Winter Blues (Show Jumping Dreams ~ Book 3)

by Claire Svendsen

  “I mean yes,” she said quickly. “Absolutely. It’s a lovely day to go riding. The brisk, cool air will be good for us.”

  “Alright,” Mickey’s mom said, sounding doubtful. “But if you get sick of freezing to death just call me to come pick you up and don’t wait until you’re so frozen that you can’t move.”

  I didn’t care that it was cold. I’d ride in the heat, the snow or anything in between and I missed Bluebird. Last night I realized that the only person I’d been punishing by not going out to the barn was myself. Three days of riding lost and the last show was four days away. Christmas Eve.

  “If you need me, I’ll be at the mall,” Mickey’s mom said as she dropped us off. “Battling the zombies to do some last minute Christmas shopping.”

  “Bye Mom,” Mickey rolled her eyes at me.

  “You don’t sound very excited about all the Christmas presents she’s going to buy you,” I said, pulling my jacket tight around me as a bone chilling gust of wind nearly knocked me off my feet.

  “That’s because I don’t think I’ll be getting what I asked for,” she said.

  “What did you ask for? A Porsche like that what’s her face girl in the TV show?”

  “That would be a waste,” she said. “Considering I can’t even drive yet.”

  “So what?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Oh come on, tell me.”

  But she shook her head and pursed her lips and I knew that when she got like that there was no prying the information out of her.

  “Hey,” she said as we ran up the drive to the barn. “It looks like someone got their Christmas present early.”

  She pointed to the top of the hill and I held my hand up to block the sun and see what she was talking about. There was a blue blob on top of the ridge.

  “That can’t be Bluebird,” I said.

  “Of course it is silly, look. He already heard your voice.”

  And she was right. Bluebird picked up his head to listen as we came into view and now here he was, galloping down to the gate in a navy blue blanket. I ran over and hugged his head as he snuffled in my pockets for treats.

  “What are you wearing boy?” I said. “How did you get this?”

  “You didn’t think I’d really just leave him out there to freeze, did you?”

  Esther had materialized beside us, a white wooly hat with a bobble on the top pulled down over her ears. Her cheeks were red from the cold but she was grinning.

  “You know Emily,” she said. “Sometimes I worry about you. I have a whole tack room full of blankets. Didn’t you think that one of those might fit your pony?”

  “Yes. I guess. I don’t know,” I stuttered. “Bluebird is my responsibility and I thought that, well, I don’t know what I was thinking. Thank you.”

  “No, girls listen,” she turned to face us both, looking serious now. “I can’t thank you enough for what you did for me. You kept the barn going and you kept everyone alive and healthy and happy. I couldn’t have asked for anything more and I’m going to make it up to you. I promise.”

  “Awesome,” I said. “Well, Mickey wants a Porsche.”

  “I do not,” she said, frowning.

  “Well, there is a little something in the barn for you Mickey,” Esther said. “Hanging on Hampton’s stall.”

  “Really?” her face lit up as she ran off to look. Mickey may have pretended that she didn’t care about things like presents but I knew better.

  I hung on the fence and scratched Bluebird’s itchy spot on his neck. He pointed his nose and begged for more as I scratched harder.

  “I’m sorry I left like that,” I said.

  “It’s alright,” she leant on the top board. “Running a barn is stressful. Trust me, I know. Sometimes I feel like running away too.”

  “I don’t know how you do it,” I said. “I thought I wanted my own barn but now, I don’t know.”

  “Now you’d rather just ride, right?”

  “Exactly.”

  “Good. So does that mean that you are ready to go to the show and win? I looked at the riders who qualified and I see that Jess made it in by the skin of her teeth. If you don’t show up, you know she’ll have a better chance of winning. We can’t let that happen now can we? Not after everything she put this sweet pony through.”

  She rubbed Bluebird’s head.

  “Agreed,” I nodded. “So where do we start?”

  “First, I’m going to show you how to clip all the hair off this wooly mammoth,” she said. “And then we’ll see just exactly how much your riding has slipped since I’ve been gone.”

