Ulrika's Second Wind

"Have you ever been with a guy?"

"Once," she replied, "I was eighteen and he was nineteen," she propped on her palm, "Gary was quite effeminate, I knew him in high school and he used to get teased in school because he was very sensitive. We met up one night in a pub and went home, it was difficult for both of us to be honest because we were both virgins but even accounting for that I knew the next day that I just wasn't into guys. I liked hanging around them but not for the same reason as my girlfriends."

"Oh," Amelia leaned back slowly, "well that sounds like something out of a Hugh Grant film, so what happened with Gary?"

"The same thing that happened to me," she replied, "it took him a few more months but he came out too and we had a laugh about it later."

"I see," she smiled crookedly, "so all's well that ends well," she glanced at her watch, "anyway, I have to duck down to Glasgow for a few hours, which is why I'm all dressed up but Joanne can take you on a tour just to get you orientated."

She slid a plastic folder across the desk.

"These are our terms and conditions and a few other details, take them with you today and when you come back in two days, if you're still on board then I'll take you through the risk assessment and get you to sign the contract."

"All right," Ulrika picked the folder up, "thank you, it certainly sounds like just the sort of job I need to keep my hand in so to speak."

"All right then," she rose and stepped back from the desk, "I'll take you through to Joanne and leave you in her capable hands," she rounded the desk as Ulrika rose.

"And on the other matter," she looked at her, "it really is a friend who's questioning her sexuality, if you know what I mean."

"No worries," she nodded, "it was an unusual question but I'm not offended."

"I'm an unusual woman," she smiled.

Joanne was scrolling through something on her phone when they came back through and didn't look up until Amelia coughed.

"When you've finished messaging can you please show our new trainer around? I don't know where Brian is at the moment but when you find him introduce Ulrika to him."

"No bother," she rose, "when will you be back?"

"Hopefully before dinner but knowing Francine she'll want to go for coffee and you know what happens afterwards."

"Well if you're going to be late back, text me and I'll go back to mum's place, otherwise I'll just stay and have dinner here."

"Now that's a good excuse," she glanced at Ulrika, "Francine manages one of my restaurants, she always wants to go shopping for clothes and I'm a sucker for a bit of retail therapy but sometimes I come home with something and wonder why I bought it."

She held out her hand.

"Welcome to the bothy, hopefully."

"I'll see you the day after tomorrow," Ulrika shook her hand.

"See you later, weasel," Amelia stepped forward and kissed Joanne on the cheek and then turned and walked back to her office.

"So, you're the new trainer," Joanne smiled at her, "I knew you'd take the job."

"It certainly looks promising," she slipped the plastic folder into her handbag.

"Let's go see if we can find Brian," she nodded at the door, "if I know him he's probably having a cuppa with the blacksmith, he's only here once a month so they always have a blether. It's a wonder he gets any work done at all."

She led her outside and for the next half an hour gave her a pretty good guided tour of the property. The stables were quite a reasonable size with stalls for twenty horses, there was a small veterinary surgery located in a smaller building attached to the rear of the stables. Further along the path behind them was a large shed with a tractor and quad bike inside, and a smaller shed that served as the workshop and it was there they found Brian and John, the blacksmith who looked to be as old as Brian. After they'd chatted for a bit she led her to another large building filled with riding tack, old saddles that were apparently spares and other memorabilia. The last building they visited was an old cottage set some way back from the other buildings.

"This was the original bothy," Joanne reached up and lifted a key from a hook, "but these days it's just used to store Uncle David's junk."

"We don't have to go in there," she replied.

"Auntie Amelia said to give you the guided tour, so this is part of it," she unlocked the door and turned the handle.

The smell of mould and old paint greeted her as they walked in and when Joanne pulled the light cord she noticed the paint tins on the floor near her feet. They were standing in a small hall and then Joanne led her into the small sitting room, there was an old couch with a dust cover over it, the rest of the room was filled with a variety of objects from old furniture and other knick knacks to paintings, exotic looking statues and even an old Apple computer.

"It hasn't worked for years," Joanne told her when she touched the keyboard, "the other computers are in another room."

