Jade and the Stray

by Amy Brown

  ‘Would you at least consider letting me buy Pip, I mean, Onyx?’ Mr White said, trying to restrain his frustration.

  ‘I’ll think about it,’ the woman said. ‘But you realize that a good pony like that is worth a high price.’

  At this, Mr White finally lost his temper. ‘We’ve spent the last six months turning her into the pony she is—with my feed, and Jade’s riding. This is ridiculous! Why should we even believe that she’s yours? I want to see papers before you take our pony anywhere.’

  The woman looked furious. ‘Of course I don’t have her papers on me. I don’t carry them everywhere I go. If you want to buy Onyx, you can call this number.’ Pausing, the woman scribbled her name and a phone number on a piece of paper from her bag and passed it to Mr White. ‘And that’s the end of the matter for now!’

  Jade and Mr White followed the woman to a huge old truck covered in peeling yellow paint, but they couldn’t see Pip.

  ‘Don’t bother—I’ve already loaded the horses,’ the woman sneered, hopping into the driver’s seat, next to a teenage girl. They drove off.

  That night, Jade wouldn’t eat dinner. She grabbed her pyjamas from her bedroom, then went to the bathroom and stood under the steaming shower for about half an hour, sobbing.

  When she finally emerged, bright red from the hot water, and returned to her bedroom, she found a plate of cheese and Marmite sandwiches and a lukewarm cup of tea on her bedside table. Grateful that her granddad hadn’t tried to talk to her, Jade sipped at the tea, then nibbled on one sandwich and soon finished the plate. She fell asleep sad, but at least not hungry.

  First thing the next morning, Mr White phoned the number on the crumpled piece of paper.

  ‘Is that Val?’ he asked, when a woman answered.

  ‘Yes?’ Her voice sounded sleepy, as if she wasn’t used to early mornings.

  ‘This is Jim White. I’ve been grazing your horse, Onyx, for the past six months and I’d like him back.’

  ‘Oh, it’s you. Well, I’m sure we can make some sort of an arrangement. Sorry about all the drama yesterday—I was just so surprised to see my horse.’

  ‘Would you have time for a visit today? I’ll bring my horse-float and cheque book.’

  ‘Certainly. I’ll be asking $4,000.’ Val gave Mr White her address.

  Jade was still lying in bed, reading My Friend Flicka for the fourteenth time, when Mr White arrived at her granddad’s house.

  ‘Jade, get up, it’s nearly eleven!’ Mr White called from the hallway.

  Shocked, Jade leapt out of bed, hurriedly pulled on jeans and a T-shirt and opened her door. ‘What are you doing here?’ she asked.

  ‘We’re getting Pip back. Out to the ute now!’

  Jade didn’t need to be told twice. After pulling on odd socks and her boots, she ran out to the driveway.

  Pip trotted over to the fence line and neighed when the familiar ute and horse-float drove up Val’s driveway. Val soon emerged from the house, in Ugg boots and a polar-fleece vest.

  ‘Hi, guys,’ she said, much friendlier than yesterday. Jade stared at her stonily.

  ‘Do you have the papers?’ Mr White said, cutting to the chase.

  ‘Right here,’ she said, fishing a folded A4 sheet of paper out of her pocket.

  Mr White pulled a pair of spectacles out of his pocket and unfolded the paper. ‘This says that she’s 14.2. How did you manage that?’

  ‘Oh, I didn’t get her registered—Mum did,’ Val said. ‘Nyx was my little sister Tessa’s pony. I wasn’t interested in riding at that stage, not like Tess; she loved all the competitions—jumping and that. You should’ve seen the fuss her and Mum went to make Nyx eligible for pony classes. They took her shoes off and filed her hooves right down. I think they even had an icepack on her withers at the measuring booth.’

  ‘What happened to Tessa?’ Jade asked, curiosity overcoming her dislike of this woman.

  ‘Well, Tess crashed her car’—Jade flinched slightly, but Val didn’t notice—‘and couldn’t ride anymore. She wanted Nyx to stay in the family and I inherited her, despite being too old for pony club. So I started Western riding.’

  ‘How long did you ride Pip, I mean, Onyx?’ Jade asked.

  ‘A few years,’ Val said.

  ‘I saw her at the pound back in January. I asked the pound if I could keep her and they said yes. Since then I’ve been riding her and taking care of her,’ Jade said slowly.