  “Slipped?” I said. “Are you kidding? Helga was amazing. You won’t believe how much we’ve improved.”

  “Helga gave you lessons?” she said. “But she doesn’t even know how to ride.”

  “That’s what we thought,” I laughed. “But you should have seen the courses she had us jumping over.”

  “She’s probably ruined you’ll all,” she sighed.

  “No,” I said. “I think you’re going to be surprised.”

  “If Helga has taught you all something that I couldn’t, I would be surprised,” she said.

  And I just grinned because I knew the truth.

  Mickey was in the barn, fawning over a new leather halter for Hampton.

  “I love it,” she said, squeezing the soft buttery leather tight.

  “Bluebird has one too,” Esther said. “For show day. Now come on, we’ve got work to do.”

  “What work?” Mickey said.

  “We’re going to body clip Bluebird,” I smiled.

  “Oh great,” she rolled her eyes. “You know what happens when you clip a horse, don’t you? You end up covered in all the hair that you just cut off and not only do you look disgusting but you get all itchy and horrible.”

  “If it helps him win the show,” I shrugged. I didn’t really care about things like horse hair and being itchy like Mickey did.

  But it turned out that Esther had a super pair of clippers that had a separate motor so the hair in fact did not blow in our faces and Bluebird, having been a show pony and probably clipped a million times already in his life, stood there like a champion.

  “He looks like a completely different pony,” I said when we had finished.

  “Now he looks like he’s ready to win,” Esther said. “Let’s see if he still has what it takes.”

  Ethan finally showed up after lunch.

  “Wow,” he said. “What have you done to Bluebird?”

  I had a scathing reply on the tip of my tongue but I bit it back and just smiled instead. Whereas I had made up with Mickey because she was my best friend and had been my best friend for a really long time, it was going to take a little longer to get over the fact that Ethan had abandoned me. I mean, if he liked me, he would have stayed and he didn’t so then I didn’t really know how to act around him. It all felt kind of awkward so I busied myself getting Bluebird ready instead.

  “This is what you guys have been jumping?” Esther asked when we got out to the ring.

  The last course that Helga had put together still sat out there, a sort of sad triangle of jumps with weird tight turns and odd striding.

  “It’s not as bad as it looks,” I said.

  “Yeah, even I can do it,” Mickey nodded.

  “That I’d like to see,” Esther said.

  So instead of moving the jumps like we all knew she really wanted to, she let us jump the course. Every single one of us went clean. The look on Esther’s face was priceless.

  “I don’t believe it,” she said. “This is what it took to get you guys to finally focus?”

  We all started to laugh. I guess there was no such thing as a perfect trainer after all, just an enthusiastic one. I patted Bluebird’s sleek neck, no longer thick and fuzzy beneath my fingers. I knew that we were more ready than we had ever been. Two thousand dollars and a weekend with Miguel Rodriguez. It was within my reach now. I could feel it.
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  “You know Jess isn’t going to go down without a fight,” Mickey said as we walked back to the barn.

  “What else can she do?” I said.

  “Don’t say that,” Mickey looked horrified. “Knock on wood or something. You could have just jinxed the whole competition.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” I said.

  But deep down I wished I’d never said it.

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  It was the night before the show and everything was ready at the barn. Bluebird was bathed and clean beneath his blanket. The trailer was loaded up with all our supplies and we’d all had a great lesson. I didn’t know what was going on at Jess’s barn but I was feeling pretty confident that everything was in place for Bluebird and I to win the Snowball Cup and the prizes that came with it, until Derek opened his mouth over the dinner table.

  “I really don’t think you should go to this show thing tomorrow,” he said, shoveling a pile of mashed potatoes into his mouth.

  “What?” I squealed.

  “This jumping thing. There isn’t really time for it what with the wedding and all, is there Lilly?” he looked at my Mom.

  I wanted to scream at him that he wasn’t my father and he couldn’t tell me what to do but I bit back the words and waited to see if my mother was really just out to ruin my life after all.

