Pony Jumpers 4- Four Faults

by Kate Lattey

“You can stand there as long as you want, but I’m not cleaning…” I turned back as I spoke and saw Hayley frozen in place. Her eyes were still staring in my direction, but their expression was completely vacant, as though nobody was home. I waved my arm in front of her, trying to snap her out of her trance. “Hayley? Are you okay?”

  Blood was rushing around my body, my heart was pounding and I felt myself break out into a nervous sweat. Something was wrong. Again. Something bad was about to happen, but I found myself as frozen in place as my sister, both of us staring, neither of us understanding what it was that we saw.

  Hayley’s left arm moved in a jerking motion away from her side, and she flinched as it connected with the wooden door frame, then stared vaguely down at her errant limb. She swayed slightly, and I had to do something before she collapsed onto the concrete floor of the barn, but I couldn’t make my feet move.

  Then she snapped out of it. Her eyes came back into focus, and she blinked rapidly, her eyelashes fluttering and eyes rolling backwards slightly to show a little too much white, before she turned and looked me straight in the eyes.

  “What?”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” Her words came out a little shaky, and she looked a bit wobbly as she turned and walked away.

  Still worried, I dropped my sponge onto the floor and followed her as she walked out of the barn. Copper was still tied up out the front, but she walked past him as though she hadn’t even seen him there. I jogged a little to catch up, ignoring Copper’s plaintive little whinny to remind us that he was still waiting for his dinner.

  “Hayley, something happened back there.”

  “What?”

  “You had some kind of weird…”

  Hayley turned to face me, her eyes going wide. “I did not.”

  “You did. You kind of froze up and…”

  “No I did not.” Hayley’s index finger jabbed into my collarbone, making me wince. “Nothing happened. So you just keep your big mouth shut for once.”

  She started walking again, then turned and looked over her shoulder. She moved slowly, as though she was still dizzy, but she wasn’t going to admit to anything. I wondered if she even knew what had happened. She must have known that something had gone wrong, but she was too proud and determined to admit it, even to herself.

  I thought about stopping her, and reminding her that she hadn’t fed Copper yet. I thought about refusing to do it for her, but I knew I wouldn’t. Instead I stood and watched her as she walked down to the house, onto the porch, and stepped inside. I let her go. She’d be safer there, if anything happened again, and I’d tell Mum what happened later on. For now, I had a horse to feed and rug, and two saddles to clean.

  * * *

  In the small hours of the next morning we began our drive to Foxton, huddled up in the truck cab and staring out at the dark road ahead. Misty and Copper swayed in the back as Hayley sat in the cab with a thermos of hot Milo between her legs, still pretending she was fine. I’d filled Mum in last night, but she’d brushed off my concerns. Hayley had obviously got to her first and had her convinced that it was just a dizzy spell, nothing to worry about, and Mum had told me to stop being melodramatic. I couldn’t tell whether she truly believed Hayley or was just too scared to consider the other possibility – that there was something wrong with her precious daughter that she couldn’t fix. It scared me that they were both so willing to write it off as insignificant when it clearly hadn’t been, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it.

  Up ahead of us was a lone figure, waiting patiently on the side of the road in the darkness, and Mum slowed the truck as we approached.

  Hayley’s head snapped around to face her. “We picking up hitch-hikers now?”

  “That’s not a hitch-hiker, it’s Jonty,” I told her.

  Hayley continued to talk past me. “So we’re picking up Tess’s boyfriends now?”

  “He’s not my boyfriend. And you’re the one who invited him,” I reminded her.

  My sister looked at me for the first time that morning. “Yeah right. Why would I do that?”

  I thought she was joking, but she seemed genuinely confused. Did she really not remember? The conviction on her face almost had me convinced, but Hayley had always been a very good actress. Jonty had his hands in the pockets of his old Swanndri and a battered baseball cap pulled down over his dark hair. He blinked and glanced aside as the bright headlights of the truck lit him up, and I hoped Hayley wasn’t going to be awful to him all weekend.

  “Where’s he going to sit? I don’t want him up here stinking up the cab,” Hayley grumbled.