  ‘I can see that. And I suppose I believe that you didn’t steal her. I mean, look at you, you’re so young.’

  ‘Much, much younger than Pip,’ Mr White cut in, still scrutinizing the registration papers.

  ‘What?’ Jade asked. ‘How old’s Pip?’

  ‘Twenty-three!’

  Jade gasped. Val looked uncomfortable. ‘Yeah, I was going to mention that.’

  11

  Horses and ponies

  Having found out Pip’s real age, Mr White would pay no more than $500 for Val’s Onyx.

  ‘But she’s been performing like a horse half her age,’ Val protested. ‘That’s what I tried to tell the others, but they wouldn’t listen.’

  ‘The others?’ Jade asked.

  ‘Well, when Tess died I thought I could find Nyx a better home. A pony club home, like yours.’

  On the way home, with Pip in the float and her registration papers in the glove box, Jade alternated between awkwardly thanking Mr White for buying back her pony and seething over Val.

  ‘What a repulsive woman!’ Jade exclaimed for the third time, as the ute pulled into the Whites’ driveway. ‘Trying to sell her dead sister’s pony. And filing poor Pip’s feet just for a stupid piece of paper.’

  ‘There was certainly something a bit odd about her,’ Mr White agreed. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d given Pip to the pound herself. But the main thing is that Pip is home. And this pony registration will come in handy, what with show season approaching. You might call it a stupid piece of paper now, but you’ll probably be grateful for it when you’re competing at the Flaxton Show.’

  Jade sat quietly, wanting to say she didn’t really care about the show: if she’d been Tessa, she would never have put Pip through the ordeal of being shrunk. She’d be just as happy going for long road rides. That would have been a lie, though. Jade felt uncomfortably selfish. Perhaps she didn’t deserve the big black pony that was now hers?

  Parking the ute, Mr White leant across and got the registration out of the glove box. Looking at it again, he started to chuckle.

  ‘What’s funny?’ Jade asked.

  ‘Nothing much—it’s just that Jade and Onyx are both gemstones. You make quite a pair.’

  Since finding out Pip’s real age, Jade had been riding her cautiously. Mr Finch had come around the following week and put a shiny new set of shoes on Pip, so that she’d have enough grip and support for jumping. The tendon boots that Becca and Laura had given Jade for her birthday were good to use as well. Pip seemed to like them, too: whenever Jade did up the velcro straps, Pip knew that the ride would include jumping practice or a good gallop.

  In preparation for the C-Certificate exam, Jade was learning to trust Pip enough to let her go at full speed. The first time they practised this in the large paddock, with Mr White watching, Jade was worried that once she got Pip going she wouldn’t be able to stop her.

  ‘You’ll be fine, Jade,’ Mr White said with characteristic optimism. ‘Just keep your legs on firmly, lean forward and grab a handful of mane. When you want to stop, lean back gradually, sit deep in the saddle and begin to pull Pip in a circle—but not too sharply mind; you don’t want her slipping over.’

  This advice, while wise, was unnecessary. Pip behaved like a lady, responding to Jade’s aids and extending into a gallop, then relaxing back to a canter, then a trot when asked.

  ‘I sometimes wonder if she’s too good for me,’ Jade said, grinning and patting her neck. ‘I won’t know what to do when I ride a difficult horse.’

&n
bsp; Mr White looked thoughtful. ‘I’d hardly call him difficult, but Hamlet would be a change of gear. Would you like to try him next time?’

  ‘I’d love to,’ Jade said, flattered that Mr White would let her ride his horse. ‘Isn’t he too big for me, though?’

  ‘To be honest, Pip’s a bit big for you too, Jade, but you manage fine on her. I’m not suggesting that you gallop and jump Hamlet—he’s not much of a jumper really, anyway. Doing a bit of schooling on him would give you an idea of how a different horse moves and has different habits. It might be worth getting Becca around here one weekend and swapping ponies with her. I imagine Dusty would prove a bit more difficult than Pip.’

  The next day at school, Jade suggested the swap to Becca, who thought it was a great idea.

  ‘It’s funny you should say that,’ Becca said, ‘because I was talking to Ryan about the C-Certificate exam, and he told me that when he sat it the examiner made them swap ponies.’

