A Horse for the Summer

by Michelle Bates

  It was a wet, muggy, Wednesday morning. Tom was fed up as he sat in the tack room watching the summer rain splatter down the window pane. Chancey hadn’t been ridden for well over a week.

  Pitter...patter...pitter...patter. The rain hammered rhythmically against the outside of the building. Tracing patterns in the condensation, Tom outlined the horse’s head that he had become so good at drawing.

  Nick hurried in out of the rain, holding his waterproof jacket over his head as an umbrella. He had been caught in the summer shower unawares and the tack room had been his nearest shelter.

  “I’ve been lungeing Storm Cloud. She’s got so much potential. If she continues the way she’s going, it won’t be long before I’ll be able to use her in lessons,” Nick said proudly. “What’s up with you?” he asked, seeing Tom’s glum face.

  “Oh, nothing really. I was just wondering if you might have some time to look at Chancey and me today?” Tom said quietly.

  “Not today, Tom. I haven’t a spare moment,” Nick answered. “I’m giving two classes, maybe even three and then I really need to do another hour with Storm Cloud. You could lead him around the school for half an hour if you like.”

  “Couldn’t I ride Chancey in the hack, Nick?” Tom pleaded.

  “I don’t think it’s a very good idea, Tom. He’s not ready for it yet. You know how agitated he gets if he’s with more than one horse. He tried to kick Jester last time he was out.”

  Tom sighed impatiently. He knew what Nick was saying was true, but at this rate, Chancey was never going to be ready for the Benbridge show. He felt mean complaining. Nick and Sarah had done so much for him. If it wasn’t for them, he wouldn’t even have had a home for the horse. Nevertheless, Chancey did need to be schooled if he was going to get fit. And if Nick didn’t have the time to help, there wasn’t a great deal that Tom could do about it. Or was there?

  And suddenly it came to him. Perhaps he could do something to help. Perhaps he could train Chancey. Nick didn’t need to know anything about it. After all, Chancey had gone so well for him the last time he had ridden him and he hadn’t really needed Nick there, had he?

  Tom sighed. He knew that it wasn’t quite true. He did need Nick, and Nick had expressly forbidden him to take Chancey out on his own.

  Tom put his head around the tack room door and stepped outside. He held out his hands. It was still spitting as he crossed the yard to Chancey’s stable.

  “If I got up early in the mornings and trained you, nobody would even notice,” Tom whispered, trying to convince himself as much as Chancey that he wouldn’t be doing anything wrong.

  “You’d like that too,” he murmured. “You’d get out more then. We’d have to be very careful that we weren’t caught, that’s all.”

  Chancey snorted, as if in response, a piece of straw hanging from his mouth.

  “You shouldn’t be chewing on that either,” said Tom crossly. “If you eat too much of it, you’ll find you end up with colic.”

  That was what made Tom’s mind up. If Chancey was eating his bed, he must be more bored than Tom had imagined.

  “We’ll start training tomorrow, then. I’ll get here early to tack you up.”

  “What are you doing in there, Tom?” asked Alex, poking his head over the stable door. “You’re not talking to yourself are you?”

  “No,” said Tom, turning bright red. “Just Chancey.”

  “You’re mad!” Alex chuckled. “What are you saying to him anyway?”

  The thought of letting Alex in on his plans passed fleetingly through Tom’s mind. He opened his mouth to tell him, and then closed it firmly again. No, it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair to expect Alex to lie for him. This was something he had decided to undertake. He had to bear the full responsibility.

  “Are you reading me?” said Alex. “Come in Tom. Are you going out on the 12 o’clock hack?”

  Tom pulled himself together as he realized that Alex had asked him the same question twice.

  “N-No,” Tom stuttered. “I’m going home. Can you say goodbye to the others for me?”

  “Sure,” said Alex, puzzled at Tom’s strange behaviour. It was most unlike him to spend any time away from Sandy Lane.

  Thoughtfully, Tom wandered over to his bike. He wanted the afternoon to think about how he could put his plan into action. He also couldn’t bear the thought of being around Nick and having to lie to him at the same time. It would be better once he had started the training. Once Chancey had started to improve, it would all seem worth it.

