Taming the Lightning (NJ)

[Maira]

The rain was pouring down, soaking into her hair and clothes, as Isabella ran from her last class towards her apartment across campus. Unlike most of the other students scampering around sans umbrella, Bella was thoroughly enjoying herself. Even though it hadn't started yet, she could feel the lightning building in the storm clouds above her. The feel of that much concentrated energy always sent a thrill surging through her blood. The bigger the storm, the more energy, the more alive she felt. This promised to be a big storm and Bella was just loving it.

Turning a corner into her apartment complex’s parking lot, Bella immediately pulled up short. There was a man yelling at one of the other female tenants of the complex and the woman was crying. Bella was about to walk up and ask the woman, who she now recognized as her drenched room-mate, if everything was okay when the man lunged forward and hit Bella’s room-mate. At that instant, snippets of conversation with her room-mate about an abusive ex-boyfriend came rushing back and Bella reacted without thinking.

She closed the distance between herself and the man and her room-mate at a spring. Once she was close enough, Bella leapt onto the man's back, wrapped her legs about his waist for support and started hitting him about the head and scratching his face and neck. When he gave a startled yell and stumbled away from Bella's room-mate, Bella couldn't help but smirk. It didn't even occur to her to be scared for herself until she felt the man's hands clamp her leg and began to pry it from around him.

In the instant that she felt fear shiver up her spine, Bella also felt the storm change; the energy that had been building before suddenly gathered like a clenched fist above her. Almost simultaneously, Bella felt the lightning sear through her and the man straight into the ground and she heard and felt the accompanying growl of thunder. Her body was flung from the man's back onto the pavement and he was flung into a nearby car. Her eyes were still swimming with the impact with the ground when she saw the man collapse in a heap and not get up. Her last thoughts before going under were, "Is he alive? Did I do that?" Then her world went black.

*****

Isabella was hiding from the world the next morning. She was laying in a hospital bed and she could hear people talking all around her. Currently her eyes were closed and she was feigning sleep because she knew the instant she gave any indication she was awake the chattering masses would descend on her again. They had done so the night before when she'd woken up the first time after being struck by the lightning she may or may not have called...

According to one of her nurses, she was lucky to have only the injuries from her hard landing on the pavement. The man involved in the accident had some pretty bad burns where the lightning had entered and exited his body. He also had a concussion and a broken arm from his violent introduction to the side of a parked car. Aside from that, and his impending arrest for assault and violating a restraining order, the man was fine according to the nurses.

When she thought she heard a drop in volume outside her room, Bella cracked open an eye to look and see what had drawn everybody's attention. At the sight of her own smiling face, the picture from her student ID, on the television she had to suppress a groan. not wanting to watch the news report, Bella turned her attention to the table near her bed looking for water. Sitting right next to the pitcher of water was that morning's local newspaper with her picture plastered on the front cover under the headline, "College girl struck by lightning after stopping an attack." "Lovely," Bella grumbled as she sat up to reach for the water, a cup, and the paper.

She had barely had a chance to pour herself some water when somebody came into her room. Looking up, she saw it was a nurse and she sighed with relief. Before the woman had any time to say anything Bella begged, "Can I go home soon?" The nurse laughed good naturedly and produced Bella's discharge paperwork almost as if by magic. Relieved, Bella proclaimed, "You are a miracle worker!" then got down to signing herself out of the hospital.

*****

It had taken Bella an hour to get from the parking lot to her apartment, thanks to the local press, and before she could flop on her couch she noticed the flashing red light on the answering machine. She strolled over to it warily and when she saw that the number of messages was ridiculously high she just pushed the "delete all" button. "Stupid invasive ninnies," she grumbled then picked up the phone and dialed Maine. If her Aunt hadn't heard yet she nee3ded to tell her, if she had she was probably worried sick. Either way, Julie would have all the right things to say to make Bella feel better.

[Demeter]

**This thread will take place about a year before the The Farm thread**

Trey glanced at the phone and sighed. He'd give that woman one more day before he'd ask the other applicants. As it was he had an event to get to. He wasn't showing at this time but he had students entered in the junior class. He'd given the pep talks, checked the horses over and watched as student number one entered the starting box at the start of the cross country course.

