Jade and the Stray

by Amy Brown

  ‘Thanks,’ Andy said, ironically.

  ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. What I meant is, you must be a very good rider to deal with that every day.’

  ‘I felt like a good rider when I had Snapdragon,’ Andy said sadly. ‘He was only 13.2, but we often won competitions jumping 1 metre. I grew out of him, though, and now I’m stuck with you, aren’t I, beautiful?’ Andy said, stroking Piper’s stiff neck. ‘She’s only four, so hopefully there’s still time to get her out of this bad habit. I really hope she’s not injured.’

  ‘How was the skewbald horse?’ Jade asked Becca.

  ‘Fat and uncomfortable,’ Becca replied, making the girls laugh. ‘It’s true!’ She giggled. ‘He didn’t do anything wrong, but just had a weird stride and I felt like I was sitting on an oil drum.’

  ‘Pip was lovely,’ Andy said to Jade. ‘So much more polite than my monster.’

  ‘Yeah, polite’s a good word for her,’ Jade said. ‘Andy, are you going to be showjumping Piper this season?’

  ‘I hope so,’ Andy replied. ‘If I don’t break my neck before the first show!’

  ‘Well,’ Jade said. ‘Becca and I will be practising together, if you’d like to join us sometime. I mean, I know you’re friends with Kristen Lewis and that her mum’s jumps are amazing, but—’

  ‘I’d love to!’ Andy said. ‘Kristen and I go to school together, but I don’t really like riding with her. She’s just so much better than me. Riding with you guys would be fun.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Jade said, imitating Andy’s earlier tone.

  ‘No!’ Andy cried. ‘You know what I mean!’

  12

  Surprise!

  Wednesday, 2 December

  Dear Dad,

  The Wanford Sports Day went really well. Pip and I got a first in the under-14 bending race, a third in the under-14 paced and mannered class, a second in the under-14 round the ring jumping, and a fourth in the 1-metre showjumping. I’ve started hanging my ribbons on the wall in my room. At first Granddad wasn’t happy about the drawing pins in the new paint, but when he saw how much better they made the room look, he came round.

  I can’t wait to see you at Christmas! Granddad’s planning to cook a ham. He’s getting more adventurous with his dinners, but I’m not sure if he’s ready for ham! It’ll be strange because it’s been so long. I’ve grown about 4 centimetres taller—it’s lucky Pip’s big otherwise I might grow out of her soon. Anyway, I think it’ll be a nice Christmas.

  It’s a shame you won’t be here a week earlier. The 20th is the Flaxton Sports Day, which has a 1.10-metre showjumping class that Mr White thinks I should enter. Never mind; there will be lots of other chances for you to see me riding Pip.

  Do you think the local paper will have a job for you in Flaxton? I hope so. I guess there isn’t much that happens here, though, except horse shows.

  See you in 23 sleeps!

  Lots of love,

  Jade

  The show season was finally in full swing, and Jade and Ryan had been told off twice for chatting about riding instead of working quietly in class.

  Now that she had her C Certificate and had started winning ribbons, Ryan seemed more interested in Jade. And now that Ryan had stopped hanging around with Amanda at pony club, Jade found him less annoying. She’d almost forgiven him for his comment about horse-stealing, and it was nice to have someone in class who understood what she really wanted to be doing with her time, rather than learning about fractions.

  ‘Give us a look,’ Ryan whispered, pulling out the schedule for the Flaxton Sports Day from Jade’s desk. He saw that the 1.10-metre showjumping event was circled.

  ‘Are you entering this one?’

  ‘Yeah. I think Pip’s ready.’

  ‘I got second in it last year.’

  ‘Well done.’

  ‘I’m planning to win it this year.’

  ‘Ryan! Shh!’ Mrs Crawford said, looking up from her desk.

  ‘Your cousin is obsessed with winning,’ Jade told Becca that weekend as they went for a road ride to cool down the ponies after a jumping session.

  ‘I know,’ Becca said. ‘He’s always been like that. I’m not nearly as competitive as him, but it would be nice to beat him one day.’

