“So, what’s up with him?” he asked Ellie as they walked to the stable.
“He’s been stiff for the last few days. I think his fetlocks are hurting him,” said Ellie.
At first, Spirit was nervous. He was still wary of strangers, particularly men. But his trust in Ellie was obvious, and while she held and soothed him he let John listen to his heart, examine him and check his legs. After Ellie had trotted him up and down so John could see his movement, the vet looked thoughtful. “Well, there’s nothing definite,” he said as Stuart came over to join them and see what he thought. “Spirit’s a little stiff, as you say. At his age and with his past…” He looked at Spirit assessingly. “I’d say it’s likely he’s got a degenerative joint problem—a touch of arthritis.”
Ellie frowned. “Arthritis?”
“Yes, I’m afraid there’s nothing you can do about it, love. It’s just old age and wear and tear, but there’s also no need to panic.” John’s eyes were kindly as he saw her face. “If you manage it carefully, he’ll probably be fine for quite a few years to come. Keep exercising him and turning him out—rest him if the ground is particularly hard or if he looks especially stiff. If it gets worse let me know and I’ll investigate further. We’ll probably have to consider pain relief in the future, but he should be OK for now.”
Ellie nodded, feeling torn between relief that there wasn’t anything badly wrong and worry about what it would mean. “Is there anything else I can do?”
“You could add cod liver oil to his feed. That’s a traditional remedy.”
“Equi-Glow does several supplements for joint problems,” Stuart told Ellie. “We can use one of those. There’s a nettle and dandelion one—”
“Nettles?” Ellie interrupted.
Stuart nodded. “I know it sounds odd, but they’re good for arthritis. And horses seem to know that. You’ll often see older horses graze on them if there are any in their field—although a lot of horses will only eat them if they’ve been picked and left on the ground.”
So that was why Spirit had been showing her nettles! Ellie was dumbfounded. She stared at Spirit. He looked back patiently.
All along, you were trying to show me what you needed, she thought.
She became aware that Stuart was talking to her about the different supplements that were available. She smiled and nodded, but was too busy watching Spirit to pay much attention. How could she have ignored his messages so completely?
As soon as she could she took him to his stall and, although it was the afternoon and there were things to do, she locked herself in his stable and opened her mind to his.
Spirit, I’m so sorry, she told him quickly. All the time you kept showing me the nettles—you tried to take me to them, she said, remembering how he had pulled her to the side of the path. But I just didn’t get it. Deep down I knew there had to be a reason why you kept showing me nettles, but I couldn’t work it out so I just decided to ignore you.
Spirit sent her a wave of love.
She stared at him. There wasn’t even a hint of reproach. She had ignored him but he wasn’t blaming her.
You should be mad with me.
She sensed his confusion. It was as if he couldn’t understand the thought. She suddenly realized that to him it didn’t matter that she hadn’t listened. He didn’t blame her the way a human might have done. All she felt from him was relief now she knew what he meant—and the same love as always. She swallowed. Horses were amazing. They didn’t lie, they didn’t blame—all they asked for was to be treated kindly, and that made them content. She hugged him. A picture of some nettles came into her mind and Spirit nudged her gently with his nose.
Ellie took the hint and smiled. There was no way she would ignore him again. OK. I’ll fetch some now.
Still thinking about it all, Ellie went out and found some gloves and secateurs, then returned ten minutes later with a bucketful of nettles. She put them on the straw and Spirit started to eat them. It was amazing when she thought how hard he had been trying to communicate what he wanted.
“I’ll listen next time you tell me something,” she whispered. “Oh, Spirit, I promise I will.”
Chapter Eight
ON FRIDAY, JOE WAS COMPETING in an Easter show on Wisp, a young show hunter pony. Three of the liveries were entered too, so Joe and Len were out for the whole day. Ellie enjoyed riding without her every move being watched, and at lunchtime she took Spirit out for a hack. Since the vet’s visit, she had picked nettles for him twice a day and Stuart had found an Equi-Glow supplement that was particularly good for horses with arthritis. There might be no cure but she wanted to make sure Spirit’s aches and pains were eased as much as possible.
