Page 7 of Her Royal Bodyguard

“Of course Ma’am.”

Erin moved her horse alongside Alexandra’s.

“Erin, where did you learn to ride?” Alexandra asked, her eyes focussed on Erin as she asked.

Erin felt this strange nervousness again as Alexandra spoke to her.

“Er, so I always rode. As a child, I guess. My mum had horses. She borrowed this fat black pony for me to ride. He was called Tommy and he always had a look on his little face like he couldn’t decide if he was going to throw me off or not that day.”

Alexandra laughed, her smile wide and open. Her teeth perfect, neat and white.

“He was pretty naughty. I fell off a lot. She got me lessons and I got better. I guess I had to. You soon learn to hold on with a pony like that. I was obsessed with the horses. When I was a bit bigger and fell off less often, I would ride my mum’s horses. We went to jumping competitions, sometimes we did pretty well. I always wanted to work with horses actually. I wanted to ride in the Olympics.”

“Yet, here you are, babysitting members of the Royal Family? How did that happen? This won’t help you get to the Olympics,” Alexandra responded, she seemed genuinely curious.

“Oh, I did work with horses before I joined the police. I worked for an International Event Rider. She was in the British team. I learnt a lot. I loved it, mostly. The winters can be long and cold. But in the summer, it was the best job in the world. Riding beautiful horses in the sunshine.”

“And the Olympics?” Alexandra asked.

“Oh, so I wasn’t ever really good enough and I never had the right horse. I mean, I competed to a decent level. I maybe could have gone further. My best horse got seriously injured. It was a struggle to get by financially. I could train young horses, but then it made more sense financially to sell them, rather than risk them getting injured pursuing my selfish dreams. I could have done more. I could have dedicated years and years more of my life in the hope it came off. Working with horses is a long hard slog on an uneven field. They say it is a rich person’s sport. And I was never a rich person. And I didn’t have a rich family or husband to support me. I just loved the horses.” Erin felt herself opening up. “I don’t know, I have some regrets. Sometimes, I think I should have tried harder. Should have been more resilient, tougher. When things went wrong, I gave up and applied for the police.”

It seemed somehow easy to talk suddenly. Erin found herself speaking words she had never spoken in the easy January air. A crisp winter’s day they would call it. The sunshine lazy, but bright over the hillside. The grass dewy beneath the regular step of the hooves of the two horses and the only sounds, the birds in the trees and the rhythmic breath of the big beautiful animals.

It felt like they were the only two people in the world, the Princess and her bodyguard.

“Your best horse?”Alexandra asked. “What happened to her?”

“She died,”Erin said. Factual and distant to minimise the pain she had been through. “We had a really bad fall over a jump in a big competition and she broke her leg and had to be put to sleep. Well, they like to say put to sleep. They shoot them though, horses. They had to shoot her- she could never have recovered.”

“Oh Erin, I am so sorry. I can’t imagine how hard that was for you. What was her name? What was she like?” Alexandra asked.

Erin smiled, tiny tears threatening the corner of her eyes. Nobody ever really asked that. When they found out the horse was dead, they changed the subject fast.

“Her name was Alaska. She was a big independent mare. She was fast and bold and an incredible jumper. Her bravery was probably what went wrong in the end, she was too brave and thought she knew it all. She misjudged the jump. Or I did. Or maybe we both did slightly. She liked apples better than carrots. She was the most intelligent horse I ever knew. I had her since she was young, we learned everything together.”

“She was lucky to have you and lead the life she did, Erin. It sounds like a life of excitement and wonder. You should try to let go of blaming yourself.” When Alexandra spoke, she spoke with a wisdom and balance beyond anything Erin had heard before.

Erin’s radio crackled.

“Marshall to Kennedy. All OK? Over.”

Erin woke up suddenly and put her wrist to her mouth.

“Affirmative Marshall. We are still heading South. Over.”

Erin looked back to Alexandra, her position on the horse perfect, her hips moving with the horse and her hands light on the reins. The sunlight was on her face, lighting the perfect lines of her cheekbones. Her finely defined features golden in the light.

“Thank you Ma’am.” Erin said. “Where did you learn to ride Ma’am.”

“Oh, an almost similar story,” Alexandra laughed. “My family always had horses. They got me a fat little pony when I was a child. He was less naughty than your Tommy by the sound of it.” Alexandra laughed again. Her laughter was musical. She was angelic.

“The trouble with my family and my life is that I’m never allowed to fall. Not in any aspect of life. There’s too many people saving me all of the time. I always loved the horses though. As a child I watched equestrian sports at the Olympics and I thought it was something I wanted to do when I grew up. That was before I really knew what ‘Future Queen’ meant. There are a lot of things you can’t do as Future Queen. A lot of risks you cannot take. My cousin Zara rode in the Olympics you know?”

“Yes.” Erin nodded.

“I was jealous of her. Jealous of her life and her world. The same, yet different. Zara was allowed to fall.”

The two rode in silence for a minute, lovely horses stepping in time to each other.

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