  ‘Being competitive is good,’ said Andy, who’d been practising with them. ‘You have to be that way if you want to get to the top, like Kristen. But I think it’s more important to just enjoy spending time with your pony and improving at your own pace.’ She patted Piper’s neck. ‘Since the vet told me that Piper’s back was OK, and that her bucking was most likely caused by being competed with too soon after she’d been broken in, I’ve tried to be really patient with her. I think we’ll just enter the 80-centimetre showjumping at the Sports. There’s no rush.’

  The others nodded in approval.

  ‘I feel kind of the same about Pip,’ Jade said. ‘Because she’s so old, I don’t want to push her too hard. But at the same time I know that when she’s in the right mood she can still jump like a ponyhalf her age. I’d rather not get placed in the showjumping than injure her, though.’

  ‘Dusty doesn’t have any excuses,’ Becca laughed. ‘He’s the perfect age and a clever jumper. I just hope it all goes well on the big day.’

  The big day arrived in no time, which was good because it also marked the start of the summer holidays.

  On the last Friday at school, as they packed up the desks in the classroom and then went to prize-giving, Jade could think of nothing but the course she would jump with Pip later that afternoon.

  ‘I think it’s you,’ a girl said, nudging Jade as she daydreamed in the assembly hall.

  ‘What?’ Jade said, with a start.

  ‘You’ve won the Year 7 Language prize,’ the girl said impatiently. ‘Quick!’

  Jade got up from her seat and awkwardly walked to the front of the hall to accept the certificate from the school principal.

  ‘Congratulations,’ he said, shaking her hand. ‘I hear you did an excellent job on an assignment about our local sporting hero.’

  ‘Um, yeah,’ Jade said, shyly, rushing back to her seat and blushing.

  After another blissful ride with Pip, Jade biked home from Mr White’s in the late afternoon sunlight, looking forward to showing her granddad the certificate. It wasn’t as exciting to her as the C Certificate, but she knew he’d be pleased.

  ‘Granddad!’ she called, letting herself in the back door.

  ‘Surprise!’ called back a familiar voice from the kitchen.

  ‘Dad?’ Jade said, hardly believing that the father she hadn’t seen for nearly a year was now standing in the kitchen drinking a cup of tea with her granddad.

  He came over and enveloped her in a huge, tight hug. Jade could hardly breathe, but didn’t mind. He smelt just the same as she remembered. And the cut on his head had healed now, leaving an impressive scar.

  ‘You’re right! You have grown taller,’ he said, his eyes shining.

  ‘How are you here so early?’ Jade asked. ‘I thought you weren’t coming until Christmas.’

  ‘You mentioned a horse show in your letter,’ he said, grinning. ‘I didn’t want to miss that.’

  Over a celebratory dinner of fish and chips, Jade brought her dad up-to-date on all that she’d left out of her letters.

  ‘Michaela Lewis was so nice to me, Dad. And I wrote so much about her that I got an A+ for my assignment. And this,’ she said, remembering the certificate and pulling it out of her school bag.

  ‘That’s wonderful,’ her dad said, holding it back to get a better look, as if it were a work of art.

  ‘I think I like writing,’ Jade said. ‘Who knows? Maybe I’ll become a journalist like you one day. After I’ve gone to the Olympics in the New Zealand showjumping team, of course.’

  Her dad laughed, but then looked serious. ‘Unfortunately, I’m not a journalist right now, Jade. That’s something we’ll have to talk about—but not now.’

  �
�Why not now?’ Jade asked. ‘What’s wrong?’

  Jade’s granddad screwed the fish and chip paper up into a ball and took it into the kitchen.

  ‘I know you’ve got a life here now, Jade,’ her dad said. ‘That’s wonderful; I’m so glad that you could adapt and make new friends. But I really don’t think that there’s work for me as a journalist here in Flaxton.’

  ‘I can’t go back to Auckland!’ Jade cried, pre-empting her father.

  ‘I know that you don’t want to leave Pip,’ her dad said, holding her hand.

  ‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘I don’t! She’s my responsibility now.’

  ‘I know,’ her dad said, wearily. ‘I didn’t want to talk about this now. Let’s just try and enjoy ourselves until the New Year?’

  Jade was silent, staring hard at the bottle of tomato sauce in front of her on the table.

  ‘Will we really have to go back to Auckland next year?’ Jade said, trying to swallow the lump in her throat.

