Julia yanked the knot out of the lead line on the iron bar on Trix’s stall and started to lead the mare away from me.
“Nope,” she called over her shoulder. “Everything’s perfect. I have zero reason to be upset.”
I sighed. I didn’t have time to go after her, not that I really wanted to, or figure out what was going on. If she had some sort of complex that we’d “saved” Mr. Conner then that was her problem. Julia usually wasn’t a huge attention hog, but maybe she wished she’d been in on this. I didn’t understand why, since what I’d seen had been horrible.
Enough, I told myself. You don’t have time for this.
Charm and I resumed walking down the busy aisle. Outside, Brit, Callie, Heather, and Mike were all mounted. I got into Charm’s saddle and instinctively tightened the straps on my cross-country vest.
“We’re going to have a good, but fun workout,” Mike said to us. He was riding Willow, a sweet strawberry roan school horse. “I imagine you’re all feeling a little nervous and that’s normal. But we’re going to take things slow. Going back to the place of the accident and doing the cross-country you’d had planned for this morning is the best way to get rid of your fears. Okay?”
We all nodded, silent.
“I understand that this morning was extremely traumatic. If none of you feel you’re ready to go back, I understand. Doug’s in the outdoor arena, and he’ll be more than happy to add you to any class he’s teaching. You don’t have to do this.”
But we did. At least, I did.
“I can handle it,” I said.
Everyone else chimed in with a similar response.
“Okay, then. Follow me down the drive, and we’re going to cross the road together,” Mike said. He squeezed his legs against Willow’s side and the two started away from the stable and down the school’s driveway.
Together, Heather, Brit, Callie, and I moved our horses forward. We reached the end of the driveway in what felt like seconds. There was a collective hesitation among us as we reached the end of the drive.
“It’s okay, girls,” Mike said, looking back at us. “Let’s get the hard part over.”
For the first time, moving as a team, we followed Mike and crossed the road together. We reached the grass and waited for Mike to open the gate. With ease, he leaned down from Willow’s back and unlatched the metal gate. He walked her forward, swinging open the gate for us. We rode through and waited for Mike to latch the gate.
He stopped Willow in front of us, his freckled face already tinted red from the cold November breeze. I was glad I’d put on my wool coat and had put on Charm’s warmest saddle pad. I dug into the zipper pocket in my coat and pulled out Tropical Punch Lip Smacker gloss. So I was kind of a nervous glosser . . .
“We’re going to start with a trot across the field, then we’ll canter for a couple of miles up and down a few hills to keep building stamina,” Mike said. “We’ll encounter a few low fences and hedges along the way, then we’ll reach the woods. Once we get there, I’ll explain what you’ll come to next.”
Mike smiled at us and adjusted his chin strap. “Ready?”
“Ready!”
And I was. The fear I’d felt about riding had disappeared once we’d reached the other side of the road. We had to be ready for Huntington—and cross-country was my favorite thing to do with Charm. This was going to be fun!
Mike let Willow into a trot and the four of us spread out our horses—there was plenty of room in the open field. I loved how the grass, crunchy from the cold air, sounded beneath Charm’s hooves. It looked as if the field stretched for miles and only an occasional tree dotted the grounds.
Charm kept a smooth trot and with every minute that passed, I relaxed and enjoyed the ride more. I looked over at Brit to my right and Heather on my left. Both of them had calm looks on their faces—I couldn’t see Callie but I had no doubt that she was the coolest of all of us.
“Let’s canter,” Mike called.
Yes!
I stopped posting and sat deep in the saddle, preparing to canter. Charm knew what was coming. I gave him an inch of extra rein and slid my hands a little higher up along his neck. He was cantering in two strides. I swayed gently in the saddle, moving with him.
Brit, glancing over, grinned as Apollo drew even with us and all of our horses kept pace with one another.
The flat field started to ascend into a gentle incline. I leaned slightly over Charm’s neck and tapped my heels against his sides. I didn’t want him to slow—he had to keep the same speed going uphill. And the zillions of hours we’d spent practicing at Briar Creek and Canterwood paid off. Charm had no trouble maintaining a steady, even rhythm up the hill. His breathing didn’t get heavier as the hill got steeper with every minute that passed.
