CATCH RIDER
BY
CLAIRE SVENDSEN
Copyright © 2016 Claire Svendsen
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission of the Author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, places or events is purely coincidental.
Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY ONE
CHAPTER FORTY TWO
CHAPTER FORTY THREE
CHAPTER FORTY FOUR
CHAPTER FORTY FIVE
CHAPTER FORTY SIX
CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN
CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT
CHAPTER FORTY NINE
CHAPTER FIFTY
CHAPTER FIFTY ONE
CHAPTER FIFTY TWO
CHAPTER FIFTY THREE
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CHAPTER ONE
I stood there looking at the familiar black face and soft mane as the sun set. Wizard was right in front of me. He’d been at the show all along. I’d found him and this time I wasn’t going to let him go. But there was a shiny silver lock hanging on the front of his stall. I couldn’t get it open. What kind of person would lock a horse in their stall and just leave? What if he got sick and no one could get to him?
I pulled out my phone to call Jordan. I had to tell him that his horse was here. That I’d found him. I knew that it wouldn’t make up for losing him but Wizard seemed okay. I couldn’t see anything wrong with him. His coat was just as dark and shiny as it had ever been.
But someone was coming, there were footsteps on the dry, crunchy grass behind me. I ran around the corner of the row of stalls and crouched in the dim light, heart pounding. I didn’t think they’d seen me. I peered around the corner and saw the back of a tall, stocky man. He looked at Wizard and then looked up and down like he was checking no one was watching him. Then he sat on a folding chair and crossed his arms like he was on guard.
I ran back to my own horses, the phone ringing in my ear, begging Jordan to pick up and not make me leave a message. If the roles had been reversed, then I knew that I wouldn’t have answered. I would have made him leave a message but apparently he wasn’t as petty as I was and he answered on the fifth ring.
“Jordan?” I said breathlessly.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, concern in his voice.
“Nothing,” I said. “I’ve found Wizard. He’s here at the show grounds, locked in a stall. I can’t get him out so you have to come. Some big guy is keeping watch.”
“Where are you?” he said.
I told him and begged him to hurry. If they decided to leave I wasn’t sure I could stop them. That big guy could easily swat me like a fly. I wouldn’t stand a chance. I just hoped that Jordan would make it in time.
“I know that you probably don’t like me very much anymore,” I said before he hung up. “But I want you to know that I’m sorry.”
“Of course I still like you,” he said. “Just don’t let them leave with my horse.”
“Should I call the police?” I said.
“Wait until I get there,” he said. “You don’t want to spook them. They might hurt Wizard.”
“Okay,” I said.
I waited by my stalls, time ticking away slowly. What if they left already? I couldn’t let them take Wizard again. I crept back to the stalls, hoping no one would see me but the guy wasn’t sitting on his chair anymore. He was pulling up with a truck and trailer. He was going to load up Wizard and take him away before Jordan even arrived. I had to do something. I had to stop him. But how?
CHAPTER TWO
I wasn’t prone to brazen acts of courage like Faith. Lying down in front of a truck and trailer? Knowing my luck, the guy would just drive over me, unlike my father who had actually stopped for Faith and given in to her demands. I would be a squashed corpse in the sand by the time Jordan came to find me.
The guy let the ramp down on the trailer. It was dirty inside, piles of manure in the thin layer of shavings. He hadn’t even bothered to clean it out. He grabbed a ratty looking nylon halter and a frayed lead rope and unlocked Wizard’s stall.
“Come here you brute,” he said as he went inside.
There was the sound of hooves, clattering against the bare floor and a smack as the guy’s hand hit Wizard’s flesh. Jordan’s horse was putting up a fight. He wasn’t about to go with the horrible man and for that I was glad. It would buy us time until Jordan got here but when he did, I wasn’t sure what he was going to do. How was he going to stop this man who weighed almost twice as much as he did? I wished he’d let me call the cops.
My phone was still clutched in my hand. I’d memorized the tag on the trailer and the description of the man. If he drove off, I was calling the police and there was nothing Jordan could do to stop me because what did he expect me to do, run after them?
Wizard sprung out of the stall, dragging the man with him. He reared, steel shoes flashing really close to the guy’s head. The man wasn’t impressed. He had a crop and he hit Wizard with it, the snap ringing out through the quiet showgrounds. Everyone else had gone. I couldn’t see anyone around that would help. I willed Jordan to drive faster but not so fast that he had an accident.
“Get in there you stupid horse,” the man said.
