True to his word, Kre returned to the stables after delivering the bags and being told to bugger off while the two men continued their night of competitive drinking in relative silence, as if each were afraid of being the first to call it quits, but neither wanting to actually stay and converse with the other.
Though the stallion was massive and had that look as if it might be slightly feral, Kre seemed to have no additional trouble convincing the poor neglected steed that he was there to help. In fact, once the horse saw him again, Kre could swear that the soft whinny it gave was followed by an equine smile.
“Hey boy,” Kre said softly, smiling in return. Somehow, singing a lullaby didn’t seem appropriate any longer, so Kre resorted to Cooter’s tactic of talking to him like a friend. “I don’t know what you and that Barry guy have been into, and it doesn’t matter, so let’s just focus on some you-time. I’m pretty sure that it’s well deserved no matter what you’ve been into.”
He spent most of that evening brushing the dust out of the stallion’s coat until it finally came to a near glossy finish. That done, he started picking dirt and rocks from out of the stallion’s hooves. It was hard work, as most of it was thoroughly caked in. “Broke a shoe there too,” he murmured, tapping the splintered metal horseshoe with his pick. “That’s going to need a replacement before you can run again. I’m surprised you made it here on that, actually. It had to hurt with every step.”
“Ach,” came a guttural voice from behind him. “Ain’t a surprise that. Hireo’s always been too stubborn to stop because of a bit of pain. Kind of takes after me, really.”
Kre spun around from his position over the horse’s rear leg and saw Barry standing by the stallion’s head, gently stroking his muzzle.
He stared for a moment, locking eyes with dark Beleg before he remembered his role as a servant. “Ah, sorry sir!” He cast his eyes down and dipped his head, suddenly unsure if he should do more to show deference.
“No apologies needed boy,” Barry said. “Here I was all set to come out and take care of my Hireo and I find the job already done, and a much better job than I would do I’ll be honest.”
Barry moved around to the back of the stall near Kre and raised up the hoof that Kre had just recently set down. “A lucky thing he didn’t break a leg,” Barry murmured with a click of his tongue. He set the leg down gingerly and gave his steed a comforting pat on the backside. “Though it may not look it, I do look after him. Probably spoil him a bit too, if I’m honest. These last few days though… they’ve been hard riding.”
The man’s eyes gained that faraway look as if recalling a memory and his lip curled slightly downwards. Quick as it came, the moment passed, and Barry looked down at Kre with his hard-as-ice eyes. “I take very good care of my Hireo,” he said again, emphasizing it as if to convince himself as much as to inform Kre.