  ‘Well, that settles it,’ Jade said. ‘This Saturday, you’ll ride Pip and I’ll ride Dusty, and maybe we’ll both have a go on Hamlet.’

  ‘Seeing as everyone seems to be swapping ponies,’ Laura said, ‘do you think I could come along and have a little ride, too?’

  Jade and Becca were surprised—Laura had never wanted to ride before. ‘Of course, Laura!’ Becca said. ‘We’ve been hoping you’d ride with us for ages.’

  In the first real sunshine Flaxton had seen in months, Jade biked to the Whites’ early on Saturday morning. It felt like spring as she caught not just Pip, but Brandy and Hamlet too, and brought them into the yards.

  Beginning with Pip, she groomed each horse until her arms ached and she was covered in horse hair. By nine-thirty, when Mr White came out of the house, there were tumbleweeds of the horses’ winter coats rolling about in the yards.

  ‘You’ve been busy!’ he said to Jade through a cloud of dust and Hamlet’s dark brown hair. ‘They look much smarter now.’ Pip, in particular, had patches of sleek, black summer coat showing beneath the softer winter fur.

  ‘I’m exhausted!’ Jade said, having finally finished. ‘Hamlet’s just like a big teddy bear.’

  Laura arrived next, and, with the help of Mr White, was soon in Brandy’s saddle.

  ‘Are you sure my stirrups are the right length?’ she asked, looking down at her feet. ‘My legs feel funny. And it’s quite high up, isn’t it?’

  Jade giggled. ‘You’ll get used to it. You look alright, if that’s any consolation.’

  ‘Jade’s right,’ Mr White said. ‘You’ve got a very good seat and you’re keeping your hands stiller than most beginners manage to.’

  ‘I think it’s from spending so many weekends watching and listening to the others,’ Laura said. ‘It’s like I’ve been learning to ride too, except without ever hopping on a horse.’

  Becca and her mum drove up the driveway as Mr White began leading Brandy slowly around the paddock.

  ‘It mightn’t be such a good day for swapping,’ Becca said tetchily as she led Dusty out of the horse-truck. ‘This here is one naughty pony.’

  Becca’s mum explained that Becca had spent the past hour trying to catch Dusty, who’d run circles around her.

  ‘It’s all that spring grass,’ Becca’s mum said. ‘Is Pip the same?’

  As if on cue, Pip opened her mouth and had a big yawn. Jade laughed. ‘No, she’s still calm as can be, aren’t you, old lady?’ she said, scratching Pip behind the ear.

  Around the other ponies, Dusty was slightly better behaved, but from the moment Jade mounted him she knew he was very different to Pip.

  ‘How are you doing, Jade?’ Mr White asked. ‘Keep your heels down and your legs on. He’s got his back up.’

  ‘Is that what it is,’ Jade asked shakily. ‘He feels all wrong—like a jack-in-the-box that’s about to leap up.’

  ‘He might leap up, Jade,’ Becca’s mum said, ‘so be careful.’

  Focusing entirely on keeping Dusty calm, Jade found that, after half an hour of just walking and trotting in circles, she was tired out. However, the hard work paid off, and Dusty began to listen to Jade’s commands.

  ‘You ready for a canter now, boy?’ Jade asked. ‘You won’t get excited and buck me off?’

  Very subtly, Jade gathered up her reins, sat back in the saddle and pressed with her inside leg, and Dusty sprang into a bouncy canter.

  ‘I think he’s ready for a wee jump,’ Jade said, pleased.

  ‘Go for it,’ Becca said, riding Pip out of Jade’s way as she and Dusty approached the smallest straight-bar. Dusty picked up his knees and popped over neatly.

  ‘I can’t let Pip watch from the sidelines,’ Becca said, urging her into a canter and pointing her at the straight-bar too. Slightly lazier than Dusty, Pip knocked the rail off. Not wanting to finish on a bad note, Becca brought Pip around for another go, this time concentrating on slowing her down and getting more scope in her stride. It worked—Pip cleared the jump well.

  ‘Who’d like to try Hamlet now?’ Mr White asked, as the girls hopped off the ponies. ‘Laura?’

  Laura laughed. ‘No, thanks. I think I’m all horsed out for today.’

  ‘Becca?’

  ‘Yes, please. I’ve never been on a horse before.’