He was trying to load Wizard into the trailer but the black horse was having none of it. He planted his feet at the edge of the ramp and then darted backwards, almost pulling the guy off his feet. It had turned into a tug of war that the man was never going to win. He used the crop again, beating Wizard but that only made the black horse mad. He pinned his ears and pawed at the ground, sweat beading his coat, sweat that was flecked with blood because the stupid guy had hit him so hard that he’d broken his skin.
It was starting to get dark. The man and the horse battled on. A war of wits and strength but Wizard had the man beat on both accounts. There was no way Wizard was ever going into that trailer. It didn’t matter if
the guy beat him until he was dead. It just wasn’t going to happen. Not now. Not ever.
He tried leading Wizard away and then running him in. Tried coaxing him with food but it was too late for that now. Wizard was upset and flustered and he didn’t understand what the man wanted from him and probably didn’t like him very much either. After all, he’d just received more of a beating than he’d probably had in his whole life.
I stood in the shadows trying not to cry. I felt bad for Wizard. My heart ached. I didn’t want to stand by and watch him get hurt but the fact that he was fighting back meant that the guy couldn’t take him away and that meant maybe he’d still be here when Jordan arrived. Besides, what else could I do? Jump in front of the guy and have him hit me as well? I needed reinforcements. I needed someone to come and help. Only Jordan didn’t get to the showgrounds first, my father did, calling out my name in the darkness.
“Emily, where are you?”
And I ran to him because I knew my dad would stop the guy from taking Wizard away.
CHAPTER THREE
“Dad, there is a guy. He’s got Wizard. He’s beating him. You have to come and help. He’s trying to load him in a trailer. Please. Hurry.”
My words came out in gasps. I’d run the whole way back to our stalls, tripping and falling but not even caring that there were now stones lodged in my bleeding hands. I couldn’t feel anything but desperation.
“Where?” Dad said. “Show me.”
We ran back to the other stalls and the whole time I was hoping beyond hope that the guy hadn’t finally broken Wizard and forced him into that dirty trailer. Even though I had the tag number and the description, there was still no guarantee of finding them once he drove away.
But when we got there, Wizard was standing with his head down. The guy had found a stud chain, wrapped it under Wizard’s lips and around his gums and was pulling the reluctant horse into the trailer. There was blood in the corners of his mouth and his eyes had gone dull. He’d given up but we hadn’t given up on him. We wouldn’t let the man take him. Not now my father was here.
“What do you think you are doing with that horse?” Dad said, striding over like he owned the place.
I followed behind him, his shadow. Glad that he was here to protect me. I liked to think I could do anything but taking on a man like the one who was stealing Wizard wasn’t exactly something I could handle on my own.
“That is none of your business,” the man said, spit flying out of his mouth as he spoke.
“It is my business because that horse is stolen,” Dad said.
The man let out a sort of snorting laugh. “He is not. I bought him fair and square. Have the papers too.”
“Can I see them?” Dad said.
“No,” the man replied. “I don’t know you and I don’t owe you anything. I told you I bought the horse and that is that. It’s nothing to do with you.”
I nudged Dad, handing him one of the flyers that I’d brought to the show.
“You mean to tell me that you haven’t seen these?” Dad said, shoving the flyer in the guy's face. “They’ve been plastered over the show grounds all day.”
The guy snatched the paper and looked at it before crumpling it up and throwing it on the ground.
“Anyone can print up a flyer,” he said. “That doesn’t prove a thing.”
“That horse belongs to my friend,” I said, finally finding my voice. “He escaped from our farm and has been missing for weeks. There is a police report and everything and now I’m going to call them right now and tell them that you were the one who stole him.”
The guy’s face turned red. “I really didn’t steal him. I bought him today. Cash deal. The woman wouldn’t even give me a receipt,” he said. “You don’t need to call the cops. I didn’t know he was stolen.”
The fact that he changed his tune so quickly made me wonder how many other horses he’d bought like this and how many of them might have also been stolen.
“This woman, what did she look like?” Dad said.
“I don’t know,” the guy said. “She had a hat and sunglasses on. Looked like she didn’t want to be identified any more than I do.”
He shoved the lead rope into my hands. I grabbed it and pulled the chain out of Wizard’s mouth, stroking his face. He was shaking now, all his fight gone. I guess he did have a limit after all. He wasn’t a mean horse. He wasn’t going to fight the guy to death. In the end he gave up for his own safety and it was just as well, one ill placed blow and the guy could have wiped out Wizard’s eye.
“It’s okay boy,” I said. “You’ll be okay.”
“We still have to call the cops,” Dad said.
“I’d rather you didn’t.” The guy was backing away from us, already putting up the ramp to his trailer.
