Summer Rider (Show Jumping Dreams ~ Book 31)

by Claire Svendsen

  “Rae says you have to do your own work,” I told her.

  “Great,” she replied. What did you do? Rat me out?”

  “No,” I said. “She saw me and told me. That’s all. I’m sorry.”

  Hanna made a dramatic groaning noise before putting her boots back on and stomping out into the barn again. I stood there for a moment and then I texted Esther. I didn’t want to rat Hanna out but this was getting ridiculous and her behavior was getting in the way of my own progress. I told her that Hanna was miserable. That she didn’t want to do the work and that she was making herself look bad. Esther replied that she’d take care of it. I just hoped that she wouldn’t tell Hanna that I was the one who’d gone behind her back and told Esther but I’d done about all I was willing to do. I couldn’t do anything else without ruining my own chances and if Hanna really didn’t want to be there then maybe she should just go home after all.

  CHAPTER FORTY ONE

  Hanna got into a shouting match with Esther on the phone that evening. We were supposed to be helping the clients who had come out to the barn to get ready for the show. I had been assigned Trixie, which suited me just fine because she reminded me of a younger Faith and I was good at helping the smaller kids.

  We had Peter Pan in the wash rack and were both giving him a good bath when I heard Hanna’s voice.

  “I don’t care what you say,” she yelled. “You’re not my mother.”

  Oddly the fact that I’d spoken those words before just made me feel sorry for Hanna again. She’d obviously left her own family behind to travel to Florida and stay with her aunt and now she probably just felt abandoned. I knew that feeling. Still, her attitude wasn’t helping any.

  “Does she need to be on medication?” Trixie asked me as she watched Hanna kick the fence after she’d hung up on Esther.

  “You’re too young to know about things like that,” I said, looking at the girl who reminded me so much of Faith that they almost could have been sisters.

  “No, I’m not,” she said. “My aunt gets like that when she doesn’t take her medication.”

  I wasn’t ready to tackle the subject of mental health with a seven-year-old so I changed the subject.

  “She’s fine,” I said. “Now what do you think? The coconut shampoo or the one that smells like blueberries?”

  “Definitely blueberries,” she said.

  When we were done I let Trixie graze her pony until he was dry, keeping an eye on her while I groomed Bluebird. I was hoping that Rae would let me ride in the show this weekend since it was the start of the show and the classes were a little smaller than they would be towards the end but so far she’d said nothing. I wondered if my chances of riding had been ruined because she now thought I was a pushover but every time that Hanna did something stupid, I got closer to being the model working student that I was hoping to be. In fact, I was just helping Trixie put her pony back in his stall when Rae appeared.

  “How do you like our new helper?” Rae asked the little girl. “Did she do a good job?”

  “Oh yes,” Trixie said. “I think she’s the best helper we’ve ever had.”

  I smiled and hoped that Rae didn’t think I’d bribed the kid to say that.

  “Great.” Rae smiled, turning to look at me. “So Emily, I’ve entered you in two classes on Sunday. The pony jumpers and a speed class. I hope you’ll do us proud.”

  “I will,” I said.

  I wanted to tell Rae that we didn’t compete in the pony jumper classes anymore. That Bluebird was more than talented enough to compete against the horses in the big classes but I couldn’t exactly tell her that I wouldn’t ride and besides, maybe a pony jumper class would be just what we needed to ease back into it and the speed class would be where we could really show her that we belonged.

  “Bluebird is really fast,” I told her. “He loves speed classes.”

  “No,” Rae said, looking up from her clipboard. “You’ll ride yours in the pony jumper class and then you’ll be riding Rags To Riches in the speed class.”

  “Okay,” I said, my heart sinking. “Thank you.”

  I didn’t know what else to say. Rae was giving me not only an opportunity to ride my own pony but also trusting me with one of her own horses. The only problem was that Rags was probably the rankest horse we had in the barn. So far he’d bitten Hanna, kicked Shelby and almost trampled Theresa. The only reason he hadn’t hurt me was that so far I hadn’t been assigned to do anything with him, which I thought was poor planning on Julio’s part because if I was going to ride him, it would have helped to get to know the horse a little better first.

  “You are so going to die,” Trixie said after Rae had left.

  “I am so not,” I told her. “I love riding difficult horses.”

  “That’s what they all say,” she told me, sounding like she was seventy, not seven. “Right before they get pummeled into the ground.”

  “No one is going to get pummeled into the ground,” I said.

  But as I looked over to where the big black horse stood in his stall snorting like fire was about to come out of his nose, I knew that Trixie was right. Rags To Riches was going to try and kill me on Sunday.

  CHAPTER FORTY TWO

  That night Rae let me ride Rags. I was a little nervous but I did my best to show the big horse who was boss. In return he stepped on my foot. I was trying to bribe him with a treat when Julio caught me.

  “Don’t waste your time trying to be his friend,” he said. “No one is his friend. Just ride him.”

  “But don’t you think that is kind of sad?” I said. “Everyone needs a friend.”