  ‘Hamlet will have quite a different gait and temperament to Dusty,’ Mr White said. ‘That might take a bit of getting used to, but he’s a gentleman really.’

  While Becca schooled Hamlet, adjusting well to his longer stride, Jade rubbed down both ponies and gave them some hay. When it came to her turn to try Hamlet, she was utterly exhausted, but couldn’t resist.

  Once she was up in the saddle, looking down from what seemed a great height, Jade got her second wind. After half an hour, Mr White made her stop.

  ‘Hamlet’s not used to all this attention. He’s an old man, too—nearly as old as Pip. That’s probably enough for today.’

  After the swap, Becca and Jade agreed that each horse they’d ridden had its faults and strengths.

  ‘It was lovely not having my arms pulled out of their sockets, and being able to concentrate on getting Pip to go on the bit,’ Becca said. ‘But she was more sluggish than Dusty, and not as clever at jumping. No offence.’

  ‘None taken,’ Jade said. ‘I felt the same. Dusty was full of get-up-and-go and really fun to jump, but he wasn’t as predictable as Pip. And Hamlet was another story altogether.’

  ‘I loved riding Hamlet,’ Becca gushed. ‘His strides, especially the canter, were so smooth and elegant. I can’t wait to have a horse one day.’

  It wasn’t long before Becca got to ride a horse again. The following weekend, during the C-Certificate examination, Mrs Thompson asked all the candidates to swap mounts, just as Ryan had said she would.

  Becca and Jade looked at each other excitedly, but Mrs Thompson saw this and made sure that they swapped with other riders.

  Becca had to give Dusty to a tall boy with nervous hazel eyes, whose horse was a 15.2-hand skewbald gelding. Pip went to a girl whom Jade had seen somewhere before. As soon as she’d had a better look at the girl’s wild-eyed roan mare, Jade knew where—at Michaela Lewis’s. It was Kristen’s friend Andy.

  Having completed the theoretical part of the exam, and jumped and galloped on their own mounts, the swap was the last test.

  ‘Everyone walking in a circle around me, please, as if you were in a ring class. When I tell you, please trot and canter.’

  Jade knew she’d have her work cut out as soon as she mounted Piper, the roan. I’m so glad I practised on Dusty, Jade thought, as she did her best to make her aids clear but gentle. The roan had been playing up for her rider throughout the exam—not bucking or rearing, but consistently pulling at the bit, throwing her head up and bending inside out around corners. Andy must have had experience dealing with these flaws because, although she held Piper very tightly, she seldom let her pony put a foot wrong.

  ‘Trot, please,’ Mrs Thompson said. Everybody shortene
d their reins and gave the correct aids. Jade longed to look over and see how the others were doing with their strange mounts, but she had to keep concentrating. All she could see was Pip in front of her, going nicely for Andy.

  ‘And canter!’ Mrs Thompson called, satisfied with their trotting.

  At Jade’s command to canter, Piper gave an enormous buck and rushed forward. If Jade hadn’t been cautious and gripping tightly with her legs, she would’ve been thrown over the naughty pony’s head. Instead, she sat back and managed to pull Piper in a circle so that she didn’t run into the back of Pip. Ignoring the examiner now, she kept circling Piper until she calmed down, and then waited until she’d brought her back to a walk before entering the circle again.

  Mrs Thompson called the riders into the centre.

  ‘I’m sorry about that,’ Jade said guiltily.

  ‘No,’ Mrs Thompson said, ‘you did the right thing. That pony’s just full of beans—or else she has a sore back. Does she often do this?’ Mrs Thompson asked Andy.

  Andy blushed. ‘Unfortunately, yes. I’ve had her for the last six months and she’s bucked nearly every time I’ve ridden her.’

  ‘Have you had the vet come and look at her?’ Mrs Thompson asked.

  ‘No,’ Andy blushed again.

  ‘Give him a call. It’s probably something more than naughtiness if she does it so regularly.’

  At the end of the exam, every rider was given their C Certificate, although the tall boy with the nervous eyes was told he’d ‘just scraped through by the skin of his teeth’ and ‘should practise keeping his hands still’.

  When everyone had swapped back to their own pony, Jade, Becca and Andy rode over to the horsefloats together.

  ‘Dusty’s a bit of a handful,’ Becca said, ‘but nothing compared with Piper.’