After a few minutes, the ground leveled and the wind roared in my ears as Charm cantered. He tossed his head and snorted, invigorated by the practice.
Strides ahead, I watched Mike and Willow approach a row of brush. Willow lifted into the air, clearing the brush. Right behind Mike, Heather and Aristocrat, then Callie, then Brit cleared the hedge.
Now this was the awesome part. At the right second, I lifted into the two-point position and Charm rose into the air. He took the brush as if he was stepping over a crack in the driveway, and I could feel the eagerness in his body to jump more.
We cleared four more hedges, and Mike led us over a fallen tree that had its branches sawed off to prevent any injury to the horses’ legs.
Woods were now visible in the distance, and we followed Mike’s lead as he slowed Willow to a trot, then a walk a few paces later.
“Everyone doing okay?” Mike asked.
“Totally,” Heather said. The rest of us nodded.
“Great,” Mike said, patting Willow’s shoulder. “We’re about to enter the woods. They’re perfect for cross-country. You won’t encounter anything out of the ordinary, so don’t worry. There will be a few logs, a creek that’s narrow enough to jump, a bank, and lots of twists in the trail. Stay on alert for any deer because Mr. Conner and I saw a few last time we were here.”
We nodded at him. At first, it had felt weird to take instruction from Mike, but he was a natural instructor. I liked riding with him.
“Stay single file with plenty of space between your horses,” Mike said.
Behind him, we got into line. I fell behind Mike, Heather was after me, then Brit, and finally Callie.
We started at a posting trot into the woods. All of the trees were bare, so the horses didn’t have to adjust to a low light. Charm, with both ears pointed forward, trotted along the dirt path. He loved this. We made several bends and ducked under a low-hanging tree branch as we followed Mike.
Mike and Willow leaped over a foot-high log, and we all did the same without a problem. Skinny branches on the bare trees surrounding both sides of the trail wavered in the wind. A few birds chirped, but the only sound I focused on was Charm’s hoofbeats.
“Slow canter,” Mike called back to us.
I let the leather reins slide through my fingers and Charm moved into a canter, not rushing or trying to get more rein.
We jumped two more logs and started down a slight hill. We slowed the horses to a trot, and I leaned back in the saddle. Charm took careful steps through the dirt until the ground leveled again. Mike and Willow started cantering, and I let Charm follow their pace. A few strides ahead, I saw the creek Mike had mentioned.
Mike pointed Willow at the narrowest part and the mare gathered herself and cleared it without hesitation.
Charm, excited about jumping and probably wanting to show off in front of his friends, approached the jump with an extra bounce in his stride. I did a half halt, not wanting him to get too excited and out of control, and he listened.
I counted down the strides, not wanting to end up in the freezing water.
Four, three, two, one, now!
I leaned forward in the saddle and Charm lifted into the air, his body suspended over
the creek for a brief but amazing second. He landed easily on the other side, his hooves sinking a little bit into the soft dirt.
I heard Heather and Aristocrat land behind us, and Charm and I kept cantering. We swept around a sharp corner on the path and jumped a line of brush.
Charm was doing great! He’d made any anxiety I’d had disappear, and every stride we took reminded me how much I loved riding and being with Charm—not just cross-country. I was happy with Charm no matter what we were doing.
After a few more bends in the trail, we exited the woods. Mike slowed Willow to a trot. The mare, winded, shook out her mane and pranced for a few strides as he slowed her.
“We’ll trot back across the field for half of the ride back and walk the final leg to the stable,” Mike said. “How do you and your horses feel?”
“I’m great and so is Aristocrat,” Heather said.
“Same here,” Brit said. She gave Apollo rein to stretch his neck. The gray gelding’s coat had darkened from sweat—just like the rest of the horses—but none of them looked too tired.
