I just shrugged. I wanted to prove that I could do both but how could I do that and make sure that no one thought Hampton was good enough to buy? I was still on the fence as to whether I should ride well or ride badly on purpose.
“You don’t know what she was doing trying to ride to the beach by herself, do you?” I asked Ethan.
I’d tried not to think too much about that fateful day. How if I’d been there then I would have been able to talk her out of it. Or gone with her and been able to steady Hampton before he freaked out.
“Who, Mickey?”
“Of course. Who else?” I said.
He looked down at the ground.
“No,” he said.
But I couldn’t tell if he was lying.
“You would tell me if you knew, wouldn’t you?” I prodded.
“I told you, I don’t know,” he gathered up Wendell’s reins. “And besides, what difference does it make? It doesn’t change anything.”
“I know,” I said. “But it matters to me.”
“Just drop it,” he said.
And I didn’t want to but what choice did I have? I now had two horses to get ready for the Rose Gate show and they were taking up all my time. I rode both of them every day after school, getting home just after dark where I was reminded that I’d better be keeping my grades up if I wanted to carry on riding.
But as fate would have it, I was helping Esther adjust some of the jumps with Bluebird’s reins looped through my arm when he spooked at a bird that burst out of the trees. He snorted and jumped back, pulling the reins out of my grasp and managing to step on them before I could grab him.
“Whoa boy,” I called out but he just looked at me and threw his head up, snapping the leather.
“Perfect,” I groaned, walking over to where he stood, looking proud of himself. “Think this will get you out of working hard? Think again.”
I finished the lesson with a knot in both my reins and my stomach. Esther said she didn’t have a spare set of pony reins in the tack room and since she needed some supplies, she offered to take me to Taylor’s Tack Emporium on Saturday morning. It seemed like fate wanted me to dig a little after all.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The store was busy. It was the only one in town unless you counted the feed stores where you might be lucky to snag a leather halter but unless you rode western, you were out of luck when it came to English tack. Of course it was cheaper to order stuff online anyway but when your pony broke his reins the week before a show, you didn’t want to take a chance that those reins would get delayed in the mail. Which was why I was there. Only the way I figured it, talking to Jordan couldn’t hurt either.
“Havana pony reins,” Esther said. “That’s all you need. I’m going to look at the stall guards. Fly has busted his again and if Linda comes out and finds that he can’t stick his head out in the aisle, she’ll go all homicidal on me.”
“Reins, right,” I said.
I didn’t have any extra cash but Esther said that she knew I was good for them. Which meant that the pressure was really on to do well at the show since I now needed the prize money. Grand Prix riders had all the luck. Their pots were filled with hundreds of thousands of dollars and shiny new cars while we all fought for a few hundred or if we were really lucky, a few thousand dollars. I couldn’t wait until I hit the big leagues. As it was, Bluebird was going to have to make do with plain reins instead of the fancy stitched ones that had matched his bridle.
I was just picking up the reins and testing the pliability of the leather when I saw him out of the corner of my eye. The flash of a black indie band t-shirt and a cool haircut.
“Hey Jordan,” I called out.
But if he heard me, he didn’t reply. Instead he slipped through a door that said ‘employees only’ and not even caring that I wasn’t an employee, I followed.
The back room was full of stock that hadn’t been shelved yet. Saddles on racks and boxes full of fly spray and liniment.
“Jordan?” I called out.
“What?” he stuck his head out from behind a towering stack of muck tubs. “Oh, it’s you,” he said, frowning. “You know, you’re not supposed to be back here.”
“I know,” I said. “But can I talk to you?”
“I suppose,” he cleared a space on a couple of boxes and motioned for me to sit down on one. He took the other.
“This is about your friend, isn’t it?” he said.
I nodded. I’d forgotten how much older Jordan was. How much cooler and sure of himself. I felt like a little schoolgirl sitting next to him, swinging my feet. I didn’t think I had the guts to actually accuse him of anything after all.
“You know what, never mind,” I said, jumping off the box, still clutching my reins.
“Wait,” he said. “Is she going to be okay?”
“I don’t know,” I shrugged, then turned back to face him.
“Was she going to meet you that day at the beach?”
He looked pale, like the truth was weighing on him. The same way I looked when I lied to my mother and suddenly he didn’t look so old and cool anymore.
“Yes,” he said softly. “But I didn’t know she was going to ride there. I thought her mom was going to drop her off. I never would have let her go through with it if I’d known.”
“So what?” I crossed my arms angrily. “You like her or something?”
“She was cool,” he said. “We were just going to hang out.”
“She still is cool,” I snapped. “And you’d better stay away from her.”
I stormed out of the store room, blinking back tears.
“Wait,” Jordan called out. “Come back. You don’t understand.”
But I understood perfectly. Mickey had only flirted with Jordan to get me the saddle and he’d only invited her to the beach because he thought that she liked him because of it. When you stripped away everything else, it was still all my fault. Nothing bad would have happened if I hadn’t needed that saddle. It was bad karma from cheating the system, just like I’d been afraid of. I was going to have to get rid of it once and for all.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Taylor was standing behind the counter, training a new girl how to work the cash register.
