Free The Day We Disappeared by Lucy Robinson Page A

verbatim. ‘I left a very successful career at
     Google Dublin so that I could start out in the eventing world. But the deal I made
     with myself was that, if I was going to do it, I would only do it with the very
     best.’ I glanced at Mark. ‘So here I am, with the best event rider in
     the country!’
    There was a brief silence, which Maria
     broke with an unpleasant laugh. ‘Jesus.’ She chuckled, in a South
     American way.
Hayzoos.
It seemed even more insulting than plain old
     ‘Jesus’. ‘They are all the same.’ She got up and left the
     room. I heard her scream her daughter’s name.
    I waited for Mark
     to apologize, to make good his wife’s behaviour somehow, but he didn’t
     say a word.
    ‘I meant it,’ I tried
     desperately. ‘It really is an honour to be working for you. The very best of
     the bunch, you know? Ha-ha?’
    ‘Kate. It is Kate, isn’t
     it?’
    I nodded.
    ‘Kate. Most eventers enjoy having
     smoke blown up their arses. The industry is rife with heavy-drinking, horse-doping
     egotistical maniacs, who cover themselves with expensive kit and make-up and get
     themselves photographed in the champagne tent every time they go to a competition.
     They’ll respond gladly to flattery.’
    I withered. I could feel Sandra to my
     right, begging silently for her son to show me some mercy. ‘They sound like a
     bunch of silly articles,’ I tried lamely.
    ‘I’m not one of them, Kate.
     I’m running a very tight ship here. I have no time for posing at parties,
     letting people tell me how great I am. If you’re looking for that sort of
     thing, you’re best off working for Caroline Lexington-Morley. What
I
’m looking for – and please be clear on this – are the most
     observant, meticulous, tireless grooms in the business. Because without people like
     that I have no hope of winning.’
    ‘Of course, of course.’ I
     smiled, my face bland and reassuring. I didn’t like people who wanted to
     win.
    ‘My staff must love my horses more
     than they love me, because they’re the most important people here. I want them
     to be respected, adored, fussed over but never petted. You get out of bed at six
     a.m. for them, not me.’
    ‘Understood.’ I liked that
     he called his horses people.
Beyond that,
     I didn’t like anything I’d just heard. ‘So the horses first, you
     second and me last. I think I can work with that.’
    Mark didn’t laugh.
    ‘So, love, tell us about your
     ponies,’ Sandra said kindly, tucking her grey bob behind an ear. Sandra and
     the dogs were the only nice thing about this lunch. Dirk the Labrador sat on one
     side of her and an enormous grey Irish wolfhound on the other.
    ‘I had a pony called, um,
     Frog?’ I experimented.
    Sandra’s eyes lit up. ‘Oh,
     what a name!’ she cried. ‘Frog! Imagine that, Mark! It’s almost as
     good as Stumpy!’
    Mark, who was shrugging on a fleece
     laced with horse hairs, didn’t react.
    ‘And how old were you when you got
     Frog?’ Sandra asked.
    ‘I was four.’ I tried to
     remember what Becca had said about horse heights. ‘He was, er, fifteen
     two.’
    Mark’s eyes had swivelled back to
     me. There was something going on in there that I couldn’t put my finger on.
     ‘Time to get back,’ he said. ‘You were late, so this conversation
     will have to continue later. Please make sure you’re on time in
     future.’
    Silently, sadly, I said goodbye to my
     soup.
    ‘Off to shovel some more shite
     then!’ I beamed. I was Kate Brady. I would not be beaten.
    Mark stopped in the doorway.
     ‘Email me your CV,’ he said. And, just at the moment I decided he was
     one of the more unpleasant people I’d met, he smiled.
    His daughter galloped in and threw
     herself at him, telling him how much she hated her mother. Mark picked her
up and carried her out to the yard on his
     back. And, unless I was very much mistaken, he told her he completely agreed.
    Sandra looked at me, and I looked at
     her. I