I ran a hand along Charm’s neck, paying attention to his gait. I hadn’t felt him take a single misstep, but I wanted to make sure he was okay. Each of Charm’s hooves felt as if it touched the ground with the same force, and I didn’t feel him favoring any of his legs. I’d walk him out for any possible soreness tomorrow morning. Charm was in great shape, though, and I didn’t expect him to have any problems.
The five of us went back to the stable, discussing our rides with Mike. Mr. Conner had trained him well, and I just knew that one day, Mike would be teaching advanced and YENT classes.
I made sure Charm was cool and shiny before I left him in his stall. There was one thing left to do before I went back to Orchard. I took a turn down the side hallway and stopped in front of Mr. Conner’s dark office. The poster board Nicole had put up was almost full with notes and signatures of all different colors of pens and markers. Nicole, smart girl, had put a can of a dozen pens and markers for everyone to use.
I looked through them and picked up a navy blue glitter pen. There was a tiny open space near the bottom left corner. I uncapped the pen and turning sideways a bit, I didn’t need a moment to think about the message I wanted to write.
Mr. Conner—I’m sorry you got hurt, but know that if nothing else, it made a group of riders into a team. ~Sasha
10
LEGENDARY FOR . . . CANTERWOOD?
WHEN BRIT AND I GOT BACK TO OUR ROOM, we showered and sat together on the floor, a sparkly metallic folder spread open in front of us.
“Julia and Alison should be here in a few minutes,” Brit said. “Then we’ll have everything set for Heather’s real party.”
“I’m so glad we’re doing it for her,” I said. “She’s acting like she’s not upset or nervous about her mom coming, but she is. Wait until you meet Mrs. Fox. You won’t believe how awful she really is.”
Brit frowned. “That’s rough. And you said her dad’s horrible, too, isn’t he?”
“Unfortunately. He’s a total stage parent. All he wants Heather to do is practice. It’s the only thing he wants her to excel at. But, also like Mr. Fox, he’s not coming to her party.”
“What?” Brit’s mouth opened a little. “He’s not coming to his daughter’s thirteenth birthday party? Not even to see her?”
“Nope. Heather told me. She’s glad he’s not coming, but she’s still hurt at the same time.”
“Well, we’re going to give her an amazing movie party. It’ll make her forget all about her parents.”
Someone knocked on our door and I stood up, opening the door for Julia and Alison.
“Hey,” they both said. They were both dressed in cropped pajama pants, Havaianas, and VS Pink hoodies.
“C’mon in,” Brit said, waving them over.
We all sat down next to Brit.
“How did you sneak away from Heather?” I asked. “She always knows everything.”
Alison laughed. “True. Originally, we were going to tell her we were going to study at the library, hoping she wouldn’t want to go. But we got sooo lucky because Troy called and they’ll be on the phone for, like, ever.”
That made everyone grin.
“Perfect,” I said. “Let’s run though final details and we’re set.”
Brit and I had been keeping all of the party info at our room since we didn’t want to risk Heather finding it in the Trio’s suite.
I pulled out the checklist.
“Here’s what we’ve got,” Brit said, looking over at the list. “Alison picked up the movies, and they’re in our closet. Julia’s already got the popcorn, movie candy, and big plastic cups for soda.”
Both girls nodded.
“Sasha took a piece of poster board and made it into an ADMIT ONE movie ticket for Heather that we’ll give her as a card. We talked to Stephanie and got the okay to sleep over in your suite for a night and to stay up late, even though it’s a school night.”
“I also got the delivery of streamers and a happy birthday sign from my Internet order,” I said. “Plus, birthday candles and everything else we need to throw a real party.”
“Yay!” Alison said, bouncing on the floor. “She’s going to looove this. I’m so excited!” She turned to Julia. “Aren’t you, Jules?”
Julia smiled, but it was thin. “Yeah, I’m excited. But I’m really into her mom’s party, honestly. I know how Heather feels about her, but her mom throws killer parties. This one is going to be epic. Legendary for Canterwood and we’re going. I ordered my dress from Saks the second Heather told me her mom was throwing it.”