He needed another barn hand and would rather avoid hiring another man. The break up with Jonathan was still fresh in his mind, having been only three months since Jonathan had packed up his stuff and left the house. The woman, Isabella, was a college student but he could work around her schedule. He needed the help. Between working with the rescued animals and the students, Trey found very little time to sleep.

Trey leaned against the trailer and stared up at the sky. He wondered in Jonathan was somewhere in the crowd at the eventing feild. Probably showing off that new man of his, Trey thought and laughed. Said man probably took him to all the high class places Trey never took him to.

When he heard the whistle for his rider to start, Trey moved towards the fence to keep the spectator's off the feild. This event was this rider's first and he wanted to keep a close eye on the girl's progess. He squeezed in between a fellow instructor and a women with emerald green hair. "'Scuse me," he said as he rested one booted foot on the edge of the white planked fence and leaned against the top rail.

[Maira]

After talking to her aunt the day before, and getting a good night's sleep, Bella had followed through on her plans to go to a local horse show. The event she was most interested in today was the cross country event and despite sleeping through her alarm, she had managed to get a fairly good spot near the fence.

When a tall lanky rather good looking man wiggled in between her and another man to get at a spot at the fence, Bella smiled sweetly at him. Before turning away, Bella noticed a familiar logo on the man's shirt and her jaw about dropped. She had submitted a resume to that farm for a job as a stablehand and she'd been waiting on pins and needles to hear back from the owner. On a whim she asked cheerfully, "You wouldn't happen to be Trey DeLuge would you? My name is Isabella Michaels, I sent in my resume a week or so back and I hadn't heard anything so I thought maybe the position had been filled." Before she could start rambling, Bella shut up and waited for the man to answer.

[Demeter]

Trey heard the woman but didn't respond in anyway but holding up his hand. His rider had yet to enter the wooded portion of the course. Once the rider veered away into the trees Trey slowly turned his head and glanced at the young woman standing next to him. "I left a messenge on your machine the yesterday. I was hoping that you would have called back before now."

Trey leaned against the fence as his rider emerged from the woods, hurtling towards the next jump. "I want to offer you the job. If you could come out next wednesday after your classes so I can see how you work around the farm, during feeding time, thats roughly 5:00. Depending on how you handle that, you'll get the job. There is also an offer of a room in the main house for you, if you take the job."

Trey watched as his rider and horse slid to a stop. "In fact, lets go see how you handle a horse," he said while pushing away from the fence. Once they reached the cool down area, Trey stopped and pointed at the sorrel mare being walked by a rider in black and red colors. "Isabella, meet LightFoot and Judy. Why don't you go on over, introduce yourself and then take on over for Judy. They are done for the day so I want you to finish her cool down and then take her back to the trailer, untack, groom and blanket her. Judy will show you the trailer. And I'll be following along."

[Maira]

Scolding herself for seeming rude and impatient, Bella watched the rider until she dissappeared into the forested part of the course. Figuring that was the break the man was waiting for, she turned back to him and saw him do the same. When he started talking Bella couldn't help but flinch. His message on her machine was probably the only important one out of the bunch that she'd deleted after the fiasco day before yesterday.

Her shoulders had barely begun to sag in defeat when Trey went on about how he'd wanted to offer her the job and when to come by for her "audition". She really wanted to bounce and do a happy little dance but that would have been totally unprofessional. Plus, surrounded by people as she was, it likely wouldn't have been a good idea right at that moment.

When Trey suggested they go see how she handled a horse right then and there, Bella's heart fluttered and she nodded enthusiastically. She didn't think he noticed though because he'd already pushed away from the fence and was walking to where the most recent competitor was cooling down her horse. Following on his heels, Bella looked where he pointed and smiled.

At his instructions she had to fight the ball of nerves that started to roil in her stomach. When she'd talked to him earlier she hadn't anticipated an impromptu interview. Not willing to let this opportunity slip through her fingers though, Bella nodded her understanding and slipped through the crowd, then the gate, and walked slowly over to the horse and rider Trey had indicated. When she reached the pair she stayed a safe distance away and said in a warm confident tone, "Hi Judy, my name is Bella and Trey told me to come take over for you with LightFoot. He said he wants to see how I handle a horse and that you'd show me the trailer to take her to once she's cooled down." When Judy nodded at her and held out the reigns, Bella walked forward the last few steps and took them gently from her.

