Chris was walking back towards the barn with Bella when the jingle of the harnesses caught his attention. He looked up and saw Eddie, with his crew, walking down the aisle between barns towards the big outdoor arena. Eddie pulled the team to a stop beside where Chris had Bella. Bella was wide-eyed and blowing nostrils at the unfamiliar situation. She'd never seen a horse-drawn carriage of any kind before.
"Yeah, that's quite the rig, isn't it?" Chris commented to Bella. "It's okay, though, they're just horses."
"We can stand here a while, let her get used to what she's lookin at." Eddie smiled at Chris. "Chris, this is Priyani and Mike, my grooms."
"Pleased to meet you," Chris said politely. "I've never seen all four of them close up. It's really impressive." Chris admitted. "I'm almost as nonplussed as Bella."
Eddie looked down the lines towards his team and then back to Chris. "I see it so much that I forget that part."
Chris examined the harness and the lines. "How can you tell what your horses are thinking if you're that far away from them?"
"The lines, their ears, the tension in their bodies, how smooth the cart is tracking, how even the beats of their hooves sound." Eddie smiled. "It just takes practice. Driving four means you have four horses talking to you through your two hands."
"It's actually pretty damned hard," Priyani said dryly, cutting her eyes at Eddie. "At least be honest about it, Eddie."
"I imagine," Chris said. Bella had calmed slightly, eyeing each of the four one at a time. "I wouldn't really know. I've never ridden in a carriage, much less driven one."
"I'd be happy to take you for a little ride. We're just going to practice cones in the arena. Come 'round after you get Bella put up if you want." Eddie smiled.
"I just might take you up on that, if it's not imposing," Chris said. "C'mon, Bella, let's get you put away for the morning. Scot can get a reprieve while I watch Eddie train." With a smile, he walked Bella into the barn to untack her and turn her out.
He showed up about twenty minutes later and stood watching Eddie and his team do cones. More than interested, he looked fairly mesmerized by the process.
Eddie had all four horses in a fast working trot and was negotiating a series of narrow gates made with cones and balls. The team barely slowed through twists and turns as Eddie negotiated the course. After a few minutes, when the team came along the long edge of the arena where Chris was standing, Eddie slowed them and called whoa.
"Fancy a spin?" Eddie said to Chris, "I promise not to do anything too excessive."
"Don't believe him," Mike said from the end step.
Chris grinned at Mike before swinging himself over the arena fence. "I'll take my chances. How do you climb up into that thing?"
Mike hopped down off the back of the cart and showed Chris how to negotiate his way up beside Eddie on the bench. "Put your foot here, then here, then turn and let your butt settle easy into the seat."
Chris followed his instructions. "There, that wasn't so hard." He smiled at Eddie. "Hello."
"Hello," Eddie grinned. "You ready?"
Chris nodded eagerly.
"Walk on," Eddie called to the horses as he gathered the lines in his fingers. Chris watched and wondered how he could keep that many strips of leather straight. Two reins were hard enough.
"Hold on," Priyani said quietly into Chris ear from her spot behind him. "He likes to show off." Chris clutched the bench.
"Trot on!" Eddie called and sent the team slowly up and into a working trot. He didn't do any twists and turns, but he did keep them moving through two entire circuits of the arena, before calling them back down to a walk.
"Whoo," Chris exulted. "That's fast. I like the sound the harness makes when it jingles."
"Aye, me too." Eddie grinned, finally calling "Whoa" and halting the horses right where they'd picked Chris up.
"I'm assuming that down is the opposite of up," Chris said, and clambered down with a modest amount of grace. "Thanks for the ride, Eddie. I enjoyed it." Chris's face was more animated than Eddie had ever seen it.
"Glad to," Eddie smiled and nodded to Chris. "I'm happy you enjoyed it. Be careful; driving gets into your soul."
"That's the gods honest truth," Both Priyani and Mike echoed each other.
"I'd better watch myself, before I find myself with a team of my own," Chris joked.
"You laugh, but it could happen," Priyani muttered.
Eddie caught something in her tone and turned to look at her. She blinked large dark eyes and kept her mouth shut. Mike arched a brow and looked at Eddie, then at Priyani.
"Pay attention to your team, Eddie." Priyani said, motioning towards the horses.
"Hmph," Eddie said and turned back towards the front.
Chris walked back to the barn to get Scot ready to ride, wondering if the gelding would like to learn how to drive.
(863 words)