Last Chance (Show Jumping Dreams ~ Book 6)

by Claire Svendsen

  “She doesn’t have any time left,” I said. “Someone will buy Hampton before she changes her mind.”

  “Then that is the lesson that she’ll have to learn,” Esther shrugged.

  At home the enthusiasm was even less than at the barn. From the look on Mom’s face she felt like I was abandoning her with Derek and Cat for a whole week instead of going to do something that was not only fun for me but helpful for my future career. But there wasn’t really much point in her laying the guilt trip on. If she hadn’t married Derek then she wouldn’t be stuck with him and his daughter Cat, who I think hated Derek almost as much as I did.

  “What is so great about being on this team anyway?” Cat asked.

  She was sitting with her feet propped up on the table. Mom had already asked her to put them down and she’d done so only to put them back up two minutes later. If Derek came in and saw her, he was liable to smack her around the back of the head and spark a giant fight. The last time they went at it, they broke half the china in the kitchen.

  “Everything is great about it,” I said.

  “Yeah but like what?” she pressed.

  I wasn’t so sure myself but I wasn’t going to tell her that. Obviously getting to ride and train with Miguel would be awesome but what would the team actually do? Would there be other teams to compete against? Would we always have to ride as a team and never get to compete individually? And what about the horses? In the back of my mind was the day at the last clinic where Miguel tried to have me swap horses with Jess. Was this next phase of leaving our horses behind a test to see if we would be able to swap horses at shows? I loved Bluebird more than anything and I’d worked really hard to get him back to the level he was at now. I wasn’t ready to let someone else ride him and mess all that training up.

  “It would just be really great for my riding career,” I said.

  But I suddenly found that I had more questions about the jumping team than answers.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Despite my reservations, I sent off an e-mail thanking Miguel for his invitation and confirming that I would be delighted to attend the second clinic. The trouble was that it just didn’t seem fair. I didn’t want to ride any other horses. I only wanted to ride Bluebird. I sat on his back in the ring as Esther put up a gymnastic exercise.

  “Drop your stirrups,” she said.

  I did, remembering how Mickey always used to moan and groan when Esther made us ride without stirrups. Today Ethan wasn’t even here to complain. I was all alone.

  “Do you really think I’ll make the team?” I asked Esther.

  “I don’t see why not,” she said.

  “But what if I can’t ride the horse he puts me on?”

  “Now why would you even think that?” she shook the clay off her hands and then placed them firmly on her hips.

  “I don’t know,” I shrugged.

  “Look how many horses and ponies you’ve ridden since you’ve been here. Have you ever sat on one that you couldn’t ride?”

  “No,” I said.

  “So then what is the problem?”

  “I don’t know,” I said.

  But deep down I was nervous. What if I really couldn’t ride the horse he put me on? Then what?

  “Well you’ll just have to figure it out when you get there,” Esther said. “There is no point in worrying about something that hasn’t even happened yet, right?”

  “Right,” I said.

  “Now go down the line please.”

  Bluebird bounced down the line of gymnastics like a bunny rabbit. I felt the muscles in my legs start to burn as Esther raised the fences up and I had to use them to stay on his back.

  “Good,” Esther cried as we went down the line again. “This is what will put you in good standing to ride other horses well. A good foundation and a tight seat. Now take back your stirrups, I want to try something.”

  She pulled the jumps further apart and set the last one up a few holes.

  “Just exactly how high is that?” I asked.

  The jump looked enormous, much higher than anything we had ever jumped before.

  “Never mind how high it is,” she said. “Just jump it.”

  We bounced down the gymnastic line and when we got to the towering vertical I didn’t feel scared or nervous at all because I knew that Bluebird would jump it. He’d jump anything I pointed him at. He was a pony with the heart of a lion and the jump of a stag. When I was on his back, I never had a single doubt in my mind that he would do exactly what I asked of him without a second thought.

  “Eyes up,” Esther cried as she caught me looking down at the base of the jump.

  I fixed my gaze on a point out in the pasture where Hampton was grazing and suddenly we were flying through the air and landing on the other side. I pulled Bluebird up and lathered him with praise, patting his neck and grinning.

  “That pony is going to take you all the way to the top one day,” Esther said.

  “Don’t be silly,” I said. “Eventually I’ll need a horse.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure,” she shook her head. “Did you ever hear of Marion Coakes?”

  I was now the one to shake my head. “No. Who was she?”

  She was a British rider who competed her pony, Stroller, in a lot of top events. Hickstead, Horse of the Year, even the Olympics. She won a silver medal on that pony in 1968.”

  “No way,” I said.

  Esther just smiled and patted Bluebird on the neck. “Go cool him off,” she said.

  As we walked around the ring I had visions of an Olympic gold medal being placed around my neck and the blue ribbon on Bluebird’s bridle. I’d always been afraid that eventually the day would come that I would have to stop riding him and move up to something else. Now maybe I wouldn’t have to. But did he really have it in him to jump Grand Prix courses? I wasn’t sure but Esther always said it never hurt to dream big.

