The squeal of a horse made Wayne’s head jerk up, and the equines gathered around him became alert as well. Careful not to let himself be jostled by their restless bodies, he pushed past them to see what the hell was going on. He was hesitant about throwing himself in front of a creature he didn’t know the temperament of, but he’d wrangled plenty of nasty critters before; it was mostly an issue about getting chewed out by the beast’s owner if they returned.
Seeing the stallion prancing alongside a bay mare, the cowboy paused and shook his head. It seemed that Dixie-May had been right to worry about some of the interactions that would be going on in the festival corral, especially with no one supervising the animals most of the time. He had confidence that the mounts from Casa di Cavalieri could handle themselves, especially together as a herd, but it looked like this mare was alone—except for her owner, a dark wolf woman the man spotted staring at the pair of animals in dismay.
“She yours?” Wayne called over to her even as he approached, jerking a thumb in the direction of the bay. He’d seen the stallion around earlier and could only assume that hers was the newer addition. His gaze wandered over her attire, but he made no comment on it. There were even more fancifully dressed canines among the other festival-goers, anyway, and her clothing flattered her curvaceous and strong frame. As someone used to practical wear, though, it wasn’t something that he would consider for anything less than a special occasion.
One he reached her, he reminded himself to adjust his posture slightly, not standing so powerfully, keeping his face from growing stony. He didn’t want to intimidate anyone; he was just more closed-off than most folk. The sound of another whinny as the horses gaily raced and flirted made him break into a sudden small grin, and he turned to look at them for a second.
“There’s another paddock attached to this one, I think,” the Rispetto said, nodding in the direction of the gate he thought he’d seen coming in. “We reckon we could chase one of ’em in there, get ’em separated.” He grinned.
.waywa b {font-weight:bold; color:#ac6031; letter-spacing:1px; text-shadow: 0.1em 0.1em 0.2em #3b1e0c; }
.waywa p {text-indent:0px; padding:5px 16px; margin:0px;}
.waywa {margin:0 auto; width:450px; background-color:#582b1d; background-image:url(http://i.imgur.com/bsmRV.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:1px solid #0b052c; padding: 290px 0px 7px 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size:12px; color:#a36c3b; text-shadow: 0.1em 0.1em 0.2em #; letter-spacing:.6px; word-spacing:.9x; line-height:13.3px; text-align:justify;}
</style>
[/html]