She kissed his nose and put a big smile on her face. Even though Able didn’t nod his head, Juniper could tell he was excited to get to work.
On the set, Able was costumed and hooked up to the carriage. Juniper got on the back of Zombie. Her dress looked like it flowed around her, even though it had been sewn strategically so it wouldn’t get in the way of her stunt.
“Silence, please!” the production assistant shouted, and a hush came over the whole set.
Juniper’s heart felt like it was in her throat. She thought of PonyItUp’s words. Maybe her adrenaline would kick in when she started, and everything would go perfectly. She hoped so. She also thought of Claudia Rains’s message. Claudia believed in her.
She had to do the same.
“Everyone ready?” Ben called out.
“Ready,” Juniper squeaked, followed by the others in the scene.
“All right,” Sadie said. “Action!”
The prison carriage trundled into the location. Caleb as Sir Gregor shouted, “Help! Get me out of here!” from behind the bars.
Juniper galloped Zombie close to Able at the front of the carriage. From the driver’s seat, Pablo shouted for her to stop, just as they’d rehearsed. She breathed in deeply, then pushed off from Zombie, landing on Able’s back in the perfect position.
Yes, she thought. PonyItUp and Claudia Rains were right. She could do it.
Pretending arrows were zinging by her head, she swooped around, then climbed down Able’s side, holding tightly to the girth under his saddle. Focused, she continued under his belly, then up his other side.
Now Juniper just had to get onto the hidden ladder and climb up to the driver’s seat. So far, everything had gone as planned, even better than she’d ever done it in rehearsal.
“We’ve got this,” she told Able as he kept galloping forward.
Juniper put her foot onto the bottom step at the front of the carriage, the harness keeping her upright. She reached up to grab the handhold, but her sweaty palms slicked off it.
It’s the harness! she thought. It’s not getting me close enough.
Before she could think herself out of it, she unclipped the harness. She dove forward onto the step, grabbing the carriage.
But her palms were still too wet.
Her fingertips grazed the carriage edge but couldn’t grab on.
Juniper dropped backward.
“Nooo!”
She twisted to try to reach for the carriage, the girth—anything. But when she couldn’t grab hold, her body fell into Able’s side, then onto the ground with a thud.
The carriage screeched to a halt.
Able neighed loudly.
Juniper tried to see if he was hurt, but pain rocketed up her arm when she moved.
“AAAHHHH!”
Chapter 8
Broken Plans
“Juniper!”
Juniper began to sob when her dad hurried through the door of her hospital room.
She’d held back her tears when Ben had rushed her to the hospital, when she’d been wheeled inside, and when her arm had been X-rayed. She hadn’t even cried when the doctor began putting the cast on. But when Juniper saw her father, all her pain and fears pushed into her heart, and she could no longer stop her tears.
Ben had been holding her good hand, but now he let it go so her father could get close.
“Thank you for bringing her, Ben,” Juniper’s father said, then turned his attention back to his daughter. “I got here as fast as I could. Your mother’s the only assistant on duty at the vet’s office, so she’ll see us at home, but she’s worried about you. We both are. What happened?”
“I messed up,” Juniper said. “I thought I could do the stunt better if I took off the harness, but then I fell. How’s Able?”
Her father shook his head. “He’s got a bruise on his side.”
Juniper gasped, then fell into sobs again.
“He’s going to be okay. He’s at home resting, and he’ll be back to normal in a day or two.” He squeezed Juniper’s hand. “Your broken arm is going to take a lot longer to heal.”
Ben cleared his throat. “I’ve got to get back to the studio. I hope you recover really quickly, Juniper. We’ll see you back on the set when you’re ready.”
Juniper nodded, her lower lip quivering.
“Thanks again, Ben,” her father said, then Ben slipped out of the room.
Juniper winced, and her father turned to the doctor. “How much longer will the cast take?”
“It’s almost done,” the doctor said. “You’re doing great, Juniper. Keep holding your arm still.”
Juniper tried to obey, tried not to look at her father, but she was worried he was mad at her. He didn’t say anything for a long time—just held her good hand and watched the doctor work.
“I’m sorry, Dad,” Juniper said finally.
He nodded slowly. “Ben told me you suggested the stunt.”
Juniper focused on the floor.
“It sounded impressive,” her father said.
Juniper glanced at him. “It was. Rose and I came up with the idea together. It would’ve been amazing.”
“Except that it was too dangerous.”
Juniper gulped and looked at the tiles on the floor again.
“You promised, Junebug.” Her father sounded so disappointed, and Juniper’s heart felt like it was breaking in two. “You promised not to do anything dangerous. You promised to listen to Ben and stay safe.”
“I just wanted to be the best.” Tears sprang to her eyes again. “I wanted to make sure they liked me.”
Her dad sighed. “Do you know why I’ve always said that the animals are the actors in our family?”
“Because you didn’t think we were good enough.” Juniper’s voice was small.