“Hey Emily, just these?” she motioned to the reins.
“Esther is going to pay for them,” I said, wondering how she remembered my name. “But can I talk to you?”
“Of course,” she came around and stood next to me but we were surrounded by a sea of shoppers. I couldn’t do this with all those people watching me.
“In private?” I said.
“Alright,” she nodded.
She led me into a little office that was next to the store room. The girl behind the cash register looked desperately after us as we left. I was pretty sure that she’d be up to her eyeballs in mad customers in about five minutes so I was going to have to make this fast. Taylor sat behind her desk which, unlike Esther’s, was fastidiously neat.
“Sit,” she pointed to a chair.
“I’d rather stand,” I said.
“Very well. What is it?”
“The saddle,” I blurted out. “You have to take it back.”
“Why?” she asked. “Is there something wrong with it?”
“Yes,” I said. “It’s cursed.”
She started to laugh.
“No, you don’t understand,” I said desperately. “My friend flirted with Jordan so that he would rig the raffle. I never should have won. Jess was right all along. I’m not lucky. Honestly, I’m not. And now because of it Mickey is lying in the hospital. You have to take it back.”
Taylor shook her head. “Please,” she said. “Sit down.”
I did, my legs now shaking. I’d managed to get it all off my chest and it felt like a great weight had been lifted. Now I’d be without a saddle that fit my pony but I would just have to figure something else out. Maybe I could make payments on one or keep looking for a used one online. There ha
d to be another saddle out there that would fit Bluebird.
“Jordan told me about your friend,” she said. “And he told me about the raffle.”
“He did?” I said, my heart rate slowing a little.
“Of course he did,” she said, as though all kids told their parents everything. “And the saddle isn’t cursed. Bad things happen sweetie, that’s just life. And I want you to keep the saddle. You needed it, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” I said. “But you don’t understand. If I hadn’t won it then none of this would have happened.”
“Maybe,” she said. “Or maybe not. You can’t really know for sure. Maybe it would have happened anyway. You have no way of knowing.”
“Please,” I begged. “Take it back.”
“And then what will you ride in?” she raised an eyebrow.
“I’ll figure something out,” I mumbled.
“Aren’t you waiting to hear whether you got on that junior jumping team or not?”
“Yes,” I shrugged.
“Well don’t you need a saddle for that?”
“Yes but…”
“No buts,” she said. “Remember when I told you that I was considering sponsoring an up and coming rider in the community?”
“Vaguely,” I said.
“Well I want that rider to be you,” she grinned. “Don’t you see? I would have made sure that you had a saddle to ride in anyway.”
“You would?” I said. “But why?”
It sounded a bit like throwing money into a bottomless pit. After all, I wasn’t riding at anywhere near the top level yet. Being sponsored by the local tack shop seemed like a lose, lose situation and far more pressure than I needed right now.
“I’ll tell you someday,” she said cryptically. “But for now can you just accept the fact that Taylor’s Tack Emporium will be sponsoring you as a junior jumper and supplying all your tack needs.”
“My tack needs?” I said, feeling dumb. What did a sponsor do exactly anyway?
“Like those reins,” she pointed to the ones in my lap. “They are on the house.”
“But what do you expect in return?” I said.
“The same thing you do,” she said. “To win.”
I still didn’t get it but the cash register girl burst in with an armful of tack and a red face.
“I can’t get this stuff to ring up,” she said breathlessly. “And I think they are going to start rioting any minute.”
“It’s okay Debbie,” Taylor said. “I’m coming to help.”
Taylor put her arm around me as we walked out of her office and into the crowded store.
“You’re not as alone as you think you are,” she said.
And with that she was gone.
“Where have you been?” Esther appeared with the stall guard already in a bag. “I was looking all over for you. Don’t you need me to pay for those reins of yours?”
“No,” I said. “I think I just got sponsored.”
And from the look on Esther’s face, I could tell that she had no idea why Taylor was being so nice to me either.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
It wasn’t fair. Taking care of two horses was somehow more than twice the work but as I started spending time with Hampton, I suddenly didn’t feel as alone anymore. It was like Mickey was there beside me, helping me groom his ticklish spots and tightening the girth when we got out to the ring. It was weird but it felt like she wanted me to ride him. I thought that my purpose was to sabotage the sale but in doing so I’d only felt further away from her than ever. Now that I was bonding with Hampton, everything felt right. Everything, that was, except the new sponsorship I’d somehow acquired without meaning to.
Taylor actually showed up at the barn with an armful of stuff and a grin on her face.
“They came before the show,” she said, dumping some saddle pads into my arms. “I’m so relieved.”
“Okay?” I said. I had no idea what she was talking about.
“For your jumper classes,” Taylor said. “Look.”
She held up a pad that had Taylor’s Tack Emporium embroidered in the corner with the silhouette of a pony leaping a giant fence. Apparently being sponsored meant that you became somewhat of a walking billboard.
“Great,” I said.
It wasn’t exactly what I had signed up for but free stuff was free stuff and who was I to argue with that?
“Any chance I can watch you ride?” she asked eagerly.
