The Girl Who Loves Horses (Pegasus Equestrian Center Series)

by Diana Vincent

  The announcement came over the loudspeaker, “Number one hundred and twelve, no penalties.” Sierra and Fiel had moved into first place.

  Sierra left the arena on a loose rein, Fiel unperturbed by the applause around him with his head and neck arched proudly as if he knew it was in his honor. Sierra lavished him with pats and praise, her own face beaming.

  Just before she rode up to where João waited, his own face proudly smiling, she spied Crystal and Justin standing next to Luke. Luke was watching her and waved his arms with thumbs up triumphantly when he caught her eye. But Crystal was speaking sharply to Justin, her face contorted in rage. Sierra could not help smiling spitefully to herself. Crystal, you’re not a very gracious loser.

  *****

  The Pegasus junior team retained first place for the team standings. Katrina also had a clear round and moved up into second place. Crystal dropped down to third place and Gloria finished fifth. Ann finished third in her division.

  Sierra was not on a team, so she merely accepted the first place award in junior novice as an individual. It was perhaps the proudest moment of her life as she and Fiel joined the others who had placed, in a victory canter around the ring at the end of the day. She took home a fancy blue ribbon and a silver trophy of a jumping horse and rider inscribed with Pacific Regional Combined Training Championship, Junior Novice.

  Best of all, they took home a beautiful and fit horse who seemed to have enjoyed the competition as much as she did; her wonderful Fiel!

  *****

  31 João

  Lived in his saddle, loved the chase, the course, and always, ere he mounted, kiss’d his horse. – William Cowper

  *****

  Sierra kept up a stream of happy chatter to her mother during the drive home. “I’m so glad you got to see me ride. Isn’t Fiel the most wonderful horse?”

  “He sure is, Kitten.”

  “And he is so perfect for me. I can’t believe how great it is to have met such a wonderful and kind man as João, willing to share his horse with me. You know he’s given up so much of his own riding time for me? I think that’s been quite a sacrifice for him, because he loves riding Fiel. And don’t you think River is the best rider you’ve ever seen? I will never forget that amazing demonstration ride.”

  “Yes, Sweetie, it was certainly spectacular.”

  “Can you believe I won? I actually won! Me and Fiel!”

  Pam reached over and patted her daughter’s knee. “So, did you get your homework finished?” she asked slyly.

  “Most of it. I just have to answer a few questions for history. I can easily finish those tonight. I did get all the reading done.”

  “You know, I’m just a little worried about João. I saw him take his nitroglycerin pills two other times.”

  “Mom!” That news put a damper on the perfect day.

  Pam patted Sierra’s leg again. “I’m just glad he is going in for tests next week. If there is anything wrong with his heart there are lots of good treatments nowadays.”

  “Good,” Sierra said in relief. She really did not want to think about anything bad today. “Mom, River is going to sort of mention to Tess that I would be willing to work for her again. You know they haven’t found anyone who’s worked out yet.”

  “That’s because you’re irreplaceable,” Pam grinned. “But Sierra, I really don’t like the idea of you working under those conditions again. She treated you very unfairly and was unkind to you.”

  “I know, but I miss working with River and all the horses. I wouldn’t mind working there just on weekends. Then I could still ride Fiel during the week after school. But I would only do it if she actually paid me.”

  “If she were to pay you what you’re worth then I suppose it would be okay.”

  “We’ll see. I still kind of doubt she’ll be willing to pay me. But River says the three girls that they hired after me were getting paid.”

  “How that woman used you,” Pam said again.

  Then Sierra started in on a dissertation of all the jumps and how wonderful Fiel was at each one, with Pam politely nodding or saying, “uh huh.”

  “So who was the nice looking boy hanging around?”

  “You mean Luke? Mom, he wasn’t exactly hanging around.” But that kept Sierra going for another thirty miles telling her mother all about Luke, until she finally wound down and fell asleep.

  *****

  The next day at school during lunch, Allison graciously listened to Sierra’s detailed retelling of the championship, and like a true friend, congratulated her heartily on her win.

