“Do you really think we stand a chance tomorrow?” I asked Duncan as I reluctantly came out of Bluebird’s stall and slid the door closed.
“I think that whatever happens, you will make me proud, now go to sleep,” he said.
I watched him walk down the barn aisle, looking into the stalls at some of the sleeping horses, checking that water buckets were full and that the horses still had hay to munch on. Duncan was a good horseman. I hoped that one day I’d be able to run a farm as well as him.
“Can’t sleep?” Hanna whispered when I finally slipped into my narrow bed.
“Not really,” I whispered back.
“Me either,” she said. “This is my first show here in America. What if I mess things up? Maybe you do things differently over here.”
“It’s mostly the same,” I told her. “The jumps, the course, the clock. Nothing ever changes. Not really.”
“True,” she said. “But I have to make Esther proud. She was the one who fought to bring me here and I can’t let her down.”
“I’m sure you won’t,” I said.
As we lay there in the dark, I heard her sigh and then she was asleep, her breathing heavy and slow. I lay there staring at the dark ceiling and the shadows that the moon cast through the window. There wasn’t anyone that I had to make proud. My father expected me to do well but only because this was my job now and not because he was proud of me. At least if he was, he didn’t really show it.
Duncan was proud of me but then again he was probably proud of the whole team, all except Jess anyway. And the one person who should have been proud of me? My mother? She’d gone. Vanished into the night like a thief who had stolen something from me. Something that every young girl needed. A mother. When I first saw that Esther was back, for one moment I thought that maybe she could be my mother in a roundabout sort of way. But now I knew that she had Hanna and blood was thicker than water. She didn’t need me hanging around when she had her own niece to take care of. The cold, hard truth was that I was going to have to take care of myself but at least I was good at that. I rolled over and went to sleep myself, missing the lump at the bottom of the bed that was usually Patrick and wondering if he’d snuck into Dad’s room or Jordan’s seeking a warm body for comfort or if Dad had locked him outside like he’d threatened to do all along. My poor dog sleeping under the moon and missing me as much as I was missing him.
CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT
Show morning dawned wet and more rain was forecast throughout the day. I wasn’t worried because I knew that Bluebird wouldn’t care but it would have been better for everyone if the sun was shining. As it was we had to prepare for the worst and hope for the best, which had pretty much become the motto of my whole life.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous,” Hanna said as she braided her bay gelding.
He looked more like a show horse now that he’d been cleaned up, his coat shining and dappled in the early morning light.
“Did you bring him with you from Sweden?” I asked her.
“Who, Hemi?” she said, patting the horse on the neck. “No, it’s expensive to fly horses around the world. I couldn’t afford it and I didn’t want Esther to have the expense either. I left my horse behind with my sister and Esther found this guy for me when she got here.”
It made me think of Faith and how she’d sent Macaroni up to Michigan to live with her cousin while she was left with his replacement, the willful and yet insanely talented Falcon. Unfortunately, her parents had whisked her away on a cruise, a fact for which Faith had been horribly traumatized by but she’d be back in a few weeks. As it was I was supposed to be working with Falcon, which reminded me that I needed to do more with him than I had been if he was going to be in decent shape when Faith got back. But Hanna’s horse was nice and quiet. A solid citizen. The sort of horse that Faith could have used if she hadn’t fallen for the bad boy of the pony world.
“Hemi,” I said, nodding. “That’s an interesting name.”
“Short for Hemmingway’s Whiskey,” she said.
“Did he drink a lot of whiskey?” I asked her curiously.
“I guess so.” Hanna shrugged. “But this guy doesn’t. Her prefers beer.”
I laughed, not sure if she was being serious or not.
“I like his name,” I said. “It suits him.”
“I like it too,” she said.
“Well I know he can jump,” I said. “But is he fast?”
“I guess we’ll find out,” she said.
I got to work putting my own braids in Bluebird’s wayward mane. I don’t know what he’d managed to do in the night but half of it was sticking up one way and the other half was sticking up the other and his forelock was standing straight up.
“What did you do to yourself while you were sleeping?” I asked my pony.
He was pulling hay from the net I’d hung so that he would be quiet while I braided him and didn’t offer any explanations. Not that I expected him to.
Duncan was busy hooking up the trailer and helping one of his guys to load our hay and tack. He came into the barn with his phone in his hand.
“Well,” he said. “Jess broke her leg.”
We looked at each other, not saying anything. I wanted to say that I was sorry but it was hard to feel sorry for Jess when really she only got what she deserved. She’d been mistreating her horses for years and I was surprised that she hadn’t been hurt before now.
“So Hanna,” Duncan said, looking straight at the blonde haired, blue eyed girl who still spoke with an accent and didn’t like to boast about how good she was. “I guess welcome to the team. You’ll be our official new member now and if we make it to the finals, you’ll be coming with us to Paris.”
“I’ll try not to let you down,” she said, looking embarrassed.