  “Well it’s a bit late,” Mom said. “The entry fees have been paid and besides, Emily has been working really hard to qualify. Plus there is the prize money to consider.”

  “My prize money,” I added. I hadn’t forgotten how interested Derek had been back when he found out that jumper classes actually paid cash prizes to the winners.

  “I suppose you’re right,” he said and then just went back to his food like he hadn’t almost just ruined my life.

  “May I be excused?” I said, suddenly unable to stomach anything else.

  “Of course,” Mom smiled sadly at me like she was apologizing.

  But it didn’t matter. As I threw myself down on my bed, I knew that nothing was ever going to be the same again. I’d spent so much time and energy convincing my mom to let me ride after Summer’s death and now there was Derek, questioning whether or not I should go to shows. I knew it wouldn’t be the last time and what else would come after that? I shouldn’t spend so much time at the barn? Maybe I shouldn’t even have a pony at all?

  It was infuriating and awful. Why did he have to come in and ruin everything? Ruin my life? I punched my pillow a few times but it didn’t help so I stuffed it into my mouth and screamed at the top of my lungs. Only a muffled yelp made it out through the feathers. Then I started to cry. Big fat baby tears that rolled down my cheeks and plopped on the bed. My father would never let this happen. Maybe the threats I made over the summer about going to live with him wouldn’t be so empty after all. Living with him had to be better than being stuck here with Mom and Derek. If I could find him.

  But with the show in the morning, I didn’t have much time to think about finding my missing father. So I set two alarm clocks for three in the morning because I was paranoid that I wouldn’t wake up and then I went to sleep without going downstairs to say goodnight. It wasn’t worth finding out that maybe Mom and Derek had changed their minds after all. And to think, I was almost going to invite them to come. That was a close one. Although I had called Uncle Carl to invite him but he said he was working. I didn’t think he was working at all. I think he just didn’t want to get into another fight with my mother. She was ruining my relationship with my uncle as well.

  I fell asleep quickly but dreamt that Derek was a demon shaped horse who was chasing us over the jumps at the show. Every time I thought we were getting away he got closer, flames bursting out of his nostrils and licking at our heels and there was Jess, standing on the sidelines laughing.

  I woke up at two and lay there for an hour staring at the ceiling, imagining what my life would have been like if my sister hadn’t died and my father hadn’t left.

  When it turned three, I got dressed in the dark and crept down the stairs like a thief, half expecting to find Derek standing by the door, refusing to let me go but no one was there. I ate a granola bar and shoved some chips and an apple into my bag. I wasn’t really hungry.

  Mickey finally texted me that they were on their way to pick me up and I slipped out into the cold dark morning to wait for them.

  “Wouldn’t you girls prefer to take up some other sport that didn’t require getting up so early?” Mickey’s mom said as I hopped into the car.

  “Like figure skating?” Mickey said. “So you could sit around a frosty ice rink all day and watch us do triple sow leaps or whatever and face palm into the ice every five seconds?”

  “You’re right,” she sighed. “That doesn’t sound appealing at all. What is a nice sport?”

  “There is no such thing as a nice sport Mom,” Mickey said. “All athletes are competitive and if you’re serious about your sport then you get up at the crack of dawn and do your thing, whatever that thing might be.”

  Mickey’s mom shook her head. “And to think, you could have been a beauty queen.”

  “Beauty queen?” I mouthed at Mickey.

  “Don’t ask,” she said but I filed that one away for later. I wasn’t going to let her get away with the fact that her mother had almost put her in beauty pageants.

  “See you at the show girls,” Mickey’s mom said as she dropped us off. “Good luck.”

  “Emily doesn’t need luck,” Mickey said, slamming the door shut. “She’s a champion.”

  “Very funny,” I said as I ran off to get Bluebird.

  He was standing by the gate, looking expectantly into the lit barn. He knew it was show day. There was no other reason that Esther would be up before the sun, tipping grain into buckets and throwing flakes of hay.

  “Ready to win boy?” I asked him as I slipped his halter on.

  “He’d better win,” Esther said. “I didn’t get up this early to muck stalls for the fun of it.”