Once she had replaced Judy by LightFoot's side, Bella held up her hand for the mare to sniff and waited until she turned her attention away from the proffered hand. Once she did, Bella checked and loosened the girth of the saddle and felt her down. She didn't find any lumps or hot spots so she continued to walk the mare until she was cooled off enough.

When they were ready, Judy did indeed lead them to the trailer that sported Trey's farm's logo and tying LightFoot to the side she went about untacking her and grooming her. Before wrapping the mare's legs for travel, Bella felt her down one more time and frowned. The right foreleg was a little warm below the knee. She hadn't felt it before because the mare was still hot. Looking curiously at Trey she asked, "Her leg is warm but it doesn't feel like a new injury did you know this was here?" As she asked, she kept her hand on the spot that had her confused.

[Demeter]

Trey watched as Isabella went through the actions of caring for the animals. When she spotted the injury, Trey smirked. LightFoot may have only been 4 years old but she'd belonged to a particually corrupt race horse mogal before coming into his possession. He'd since discovered that the mare was more fit for eventing then just running. "I've always know about that. She was a race horse prior to teaching young kids how to jump fences. Belonged to a man who didn't care if he ran his horses into the ground. Bought her at an action when she was a two year old. That man ruined her fast."

Trey continued to watch as Isabella treated the flare up and patted the horse on her withers. "What do you think, Light, should we let the lady come to the farm for a second audition. See how she handles being around Khan?" When the mare nudged him, presumably in search of treats, Trey laughed and looked around her side to Isabella. "Wednesday, be out at the farm by 4:45. If you can handle feeding time then we will talk some more. I've got more riders to go watch and then critizise."

Trey waved to the woman after handing over one of the business cards he kept on the trailer's truck, which had directions to the farm printed on the back. He wandered back towards the fence leaned against it and watched as various riders sprinted around the course. If Isabella could even handle being around Khan, a horse who rarely liked anyone else besides Trey, then the girl would have a job and a room in the main house if she wanted it.

[Maira]

Bella nodded at first Trey's explanation of LightFoot's injury and then to his instructions on when she was to go out to the farm for a further interview of sorts. If she managed to survive feeding time she figured she might have half a chance at a job. As Trey turned around to go watch his students, Bella smiled and called out to him, "I'll be there!"

*****

Considering she lived on campus and Trey's farm was a ways out in the country, Bella had to hurry from her last class to arrive by 4:45pm. When she pulled onto the long gravel lane that led to the main part of the farm, Bella looked at her car radio's clock and sighed with relief, she was actually 10 minutes early.

When she pulled up at the main barn and house, Bella parked in one of the open spots by a horse trailer and then climbed out of the car. She could see Trey off working with some kids in an outdoor arena and she couldn't help but smile. These children and their motley group of horses and ponies were deffinately not his Olympic hopefuls that he was training. In fact, to her they looked like nothing more than a bunch of neighbor kids come to play on Mister Trey's farm for the day. The way he interacted with them was so cute that Bella couldn't help but laugh a little as she saw him make a funny face and order the kids to dismount.

Once his attention was off of the children for half a second, Bella waved at him from where she'd leaned against the fence and waited for him to come direct her in the feeding time routine. As she waited, Bella heard the sounds of puppies barking and growling and playing and she couldn't help but wander off in search of them since she knew that Trey would have a few more minutes at least with the children.

What she found melted Bella's heart and she had to fight her urges to enter the kennel and let herself get mauled by a rolly-polly squirming bunch of Great Dane puppies. It had been a while since Bella had last seen her two Great Danes and she had a sudden surge of homesickness.

[Demeter]

Trey noticed when his prospective employee showed up at the fence. He also noticed when she wandered towards the nearest stable. There was nothing to worry about because there wasn’t anyone in the boarding and schooling barn that could hurt her. After he finished teaching the beginnings class and sent his students into the stable to untack and groom their mounts, Trey hunted Bella down.