“Saks?” I asked. My gaze darted from Brit to Alison. I’d planned on wearing a cocktail dress I’d gotten from Macy’s before school had started.
“Where else would I get a dress?” Julia asked with a snort. She shot me a glare. “Please tell me you did not get a dress from, like, Target or something.”
“Excuse you,” I said. “I like Target, first of all, so get over it. But no, I have a dress from Macy’s.”
“I got mine from there, too,” Alison chimed in, shooting me an ignore Julia she’s being mean look.
“And mine’s from a vintage store when I went to New York City last summer,” Brit said. “I think our dresses are going to get us in the door.” She directed the last comment at Julia.
Julia stared at Brit for a second, then grabbed the list. “Did we cover everything? I’ve got a zillion things to do, and it seems like we’re ready.”
“We just got here,” Alison said. “Don’t you want to take, like, two more minutes to at least make sure our best friend’s party is perfect?”
“Chill, Alison,” Julia said. “Everything’s covered. We’re just going over the same stuff now.”
“Don’t tell me to chill,” Alison snapped.
Ummm, whoa. I’d never seen Alison talk like that to Julia. She always deferred to her. Maybe she’d finally had enough of Julia’s recent mood swings.
“This is Heather’s party. I’m staying until everything’s set,” Alison continued. Her brown eyes never looked away from Julia’s face, which, by the way, was getting redder by the second. “Go if you want. I’ll see you back in our room.”
Julia hesitated. Her gaze flitted from Brit and me to Alison. “Fine,” Julia said, “See you back in our room.”
She grabbed her purse and stomped out of the room. When the door was closed, Brit and I looked at Alison.
“Believe me, I wish I knew what was going on,” Alison said. “Julia’s been in a bad mood for a while. I’m guessing it’s probably because she didn’t make the YENT. But she knows she can try out again and what a good rider she is.”
“It’s weird,” I said. “She was starting to become my friend and now she’s back to hating me most of the time. I’ve never seen her talk to you like that, either.”
Alison snuggled into her hoodie. “I’m sure she’ll come out of it. She might be having problems with Ben or her pare
nts or even class stuff that she’s not talking to us about.”
“Total possibility,” Brit said. “There’s nothing more we can do. She’ll either start being nice again or she won’t.”
The three of us went back to looking over the details of Heather’s surprise party. Alison left about half an hour later, when we were all satisfied that things were in good shape and ready to go for tomorrow.
After Alison left, I opened my closet door and pulled out the dress I wanted to wear. The black cocktail dress was simple, but the pretty lace straps gave it something special. With the right jewelry, it felt appropriate for Heather’s party.
“This is okay, isn’t it?” I asked Brit.
“It’s more than okay,” Brit said. “It’s beautiful!”
I held up the dress in front of me and looked in the mirror. “This has to be okay—the party’s tomorrow. I think with kitten heels and the right jewelry, it’ll be perfect.”
Brit walked toward her desk, getting ready to start on homework. “Don’t let Julia get inside your head. She’s ridiculous. You have no reason to listen to anything she says.”
“Thanks, Brit. I love my dress, so who cares it’s not from Barneys?”
That made Brit smile. “Exactly.” She sat on her desk chair, taking textbook out of her book bag and putting them onto her desk. “I’ve so much homework tonight. Don’t teachers know that we’re supposed to sleep, too?”
“And you’re not the only one, trust me. We’ll both be doing homework all night.”
I picked up my own bag and started getting my own homework ready. There was something in almost every subject. Ugh. I’d started for my desk chair, when my phone buzzed.
I opened BBM and there was a message from Jacob.
Jacob Schwartz:
I heard abt Mr. Conner. R u ok?
Homework could wait a few minutes. Just a few.
Sasha Silver:
I’m ok bc he’s not srsly hurt. He DID break his leg, which is bad, but @ least he’ll be back tomorrow.
Jacob Schwartz:
I heard you were pretty awesome.
Sasha Silver:
Aw, thanks. But rlly, it was my entire team. And srry I didn’t BBM u abt it. Lots of things have been happening today.
Unfriendly Competition Page 7
