“Knock it off,” I replied, shoving him hard in the arm.
Things between us were slowly getting back to normal and it certainly didn’t hurt having him around all the time but I was wary of the way he’d acted when Wizard was missing. I’d put a wall up around my heart and I wasn’t about to take it down so soon. Maybe, if things carried on the way they were, I’d put in a gate. Then, if Jordan was nice, he might get the key. Right now I was just glad that I had someone else to talk to.
“Emily, phone call,” Dad yelled from the back door.
“Phone call?” I said, pulling my cell from my pocket and seeing that there were no missed calls. “No one calls me on the land line. I don’t think anyone I know even has that number.”
“Mysterious,” Jordan said. “Maybe it’s the president of the Olympic committee calling to offer you a spot on the team.”
“Very funny,” I said. “But one day though,” I added under my breath as I walked towards the house wondering who was calling me.
I didn’t like phone calls from people I didn’t know. They were usually bad news and today had been going so well. I didn’t want anything to ruin it.
CHAPTER TWENTY
I stood there in the kitchen, holding the phone like I didn’t know what to do with it. I think I thought that if I stood there long enough holding it then I’d realize that the conversation I just had was a dream and I’d look down to find that I was naked and then wake up.
“Well?” Dad said. “What did he want?”
He stood there in the kitchen the whole time I was talking, pretending to look for something to eat in the refrigerator when I knew that he’d really been listening to everything that I’d been saying. Or hadn’t been saying. Really I didn’t do much talking at all. I just mumbled yes and thank you a couple of times and that had been it. The phone started making a buzzing noise so I put it back in the cradle.
“He said he has a horse he wants me to ride, tomorrow at his barn,” I said. “Walter Grey wants me to go and ride a horse.”
Dad closed the refrigerator door with a frown. “Why you?”
“I don’t know,” I said, feeling a little light headed. “I rode that horse for his student at the show last month and I guess he liked what he saw but I didn’t really think I’d hear from him again.”
“And I suppose you want to go,” Dad said.
“Of course I want to go,” I replied. “You said it yourself. Getting noticed by Walter Grey is a big deal. I thought you wanted that for me.”
“Well we have a lesson plan now,” Dad said. “Bluebird needs to be kept in training.”
“I’ll get up early and ride him before we go,” I said.
Dad had never been bothered about Bluebird’s training before. I don’t know why he was so interested now, unless it was because he didn’t want me to go.
“It’s okay with you if I do this, right Dad?” I said.
“Well you just got a new horse in and now you want to go running off to some other barn?” Dad said.
He sounded like a spoiled child. For the first time I got the feeling he was jealous that someone else wanted to train me.
“Cat wants to ride Sunny,” I said, trying to sound helpful.
“That would be fine,” Dad said. “If she actually knew how to ride but she doesn’t. It is going to be ages before she is competent enough to ride that horse.”
There were stomping footsteps going back up the stairs and then a door slammed. Cat had obviously been on her way down to the kitchen when she heard my father talking about her.
“Now you’ve gone and done it,” I said, heading up the stairs after my step sister. “And if you don’t want to take me, that’s fine. I’ll get Jordan to take me instead.”
“I’ll take you,” Dad called out after me but he didn’t sound very happy about being forced into a corner.
I knew he didn’t want to take me at all. I guess riding a horse at a show for another trainer was one thing but being asked to their barn was another. I didn’t know why. Dad said the more people I rode with the better. He didn’t mind me riding with Duncan and he’d said that Walter was a big deal. I figured it was just his big manly ego being crushed and went to calm Cat down before she decided that she hated horses and ran off with her boozing friends again.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Cat was lying face down on her pink bed spread, sobbing into a fluffy heart shaped pillow. I hadn’t really been in her room much since she’d moved in. She had a lot of stuff. Clothes all tumbling out of the closet because there weren’t enough hangers for them. A big pile of makeup on her dresser. A laptop that was so new it still had the stickers on it. She didn’t have a job and my parents were broke. Where had she got money for all the stuff? I really hoped she hadn’t stolen it and I didn’t want to start accusing her of things before I knew the facts but it looked bad. Still, I was supposed to be making her feel better, not worse.
“He didn’t mean it,” I said as I sat next to Cat on the bed. “He’s just mad at me, that’s all.”
“Why is he mad at you?” Cat said, sitting up and wiping her face on her sleeve. It left a big black mark on the white fabric.
“Because some other trainer wants me to go and ride for them tomorrow,” I said with a sigh.
“So?” Cat said.
“I don’t know. I think he’s jealous. I don’t know why.”
The wall behind Cat’s bed was covered in posters of her favorite actors and singers and in between them was a snapshot of Phoenix, his fluffy foal mane standing up in the breeze as he looked directly at the camera. Maybe she did really like horses after all. It made me feel guilty that I hadn’t been better about sharing them with her.
“He doesn’t want to lose you,” Cat said, sniffing.
“It’s just for one day.” I shrugged. “Besides, he was the one who said it would be good for my career.”
