Prompt #18 - Holiday Hijinks

[Ottilia’s POV]
Bauble Bingo prompt #18 - Holiday Hijinks - Pine Creek Stables

Ottilia stomped the snow off her boots before entering Pine Creek’s main house. The beautiful timber style house was home to an elderly couple that owned the stables, and anyone whose horses were boarded here was welcome to warm up their hands with a nice cup of tea and a chat.

Ottilia loved to take up that offer at all times. Working at the yard mid-winter could be a challenge with the chilling temperatures of Norway’s winter weather. Her hands were red from the cold when she took off her gloves and put them on top of the heater to warm up, and her toes had an uncomfortable ache when they touched the hardwood flooring after her boots took place under the heater. She slipped on a pair of warm slippers and walked to the kitchen, where Harriet put a kettle on the stove to bring water to a boil.

‘’Morning Hattie,’’ Ottilia greeted her, wringing her hands together to warm them up. ‘’How’s it going.’’

Harriet turned around upon hearing her voice and smiled widely. ‘’Good, good

I showed your video of Marinka to the neighbors yesterday, they loved it. You two did so well, I’m so proud of you.’’ Ottilia grinned, feeling delighted by the compliment. ‘’Thank you Hattie, Mari did great, I agree.’’

Ottilia took place on a chair by the window. The little nook was mainly used for breakfast, as it was in the kitchen itself and didn’t require a lot of walking around the place. It was also Ottilia’s favourite place to sit, as it had a direct view of the yard and the stables.

Harriet put the kettle on the table and set two mugs for them. Ottilia took a bag of berry flavoured tea from a box on the window sill and poured them the water. ‘’Did you see the aurora as well here? I still can’t get over it… it’s just so stunning to see.’’

Harriet nodded. ‘’Oh yes, the whole yard was colored over. I told Austin this was the biggest one I had seen in years. Must be some kind of sign,’’ she chuckled. Austin is Harriet’s husband, and builder of Pine Creek Stables. It used to be a farm back in the day, when it was still in hands of Austin’s parents, but he never wanted to take it over. Instead, he saw a different goal for this place. The fields beyond the house were now meadows stretching out over the wide open fields for horses to turn out, and the old barns were built into comfortable stables. The more he aged, however, the harder it became to take care of the place, so instead of asking boarding fee’s, he granted free boarding for anyone who’d help around the stables.

Ottilia, young and with a childhood dream to chase, had replied to the advertisement as soon as her mother put it on the kitchen table back at home. No boarding fee meant that she could finally buy her first horse with the money she had saved up from birthdays and small jobs. Unfortunately, that first horse was no longer in their presence, but the memory would always linger here, for her pictures still hung on the wall in Harriet’s living room and Ottilia’s bedroom at home. Marinka had taken the empty place now, and Ottilia was fulfilled again.

A crash and a cold chill running through the room woke Ottilia from her daydream. ‘’What was that?’’

Harriet looked up, past Ottilia, and raised her eyebrows in a pleasant surprise, mixed with shock. ‘’Well- someone else wants to have tea as well I think!’’

Ottilia swung her head around, and her jaw dropped. ‘’Marinka!!?’’ The mare stuck her head around the corner into the kitchen, nostrils flaring as she smelled the herbs of the tea. Ottilia got up, careful as to not accidentally scare the mare. ‘’How did you- Oh bollocks, did I not close your stall? Can you open doors now??’’

So many questions, so few answers, as Marinka could not speak. She carefully ushered the horse in a back up, back out of the front door that was wide open and cooling down the entire place. Harriet in the kitchen was still laughing, not minding the whole ordeal. ‘’In all my years, I have never seen this before!’’

That made Ottilia chuckle as well, but she’d still rather not have her horse in the house. After all, this place was not decorated with a large animal in mind. ‘’Alright, shoo, back to your stable you go!’’ Marinka turned around once she stood outside again and followed Ottilia back to the stables. She wasn’t phased at all by the fact that she just broke into the house and gave her rider a near heart attack. Ottilia knew she wasn’t crazy when she figured her mare was secretly a clown as well as a diva.