Silver Opportunity

Chapter Two

"Thank you so much, he's an amazing horse!" Hannah said as the family of a young girl loaded Sammie into their trailer.

"Is that it for the night?" I asked, turning to head back to the house.

"That's it," she smiled. "Ready to go? We can stop for coffees on the way to the airport."

"Sounds like a plan!" We entered the house, grabbed our pre made bags, and tossed them in the bed of Hannah's truck. We stopped at a donut shop in town before heading off to the airport. We parked, went through security, and settled at our gate. We had about forty minutes until we boarded, so both Hannah and I focused on our phones.

"We have another person interested in Calvin," Hannah said. "Then we have someone coming for Misty and Trigger for their son and daughter."

"That's good!" I looked up. "Are you taking in any more horses?"

"Not until we figure out what going on in Kentucky," she sighed. "But we'll know tomorrow. Do you want to move?"

"I think if everything works out, it could be a golden opportunity," I admitted. "But, we're perfectly good the way we are, so if it doesn't work, it doesn't work."

She just nodded and went back to her phone.

Soon enough, they announced the gate call, and we stood and waited in line to board. Within forty-five minutes, we were flying in the air.

For the some of the flight, I was listening to music and scrolling through Facebook, but for the last half of the flight, I took a much needed nap. Hannah woke me as we landed, and sure enough, we were in Kentucky.

"My grandmother is picking us up," Hannah explained. "You've met her before, a couple years ago."

"Yeah, I remember her," I said, tugging my suitcase behind me. "She visited once."

We exited the terminal and entered the airport, leaving security and going to the main floor.

"Grandma!" Hannah exclaimed, rushing over to an older woman and pulling her into a hug. "Thanks so much for getting us."

"No problem, dear," she smiled. "Hello Miss Emily, long time no see."

"Hi," I said as I hugged her. "How are you?"

"I'm doing okay," she nodded. "Now, let's get home, I started making supper."

It was about a twenty minute drive back to the farm, but it was hard to miss. We travelled down a long drive, lined with trees and hedges, hiding the fence lines of huge pastures. I could see two barns off to one side, and two off to the other, distanced from each other. In the middle of them, was a decent sized house.

"Welcome to East Ridge Equestrian Facilities!" my great grandmother exclaimed.

We drove up to the house. It was perfectly manicured, modernly decorated, and seemed to have all the bells and whistles.

"You'll have separate rooms, right down the hall from me. Don't mind the boxes, I'm just gathering up my personal belongings," she said.

"Grandma," Hannah argued. "Why do you have to move out?"

"I told you, sweetheart, I'm too old to be running this place by myself," she admitted. "Besides, we should have retired ages ago."

"If I take the farm, you can stay with us," she begged. "Stay here, this is your home."

"Yes, and it's time for me to move on," she retorted. "Too many sad memories here. Also, I want to travel. Besides Canada, I've never been outside of the US. I want to see the world before it's too late."

That made Hannah shut up. She led us into the house, and brought us to our rooms. For being guest rooms, they were very nice.

I put my bag on the bed and looked out the window. I had a perfect view of one of the paddocks, which stretched for a long time before reaching the barn. In it were a couple horses, grazing along with each other. Just then, there was a soft knock on the door.

"Come in!"

The door slowly opened, revealing my great grandmother.

"Hello dear," she said, and I tucked my hair behind my ear, smiling. "So, I hear you're quite the rider."

"Yeah, I've had a great trainer," I grinned.

"I have a horse I'd like you to check out," she said. "Come with me."

I followed her out to the barn, where she led me to a stall. Inside was a newborn foal, struggling to stand.

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "It's adorable!"

"He was born an hour ago," she explained. "His show name is WS Tripping Shots. But I want you to give him a barn name."

I looked at the little bay colt, who had now successfully stood. "Hotshot?" I suggested.

"I think it suits him perfectly," she beamed. "He was bred to be a pleasure horse, and with those legs, I'm thinking he'll make the perfect hunter."

"He's beautiful," I gushed. He had a little star and socks on his rear legs. "Hey, Hotshot."

He wobbled over to me and sniffed my hand, before backing up to find his mom. His legs got too underneath him, so he ended up stumbling backwards. Back to square one.

"You know what, supper's probably just about done, we should head back now," she said, guiding me out of the barn.

We walked back over to the house and I helped her set the table for chicken and mashed potatoes with string beans.

"Why don't you go get your aunt, the chicken's ready," she said as she opened the oven. I wandered down the hall to Hannah's room, knocking on her door.

"Dinner's ready," I said.

"Coming," she replied, and a few moments later, she pushed the door open and followed me out. We sat around the little table and started eating.

"This is really good," I said as I scooped another serving of mashed potatoes onto my plate.

"Thanks, dear," great-grandma smiled at me. "So, tell me Emily, how are you liking Kentucky so far?"

"I love it," I replied. "It's not as warm as Florida, but I love it up here."

"That's good," she responded, looking over at Hannah. Hannah just turned her attention back to her plate. "And you, Hannah?"

"It's nicer than I remember," is all she replied. My great grandmother and I made polite conversation the rest of dinner, while Hannah was silent.

"Emily, why don't you go get your homework done in your room?" Hannah asked, taking an armful of plates to the sink. "Get it out of the way tonight."

"Okay," I agreed, pushing myself out from the table. I headed towards my room, stopping when I heard Hannah talking.

"Okay, you're right," she said to her grandmother. "It makes sense for us to move. But what about Emily? She's in high school, almost done the school year. We can't just get up and leave."

"There's such thing as online school," her grandmother retorted. "And you're in Florida. I'll bet her school offers her courses online."

Silence.

"I don't know," Hannah said after a while."I'll have to think about it."

My heart sunk and I silently retreated back into my room. It would be amazing to live here.

I pulled out my textbook and got to work, but I fell asleep from a long day before I could finish it.

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