Walker and Sumo got dressed quickly.
‘Just another minute, Charlie,’ Sumo called to her as he zipped his fly.
‘Take your time,’ she said from inside the small room. I explained we were all spending the day riding Jimbo’s horses.
Johnny J was really excited. ‘I love horses. I mean, I’ve never actually been on a horse, but I really love them,’ he said. Then he furrowed his brow. ‘But what about all the jobs?’
‘Jimbo wants us to ride horses.’
‘Jimbo’s the best,’ Johnny J said, and he jumped up and down in the caravan, shouting out to the others, ‘We’re going horse riding!’
Walker shook his inhaler. ‘Oh, brilliant! Horses! My favourite!’ He was being sarcastic.
‘Are they really your favourite?’ Sumo said.
‘I’ll give you one guess.’
‘No,’ Sumo said, as Walker opened his antihistamine pills and took one. ‘I’m too big for horses.’
‘Why do you say that?’ Charlie asked.
‘I’m too big for everything,’ he said, and everyone laughed.
After Jimbo and I worked together to feed Charlie and the boys bacon toasties, Jimbo made a call and a man called Brennan arrived up at the house in a tractor and trailer. Jimbo got himself up onto the tractor with ease and told the rest of us to hop on board. Johnny J helped Charlie up and she let him, even though she didn’t really need his help. Sumo helped Walker up. I was last in. I was happy to be there with my smiling friends. I didn’t dare think about the days that would follow.
Brennan turned to face us. ‘Do you like music, kids?’
‘Yeah,’ Charlie said.
‘Good.’ He turned on his radio and suddenly we were being blasted with AC/DC’s ‘That’s the Way I Wanna Rock ’n’ Roll’. Sumo headbanged. Walker held his glasses to his sore nose and joined in every now and again until he complained of neck ache.
Jimbo’s farm was huge. He may have owned half of Wexford. It just went on and on for what seemed like forever. Then we caught the first glance of the stables, and Betty Bloomers was waiting for us, surrounded by horses. She wasn’t in a skirt or bloomers; instead she was wearing a riding hat, jodhpurs and a jacket. She looked cool.
‘There you are, kids,’ she said. She pointed to the ponies in the enclosure behind her. ‘Let’s get these beauties tacked up and you riding.’
When Betty took a good look at Walker, she turned to a tall, thin man with a moustache. ‘Barry, we’re going to need a box for this one.’ Then she took a look at Sumo. ‘And a bigger ride for this one.’
‘No problem, Betty, a box and Freda coming up.’
‘Freda? Do you think he’ll be all right on Freda?’ she said, and Barry looked Sumo up and down and thought about it.
‘Ah he’ll be fine, won’t you, lad?’
‘I dunno,’ Sumo said.
It turns out that the lonely blind farmer who needed kids to feed his animals and fix his fence wasn’t so lonely at all. He had six men working for him and three teenagers who mucked out the stables and a woman named Jessie who ran the office. She popped over just as Barry arrived with Freda.
‘So you are the temporary staff Jimbo roped in?’
‘Yeah,’ I said.
‘Well, you gave Barry here a break from milking cows and feeding hens,’ Jessie said.
‘Much obliged,’ Barry said.
‘And no one likes fixing that old fence,’ Jessie said.
I could see why. I still had blisters.
‘So if you kids are ever looking for a job on a farm, you come see me,’ she said. Then she took Jimbo by the arm.
‘Really?’ Sumo said.
‘Yeah, really. Enjoy, kids,’ he said, and they both walked toward the office beyond the arena.
‘Ah brilliant. I’m deffo coming back,’ Sumo said, and we were all shocked. I’d never thought of Sumo on a farm. Then again I hadn’t really thought of Sumo doing anything other than just being Sumo.
I was given a pony called Juniper. She was chestnut brown and she liked to stamp her feet. It made me nervous, but Betty rubbed her back and she settled.
‘She’s a pet, our Juniper,’ she said. ‘Now hop on.’
It was no trouble at all getting on Juniper.
Once I was on, Betty patted my back. ‘Well done, Dave,’ she said, and she winked at me. She knew I wasn’t Dave. She knew everything. That’s why she was being so nice.
I looked over at Johnny J. He was on a pony called Bruno. He was petting him and smiling and Barry was showing him how to hang his leg down so he could fix the stirrup so that it was in line with his ankle. He was happy. Give him one more day, I heard Jimbo say in my head. One more day. My stirrup was already in line with my ankle.
Walker was still trying to hop on his pony called Frank. He was sweating and wheezing already. ‘Yeah, I don’t know if this is a good idea,’ he said, but he kept trying anyway.
