Horse Fever

by Bonnie Bryant

  “There is three-day eventing,” Carole said aloud. Eventing, or combined training, was a sport that combined dressage and jumping. The first phase was dressage, the second was a cross-country jumping course, and the third was stadium jumping (not unlike show jumping) in a ring.

  “That’s true,” Jenny said, sounding unconvinced. “But their dressage is nowhere near as good as ours, and for all I know, their jumping isn’t, either. I guess if you want an all-around sport …” she added doubtfully. “Do you?”

  Carole looked out the window before answering. The problem was, she didn’t know what she wanted. All her life people had been telling her she was talented. Nobody had told her in which direction to take her talent. “I don’t know,” she said finally. “I just don’t know.”

  JENNY HAD TO get some paperwork done before her first lesson, so after bringing King in from the pasture, she told Carole to make herself at home and ride wherever she liked. “There’s a trail that makes a loop beside the pasture,” she suggested.

  Carole tacked up and led King out to the ring. When she mounted, she had the same incredible feeling as before. She felt privileged just to be sitting on his back. It reminded her of when she was little and used to go to big horse shows as a spectator. Once in a while, one of the competitors would give her a ride. King felt as special as those horses.

  Carole warmed him up slowly, taking her time. “Imagine if I brought you to a dressage lesson!” she murmured. “Max wouldn’t be able to find a single thing wrong with us!” Carole walked and trotted. Even a simple exercise like trotting a circle was a joy. Then she pretended she was riding a grand prix dressage show. She trotted down the center line of the ring to an imaginary X—the center point. There she halted, took off her hat, and saluted the imaginary judge. Starlight was usually difficult to keep in place during the salute. He was impatient, ready to be off across the cross-country fields. But King stood rock solid. One ear moved back, asking for Carole’s next request.

  “You’re so perfect, I don’t know what to do with you!” she said, laughing. Remembering Max’s advice to keep things interesting, Carole spied the set of cavalletti at the end of the ring. They were still in place from Pat’s ride. Carole turned King toward them. This time around, instead of avoiding them, she urged the horse over them. King’s ears went forward. Carole tensed in the saddle, waiting for the takeoff over the first jump. But King moved unsteadily, weaving from side to side. At the last minute he half jumped, half stumbled over the obstacle, falling heavily against the bit.

  Her stomach turning over, Carole felt the wrench against the reins. She was so embarrassed she glanced involuntarily toward the house, praying that Jenny had not seen. Here Jenny had trusted Carole with her extremely valuable horse, and Carole was messing up his training. Obviously she hadn’t prepared him correctly for the jump. Horse sense told Carole she should go around again, but she didn’t want to. She was too afraid of doing something wrong. With Starlight, over fences, she was used to just sitting tight, head up, heels down, and checking him when he got too strong. A horse like King probably expected a lot more precision, guidance, and control.

  “Let’s just take a nice trail ride, why don’t we?” Carole said, giving the brown neck a long pat. She loosened the reins and headed out of the pasture.

  It was a magical ride. The winter sun had finally come out. It glinted on King’s rich coat and shone through the trees. King walked and jogged comfortably. True to his warmblood breeding, he was powerful but steady. Alone in the quiet of the woods, Carole could almost pretend that King was hers. She could be the “right rider” to go “all the way”—maybe even to the Olympics! With a horse like King, she could be a junior dressage star. Imagine Max’s face—imagine Stevie, Lisa, her father, Mrs. Reg—when she got chosen for the team!

  Lost in her daydream, Carole didn’t see the fallen log in the path. She was trotting along when all of a sudden King stopped dead. Carole was thrown forward onto his neck. A wave of fear washed over her. Why had King stopped? If something had happened to him … Then she saw the log and let out a sigh of relief. “It’s only a tree, silly boy!” she said. “Come on, over you go!” She clucked to him and used her legs, but King did not want to move forward. He did not want to step over the log. Suddenly Carole was afraid again. What if he knew something about this trail that she didn’t? Could there be danger on the other side? Feeling nervous and unsettled, she turned King around and headed back the way she’d come. She certainly wasn’t going to take any chances.

