Astra

by Chris Platt

  Lily released Astra into her small pasture. The mare tore around the corral with her gray tail over her back, snorting and kicking up her heels. She ran several laps, then came to a sliding halt and stared over the fence with her ears pricked, gazing into the distance.

  What is she looking at? Lily wondered. Then, suddenly, she knew. “You miss racing, don’t you, girl? You want to be out there on the trails with your friends.” Lily stood still, staring in the same direction as her horse. She wished she could be out there, too.

  The next day, Mel and Devin stopped by to see how Astra was doing.

  “She looks great,” Devin said.

  “Yeah,” Meloney agreed. “Just think, it was only a month ago that Mr. Henley thought Astra was a goner. Who knew she’d bounce back this quickly?”

  Lily shivered at the thought of how close she’d come to losing the proud Arabian.

  “Yeah, she’s pretty amazing.” Lily held out her hand and Astra trotted to the center of the pen where her owner stood. “Good girl,” Lily crooned, patting the mare’s long arched neck. She looked back at her friends, who were sitting on the top rail of the fence. “I’m not sure where to go from here,” she admitted. “My dad won’t let me ride, but I can’t just keep running Astra in circles. Too much of that would be bad for her joints. I’ve got to do something, though, because she sure is getting restless. Longeing isn’t enough for her anymore.”

  “How about ponying her?” Devin suggested.

  “Yeah, she did okay when we were bringing her home from the Henleys,” Meloney said.

  Lily thought for a minute. Ponying meant that a rider rode one horse and led another. It was a good way of getting some serious exercise into a horse without him carrying a rider. Or, if a trainer was breaking a new horse to ride and didn’t trust him on his own, the trainer could pony the new horse and rider so there would be less chance of the rider getting bucked off.

  “My mom used to do that with me and my old pony, Domino,” Lily said. “When we first got him, he could be a bit of a handful. My mom would pony us down that long stretch of road. By the time we turned for home, he was usually tired enough that I could handle him on my own.” She chuckled at the memory, but it made her a little sad, too.

  “Do you want to try it with Astra?” Devin offered. “I’m pretty good at ponying.”

  A door banged shut at the front of the O’Neil house and Astra suddenly spun on her heels, kicking up sand as she raced around the paddock, snorting and tossing her head.

  “Wooo, look at her go!” Meloney hollered. “That horse definitely needs some more exercise. I think you better take Devin up on his offer, Lily.”

  “Sure.” Devin climbed down from the fence. “I’ll bring Jericho by after school tomorrow and we can give it a try,” he said. “Right now, though, I’ve got to get home. If I’m late for dinner, my mom will give me extra chores.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Lily told him. “Thanks.”

  She called Astra to her side and snapped the lead shank on her royal blue halter. She couldn’t wait until tomorrow!

  “Why the big rush?” Mr. O’Neil asked when Lily jumped into the old truck after school the next day and waved good-bye to her friends at the bus stop.

  Lily dumped her book bag on the floor and latched her seat belt. “Devin and Meloney are coming over to pony Astra today. I need to make sure she’s brushed and ready.”

  Her father glanced across the seat at her. “Your mom used to do that sometimes when she was getting horses ready to race and she didn’t have time to ride them both. Are you thinking about training Astra for one of your friends to race?”

  Lily looked up in surprise. “No, Dad. Astra just has a lot of energy now that she’s feeling better, and I can’t ride her…I thought maybe if I could just—”

  She saw the immediate frown on her father’s face. “Lily,” he cut her off. “We’ve been over this before and the answer is still the same.” His hands gripped the steering wheel tighter. “The main condition of letting you keep this mare was that you never, ever ride her.”

  Lily slumped back against the seat. She should have known better than to say anything. It was so unfair! He knew how much riding meant to her and her mother. She looked down at her hands and picked at her fingernails. “If Mom had survived the accident, would you have forbidden her to ride, too?”

