I read the book on taming, but all I learned was that I don’t seem to have any talent for it. The concepts just didn’t click with me at all.
“A name, huh… It has to be easy to say, and it can’t be the same as anyone I know.”
Not that I know very many people anyway…
“That horse probably doesn’t want to be here,” I muse aloud. “But he’ll have to stay for a while.”
Since he’s not suited for pulling a wagon, we might end up selling him eventually.
I’m not even sure if learning to ride is something I really need to do.
“I just want him to be as comfortable as possible while he’s here. That’s it! I’ll call him Noah!”
Selina, still sprawled on the sofa, actually compliments me. “For you, that’s not a bad name. It’s an old word for ‘rest’ or ‘comfort,’” she says.
See? I do study sometimes!
I puff out my chest, but that only earns me additional homework.
“Now you just have to train him properly to obey your commands. ‘Stay here,’ ‘be quiet,’ ‘kneel,’ ‘come here.’ Even someone who isn’t a tamer needs to know the basics.”
“What?! That’s impossible!” I protest, but Selina just ignores me.
The next morning, after tending to the animals, I have breakfast with Selina.
“Today I’m practicing driving the wagon to Lang Village. It’ll be a round trip, so you’re on your own for lunch!”
The soup pot is sitting by the edge of the hearth to keep it warm. All she has to do is ladle some into a bowl and eat it with bread.
Surely even Selina can manage that much, right?
I pack a sandwich for myself—yesterday’s Almiraj meat on bread, wrapped in Lulu leaves.
“Noah, time to go to town!”
I manage to fumble the saddle and bridle into place and use the mounting block to climb aboard.
I urge him into a slow walk, then pull the reins taut to make him stop. I practiced that yesterday!
“Noah, we’re gonna teleport now, so don’t be scared!”
I give him a little warning before teleporting us to the edge of the Great Forest near Carlton.
Noah lets out a frightened whinny. I guess he’s not used to teleporting.
I manage to calm him down before we emerge from the edge of the woods.
We proceed slowly toward Carlton, and the gatekeepers laugh at me. “Look at you, you’ve learned how to ride!”
I continue on to Matthew’s boarding house.
By this point, I’m already exhausted just from the sheer anxiety of not falling off. Walking would have been easier.
“Zoe, you’re finally here!”
Matthew is waiting for me in front of his lodgings.
He’s not a bad guy… just gets on my nerves a little.
“We’re borrowing a wagon from the boarding house. Do you have your own, by the way?”
“Yup, I have a used one.”
Matthew knows that I live with the forest witch in the Great Forest.
The question of where I got it—and how I managed to transport a wagon into the Great Forest—is written all over his face.
But I suspect he doesn’t ask because his father, the village chief, told him not to. “Don’t get involved with the forest witch!” and all that.
And yet, here he is, getting very involved with me. It makes no sense!
“To have a horse pull a wagon, you have to put on a harness. Wait, you don’t know that either?”
I’ve seen a wagon before, and Maggie’s dad even gave me a ride in one once. But my mind was completely preoccupied with the town of Carlton back then.
“There are two types of harnesses: the neck collar and the breastcollar. For large horses pulling heavy wagons, the neck collar is standard. And for this horse… well, when he’s pulling a wagon, it should be the neck collar.”
Sensing that I’m not following, Matthew gives me a demonstration.
“Oh, I named him Noah,” I tell him.
“Is that so? That’s a good name,” he says, stroking Noah’s neck. Ah, so that’s how you build rapport.
Trusting Matthew, Noah allows the collar to be fitted without a fuss. Matthew fastens the rest of the harness to the metal fittings on the wagon, and just like that, the horse is ready to pull.
“Zoe, your turn!”
I fumble with it right from the start, just trying to unfasten the harness, and Noah starts to get twitchy.
I manage to get it off, but then he refuses to let me put it back on.
“Noah, be a good boy!”
As Noah shakes his head from side to side, I can’t help but cast Halt on him.
I know I’m not really supposed to use magic in front of people, but I had no choice!
Once he was still, I was able to put the harness on just like Matthew had.
“Do you really need to learn how to handle a horse, Zoe?”
“Yes, I do!” I reply to a dumbfounded Matthew.
“All that’s left is learning how to drive… but this horse isn’t the type for pulling heavy loads, so don’t make him go long distances!”
Phew. That’s fine, since I’ll be using teleportation.
“Alright, let’s head to Lang Village!”
I sit next to Matthew on the driver’s seat.
“See, this is the brake. If you pull this wooden lever upright, it’ll press into the wheel and stop it. But you should pull on the reins to stop the horse before you do that.”
With him giving instructions from the side, I get Noah to start pulling the wagon.
“He really doesn’t seem to have pulled a wagon before. He’s definitely a riding horse.”
It’s my first time driving a wagon, and it seems to be Noah’s first time pulling one.
In other words, we’re both terrible at this.
“I’ll drive until we’re out of Carlton, so watch carefully.”
The town is full of people, so it would be a disaster if we hit someone!
I’ll let Matthew handle it until we’re past the gates.
Besides, Noah pulls the wagon so much more cheerfully when Matthew’s holding the reins.
Hmph. What’s the difference? He can’t even see who’s behind him!
Once we pass through the gates and are on the country road, I take the reins.
“Horses are smart. They’ll follow a road without you having to do anything. But if you’re not on a road, you have to tell them which way you want to go.”
I’ll stick to the roads, then!
I’m a nervous wreck the entire way to Lang Village, but even so, I can feel the Great Forest creeping closer and closer to the road.
“Hey, it’s Maggie’s father! Mr. Jim!”
Matthew waves and greets the villagers who are busy cutting down trees.
I can see they’re working hard, but the forest is expanding faster. At this rate…
When we arrive in Lang Village, we let Noah rest and have a blacksmith check his horseshoes.
Apparently, horseshoes need to be replaced regularly. I bet Selina doesn’t know that either.
“That’s an unusual horseshoe,” the blacksmith says. “But it’s a fine one, and it doesn’t need replacing yet.”
I know the blacksmith because he’s made pots and pans for me before.
“When do horseshoes need to be changed?” I ask.
“When they get worn down, of course!”
But I dunno what that looks like!
“Just bring him by every now and then! If he needs a new set, I’ll change them for you.”
Horses are such high-maintenance creatures.
Maybe Noah picked up on my grumbling, because he let out an indignant little whinny.