It was lovely being out with him; they ambled along the lane and stopped to look down the mountainside. The sun was shining and lambs were bouncing around the fields. Ellie leaned forward, putting her arms around Spirit’s neck. There was no place she would rather be. Her thoughts skipped forward to that night when she and Joe would go to the movies.
Would the evening end with her feeling as happy as she was now?
Maybe. After all, despite everything Joe had said, he did like her. She wondered if he was also thinking about the night ahead while he was at the show. Smiling to herself, she sat up, touched her heels to Spirit’s sides and rode on.
When she got back, she decided to groom Merlin. She knew Joe would be pleased and so she brushed the little bay pony with the body brush until his coat shone. She even oiled his hooves and put a tail bandage on his tail. He seemed to love the fuss, nuzzling her shoulder as she put a final polish on his coat by smoothing over him with a cactus cloth.
As she stood back to admire him, Luke brought Gabriel and Pericles on to the yard and started preparing them for the evening’s indoor jumping show. Sasha was helping him.
“I could come with you tonight,” the elder girl offered, a little too hopefully.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine,” Luke told her. “It’s just a jumping show.”
“But—”
“Nah, don’t worry, babe. I’ll manage.”
Sasha obviously wanted to go, and pouted, but Luke took no notice.
Ellie wondered if things were cooling between them. It wouldn’t surprise her. After all, they’d lasted almost a month—a record by Luke’s standards.
At five o’clock all the grooms left. Sasha flounced off, barely saying goodbye to Luke. He didn’t seem bothered, though, as he packed up the small horsebox.
Ellie was just doing a final check of the water buckets for the evening when she heard Joe returning. She went to help unload the horses.
“How did it go?” she called, reaching the car park as Joe got out of the cab.
“Great. Wisp won. Fizz got a second, Bill got a fourth and Darcey won her class and the championship.”
They both helped to put the horses and ponies away, rugging them up and feeding them.
“So, what time are we leaving?” Ellie finally asked Joe, trying to sound casual, as they carried the last two saddles to the tackroom.
Joe looked awkward. “Um…I need to talk to you about that.”
“Why?”
Just then, the house door opened. Len stood in the doorway, wearing smart trousers. “Get yourself moving, Joe. We need to be gone in ten minutes.” He went back inside.
Ellie looked at Joe. “Gone? Where are you going?”
“Look, I’m sorry, Ellie.” Joe looked a bit embarrassed. “But Dad wants me to go with him to Jeff Hallett’s party tonight. All the people that Equi-Glow sponsors are supposed to be there. I don’t want to, but Dad thinks we should keep up the united family front.” He saw her face. “I really should go, Els. I’m sorry. I hadn’t realized Dad would expect me to.”
Ellie stared at him. “Why don’t you just tell him you can’t? Tell him you’re busy—that you’re already doing something with me?”
Joe shook his head. “I can’t. The sponsorship is so important to the yard. It would
be wrong of me not to go.” He looked appeasingly at her. “You understand, don’t you? It’s only a movie we’re missing. We can go another time.” He turned to the house. “Are you coming in?”
Ellie shook her head. “No…not just yet.” She felt as if he had just dumped a bucket of cold water all over her.
“OK. Well, I’ll catch you later.” Joe hurried inside.
Ellie walked slowly to Spirit’s stall. Suddenly her secret hopes seemed mad.
Reaching Spirit’s stall, she hugged him until she heard the house door bang. “Ellie!” Joe was calling faintly for her. “Ellie!” She didn’t answer.
After a few minutes, she heard his footsteps as he came to find her. “I’m off.” His hair was brushed and he’d changed into smart clothes. “I’ll see you later. I have to go. I’m sorry I can’t go to the movies.”
Not sorry enough to stay, Ellie thought, still hurting, but trying to hide it. “Sure. See you later,” she shrugged.
“Yeah. Later.”
Joe hurried away, leaving her feeling worse than ever. He hadn’t even realized she was upset. A few minutes afterwards she heard the sound of the car engine revving.