  The ride back to Jenny’s was no fun at all. Carole dreaded telling Jenny the truth—that she adored King, thought he was perfect, but couldn’t afford him in a million years. She felt sick with anxiety. Jenny was a professional. She wanted to sell King. She wouldn’t be pleased to hear that Carole had been riding with no intention to buy.

  In the time left, Carole composed her speech. When King was untacked and put away, she walked up to the house. Her palms sweaty, she knocked on the door.

  “Come in! I’m in back!”

  “King is probably the best horse I’ve ever ridden,” Carole said to herself, rehearsing. She found Jenny in her office.

  “Up to my elbows in bills!” Jenny said cheerfully. “How’d it go? Did you try any airs above the ground?”

  Carole tried to smile. She tried to speak, but the words stuck in her throat. Her feet seemed rooted to the floor. “I—” Then all at once, forgetting her speech entirely, she blurted out, “I love King but I can’t afford him! I’ll never be able to afford him!”

  “But Carole—”

  Carole rushed on before Jenny could get upset with her. “I couldn’t resist the chance to ride him again, but I—I have a horse already and my dad and I could never afford another and even if we could he wouldn’t let me have two horses and—and—I hope you’re not mad!” she finished with a convulsive sob.

  Jenny stood up and put an arm around Carole’s shaking shoulders. “Of course I’m not mad!” she said. “I was happy to have you ride King. But sweetie, there’s a solution to your problem.”

  Carole raised a tearstained face. “There is?”

  Jenny laughed. “Boy, are you silly! You don’t even see the answer and it’s staring you in the face. What’s your horse like?”

  “Starlight?” Carole said, confused.

  “Yes. Tell me about him.”

  Carole sniffed. “He’s—He’s great,” she began falteringly. “He’s half Thoroughbred. He’s won a lot—I mean, not at the biggest shows, but he’s won a lot of Pony Club events and been champion at local shows. He’s a great jumper. I—I trained him myself,” Carole added.

  “So in other words, Starlight is a very successful children’s hunter with a show record to match. He’s probably worth a lot—a lot more than you know, even.”

  “I guess,” Carole said, frowning. She couldn’t understand what Jenny was getting at.

  “Well, then, Carole,” Jenny concluded, beaming. “It’s simple: Sell Starlight!”

  CAROLE SAT AT the dinner table, listlessly toying with her food. She could feel her father’s eyes on her. She took a bite of chicken and chewed it methodically. By drinking half a glass of water, she managed to get it down.

  “If you don’t like the rations, you can tell the cook, you know, honey,” said Colonel Hanson, his dark eyes twinkling.

  Carole looked up, her face stricken. “It’s not that, Dad! It’s good—really.”

  “Then how about telling me what’s wrong? You’ve been brooding since you walked in the door.”

  Carole sighed. She looked down at her plate again. “Dad, what would you do if you had a huge decision to make?”

  Colonel Hanson put his knife and fork down and wiped his mouth. He thought seriously. “First of all, I wouldn’t rush it, Carole. I’d—”

  “Oh, Dad, you’re right!” cried Carole.

  Her father raised his eyebrows. “You mean that’s all I had to say?”

  Carole half smiled. “For
now, anyway. You see, if I did anything about this … this decision, it would take me a long time to put it into action, you see, because it’s not easy to sell—I mean, it takes a long time to find—well, you know what I mean.”

  “Not exactly,” Colonel Hanson said, laughing, “but I’ll trust you on that. Now how about my chicken tetrazzini?”

  “I just got my appetite back!” As Carole picked up her fork, the doorbell rang. Colonel Hanson went to get it.

  Carole sighed with relief. She didn’t have to decide anything now. It could take weeks—months—to sell Starlight. Sell Starlight. Even the phrase made Carole shudder. She wasn’t going to think about it. She’d just block it out. Tomorrow she would call Jenny to see if she could ride King a few more times. After all, that was completely normal. Buyers often rode the horses they were interested in five, even six times. Carole’s dream of riding grand prix dressage came flooding back to her. If she chose to specialize in dressage now, at this young age, she’d be miles ahead of everyone.

