The truth is, I hate being cold and I hate being wet, so it didn’t surprise me to discover that Zen did, too. I found him in the stables, which were at the end of the tack shed, next to the undercover arena. Bravo, Dawn, Pippa and Spirit were bunched down the other end, huddled together for warmth, but Zen was standing alone, cosy and snug in his corner, nibbling at the remains of a net of hay.
“Hey Zen,” I whispered, resting my forehead against his neck. The warmth of his skin and the slightly rough feeling of his mane, the rippling muscles in his shoulders and the sheer size of him comforted me. I took a deep breath and then another, feeling all the upset of the afternoon drain away. I felt so warm and complete in here, as though this could be the whole world and I could be happy here forever, just me and Zen and the horses.
“Well, I have work to do,” I said finally. I opened the gate into the arena and started folding up the rugs and putting away the grooming tools from the class Shannon had held earlier that afternoon, and after a little while Zen followed me. As I threw a currycomb into the bucket he sniffed at it, and as I raked the dirt smooth he walked behind and slightly off to the side, following me. Every time I took a step forwards with my rake, he followed, coming close and nosing it, or pretending to be startled and throwing up his head. Soon the two of us were taking turns pretending to charge one another, or back up, in a kind of exaggerated game of attack and defend. I still felt upset about Kai, but somehow it felt like a distant thing now. In this moment, with the rain thrumming down, the horses nickering and sighing in their stables and my own beautiful pony playing with me, none of it seemed so bad.
If only I had some friends. If only Kai wasn’t the only real human friend I had – Kai, who wasn’t even my friend any more. If only Lesley and Ash wanted to come to Pocket of Dreams sometimes.
“It’s not that you’re not my best friend,” I said to Zen. “You are and I feel very lucky about that. It’s just that it looks like you’re going to be my one and only.”
I looked at Zen and he looked at me. He pushed his nose against my arm and blinked at me, encouraging me to start playing again. And that’s when I had my brilliant idea. Or ideas, rather. Because, all at once, I had three of them.