  Back at home, Tom slid into the sitting room clutching a pad of note paper. He felt like a criminal.

  “Come on, get a grip,” he muttered to himself, thinking aloud. “Nick brings the other horses in from the fields at seven thirty, which means we’ll have to start at six to be finished in time.”

  He wrote it all down, chewing the end of his pencil as he worked out his plan. That meant he would have to be up at the stables at half past five. Tom groaned to himself. It was a very early start. And how long would he have to do it for? Should he make up a training programme? Tom churned these thoughts over in his mind for the rest of the day.

  Tom’s alarm went off at a quarter past five the next morning. Fumbling under his pillow, he switched it off and sat bolt upright. He rubbed his eyes. It was already light outside. Pulling on his jodhpurs, he stole down the stairs and out of the sleepy house. Quickly, he unchained his bike from the drainpipe. His heart was beating fast and there was a knot in his stomach. There would be such trouble if he was caught.

  Nothing stirred, nothing rustled, as Tom cycled along. The stables were silent as Tom reached the yard...unnervingly still and quiet as he crept to Chancey’s stable.

  “Sshh,” said Tom, stifling Chancey’s whinny with a sugar lump as he hurriedly tacked him up. Tom was sure that Nick would hear the clatter of Chancey’s shoes on the gravel as he led him out of his stable and through the gate at the back. Nervously, Tom looked up at the bedroom windows of the cottage. No one seemed to be up yet. The curtains were tightly drawn and Tom breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone must still be fast asleep. It was only when Tom was in the last of the fields behind the yard that he felt safe...safe away from prying eyes. Tom sprang into the saddle and gathered up the reins.

  “Come on Chancey. We’ve only got an hour and there’s a lot to fit in.”

  Chancey responded promptly to the light squeeze from Tom’s calves and went forward into a trot. Automatically, Tom turned him in the direction of Larkfield Copse. They were headed for the beach. Gently, Chancey cantered along, over the fields, through the trees and soon they were on the open stretches beyond. Tom started to relax. This was fun.

  As they reached the top of the cliffs, Tom could just make out the distant shape of a ship on the bleak horizon. The tide was out and the beach was deserted at this time of the morning. The wind was whipping up the waves, billowing the water into clouds of spray. Gently, Tom leant back, putting his hand on Chancey’s rump to steady himself as they picked their way down the path from the cliff.

  Then they were down on the beach and suddenly they were galloping as though nothing else mattered...along the sand, through the waves and past the caves that he and Alex had discovered only last summer. It was glorious. Tom found it hard to pull Chancey up when there was nothing to stop them from going on and on forever.

  “Whoa boy, calm down,” said Tom, clapping his hand to Chancey’s neck and slowly pulling him up. Chancey snatched at the bit.

  “That was just to warm you up,” Tom laughed. “We’ll have to do some proper exercise now – serpentines. Ready?”

  Chancey was jumpy as Tom tried to get him to make the ‘s’ shape in the sand. But soon they had perfected the movement, bending from right to left, leaving a trail in the sand like a snake. Tom was miles away, when suddenly he realized the time.

  “Oh help!” he cried, looking at his watch. “We’ll have to hurry back. We’ll ride in the outdoor school tomorrow,” he told
Chancey. “It’s all well and good going fast, but we’ll have to go through your paces and practise some jumping too.”

  Quietly, they wound their way back to Sandy Lane and stealthily crept into the yard. It was already twenty past seven. Luckily no one was around this time, still they would have to be more careful about timing in future. Quickly, Tom put Chancey away in his stable.

  “You’ll have to wait for your food, Chancey – well, until Nick comes round with the morning feeds anyway.”

  “You’re here early, Tom,” a voice boomed out from behind him. Tom nearly jumped out of his skin. “Couldn’t keep yourself away from Chancey, eh?” It was Nick.

  “Er-I didn’t have a very good night’s sleep, so I got up and thought I might as well head down here,” Tom stuttered. Nick shook his head and smiled. He didn’t seem to have noticed anything out of the ordinary. Tom breathed a sigh of relief that he hadn’t been discovered. He was sure that his guilt must have been written all over his face.