“No, no. That’s not it at all.” Her father gently wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I knew you and Rose could both be great at stunts, especially you, Junebug. You have a way with horses that most riders would love to have.”
Juniper frowned. None of this made sense.
“When I was your age,” he continued, “I did stunts for movies.”
Juniper’s eyes widened. “You did? Mom said you did tricks, but I didn’t know you did horse stunts for movies, too.”
Her father nodded. “Yep. You know Grandpa trained horses, just like I do, and I was messing around on our old horse Charlotte one day when a director saw me and put me in his movie.”
“Wow.”
“Don’t say wow just yet,” her father said. “I was just like you. I saw these other stuntpeople, and I wanted to be the best one, better than all of them. This was before they had all the safety regulations they have now. So one day, the stunt coordinator asked me to do a stunt that was dangerous, and I immediately said yes.”
The doctor carefully moved Juniper’s arm, checking her cast, but she barely noticed. She was too focused on her father’s story.
“What happened?” she asked when he paused.
“The stunt went badly. I fell from the horse and not only broke my leg, but I injured my knee so badly, I still have problems with it today.”
“That’s why you can’t do tricks? Because of that stunt?”
Her father nodded. “Yes, but more than that. It’s because I wasn’t safe. I wasn’t able to do trick riding professionally anymore, so I lost my dreams of being a stunt rider and a champion.”
Juniper pressed her lips together. This whole time her father had been trying to stop her from making the same mistake he had, and she had done exactly that. She looked at the cast on her arm, which the doctor was just finishing.
“Will I be able to ride and do tricks again?” she asked the doctor.
He smiled at her. “We’ll know more when this has healed, but if you take good care of i
t from now until the cast is off, I think you should. With one condition.”
“What’s that?” Juniper was almost afraid to ask.
“You take your father’s advice and do them safely from now on.”
Juniper grinned. “I can do that.”
When they got home, Juniper wanted to visit Able, but her mother was fussing over her too much.
“You need to rest and eat, Junebug,” her mother said, tucking her into bed. “I’ll bring up a bowl of my minestrone as soon as it’s ready and help you eat. Oh, and cookies. I have some chocolate chip ones. I’ll bring those, too.”
After her mother left, her father came in carrying the small TV from their bedroom. “You can keep this in here for a couple weeks while you’re resting,” he said, arranging it on the desk in the corner of her room.
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Just until you’re better, though, so don’t get any ideas.” He winked.
As he was finishing with the TV, Rose appeared at the bedroom door, peering at Juniper with worried eyes.
“Junie!”
Rose hurried to give her sister a hug, but couldn’t quite figure out how to get around the big cast on her arm.
“I forgot the remote,” their father said, heading out. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
Rose clasped Juniper’s good hand. “I’m so sorry you were hurt, Junie.”
Juniper shrugged. “It was my fault.”
Rose shook her head. “I’ve been a horrible sister. I should’ve protected you.” Tears glistened in Rose’s eyes.
“You weren’t there, Rose. You couldn’t have protected me.”
“I—” Before Rose could finish her sentence, their dad walked back into the room brandishing the TV remote like a sword.
“Got it! Now to find something good for you to watch.”
“Everyone hungry?” Juniper’s mom returned carrying a tray with four steaming bowls of soup and four glasses of water. “I thought this once we could eat in the bedroom to make it easier on you, Junie. Can you sit up a little higher?”
Juniper couldn’t help smiling at her family, all gathered around her, caring for her, loving her. A swell of gratitude filled her chest, making her feel light enough to float away.
But as her mother handed out bowls and her father switched channels on the television, Juniper wished her best friend was also there. She gazed out at the stables and hoped Able knew she was thinking of him.
And that she was sorry.
Chapter 9
A New Plan
When Juniper woke up the next morning, she couldn’t get the show and the big stunt out of her mind. She replayed what happened over and over again. She should have kept the harness on. She should have pushed harder on the step. She should have been better.
Sadness swam around her as she thought of Castle McAvoy and all the wonderful times she’d had working on the show. Now, they’d probably never let her do anything for the show again. She’d messed up her one chance to get her dream. She hadn’t been perfect. She hadn’t been the best.
Juniper sniffed back tears and thought of Claudia Rains. She always did everything perfectly. How was she so good when Juniper messed up all the time?
The only way to find out was to ask her.
Maneuvering carefully, Juniper pulled her laptop onto her bed and opened it with one hand. She’d had a broken arm for only one day, and it already felt tiresome. Luckily, Claudia Rains’s thread on the Hoofprints forum was still on the screen.
Juniper scanned every comment on Claudia’s latest post. They were all happy and congratulatory. Juniper didn’t feel right putting her question there. Claudia had commented on Juniper’s post. Had said she believed in her. Maybe she wouldn’t mind if Juniper messaged her directly.
Opening a chat window, she slowly typed her question with her one good hand:
Hi Claudia, This is Juniper, JuniRidR. I just tried to do a difficult trick and failed it big-time. I don’t know why I can’t get it perfect, like you always do. How do you always get your tricks so perfect? I want to be like you. Thank you for helping.
