Early Birds (Sepia)

[sepia]

Well, ask the questions, get the answers, he supposed. And that went some way towards explaining Cara's way of living her life, but not all. There was clearly more she wasn't telling him - though perhaps not the best conversationalist, Lee could read body language and all that was unspoken well, perhaps why he got on so well with horses - and he wasn't entirely sure whether Cara was wanting him to probe deeper, or back off. Oh, people could be so complicated, sometimes.

Going with his instincts, he said, simply, "That is tough." Though his words were simple and perhaps not obviously sympathetic, the tone he spoke in said, quite clearly, that he entirely understood and sympathised with how it felt to loose one's parents. Perhaps only his father had died, but in that instant he'd essentially lost any connection he had with his mother, too, so he knew what that felt like. However, it appeared he had, at least, had the luxury of a childhood with his parents, and was of the age now that he could - partially - have control over his own life.

Taking a gamble, then, ventured, "I take it there is someone who tends to call the shots in your life, then, who perhaps doesn't have your best interests at heart?" It wasn't that hard to guess, from what she'd said already, but whether Cara would want to say anything was an entirely different matter. He thought, though, that he'd given her a way out: she could just say yes without revealing anything more, if she didn't want to. And, too, he hoped the fact that he was motivated by genuine concern and interest in Cara herself - rather than whatever gossip he could gain from this - would help.

He wanted to understand this girl both because she fascinated him, but also because he suspected that she might well need someone, even if she denied it to herself vehemently, to lean on, sometimes, to deal with her life. And, somehow in the past hour or so, Lee had come to the conclusion that if she decided she needed a... 'big brother', of sorts, in her life, he could do that. He missed his younger brother, after all, and would be more than happy to take up that role with someone else, and Cara gave off the impression that she might well need someone like that. Not, of course, that he'd push her or be particularly obvious about his thoughts: he just wasn't that kind of person. He was the sort who preferred to speak through actions, rather than words, and who preferred to let people come to him rather than vice-versa.

[Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω]

Cara shrugged at his comment about it being tough. Her life was what she knew it, and she'd never known it be be any different.

"I take it there is someone who tends to call the shots in your life, then, who perhaps doesn't have your best interests at heart?"

Cara glanced over at Lee at a loss for words. She had been trained in how to answer any question that would be given to her. This question however threw her. "Um..." She reined Phoenix in and asked the mare to take a few steps backward before asking her to move forward again. "I don't know how I should answer that." She finally said. With everything so finally scripted that when she had to ad-lib, she was stuck. The real answer to his question was yes, but saying that would be speaking out against Mr Andrews. The thought of upsetting the man in any way made her feel ill. "Yes, I do have someone who calls the shots for what I do and where I go. I am assured that he has my best interests in his mind when he makes these decisions for me." She gave a strained smile as she looked at Lee again,

[sepia]

Ah. This might well be the heart of the matter, Lee decided, as Cara seemed utterly at a loss for how to answer. He'd gotten the feeling that a lot of what she'd said before was almost... rehearsed, but now, he seemed to have managed to ask a question that she really didn't know how to answer. And all of that was very telling. Who was it, he wondered, who had the power to control Cara's life that way, and who obviously had her scared enough not to speak out against him?

"One hopes he does," Lee commented, tone incredibly neutral as Cara finally figured out how to answer without - presumably - going against any of her deeply ingrained instructions. Cassie, who up until now had been far calmer than when she'd first entered the arena, settled by doing some proper work, took this moment to see something out of the corner of her eye, and twisted herself around and across the sand in an attempt to get out of range.

Not at all sure precisely what Cassie had seen that she'd decided was scary, Lee brought her back to a walk, a little miffed that she'd lost her previous relaxed state, then began to ride her through some simple walk-halt-walk transitions to focus, and therefore relax, her again. It seemed to work, and he was soon able to turn his attention back to Cara.

"I hope," Lee said, carefully, considering his words before he spoke. "That this person decides to... let you be, here. Given the number of people I've met you've spoken highly of you, it would be a distinct shame if you found yourself having to leave." Somewhere in there was a hint of protectiveness, though, really, Lee suspected that whatever force Cara was up against would have no problem squashing him flat.

[Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω]

Cara nodded. "Facile mon doux." Cara said as her mount tried to vanish from under her.

Phoenix had caught the other mare's sudden fear and her ears were flat as she took off across the arena, throwing in a couple of good sized bucks.