“Sounds like trainer dad and real dad want different things then,” Cat said sadly.
“Well both dads need to come to some agreement that doesn’t leave me trapped in the middle,” I said. “And listen, I already told him that Sunny would be a great horse for you to ride and I want you to help me take care of her, okay?”
“Really?” Cat said, sniffing again. “You’re not just saying that because you want me to watch the horses tomorrow while you’re gone.”
Cat was catching on fast to life on the farm. I shook my head and smiled.
“Of course I want you to watch the horses while I’m gone,” I told her. “And I want you to ride Sunny but not tomorrow okay? Not when no one is around.”
“I’m never going to get to ride, am I,” she said, flopping back on the bed again.
“Of course you are,” I said, realizing I was doing the same thing my father did, making empty promises. “Put your boots on and I’ll give you a lesson right now.”
“Really?” Cat said.
“Really. Come on. It will be fun.”
I stood up and held out my hand. Cat grabbed it and I pulled her up. She may have been my new big sister but when it came to riding, I was the one who was in charge.
“And blow your nose,” I told her. “There is no crying in horse riding.”
I smiled to myself as I ran down the stairs and out into the sunny afternoon, Esther’s words still ringing in my ears. She always used to say there was no crying in horse riding. It made me miss her and Harlow. I had to figure out how I was going to get him back. I didn’t have a plan but maybe if Walter paid me to catch ride some more of his horses, I would have a way to get him back.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Cat flopped around in the saddle like a sack of potatoes, just like I knew she would. I’d ridden Sunny first because the mare was in a new place and I didn’t know how she was going to react but she had been perfectly well behaved and I was more than comfortable putting my sister up on her back, even if I did clip the lunge line on just for good measure. After all, you couldn’t be too careful.
“I can
’t get this posting thing,” Cat said as she bumped up and down. “How long does it take?”
“As long as it does,” I told her. “But once you get it, you’ll never forget. It will become like second nature.”
“I think I’m trying too hard,” she said.
“I think you are right,” I told her. “Close your eyes.”
“What?” She shrieked.
“It’s okay, I’ve got you. I want you to feel the rhythm of the horse beneath you. The rhythmic two beat of her legs as they swing beneath her and just sit in the saddle. Don’t try to post. Just relax and feel her trot beneath you. And try not to bounce,” I added as Cat nearly bounced out of the saddle. “Can you feel it?”
“I think so,” she said, her face scrunched up and eyes closed.
“Good,” I said. “Now think about rising and falling to the beat with your back straight, looking ahead, scooting your butt up and down in the saddle. Not too high mind you, just a little, just enough.”
I watched my sister try it a few times. Her bounces getting worse until she almost bounced out of the saddle again.
“That’s okay,” I told her. “Sit for a few paces and then try again.”
Sunny was being the most patient horse in the whole world as I asked her to trot in a circle around me. She was the perfect lesson horse, completely unfazed by the fact that Cat didn’t know what she was doing at all. I loved her already and I didn’t even care if she could jump or not.
“All right, now try again,” I said.
And this time, like a light bulb had been switched on in Cat’s head, she got it. She was posting.
“I’m doing it,” she cried. “I’m totally doing it.”
“Great job,” I told her. I didn’t add that she was posting on the wrong diagonal because that sort of thing could wait.
As the sun started to set, my step sister trotted round the ring, the reins held correctly in her hands and a big grin on her face, posting her way around and around and never getting tired even though I knew her butt and legs had to be killing her. She would be really sore tomorrow.
“That was awesome,” she said when I finally asked Sunny to walk. “Can you teach me again tomorrow, please?”
She looked so eager, so happy. I didn’t want to ruin it for her.
“If I have time,” I said. “I have to work Bluebird before I go to Walter’s barn.”
“Oh, okay,” she said, slithering to the ground.
“But maybe when I get back, alright?”
“Okay,” she said brightly. “And I’m going to groom Sunny anyway and give her a haircut and make her look all pretty.”
“She already looks pretty,” I said, looking with a slight pang of envy at the beautiful horse that stood before us.
“I know,” Cat said. “But she came from a place where she wasn’t wanted and I want to let her know that she is wanted after all.”
I walked back to the barn, realizing that there was a lot I didn’t know about Cat and that sometimes she could really surprise me. I also got the feeling that she was projecting her own feelings onto the chestnut horse. Maybe she was the one who thought that if she was pretty and wore makeup and nice clothes then she would fit in too. And the stuff in her room still worried me. Where had it all come from?
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
I worked Bluebird quickly and efficiently the next morning, going over one of the lesson plans that Duncan had laid out for us. It involved working on roll backs and Dad already had the jumps set up for them. I cantered Bluebird over the vertical and turned him in the air to save time, circling back around to jump the small oxer. Bluebird was good at roll backs. He was quick on his feet and nimble. It was the large horses who made the wide turns and lost time. We didn’t. I patted my pony’s neck when we were done.
“Sorry I can’t take you for a trail ride,” I told him. “But I have to go to a fancy barn and ride a horse for Walter Grey. Can you believe it? Walter Grey wants me to ride for him!”