He found her beneath a pile of wriggling Great Dane puppies. He leaned against the stall’s half door and watched as she wrestled with them. He was fostering the pups for the city’s humane society. They’d been weaned and Mom had been adopted a week ago. She was enjoying a nice, relaxing vacation on his couch as he’d been the one to fill out the paperwork. Most of the puppies already had holds but a few were still available.

After freeing the young woman from the puppy pile, Trey gave her a tour of the stable. The boarding and schooling stable was large; it could house up to 80 horses with ease. And he made a lovely profit as over half of those stalls were filling by paying customers. Some he’d set aside for the horses and other animals the humane society asked him to house and the others were used by the horses he kept for his lessons. Trey showed Bella the wash stall, tack room, office and the break room before taking her up a flight of stairs. “We have three arenas here at Three Willows. The outdoor arena that you saw in use, a covered outdoor arena and the indoor one attached to this stable. When we hold lessons in the indoor, the parents can come up here and watch,” he said while unlocking the door.

He flicked on the lights and let Bella enter first. The room ran the width of the arena and had a small snack bar stocked with water and juice. There were cushy chairs placed before the windows that allowed a view into the arena. “We have a new program for handicapped and disabled people that we are working on. It could take several more months before we finished working everything out but if the program gets going, you’d be expected to help out if a class happens during your shift.”

Trey tapped a knuckle against a window, drawing Bella’s attention to the people and horses in the arena. “My head trainer, Gabe, and my niece are currently evaluating the schooling mounts we have to see how many are suitable for the class. Essence, my niece, has a physical handicap so she’s the one riding.”

Trey turned to the window and watched as Essence circled the ring on a young gelding. Gabe stood in the center of the arena and lounging in a corner was Essence’s Dragon Dance. Like all members of the family, Essence was a competent rider who’d been given her own mount at age sixteen. Now, as she went some intensive rehab, she was spending more tome riding. And it was watching Essence and Dance work together that had inspired Trey to start thinking about a training program.

He half turned to Bella. “My niece was injured a few months ago. You may have heard about it; Ballerina stuck by a car and shot five times. No one thought she would walk again but she’s doing it. She moved out here to heal, and get away from her mother. He doctor thought that adding horseback riding to her routine was a good idea except her left leg is still very weak and the range of motion in the right is very poor. We trained her horse, the one that’s hanging out in the corner of the arena, to lie down to allow Essence to mount. Essence volunteered, and I agreed, that she should test ride the horses for the program. With her physical limitations, she gets a better sense about the horse. Gabe and myself, we can make determinations about the horse’s personality and if it is sound but we’d fall back on instinct if a horse does something unexpected and, since we aren’t handicapped, we could handle it with ease.”

***

Down in the arena, Essence was focused on the gelding. He’d dumped her four times now and she wasn’t about to go down a fifth time if she could help it. She signaled to Gabe and the trainer flapped a piece of cloth. Like the four times before, the gelding spooked and swept around the corner. Like the times before, Essence tightened the muscles in her legs and, like earlier, the left leg gave halfway through the turn. With a yelp, she slid out of the saddle. She rolled when she hit the ground and just remained there, flat on her back.

In the center of the ring, Gabe sighed. After the first blistering set down he’d gotten a few weeks ago, he knew better than to help the woman up. Instead of watching her try to get up, Gabe turned to the gelding. He sighed again as Dance chased the gelding across the arena. “Thank you very much,” he said as the mare trotted past him.

Essence sat in the dirt, cursing. She’d gotten up right but her left leg was giving out every time she put weight on it; a sure sign that she’d overworked the leg. She thumped a fist down and looked up as Dance stopped in front of her. The mare lowered her head and nudged Essence’s shoulder. She scratched the mare’s chin before curling her fingers around the cheekbands of the leather halter. Between the two of them, Essence gained her feet. Leaning against Dance’s shoulder, she waved at Gabe. “That’s enough for today,” she said. “He won’t make a good therapy horse if he keeps spooking like that.”