She took a deep breath, then hit send.
Juniper lay back on her pillow, sure that she wouldn’t get a response for a while, if at all. But to her surprise, the three little dots that showed the other person was typing popped up. Juniper watched them, waiting. Was Claudia Rains right there? On her computer? Typing her back?
Bing!
Claudia’s reply appeared beneath Juniper’s message:
Hi Juniper! I remember you posting about having difficulties. I’m sorry you couldn’t get it to work. But that’s okay! Honestly, your message made me laugh out loud, because I feel like I never get a trick perfect, and I’m really lucky when I’m able to do it well in competition time, when it really counts. For every video of me doing a trick right, I have hundreds of videos where I messed it up. And if you count all the hours I worked on the trick before I tried to record it, you’d think this was all I ever do—which is pretty much true. But I don’t mind messing tricks up and having to do them over and over and over again. Because the best part of being a trick rider is working with my horse, Sahara. She makes all my bumps and bruises worth it. I hope your horse is the same for you.
Juniper exhaled. Claudia Rains wasn’t perfect after all. She practiced and messed up just like everyone else.
Juniper thanked Claudia, then read her message again, focusing on one line:
The best part of being a trick rider is working with my horse.
Juniper had been so busy trying to show everyone that she was the best stunt rider, she’d forgotten what she loved doing best—riding around their pasture with Able.
She gazed out her bedroom window at the stables and hoped he was feeling okay.
Messing up her stunt wasn’t the worst thing she’d done. Juniper realized that now. She had put her best friend in danger. She had to make sure she never did that again.
She had to go see Able.
Juniper swung her legs out of bed, but before her toes hit the floor, her bedroom door opened.
“Where do you think you’re going, little one?” her mother asked, walking into her room. “You need to rest so you can heal.” She smiled big, but Juniper’s heart dropped. Her mother would never let her out of the house now.
“How about some pancakes for breakfast? Gotta keep your strength up.” Her mother stared at her expectantly.
Juniper shrugged.
“Perfect. I’ll bring them right up!” Her mother disappeared through the doorway but was quickly replaced by her father, asking if she needed anything.
That’s right, Juniper thought. It’s Saturday. They’re going to fuss over me all day. She sighed.
Then Rose sauntered into her room, eating an apple.
When her father looked at her sister, Juniper mouthed, “Get me out!” then smiled sweetly when her father turned back to her.
“I don’t need anything, Dad,” Juniper said.
He started to sit on her bed. “I can keep you company, if you’d like.”
“She needs a drink, Dad,” Rose said quickly.
Their father nodded and started out of the room. “I can get that.”
“You have to help me go see Able,” Juniper told her sister when their father had left.
“Mom will kill you if you get out of bed.”
“My arm’s broken. I’m not sick.”
Rose glanced out into the hallway. They could hear their parents busy in the kitchen. The coast was clear. “Come on. I’ll take you.”
She helped Juniper out of bed then the sisters hurried into the hall and toward the back door when they heard a cough. They both turned. Their father was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, holding a glass of water. Behind him was their mother with a plate stacked high with pancakes. Nei
ther of them looked happy.
“She just wants to see Able,” Rose said, her voice pleading. “I’ll be with her the whole time and will make sure she’s perfectly safe or . . . you can ground me and take away my allowance for the rest of my life.”
Their father frowned. “Just so you don’t get disappointed later, we’re not planning to pay you an allowance for the rest of your life.”
“Paul.” Their mother pushed past him with the pancakes. “Food first, then you girls can go. But only for a few minutes, and you must keep that cast clean. You got it?”
Juniper smiled and nodded. “Thank you!”
She downed her pancakes as quickly as she could. A few minutes later, Rose was opening the door to the stables.
“Able!” Juniper hurried to his stall.
The horse nickered, happy to see her. When she got close, he nuzzled her neck on the opposite side of her broken arm. He knew she had to be careful.
“I’ve missed you so much,” Juniper said, kissing him on his nose. She gazed at his side and saw his bruise. “I’m so sorry, Able. I did this to you. I made this happen. I’ve been the worst friend.”
She wrapped her good arm around his neck.
Rose shuffled her feet. “It wasn’t all you, Junie. I was part of it, too.”
Juniper looked at her sister. “You just encouraged me to be my best. Nothing wrong with that.”
“I knew the stunt was dangerous,” Rose said. “I should’ve been talking you out of it. I’m your sister, and I should’ve been protecting you. But I didn’t. Because . . .”
Juniper leaned on Able. “Because what?”
Rose stepped closer to her sister. “Remember when I told those girls at school that you were on the show?”
Juniper nodded.
“I did it because none of them wanted to be my friend. But when I told them about you, they wanted to hang out with me. So I kept telling them about your show so they’d keep liking me.” Rose hung her head.
Hollywood: Juniper and Able Page 6
