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Hey look, dad let me have the computer while he's gone fishing.  ))))
Word Count: 328. Worth 2 points.
Hanna patted Galilahi's silky neck, quieting the prancing mare. Her ears were set forward, and while Hanna doubted she had raced before, at least with a rider atop her back, the horse was well aware that something new, different, and exciting was afoot. The excitement set the mare's hooves dancing and had a lupine grin on the femme's mouth that she couldn't contain.
Hanna peered around at the other riders. She didn't know all of them, but those she did know were those of her pack. Hemming, Dawali, and the girl she'd met the winter before, with the falcon, were all on equines of their own. Hanna carefully maneuvered her mount into the area along the outer rail of the racetrack, giving her a bird's-eye view of the stands as well.
She scanned those few gathered, recognizing well the form of Vigilante. She raised one hand to wave to him, flashing him a smile, then turned her attention to the King of the Cour des Miracles pack, a one-armed dog named Jacquez. He dumped out on one of the seats a veritable pile of booty. Flat, circular, shiny pieces of coinage, a weapon, a gem, and a piece of jewelry, plus a flask of booze, lay in wait for the winner of the contest.
When Jacquez concluded his speech, Hanna was among those who complimented him for his idea, though her praise came in the form of applause. She then turned her attention to the patch of dirt she could see directly between Galilahi's chocolate ears, her calves and thighs tense, rear raised slightly off the hide that Hanna was using as a saddle. She had not used a formal saddle, nor a bridle, in the two weeks or so since she'd befriended Gali, and she felt at ease riding nearly bareback. She impatiently awaited the signal to go, her fingers wrapped in hanks of the mare's mane on either side, near the base of her neck.
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