  “He can travel in the back,” Mum said as the truck slowed to a crawl.

  “You never let us travel in the back!” I reminded her. “You always say it’s unsafe.”

  Mum looked annoyed. “I’m not the one who invited him along,” she complained, making her opinion on the whole thing quite obvious.

  “Drive past then, pretend you didn’t see him,” Hayley suggested. “No great loss.” I’d heard enough.

  “You’re just jealous because he rides Copper better than you,” I snapped.

  She thumped my arm, hard. “Shut up, he does not! What the hell do you know, anyway? You can’t even ride Misty.”

  The truck brakes released with a loud hiss that would’ve drowned out any reply I might’ve come up with, and Jonty walked towards the passenger door of the cab.

  Hayley wound her window down a few centimetres, letting the cold morning air rush into the heated truck cab. “No room,” she told him bluntly. “You’ll have to travel in the back with the horses.”

  “Okay,” he said with an easy-going shrug, heading towards the back of the truck. I unclipped my seatbelt and started climbing over my sister, who did her best to hinder my progress.

  “Where are you going?” Mum demanded.

  “Sitting in the back with Jonty,” I told her, feeling my flush. “I don’t want to sit up front here with Hayley stinking it up.”

  “You’re so full of crap, Tess,” Hayley snapped, pulling her knees up and pinning me between the seat and the dashboard. “You just want to sit back there and make out with your boyfriend.” Her voice took on a sing-song tone and she made kissing noises at me.

  I shot her a dirty look and opened my mouth to respond, but Mum spoke before I could.

  “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

  “Too late,” I told her, clambering over Hayley and throwing the door open into the fresh morning air.

  I jumped to the ground and Hayley slammed the door behind me. I could hear their voices raise in argument as I walked the few paces to the truck’s side door and pulled it open.

  “Someone get up on the wrong side of bed this morning?” Jonty asked me as I climbed into the truck and shut the door behind me.

  “She’s just horrible. Ignore her.”

  I flipped the lights on and looked at Jonty, sitting on the built-in leather sofa with his legs stretched out in front of him as he stared around our accommodation.

  “Wow. This is flash.”

  “Yeah. Mum and Hayley like to travel in style.”

  I was uncomfortably aware of how it compared to his house, which barely had walls and a roof, let alone a microwave and TV and DVD player and all the other mod-cons that we had in our truck. I was acutely embarrassed that Dad even allowed them to live in that shack without insisting on doing it up. I wondered again if I should say something. Despite his assurances, the window still wasn’t fixed, and I couldn’t understand how they survived in that place during the cold winter months.

  The truck lurched forward, and I heard the horses skittering in the back as I more or less fell onto the sofa next to him.

  “Morning.”

  “Hey. Nervous?”

  “A bit.”

  Jonty stretched an arm out across the back of the sofa behind me, but didn’t touch me. “You’ll be fine.”

  “We’ll see. But tha
nks for coming.”

  “No worries. I haven’t been to a horse show in ages. It’ll be fun.”

  I smiled weakly at him. “Yeah. Fun.” I was just hoping to make it through the day.

  We arrived and unloaded, then checked the order of go. Misty’s first class wasn’t until later in the morning, and he was well down the draw. Hayley was still in an absolutely vile mood, so Jonty and I escaped from the truck while she went to warm up for the 1.25m, taking a walk to the opposite end of the show grounds – if you could call them that. I’d seen photos online of show grounds in America that stretched for acres, with masses of stabling tents and multiple surfaced arenas and row upon row of food and trade stalls.

  We had a large grass field on the edge of the local racecourse, divided into show jumping rings with a single strand of rope between each one, and a warm-up area that was quickly turning from grass into dust as it was pounded by the hooves of multiple horses and ponies. Trucks and floats were parked in every inch of available space, and the food options were limited to a coffee cart, an ice cream van, and a hot food caravan selling overpriced chips and hot dogs to over-excited children.

