By Chance: Day 8

Word Count: 48,005

Summary of Events:

Steele didn't really have a lot to do after his physiotherapist appointment, only getting out of the house when he was taken to do his weekly errands. While he was getting ready for bed one evening, however, his cellphone rang while he wasn't in the same room as it, prompting him to hurry over as fast as he dared, lest he miss the call…

Excerpt of the Day:

Not wanting it to go to voicemail, Steele didn’t look at who was calling.

“Hello?” he answered.

“Good evening Steele,” a familiar voice answered. “You’re probably not up to much tomorrow, are you?”

“Uh, no,” Steele replied.

“Do you think you could fill in for Dilys starting tomorrow?” the caller — whom he still hadn’t fully placed — asked.

“Doing what?” Steele asked, having a better idea of who was calling.

“Supervising the kids on their ground work,” she replied.

“Which involves…?” Steele asked.

“We’re working on grooming horses for this month,” she replied; he was sure she was Dilys’ sister Alida, both of whom were Shai’s cousins.

“Why?” Steele asked.

“Shea called me just a few minutes ago to tell me he’s taking Dilys in because her water broke, so she’s going to be out of commission for at least the rest of this week, and I don’t really have anybody else to call on with it being the season it is,” she replied.

“That’s all I have to do?” Steele asked.

“Yeah,” she replied. “You can’t really do much else, after all.”

“True,” Steele said.

“I’d even be willing to pay you for it,” she said.

“You don’t really have to,” Steele replied.

“I pay Dilys, I should pay you,” she said.

“It might make the WCB freak out, though,” Steele said. “Not that I’ve heard from them yet.”

“Really?” she asked. “It’s been two weeks, you might want to call them and ask.”

“I might,” Steele agreed.

“But we’ll look into that,” she said. “Even if we only pay you in December to keep them from getting upset, we can do that too.”

“If you feel like you have to,” Steele said. “When do I need to be there?”

“In order to give you a bit of a briefing on what you’re doing and what you’re looking for — well, I don’t know that I really have to tell you that part — I’d like you here for eight thirty if you can,” she replied. “The first group will be arriving at nine thirty.”

“And how many groups are there?” Steele asked.

“Three in a day,” she replied. “With breaks in between, don’t worry. Oh, and don’t pack your own lunch, we’ll supply. It’s actually Grandma’s turn tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Steele said, licking his lips at the thought of having some of Grandma Clare’s delicious cooking, even without knowing what she was making he knew it was going to be good.

“See you at eight thirty,” she said.

“But how am I getting there?” Steele asked.

“We’ll send somebody, don’t worry,” she replied.

“Okay,” Steele said. “I’ll be ready for them.”

“Thanks so much Steele,” she replied. “Good night.”

“G’night,” Steele replied.

He ended the call and sighed. Alida ran something of a riding school, except it was also a horse therapy program, thus all the students were kids who were going through hard times or were struggling with emotional issues, who were being taught how to ride in order to give them confidence, as well as to help them realise how their emotions could affect others.