  The silence on the other side of the car was deafening. She’d pushed her father much too far. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, trying to see his expression without turning her whole head. Yep, that’s what angry looks like, she told herself. Coming up was the part where she got grounded for weeks.

  Instead, her father gave a long, exasperated sigh. “That will be enough of this conversation, Lily. You know the rules. Please follow them.”

  Lily let out her own disenchanted huff. It was getting harder and harder to watch her friends ride their horses and be content just to wave at them as they disappeared over the hill. Every Saturday, the kids went for a workout ride with Mr. Henley. They always left the barn laughing and chatting. She wanted to be out there with them, riding with the wind in her hair and the sun on her cheeks.

  The first race of the season was only a few weeks away and the others had been working steadily to prepare their horses for the fifty-mile trial. Lily thought back over her father’s words. Could she train Astra for a race without ever actually riding her? And was the mare even healthy enough now to start? If ponying with Devin and Jericho worked out, that might be a way to get Astra in shape without technically setting foot in her stirrups.

  Lily imagined Astra winning a race. She sat up a little straighter on the truck seat. Astra had been in pretty good condition right before she fell ill. Maybe if Lily took things slowly and let the horse set her own pace, the mare would be able to race again someday soon. She deserved the chance to prove herself. Just because Lily couldn’t ride was no reason to keep the beautiful Arabian from her destiny.

  Twelve

  “So,” Meloney said, “you’re really going to train Astra for the races?” She followed Lily toward the mare’s pen.

  Lily nodded. “I know it sounds crazy, but Astra seems to be making a comeback. And before she got sick, she was close to being race fit. It shouldn’t take that much to get her back into condition again—if she really feels as good as she’s been acting.” She grabbed Astra’s halter off a fence post and went to get the mare. Devin was waiting for them atop Jericho in the paddock.

  “But what happens when she’s in race shape?” Meloney said, catching up with Lily. “How can you race Astra if your dad won’t let you ride?”

  Lily stopped and turned. “I’m not sure.” She fidgeted with the halter and lead rope. “But Astra acts like she wants to get out there and run. Every time she sees you guys go out for a training ride, she stands at the fence and whinnies and paces the fence like she wants to be there with you. For Astra, and my mom’s sake, I’ve got to at least try. I’ll worry about the other stuff when I get there.” She continued on to her horse’s pen.

  Astra lifted her head and nickered when she saw Lily approach.

  “Hey, girl.” Lily entered the corral and Astra stepped forward, sticking her nose into the halter and lipping Lily’s shirt as she fastened the buckle. “You’re funny,” Lily said, and gently pushed the mare’s muzzle away. The gray lifted her tail and arched her elegant neck as they exited the gate, prancing proudly on the way to meet the other horses.

  “Easy.” Lily pulled on the lead rope, trying to keep Astra under control. She handed the rope off to Devin, hesitating a moment before letting go of the lead. What if the feisty Arabian got away from him and ran off into the mountains, or even worse, injured herself? What if it was too soon to start training like this? Dr. Dale said Astra was fine and could begin more serious exercise. But what if she wasn’t up to it after all and the harder work set her back?

  “Geez, Lily, you look so worried.” Devin pulled Astra into position at his ho
rse’s shoulder. “Lighten up. She’ll be fine. Meloney and I will take good care of her.”

  “We’ll be back before you know it,” Meloney reassured her friend.

  Lily patted Astra and stepped back, allowing Devin to swing the horses into a wide circle while he positioned Astra where he wanted her. He stopped to adjust his hold on the lead rope.

  “I sure hope she’s ready for this,” Lily said.

  At that moment, Astra snorted and kicked up her heels. The black gelding danced to the side and pulled at the bit.

  “Whoa!” Devin laughed as he got both horses under control. “You’ve got nothing to worry about, Lily. Besides, this is going to be a really easy day for us. We’re only doing three miles of easy walk and trot to loosen up our horses. They had a hard workout the other day. Astra will be fine.”