  We made our way to the practice area, and watched an endless stream of ponies canter in circles around the practice fence, taking turns to jump it in an array of styles. Some went at full speed and flung themselves into the air, others crept towards the jump so slowly you’d have sworn they’d never make it to the other side until they did. I leaned on the fence and blinked the dust out of my eyes as a girl on a grey and white pinto cantered past. She looked familiar, and it took me a moment to recognise Katy O’Reilly.

  “Hi Tess.” Her friend AJ came towards us with a polar fleece rug over her arm and a wide smile on her face. I smiled back, a little tentative. I didn’t know AJ too well, and I knew she was no fan of Hayley’s. Then again, who was?

  “Hi. Is that Katy’s new one?”

  “Yeah, that’s Gully. She’s had him a couple weeks, I think. Can’t really remember. He’s pretty green.” She smiled warmly at me, and I felt myself relax a little. The last time we’d spoken hadn’t been in the best of circumstances, but she didn’t seem to be holding any grudges.

  “He’s cute.”

  The pinto pony cantered towards the practice fence and jumped over neatly, tucking his forearms up under his chin as he cleared it. Katy gave him a pat as she brought him back to a trot, then directed him towards us.

  “He’s about ready to go in,” she told AJ as she pulled up alongside the fence. “What is he now, two away?”

  “Three, I think. You’re after that fat bay.”

  Katy pulled a face. “Good luck getting that thing to haul itself over the jumps.” She looked at me, gave me a brief nod of recognition, then saw Jonty standing next to me, was holding his hand out for Gully to sniff. “Hey, I know you. Jonty Fisher, right?”

  His face broke into a smile. “That’s me. How’s it going?”

  “It’s going good.” Katy nudged Gully closer to him, and Jonty rubbed the grey behind his ears. “Long time, no see! Been a few years since I’ve been to a gymkhana,” she teased him.

  Jonty grinned at her. “You and me both. I see you’ve graduated from a twelve-two at last.”

  Katy laughed. “Yeah, a while ago. You back riding again?”

  “Nah. Just came along to help Tess and Hayley out.”

  Katy’s head swivelled back towards me, abruptly realising that we weren’t standing side-by-side simply by chance. “Oh, right. Gotcha.” Her expression darkened at the mention of my sister, and I felt bad for Jonty being dragged into the dramas that Hayley had created.

  “He’s been riding Coppertop for a bit while Hayley…” I started to explain, then stopped. Everyone looked at me curiously, and I cursed my quick tongue. I couldn’t think of a way to finish that sentence without betraying my sister, and the silence stretched out awkwardly between us until Jonty cut in, saving my hide.

  “While Hayley’s been studying,” he said convincingly. “With her being in her last year at school and all that.”

  “Ugh, don’t remind me about school,” AJ said. “Well no, do remind me because it’s almost over for the year! I literally cannot wait for Christmas.”

  “And Taupo. You coming?” Katy asked me, and I nodded.

  Taupo Christmas Classic was a really fun show, as everyone got into the Christmas spirit and dressed their horses and ponies up for the event. It was Hayley’s favourite, and she never let us miss it.

  “Here she is, late to the party as usual.” AJ was looking over my shoulder, and I turned to see Susannah Andrews walking up to us.

  I tried to smile at Susannah, but her eyes skimmed across my face with barely a flicker of interest. Not that I blamed her. Hayley wasn’t very nice to me most of the time, but she was positively vile to Susannah all of the time. I didn’t like to think too hard about what had happened the last time we’d seen each other at a show, and I made a mental note to fill Jonty in later so he could keep an eye on Hayley as well.

  “Truck wouldn’t start, and then Forbes wouldn’t load,” Susannah filled us in with an exaggerated eye-roll. As usual she was immaculately dressed and looking like a walking advertisement for an equestrian fashion catalogue. Her breeches alone would have cost enough to feed Jonty’s family for weeks.

  “Hah. Told you he was a pain in the neck, but you’re the one who wanted to buy him,” Katy replied unsympathetically. “You got him in the metre-ten?”

  “Yeah, and he’s second to go. You putting Puppet in it?”

  “Yep. First time for everything. AJ’s doing it for a warm-up too, but she’s way down the order.”