  “Maybe I’ll come watch one of your shows,” Allison said. “They actually sound pretty interesting.”

  “Allison, that would be so cool. But the season’s over for the year. Shows won’t start back up until April.”

  “Oh, that’s fine. You know, I think I need to meet this River of yours. He sounds so interesting.”

  “River?”

  “Oh yes. You know I heard about his ride from Katrina this morning. We have art together. It sounds like that would have been something to see.”

  “It was so incredibly awesome. I wish you could have seen it. I know how much you love music and dance, and it was truly an equestrian ballet.”

  “Doesn’t River go to this school?”

  “Yeah, I guess he’s a sophomore or junior. But I haven’t seen him around so far.”

  “Well, keep your eye out for him and introduce me if the chance comes up.”

  “Sure,” Sierra agreed but somehow had trouble imagining how introducing Allison to River would go.

  “From the sound of it, I think Luke is definitely interested,” Allison changed the subject.

  Sierra blushed. Why do I do that? “I don’t know. It’s hard to know if he’s interested, or if it’s just his natural friendliness.”

  “I can assure you it’s more than just his natural friendliness. I’m still surprised he didn’t ask you to the eighth grade graduation ball last year.”

  Sierra wondered if her avoidance of him at the end of eighth grade might have had something to do with the lack of an invitation. But that might just be her own wishful thinking. She heard he had gone to the dance with a very pretty and popular girl; much cuter than herself.

  “But Homecoming’s next month. You never know…” Allison said in a thoughtful tone.

  “Sierra!” Calling her name in an excited squeal, Katrina pushed her way through the cafeteria tables. “I never got a chance to congratulate you on your win.” Katrina sat down at their table.

  Sierra smiled a welcome. “Thanks, and you and Calliope did really great too.”

  “Thanks. Hi, Allison.”

  “Hi, Katrina, have a seat,” Allison said wryly, since Katrina had already sat down.

  “The thing is, I’ve been showing for three years and this is the first time I’ve placed in the championship. You won your very first time. That’s incredible.”

  “Well, I have a great horse to ride and a great teacher.”

  “You’re lucky. Is River still teaching you?”

  “No,” Sierra answered. “I owe a lot to River who gave me a great start. But I’m taking lessons now from the man who owns Fiel.”

  “Oh, that ex-jockey; yeah,” she said knowingly.

  “So,” Sierra had to ask. “How is Crystal dealing with not winning?”

  “Oh, she is so furious,” Katrina ducked her head and lowered her voice. “She can’t stand that my appaloosa actually beat her expensive warmblood; not to mention you winning on a horse and with a trainer that isn’t even from Pegasus.” Katrina laughed. “She had notices up to sell Galaxy even before we left the show grounds.”

  Sierra shook her head, but not really surprised, and hoped that maybe Galaxy would end up with a more compassionate owner.

  “You would probably be wise to stay out of her way,” Katrina advised, an ominous look in her eyes.

  “Gladly,” Sierra agreed, but with a sinking feeling in the pit of h
er stomach. She didn’t need Katrina’s warning after what she suspected Crystal had plotted with Justin to do to Fiel and Gunsmoke.

  Later, Luke caught up with Sierra between classes and added his congratulations.

  “Thanks,” Sierra hesitated and then asked, “Luke, can I ask you something?”

  “Sure,” he said, breaking into his friendly grin which lit up his blue eyes.

  “Do you think Justin might have done something to upset Fiel and also to River’s horse?”

  Luke’s face fell, the bright smile replaced by a worried look.

  “Please, I saw him there. Tell me what you know.”

  “Well,” he hesitated. “I don’t really know. I don’t want to get him in trouble.”

  “I’m not going to say anything. I just want to know,” Sierra promised.

  “I did overhear him and Crystal whispering about something. I know he has this gadget that gives an electric shock. He likes to play tricks on kids at school with it.”

  Of course; that’s how he tripped Billy last year! “Do you think he might have used it on the horses?”

  “Sierra, I don’t know. Please, forget it. No one got hurt.”