But Hanna was good and Hemi was a workhorse. I knew that they’d get the job done. Before, I’d expected us to fail. I knew that we didn’t really have a chance with Jess on the team. She was too unpredictable, her riding flakey at best. Sometimes she’d pull out this fantastic round that would remind you that she really could ride and other times she’d just fall apart so badly that you wondered how she ever got selected for the team in the first place. Though I was pretty sure that her father had played a big part in that.
“Congratulations,” Andy told Hanna.
“Yes, this is so cool,” Rose added.
I just smiled. Hanna already knew that I was glad she was around and even though we’d sort of got off on the wrong foot, I was happy she’d stuck around because I’d rather have her on the team any day than Jess.
“Alright,” Duncan said. “We load up in five so get your horses booted up and ready to go.”
“But I haven’t even finished braiding,” Rose squeaked.
I put the final braid in Bluebird’s mane as the butterflies started to swarm in the pit of my stomach. Today we had a real chance at getting to the finals and if that happened then we’d go to Paris. I’d never been outside of the country. I didn’t know anything about the rest of the world or the horses in it. Hanna was right. The shows were probably different over there, the kids better and the horses bred for centuries to be the best they could be. I thought that I was good. That maybe I was talented and had been blessed with the gift of being a good rider. But was I a great rider? I guess if we made it to Europe, I’d find out.
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
It started to rain as we loaded the horses up in the trailer.
“Not again,” Andy said. “This sucks.”
“It’s just rain,” Duncan told him. “You won’t melt.”
“I might melt,” Rose said.
She shivered and pulled her jacket tighter around her. I couldn’t help noticing that her elbows were sharp and angular and that the belt that was holding up her breeches was a little tighter than usual.
“Are you okay?” I asked her. “Did you eat breakfast?”
“I’m fine,” she said. “You don’t h
ave to worry about me. And yes I ate.”
But Andy was standing behind Rose and shook his head meaning that he knew she hadn’t eaten anything at all. I was going to have to try and at least coax some food into her before our classes or she’d faint right off her horse and we needed this show to go well.
“Go on,” I told her. “Get in the truck. I’ll fetch the rest of your stuff.”
“Really?” she said. “Thanks.”
As I grabbed both Rose’s stuff and my own I think I was starting to realize what being part of a team was all about. It was about helping each other out both in and out of the ring. And I was happy to help, just like Andy and Rose had shown up to help me at the schooling show.
“I’ll help you,” Andy said as I lugged some of Rose’s stuff into the trailer.
“Thanks,” I replied. “You should keep an eye on her. Rose, I mean. She doesn’t eat.”
“I know,” Andy said.
He looked worried too but just as we were putting the final trunk in the trailer thunder rumbled in the distance.
“Get in the truck,” Duncan called out. “Let’s get this show on the road before we all get hit by lightning.”
“That’s not an actual possibility, is it?” Hanna asked, looking worried.
“Well they don’t call Florida the lightning capital of the United States for nothing,” I told her.
She looked a little horrified so I grabbed her arm and pulled her into the truck.
“Come on,” I told her. “You’ll be fine.”
“Of course you will,” Andy said with a wink. “And if you’re out in the open and lightning strikes, just bend over, put your head between your legs and kiss your butt goodbye.”
“That’s enough of that,” Duncan said as the truck rumbled to life but by then we were all laughing so hard that we didn’t really hear him.
CHAPTER FORTY
Going to a show without Jess was a completely different experience. It was like the sun was shining, even though it was raining. I didn’t have to worry about someone hurting my pony or slipping him something poisonous. I didn’t have to watch my back in case Jess accidentally on purpose shoved me face first into a mud puddle or have to listen to her tell other riders in a loud and obnoxious voice that I had nearly killed a horse and that I still rode a pony. It was like this weight had been lifted from my shoulders and I hadn’t realized how oppressive having Jess on the team had been. And I wasn’t the only one.
Despite the rain we unloaded the horses and got them into their stalls with minimal fuss. No one complained about the rain or the footing or the leaks in the barn roof. Duncan was even whistling to himself as he lugged our stuff into the tack stall and we all helped him hang up a tarp to stop the rain drops from getting our stuff wet and no one complained that they were being forced to do manual labor or that it was beneath us.
Several of the other teams stopped by to say hello. Since this was the semifinal we had the whole show to ourselves. This time we weren’t competing in between other classes with regular riders. This was a team show for teams only and it had this whole pony club vibe to it that I hadn’t noticed before.
“I think this is going to be pretty cool,” Andy said as one of the boys on another team walked by and high fived him.
“I do wish it would stop raining though.” Rose sighed. “It’s so muddy.”
“A little mud never hurt anybody,” Duncan said.
But I could see that even he was concerned about the footing. He went out to the ring and walked about, digging his heel into the ground in different places. I thought it looked deep and sticky and I was worried about Bluebird getting a shoe sucked off or pulling a tendon. I wanted him to have a long and healthy career and that meant taking care of him and making sure that I didn’t put him in dangerous situations. But I also knew that we couldn’t expect to have perfect footing all the time and it wasn’t the show organizers fault that the sky had opened and dumped several inches of rain on us since yesterday. There was a break in the clouds as we tacked our horses up to go in the warm up ring but the sky beyond the trees was dark. More rain was on the way.
