Lord Danvers strolled into his stables with a bemused look on his face.
"Who," he asked of his head groom, "is that behemoth out there, lunging Spartacus?"
"Ah, sir," came the answer. "That would be Tom. You remember you told me to get a new groom now that Billy has gone and left us?"
"Yes, I remember," said Lord Danvers dryly. "I guess I was expecting someone who looks more like the rest of the grooms, I guess. Tom seems sort of..." His voice trailed away and he waved his hand in the air with an indication of puzzlement.
"You'll be meaning Tom is sort of large, or be you meaning that he's sort of ugly?" asked the head groom, a smile on his face. "You'll be finding that he's large enough to keep the worst of your horses in line, and god love you, the horses don't mind his looks. He's an excellent groom, I assure you."
"I guess he must be, or you wouldn't have hired him," returned Lord Danvers. "He'll just take a bit of getting used to. Anyway, my daughter is visiting and she wants to go riding later. Will you organise a horse and a groom to accompany her, please. About two o'clock."
"Yes, sir. We'll be ready for her when she comes down."
"And make sure she doesn't try to switch her horse to one of the bloody stallions. She is not to ride them."
"Yes, sir. I'll warn the boys."
- - -
"And who might you be?" asked Lady Deborah of the groom waiting with the horses.
"I'm Tom, Milady," Tom replied. "I'm the new groom. I've been told to escort you on your ride."
Deborah looked at the groom. Big and ugly and gormless, she decided. "Is that my mount?" she demanded, indicating the pretty filly waiting patiently.
At the groom's nod, she shook her head impatiently. "She'll never do. Switch the saddle to another horse. Spartacus will do nicely."
"Yes, milady," said Tom. "That is to say, no milady."
"What do you mean, yes and no?"
"I mean that I'd like to oblige you, milady, but milord left strict instruction that you was to ride that horse and that I'm not to change her, no matter what you say, milady."
"Well, milord is not here, is he," came the sarcastic rejoinder, "and that leaves me in charge, doesn't it?"
"Yes, milady," mumbled Tom.
"So change the saddle over, and make it snappy."
"No, milady. I was told not to. You is to ride that horse and if you want to ride, that horse is what you will be riding," replied Tom, determined to stay with his instructions.
Deborah glared at Tom, but gave up on the horse exchange. "Like trying to argue with a gorilla, talking to that man," she muttered to herself, missing the quick smile that flitted across Tom's face. Resignedly she walked over to her horse to mount.
"What's the name of my horse?" she asked. "I haven't seen her before."
"Like me, she's new here. Her name is Agnes."
Deborah stared at Tom. "A sweet little filly like this, a thoroughbred, and someone named her Agnes?"
"Yes'm," said Tom. "Not my fault. I didn't name her."
Deborah raised her eyebrows to the skies. Surrounded by idiots and fools, what could you do?
Mounting swiftly, she rode off, Tom trailing behind.
Deborah enjoyed riding, and she knew all the better riding trails in the area. She settled down into a canter, heading for some stretches where she could let Agnes flow into a full gallop.
For the next hour or so Deborah roamed the old paths. It was a while since she'd been home and it was fun getting acquainted with her old haunts. Knowing that time was passing Deborah finally decided to head for home. Turning into a shortcut she knew, she was about to canter down it when Tom called out to her.
"Excuse me milady," he called. "It is inadvisable to take that path. There are several jumps along there that aren't suitable for Agnes."
"Nonsense." Deborah dismissed the advise, pressing Agnes into a canter. Pounding along the track she was soon at the first hedge that she would have to take. Letting Agnes have her head they cleared it neatly, and Deborah smiled, although the hedge had seemed larger than she remembered.
Now they were at the second hedge, and Deborah lost her smile as she realised that this hedge was definitely larger than she remembered. Agnes tried, but the hedge was just a bit too large, causing her to stumble when she came down on the other side. Feeling Agnes falling, Deborah bailed out, pushing herself well clear of the falling horse.
Tom, coming up fast from behind, saw Deborah jump and hit the ground hard, legs and arms going in all directions. Agnes hit the ground, rolled over and was up and dancing nervously around, apparently unharmed.
Hurrying across to where Deborah lay, Tom couldn't help but admire the long slender limbs now on display, Deborah's riding dress seeming to have wrapped itself around her waist. Tom swiftly started checking for any signs of injury.
Deborah hadn't lost consciousness, merely being slightly stunned and winded. Gasping for breath, she started to sit up.
"Hold it, milady," came Tom's urgent voice. "I just need to check how you are, making sure that there are no broken bones or injuries."
"It's all right, Tom," Deborah said, trying to wave him away, but Tom was insistent.