  “Well, you could get cracking with the feeds anyway,” Nick suggested. “By the way, I put up the poster about the local show yesterday. Everyone’s very excited about it. It’s only three weeks away. Good practice for Benbridge. You could ride Napoleon if you like. No one dared sign up for him. I think they’re all scared of you.” Nick laughed.

  Tom felt a sudden pang of guilt. Napoleon had always been his favourite horse at the stables. Everyone said they went like a bomb. But since Chancey had arrived...well, Tom couldn’t feel the same about any other horse.

  “Thanks Nick, I’ll go and check it out,” said Tom. He didn’t dare ask if he could ride Chancey at the local show – he couldn’t bear to hear Nick’s refusal.

  Nick looked puzzled. Normally Tom would have been rushing to sign up by Napoleon.

  “I’m sorry, Tom. I don’t think I’m going to have a minute to spare to spend with you and Chancey today. It’ll have to be tomorrow,” he said.

  “Oh, don’t worry,” said Tom. He turned away rather too quickly, hoping that Nick hadn’t noticed him reddening. Tom hated going behind Nick’s back. He hoped he would be able to live with his conscience over the next few weeks.

  7

  A NARROW ESCAPE

  As the date of the local show drew nearer, Tom proved to be right about Nick – there simply weren’t enough hours in the day for him to take lessons, school Storm Cloud and help out with Chancey too. So Tom continued his secret outings, not just to the beach, but in the outdoor school as well. It was more risky there, as anyone coming early to Sandy Lane would be sure to see them, but Chancey had to get used to an enclosed area. Tom told himself it was worth taking the risk.

  Leading Chancey out of his stable that morning, Tom was careful to avoid taking the drive down to the outdoor school. Although it was the quickest way there, they would be sure to be heard from the cottage. Tom felt guilty as he rode the long way round through the fields but he told himself it had to be done. His heart started to beat faster. It was only when they had reached the outdoor school that he started to calm down. Quickly, he climbed into the saddle and started to limber up. After a quarter of an hour of basic exercise, Chancey was clearly bored.

  “Come on,” Tom cried impatiently as he tried to drive Chancey into the corners. Chancey wouldn’t respond.

  “OK. I know you’ve had enough of that,” Tom said. “We’ll try some jumping.” He dismounted and tethered Chancey to the railings.

  “Now, what height had we got to?” he asked the horse. “Here?”

  Tom raised the post and rails by two feet. Chancey snorted.

  “Ah, so you want it higher do you? OK then.” Tom grinned as he moved on to the next fence.

  It took him a while to raise the jumps, and he would only have to knock them down again once they had finished. It was a nuisance, but better that than risk getting caught. Nick had finished off with a class of beginners yesterday, and there was no way they would have been jumping three and a half feet. It would look highly suspicious if Tom left the jumps as they were.

  “Come on, my boy,” he said.

  Chancey danced on the spot as Tom showed him the course he had prepared for them.

  “Come on, let’s go, or it’ll be back to lessons for you and I know that you don’t want that.”

  Chancey shook his head and neighed impatiently as he waited for the signal to start. Slowly, Tom nudged him on with his heels and they approached the first. Carefully, they eased their way around the course, clearing each of the jumps in easy succession.

  “One more time, Chancey,” Tom whispered, turning the horse back to the start without stopping for a break.

  Flying over the post and rails, Chancey went on to soar over the parallel bars. Landing lightly, Tom spun him on the spot for the treble on the far side of the school. Chancey didn’t hesitate as Tom drove him forward. He jumped fluently, his tail swishing as he touched down after the first and went on to clear the next two jumps.

  It never failed to amaze Tom how high Chancey could go. Sometimes he thought that he was asking too much of his horse. But Chancey never refused. He was a gutsy creature.

  After what seemed like no more than half an hour of jumping, Tom looked at his watch.

  “It’s already ten past seven,” he groaned. “We’ll have to stop or we might find we have company.”