“I think maybe Jess was the lucky one after all,” Rose said with a sigh as she tightened Noelle’s noseband.
“You don’t want to ride?” I asked her.
“I don’t really feel well,” she said.
“You do look a little pale,” I told her. “Maybe you should eat something.”
“Later,” she said vaguely.
But I was worried. If Rose fainted off the back of her horse during her round, then we’d be out of the running for good and we didn’t need another team member in the hospital either. I told myself I’d get something into Rose before our class. I just wasn’t sure how I was going to do that. After all you could lead a teenage girl to the concession stand and you could even buy her a burger but you couldn’t actually make her eat it. Maybe Andy would have better luck than I would.
Only it turned out that Andy had his own problems. Mousse didn’t like the look of the footing any more than I did and he hopped his way into the warm up ring.
“Easy,” Andy said through gritted teeth as his gray horse did a badly executed half pass across the arena.
“Just let him get it out of his system,” Duncan called out. “It’s no use trying to rein him in. You’re only going to make him mad.”
But it was too late. Mousse bunny hopped his way back across the ring, scattering other riders and their horses. He bounced off the arena fence and spun on his haunches, doing a little half rear in the process. I sat there on my well behaved pony, glad that I wasn’t Andy and also kind of amazed at how great his seat was. He went with his horse. He didn’t catch him in the mouth. He waited for Mousse to figure out that everything was okay but also that he wasn’t going to be allowed to behave in that manner. And Andy had it too. He was getting Mousse settled, the horse was calming down.
For a moment I thought that everything was going to be fine. Mousse was cantering in a circle. He was settling into a rhythm. Then lightning hit a tree across from the ring, sparks flying into the air as the tree cracked and then fell in half, crashing down to the ground with a resounding thud. All the horses freaked out and spooked but Mousse did more than that. He reared straight up, striking at the dark sky and when he touched down he took off but not before he grabbed his front heel with his back hoof. For one moment I saw the steel shoe flying up into the air, reflecting silver against the dark sky and then it was gone.
CHAPTER FORTY ONE
“I told you he didn’t like storms,” Andy moaned as he held his horse under the overhang.
The rain was pouring over the edge and dripping down our backs as we all tried to huddle under the dry part at the same time. Mousse was flustered, his sides puffing in and out. I picked up his hoof and Rose ran water from the hose over it to wash off all the footing that had stuck to his foot like mud pie.
“I can’t see a cut,” she said. “But he’s pulled a chunk of hoof off with his shoe.”
“Great,” Andy said, stroking his horse on the face. “You hear that, you idiot? You’ll be lucky if you’re not lame. It’s only a thunder storm.”
But Mousse didn’t think it was only a thunder storm. He thought it was the end of the world and he started to shiver. I grabbed a cooler and threw it over his back. The last thing we needed was a sick horse.
“Wait,” Rose said, still doubled over as she examined the horse’s foot. “No, there is a cut but it’s not too deep. I think he’ll probably be fine.”
“But fine enough to show?” Andy said, looking disappointed. “If I’m out then the whole team is out and that means that I’ve wrecked it for everybody.”
“Nobody has wrecked anything,” Duncan said.
He’d gone to fetch a farrier and now he came back with a large man with a neatly trimmed beard and kind eyes.
“What did you do to yourself young fellow?” the farrier said, patting Mousse on the neck.
�
��Well we had a little mishap,” Andy said.
“I think he was talking to the horse,” Rose whispered as the farrier glared at Andy and then bent over to pick up the offending hoof.
Ten minutes later and the shoe was straightened out, nailed back on and Mousse had his cut treated with antibiotic ointment and wrapped with gauze and tape so that the mud couldn’t get in it.
“Alright son,” the farrier said, wiping the sweat off his brow. “Let’s see if he’s sound.”
The rain had stopped again. This was Florida after all where the rain could start and stop every five minutes but the ground was wet. I pulled the cooler off Mousse as Andy walked him away a little bit, across the wet ground and over to the parking area where there were no puddles, then he turned and trotted him back.
“It’s just like the Kentucky three-day event,” Rose whispered.
“Andy isn’t dressed for Rolex,” I replied.
But we both linked arms and crossed our fingers. From what I could see, Mousse looked fine but he had both the farrier and Duncan watching him as he trotted across the flat ground towards us. One slight head bob and I knew that we’d be out. Duncan wasn’t Walter. He wouldn’t risk the safety of a horse just because of a show. He’d pull the team and that would be that. No finals. No trip to Paris. We could all forget it.
“Well?” Andy said breathlessly as he came back to the group. “He was okay, wasn’t he?”
Duncan and the farrier looked at each other and nodded.
“He’s okay,” Duncan said. “But I want you to trot him out for me again before the first class just in case.”
Two Strides (Show Jumping Dreams ~ Book 30) Page 8