She sighed, the baler twine cut into her wrists and ankles and despite her struggles she was unable to escape her bonds. She cursed her stupidity and how easily she had been duped into this seemingly impossible situation. Sarah looked around her, she was lying on the straw bed of a stable on the back yard of the Abbyway Riding School, the evening stables had been done so she knew that she should be alone for sometime, and that was the catch, Hilary had given her the way to get out but with that there were consequences, she felt the string tied to her index finger, she just had to pull the string slightly and a knife would drop down to let her cut herself free. But of course it would never be that easy, pulling the string would also release the bucket and goodness knows what that contained... and as her jodhpurs and polo-shirt had been taken by Hilary she would be left to dash across the floodlit yard covered in mess and no doubt watched by the rest of the stable staff. She cursed and thought back to how she had got here...
***
Two Days Earlier
Sarah smiled, the trap was set and Hilary would be sure to fall for the bait, in fact she could hear her approaching as she turned around.
"Sarah Hi..." Hilary smiled, she was immaculately turned out as always, a white blouse and white jodhpurs with polished long riding boots. Sarah could certainly tell why her female colleagues were jealous of her and that she was the object of desire for most men. Of course they did not know that she only really had eyes for Sarah. But theirs was a relationship built on fun and an increasingly complex set of pranks. "Look I am in a hurry, I have a lesson to teach, have you seem my riding hat?" Sarah shrugged and then glanced towards the muck heap.
"Oh..." She smirked. "Is that yours?"
Hilary sighed and strode towards the steaming heap. He hat was perched on a pitchfork which had been left standing at the top of the heap. She gingerly climbed to the top and reached out towards her hat. As she took her next step the heap gave way beneath her, she plummeted through a sheet of cardboard which had been sprinkled with straw and into a deep hole, landing with a splash in a waiting pile of manure.
Sarah walked towards the heap as Hilary was struggling to the top of the hole. "Are you okay?"
Hilary snarled as she crawled across the top of the heap and to her feet. She tried to brush herself down but Sarah had made sure there was a good quantity of sticky hoof oil puddled in the hole. She was coated in muck and oil, her jodhpurs and blouse wrecked. "I will kill you..." She snarled.
Sarah laughed. "Oh yes... Now run along, haven't you got a lesson to teach?"
Hilary shook her fist and made her way to the indoor arena where Sarah could hear her trying to explain her appearance.
One Day Earlier
Hilary had been seething about Sarah's latest prank, something had to be done so she planned with the other stable staff, as she was doing evening stables they would grab her and mess her up. It was simple but effective. During her lunch time she drove to the supermarket and bought large quantities of jam, eggs and even paint She smiled to herself as she went through the checkout, this would be the end of this silly series of pranks.