A Different Point of View (PG)

[yukitamashii]

My labor of love...needs to be finished.

A/N: Rated PG for mild swearing in some chapters.
Summary: The Thoroughbred Series as seen from Brad Townsend's pov. Fills in a bit of missing info about his family. A little AU: he falls for Ashleigh.

Chapter One

“Well, isn’t it a beautiful day?” Elaine Griffen asked with a cheerfulness in her voice that her face said she obviously didn’t feel. “I’ve made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.”

Her mother’s comfort food, Ashleigh knew. She shrugged a greeting and sat down at the table. Her father was reading the newspaper as he ate and Caroline, Ashleigh’s older sister by three years, breezed into the kitchen, fashionably dressed as usual.

“Man, it’s just too early to be up!” she complained.

“I’m sorry, Caroline, but we have to be down to the barns early to make a good impression,” Elaine said, handing her daughter--who was still grumbling about “this ungodly hour”--a plate of pancakes. “And could you go wake up Rory, Ashleigh?”

“Sure.” Padding down the hall to her brother’s bedroom, Ashleigh thought that if they still owned their own farm, they wouldn’t need to worry about making good impressions on anybody. Then, biting her lip, she tried not to think about Edgardale, her parent’s farm, and the horrible virus that had swept through it, killing five broodmares and a foal. It had cost the Griffens so much financially and emotionally to lose so many horses that they had ended up selling the farm and finding work as breeding managers here at Townsend Acres. Ashleigh felt tears welling up in her eyes when she thought about leaving the farm and her beloved horse Stardust, who had survived the epidemic, behind, and she shook her head to clear it of the bad memories.

Blinking back her tears, she opened the door to Rory’s room and found him sprawled out on his bed, the blankets pushed off onto the floor. The alarm was set on snooze.

Twelve-year-old Ashleigh smiled and gently shook shook her brother’s shoulder. “Time to get up.”

“Hmm...? Huh? Do I have to groom Moe now?” he asked sleepily in his high seven-year-old voice.

Ashleigh’s smile faded but she didn’t cry. “No, Rory, we’re at Townsend Acres now,” she reminded him, keeping the anger and sadness out of her voice and face. It wasn’t Rory’s fault that they had had to sell Edgardale so there was no point in taking her feelings out on him.

Momentarily her brother looked confused, but then his expression brightened. “We get to meet the new horses now!”

“Yeah...But you’d better eat breakfast first,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Oh, yeah.” Rory bounded out to the kitchen and Ashleigh pushed her dark hair out of her face. She was the only one who had inherited Derek Griffen’s coloring; her brother and sister looked more like fair, red-golden haired Elaine.

She sat down on the unmade bed and glanced down at the stuffed toy horse laying on the floor. It was the one Ashleigh had given her brother when he had cried over losing Moe.

Again, Ashleigh felt like sobbing with bitter grief and resentment but she was determined not to cry anymore. It would change the past, and it wouldn’t bring Stardust back to her. Wiping her watery eyes with her sleeve, Ashleigh vowed never to be close to another horse again. It just hurt too much.


****************



Townsend Acres was beautiful, Brad knew. He knew when people came over, they would were impressed by the expansive land and glossy thoroughbreds. He knew many people envied him because he lived here and was relatively rich. But right now, Brad was sick of the place. No, not the place, the people in it. His sister Isabelle was lucky to have escaped into college and then marriage.

“Morning, Mr. Townsend,” a groom called out politely. Brad barely nodded to him, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for Andrew Cain, the newest and youngest groom here, to bring out Brightblade.

“Come on, Blade,” he told the prancing chestnut when he was brought to Brad, “time to show your stuff.” He didn’t even think to thank Andrew.

Brightblade, the horse Brad was exercising today, tossed his elegant head with excitement, eager to get out on the training oval and run, and Brad permitted himself to relax a little as he trotted, then cantered the colt to warm him up. Finally it was time to gallop.

Letting his breath out, Brad gave Blade the signal, and he jumped forward into a smooth, collected gallop, pushing to go faster. His long strides ate up the ground and Brad couldn’t help smiling in spite of his resolve to remain aloof and indifferent in public. He hated to open himself up, but feeling the energy of the young horse beneath him and the wind whipping at his cheeks as they flew past the half-mile marker was like a natural high. Reluctantly he slowed Blade’s pace and the colt tossed his head in protest, disappointed his run was over. Brad assumed his usual unreadable expression as he headed over to the rail, Blade fighting him, wanting to run some more.