  Lily sighed. She had to stop worrying so much. The only way to find out if Astra was in shape was to start training her. She forced a smile. “Have a good ride. I’m going to head over to Whispering Pines and help Thomas and Charlie muck out a few stalls and set up the night feed. I’ll see you guys when you get back.”

  Lily climbed onto the top rail of the fence and watched until her friends disappeared over the ridge. Her shoulders slumped. She felt more alone than she had in a long time. She felt another twinge of jealousy toward Meloney. But Mel was her best friend. She couldn’t be mad at her for loving horses.

  Maybe someday her dad would stop being so overprotective and stubborn and see how much riding meant to her—and how it was killing her not to be the one to train Astra. Lily pushed the negative thoughts away and focused on getting to work. Climbing down from the fence, she fetched her bike and pedaled to the Henley ranch.

  “Hey, Lil-Pill,” Charlie called as she came to a stop under the big pine tree near the barn.

  Lily rolled her eyes. Charlie definitely needed to get some new material.

  “How’s Astra?” he asked, following her into the barn.

  “Devin and Mel are ponying her out on the trail right now,” Lily said. “We’re going to start training her to compete pretty soon.”

  “You’re kidding.” Charlie’s mouth hung open. “My dad might not be too cool with that.”

  “Why not?” Lily asked, grabbing the red wheelbarrow and searching for a muck rake.

  Charlie handed her the extra rake. “If my dad thought Astra would recover enough to race, he’d never have given her to you. He only did that because he felt sorry for you.”

  Add no tact to his list of demerits, Lily thought. “Your dad told me Astra was my horse and I could do what I wanted with her. I want to train her to race.”

  “But you can’t ride anyway,” Charlie said. “Why bother training her if you can’t ride her?” Then he stopped, looking as if he’d suddenly realized something. “You’re doing it because of your mom, aren’t you?”

  Lily shrugged. She wasn’t about to go into her personal feelings on horses, or her mother, with this jerk.

  “I’ll ride her for you, Lily.” Charlie said softly.

  Lily looked up in surprise. She wasn’t so sure she wanted Charlie aboard Astra again, but it was really nice of him to offer. “Really? You would? But what about Derringer? This will be his first big year of racing.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t be able to ride for you all the time, but I might be able to do a race here and there if my dad lets me.” He opened the door of the first stall to let Lily in with the wheelbarrow. “Astra has a lot of talent. If she makes it back to racing shape, she can beat Derringer.” He grinned. “I like riding winners.”

  Lily measured Charlie’s offer as she forked a load of manure into the wheelbarrow, throwing it with a little more strength than she intended. Part of it fell onto Charlie’s shoes. Justice. Here she’d been thinking that he was being nice to her in offering his help, but he just wanted to ride a winning horse. “Thanks, Charlie,” she said. “I’ll let you know.”

  She busied herself with her work, mucking stalls for an hour before riding back home to await the arrival of her friends and Astra.

  “There you are.” Lily’s father came around the corner of the barn. “I should have known I’d find you out here.” He looked around. “Where’s Astra?”

  She pointed toward the hills. “Mel and Devin are ponying her out on the trails.” Lily watched her father’s jaw tighten.

  “Why don’t you just keep longeing her in the round pen? Wouldn’t it be easier than sending her out on the trails?”

  Lily climbed down from the fence. “Astra needs to exercise more so she won’t get too hyper, Dad. A few minutes in the round pen isn’t good enough anymore. She’s used to doing big mileage.”

  Mr. O’Neil took off his ball cap and adjusted the brim. “Maybe this whole thing isn’t such a good idea, Lily. It sounds like Astra is more horse than you can handle. You could get hurt,” her father said.

  “I won’t get hurt, Dad.”

  “Well, if Astra feels good enough that she needs extra exercise, I’m sure Mr. Henley will take her back,” he said. “She’d be home in time to start race season. Isn’t the most important thing that Astra feels well enough to race again?”