It was no understatement she mused a minute later as she stepped into the doorway of what must have been a bedroom. Computers had been arranged around the walls in neat piles, an old kitchen table was by the window and there were old milk crates full of hard drives, wires and other things on the floor. The second bedroom looked almost sparse in comparison, it actually had a bed and a bedside table and wardrobe.

"He sleeps here whenever he and Auntie Amelia aren't talking," she wrinkled her nose, "he comes home once a month to see her but the rest of the time he's in London or his other home."

"What does he do?"

"He's a politician, his constituency is in Surrey," she led her into the tiny kitchen, "I'd offer you something to drink or eat but I don't think there's much here that's not past its use by date."

"That's fine, I've got plenty of food at home."

"Have you eaten yet?"

"Just breakfast," she replied, "although I'll be grabbing something on the way home."

"Why not stay here for lunch? Auntie Amelia wouldn't mind."

"I um, okay," she shrugged, "at least I can read through the stuff in this folder."

"And I can answer most of the questions," she grinned, "even though that's Auntie Amelia's job," she inclined her head, "are you a vegan?"

"No."

"That's good, my boyfriend's a vegan and he's a pain in the arse to cook for," she chuckled, "so you'll be easy."

Ulrika merely smiled as she followed her out of the cottage. What was the harm in staying for a quick bite to eat?

Nevertheless, it was some three hours later before Ulrika finally arrived home, the twenty minute drive to The Bothy notwithstanding, the lunch had lasted just over two hours and it wasn't as if it had been a three course lunch. Joanne had given her a guided tour of the two storey house and then proceeded to probe her with questions about riding, dressage, the places she'd performed and other related subjects. Ulrika had answered the questions readily, conscious that this talkative twenty one year old woman might be Amelia's scout looking for information.

Ulrika sank into the couch in her tiny flat and stared at the picture on the wall. It showed her as a twenty one year old about the time she was accepted into the national team, she was fresh-faced and trying to keep a straight face. She recalled the moment that photograph had been taken, she'd been taken by a fit of the giggles and had bitten her bottom lip to keep a straight face whilst her picture was being taken.

Ulrika frowned at the photograph as she let her mind wander. She'd been with Toni at the time, a part time beauty consultant at Debenhams, it was Toni who volunteered to do her makeup. Their relationship had been reasonably secure she thought at the time but once she began travelling to different events the cracks began to show. Toni just couldn't get time off work to come with her and because competing meant staying in hotels in various parts of the country it had become a bone of contention that finally exploded.

In the bitter aftermath she'd discovered that love and hate were but two sides of the same coin, both fuelled by emotion. In Toni's case she'd gone on a six month binge, touring pubs and clubs and falling in and out of bed with women and surprisingly enough one man. Ulrika however had gone the other way, throwing herself into the team and whilst she'd certainly had at least one serious offer from an older girl she'd kept her eye on the goal and stayed celibate.

As a result, her performances had steadily improved because she wasn't distracted by emotional entanglements. Her status in the team rose until finally she was invited into the BBC studios for a ten minute slot to talk about women's status in sport and her career so far. It had been a carefully scripted interview. Her team manager had prepped her relentlessly for three days beforehand, and her advice and pop quizzes had paid off.

The interview was a resounding success but it had one other unreported benefit, her one night stand with the makeup girl, Lorraine had finally broken the ice. And whilst it was just one night, Ulrika now found herself taking more notice of other women because now she was a celebrity and in a somewhat ironic twist of fate she bumped into Toni in a London club. Toni was alone, again but Ulrika was with Loura, a statuesque blonde who was a rising star on the pop scene. The look on Toni's face was priceless.

The ringing phone roused her out of her reverie and she glanced at the name before answering the phone.

"Hey mama, I got the job."

"Jättebra," her mother used the Swedish word for very good and then switched to English, "when do you start?"

"The day after tomorrow," she replied.

Her mother wanted to know all the details and Ulrika did her best to fill her in but left out some things such as Amelia's curiosity about homosexuality, somehow it seemed trivial and when she finally hung up Ulrika returned to her musing as she took to cleaning the flat. Amelia might have been reticent about the identity of the younger woman questioning her sexuality but she'd broadly hinted that it might be her niece. One didn't need to be psychic to read the room, but that didn't mean Ulrika was interested, indeed, it could be argued that it forbade any involvement lest it lead to something else entirely. Ulrika filed it away by the time she went to bed and when she awoke it almost seemed like a distant dream.

