Horse Gods: The Dressage Rider’s Betrayal

Teens

synopsis

Synopsis

A half-wild horse, a Celtic legend, and a teen trying to escape… Regina Hamilton has three months to prove to the courts she can earn a living on her own and avoid going home to her abusive mother—a tall order for a teen with only her riding skills to rely on. Desperate to prove herself, Regina lands a job at an exclusive dressage barn. But when workers start to mysteriously disappear, she becomes ensnared in a web of lies and deceit. With time running out and unsure who to trust, Regina turns to an unlikely trio: an unusual boy who trains hawks, a reclusive professor of Celtic history, and a half-wild red mare. Together they form a bond that will be tested when a long-held secret exposes a much greater threat—and Regina’s the target. To save her horses and her life Regina may have to trust her enemies and betray her friends.

bio

Author Biography

Inspired by everyday miracles, L.R. Trovillion weaves magical stories of hurting people who find hope through horses in her Maryland Equestrian Novel series. Although she earned a degree in Russian and spent a career in government service, her real love has been caring for and working with horses. That love shines through in her series, focusing on the healing power of horses in the lives of teens facing complex and sometimes dangerous family situations. Believing there is more to this world than meets the eye, she adds a dash of the supernatural to each story. L. R. Trovillion lives on a small horse farm in Maryland with her husband, daughter, and several animals that really run the place. Her other works have appeared in Baltimore magazine, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and various poetry anthologies.

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Author Insight

Freedom and Independence

On this July 4th Independence Day, there's a lot of talk about freedom. All kinds of freedom, personal liberty, independence, and human rights. Goals all Americans were raised to believe in, and rightly so! In HORSE GODS, the main character, Regina, has her rights and freedoms threatened when she learns her mother with a disturbing and abusive past is being released from prison and Regina is being "forced" to live with her. Since Regina is a minor, she has limited options and resources at her disposal in order to avoid this fate. One possible escape is to declare herself an emancipated minor, which entails many steps including proving one's independence. Regina goes to extreme lengths to prove she can make it on her own, but is soon faced with jeopardizing things she loves in order to gain her personal freedom.

Book Excerpt

Horse Gods: The Dressage Rider’s Betrayal

I can’t get Twin Elms out of my mind…and the idea that the working students live there. It could be my ticket to escape. Escaping the farm manager’s trailer where Aunt Sophia and I are living under Wade’s watchful eye. The living room walls here are covered with fake paneling, and I think the carpet is held together by mud and dog hair.

Brenda is here again today. Checking on me. She’s sitting on the couch I won’t ever sit on. I drag a wooden kitchen chair into the living room.

Aunt Sophia is in the kitchen fixing coffee, she says, but what she’s really doing is leaving me alone with Brenda. To talk. So far, Brenda’s doing all the talking.

“Your mother’s release date has been set.”

I nod.

“In three months. A little over. February eleventh.” Brenda flips some pages in a folder.

I nod again. What does she want me to say?

“She wants to see you for Thanksgiving. The correctional facility is hosting a dinner for the families.”

“Prison.”

“What?” Brenda looks up from her papers. A cross between annoyed and confused flashes across her face.

I shrug. “She lives in a prison. Can’t you just call it that?”

So now she just looks annoyed. “You’re expected around four that afternoon. Your aunt is invited as well, of course.”

“Why are we talking about Thanksgiving? It’s not even November yet.”

Brenda puts the folder on the coffee table and tosses her reading glasses on top. She looks like she’s going to say something, but Aunt Sophia walks into the room with Girl Scout cookies. Sophia pushes the folder aside and sets the plate of cookies down. “How do you take your coffee?” she asks.

“Black.”

Not sure why but this surprises me. I figured Brenda for a four-sugars-and-heavy-cream type. While Aunt Sophia fusses around with the coffee cups, she mentions having to make arrangements at her farm in order to be away so long.

Brenda slides her folder closer and sets the cup on it. Her eyebrows scrunch together. “The state can help with expenses, if that’s a problem. I had it on authority that you’d be guardian until—”

Sophia waves her hand. “No, no. It’s okay. I will. I mean, I’m all set to stay here until…”

She trails off. Until she hands me back to her sister. Like an abandoned dog nobody wants.

They talk about me like I’m not in the room.

“Regina’s expenses, of course, are fully covered up to the release date.” She picks up her glasses and starts counting weeks. “The Thanksgiving event is in about six weeks.”

Aunt Sophia nods. “Okay.”

No one asked if I wanted to go.

“What if I don’t go?” I say.

Brenda stops looking at her calendar. “Don’t go?”

“Yeah. What if I don’t want to?”

“Regina.” Sophia sighs and collapses in the armchair.

“No one asked. Why should I?” My arms cross over my chest. If I stick my lip out I know I’ll complete the picture of a kid having a tantrum. I uncross my arms and try to sound reasonable. “Look. I don’t want to go see her, I don’t want to have Thanksgiving at a prison, and most of all I don’t want to live with her when she gets out.”

Brenda stares. Sophia looks away.

“She’s a psycho. Doesn’t anyone get that?”