  ‘Maybe. I’m sorry,’ her dad said. ‘I am trying my best to sort this out, though; I really am.’

  The night before what felt like the biggest day of the year, when Jade most needed her sleep, she tossed and turned, anxiously wondering what would happen to Pip if she had to leave Flaxton.

  When her alarm went off at five-thirty the next morning, Jade felt like she hadn’t slept at all. Plaiting her hair tightly back and staring in the bathroom mirror, Jade thought her eyes looked puffy and horrible. I’ll never win the 1.10-metre jumping if I’m half-asleep, she thought.

  Pedalling to Mr White’s through the crisp morning mist, Jade began to perk up. Just thinking about the jumping and imagining the tight turns she’d have to take in the jump-off—if she even got into the jump-off—made the adrenaline flow through her body.

  Pip nuzzled Jade’s arm as she groomed her. ‘You’re psychic, aren’t you?’ Jade said, miserably. ‘You know I’m unhappy. I’m not going to tell you why, though—I don’t want to make you unhappy, too.’

  Becca’s mum had arranged to bring the truck around to Mr White’s at seven-thirty to take Jade and Pip to the show. Mr and Mrs White would follow at a more civilized hour, with Granddad and now Jade’s father too.

  ‘He’s back already?’ Becca asked excitedly, after Jade had told them about her dad’s unexpectedly early arrival.

  ‘Wow, I can’t wait to meet him—I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone who’s been in prison before,’ Becca said, without thinking.

  ‘Rebecca!’ Becca’s mum scolded. ‘Show a little sensitivity.’

  ‘It’s OK,’ Jade said quietly. ‘I’d probably be the same if it wasn’t my dad.’

  The sports grounds looked perfect when the truck rolled in to join the aisles of horse-floats in the loading area. Everywhere you looked there was greenish-yellow grass, riders wearing smart white numbers, and beautifully groomed horses.

  Pip and Dusty weren’t put to shame, though. Their riders had worked up a sweat making sure that their summer coats gleamed and that their tack was spotless.

  ‘Dusty!’ Becca shrieked, watching her mischievous pony take a large mouthful of grass just after she’d put on his bridle. A pale green trickle of chewed-up grass and saliva dribbled over the ring of Dusty’s snaffle bit. As Becca tried to mop this off, another grassy dribble fell on the sleeve of her smart blue riding jacket. ‘Mum! Dusty’s filthy!’

  Becca’s mum just laughed and said callously, ‘I told you to tie his lead rope more tightly.’

  Careful to avoid staining her own black riding jacket—a slightly ill-fitting, but sufficiently smart, hand-me-down of Abby White’s—Jade helped Becca clean up.

  The riding and paced and mannered classes were first. In the warm-up area, they met Ryan, Andy and a remote Amanda, who didn’t bother to say hello.

  ‘How’s Piper behaving today?’ Becca asked. ‘She looks gorgeous.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Andy said. ‘To be honest, she’s a bit hyped-up, with all the other horses around. Not bucking, though, so that’s something.’

  Andy had spoken too soon. In the first event, the ten- to fourteen-year-olds’ paced and mannered class, Piper’s bucking commenced as soon as the judge commanded the riders to trot. Andy pulled her pony out of the circle and took her away to calm down.

  Unfortunately, Pip had been spooked by Piper’s bucking and was distracted for the rest of the event. Dusty, on the other hand, couldn’t have looked better.

  ‘Number twelve, number three, number two and number nineteen, please come in. Thank you to the rest of you,’ the judge said.

  Jade wasn’t too disappointed as she walked to the sideline and halted next to Becca’s mum.

  ‘Becca’s in second place,’ Jade said happily.

  ‘Yes,’ said Becca’s mum, ‘but look who’s in first place. He’ll never let her hear the end of this.’

  Jade looked and saw Ryan smirking as the red ribbon was tied around his pony’s neck.

  ‘Good effort,’ he said patronizingly to Becca as they both rode over to Jade.

  ‘Thanks,’ Becca said with great restraint. ‘You rode well, too.’

  Ryan looked slightly disappointed that there was no argument, but not as disappointed as Amanda, who threw Becca a withering look.