Ellie felt like kicking the stable wall, but instead she stroked Spirit. “I’d better get something to eat,” she sighed. “I’ll come and see you afterwards.”
She set off towards the house.
“Thought you were going out tonight?” Luke said, as he led Gabriel out on to the yard in his traveling boots and lightweight rug.
“Yeah. Me too,” muttered Ellie.
“Where’s Joe then?”
“Gone to Jeff Hallett’s with Len.”
Luke looked at her incredulously. “You’ve been stood up for Jeff Hallett! Oh, that’s good!” He started to grin.
“Not stood up,” Ellie rushed in defensively. “Joe had to go.”
Luke spluttered. “He didn’t have to go. He could have said no. I mean, it’s going to be full of oldies. No one expects him to be there. He could have talked Len out of it if he’d wanted to. But I guess it was his famous sense of duty kicking in.”
Ellie turned away swiftly. She didn’t need Luke echoing the thoughts that were in her head. She was angry enough with Joe as it was, but she didn’t want to criticize him with Luke. She continued towards the house.
“Hey, Ellie! Wait up!”
“What?” she said miserably.
“Why don’t you come to the horse show with me this evening? You could take Gabriel in a class.”
Ellie stared. “I couldn’t do that!”
Luke shrugged. “Why not?”
Ellie opened her mouth. There were all sorts of reasons why not. For a start, what would her uncle say? And she’d only ridden Gabriel once before—how could she possibly take him in a show-jumping competition? But looking into Luke’s blue eyes, she realized that to him there really was no reason why she couldn’t go to the show if she wanted. He just didn’t see obstacles the way most people did. She felt a surge of wonderful excitement.
“Well?” he went on. “If you want to, you can. You’ll need your show clothes, though.”
A smile caught at her lips. She would do what she wanted this time. “OK, I’ll come!”
The car park at the show was lit up by big floodlights. Luke parked the trailer and they jumped out. People were unloading horses, fixing tendon boots. The pony classes had already been on and ponies were being loaded back into horseboxes, riders wearing Puffa jackets over their show clothes to keep warm and clean.
“Let’s see what class is on now,” Luke said.
Weaving through the crowds, they headed for the indoor school where the competition was taking place. They walked into a cafe where the smell of hot dogs, sawdust and frying onions filled the air, with people sitting on the red plastic seats holding polystyrene cups of coffee as they watched the jumping. One wall was glass and Ellie could see a steel-gray horse jumping around a course in the school. Luke checked with a pretty red-haired girl with a ponytail behind the counter. “What class is it, Jodie?”
“The Novice Jumping.” Jodie smiled at him. “I was wondering if you would be here today, Luke. I haven’t seen you for a month or two.”
“Been missing me?”
“Maybe, maybe not.” But Jodie’s blush gave it away.
“I’ve missed you.”
Ellie rolled her eyes. Honestly! Couldn’t Luke go anywhere without flirting? She wondered if Jodie was the reason Luke hadn’t wanted Sasha at the show. Luke caught her expression. “This is Ellie, by the way, Jodie. She’s Joe’s cousin and she’s living with us now.”
“Oh, right.” Jodie looked Ellie up and down.
Luke headed for the door. “Come on,” he said over his shoulder to Ellie.
Ellie folded her arms. “Excuse me?”
When he didn’t look around, she followed him. “I’m not Pip, you know!” she hissed.
“What do you mean?”
Ellie spoke indignantly. “Ordering me around like that.”
Luke grinned. “Why do you always have to argue? Come on, quit with the mood. We’re at a show. Let’s enter you in a class.” He strode off.
“Luke!” Ellie ran after him. Now they were there, the reality of the situation was starting to sink in. “I really can’t go in a class.”
“Why not?” Luke’s eyes searched hers. “You want to, don’t you?”
“Well, yeah,” Ellie admitted. She desperately wanted a chance to jump. “Of course I do but—”
“Then do it.”
“But—”
“Listen to yourself! You’ve been spending too much time with Joe. But this…but that…” Luke imitated. He spread his arms. “Who cares about buts? Look, there’s the secretary’s office.” He bounded up the steps into the small wooden shed where people entered the classes and collected their numbers. Before Ellie could stop him, he was fishing some money out of his pocket and entering her and Gabriel in the Gamblers’ Stakes.
