"This is a terrible idea and I can't believe I let you talk me into this," I said to Alec, shaking my head.

"Relax, nothing's going to happen. If you want to go out on your own in the woods, you need to learn how to jump fallen trees, otherwise, you'll be confined to the same area," he said.

"Maybe I want to stay in the same area!" I gripped onto the reins. "I just don't like the idea of being flung into the air on the back of a horse."

"This coming from the girl who climbed on top of a stable to repair the roof."

"Touché," I mumbled.

Alec laughed and I watched him move another plank of wood to add to the ever-growing pile of wood he wanted me to jump over. He had this great idea that I needed to learn how to jump potential obstacles that I might come across when out on Jigsaw. I didn't understand why I needed to learn how to jump them when I could just go around it wouldn't be a problem. Although I felt comfortable climbing on roofs, being flung around on the back of a horse didn't sound very fun.

Jonathan stood nearby just in case anything happened, which certainly didn't help to ease my anxiety, and I wanted to be anywhere but on the back of that horse. I tried to loosen my grip on the reins, but it didn't help me relax and only made my anxiety rise that little bit more. How anyone could think that jumping obstacles could be a fun experience, I didn't know. Even Alec seemed happy when he presented the idea to me but I think he's more excited about trying to humiliate me.

We had been working on my riding skills for a few weeks now, and I liked to think that I improved a lot. I had moved on from walking and trotting with Alec helping me come to grips to cantering. I had found all of that to be simple since there wasn't too big of a difference between them, but jumping was a whole other kettle of fish.

"Alright, that's about as high as a tree trunk is likely to be when one falls down. You're not going to jump over it just yet because that would be mean and I'm not a mean person. So, I'm going to set up some smaller obstacles that you can learn to walk over first. Jigsaw should do most of the work when it comes to jumping, but you want to go into a jump as straight as possible and that takes practice," Alec said.

"How do you know so much about jumping?"

"I've had a few accidents. Mainly when I was younger. I had taken Duchess out on my own and came across a fallen tree, I tried to jump it on my own and fell off. Took me a while to want to try it again so I built up to it using various different methods. This one worked out best."

"If farming doesn't work out, you could always teach children to ride, Alec," Jonathan said from the side of the paddock."

"It's been mentioned before Mr Goodwin, Dad thought it might be a good idea."

"So that makes me your first student. I feel honoured."

Alec laughed and ducked his head, but even that couldn't hide the blush rising in his cheeks at the compliment. Instead, he busied himself with moving some more planks of wood around the paddock so I could at least get used to going over objects. We had managed to avoid any obstacles when Alec took me to the clearing and the creak, but I knew that wouldn't last forever. Still, I preferred the idea of going around the obstacles rather than over them.

I watched Alec move the planks into place and chewed on the inside of my cheek. Even though two months had passed since Christmas, I had yet to thank him for not only coming up with the idea for the sign but also for the Christmas present. He appeared to want to talk about everything but the Christmas period which might explain why he had been so subtle with giving me the gift. He could have just handed it to me but instead decided to be all secretive about it.

Maybe he was just embarrassed about it. It also made me feel bad because I hadn't given him anything, all of my attention had been on finishing the sign in time. Getting a Christmas present for Alec had never crossed my mind.

"Alright, that should do," Alec said, "just take it slowly and trot over the planks, it will get you used to the movement."

"I still think this idea is crazy. I can just go around any fallen trees," I said.

"Here was me thinking you weren't afraid of anything." He raised an eyebrow at me.

I huffed. "I think being propelled into the air on the back of a horse with nothing but leather to hold onto can be labelled as a scary experience the first time around."

"So you weren't scared when you climbed onto a roof for the first time?" Jonathan asked.

"Terrified."

Jonathan laughed. "You'll be fine, Sybil. Take it one step at a time."

"Yes, one gigantic horse step at a time." Alec grinned.

"You're both really annoying."

I shook my head and squeezed Jigsaw's sides with my legs. He moved around the paddock until we came to the first plank of wood that Alec had placed on the ground. How difficult could walking over a plank of wood be?

This would be the easy part, that much I knew. It was the stacked planks of wood to resemble a fallen tree that scared me the most. I don't know what Alec was trying to accomplish when he said that he had fallen off Duchess once whilst trying to jump one, but it certainly didn't reassure me in the way that he wanted it to. The first time I tried to climb onto a roof, I thought I would put one step wrong and fall to my death, or at least injure myself. It didn't happen, but the fear still existed.

Just like Alec said, Jigsaw took the lead and walked over the wood like he had done it a thousand times in the past, which he probably had. If every obstacle were as small as the planks of wood, then there wouldn't be an issue. We did two loops of the circuit before coming to a stop next to Alec who had a stupid look on his face.

"What?" I said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Nothing." He smiled. "How was that?"

"That was the easy part."

"It was. Next step is a slight jump to get you used to the movement. Then we can move you onto the bigger one."

I grimaced, not like the sound of moving on to such a big jump so soon. "Do we have to do it all in one day?"

"We can leave the big jump if you want to, but the sooner you do it, the quicker you'll get used to it. You can't put it off forever."

"I can try."