Even as I said the words, I couldn't quite believe them. There were a lot of talented riders out there and most of them rode with Walter. He had his pick of the best. Anyone in his stable could ride a horse of his without question and yet he’d called on me. I knew I was good but so were a lot of other girls. I used to believe that I was talented and I was but I wasn’t as extra special as I thought I was. I’d seen other girls at shows doing things that I could do. Sometimes doing things better than I could. I was good but I wasn’t great. Not yet anyway. Maybe Walter thought he could make me great. Or maybe he just felt sorry for me. Either way I was about to find out.
“You ready?” Dad said as I went into the kitchen to grab some breakfast.
“I’m ready,” I said. “Are you?”
His dislike of Walter Grey was something I hadn’t expected. He’d been so happy that I’d been noticed by him that I couldn’t understand why he’d completely changed his mind.
“Is there something about Walter that I should know?” I said. “Is he one of those shady trainers who does bad things to his horses or something?”
“All trainers are shady,” Dad said. “They are worse than used car salesmen.”
“You think that Walter wants to sell me a horse?” I sat down. “Because that won’t work.”
“No, I don’t know what he is up to,” Dad said. “But I guess we’ll find out today.”
I suddenly didn’t feel as excited about my super opportunity to ride with a big name trainer and I was kind of mad that my father had taken that away from me.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Walter was renting a barn about two hours away from us. Dad complained the whole way there about the gas money and the inconvenience but I reminded him that Jordan had said he would be more than happy to take me and so he stopped complaining, for a little while at least anyway. The downside was that it was too far for my father to leave me and then come back and pick me up later, which meant he would be standing there the whole time, watching me ride with Walter and criticizing everything that he was telling me to do inside his head.
I sat in the back of the truck with my laptop, catching up on school work. It was nice that I could do my work whenever I wanted and wasn’t stuck inside a classroom all day listening to teacher’s drone on and on about things I didn’t even care about. This way I could pick my own classes, do them at my own pace and the way things were going, I would graduate when I was sixteen. That meant that I’d be riding full time from then on.
No more nights spent doing schoolwork until well after midnight. No more taking my laptop to shows and furiously typing reports between classes when I could have been catch riding other people’s horses. It was a life of freedom and I couldn’t wait to be free. It was also the only thing stopping my mother from forcing me to go back to real school. But that wasn’t the only thing she was unhappy about. She’d been there yesterday when Cat and I came back into the kitchen, Cat still giddy from her ride and her new found posting skill, my face flushed from Cat telling me that I was a really good teacher.
“What were you girls doing out there?” Mom had said, her face pale.
It was clear that she had been watching us from the kitchen window, just waiting for us to come back in so that she could show her disapproval.
“Riding,” Cat said proudly. “I was riding. And I learned to post.”
I had waited for my mother to tell her that she was doing a good job. That posting was hard and mastering that skill was a great accomplishment. I knew that the thrill was almost as good as learning to canter or jumping for the first time. It stayed with you. It was something you didn’t forget. Like riding a bike.
“I don’t want you riding, Cat,” Mom said. “I’ve told you before and your father wouldn’t want you riding either.”
“Well he’s not here,” Cat said. “And you’re not my real mother.”
Mom took a step back until she was pressed against the counter. She clutched it like it was holding her up.
&nbs
p; “How dare you speak to me like that?” Mom said, her voice loud and angry.
It was the first time I’d heard her raise her voice in a really long time. The first time anything had got a reaction out of her. I knew that she was depressed. Her eyes had that dead look for far too long. It was why I’d tried to ignore the fact that she seemed to pretend I didn’t exist and how I’d tried not to be hurt that she hadn’t cared when I was sick. But now it turned out that she did care, only she cared more about Cat than she did about me.
“Emily is who you should be worried about,” Cat said. “She is standing right here next to me. Your real daughter.” She looped her arm through mine.
“Emily is a lost cause,” my mother said, looking down her nose at me. “She doesn’t listen to a word I say.”
“I do Mom,” I tried. “Just not when you say I should give up horses.”
“And I’m not giving them up either,” Cat said.
We stood there, two sisters defiant who weren’t related by blood but who had found a common ground, one that in the end turned our mother against us. She shook her head sadly like we’d just told her we were addicted to drugs and left the room.
“She doesn’t get it, does she,” Cat said. “I know your sister died riding but that doesn’t mean she has to hate all horses forever.”
“You’re wasting your breath,” I said. “I’ve tried for years but she’s never going to change. She was okay when I first started riding again. She even came to the barn and talked to my trainer. Then she met your father and it all went wrong. I thought she might come around to this life again but now I don’t think that she ever will.”
“Do you think she’ll leave?” Cat said. “I know she’s not the best but I do like having a mother.”
“I think she might be happier if she did leave,” I said. “And I liked having Missy as a mother. That didn’t turn out so well in the end. Maybe we’re better off without them.”
Catch Rider (Show Jumping Dreams ~ Book 28) Page 5