Gabe nodded in agreement and watched as Dance refused to let her rider walk out of the arena on her own legs. Every time Essence tried to move forward, Dance would block her. He grinned when Essence threw up her hands, muttering about stubborn horses. Dance lowered herself to the ground and he watched as Essence gripped her mane and swung a leg over her back. The mare gained her feet and walked towards the entrance. Gabe, holding onto the gelding’s reins, followed them out.

Essence ducked her head when they went through the entryway. She glanced to her left and waved at her uncle. She tilted her head to the left and blinked at the woman with green hair coming down the stairs behind her uncle. “Hey, Uncle Trey, I’m being escorted to the big house by Dance but I think I’m going to need Gabe’s help to get into the house. You think you can handle Frankenstein over there.”

Trey took the reins of the gelding, dubbed Frankenstein, from Gabe. “I got it covered. He turned to Bella and handed her the reins. “I don’t do traditional interviews; they are more practical and I’ve got a couple of things for you. I want you to untack, cool and stable Frankenstein here. After that, let’s see how you handle feeding time by taking care of stalls 1 to 10. I’ll help out with locations and anything you can’t reach. If you complete that to my satisfaction, we’ll head over to the stallion stable and repeat the process. I want to see how you handle the big boys.”

[Maira]

Bella had watched the painful sight in the arena, cringing every time the woman's leg gave out on her. She couldn't imagine going from prima ballerina to that, what it must have done to the woman emotionally was hard to even wrap her mind around. When Trey started down to the arena and handed her Frankenstein with directions on her working interview, Bella nodded understanding. None of the things he'd listed for her to do were outside her scope of skills she already had and she handled them with ease. It took her no time at all to get Frankenstein taken care of and feed stalls 1 through 10 (once she figured out where those stalls were and what everybody got fed). When she was finished, she found Trey and he took her over to the stallion stable.

Immediately upon entering the stallion stable, Bella felt a shift in atmostphere. The horses at the other stable were all relatively mellow, laid-back, typical horses. Something about the "big boys", as Trey called them, was noticably different. She couldn't help but stop just inside the doorway to the stable, she had to let both her eyesight and her nerves adjust to her new surroundings. "So, Trey, exactly what kind of horses are these? They aren't exactly your everyday common horses are they?" Bella asked curiously. She had no idea what made these stallions different from the other horses, but she had the strange feeling that they were just more -aware- than the others. She also had a feeling that Trey would appreciate that she was even able to notice the difference about these horses even if she didn't know what that difference was exactly.

Once her sight had adjusted to the dimmer interior of the stable, Bella slowly walked down the center aisle peering into the various stalls. She came to one stall with a padlock on its door, rather than just the normal sliding lock like on the rest and she raised an eyebrow curiously. Just as she was turning to ask about the padlock, a big black head poked out over the half door of the stall and stretched toward her. Bella had the distinct impression that the stallion was looking for treats and she couldn't help but laugh. With a smile still turning up the corners of her mouth, Bella turned towards Trey and asked, "He seems friendly enough, so why the padlock on his stall?"

[Demeter]

Trey grinned at his prospective employee. "These are not normal horses. I wouldn't have even considered you for this job if you weren't, well, you. These are hell horses, Bella, and they shouldn't not be taken lightly," he said. He stepped forward and held out a hand to the stallion in the nearest stall. "This is Shakhan; one of our oldest companions. He's reached an age where he has the ability to have a telepathic bond with his rider, my sister Nerissa. They are our friends and companions."

He let Bella wander the stalls, grinning again when she met Legacy. "He's an atypical Hell Horse. He's friendly and sweet and has no killer insticts. He's only two right now but we'll probably use him as a stud for our "general public" horses," Trey said while walking to the stall. He flicked the padlock with his fingers before pointing at the key hanging from a nail. "As for the lock, so far, he can't get that open. He's a regular Houdini at opening doors, stalls, and gates."

Once he was sure Bella was ready, Trey showed her the feed room for the stallion barn. "Same deal as before except for number two. You'll prepare that one's meal but I'll take it into the stall. I'm the only one who should handle Shadow of Shakhan, otherwise known as Khan. I generally take care of him all by myself because he does have a strong killer instict and no control to know better."

