Settling in the Kids

[Peanut Loves EVERYONE!!]

[glow=red,2,300]W I L L I A M[/glow]

I unloaded Gus from the trailer, laughing as he blinked in the sunlight. Jewel skittered down the ramp behind him, sticking close to his side and flicking her ears nervously. I smiled and spoke softly to her. "It's okay pretty baby. It's just a new home, that's all. We're gonna set you right up next to Gussy boy here, and you'll be fine."
The little donkey filly took a few steps toward me, sniffing my outstretched hand. She stamped her little hoof and stood by Gus, tossing her head stubbornly. I laughed.
"Have it your way then, stay here. I'm going to put Gus away."
I gave the gelding a little tug on his leadrope and he obediently followed me, plodding along behind as I led him to the stable block. It wasn't long before I heard the faint clatter of Jewel's hooves following. Smiling to myself, I led Gus into the stables, glancing over my shoulder to see Jewel walking behind, her head moving around rapidly, trying to take in all the sights of her new home. "Come on Jewel," I called to her, patting my leg. The filly cantered towards me, shoving her head under my arm. I laughed and rubbed her forehead, scratching one of her long, fluffy ears.
I walked until I found stalls 27 and 28, and opened the latter. Gus walked right in, sniffing curiously around and then letting out a sigh. "Good boy," I said to him, rubbing his neck and unclipping his lead. Jewel trotted into his stall and nudged his shoulder with her muzzle. Gus turned a bleary eye to her and sniffed the top of her head, then looked away again. I rolled my eyes and walked back out to the trailer, Jewel at my side. Grabbing all of Gus' tack and feed buckets, I made my way back into the stable block. Jewel bugled at me from the parking lot, then bucked a few times and trotted to me again. I sighed. "Alright girl, in you go," I said once we were back to the stalls. I stuck all of Gus' equipment on the floor and opened stall 27's door, herding the filly in. She glared at me, kicking out with her hind legs and stretching to her full height to peer over the top of the door. I laughed and blew her a kiss, then began to take Gus' tack to the tack room.
I came back to find Jewel with her head slung over the top of her stall door, her teeth fumbling around the lock. "Hey!" I cried out. Her head jerked back in surprise and she blinked innocently. "I chuckled, then tied Gus' leadrope around the entrance of Jewel's stall, so even if she managed to work out the lock she wouldn't be able to escape. "Be good, baby," I murmured to her, giving first Jewel, then Gus a stroke on the nose before leaving to find the apartment block.

[••NARLA••]

Dani found herself sitting in the front of the lorry once more. She took the keys out the ignition and placed them in her pocket. She ignored her phone as it buzzed repeatitively and opened up the door. She jumped down and landed with a smack on the stone floor of the yard. She tapped down towards the side of the lorry, tapping her feet to the rythym of her favourite song. She opened one of the latches and open swung half of the door. She undid the other latch and watched as it swung open to be parrelel with the other. She gently walked up the ramp, and undid the divider that held Noddy back. She held him back by the headcollar as she reached for a leadrope She clipped the rope onto the collar and led him down the ramp. She quickly tied him up and then went to close up the side of the lorry. She did up the divider and shut the doors. She then locked that door and went back to Noddy. She then released him and went to find his stall. on the way, she spotted will. " Hi" She said quietly.

[Peanut Loves EVERYONE!!]

I stopped in my tracks as I nearly ran smack into Dani. "Oh, hi," I said to her, having to physically stop myself from rolling my eyes. I nodded towards the horse she was leading. "He yours?" I asked her, trying to make friendly conversation. I didn't know why, but I still felt annoyed with Dani, even though I barely knew her. 'Quit judging!' I thought to myself, plastering a smile onto my face.

[••NARLA••]

She laughed as he forced a smile onto his face. "Still judging me,eh?"She said with a friendly smile. She wanted to be friends with him, but...If he couldnt stop judging....
She smiled again. "Yeah, this is Noddy. My Swedish warmblood."She smiled. " you settled in your kids yet?2she smiled as she used the slang word she often used. Even though she was a top rider, it didnt mean that she was snotty, which was what William had jumped to. She stepped back. " Sorry for scaring you. " She said, embarrassed that she'd nearly bumped into him. " i better go..."She flushed red.

[Peanut Loves EVERYONE!!]

I glanced down at the ground, ashamed. "Yeah, um...about that. Sorry if I've been rude to you, I don't usually jump to conclusions about people." I sighed, and looked up at her horse again, rather than looking at Dani herself. I smiled slightly, nodding and gesturing behind me. "Yep, they're all settled in," I laughed. I scoffed at what she said. "I wasn't scared," I said to Dani. "Takes more than a little girl to scare me." I winked at her and then chuckled as she turned red. "Yeah, guess I'll see you around then," I said.

[••NARLA••]

She looked at him hard. " You think of me as a little girl?" She smiled. " it's fine. People jump to thoughts about me all the time. Yeah, see you around. "

[Peanut Loves EVERYONE!!]

I stared right back at Dani as she looked at me. "Littler than me," I said, chuckling again. What kind of a comeback was that? I thought to myself. Sure, I was tall...but still. I grinned at her and nodded, and was about to leave the barn when I heard the patter of little hooves making a break for it. I waited for the sound to get closer, then spun around and caught Jewel by the halter as she barrelled past me. "Not so fast, missy," I laughed. Jewel brayed and stamped her hoof indignantly, but followed me back to her stall and walked into it, looking forlorn. "Now stay in there, you cheeky thing," I said, scratching my little donkey in between her ears. I latched the door firmly, wrapped the lead rope back around it and then looked around for something else I could bar the door with. Jewel blinked up at me innocently, as if she was trying to prove that such a cute little baby could never be a professional escape artist.

[••NARLA••]

She giggled a little at his way of trying to make a comeback. She smi;led as she watched him try to get Jewel back to her stall. " D'you want me to watch her?" She asked. " I'm gonna be here for another half an hour."

[Peanut Loves EVERYONE!!]

I smiled to Dani. "Actually...That would be awesome," I said to her gratefully. "She should be okay in there for now...but she's a d*mn escape artist." I laughed and scratched the donkey on the neck, smiling. "I'll just be a minute," I said. I had a new packet of padlocks in my car, at least one of them would hold Jewel in until I found a better solution. I jogged out of the barn and opened up my truck, digging around to find the locks.