Ken Maddock, the head trainer, was thrilled to see that the horse was doing so well and said they’d try him over five furlongs tomorrow. Then he greeted someone out of Brad’s line of vision.

“First day, eh?”

“Moved in this morning.” A tall, dark haired man answered with a smile. “Thought I’d take my family on a tour of the farm...”

Brad quite listening as he examined the newcomers, barely catching the names of the three children. There was a little boy and two girls. One girl was slim and boyish, the other slender and curvy, probably close to his age. He was scrutinizing her as she smiled and fluffed her hair when he heard Maddock say his name, catching him off guard. The other man was introducing himself as Derek Griffen, and his wife as Elaine, the new breeding managers.

“Hi,” he said shortly, hating it when he was caught unawares, and turned back to Maddock, masking his slight sense of uncertainty. “I thought we could try him from the gate tomorrow. What do you think?” he asked, feeling the younger girl studying him intensely as he listen to the trainer’s reply and then took off for the barn, feeling unusually self-conscious. He wasn’t sure he liked her or the obnoxiously cheerful little boy--the parents he was indifferent to--but the older girl was worth taking a second look at.

“Brad!”

Startled, Brad almost fell out of the saddle as his overdressed, socialite mother waltzed up, looking like she was going to a formal dance in a few minutes.

For a moment, he wondered what his strong-willed, horse person father, Clay Townsend, had seen in spoiled, self-centered Lalaine Reega* when he first met her. Then he pushed the thought away, feeling a little guilty. He put on a polite face and nodded. “Hello, Mother. What brings you to the barn this morning?” ‘Away from the house where the servants are?’

Lalaine smiled her I’m-scheming smile. “Brad, darling, “ she said as he dismounted and handed the Prince off to another groom, “I just knew you’d want to hear about the deal your father is making with Gerald Westwood. You see, we’re all going out to dinner tonight with him and his lovely daughter, Melinda.”

Brad understood immediately that the underlying reason his mother was telling him this was not to keep him informed of his father’s business doings but to remind him to be ridiculously nice to Melinda-maybe even date her-so that it smoothed the way for Clay, who probably didn’t even notice that Brad dated every girl who’s father did business with him, much less whether or not it helped. But Lalaine was sneaky like that, and not below using her son to further the success of the farm. Odds-on she’d tricked Clay into marriage.

“All right, Mother,” he said, suddenly feeling weary. Too weary to feel the usual seething resentment at being used this way.

Lalaine smiled at getting exactly what she wanted and sauntered off, explaining she had to get her nails and (already perfect) raven-black hair done.

Brad sighed and shook his head, heading quickly up to the house to change and next to his red Ferrari. The wind ruffled his short brown hair. He ran a hand through it and heard, “Well, it’s a good thing our horses died so we could move here and you could meet more cute boys, huh?” the younger Griffen girl was saying snippily to her sister.

“Geez, Ash, sue me for being interested in dating,” the older sister said defensively, looking a little guilty, and Ashleigh--the one who had been practically analyzing him earlier--suddenly sighed as if too exhausted emotionally to keep up her anger.

Frowning a little, Brad wondered what their story was as they walked to the bus stop. Shrugging to himself, he figured he had enough problems to deal with without adding theirs.

Slamming the car door shut and sliding the key into the ignition, the engine roared to life and the wheels spit gravel as he tore off out of the driveway and down the road without looking back.


A/N: *Reega is pronounced Reeja, pronouncing the j as you would in bonjour. I just thought that the “g” looked better than the “j” but it‘s not ree-gah, that sounds stupid.

Also, Brightblade, the name of the horse Brad rides in this chapter, is a name I borrowed from a book series that I forgot the name of. I‘m not stealing it, I‘m just borrowing it, really!

[yukitamashii]

A/N: Obviously, here and in the future I'll be adding in scenes that didn't happen in the books, because I'll need Ash and Brad to interact more than they actually do. Hope that's okay with everyone! Also, for those who may not know, not every chapter will feaure Ash's pov, since we see so much of it in the books. It will usually show up when it's important to see how her understanding of Brad is changing.

Chapter Two

Ashleigh was daydreaming again, instead of doing her homework or finishing unpacking her room. School wasn’t so bad really; she’d met a girl named Linda who was also crazy about horses. But Ashleigh still hated math.

So instead she imagined she was riding Stardust through the trails. The beautiful chestnut was tossing her head in play, spirited and energetic, and looking all around them. And there had never, in Ashleigh’s imaginings, been a virus at all...