Trey watched as Bella completed the evening feeding. When Legacy's stall again locked, he turned and held out his hand to the woman. "Well, Bella, the job is yours if you want it. Why don't we step into my office and we can discuss a schedule that works with your schooling."

***

On Monday afternoon, Essence sat in her uncle's barn office, her bad leg propped up on a stool while she updated the stable's website. She was posting pictures of the farms newest filly, Shakhan's Shadow Dancer. She was idly passing time, waiting for the new farmhand to show up and full out some forms. Since she'd been forbidden from doing anything physical, office chores were an excellent waste of her time.

When the new girl finally found her way to the office, Essence waved her in. "Please, forgive me but I'm under orders to remain seated. I didn't introduce myself the other day. I'm Essence Deluge."

After all the paperwork had been filled out, she went over Bella's schedule with her again, along with what duties she'd been assigned. In addition to being permentatly assigned to stalls one through ten in the schooling barn, Bella had been assigned to help with the handicapped program and whatever odd jobs needed to be done.

Just as they were finishing up, Trey's voice cracked over the office walkie-talkie, asking for her to send someone over to the schooling barn to ready the stalls reserved for animals coming from the humane society. Essence grinned at Bella and bent over to rifle through desk drawer. She handed over a stack of papers. "Guidelines for how the humane society wants the stalls done. Go ahead and take a walkie-talkie, channel 3. Make sure you have one whenever you are on the property. Trey will meet you at the stable to help out.

[Maira]

Trey's explanation about the Hell Horses had Bella's eyes widening in shock. She had heard rumor's of the immortal "Custos" horses before but they were only tall tales. Or so she'd thought. Feeling more than a little honored to be allowed in the presence of such special creatures, she continued to listen to Trey and the instructions he gave, especially about Khan. When she was finished with her second round of feeding and she had re-locked Legacy's stall, Trey held out his hand to her and offered her the job. Bella couldn't help but be excited and when he suggested they go figure out a schedule for her, she happily nodded and followed him to the office.

*****

The following Monday, Bella headed over to the farm to fill out her paperwork and start work for Trey. She had been told to head straight to the office and she had expected to find Trey in there, not his niece. Not fazed, Bella smiled at the other girl and held out her hand when Essence introduced herself. "Its nice to meet you Essence, I'm Bella."

It didn't take her long to fill out the required paperwork and then she found out just what her actual job description was. She was happy to be working in the schooling barn, but she especially happy to work with the therapy program. She'd heard such good things about other programs that she was curious to see how one actually operated.

About the time they wrapped up, a walkie-talkie she hadn't seen sitting on the desk started talking and Bella listened as Trey (she guessed) asked for somebody to be sent over to the schooling barn to help get stalls ready for horses coming in from the humane society. Bella's next set of instructions, and a packet of papers, came from Essence as she was sent on her way with a walkie-talkie of her own.

It didn't take her long to reach the schooling barn and she was surprised that she had beaten Trey there. So while she waited she started skimming the documents Essence had given her so she could get an idea of what needed to be done to whichever stalls Trey told her to set up.

[Demeter]

Trey stood back and watched as Bella piled on the hay in the stalls meant for the rescue horses. "The shelter doesn't have the room or resources to care for long term residents. The five horses coming to us haven't been abused, per say, but they have suffered from long term neglect. First, they need to get healthy and then they need to become reacquainted with human kindness.

Trey kept Bella on hand when the rescue people pulled up with their trailer, followed by the vet. It was a team effort but eventually all five horses had been stabled and evaluated. After Trey had signed the paperwork, he handed the animals paperwork to Bella. "Can you take those over to Essence for her to file. Go ahead and take a break, after that, and then report to Gabe. He'll show you which horses have been selected for the handicapped program and what steps need to be taken for training."

In the office, Essence took the files from Bella. She flipped through them, murmuring about the poor babies. She smiled up at Bella. "But they are in a better place now, aren't they? Go ahead and sit down, Bella. We certainly didn't mean to run you off your feet on the first day."

Once Bella was sitting down, Essence scooted her chair around the desk. "So, why don't you tell me about yourself? What do you do for fun," she motioned at her leg, "and is it something a gimp can do?"