  Suddenly it came to her: She could write a story about a horse like King for the Horseman’s Weekly contest! A champion dressage horse shown by a junior rider—a girl, of course, just like Carole. Maybe she’d win the contest, too! Maybe she’d—

  “Carole! Some friends of yours are here!” her father called.

  Carole got up and went out to the hallway, thinking, Stevie and Lisa must have been wondering where I was. As she walked to the door, her gaze flew up to the picture of The Saddle Club. It hung right next to her school portraits. The three of them were all riding the horses they had ridden not long after they’d met. Suddenly Carole felt a chill. Which horse would she be riding in the next picture of The Saddle Club? Putting the decision off was only a temporary solution—which meant it was no solution, really.

  Distracted, Carole turned the hall corner. She stopped in surprise. “Pat! Hello!” she cried. “Gosh, I was expecting you to be Stevie and Lisa!”

  “Sorry we’re not The Saddle Club,” said Pat. She gestured to the well-dressed man beside her. “Meet my husband, Dave.”

  Carole shook hands with Mr. Naughton. He looked as nice as she had expected.

  “It’s great to meet you, Carole,” he said. “I’ve heard so much about you—and Starlight.”

  “Why don’t you both come in for coffee?” Colonel Hanson said. “We’re just finishing dinner and we’d enjoy the company, wouldn’t we, Carole?”

  “Definitely, Dad.”

  “Thanks so much,” said Pat, “but I’m afraid we can’t stay. Our daughter is at home with the baby-sitter.”

  “And the baby-sitter will have our heads if we’re late,” Dave explained. “Confidentially, I think she’s got a date,” he whispered.

  The four laughed. Pat cleared her throat. “Carole, I should get right to the point.”

  Carole looked up, surprised that there was a point. She’d assumed the Naughtons had simply stopped by on a friendly visit. When Pat spoke, Carole noticed that she seemed excited and a bit nervous.

  “We were driving home from dinner and I was telling Dave about how much fun we’ve been having and—and also about how much I enjoyed riding Starlight.” Pat paused. She seemed to be choosing her words carefully. “I’ve been looking for a horse for several months now. I know what’s out there, and, well”—she glanced at her husband—“Carole, we just had the craziest idea.”

  “My wife didn’t want to say anything, but I insisted,” Dave said. “I said you never know until you try. Carole, Colonel Hanson: We’d like to make an offer on Starlight.”

  Carole stared unthinkingly as Pat hurried on. “Now, I know it’s crazy, Carole. And totally pointless. But Dave did think we ought to at least mention the idea to you. I know you said someday you’d want to move on, and—and if that day is soon, well, I think Starlight is just wonderful. I’d give him a great home—right at Pine Hollow, in fact. You could see him every day, ride him whenever you wanted …”

  Out of the corner of her eye, Carole could see the perplexed expression on her father’s face. She didn’t know what to say. She just stood there, looking at the Naughtons, her mouth dry.

  “As for price,” Dave continued, “Pat knows horses and I know finance. I don’t know what you paid for Starlight, but my wife tells me you’ve trained him and showed him and made him what he is today. We talked about it, and I hope this won’t be an insult.” Dave took a breath and named a sum.

  Carole’s jaw dropped. The offer was double what she would have expected. She put a hand on the wall to steady herself.

  Dimly she was aware of the phone ringing and her father excusing himself to answer it.

  Carole sat down on the hall stairs.

  “I know we’re throwing this at you,” Pat said apologetically. “And you don’t have to decide now, of course. But if you think you’d even consider the offer, you know where to find me.”

  Carole nodded. “Sure, Pat.” Something told her to stand up. She stood up. Something told her to go through the motions of shaking hands with Pat and Dave.

  “See you at Pine Hollow,” Pat said warmly.

  “Yeah, see you at Pine Hollow,” Carole repeated. She closed the door behind them. Her mind was reeling but at the same time blank. Finally a thought crystallized. She almost hated to admit it was there. The Naughtons’ offer sounded huge. But at the back of her mind she was wondering how much more Jenny would want for King.