  Lily didn’t answer right away, unsure whether to travel down a road she knew would lead to trouble. But if she didn’t say anything about her plans to her dad, she’d be in a lot more trouble when he finally found out. “I want to race Astra, Dad.” She stopped and waited for his reply. It didn’t take long.

  “What do you mean, you want to race Astra?” Lily’s father practically exploded. “You can’t get a horse fit for those grueling races just by ponying them.”

  Lily knew she was treading on dangerous ground. She wasn’t allowed to talk back to her dad, but he was being so unfair! “It was Mom’s dream to ride Astra in the Tevis Cup. How can you just forget about that?”

  Her father stared off toward the horizon. “I haven’t forgotten, Lily.”

  “Then how can you ignore it? How can you forget everything that Mom wanted?” she cried.

  Mr. O’Neil’s head snapped around. “Do you think I enjoy looking out the window and seeing the reminder of why your mother is not with us anymore? Or watching your face light up every time you talk about horses, and this one in particular? Do you think it’s easy knowing that I’m making you so unhappy by not allowing you to ride?” He turned and started back toward the house with long, angry strides. “You’re so much like your mother, it scares me,” he called over his shoulder.

  Lily watched him go, her stomach twisting in knots. It was a no-win situation, she realized. In order for one of them to get his or her wish, the other came up a big loser.

  Thirteen

  Lily shaded her eyes. Three horses were making their way up the trail toward the O’Neils’ ranch. From where she stood, it looked as if the exercise had taken some of the edge off Astra’s energy.

  “Your horse did really well.” Devin walked Jericho into the stable yard, followed by Mel leading the gray mare. “She jumped around and played quite a bit on the way out, but once she settled down, Meloney took over for some ponying practice.”

  Meloney leaned down from Jasper’s back and handed Astra’s lead rope to Lily. “I’m glad Astra didn’t pull much, because my arm is really tired. Ponying is a lot more work than I thought it would be.”

  “Tell me about it,” Devin said. “I had to pony her on the way out when she was full of herself.”

  “Thanks, guys,” Lily said, running her hand over Astra’s warm coat. It was early April, still too cold to give the horse a full bath. Astra nuzzled her shoulder. Lily had often seen the mare give the same affectionate gesture to her mother when they came back from a ride. Tears stung the backs of Lily’s eyes. She could feel Meloney staring at her.

  Devin reined his horse in a half circle. “Okay, I’m heading home. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

  Lily and Meloney waved as he rode away. Meloney took off Jasper’s bridle and turned the horse into the paddock she
’d helped Lily and her dad fix earlier that week. “Are you okay? You’re looking pretty bummed.”

  Lily shrugged. “Yeah. It’s just that sometimes I really miss my mom.” She tied Astra to the hitching post and picked up the rubber curry brush, working it in circles across the mare’s back and over her hindquarters. Astra sighed and cocked a hind leg as she relaxed.

  Lily paused with the curry poised over the mare’s hip. “If my mom were still alive, I’d probably be riding with you this summer instead of always being stuck here.”

  Meloney nodded in sympathy. “Yeah, that must be really awful. I feel bad about going without you.”

  “What’s it like out there on the trails?” Lily asked. “I mean…I used to go on rides with my mom, but nothing over a couple of miles. Domino would’ve laid down and quit if we did.” She laughed. “I never really asked my mom about training schedules or anything, and now I wish I had. I’m serious about training Astra to race again. But I don’t have any idea how to do it.”

  Picking up another brush, Meloney started on Astra’s other side. “I can tell you what I know. It isn’t much, but I’ve been listening to Mr. Henley.” She glanced at Lily over the mare’s back. “I bet he’d help you if you asked him.”

  Lily tossed the rubber curry in the bucket and found a soft brush to finish the job. “No way.”

  “Why not?” Meloney asked, sounding surprised. “He’s one of the best trainers in northern California, and he lives just down the road. You already work for him. I’m sure he’d be happy to talk about training schedules with you.”

  Lily pursed her lips. “I just don’t feel right about asking him.”