're only a few years older than me." She takes Amelia's hand and drags her inside. Amelia shoots Carlotta an apologetic look.
Carlotta finishes off the anderson shelter, then goes into her caravan and flops on her bed. The fear has started again. The fear that her honeymoon night with Will has left her pregnant. She puts a lock across the door and gets out the book she borrowed from the bar.
The odds don't look good. She's already worked out that she had sex at what is likely the most fertile time of her cycle. And then she read that page that said each sexual encounter releases millions of sperm. And then she read the list of symptoms, and the more she read the more she recognised...
She dashes into the caravan's tiny bathroom just in time to throw up. Then sits on the floor, feeling scared, not knowing what to do. Is she feeling sick because she's pregnant, or because she's so scared she's pregnant?
She takes some slow breaths, and tries to calm down. Maybe it's not too early to take one of those pregnancy tests from the future? She could get one from the bar.
She gets up and starts looking for a portal.