“Rory! Don’t touch that!” Caroline shrieked from downstairs, startling Ashleigh out of her reverie. “I’m going to tell mom and dad!”

“I can’t concentrate,” Ashleigh muttered. She dropped her pencil on the open math book and went downstairs and out the door. For a while she meandered along, not really seeing anything. She wasn’t thinking, and was surprised when she realized she was in front of Townsend Holly’s stall. Holly, who looked so much like Stardust that it hurt...

She rested her arms on the stall half door and gazed at the horse, who stared back and pricked her ears forward, obviously hoping for treats.

“You don’t mean to look like Stardust, do you?” Ashleigh asked Holly, who sniffed at her hair, her arms, and pockets. “It’s not your fault, I guess.” She hesitated for a moment, and looked about her. No one was around. At least, no one was paying any attention to her. She made her decision.

“It’s probably not time for your groom to come and brush you,” she flicked her brown-blonde hair into a ponytail, “but I don’t think anyone will mind if I brush you a bit.” She had to do something to get rid of her restless energy.

Holly nickered, bobbing her head a little as if agreeing with Ashleigh’s choice, and Ashleigh began to work. It all came back to her in a rush; the familiar work, the smells of mingling horse and hay and leather, the soft bump of a nose on her shoulder. Soon she forgot it was Holly she was grooming and not Stardust.

“You know, Mona called me yesterday. She’s really excited,” she straightened Holly’s mane out a little,” because she gets to take a foreign language this year. French, I think. Just the basics of course, but that’s better than noth--”

“Hey, Ashleigh!” April, a redheaded groom Ashleigh had met a couple of days ago came down the aisle with a clipboard in her hand. “What are you doing down here? I thought you said you had homework.” Her tone was friendly, but Ashleigh shrank away guiltily, like a kid with her hand in the cookie jar before dinner.

“Uh, yeah, I...I finished it already,” she lied, wondering when she had become so sneaky. Was it she didn’t want anyone to know she was getting attached to horses again? But she wasn’t! She wouldn’t let that happen! “So, what’re you doing?” she changed the subject.

April tossed her braid impatiently off her shoulder. “Oh, just seeing when the vet’s coming by to check out some pregnant mares and foals, and seeing how much it will mess up my schedule. I’d forgotten he was coming by today and not tomorrow.” She smiled, and Ashleigh remembered Jesse, another groom, making jokes about how time-obsessed April could be sometimes.

“She probably times how long each of her dreams should be at night,” he’d said.

“Oh.” Ashleigh blinked. She looked at the brush in her hand as if she had no idea how it had gotten there and Holly snorted, nudging her shoulder impatiently. Ashleigh patted the tip of Holly’s velvet nose distractedly and let herself out of the stall.

“Well, I’ll see you later,” she said to April as she put the brushes away and began to hurry off. Then, slowing a moment, she looked back at Holly, who was gazing after her with a puzzled look in her eyes. She felt a lump in her throat, remembering Stardust’s last look of love and incomprehension. The mare hadn’t seemed to realize that she’d never see Ashleigh again, though she’d certainly sensed her sadness.

Biting her lip, Ashleigh dashed away.

***************

Brad scowled to himself, looking for his father. Clay Townsend hadn’t, of course, been in the house, or at the barn housing the horses in active training, or at the stallion barn or...a number of other places. So he was likely in the foaling barn, checking up in the mothers of his future money-makers.

Sure enough, he found his father with Bill Parks, who kept an eye on the expectant mares. They were discussing Townsend Holly, who was tossing her head in what looked like annoyance.

“Dad?” Brad began. His father turned.

“Oh, Brad,” Clay nodded at him, “Townsend Holly’s going to produce another winner, don’t you think?”

“Yes, but--”

“And Three Foot had a beautiful foal.”

“I know--”

“Brad, Clay!” Lalaine called, teetering down the aisle in her heels. “We should get ready for the Westwoods’ dinner party. You know how long it takes to get to their house.”

“Hmm,” Clay checked his watch and frowned. “Yes, dear, you’re right. Oh, Brad, what were you saying?”

“...Nothing.” Nothing except that he desperately needed to talk to his father about his recently developed sense of insecurity and Lalaine’s pushiness. But hey, that could wait, right? A dinner party was much more important.

Brad ran his hand through his hair in unspoken resentment, then pushed down his anger and disappointment. He followed his parents’ out of the barn, slowing his pace a little and letting them draw ahead so he had time to master his emotions.

“You know, it’s like all I am is some kind of tool to Mom. And Dad? Well, Dad hardly has the time to realize I’m alive--”

Wait. Was that sniffling? He slowed even further, stopped. Yes, yes it was. But it wasn’t coming from him.