She stood there open-mouthed. “You’re crazy, Luke!” she said, unable to stop herself from smiling as he jumped back down the steps and handed her a number.
He grinned. “Nope. You’re the crazy one. You’re going to be taking Gabriel in the Gamblers’ Stakes!” Chuckling, he strode back to the horsebox.
There were four jumping classes for the horses. The main jumping classes were the Novice, Intermediate and Open Jumping. Luke was taking both horses in the Open Jumping. The final class of the night was the Gamblers’ Stakes, a class where each rider had to jump around the ring for two minutes, collecting points for every fence they jumped, with the hardest and biggest fences having the most points attached. The rider with the most points won.
“How do you think the horses will do?” Ellie asked as they tacked up.
“Oh, I’m not going to jump Pericles fast. He really is just here for the experience,” Luke replied. “He’s not a speed horse and it wouldn’t be fair.”
“What about Gabriel?” said Ellie.
“He’s totally different. He could have been a show jumper. The problem is stopping him once he’s in the ring.”
“Oh, great!” Ellie groaned, her stomach turning somersaults.
“You’ll be fine!” Luke told her airily. “Just point him at the jumps and hang on. He’ll do the rest!”
Both horses were on their toes, sidling around as Ellie and Luke mounted. Standing at 15.2 hands high, Gabriel was taller than Ellie was used to, and with his head up and his hocks—his back legs—underneath him he felt as if he’d grown a couple more inches. “Steady, boy,” she soothed, stroking his neck as he jogged towards the working-in area. Used to Luke’s heavier weight and stronger hands, Gabriel pulled at the bit. Ellie murmured to him. She wished she could take him somewhere quiet and try connecting with him, talk to him, but with Luke there it was impossible to slip away.
The working-in ring was full of horses cantering around or going over the practice jumps in the center of the ring. Occasionally, grooms wo
uld risk their lives to dart across the ring and tighten a noseband or fix a boot. As Ellie began to trot Gabriel around he snatched at his bit, but soon he began to settle down. When she felt he had calmed down enough, she turned him towards the practice fence. Instantly, his ears pricked and he plunged forward. Grabbing hold of his plaits, it was all she could do to cling on and use her legs as he raced at the fence. He cleared it by miles, making her fly up from the saddle.
“Whoa!” she gasped. She pulled him into a circle and slowed him down. Her heart was pounding but her eyes were shining. What a jump!
“Having fun yet?” Luke grinned as he cantered steadily over the jump on Pericles and rode up beside her.
She grinned. “You bet!”
Pericles jumped a steady clear round in the Open Jumping but there was nothing steady about Gabriel’s round. Luke raced him over the course, but to Ellie’s delight he went clear. She threw her arms around the horse as Luke halted, patting his neck. “He’s in the jump-off,” she said, feeding him mints.
The jump-off was for the ten horses who had all gone clear, and was a timed event—the fastest round with the fewest faults would win. Pericles jumped clear again, but Luke stuck to his word and didn’t rush him. With Gabriel it was a different matter. Riding superbly, Luke galloped him around the course and cut inside fences in a way that no one else dared to do, almost seeming to lift the horse over fences. As they approached the last jump, a wide parallel, Luke pushed Gabriel into a gallop. Ellie held her breath. They were almost home! Gabriel reached the fence but was just too far off. He caught the back pole with his hooves as he landed. It bounced to the ground. Four faults.
“Damn!” said Luke as he rode out, but his eyes were exhilarated. “If we’d have nailed that last fence we’d have won by miles. God, what a round!”
No one else came close to Luke’s time, but there were five clear rounds in the jump-off so in the end Pericles was fifth and Gabriel sixth. Luke went into the ring on Pericles, leading Gabriel, to collect his two rosettes. When he came out he stuffed them carelessly into his jacket pocket.
“Don’t do that, you’ll crease them,” Ellie told him.
Dreams Page 6
