Welcome to Hickstead, home to both Seven Oak Stables, and Blue Acre - two rival stables. Both offer opportunities for their clients to reach the highest level of excellence. Each stable differs from the other, so choose wisely and never forget, loyalty is everything... Meanwhile as the stables battle it out, there's trouble brewing at the university. Be careful, if you don't pick a side you may get caught in the cross-fire...
This is an chilled out rpg with a super friendly and relaxed atmosphere! Remember to sign up with your characters full name in all caps and don't forget to do your claims! Thank you and Welcome, we've been established since 10th March 2009 but unfortunately have had to close guest view of our boards due to multiple sites ripping off our hard work, such a shame! Come chat to us in Discord before joining if you like!.
Jamie had received a phone call. The older woman sounded frantic about her cat being stuck in a tree on her farm. He got into his fire chief truck and drove off towards the address he was given. It was something he could easily do on his own without the help of the rest of the squad. They were busy eating breakfast still anyway.
It took him a bit of time due to the winding back roads around the outskirts of town, but he found his way quickly. After parking in the lot of the farm, he got out and started unloading his ladder, which was attached to the roof of the vehicle.
He carefully leaned the ladder against the car and looked around to see if the elderly woman who had called him was around to show him where the tree was. Instead, he saw a younger woman near one of the trees by the house. Jamie assumed that was the tree and carried the ladder with ease towards the tree. "Hi, is our feline friend up this tree?" At the moment, it seemed that the cat was quiet, if it had climbed up the tree they were standing by.
Taylor had rolled her eyes, when her neighbors cat escaped up one of her front trees. Honestly, just keep the damn cat inside. Sure, there were a few people with barn cats, but this obviously one of those cats. She didn’t know what was so pleasing about the one tree the cat always loved to get into.
Her neighbor had wrung her, the third time in two weeks that the fire department would be coming down to get the cat. Again. Taylor made herself an extra cup of coffee and walked out to meet the poor fire person that was assigned.
She knew getting here was a bit of a chore, but it didn’t take long for Taylor to hear the gravel crunch. Her eyes landed on a truck with a ladder on top. A single man presented himself. Albeit a very handsome single man. As he walked over with his ladder, it felt like Taylor was getting a free show.
“Yep. Mrs. Margaret’s cat is in my hazelnut tree. Again. That lady seriously just needs to keep her cat in the house!”
The cat seemed to be quite content up in the tree. He had dealt with this before, but never in the UK. As a rookie back home, it was often something he would be sent by his old Chief to do as a sort of initiation.
He set down the ladder and got it ready, setting it on the ground to make sure it was stable. "It's not a problem, it happens all the time. I swear cats really enjoy trees more than we think.'
Once the ladder clicked into place, he looked over at the woman. He hadn't seen her before. She was quite stunning, definitely compared to the old lady he had seen here before. "Before I climb up that tree, is the cat friendly? Or do I need a bribe or two?" He joked, glad he brought cat treats with him just in case.
He noticed the second cup of coffee in the woman's hand. "Two cups this morning? Someone was clearly either up late last night or up early this morning."
Taylor quirked an eyebrow, not fully believing that statement. But she could understand a little bit. It was better than having a human trapped in a fire. Though, some cats could be less keen about being touched.
She thought for a moment at his question. “I just know that you may need to wear some gloves, that’s all. Everyone has managed to get her down easily.” Honestly, Taylor wondered if Margaret let her cat out all the time to ogle at the handsome firemen and women. There were better ways to look at handsome people, but Margaret was an old bag nowadays. But she had the best gossip in town.
“No, actually – I had brought it out in case you needed some liquid courage before facing the devil,” she smirked. The cat wasn’t the devil, but if he didn’t want it – Taylor could easily double-fist it if she wanted. After putting in creamer of course. “But I can put it back until after and make it to go?”
"Does the cat bite or something?" It wasn't something he had thought about while carrying the ladder from the SUV. He was pretty sure he had a pair in the car though. "Just a few seconds, I'll go grab the gloves. Don't really want scratches on my hands or arms." He really didn't mind though, but he knew they would hurt like hell if he didn't.
Jamie quickly dashed back to the car, opening the back door and grabbing the pair of thick gloves he used while on call. He was thankful he had thrown his entire uniform in just in case there was a Fire he needed to attend to. "For me? You really didn't have to." He responded as he approached the woman again. "I think I will take the liquid courage before I face the furry devil." Jamie carefully threw the gloves towards the ladder, smiling as they dropped close to the bottom.
"Do you live around here? Usually when someone gets called out for a cat rescue here, it's someone older." He usually left the cat rescues to the rookies, though they were currently out washing the Fire truck.