"Just give it a shot, Sybil. Jigsaw will take the lead, he knows what he's doing and has done it countless times in the past. Think of it like riding a bicycle; easy when you know-how. Besides, if you can climb onto a roof, you can jump a horse over some planks of wood," Jonathan said.

"If you say so.

I readjusted my position on the saddle and watched Alec stack two planks of wood on top of each other to create a slight jump. Even though it looked intimidating and a whole manner of different things could go wrong, Jonathan had a point. The first time I climbed onto a roof I had been terrified, but the more I did it, the easier it became until I could scale a ladder and climb onto a roof without a second thought. I would have to take this the same way.

The more I did it, the easier it would become but I also knew the opposite to be true. If I kept putting it off, then I would never be able to do it and become stuck in a cycle of pushing the idea away. Dad always said that the best way to defeat a fear would be to face it head-on and that was what I intended to do. Even trotting around the paddock on Jigsaw could lead to an injury so the least I could do was give it ago.

Once Alec had set up a series of smaller jumps for me to tackle, he moved out of the way and went to stand next to the fence with Jonathan, the two of them staring at me. It didn't help my nervousness to dissipate and I wished I didn't have to have an audience, still, if they were watching then maybe nothing would go wrong.

I lined Jigsaw up with the jump, taking a deep breath and tightening and then relaxing my grip on the reins several times until I felt comfortable. Jigsaw stood still to allow me to shift my weight in the saddle a little more and take a breath to steady myself. A few seconds later, I squeezed my legs into Jigsaw's side to get him to start moving, following Alec's advice to take the jump at a trot rather than a canter. Jigsaw did just as expected and gave a small jump over the planks of wood.

With the first jump cleared, and feeling a little more comfortable, I took Jigsaw round the other two small jumps that Alec had created and with each one, I grew a little more confident in what I was doing.

"There you go! Easy," Alec said, stepping forward.

"I might have vomited in my mouth a little," I joked.

"That's disgusting." Alec laughed. "How did it feel?"

"Alright, Jigsaw did everything for me."

"Told you. Do you want to try the other one now, or wait a bit?"

Before I could answer, Barbara appeared at the edge of the fence. She had a cardigan wrapped around her arms to protect her from the cold. "It's lunchtime, or are none of you hungry?"

"In a minute? I want to at least try the bigger jump," I said.

"Atta girl. It'll be easy, just take your time." Jonathan smiled and nodded his head to reassure me, although Barbara didn't share his feelings.

"Isn't this a little too dangerous? She could always go around a fallen tree."

"It's more for confidence than anything else, Barb."

Alec walked over to the small jumps and shifted them out of the way to give me more access to the larger one. Compared to the other ones, this jump was high. It came to Alec's mid-thigh when he walked around it to make sure all of the planks were stacked right. This would be a big step up and I hoped Jigsaw would be able to clear it.

"Remember, focus on the place you want to land rather than looking down because it will throw Jigsaw off balance. Let your hands go onto Jigsaw's neck which will stop the reins from tugging on his mouth and allow him to stretch his neck properly in order to jump."

"Alright, I think I've got it."

"If you don't think you can make the jump, pull on the reins to pull Jigsaw up and he will stop, but you have to do it in time or you could get flung from his back."

"Reassuring."

He walked around to stand beside me, placing his hand on mine and squeezing it a little. "You've got this."

I nodded. Alec walked back over to the fence to join Jonathan and Barbara who were both watching on; nothing like an audience for me to completely humiliate myself in front of. Once he was clear of the jump, I squeezed Jigsaw's side and walked him around the paddock a little until I could line Jigsaw up with the jump. My hands shook a little, but I pushed the nervous feeling down inside and took a deep breath.

For the third time that morning, I squeezed my legs and urged Jigsaw forward, watching the jump get closer and closer. For a split second, I considered pulling Jigsaw out of the jump, but I had to at least try to clear it. I followed Alec's advice, focusing on the mud where we intended to land and the moment Jigsaw started the jump, I moved my hands onto his neck and for a brief second, we were suspended in the air.

It felt like we were flying for those few seconds before his front legs touched back down on the ground. Those few seconds suspended in the air removed any fear I had had before and allowed me to see just why Alec had been pushing for me to at least try to make the jump even if it would serve no purpose in the future. It had been freeing and something I never thought I would experience before; that feeling of weightlessness.

"There you go! Easy!" Alex exclaimed the moment all four of Jigsaw's hooves hit the floor.

"That was fun," I said.

"I told you, didn't I? Not as crazy an idea as you thought, right?"

"You're still mad, but I did enjoy myself."

"If you're finished, you can untack Jigsaw, cool him down and put him back in the stable then join us for lunch," Jonathan said.

"Alright," I said, swinging my leg over the side and climbing down the saddle.

"You're welcome to stay, Alec."

"Thank you, sir."

Before he and Barbara turned to leave, Jonathan looked at me and smiled, the same look he had pulled when I told him what Eva had said. I stuck my tongue out at him. We were not having that conversation again.

~~~

A/N - Chapter Twenty-Seven is here! I haven't written much since last week, I've been stuck on writing recently xD

Questions! Do you think Jonathan believes something is going on between Alec and Sybil? What do you think about Sybil learning to jump?

Comment below!

First Published - September 15th, 2021