  “But one of us could have been hurt. I almost fell off!”

  Luke nodded, looking half ashamed. “Yeah, and I’m so glad you weren’t. But the truth is, I don’t really know.”

  “Luke, how can you be friends with someone like that?”

  “Justin’s okay. We’ve been best friends since the third grade. It’s Crystal…”

  Sierra just shook her head, “I have to get to class.”

  *****

  After school, Sierra jumped off the bus and ran home to change into her grubby clothes to hurry off and see Fiel. João had said they would give him a few days off after his hard work over the weekend, but she still wanted to visit him and give him carrots and she had an apple from their tree.

  She bicycled up to the barn and parked her bike in the usual space. Charlie emerged from somewhere, wagging his tail and whined a greeting.

  “Hey, Charlie boy.” Sierra leaned down and stroked his head and back a few times before heading off to the pasture with her treats. She entered the gate and called out, “Fiel!”

  She heard his whinny and a few minutes later he emerged from under the trees and trotted up to her.

  “Hey, handsome,” she greeted him with hugs and pats, but he was mostly interested in what she had in her pockets. Laughing, Sierra pulled out the carrots, breaking them into pieces; and then the apple which she shared with him. She took a bite and then gave him a bite. Of course his bites were much bigger. She spent a little time with Fiel, stroking him as he turned back to grazing when the treats were gone.

  “Well, I better say goodbye and get to my homework.” She kissed Fiel on his muzzle when he brought his head up to nuzzle for any remaining carrot.

  Sierra left the pasture and went to the house to say hi to João. She knocked to let him know she was there and then turned the door handle to go in. To her surprise, she found it locked. João never locked his door when he was at home.

  “Has he gone somewhere?” Sierra asked Charlie, who sat at her feet, tail thumping. She shrugged and retrieved her bicycle. It was a bit of a mystery because both João’s car and truck were parked in their usual places.

  “See you later,” she called to Charlie who sat in the driveway whining as she mounted her bicycle. The back of her neck tingled, sending a thread of worry into her stomach as she started pedaling down the driveway. Something is wrong. Where is João? But not knowing what else she could do, she tamped down her worry and headed home.

  Pam would not be home until after seven, as it was one of her clinical days at the hospital where they worked twelve-hour shifts. Sierra dutifully spent the quiet afternoon finishing her homework and then started dinner preparations. She took the hamburger out of the refrigerator that she had taken from the freezer this morning. She planned to make Sloppy Joes, a recipe she had made before with great success. She grabbed an onion from the vegetable bin, and then a can of tomato sauce from the cupboard, leaving it open to study the spice assortment. Did I add oregano last time?

  The sound of tires crunching up the driveway and then the silence of a killed motor signaled Pam’s arrival. “Hi, Mom,” Sierra greeted without turning; still contemplating the spices as the front door opened.

  “Sierra.”

  The tone of Pam’s voice caused Sierra to instantly turn around.

  “Honey, come here.” Pam stood in the kitchen doorway, her face ashen and drawn, her eyes bloodshot and her nose red. Her mother had been crying!

  Speechless with dread, Sierra walked over to her and Pam pulled her daughter into her arms and held her tightly.

  “Mom, just tell me,” Sierra said with her face pressed into her mother’s breast.

  “João…” She made a choking sound.

  Sierra squeezed her eyes tight, keeping her face pressed into the warmth of Pam.

  “He had a massive heart attack and he died at the hospital today.”

  Sierra’s own heart seized up in her chest. She gulped for air, sucking in the scent of her mother, her comfort and solid mass to cling to as the hot tears erupted and flowed. Pam guided her to the sofa in the living room, and the two sank onto the cushions, clinging to each other as desperately as to a life-preserver.

  “It just can’t be true,” Sierra sobbed through her tears.

  “I know, Baby, I know.”

  “Tell me everything,” Sierra pleaded as her sobs subsided into sniffles.