***

Romantic fantasies put aside, Ulrika had never considered herself to be much of a teacher, she was more of a performer and if she was honest, the job description had been a little daunting to say the least. This was especially noticeable when she discovered that Amelia had assembled a team of riders to take part in events at some point in the future. Knowing the amount of work that needed to be put in to merely qualify, Ulrika found it hard to believe she was serious. Brian however assured her that whilst Amelia might have big dreams, she was also a realist.

"We've got an exhibition coming up in six weeks time," he told her that first week, "it's just a country fair near Perth and we'll be just one of the events alongside sheep dog trials, shearing and a few other farm orientated things."

"How many riders do we have taking part?" Ulrika asked him.

"We've got twenty potential competitors but we have to prune that down to seven due to the size of the ground, it's a health and safety thing."

With that in mind, Ulrika was kept busy for the next couple of weeks, putting the riders through their paces and she soon managed to select seven riders. There were a few upraised eyebrows when she chose six women and one man even though most of the applicants were female.

"You're not choosing Harry?" Amelia queried her when she submitted her final list.

"He's eager to please but he's easily distracted," Ulrika stretched out her feet, "he spends more time looking at the girls than his mount."

"It's his age," Amelia shrugged, "he's only just turned seventeen."

"He's certainly motivated but I need to spend more time with him, plus he's at a disadvantage because he doesn't actually have a horse of his own."

"And Joanne?" Amelia eyed her, "she's got what it takes?"

"She's certainly got talent, I only have to show her something once and she picks it up almost straight away."

"She gets that from her mother," Amelia replied, "Joanne is a natural mimic. She also plays the guitar and she only needs to hear a song once and she can play it on her guitar almost perfectly, her mother is the same but just not with music."

Ulrika nodded as Amelia scanned the list once more.

"All right," Amelia looked up, "so, do you think you can get them ready in four weeks?"

"Yes," she replied, "I can do that."

"Excellent," she put the list down.

"I was hoping you'd pick her," she went on, "it'd take her away from that shit of a boyfriend."

"She hasn't mentioned him in my presence."

"Jason is a little shit," Amelia picked up her coffee, "his father and my husband are the best of friends, Jason's father seems to think it's a match made in heaven and I can't help but shudder at the thought of Joanne marrying that little cunt."

She smiled at Ulrika.

"And yes, the word does fit Jason," she put the cup down.

"Are they close?"

"Why?" Amelia looked at her, "are you interested?"

"I um," Ulrika felt the colour rising in her cheeks.

"It doesn't bother me," Amelia smiled crookedly, "she's well above the age of consent and it's not breaking any employment rules."

"I'd rather she focused on this exhibition to be honest," Ulrika replied, "not that I don't like her, it's just that," she trailed away.

"Whatever," Amelia shrugged, "but I get your point."

"So the list is all right?" Ulrika glanced at it.

"The list is fine," Amelia inclined her head as Nina stepped into the room, "what is it honey?"

"Can I play Minecraft?"

"Have you finished your homework?"

"Aye," she perched on the edge of the couch.

"All right, you can play Minecraft until dinner."

"Thanks, mum," she nodded at Ulrika, "how's your new job?"

"It's going well, thank you," Ulrika replied a moment later, "so, what level are you on?"

"It's not really levels, it's world building," Nina shifted in her seat, "you build worlds and fight the swarms trying to destroy them. I'm forming an alliance with Katie, my best friend."

"How about you go play Minecraft," Amelia nudged her.

Once Nina had left the room Amelia spoke again.

"She's a good kid, but I have to watch her with Minecraft, she'd be on it all day."

"Is she into riding?"

"Oh, she loves riding but it's a hard choice between riding and Minecraft."

"Would you like me to teach her or is that going too far."

"It's not going too far but I'm concerned that she could take you away from this team."