Turning, he saw a dark shape huddled against the barn wall in the shadows. It moved just slightly into the light and Brad realized it was Ashleigh Griffen.

“What are you doing?” he asked before he could stop himself. His voice came out too loud and sharp.

Startled, Ashleigh got hurriedly to her feet and brushed tears off her cheeks. “Nothing!” she said defensively, then calmed herself. “Nothing,” she said again. She turned part-way away from him for a moment.

Brad studied her profile and found to his surprise that she was prettier than he’d though. For a pre-teen brat, that was. Still couldn’t compare to her older sister, though.

Ashleigh glanced sideways at him as if she were waiting for him to leave, and suddenly Brad remembered to regain his I-don’t-care attitude.

“Well, if you’re going to be spreading you misery around, do it elsewhere.” ‘I have my own to deal with.’ And he spun around, heading for the house, completely missing the stung look that crossed Ashleigh’s features.

[yukitamashii]

Chapter Three

Ashleigh had fallen into a rhythm. She didn’t know how it had happened, but after a talk with her mother suddenly she was Townsend Holly’s groom. And she was happy. She hadn’t expected that. She had a good friend in Linda and a beautiful horse who looked like Stardust to take care of. Holly didn’t belong to Ashleigh, but Ashleigh knew she wasn’t going to go anywhere. That was enough.

When she arrived home on Friday, she even had a little foal to look after now. Holly’s foal.

Her parents didn’t think the foal would make it. Neither did Mr. Townsend. But Ashleigh’s heart had gone out to her, and she would give it her all to see the tiny filly at least had a chance in life...unlike poor Black Night. He’d never get to grow up and become the beautiful racehorse he was meant to be. Never.

She had to try to save her. She just had to.

*****************

Brad shook his head at the mare and foal in the paddock. It really must have disappointed his father, Holly’s foal being such a little runt. He was turning away and saw the younger Griffen girl and one of her friends coming up.

“Hi,” she said a little warily, but her friend gave him an open, bright smile.

“Hi,” Brad said back. “I was just cruising around, checking out all the foals,” he said, feeling a little like he had to explain himself to her, which was ridiculous, he was the owner’s son. “You’re the one taking care of this filly, aren‘t you? I forgot your name.”

She gave him a cautious smile at last. “Ashleigh Griffen. This is my friend Linda March. Linda, Brad Townsend.” Her face brightened a little. “Wonder’s really coming along, isn’t she?”

Hmm. A safe subject to discuss with the owner’s son, apparently. He shrugged. “I suppose, but I doubt she’ll ever make it to the track.”

“What do you mean?”

Brad almost rolled his eyes. Obviously the girl didn’t want to see what was right in front of her face. “She’s a runt.”

“She’ll catch up!”

He told her Three Foot’s foal was the one to keep an eye on, that she’d been wasting time on Wonder. It was true, after all, anyone could see it. A horseman had to be practical.

But Ashleigh didn’t want to be practical, obviously. She glared at him, completely on the defense, and turned away from him. Clearly she had no trouble voicing her opinions on horses, even if her and her friend’s remarks about him personally and his behavior were said more quietly. Refreshing, really. And annoying.

Brad spent the next few weeks avoiding her, and she frown fiercely at him whenever she saw him, telling him with her eyes he was wrong. He smirked back at her, but was a little intrigued to see if she could prove it or not. The only other time she smiled at him was when she was passing by on a trail on Dominator--much to his surprise--looking as if she was born riding. And that was probably only to be smug about her skills.

Then there was the time the foals were ready to be weaned, and Brad had clashed with Ashleigh as she watched over Wonder, defended the filly, subtly insulted him, and took off. Every encounter with her seemed to end him pissing her off or her proving him wrong. It was starting to bug him, but he didn’t know what to do about it. No girl had ever acted this way towards him or gotten under his skin like this. He didn’t particularly care to see Wonder fail, that would be bad for Townsend Acres, but he wished he could find a way to get that smugly determined and proud look on Ashleigh’s face when she’d stroked a beautiful and impressive Wonder in front of a crowd, knowing she was going to stay on the farm.

Stay on the farm. And possibly race against Brad’s colt, Townsend Prince. Maybe not win, but maybe not lose either.

Brad stalked off when his father told Ashleigh how much he appreciated hard work, and that they’d keep Wonder at least another year. Great. Just great. Brad worked his butt off in school and on horseback to get his father to notice him, and who does he compliment? Who does he praise?