  Julio looked at me like I was crazy and shook his head before walking off, mumbling under his breath.

  “We can be friends, can’t we?” I asked the horse.

  He sniffed my hand and the treat I was still holding, snorted and then flew backwards like the treat was an explosive that was about to go off in his face any second.

  “I think he might have a few screws loose in his head,” I told Shelby as I finished tacking him up.

  “He does,” she told me. “Seriously, I think something is wrong with him. Sometimes he’ll be all normal and stuff and the next minute he’ll wig out at something he’s seen a million times before.”

  “Great so Rae really is trying to kill me then,” I said. “Have you ridden him?”

  “I politely declined,” she said with a sad smile. “I can’t afford a trip to the emergency room.”

  I thought of Jess and how easily she had broken her leg. Bones were fragile things and they didn’t take well to horses who threw them and the bodies they were contained in into the ground.

  “Please don’t kill me,” I whispered as I put the bridle up to the horse’s face.

  He opened his mouth for the bit, acting all normal again. Maybe Shelby was right. Perhaps Rags really did have mental problems but surely Rae wouldn’t have put me on him if she didn’t think I could handle it. Or maybe everyone else had refused like Shelby did and I was the only one stupid enough to fall for it. I took the horse out to the ring feeling a little sick.

  CHAPTER FORTY THREE

  Riding Rags wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. The horse was actually well behaved. I should have known that he would be. Rae may not have been able to afford the best and most well trained horses but she still had talented ones in her stable and when she let me take the horse over a few low jumps and he almost popped me out of the tack, I knew that we were going to be okay.

  He was quirky though and he did seem to have a few issues that couldn’t be explained. Like why he would spook at a jump after he’d already been over it five times or why he thought that Rae was going to beat him to death.

  “He doesn’t like me,” she said as she reached up to pat the horse and he shied away from her.

  “I don’t think he likes me much either,” I said.

  “He’s talented though,” Rae said. “And I keep thinking that one day he’ll fin
d his special someone but so far no luck.”

  “Maybe someone will fall in love with him at the show on Sunday,” I said but Rae just laughed.

  I knew she was right. No one was going to want a horse that could go off the rails at any moment for no reason at all but that wasn’t going to stop me from giving the horse the ride of his life.

  “You’re still alive then,” Shelby said when I got back to the barn.

  “His bark is worse than his bite,” I said, patting the horse.

  He pinned his ears but didn’t try to bite, kick or stomp on me.

  “You know,” she said. “I think maybe he actually does like you.”

  “Maybe,” I said as he nipped at me arm when he thought I wasn’t looking. “But he has a funny way of showing it.”

  CHAPTER FORTY FOUR

  That night I tossed and turned in my bunk. Hanna was crying in the bed below me and I wanted to say something but there wasn’t really anything left to say. I’d tried to cheer her up and help her out but it hadn’t worked and so I put the pillow over my head and eventually drifted off to sleep only to be woken at three in the morning because that was what time we were supposed to get up on show days.

  The horses were all alert. They knew what was happening. Early breakfast and stall cleaning meant that something special was going on and they fed off the nervous energy that rippled through the barn like a stone tossed onto a still lake.

  The braider arrived, a middle aged woman with a folding stool and a ton of supplies stuffed into an apron she was wearing. She moved quickly from stall to stall, turning our horses into sleek looking champions. Some of the hunters got fake tails and their braids took longer because there were so many of them. I wondered if I was supposed to pay for Rags to get his done the next day but when I looked at the list, he wasn’t on there.

  “Does Rags get braided tomorrow?” I asked Shelby, who was bathing Infanta because being a gray she couldn’t possibly keep herself clean all night long.

  “Not unless you want him to kill the braider,” she said.

  “Right.” I nodded.

  Hanna avoided me as we worked. In fact, she was going out of her way to make sure that we didn’t cross paths. I wasn’t sure if she was mad at me because I’d told Esther about her behavior or the fact that Rae was letting me ride but we still had a whole day to get through and so I tried to pretend that it didn’t hurt my feelings. After all, I only wanted what was best for her.

  We rode the horses over to the show in shifts. Their riders met us there in the early dawn light looking green and like they might puke at any second or nervous and excited. Trixie ran over to Peter Pan and hugged him tight when she saw him. The braider had done a really great job on the little pony and I wished that Faith was here at the show with Falcon.

  “You’re going to win today, right?” Trixie’s mother said.

  She was a tall thin woman with a scratchy voice and bulging eyes. I didn’t think it was very fair to put so much pressure on the young girl. Whatever happened to showing for fun? But I guess when you were spending thousands of dollars on a show season, you expected to get some return for your investment.

  CHAPTER FORTY FIVE

  At first I felt completely lost and confused but I soon fell into the swing of things. It was our job to get the clients to the rings on time, to make sure that their boots were polished and that their horses didn’t have slobber all over their faces or dirt on their hooves. We were there to take the horse back from them when they came out of the ring beaming or sobbing and either had to hold the horse until their next class or ride them back to the barn.