  Her father’s voice broke the silence. “It’s Stevie and Lisa, Carole!” he called. When Carole didn’t answer, he came out into the hall. “Sweetheart?”

  Carole raised her eyes slowly. “Will you take a message, Dad?” she whispered. “I just can’t talk to them right now.”

  CAROLE FELL INTO bed, exhausted. She craved sleep. She didn’t want to think. She wanted to block everything out. But once she got into bed, she was wide awake. She stared at the ceiling, counting the minutes.

  Her brain seemed to be stuck on instant replay. First she saw the girl Missy with her pony, explaining, “I don’t want to sell him at all. But I’m getting a new horse in two weeks …” Then her mind flashed to Pat admitting, “I’ve never been on that side of the fence” and asking Carole if she’d ever sold a horse. But Jenny’s words were loudest, repeating themselves, echoing in her mind. “It’s time to move on. I’ve taken him as far as I can.… You’re not looking, are you?” And again: “It’s time to move on.… Too bad. You’d make a great pair.… Too bad. You’d make a great pair.…”

  Carole tossed and turned. She would feel sleep coming on, then would suddenly sit bolt upright in bed. Maybe the reason she couldn’t do anything with Starlight lately was that it was time to move on. Maybe she had taken Starlight as far as she could. Maybe it was time to let someone else ride him. There was no doubt that King’s Ransom was her big chance to go from local competitions to national—or even international.

  Carole looked longingly at the telephone. She desperately wanted to call Stevie and Lisa now, but it was much too late. They wouldn’t understand, anyway. They’d want to know why Starlight and the Pony Club weren’t good enough for her. They’d remind her about Briarwood and other big shows at which she had ridden. Most of all, they wouldn’t understand the need to specialize in dressage. The truth was, Carole thought, Stevie’s and Lisa’s dreams about riding weren’t as big as hers. For them, riding was a great sport, not an all-consuming passion. But Carole couldn’t explain that to them.

  There was someone who would understand, though: Jenny. She would understand perfectly. She had been through it all herself. Resolving to call King’s owner the next day, Carole turned the light off. Then she turned the light back on. She didn’t care how late it was. She had to call Jenny right then. She dialed the number and listened anxiously. After a couple of rings Jenny picked up, sounding sleepy.

  “I’m sorry,” Carole said urgently. “I know it’s too late to call.”

  “That’s okay. What’s up?” asked Jenny.

  “I—I
think I might have the money for King!” Carole said hurriedly. “Or at least part of it.”

  “Really?” said Jenny, after a pause. “So you’ve come to a decision?”

  “No—Yes—I don’t know. But somebody made an offer on Starlight tonight. I think you’re right. I think I do want to concentrate on dressage.”

  “Carole, that’s great!” Jenny exclaimed. “See? I knew you could figure it out if you tried. How much did they offer?”

  “What?”

  “How much was the offer for Starlight?”

  “Oh,” said Carole. She was a little surprised that Jenny had mentioned price so soon. But, after all, Carole reminded herself, Jenny was a professional. There was no point in pretending that money didn’t matter. It did. Period.

  “That’s a great start!” Jenny said enthusiastically when Carole told her the offer. “You could pay me the rest over the next year.”

  “Oh. Right.” Carole’s hands suddenly felt clammy. How could she tell Jenny she had no way of earning the rest? She would simply have to figure something out. To be a world-famous junior rider, she would have to make sacrifices. She could work after school, weekends—two jobs, if need be …

  “Come ride King on Monday morning and we’ll firm things up,” Jenny said. “Maybe you could bring a deposit then.”

  Feeling slightly sick, Carole explained that school started on Monday.

  “All right, then, Monday afternoon.”

  All at once Carole regretted making the phone call. Things were happening too fast. She was sure her decision was the right one, but she needed more time to let it sink in. “How about if I come next Friday?” she asked nervously, stalling for time.

  The tone of Jenny’s voice changed ever so slightly. “All right. I guess that’s okay. But Carole, you do understand that until I get a commitment from you—a financial commitment—I’m going to keep showing King to buyers. There are a number of people who are interested in him.”