Scarlett caught a flashing glimpse of thin legs, a flurry of skirts and underclothing and Melanie was in the saddle, her feet dangling far above the stirrups.
They can clamp their thighs tight and try to remain seated, or they can bob up and down with the rhythm of the horse, standing in the stirrups as they rise off the saddle.
Then, through the shrieking of the panic-stricken people, came the loud, imperious voice of the officer in command, who had risen in the stirrups and was holding a sword above his head.
And it does this using the auditory ossicles — a trio of the smallest, and most awesomely named bones in the human body: the malleus, incus, and stapes, commonly known as the hammer, anvil, and stirrup.