“Sure,” I said.
Anything to get me away from the stares of the other boarders who didn’t understand why I was being handed armfuls of free stuff for no reason at all.
“Don’t do too much to it today Emily,” Esther stuck her head out of the office. “The show is only a few days away and we don’t want him peaking before he gets there.”
I didn’t think Bluebird actually had a peak. He was riding high all the time but I nodded and smiled. I was getting kind of tired what with all the riding and grooming I’d had to do and with over eager Taylor watching like a hawk to make sure she had sponsored the right person, I was actually kind of nervous. If I messed up, would that mean she wouldn’t want to sponsor me anymore?
“Just a few jumps today boy,” I told him as we walked out to the ring. “Esther doesn’t want you getting too tired.”
But there was no tiring Bluebird. He pricked his ears as soon as he saw the jumps and after a quick warm up, I took him over a couple of them. Taylor stood by the rail, clapping her hands.
“Oh, he’s marvelous,” she cried. “I’ve never seen a pony jump like that before. He’s just like a horse, only smaller.”
I wanted to say ‘duh’ but it didn’t seem like the sort of thing you should say to your sponsor so I just smiled instead.
“Now don’t forget,” she called out as she left. “Bring home the win for Taylor’s Tack Emporium.”
“What on earth have I got us into?” I mumbled to Bluebird as she drove away.
Having a sponsor sounded like it would be the greatest thing on earth but I really didn’t need anyone telling me what to wear or what to say. If Taylor started to get carried away, she could forget this whole sponsorship deal.
“Ready for Saturday?” Esther asked when I’d settled both boys in for the night.
“I think so,” I said.
My brain was buzzing with last minute instructions, all of them conflicting because they were for two totally different horses. I had no idea how I was going to pull this off.
“Are you okay?” Mom asked that night as she washed the dishes and I dried. Derek and Cat had both slipped away from the table without offering to help.
“I’m not sure,” I said. “I mean, I think I am but I don’t know. Do you think Mickey would be mad that I’m riding Hampton in the show? It feels right but I can’t know for sure that she wouldn’t be mad. And then this tack store lady is sponsoring me and I don’t even know what it means.”
I put the dish rag down with a sigh.
“I think it means that she thinks you are very talented,” Mom said, reaching out with a soapy hand to gently touch my face. “She wants you to represent her store because you are good. Really good. And you’re only going to get better. She wants to get in on the ground floor.”
“But that is a lot of pressure,” I said. “What if I fail?”
“Everyone fails sometime,” Mom shrugged. “That’s just life. It’s what you do after that counts the most. Don’t worry about it. Just go out there and have fun like you always do.”
“Thanks Mom,” I said, hugging her for the first time in a long time.
“Don’t worry about Mickey,” she whispered. “I’m sure everything will work out in the end.”
“I wish you were coming to the show,” I whispered back.
“I know,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
When she’d come to that first show, I’d had so many hopes that she would always be there to support me but she said that it just brought all the old memories ba
ck. Bad memories. She could only cope with me riding if she didn’t have to see it. Which I guess was great for her but sucked for me. Still, I was lucky that I was riding at all.
It was funny how the arrival of Cat had somehow thrown us closer together when all I had been worried about was that it was going to drive us further apart. But Cat wanted a stepmother about as much as I wanted a stepfather. Which was to say, not at all. Mom was trying her best but even I could see that the more she tried, the worse everything got. It was like a horse that just refused to be caught. Eventually you had to stop following it around the field with the bucket of grain and give up, which was usually when that very same horse would come to the gate and act like it hadn’t just been evading you for the past thirty minutes. I wanted to tell Mom that she shouldn’t try so hard with Cat but the selfish part of me still wanted my mother all to myself so I said nothing.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Show day dawned bright and clear but I had a sore throat and a knot in my stomach.
“I think I’m coming down with a cold,” I told Esther.
“Well stay away from me then,” she waved me off with a pitchfork full of manure. “I don’t have time to get sick.”
“Neither do I,” I groaned. But the more I tried not to think about getting sick, the sicker I felt.
Ethan’s parents dropped him and Faith off and she of course promptly ran up to Bluebird.
“Oh no,” I cried. “Scram. Go take care of Princess.”
“Oh all right,” she sighed with all the drama and theatrics of an eighteen year old not an eight year old.
“Need any help?” Ethan asked.
“No, I’m good,” I said. “I got everything ready last night. The trailer is already loaded. We are good to go.”
Since the horses had all been let out of their stalls while we were at a show, Esther had taken on Ruby, a part time girl who worked off part of her board on a pretty gray hunter she leased called Grace. We all knew that Jess had paid someone to do it but there just wasn’t any proof and since Esther had been out of the country at the time and technically should never have left us alone to manage the barn, we hadn’t been able to pursue the matter further. But Esther was sure that it would never happen again and so was Ruby. She had a Doberman called Stark that Esther let her bring to work when she was going to be alone. He was sitting outside the tack room now, that gleam in his eye that said he wasn’t sure if he should lick you or bite you.
Sale Horse (Show Jumping Dreams ~ Book 5) Page 5