‘Sit up nice and straight before you put your feet in the stirrups,’ Betty said to me, and I straightened up.
‘Like this?’
‘Exactly like that.’
I shoved my feet in the stirrups and Juniper lifted her front leg and neighed. Betty rubbed her on her side. ‘There’s a good girl.’
I rubbed her neck. ‘Good, Juniper, good,’ I said, and Betty grinned and nodded her approval. Juniper dropped her front leg and shook her head. Betty handed me the reins.
‘Hold them gently and squeeze with your legs.’
I squeezed really tight.
‘Now don’t kick too hard, or you might end up the other side of that fence.’ Betty pointed to a fence far away in the distance. I stopped squeezing so hard.
Sumo appeared from the stables on Freda. Barry was holding the reins and leading him. Freda was huge. Sumo was still wearing his Wookie mask – we’d all grown used to it and Betty and Barry didn’t mention it. He was so excited, and a Wookie on a horse looked so cool.
‘I’m on her, lads. I’m on her and she’s grand. Look at her!’
Charlie was on a pony called Racer. She was rubbing Racer’s ears and whispering sweet things to her. You could already tell Racer and Charlie liked one another. At least that’s how it appeared to me.
‘Grip with the legs. I don’t want to see air between your knee and the saddle.’
I did what I was told.
‘And keep your heel down.’
‘OK.’
We all started walking. Walker looked really wobbly.
‘If you feel wobbly, hold on to Frank’s mane.’
Betty mounted her horse Ginger with great ease. Barry mounted one called Loopy and they walked either side of us.
Betty did all the talking. Sumo and Johnny J were bouncing up and down like bouncing balls.
‘When walking, sit into the saddle and go with the rhythm. That way you avoid bouncing. You see, like Dave and Brittany here.’
Charlie and I shared a smile. Johnny J worked hard to stop bouncing. Sumo kept on bouncing. Walker lay forward on Frank, holding on to his mane and resting his head on his neck.
‘It’s really better if you sit up and hold the reins.’
‘I’m fine, thanks,’ he said, and Betty laughed.
‘No trotting for you then?’
‘No. I’m fine like this.’ He didn’t look at all fine.
We walked for a while until Betty felt we were ready to trot.
‘Moving to trot, count one, two in your head. Up on one, and sit into the saddle for two.’ I tried to do what Betty had said, and she nodded. ‘Nice. Keep doing exactly that.’
I rubbed Juniper’s neck. I was telling her what a good girl she was, when out of nowhere Freda broke into a proper fast gallop. Betty shouted at Sumo to pull the rein left. He tried but he failed. Freda ran like she was looking to gain first place in a race.
Sumo was screaming, ‘Oh me, oh my, oh me, oh my …’fn1
Betty set off after him, but Freda was fast. Sumo let go of the reins and hung on to her neck. They were fast approaching the fence. I couldn’t hear what Sumo was saying, he was too far ahead, but I guessed it was still, ‘Oh me, oh my …’ and that maybe he was crying. I definitely would have been crying.
Charlie, Walker, Johnny J and I just sat still on our ponies. Barry stayed with us while Betty followed Sumo, then we saw Freda soar over the fence, with Sumo hanging on tight and he fell to the side of her and Charlie gasped, but then he shot back up and clung on to her neck again. Betty and Ginger jumped the fence easily and followed the mad Freda and they all rode off until we couldn’t see them any more.
‘Don’t worry, kids – Betty will sort it,’ Barry said, but he looked worried.
‘Get me off this thing now,’ Walker said, and Barry lifted him down.
We trotted back to the stables, Walker took his pony by the reins and walked beside it. Barry showed us how to brush and feed the ponies. Juniper loved to be brushed and it was fun, but I was concerned that we’d never see Sumo again. I heard him before I saw him.
‘Best time ever!’ he was shouting.
‘Well, it’s not something I’d like to see repeated,’ Betty said.
‘Did you see how fast I went?’
‘I saw,’ she said. ‘I was there.’
We all came out of our stables and there he was with his mask in his hand and covered head to toe in horse poo.
‘I eventually fell off, well, one leg got stuck in a stirrup and Freda dragged me in some poo, but we cleared three fences before that happened!’ He was grinning, with horse poo all over his purple face.
‘You enjoyed that?’ I asked.
‘Enjoyed it! I loved it. I’m going to be a jockey when I grow up,’ he said, and Betty looked at the size of him and shook her head from side to side.
‘Not a jockey, lad, but we’ll find something for you.’
‘Really? Cos I’m coming back. I swear I am. BEST DAY EVER!’
Johnny J was laughing hard at the poo-covered happy Sumo and so were Walker and Charlie. I smiled, but it was hard to laugh, knowing what lay ahead.