Brittlebush Grove [WLW][GXG]

Chapter 9, Bri's POV

Riding a horse was honestly way cooler than I expected. It kind of hurt my thighs but I got to hold onto Finn and take in the sights as we went. The trip to her house from the shopping district had mountains and cacti and many dessert flowers on the way. It was really pretty.

Then we arrived at her house which was honestly a nice size home. From what I could tell we came up on the side and Finn led her horse to a stable on probably the back side of the house. I could also see the barn attached to the stable and in the distance near the house a chicken coop! I had never seen a live chicken up close before.

When Finn got off the horse she reached up and helped me get off taking my hand and waist. I smiled with a faint blush as I got off the horse and to the ground. It was kind of gross here and I saw why she asked if I had boots. I had worn sneakers since I figured we would be outside.

"How many horses are there?" I asked while I watched her take the saddle off the horse.

"Four live here, the horse wrangler Mel brings her own that stays in the last stall too," he told me as she carried the saddle into the small room that had many, which I followed her into.

"Is that one yours?" I asked.

"Yup, had Clyde since I was eight years old, picked him out myself," he said triumphantly.

"And the others?" I asked.

"One is my moms and one my dads. Before you ask they live in a cottage about thirty minutes from here. Their horses are in love and only my dad can sometimes ride so they left them. He does visit to see them at times but he mostly just drives now."

"I see, and horse number four?" I asked not making her talk more about her parents.

"Just a spare, mostly for the farm hands to use since they don't have their own yet and wouldn't have a place to keep them. I always tell them if they get some we can house them and build more stalls. But horses are expensive," she rambled a bit and I didn't mind.

"So how many farm hands?" I asked.

"We got the cook, Cookie,"

"Cookie?"

"Yeah, they like Cookie so I call them Cookie. Nickname came before becoming a cook actually." she chuckled a bit. "Then Jonah and Jacob, and the horse wrangler Mel. That's it, everyone who works here."

"I see,"

"What the hell?" a voice said from behind us in the barn. I turned to see an older woman with graying black hair in a long braid.

"What Mel? I told Jacob she was coming so I thought he would tell you." Finn shrugged.

"Yeah but look at how she is dressed! That is not farm clothes, that is not horse riding clothes!" she was turning red.

"It's okay Mel, honestly. We were just gonna go inside and get new clothes anyways," Finn said patiently and kindly. Mel sighed and nodded.

"Fine, but she is not getting on any of the horses until she is dressed better," Mel added.

"Okay, just get Lizzy ready, I want her to ride that one," Finn said as she took my hand. Did she say ride?

I was taken into the house and up the stairs to a room that had a large bed, a few posters, and a desk with a laptop that was closed. There was also a guitar and a bookshelf in the room. Finn took me to the closet and opened it up. It wasn't as big as mine but it had some room.

"Do you think your clothes will fit? No offense." I looked at her. She had to be about 5 foot 10 or so and she had some muscle to her arms. She was on the bigger side for a woman and I liked that but also knew if anything fit it would be a shirt that is too big.

"No," she chuckled a bit. "But I have some that will," she said, going into the closet. She then pulled out a trash bag and placed it on her bed. Inside were clothes that looked smaller than hers. She dug in pulling a few things out and then finally pulling out some boots. "Ah ha!"

"What?" I asked.

"Here, these boots," she said handing them to me. She dug a bit more and pulled out some things. "I also got chaps and a jacket, both brown. So pick out any shirt and jeans from the bag," she told me as she laid the clothes down on a chair in the room. I dug through and found a pink shirt and light blue jeans covered in yellow flowers that matched the boots.

"Is this like your old clothes?" I asked.

"Kind of, they were a uh, friend of mines," she shrugged. "Now get dressed I will be downstairs," she added quickly before I could question her. I nodded and she left the room shutting the door behind her.

Friend of mine, I wondered if they were an ex's but if they were I wouldn't care really. I changed into the outfit we made together including the boots and jacket that had some fringe to it. The chaps felt and looked kind of funny but I figured it was fine. So I left the room and went downstairs.

When I saw Finn she had put on chaps as well which did make me feel less silly. She had a hat that was pink in her hand and held it out to me.

"You look great," she smiled at me. "I have brown gloves with pink flowers in the stable too somewhere, it will really tie this look together," she told me.

"Great." I followed her to the stables where Mel was brushing a lovely horse. She looked at us and I almost saw a smile on her face before it was gone.

"She does look Mary-sized," the woman said softly. "Good call, Lizzy is all ready to be saddled and taken out," she added.

"Thank you, Mel," Finn said as she went into the room and grabbed us both some gloves. I watched as she saddled up her white horse again and then looked at me. "Grab a saddle."

"Which one?" I asked.

"Any but the double," she told me and I looked at them. I grabbed one that looked lighter in my eyes even if they were probably the same weight. I then carried it over and put it on the horse. "Now, we gotta tighten it so you don't slide off," she came over and showed me what to tighten. I tightened the areas she pointed at and the saddle seemed sturdy.

"Okay, cool," I smiled a bit. Finn then opened the stable doors for us and led her horse outside, I followed with mine.

"Now, foot in, and hoist up," she got onto her horse effortlessly. I tried to do as told, and it took me five tries to finally have enough of a push to get on.

"Oof," I huffed as I got on and almost fell off. But I stabilized and was okay before I smiled over at her. "I'm on a horse!"

"Yeah you are!" she grinned at me. "Can you make this sound," she made a sound, which I imitated. The horses both seemed to perk up and begin walking forward. "Use the reins to control her, and be gentle but firm."

"Okay," I did as told following Fionna around the farm wherever she went as we practiced.

We went around the whole farm area and saw the crops they grow, and their animals in the field area, and we even passed the chickens! We did stop for a moment to look at them and one came up to me so I got to pet it on the head! All around it was a cool experience.

"Feel confident on that horse yet?" Finn asked as we were riding towards the stable.

"I think so yeah," I nodded.

"Want to go somewhere secret and special?" she asked with a smile.

"Always," I agreed.

"Follow me," she then began riding in a new direction and I followed.