  She wouldn’t tell me how high I jumped so before I left the barn, I ran out to the ring and stood next to the jump, measuring how high the top pole came up to on me. Then I cycled my bike home as fast as I could.

  “What on earth are you doing?” Mom asked as she caught me rummaging through the drawers in the kitchen.

  “Don’t we have a tape measure in this house?” I said.

  “A tape measure?” my mother said vaguely. “I can’t imagine why we would have one of those.”

  And I supposed she was right. Tape measures were things that belonged to mothers who sewed and knitted and did home improvement things. Not mothers who mostly bought microwave meals and whose sewing was even worse than mine.

  “Do you think Derek has one?” I asked, feeling desperate. “In a toolkit or something?”

  “I think it would be best for everyone if you didn’t go digging through Derek’s toolkit, don’t you?”

  She was probably right. Something like that could start world war three in my house.

  “Well how high do you think this is then?” I asked, motioning to where the top pole of the jump had come up to.

  She stood back and squinted her eyes for a moment. “I don’t know,” she shrugged. “Maybe four feet?”

  “Four feet?” I squealed, hugging her before running out of the kitchen.

  “Is that important?” she called after me but I didn’t answer.

  “Guess how high Bluebird and I just jumped?” I asked Becka having breathlessly dialed her number.

  “Six foot?” she said.

  “Ha ha very funny,” I said. “No but we just jumped four feet.”

  “Sweet,” she said. “That pony of yours really does have wings.”

  “I know,” I said, flopping down on the bed. “I wish I could take him to the clinic.”

  “Now I’m kind of glad you can’t,” she laughed.

  We spent the next hour on the phone talking. There was a time when it would have been Mickey on the other end, laughing about the silly things that happened at the barn but now she didn’t want to know ab
out that stuff anymore. When I finished on the phone with Becka, I almost sent Mickey a text, telling her about how great Bluebird had been. I was halfway through typing it out when I remembered her note and how much it had hurt. I deleted everything I had written and tossed the phone on the bed. She didn’t care anymore so why should I?

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The next time I went out to the barn, the big jump had been diminished to a cross rail but it didn’t matter. I knew how high I’d jumped. I’d known it was possible, after all I’d seen videos of other kids jumping their ponies that high but I never dreamt that Esther would ever let us do it. But my joy was immediately squashed by the fact that Jess was once again standing in the middle of the barn looking bored.

  “Hello,” she said cordially.

  “Why are you here?” I said, fully aware that she had tried to be polite and I was being rude.

  “Do you really have to ask?” she said.

  “But the jumper in New York?” I said. “The one you really wanted?”

  “I got him,” she said. “But apparently the new deal is that I have to ride this one as well.”

  “His name is Hampton,” I snapped.

  “I know,” she sighed. “Don’t worry, I won’t break him or anything.”

  “After your track record, it’s a little hard to believe that,” I said. “What about Bluebird? And Stardust?”

  “They didn’t go well for me,” she shrugged. “Your friend’s horse does.”

  I stepped forward so that there was very little space between us.

  “You hurt one hair on his body and I will kill you,” I whispered.

  “You don’t have to be so dramatic,” she sighed.

  “All right girls?” Esther came out of the office with Mr. Eastford.

  “No,” I said, walking away before I did something stupid.

  I vowed that I wasn’t going to watch but I couldn’t help myself. This time they took Hampton out to the front field where a few jumps were still set up. I followed at a safe distance behind, feeling a little smug. Hampton didn’t really like working outside of the ring. It was always a struggle for Mickey to get him to do anything what with the distractions of the grass and the big wide world around him. I had only been able to get him to work out there because I was a stronger rider than Mickey. Jess didn’t stand a chance.

  Esther chatted to Mr. Eastford cordially. I wondered why she was being so nice to him. It wasn’t so long ago that Jess had hatched a plan to make sure Sand Hill closed its doors for good. She wanted her father to buy the property and add it to their own. Just because she wasn’t pursuing that goal at the moment, didn’t mean she wasn’t still thinking about it.

  I sat down in the long grass by a fence post and watched as Esther gave Jess a leg up. Hampton looked around and sniffed her boot. I waited for him to get that grumpy look on his face like he usually did when people came to try him out but it just didn’t happen. Instead he sighed and walked off when she asked him to.

  I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was pretty much a repeat of what had happened the day Jess came to try Hampton out in the ring. She looked pretty. He looked quiet. Together they made a perfect team. He cantered across the grass slow and steady and then popped over a few jumps with his ears pricked and knees square. What a traitor. Mr. Eastford clapped his hands together. I had the feeling that at any minute he was about to pull giant wads of cash out of his pocket and press them into Esther’s hands. But that didn’t actually happen.

  Jess patted Hampton on the neck as she jumped to the ground and he stuffed his nose into her pockets, looking for a treat. I couldn’t believe my eyes when she actually pulled one out and gave it to him. And he ate it. He took a treat from the enemy like it was nothing. For all he knew it could have been laced with poison or something but apparently Hampton didn’t care. For some reason he absolutely loved Jess. My only consolation was that he wouldn’t love her the first time she got mad with him and wacked him with her crop, as she was known to do. But that wasn’t going to help Hampton out any. By then it would be too late.