“I think it would be rude if it didn’t,” Taylor shrugged, handing him the cup. He was a fireman, wasn’t he? She was sure there was a lot of hospitality towards him, right? Or she could be completely wrong. Taylor didn’t know how other people dealt with the service people. She knew people could be extremely rude about it. “Yeah, I live here,” she responded, nodding over to her house. “It was an older person, but it’s my neighbor. I don’t think she likes coming out of the house when her cat is in the tree. Since she knows I would give her a stink about it. I keep telling her that her cat needs to be inside. She gets stuck all the time. I swear she has some ulterior motive behind it or something.” It was as if the hag had plans for Taylor to meet someone since it always happened when Taylor was home. She at least had some kind of interaction out of it, but it had gotten too coincidental now.
Jamie smiled softly and gently took the mug of coffee from the woman. "Not everyone is so nice. Granted I see people in stressful and traumatic situations so..it's not really the best I see." He actually looked forward to these quieter calls. Rescuing a cat from a tree was calmer than climbing into a burning building to save a toddler. Saving children hit too close to home.
He took a sip of the coffee. "Thank you." It had been a late start to the morning so he had to skip his usual morning coffee. "Do you get roped in to do her dirty work often?" It wasn't something that seemed fair - though if the woman was elderly it made sense. "Have you lived in the area long? Seems like a nice enough place to live." His dark eyes glanced around, the peace and quiet of the countryside was a nice change. "Anything you can tell me about the cat before I go rescue it?" He had rescued enough cats to know what he was doing, but every cat or animal had their own quirk. His mom had taught him that at a young age when she still rode horses professionally.
“No, mainly because she knows not to ask me,” Taylor snorted. “Her kids are still around, so she at least has people to call upon.” She wasn’t an evil person, though. If her neighbors needed a ride or help with someone like snow, she would always help. Hell, she even went grocery shopping if needed. But Taylor was easy to say no if she didn't want to do something. There were plenty of able and willing people.
“Yeah, long enough to know I don’t want to leave. Cat wise? Super chill once in the arms. Getting her might be a fight, but as long as you’re calm. I also have some dried fish if needed, but once she feels safe – she’ll be fine.” Taylor knew cats were finicky beasts. They weren’t like dogs and their body language was extremely noticeable. Cats had their own, but it was still difficult for people. “It’s best you let her go once you get back on the ground. She likes to use people as a launch pad. You’re covered up decent enough to not catch those back claws.”
Jamie let out a laugh, wondering if this woman was evil. "Yikes, don't remind me to cross you twice." He did know there were people who asked too much of their community though. "Do the kids live in town? I wonder why she doesn't call them for help." He was often called old fashioned by his much younger coworkers, but he heavily relied on his family when Ivy died to help look after Rosa.
He took another sip of coffee and nodded. "See, I haven't figured that out yet, though with my job I feel like it's pretty solid." It seemed like a quiet enough town - especially to raise a child. "Well, I have my leather gloves too so she shouldn't be able to scratch me." Whenever he got called to rescue a cat, he brought them with him. "Thanks for the advice, it's funny actually I'm thinking of adopting a cat myself." He had always grown up with animals, even larger ones as his mother competed in Western riding - so even larger animals were around in his childhood.
"Alright, I guess I should go save that cat. She does have a name, right?" Sometimes using the animals name seemed to help them be calm and come to the rescuer.
“I never had a cat around me as a pet, per se. There tends to be a few more barn cats out in these parts.” Taylor often saw herself as never really needing pets. Her animals were a lot of work already. Plus, with her house still under repairs, it didn’t feel smart or ethical to have another being to look after.
“Try…Cookie? Honestly, I only nicknames at this point. If there’s an actual name, I don’t know it.” She knew that wasn’t useful, but the old hag tended to call out whatever and the cat would always come. Taylor just wished the cat would stop hassling in her trees. There were plenty of other goddamn trees.
Jamie drank his last few sips of coffee. There was only so long of a chat before he knew he had to get back to work. The Fire Station was like his second child and he didn’t like leaving his team alone for too long. “Same, my Mom was a professional Western rider so we had barn cats too. Nothing like this one though.” He glanced over to the cat in the tree - who seemed to be meowing now. “Aren’t you the one who has the alpaca farm? Any cats there?”
The dark-haired man set down the coffee mug and began walking over to the tree with his ladder tucked under his arm. “Cookie? Is this cat nameless? I guess if she is a barn cat its easier to keep them nameless.” He shrugged his shoulders. They tended not to stay inside the barn, which meant predators or other cats would mark them as easy targets. “Do you know any cat rescues nearby? I’m thinking about adopting one for my daughter and I.” He really wanted a dog, but working shift work and Rosa not being old enough wasn’t a good mix. Cats didn’t need to go for walks on a daily basis - if not more.