  But despite the fact that this was a high pressure show, the last one of the winter circuit, we were all in good spirits. The conversations of the night before about the future of my riding long forgotten as we all pitched in and helped.

  “Let’s go win us some prizes,” Esther said as she closed the back of the horse trailer and we all hopped into the truck.

  “For real,” Mickey said.

  This time everything felt right. We had Esther and we were ready to take on whatever the show threw at us.

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

  The Snowball Cup was being held at Fillmore Equestrian Park. It wasn’t a boarding stable or a lesson barn, it was a special show grounds with airy rows of stalls and three rings dedicated to showing horses. This meant that Bluebird wouldn’t have to spend all day tied to the trailer. He could hang out in front of the stalls Esther had rented for Hampton and Wendell. It also meant that I didn’t have to worry about Jess coming by and setting him loose.

  “Faith wanted to come,” Ethan said as we unloaded the horses. “But I told her that you needed your focus today.”

  “Yeah, the last thing Bluebird needs is ice cream on his mind,” Mickey said.

  It was still dark but the show grounds were lit up like it was daytime and there were already people exercising their horses in the warm up ring, colorful quarter sheets billowing from beneath their saddles. Even the riders were wrapped up in thick, bulky jackets.

  “Wouldn’t it be funny if it actually snowed during the Snowball Cup?” Mickey said, adjusting Hampton’s blanket.

  “Don’t be silly, it doesn’t snow in Florida,” Esther frowned.

  “It did once,” Ethan said. “And it is cold enough today. They said something about a polar vortex on the weather. That sounds like something that could totally make it snow.”

  “Everyone stop talking about snow,” I said, trying to concentrate on pulling pieces of shavings out of Bluebird’s tail so that I didn’t have to think abo
ut my fingers freezing off. “And anyway, if it does snow then everyone will be so distracted that I’ll probably win.”

  “That’s my girl,” Esther said.

  But my confidence was short lived because by the time I got on Bluebird to loosen him up, I actually couldn’t feel my fingers at all.

  “Your class isn’t until much later,” Esther said. “So just take him through his paces on the flat. We’ll try the warm up jump this afternoon.”

  She had pulled a navy quarter sheet out of the tack trunk that Sally, the girl who used to own Bluebird, had given me. It had silver braiding around the edges and was soft and plush. I thought it was gorgeous. Bluebird wasn’t so keen. He kept rolling his eyes at his butt and snorting. I took him around the rail at a jiggling trot, laughing as he attempted to get away from himself.

  “Coming through,” a shrill voice burst through the cold morning air and there was Jess.

  While all the horses and ponies were pumped up in the frigid weather, Stardust looked like she was about to go into orbit. Andre held the reins as the roan pony fought to charge like a barrel racer.

  “I’m fine,” Jess snapped and so he let go.

  The pony bolted forward, scattering other riders who yelled out their displeasure at nearly being run over. When she hit the end of the ring, Stardust spun around and reared, flashing steel hooves before touching down and galloping back to the gate where Andre grabbed hold of her once more.

  “She’s warmed up now,” Jess announced, slithering to the ground and walking off.

  Andre just stood there for a moment, clearly embarrassed and unsure of what to do next but eventually he just walked off after Jess, Stardust prancing alongside him.

  “If that pony doesn’t calm down before the class,” Mickey said as I pulled alongside the fence. “You’ve got it in the bag.”

  “No kidding,” I said.

  And although the superficial, spiteful part of me was glad, the other part felt a little sick. Jess and Stardust were an accident just waiting to happen. She should have stuck to the hunters with Beauty, who could sometimes get a little rank but never seemed like she would actually put Jess in the hospital. Her father had more money than he knew what to do with. Why hadn’t he bought her a safer horse? But as I put Bluebird through his paces and felt him settle and relax beneath me, I knew that it wasn’t the pony. It was Jess. She hadn’t been able to ride Bluebird and she’d punished him for it and she couldn’t ride Stardust either. It wasn’t the pony’s fault. She couldn’t really ride anything and when she did well, it was just a fluke.