Free Well Groomed by Fiona Walker

brothers were arriving as I left.’
    ‘So you were.’ Zoe rubbed her forehead. ‘Well, one chap got so paralytic he had to stay, and then Enid took a piece out of him when he came down for a glass of water during the night.’
    ‘Poor thing.’
    ‘It’s okay, she calmed down once she realised he wasn’t an intruder, didn’t you, darling?’ She blew a kiss to her nervy Dalmatian who was curled into a tight, uncomfortable knot in one of the tiny cats’ beds by the Aga. Certifiably paranoid and singularly devoted to Zoe, Enid was wildly jealous of anyone her mistress touched or spoke to. Ears sinking back into her head, she blinked her pale amber eyes worriedly, anxious that she was being picked on.
    ‘I was referring to him.’
    ‘Oh, he’ll live. Gus administered a tet jab with remarkable skill considering the number of bottles he’d sunk.’
    ‘Christ, I’m glad I just had Matty and Sally snoring on our sofa.’ Tash gazed around the kitchen, seeking comfort in the familiar, tatty paintings, over-stuffed shelves, piles of post and horse paraphernalia which littered every available surface. The room always smelled of hot coffee and wet boots.
    ‘So Matty and Sally enjoyed Christmas with you, did they?’ Zoe asked coolly.
    ‘Sally did.’ Tash gazed at the large, wipe-clean wall roster which had her marked as off work for the week. There was very little writing on it at all at this time of year as most of the horses were roughed off for winter and there were no events to attend apart from the odd hunt or indoor jumping competition. Come May it would be covered in bright felt pen marks like a toddler’s mad doodling.
    ‘And Matty?’ Zoe was trying to coax Enid into eating a Bonio.
    ‘Sulked throughout, as ever.’ She sighed. ‘I think they’ve got a lot of money problems at the moment. But Niall cheered him up in the end – he was wonderful, making everyone laugh so much.’ She noticed that the list of next year’s scheduled BHS trials was up on the wall at last, Blu-tacked beside the work roster with those competitions they were already entered for marked in red and those still pending in pencil. Eventing was so over-subscribed these days that sending off an entry fee was no longer a guarantee of competing – there was always a chance of being balloted out, and one had to choose which events to give top priority very carefully. Tash noticed to her delight that she was pencilled in for the biggest spring event, Badminton, on both of her top horses and a big grin spread across her face without her even noticing it.
    Watching her, Zoe picked up a dead match and played with it thoughtfully. She knew Tash pretty well by now, realising that beneath the shy, rather clumsy exterior there existed a far tougher, more decisive heart. A heart that would tear itself out for something it loved and believed in, but with a good deal of self-preservation embedded in it too.
    Tash was often embarrassed by the impact of her own physical presence. Despite an urge not to stand out, she was not a person who blended easily into the background. Extremely tall, curvy, and in possession of two huge, oddly coloured eyes, she inevitably drew attention as she dominated every crowd, her unkempt mop of hair several inches above everyone else’s crown. These were not always admiring glances either: Tash had the natural hunched gaucheness of the self-conscious and seldom made an effort to dress up. She was renowned for looking dreadfully scruffy on almost all occasions. But this simply enhanced the effect whenever she did dress up. And, unusually, she had dressed up today.
    Dark, smudgy kohl lines encircled her green and amber eyes, a beaded pin was holding her thick, curling hair up from her face to show off those high, pink cheek bones and long, long neck. She was even wearing a dress – the first time Zoe had seen her in one. Short, bias-cut and silky, it showed off her elongated curves and endless legs, although a tiny