"Well, I've got Brian helping out. There can't be anything wrong with having her riding as well, we've got a separate riding area for younger kids, or I could always put in some extra time here for some one on one."

"I'll think about," Amelia replied, "she does have lessons at the weekend but because she lives here it's kind of hard to get her motivated to do her lessons."

"Well, it's no pressure," Ulrika shrugged, "if she wants to just hang around that's okay and if she wants to ride that's okay too."

She glanced at her list.

"And this list is fine?"

"The list is good," she glanced at her watch, "I've got some business to attend to."

"Of course," Ulrika rose, "and thank you for your input."

It sounded trite and almost forced but Amelia didn't seem to notice and Ulrika spent the rest of the afternoon seeing to her own horse and going over the routines with Brian. Despite Amelia's vote of confidence however Ulrika still felt unsure with all this responsibility but thankfully Brian was a capable boss and before too long they'd set up a good training program for the 'Bothy' team. The name had been chosen by Amelia not long after Ulrika started although she confessed that it wasn't a very inspiring name.

One positive aspect of her new task was the fact that the routines she was teaching them kept both Ulrika and the others focused on the job and thus she was able to put any fantasies to bed, for now and for the next few weeks she was kept busy with her new team. Nina appeared some two days after the talk with Amelia and whilst she didn't do any riding that first day it seemed as if she'd become somewhat fascinated by the routines Ulrika was putting the riders through. Ulrika did her best to explain the reasoning behind these movements.

She thought it had gone over her head but the second day Nina saddled up her horse and led him out to a smaller section reserved for children and thus Ulrika was forced to split her time between the new team and Nina. Thankfully however, Brian was able to help out with lessons and Ulrika was surprised to see that the younger girl was actually quite adept at riding, leading her to surmise that perhaps there might be a spot on the team for her.

"Maybe not just yet," Amelia told her a week or so later, "but if she's keen enough I might just see how she gets on, I'm more concerned with Joanne. How is she going?"

"She's doing well," Ulrika replied, "she's got natural talent although she's been a bit distracted the last few days."

"There are reasons for that," Amelia handed her a cup of coffee, "boys are as much a distraction for girls as girls are to boys."

"I know the feeling," Nina replied, "but with me it was girls who distracted me."

"And how did you cope?"

"I ended it finally, my ex girlfriend was too, clingy," she sipped her coffee.

"Maybe she should do the same with that little shit, Jason. He'd make a great politician, he's never done a day's work in his life but the way he talks you'd think he works fifteen hour days."

Little did Ulrika know as she drove home that night that she would become the catalyst that would lead to Joanne breaking up with Jason.

***

Prior to Jason's sudden arrival at The Bothy some five days before the team début at the fair Ulrika couldn't have told you anything about Jason at all. Even Joanne didn't say much about him apart from the times she'd said that she'd be dropping in on him. Judging by her lack of enthusiasm, it was hard to characterise it as a traditional relationship. Amelia's use of the word cunt to describe him seemed to conjure up images of some alpha male or maybe a weedy-looking guy and indeed the former turned out to be closest to the mark when he turned up in a BMW convertible late one Friday afternoon.

Ulrika had seen it cruising past the Circle as she was observing her team practising a routine she'd been teaching them for the last few weeks. She turned to look at the black convertible as it turned into the carpark and then disappeared.

"What's he doing here?" Brian turned around.

"Who?" Ulrika turned back to the riders.

"Jason," he replied, "he never turns up here. Amelia cannae stand the sight of him. She actually ordered him off the property three months ago after he upset Joanne."

"Well, he's probably here to see Joanne," she squinted at the younger woman as she executed a perfect pass as the riders trotted around the circle. The movement they were practising involved a complicated overtaking manoeuvre whereby the rearmost rider wove their way along the line to give the appearance of a serpentine movement. They were followed by the next rearmost rider and the next until the original rear rider resumed their position at the rear. It had been chosen by Ulrika as being the perfect way to introduce the locals and the press to this new team.

"How do I treat him?" Ulrika glanced at Brian.

Brian however didn't reply as a tallish young man dressed in an open-necked white shirt and black trousers strode around the corner of the building. He was trailed by a Rottweiler and Brian stepped forward as the dog darted past Jason.