  Andy was back with a calmed-down Piper for the riding class. When Piper was good, she was very, very good, and Jade was delighted to see Andy called into the centre first. Another number was called soon after. It was Jade’s!

  ‘Well done,’ Jade whispered, grinning at Andy as the ribbons were tied around their ponies’ necks.

  ‘I couldn’t be more pleased,’ Andy said, as they walked back to the floats to have a rest before the jumping. ‘I don’t usually like ring classes very much, but that was fun.’

  Back at Becca’s mum’s truck, Jade found her fan club.

  ‘Jolly good,’ Mr White said, seeing that each rider had a ribbon. ‘What a splendid start!’

  13

  Showjumping

  Mrs White had made a sumptuous picnic lunch, so after the ponies had been tied up, unsaddled and given some water, the girls sat down with the adults for some lime cordial, assorted club sandwiches, quiche, Cornish pasties, plums, apples, banana cake and Anzac biscuits.

  ‘Usually I’m too nervous to eat before jumping,’ Jade said, with her mouth full, ‘but this food is so good.’

  Mrs White looked pleased.

  After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, the girls and Ryan saddled up again and went with Mr White to the showjumping practice arena.

  ‘I hate it in here,’ Andy said, stroking Piper’s neck protectively. ‘Everyone’s going in different directions, and I always feel like I’m in the way of the big horses. Or someone’s in front of me and they knock the pole down before I get a chance to jump the fence.’

  Mr White laughed. ‘Well, I’m here to help in that respect. I’ll just stand in the middle, and if you want the jumps lowered or put up a few notches, say the word.’

  As Jade cantered in circles and approached the practice fence, she could see, in her peripheral vision, her dad watching from the side. She was distracted and let Pip knock the rail down.

  ‘Too flat,’ Mr White said loudly. ‘Collect her up, Jade. You can do better than that.’

  He was right and Jade knew it. The next jump Pip did was perfect.

  ‘Much better,’ Mr White said.

  Jade was concentrating so hard that she hadn’t noticed Andy going into the ring for the 80-centimetre class.

  ‘When did she walk the course?’ Jade asked Becca, as they stopped and watched her round.

  ‘Ages ago, while you were warming up,’ Becca said, giggling. ‘You’re away with the fairies, aren’t you?’

  ‘I’m just tired,’ Jade said. ‘I didn’t sleep well last night.’

  Becca was going to ask why, but they stopped talking as the bell rang and Andy cantered Piper through the start flags.

  Piper was accustomed to jumping much
larger jumps than this, but was still easily distracted by the crowd and spooked by bright colours and strange shapes. She paused dramatically as she approached the white picket fence, but Andy skillfully encouraged her pony on and they managed to finish the course with a clear round.

  More confident after the first round, Andy seemed to find the jump-off a piece of cake: she and Piper flew around in the winning time.

  ‘You’re cleaning up today,’ Jade said, reaching over and patting Piper’s neck as Andy pulled up beside them.

  ‘She’s been angelic. This is such a good note to end on.’

  ‘Look at you!’ said Kristen Lewis, who was walking past. ‘Congratulations.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Andy said. ‘It was only in the little jumping, but still, I have to start somewhere with her.’

  ‘Are you riding today?’ Jade asked Kristen.

  ‘Yeah—I’ve got the pony grand prix later on,’ Kristen said, as if it were nothing.

  ‘Wow,’ said Becca. ‘Good luck!’

  ‘Are you guys riding in the 1.10-metre class?’ Kristen asked.

  ‘Yeah,’ Jade said, trying not to sound nervous.

  ‘Cool, I’ll go and get Mum. I reckon she’d like to see you riding.’

  So, with the prospect of not just her dad and granddad watching, but Michaela Lewis too, Jade walked the 1.10-metre course grimly. The jumps looked bigger than the ones at home, and the course itself was so freshly painted and professional that Jade was already feeling guilty for knocking down the rails even though she and Pip were yet to even enter the ring.

  The double was, as usual, a little tight for Pip, Jade thought as she walked out the strides.

  Ryan was the first of the three to do his round. Riding with characteristic flair, he went clear, but too fast.

  ‘You were a bit lucky,’ Mr White said. ‘You don’t need to race in the first round.’

  ‘I don’t need to, but I like to,’ Ryan replied rudely.