  “Emily,” Esther called me over. “Take Hampton back to the barn please.”

  I didn’t even know she had seen me. I stomped over feeling mad.

  “Can’t you even take care of him when you’re done riding?” I snatched the reins from Jess’s hands.

  “I have a dentist appointment,” she said.

  “Good,” I pulled Hampton away who was still slobbering all over her. “I hope they drill something.”

  I knew I was being childish but I just couldn’t help myself. No matter what Mickey wanted, I didn’t want Hampton to be sold and I most certainly did not want Jess to have him.

  “Why did you have to act like that?” I scolded him as I pulled the saddle off. “Why couldn’t you have behaved like you did when all the other girls came to try you out?”

  Hampton just stood there with a goofy smile on his face. It was like he was a cat and Jess was a big pile of cat nip. I had no idea what power she had over him but whatever it was, he didn’t seem to mind.

  “You’re going to have to get over it,” Esther said as she came in the barn. “Besides they’re not actually buying him. It’s going to be a lease.”

  “A lease?” I said. “For how long?”

  “Six months to start. If he’s still going well when the six months are up then they’ll probably buy him. Unless Mickey changes her mind by then.”

  “In six months Jess will have ruined him for good,” I sighed.

  Because it wasn’t just a matter of if Jess lost her patience with Hampton, it was really a matter of when. And when that happened, the slobbery goofy look would be wiped right off his face. I just wished I could make him understand.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “Can we jump four feet again?”

  I was sitting in the ring on Bluebird. Jess had gone and Mr. Eastford had arranged for their vet to come over and do a pre-lease exam, whatever that was. Esther said it was pretty much the same as a pre-purchase exam and meant that they wouldn’t be spending all the lease money on a lame horse. However much all that money was. I didn’t ask but I was sure it was a lot more than I had paid to buy Bluebird.

  “No,” Esther said. “Besides, how do you know it was four feet?”

  “I measured,” I said. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because of this exact reason,” she said. “I didn’t want your head swelling like it’s just done.”

  “But it was so cool,” I said. “We’ve done it once, why can’t we do it again?”

  “Because you’re not ready,” she said.

  “I feel ready,” I grumbled.

  “I just wanted to see your pony’s scope. That was all. Now we know he has good form over high fences and that is that. It doesn’t mean that he will be able to tackle a whole course at that height. And you’re not to jump that high when I’m not around either, got it?”

  “Yes,” I groaned.

  I couldn’t believe it. I still didn’t understand why she would have us jump something like that and then forbid us from doing it again. It felt like I was being punished for being good.

  “Now today we’re going to work on the flat so you can just forget all about jumping.”

  Double punishment.

  Bluebird and I went through the motions. After the thrill of jumping, doing half passes across the arena wasn’t exactly fun but I tried to remember that I was lucky to be riding at all. If things had been different then I would still be sitting at home in my room reading secret horse books that I kept hidden under my bed. And by the time the lesson was over, I did feel better and Bluebird was supple and loose.

  “Thank you for the lesson,” I told Esther, feeling sheepish.

  “Don’t lose sight of the big picture,” she said.

  “I know. I won’t.”

  Feeling guilty, I stayed later than usual, picking out all the stalls and then sweeping out the barn. With Jess leasing Hampton, I wondered what Esther w
as going to do. They would take him to her barn and that would mean she was down another paying boarder. Harlow’s stall was already empty and now there would be two empty stalls.

  Esther might not have had the luxury of being picky about who bought sale horses but she was certainly picky about who she accepted as a boarder. We had a delicate balance in our barn and it was something that could easily be disrupted by one gossipy boarder. We already had Linda, Fly’s overly obsessive owner but she had some corporate job and was out of town a lot, which worked out well for everyone, including Fly. He much preferred lounging around in his paddock than doing any actual work.

  “You’d prefer to work, wouldn’t you?” I scratched Saffron behind the ear.

  She was the Paint mare that Esther had bought to be her next jumper but she’d sat idle for months. If Esther could let Harlow go so easily then I didn’t know why she hung on to the mare. It would have been better for everyone if she went to someone who would have time to ride her.

  “When are you going to ride?” I asked Esther.

  She was in the feed room, counting out the bags of grain. She looked up like she didn’t even know why I was asking such a question.

  “Don’t you miss it?” I said.

  “Of course,” she put down her clipboard. “But how would I have the time?”

  “You should make time,” I said. “Remember when we rode to the beach? Me on Harlow and you on Saffron? You said how fun it was and how you needed to ride more.”

  “After what happened to Mickey, I think it’s safe to say that we’ll be doing away with the notion of beach rides unless I hook up the trailer and take us there.”

  “But wouldn’t you like to ride Saffron again?” I pressed on.

  “Emily,” she sighed. “I don’t have time for this. I know you miss Mickey but there are plenty of other people here for you to ride with. You have Ethan and Ruby is going to be working on getting Grace ready for some hunter shows. There are all the group lessons. Now stop giving me a hard time.”