  “That’s what you’re doing too, right? On Misty?” Jonty seemed to have caught my curse of speaking without thinking, because he interjected with that deeply shameful comment, and everyone’s heads turned towards me. All of these girls knew that Misty was a top Grand Prix pony, well capable of jumping a lot higher than a metre-ten. It was only me that was holding him back, and I wished he hadn’t made a point of that in front of them all.

  Everyone was waiting for me to answer, so I nodded. “Yeah. Just because I’m still getting used to him,” I added defensively.

  “Good for you,” Katy said, and she sounded genuine. “About time you stop letting Hayley try to kill you by sticking you in the Grand Prix.”

  I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. I was slightly offended by her offhand dismissal of my riding ability, but I couldn’t fault her logic. The gate steward started hollering at her to get herself into the ring, precluding me from having to respond, and she kicked Gully into a trot and headed over to him, AJ and Susannah following along behind.

  Jonty took a step after them, then turned back towards me. “Coming to watch?”

  I hesitated, sure that the girls didn’t really want me there. Susannah, especially. They were friends now, and I felt like I was intruding on that, so I shook my head.

  “I should go check on Misty.”

  Jonty looked surprised, but shrugged. “Suit yourself. I’ll meet you back at the truck in a few.”

  Dammit. That wasn’t what he was supposed to say. He was supposed to come with me, away from those three girls who didn’t really like me, because of who my sister was and the way she treated them. I didn’t blame them, but it made being in their company feel awkward. But Jonty was oblivious, and those kinds of social rules probably didn’t apply to boys anyway.

  He leaned on the board fence next to AJ and struck up an easy conversation. She smiled at him as he spoke, then her eyes caught on me, still standing stupidly a few metres away and watching them. She jerked her head sideways, encouraging me to join them. But it was too late to change my mind now without looking stupid, so I made a vague waving motion in the direction of our truck, then turned away.

  By the time it was Misty’s turn to jump, most of the class had completed. There were only a handful of riders left in the metre-ten, but the braver competitors were starting to warm
up for the metre-twenty. I noticed a few of them watching me trot Misty around the warm-up, and wondered how many were going to be surprised to see me go in for the lower class. They probably figured I was getting ready early, trying to ride the tickle out of Misty’s feet, but I knew that no amount of warm-up would ever get Misty to settle down at a show. The balanced, agreeable pony I’d experienced flashes of in the paddock at home was well and truly absent, and Misty was back to his usual tricks, bucking every time I asked him to canter and spooking wildly if anyone so much as sneezed near him.

  Jonty was sitting on the fence watching me, giving me an encouraging smile when I rode past, but not offering much else in the way of support. I supposed that with Katy on one side of him and Susannah on the other, he was a little distracted. It was annoying me a lot more than it should have, but it was probably my fault for bringing him along. Teenage boys were pretty thin on the ground at horse events, and while Jonty wasn’t necessarily pin-up material, he was far from unappealing. I was just glad they weren’t going to see him ride, because his skill in the saddle was easily one of his most attractive traits.

  Misty was still arguing with me as I tried to keep him to a steady trot and disguise the fact that I was too nervous to let him go any faster. A bay pony cantered past, almost cutting us off, and Misty squealed and pig-rooted indignantly, then burst into a fast canter. He tore the reins out of my hands and plunged his head down, trying to buck. I fought hard, pulling his head up and turning him in a tight circle. That managed to stop him from bucking, but he was now standing stock square and feeling as though he was about to explode again at any second.

  “He looks full of it!”

  I looked over to see AJ walking her grey pony towards me. Misty managed to forget his temper tantrum for long enough to sniff noses with Squib for a few seconds, but it wasn’t long before my pony let out another piercing squeal and stamped his front leg, trying to show him who was boss.

  Squib looked surprised, but instead of backing off, he leaned in closer and licked Misty’s nose. Misty looked so astonished by this moment of affection that he didn’t know how to react, and just stood there, dumbfounded. AJ and I both started laughing, and she patted her pony’s solid neck.