Ashleigh Griffen. Girl Wonder. Ha ha.

Brad glared at her from a distance as everyone congratulated her. Maybe Wonder was going to stay on the farm, but when training time came, they’d see Brad and Prince were the real stars. And his mother would get off his back and his father would have time for him.

“Don’t you think I’m gonna make this easy for you, Griffen,” he sneered at her from a ways a way. “No way are you gonna win against me and the Prince. No way.”

[yukitamashii]

Chapter Four

Six months into the year Ashleigh had bought for Wonder, Brad began to take an interest in Caroline, her older sister. She seemed nice enough, and was certainly pretty. He pushed down the perverse thought that dating her would maybe get him closer to figuring out Ashleigh, who he couldn’t understand at all. Maybe if he could talk to her sister and figure out how her mind worked, he could find a way to make her less annoying…But no. He didn’t care about that. He was only interested in Caroline because she was attractive and his age. And it was almost painfully obvious she was interested in him.

He went out with her a couple times, but wasn’t sure he wanted to date her seriously. After a “serious” relationship with Melinda Westwood, who Brad was sure he’d see again sometime, he almost wanted to give up girls altogether. But not quite. Speaking of girls, there was one on his mind constantly—her and her horse—but he had no interest whatsoever in dating her.

He was down at the barn to see Wonder’s first step into training with Jim Jennings. The filly was clearly nervous around him and he could see Ashleigh’s impulse to wrench to lead out of the helping groom’s hand just barely being controlled. When she finally left for school, looking as distressed as Wonder, he shook his head and headed out to his car to leave himself.

A few days later he saw Caroline on the trails with a friend. She acted surprised to see him, and he was a little amused to see her working so hard to get his attention and trying not to look like she was working at all. He was a kind of disappointed, though, to see that she wasn’t a very good rider. Oh, she stayed on real well, but clearly had no natural love or rapport with horses. Unlike, say, Ashleigh did.

'Ugh. Why can’t I get that bratty girl out of my head?! I hate it when people one-up me.'

That night at dinner with his parents, he casually mentioned Wonder’s progress—that it wasn’t very good. His mother seemed barely there, though she did spare enough of her attention from her social schedule planning to agree with him, largely because she was a total snob and thought little of the Griffens. And while his father wasn’t too pleased with the filly’s work so far either, he wasn’t as harsh with his words as Brad would have liked.

“I do hope she’ll turn into something good though. Such nice bloodlines. A real shame.”

Sure his father was sort of disappointed. And yes, Brad could drop hints into Caroline’s ear about how badly Wonder was turning out, knowing they’d reach Ashleigh’s ears eventually. But Brad really got no revenge of any sort—that is, until the day Wonder bolted with Ashleigh and dumped her.

He was on the trails on Townsend Prince, who, unlike the filly running up to him, was doing amazingly well.

Wonder was slowing a little as she came towards Brad, who only gapped at her a moment in surprise, then shot out his arm and grabbed the flapping reins as she went by. He hauled her up close to him and she tried to toss her head and get away, but he put a hand on her nose and pushed her head back down, firmly but not in a way that would hurt her. She turned wide eyes to him and Prince blew out his breath, a little excited himself.

“Geez, what happened?” he asked her softly, then heard the pounding of hooves, and Charlie on Dominator came up.

Immediately Brad reverted back to his arrogant persona, and he went down the trail Charlie had come, sure Ashleigh was somewhere nearby.

Sure enough, she was sitting on the ground, looking bewildered and apprehensive. And embarrassed, when she saw him.

'Guess you aren’t such a wonderful rider after all, huh?' he thought. “So you couldn’t handle her when she spooked, huh?”

Charlie spoke up, as was to be expected. “Just one of those things. Everyone takes a fall now and again.”

“Especially with a filly as unpredictable as this one. Do you really think you can straighten her out and make a racehorse out of her?” He saw Ashleigh’s hurt and anger, her own insecurities about herself and Wonder, and grinned to cover up a flash of shame and sympathy.

Charlie ignored his last comment and told Ashleigh to get back on Wonder, who came over and took the filly’s reins from him. He studied her critically and saw her uncertainty, but she got back on. Brad had no choice but to scoot aside for her and Charlie as they rode forward.

He headed back to the stables, feeling decidedly more cheerful, though one small part of him wondered very quietly just why he disliked the girl so much. He ignored it and rode on, absently patting Prince as the horse trotted, moving forward like freely flowing river.

[horselover]

I'm really enjoying this.