“Well don’t you want your money back? Don’t you want the woman who sold him to you under false pretenses arrested?” Dad asked him.
“I’ll chalk it up to a bad experience,” the guy said. “Live and learn.”
He was getting nervous and restless. He was going to leave and we’d never find out who had stolen Wizard and I needed to know.
“Was it a girl?” I called out desperately. “A girl about my age with long hair and a pointed nose?”
“No.” He shook his head. “She was a middle aged woman, about your age.” He pointed to my dad. “She was short and she had a tattoo of a horse or a unicorn on her arm. That’s it. That’s all I remember.”
He was in the truck and gone before we could ask him anything else.
“We should have called the police,” I said. “Now we’ll never know.”
“Does it really matter?” Dad said.
“Yes,” I replied. “I want someone to pay for what happened to Wizard.”
“Just be thankful that we got him back at all,” Dad said.
CHAPTER FOUR
Jordan arrived after everything was over, his motorbike roaring onto the show grounds like an angry bear. Dad had called the cops while I put Wizard in a stall and tried to tend to his wounds as best I could with the emergency kit we kept in the trailer. He was shivering and I’d put Arion’s sheet on him, even though it was a bit small.
The cops hadn’t seemed too bothered. They took down the description of the guy, his truck and his trailer and I think Dad was impressed that I actually memorized the tag number. The police said they would look into the matter. I somehow doubted that they would. They weren’t even going to bother and come out now that we had the horse in custody and the perpetrator had fled the scene. At least that was what they said anyway.
“Is he okay?” Jordan asked as he rushed to the stall.
“He’s fine,” I said. “Well as fine as can be expected. That guy really beat him but Wizard wouldn’t get in the trailer.”
“That’s my boy,” Jordan said, patting the horse on the neck.
I wanted to remind him that he was the one who wanted to sell Wizard in the first place but I knew this wasn’t the time or the place. Besides, maybe he’d changed his mind now.
“Can he come back to your farm?” Jordan said. “I can’t take him back home. Mom and I are not exactly on speaking terms right now.”
“I don’t see why not,” I said. “Oscar left today so we have an extra stall but you’d better ask my dad just to be sure.”
“I will,” he said. “And Emily, thanks.”
He put his hand on my arm and I smiled but inside I was thinking that he’d blamed me for Wizard’s disappearance. I knew that I’d played a small part, after all it had been our farm but that didn’t mean it was my fault. What else would he blame me for if we continued to hang out? Was he the kind of guy who pointed the finger and held grudges? I didn’t think I could handle that but I just smiled and nodded and pretended that everything was back to normal like he thought that it was.
We took our three horses home, Arion and Bluebird both tired and proud of themselves and Wizard hurt and confused. I wanted to know what had happened to hi
m. Where had he been all that time? He couldn’t have been at the show grounds ever since the storm. He had to have been somewhere else, kept in a back barn or a paddock that was hidden from sight. At least he looked like they’d been feeding him, his weight was good and his mane and tail weren’t tangled. It was only the guy with the whip who had hurt Jordan’s horse and I knew we’d probably never see him again.
“You found him!” Cat ran out to us in the dark as we unloaded the horses. “Oh I just knew you would.”
“Emily found him,” Jordan said, looking smug.
“It was luck.” I shrugged because really it had been.
If I hadn’t wanted that last cup of coffee, if I hadn’t declined Rose’s offer of a ride, then I never would have stumbled across the black horse in the dark stall.
“Is he okay?” she said, looking worried.
“He took a beating,” Jordan said. “But he’ll be okay.”
We settled Wizard into a stall with a fluffy bed of shavings and cleaned his wounds with warm water and a soft rag. Then I put ointment on them so that he looked like some kind of war horse, all painted up and ready for battle, the white stark against his black coat.
“I’m so sorry that happened to you,” I told him as I hugged his neck. “But you’ll be better in no time at all. Don’t you worry.”
I left him to settle in my show horses, worried that he wasn’t interested in eating the generous pile of hay that I had thrown in his stall for him.
“Do you think he should see the vet?” I asked Dad. “We don’t know what has happened to him. They could have drugged him or done anything to him.”
“We’ll keep an eye on him,” Dad said. “But I think he’ll be okay.”
“Alright,” I replied, still worried.
Jordan didn’t seem worried though. He left looking happier than I’d seen him in weeks and promised to return the next morning to check up on Wizard. I put Bluebird and Arion out in their field, apologizing to them that they didn’t have stalls to go in tonight. Hashtag trotted over with a squeal and they all sniffed noses and butts just like dogs before galloping off into the darkness.
Catch Rider (Show Jumping Dreams ~ Book 28) Page 1