Cara sat deep as she rode through her mare's gymnastics routine, gently speaking to the mare the entire time so that she knew she wasn't alone. "There's a good girl." She soothed as the mare settled back to a choppy trot and then finally dropped back to a walk. As much as she wanted to, she now knew that she could never have Phoenix as her competition mount. The mare's mind was too scarred from her past that she was a flight risk. She had the mare do some leg-yields and a couple of circles until she was sure that Phoenix was once again safely between her legs and was once again calm.

"That this person decides to... let you be, here. Given the number of people I've met you've spoken highly of you, it would be a distinct shame if you found yourself having to leave."

She looked at Lee with an astonished expression, she didn't know that many here knew her name let alone spoke highly about her. "I can never guarantee how long I'll stay in any one place." She shrugged. "It's best for me if I keep out of the spotlight." She had been doing really well as a past school, until she had managed to get herself in the local paper a couple of times.

[sepia]

Feeling that Cassie was tempted to follow Phoenix's example, Lee occupied her mind with some lateral work, not wanting to loose everything he'd been working up to. He'd have to think about taking Cassie back in, soon; he did have other horses to ride and other jobs to do, after all, but for the moment, at least, he thought he could spare the time. He thought he was getting somewhere with Cara - maybe, anyway, given his usual success for connecting to people, and his unwillingness to be overly obvious about his intentions to befriend Cara and perhaps provide a supporting shoulder. Or, actually, his unwillingness to be particularly overly obvious about any of his intentions, beyond ones related to horses and work - and didn't want to abandon this effort quite yet.

"I think people here," the thought 'including me' was unspoken, but there, "Might have something to say about you getting dragged off elsewhere. Whether that would actually help you, I'm not sure." He halted Cassie, eyes still staring thoughtfully at Cara. "But I think you will find that you have more friends - and people that respect you - than you think you do."

[Ω-Admin-Cara-Ω]

Cara bowed her head in acknowledgment to Lee's words. "As much as I would hate to have my life once again torn up and thrown into the wind, I really have no choice of where I am at any given moment. I am just lucky enough that Father made it clear in his will that I was not to attend public school and nothing would stand in the way of my education." She gave a slight shrug as she loosened the reins to allow her mare to stretch out as they began their cool down. "I have never had friends." She confessed, the word sounded strange on her lips. "At all my past schools I have always been so busy with team events, as well as academic and personal studies that I have never had time to make any close acquaintances. Even those on the equestrian team or gymnastics were my competition in the end." She shrugged slightly. "I'm not exactly your every-day typical teenager. Down time for me, is me finding a spare moment to sit in the tack room and give my saddle a thorough clean."

She asked Phoenix to halt. when the mare was standing square, the girl leaned down to the right and clicked her right fingers down by her ankle. "Très bon!" She praised the mare with a rub on her nose as she shifted her weight and turned her head so that her nose brushed the girl's boot. She did the same on the other side, giving the mare the same reward for doing as asked.

Sitting up straight, Cara swung her leg over the mare's back and landed lightly on the ground, grabbing a handful of mane to keep herself upright as she felt her knees buckle and her head swam a little. "Merci." She whispered as Phoenix protectively wrapped neck around her human. The girl silently counted to ten before she released the mane she was holding. "I am sorry for taking up so much of your time, Sir." She said. "Enjoy the rest of your day." Horse and handler walked to the arena gate side by side, not attached by anything.

[sepia]

"I've always found cleaning tack to be most relaxing," Lee commented, wryly, his usual rather sarcastic sense of humour kicking in before he turned serious again and addressed the majority of Cara's little speech. "You say you've never had friends, well... If you do need a friend - I would be highly honoured to be one for you." His tone was rather formal, betraying the fact that he'd never really made such an offer before, and wasn't really all that great at this whole friends thing himself, having never really managed to gain that ease of communicating with people that seemed to come naturally to some others, but very sincere, his words clearly heartfelt.

Watching as Cara dismounted, noting - as he always did - her movements around her hose and Phoenix's response to her actions, he shook his head at her words. "Don't be sorry. I enjoyed our conversation." You're a very interesting person, Cara, he thought but didn't say, and it doesn't do to sell yourself so short. "I'm sure we'll see each other around."

Leaving Cara a few moments to get away from the arena, suspecting that she wouldn't appreciate him chasing out after her, he stroked Cassie's shoulder, thoughtfully, pondering the fascinating enigma that was Cara. After a while, he shook his head, breaking himself out of his thoughts. However much she intrigued him, however much she felt she needed help, he had work to do - a great deal of work and not a great deal of time to do it in, so if he wanted a decent lunch-break and to be finished at a respectable hour, he'd better get to it. With that thought in mind, he swung by the gate of the arena, opening it while still mounted, then pointed Cassie towards the stables. Time to get down to business.