Where Earth Meets Sky Read Online Free PDF

weeks. He was quite a precocious child, but much loved and therefore very loving. And he seemed to adore her straight away, unquestioningly, as if she was a gift he had been expecting and longing for.
    From that first day he called her nothing but ‘Lily’, however much they worked for a time on ‘Miss Waters’.
    ‘Lily, Lily – come and play!’ he cried when she first appeared in the morning. And she found there was nothing she wanted more than to come and play! This instant, loving adoration was something she had never experienced before and she found she could hardly take her eyes off him. Of course he adored Srimala too, since she had cared from him when very young, but he seemed to have a heart that extended wide and fully.
    It took her much longer to decide whether or not she liked his mother. One moment Susan Fairford was snobbish and cold; the next she could be vulnerable and, at times, even warm, just in glimpses. One of the first surprises was her coming into the nursery during that first week and saying to Lily, ‘I suppose you don’t know how to ride a horse?’
    ‘No,’ Lily stuttered, astonished. ‘I’ve never even sat on one!’
    ‘Well, I want you to learn,’ Susan Fairford announced, perching herself stiffly for a moment on the low wooden nursing chair. A large fly buzzed sleepily across the room. ‘We are in the habit of riding in the morning here, but Charles and I don’t ride together. He rides with the regiment and I like to take Cozzy out myself – we’re teaching him, you see. And I’d like some help.’ She swallowed and added, as if the admission pained her, ‘And company. Not just natives.’
    Lily stared at her. The only horses she had ever seen were the nags which pulled drays on the streets of Birmingham. She hardly knew one end of a horse from another! But she wanted very much to please. And the idea of learning to ride and being able to explore the countryside outside the cantonment seemed immensely exciting.
    ‘I could try,’ she said uncertainly.
    To her surprise, Susan Fairford softened suddenly.
    ‘Good girl. You can learn quickly, I’m sure. Our syce is very good.’ Seeing Lily’s baffled expression she gave a faint smile. ‘That’s the groom – he looks after the horses. His name is Arsalan and I must say, for a native he’s very able. I’ll ask him to teach you on a leading rein until you feel more confident.’
    Within days, Lily had her first session seated on a horse, in a pair of riding breeches. Susan Fairford rode side-saddle, clad in a long riding dress, but she said Lily might feel safer straddling the horse and being able to grip on. She had never worn trousers before in her life and the thick breeches made her feel manly but much freer.
    The syce Arsalan was waiting at the appointed time on the lawn at the back of the house, holding a sleek chestnut horse on a leading rein. Arsalan was a slender man, dressed in loose white trousers and tunic, a bright white cloth coiled with impressive style round his head, with eyes which danced with mischievous warmth. Lily found it impossible to guess his age, but she liked him immediately, even before he had said a word, and she felt her nerves begin to fade.
    ‘Miss Waters?’ He gave a little bow from the waist. ‘I am here to give you a riding lesson. This is a good, quiet horse. You can ride her solo when you are ready. She will not be giving you any trouble.’
    He had a box for her to stand on and he instructed her how to climb on before teaching her how to sit and hold the reins. Although she was very nervous, she instantly liked the feel of sitting on the horse, and the smells of the warm animal and leather rising to meet her. She learned that the horse was called Blaze, because of the white stripe down her nose.
    ‘Now,’ Arsalan said, taking the leading rein. ‘We are ready to begin walking.’
    Patiently, day after day, he taught her to walk, then trot. She started to look forward to her