  Dismounting in the drive, Tom led Chancey to his stable and untacked him. Then he hurried back to the school to knock down the fences. Hurtling around the course, he kicked down the poles as he went. Opening the gate, Tom let himself out as the alarm on his watch started to beep. He had taken to setting it at seven fifteen – the final warning.

  “Just in time,” Tom said to himself, striding into the yard.

  “Morning Tom,” Nick called from Hector’s stable.

  “Morning Nick,” Tom replied breezily as he strolled over to Chancey’s stable. He wondered how long Nick had been there. A moment longer and they would have been caught red-handed.

  “I’ve got a free hour at nine. We could do some work with Chancey then if you like,” said Nick.

  “Brilliant,” said Tom, trying to muster up some energy. He wished he hadn’t pushed Chancey so hard and hoped he wouldn’t be too tired.

  “Hi Tom,” Jess called cheerfully from across the yard. “Do you think you might find time to help me with the feeds?”

  “OK,” Tom laughed. Jess wasn’t one for hanging about. Together they set to work and by quarter to ten they had mucked out five stables, filled eight haynets and groomed the horses that were going to be used that morning. They reckoned they had done more than their fair share of work.

  “Do you want to go and get Chancey ready?” Nick called.

  “Sure,” Tom answered, hurrying off.

  Chancey looked puzzled when Tom started to tack him up again.

  “You’re not to give the game away, Chancey,” Tom whispered in his horse’s ear as he led him down to the school. Chancey snickered softly.

  “Right then, Tom. Let’s see what you can do,” said Nick, opening the gate to the outdoor school. “That’s funny,” he called. “I could have sworn the jumps were all standing yesterday. Someone’s been mucking around in here.”

  Tom felt embarrassed as Nick went around the course putting the jumps back up.

  “Right, are you ready? Pop him over the cross poles a couple of times to warm him up and then try this combination, Tom,” said Nick. “You shouldn’t find it difficult.”

  It was all the encouragement that Tom needed. With a little nudge of his heels, he urged Chancey on. Chancey cantered forward with long, easy strides, holding his head high, as he cleared the poles. Nick was mesmerised as he watched them moving gracefully around the paddock.

  “I can’t believe how well you’re both going together,” Nick called out from the railings. “It’s a pleasure to watch. Each time that I’ve seen you both, there seems to be an overnight improvement. It’s almost as though Chancey goes away after one of our sessions, thi
nks it all through and puts it into practice the next time round,” Nick beamed.

  “Yes, yes, I suppose you’re right,” Tom spluttered.

  “Well, he’s certainly perfected jumping that double anyway,” Nick answered.

  So Nick had started to notice a difference. Tom reddened and turned away. They had been practising the double in secret for almost a week now. And it certainly hadn’t been an overnight improvement for Tom. What would Nick say if he ever found out it wasn’t just his training that was responsible?

  Tom felt nervous. Nick wasn’t the only one who had noticed some changes. His mother had been complaining that Tom was spending too much time down at Sandy Lane. Tom was scared that if he wasn’t careful, she might say something to Nick and Sarah. He couldn’t have that happening. And he didn’t dare admit to his mother that the owners of Sandy Lane didn’t even know he was down there so early in the mornings. His game would surely be up without a doubt. There was no alternative, he would have to limit the amount of time he was spending with Chancey.

  As Tom led Chancey back to the yard, he thought how complicated it was all getting. He didn’t know how much longer he could go on with it all. Training Chancey and trying to keep it a secret was completely exhausting him. Nevertheless, Chancey was getting better. Tom tried to tell himself it would all be worth it in the end. Little did he know how close that end would be...that his plans were soon to be brought to an abrupt halt.

  8

  THE WARNING

  Over a week had passed and Chancey was playing up yet again. When Tom asked him to canter, he trotted faster. When Tom wanted him to halt, he just carried on walking. It was as though he was being obstreperous on purpose, trying to tell Tom that he was bored and would rather be doing something he enjoyed more. He would never make a dressage horse, Tom knew that. So Tom decided to give up the schooling and jump him instead. And he was jumping beautifully.

  “I’m not going to give in to you every time you misbehave, Chancey. Only this once. I like jumping as much as you do, but you’ve got to learn the ground rules too.”