  “He placed a nine-one-one call this afternoon. By the time the paramedics arrived he was already down. They did everything they could. I won’t go into the details but he was brought into the emergency room in full cardiac arrest. They were able to shock his heart back into a rhythm a few times, but it didn’t last. All the drugs we have, nothing lasted. And finally his poor heart wouldn’t even respond to defibrillation anymore.”

  “Mom, don’t say those words to me, I don’t understand,” Sierra wailed.

  “Honey, you’ve seen on TV when they use the paddles. That’s what I’m talking about.”

  “Were you there?”

  “I’m doing my clinical in emergency room this week, so I was there when they brought him in. My preceptor had told me a cardiac arrest patient was expected in and suggested it would be a good experience for me to observe. I had no idea it would be João. Oh, Baby, it was awful.” Pam pulled her daughter tight again, with more tears spilling.

  “I thought you said there were all kinds of treatments for bad hearts,” Sierra demanded.

  “If a person gets to those treatments in time…for João, it was just too late.”

  Suddenly, Sierra sat up straight. “What about Fiel, and Charlie? Who’s going to take care of them?”

  “I talked with João’s lawyer before I left the hospital. Apparently he has no family in the United States and his lawyer is listed as his contact person. He was surprised to meet me at the hospital because our names are mentioned in some of his documents. The lawyer asked if you would be able to care for the animals until he can make arrangements; probably just for a day or two.”

  “Of course I can. I was over there today to see Fiel. In fact, I better go over there right now and bring him in from the pasture and feed him.”

  “I’ll drive you.”

  Thanks,” and then through more sniffles, “can we bring Charlie home with us?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Can we go right now?”

  *****

  They found Fiel standing at the pasture gate, tossing his head as Sierra and her mother exited the car. He trumpeted a loud and questioning whinny. Charlie bounded forward, and glued himself to Sierra’s side, determined not to be left alone again.

  “It’s all right now,” Sierra soothed horse and dog as she haltered Fiel and led him into his stall. She efficiently tossed in his hay ration and then filled the manger with his grain
and supplements. She checked his automatic waterer and then around the barn to be sure all was in order. When she could find nothing more to justify lingering, she gave Fiel a hug around his neck and a pat before shutting the lights out and closing the barn doors.

  “I don’t like the idea of him being here with no one around,” Sierra said remorsefully, as she walked away from the barn.

  “I know, Kitten, but I don’t know what we can do about that immediately. It sounds like the lawyer is going to work on arrangements.”

  A shiver ran through Sierra as she thought about Fiel being taken away; she hadn’t yet thought of that. Please, no; that can’t happen!

  “Come on, Charlie.” Sierra needlessly coaxed him to jump into the back seat of the car next to her. He had trailed after her, his wet nose frequently bumping against her leg for reassurance, keeping her sight and smell within his reach. “It feels so wrong driving off and leaving him alone here,” Sierra repeated as Pam started the car’s engine.

  “It’s the best we can do for now, and I’ll drive you back early in the morning before school.”

  “Okay, thanks…that will help.” Then another thought suddenly occurred to her. “Oh, Mom; who’s going to tell River?”

  “His name is mentioned in João’s papers as well. The lawyer said he was going to try to reach him this evening.”

  “Poor River,” Sierra sighed.

  Pam glanced at her daughter sympathetically in her rear-view mirror. “Yes, this is going to be very hard for him,” she agreed.

  *****

  João is dead. My teacher, mentor, but most of all, my dear friend; dead. Over the next few days those thoughts constantly wafted around every other thought in Sierra’s head; suddenly displacing the answer to a question on her history test, or the solution to a math problem, or the instructions in a recipe at home. And each time the thought invaded, it was like knives slicing at all the tender spots inside that could feel and care about another person. It twisted her stomach into painful knots; it coursed like a burn up and down her spine, and caused her head to throb. His was the first death of someone she was close to and had loved deeply. Her father had died before she was born so she never knew him. Her old grandfather died when she was six, and she remembered how hard that time had been for her mother. But she hardly knew that man either, and couldn’t remember feeling anything at all except sympathy for her mother. But losing João was an ache that felt like a ragged hole in her chest; a hole that constantly reminded her something was missing.