  Julio was everywhere with his golf cart, giving rides to the clients and fetching water and snacks. It was almost lunchtime when I realized that I hadn’t eaten anything yet. I found a box of protein bars in the golf cart and swallowed one down in three bites as I waited for Trixie to finish her round. The kid was pretty focused for a seven-year-old and I liked her style. She didn’t quite have the talent that Faith did but then again Faith was special. Trixie was in three classes back to back because the little kids were all sandwiched in the smallest ring that was furthest away from all the action. I guess they didn’t want the parents complaining that the adults with their wild and crazy horses had spooked the little kid’s ponies and made them fall off. Trixie came a respectable second, third and fourth but it wasn't good enough for her mother.

  “I hope you’ll win at least one class tomorrow,” she told her daughter.

  “I will Mommy, I promise,” Trixie said with tears in her eyes.

  When her mother was out of earshot, I patted her back and told her that she’d done a good job but she just set her jaw and told me that she’d had to win. Mothers, creating show monsters one kid at a time. Trixie was sweet and kind but how many years of being told that she had to win at all costs would it eventually take to turn her into someone like Jess?

  I turned away and led Peter Pan back to the barn, feeling like there were some parts of show life that would never change and some parents who still thought that their kids should win everything all the time.

  CHAPTER FORTY SIX

  The rest of the day was pretty slow. Rae rode a few horses and placed in all her classes, winning one of them. The clients all did well but why shouldn’t they? They had horses that were hand-picked by Rae to win and they took lessons with her on a regular basis but Rae didn’t seem to think that winning was everything, unlike some other trainers that I knew and there was nothing shady going on. No drugs passed around the barn under the cover of darkness, no questionable injections or weird things being slipped into the horse's food. Rae was above board, as far as I could see, and that was more than enough for me.

  I threw myself into the work like it was my life’s dream, going above and beyond to fetch ice for Marty when she overheated and tracking down a veggie burger for one of the students who had a sudden craving before her class, though how anyone could eat anything just before they rode was a mystery to me. But it was my job to get the people what they wanted and so I did.

  Hanna was there but sometimes not there. She’d disappear at random and when Julio asked where she was, I shrugged and told him she was probably in the bathroom. He looked annoyed but didn’t ask again. I figured I’d cover for her if I could but part of me didn’t think it was fair that I was doing all this extra work just because she was off slacking somewhere. Although I had been entered in the show because of it and Hanna hadn’t. When she found out that I was riding on Sunday, she’d asked Rae if she could ride too. Rae told her that maybe she could ride at the next show, which I knew was because she hadn’t done a very good job when we hacked over to warm up. No wonder she was starting to hate me.

  Rae found me late in the day just before her last class.

  “Can you run over to the tack tent and pick me up a new pair of gloves?” she said, pressing some cash into my hand. “These are just drenched with sweat and Julio doesn't have time to go back to the barn and get me another pair. I’m already on my third pair today.”

  “Sure,” I said.

  “Hurry,” she called after me as I ran off. “Ten minutes before I ride.”

  I ran over the heat parched grass to the tack tent where I picked out the brand and color that Rae told me she wanted. I was standing in line when I saw a girl over by the ice cream stand making out with one of the male riders. He was a teenage boy, maybe seventeen or eighteen and he had his hands all over the girl’s butt. I looked away, feeling a little disgusted but something made me look back. They were kissing now, really kissing with open mouths and everything and that was when I realized that it was Hanna.

  CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN

  I didn’t have time to do anything about the kissing marathon that was happening almost right in front of my face because Rae needed her gloves and what was I going to do about it anyway? Tell Hanna to stop? Why would she listen to me when she clearly resented me?

  I ran back with the gloves and Rae thanked me before
trotting into the ring. I hung on the rail and watched her ride, trying to get the image of Hanna and the boy out of my mind. She was older than I was. What business of mine was it if she wanted to kiss a boy? Maybe a summer show romance was exactly what she needed to cheer her up? Then again I’d been warned about how things could get out of control at shows when you were on the road. We were supposed to be looking out for each other. I didn’t know what to do.

  So when Julio asked me if I’d seen Hanna for the tenth time, instead of shrugging and pretending that I didn’t know, I pointed in the direction of the ice cream stand. Julio wouldn’t stand for things like that, not when we were there to work and I really hoped that maybe he’d just sort it all out so that I didn’t have to.

  Eventually Hanna and Julio came back. Hanna had a pale face and looked like she’d been crying. I guess Julio had taken care of things after all. I looked away and pretended that I didn’t see her wiping her face and drying her eyes but later, when we were all back at the barn, she caught me alone in the tack room. I was cleaning tack like she was supposed to be doing, getting everything cleaned up and ready for the next day but she hadn’t come in to help. Instead she’d come to scold me.

  “I know you ratted me out,” she said. “I saw you over at the tack tent. I know it was you.”

  “I didn’t rat you out,” I said. “Julio asked where you were. You’d been missing for most of the afternoon. He asked if I’d seen you and I pointed over in that direction. I didn’t know you’d still have that stupid boy suctioned onto your face.”