Jump Off (Show Jumping Dreams ~ Book 22)

by Claire Svendsen

  “Bridget.”

  Trevor pulled out the first name. Bridget gave a little yelp like a puppy that’d had its tail stepped on. Valerie was next. Then Jess and Andy. We were last to go.

  “Oh man,” Andy said as we all moved out of the way. “You are so lucky.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” I said. “It won’t change anything. I know what I have to do.”

  “So do I,” he said. “But it still doesn’t hurt to know if you have any clear rounds to beat.”

  “Of course there will be clear rounds to beat,” I said. “We’re the best of the best. We don’t go around knocking down fences if we can help it.”

  But that was exactly what Bridget did. I don’t know if she just froze, if she hadn’t walked the course properly or if it was just a combination of the two. She had the third fence down, a rather wide oxer with wooden cutouts made to look like the New York City skyline beneath it and after that it was like she lost her nerve. She tried to get her horse focused but she was trying too hard and by the time she had finished she had racked up twelve faults. She came out of the ring looking crestfallen.

  “Don’t worry,” Valerie said as she rode past. “I won’t do much better.”

  “I so wanted to impress them,” Bridget said.

  “You did,” I said. “It’s not always all about winning.”

  “That’s okay for you to say, you probably always win,” she said.

  “I’ve had my fair share of non-blue ribbons,” I said.

  “Oh you came second a few times? Poor you,” Bridget said.

  I thought of the lovely purple ribbon that Four had picked up at our last show but I didn’t say anything. I knew that Bridget was just lashing out because she was mad about her round. And Valerie wasn’t doing much better. She had the same fence down that Bridget had and of course now we all thought that the jump was a bogey, a cursed fence that we would all knock over no matter how well we jumped it. She managed to hold it together until the last fence and then came in a little deep and clipped the top rail, finishing with eight faults.

  “So much for a jump off,” Andy said.

  “You haven’t seen anything yet,” Jess said.

  She rode Valor into the ring with confidence where the others had gone in already looking afraid and defeated and they attacked the course as only someone as self-centered as Jess could. For a moment I thought they’d have the New York jump down too. Valor bobbled on take-off but somehow managed to scramble over it, the top rail wobbling in its cups as Valor clipped it but it didn’t fall.

  “Lucky,” Andy said as Jess and her horse cantered on.

  “Not just lucky,” I said. “She does have talent. It’s just that sometimes she gets in her own way.”

  “Well she doesn’t look in her own way today,” Andy said.

  “No,” I replied. “She doesn’t.”

  And Jess was our first clear.

  “You can do this,” I told Andy as he gathered up his reins. “I have faith in you.”

  “Thanks,” he said with a crooked grin. “I’m not scared.”

  “You should be,” Jess said as she trotted out of the ring. “That course is harder than it looks.”

  “Andy can do it,” I told her.

  “We’ll see,” she said.

  Andy and Mousse attacked the course with the same aggression that Jess and Valor had but Mousse was a softer, gentler horse. He didn’t have a heart of solid steel like Valor did and even though Andy rode him well, I could see that the gray horse was struggling. When he came through the double I could already tell that he was never going to make it over the second fence. They completely crashed through it, the rail clattering to the ground. Andy made a nice recovery, patting Mousse to let him know that it was okay and giving him the confidence to finish the rest of the difficult course clean but they still walked out with four faults.

  “That was bad luck,” I said.

  “No, it was my fault,” Andy replied. “I set him up wrong. That double is tight. Watch out for it.”

  “I will,” I said, my heart fluttering a little now that I knew it was my turn.

  “You’ve got this,” he said.

  “I know,” I replied with a grin.

  CHAPTER FIFTY THREE

  We trotted into the ring. Socks was fresh, his ears pricked as he looked around at the course. He was as excited as I was. As excited as Bluebird would have been and I knew that the course would have been tough for my pony but I also knew that he wouldn’t have let me down. As I touched my helmet and nodded to the trainers who today were our judges, I hoped that Socks wouldn’t let me down either.

  We made a circle, cantering towards the first jump and for a moment I felt nervous. I had to do well. I had to win. I had to beat Jess. All those thoughts flashing through my head made me tense up but then I remembered that I’d promised myself to have fun. I wasn’t going to ruin my chances by getting all worked up about winning or losing or impressing people. I was just going to keep doing what I loved best, riding and jumping and having the time of my life.

  Socks powered over the first two jumps easily. We were coming up fast on the third, the bogey jump. Jess and Valor had made it. Andy also got lucky. Would we be lucky too? I gave Socks his head and a little extra leg and popped over it like it was a cross rail out in the schooling ring.

  “Good boy,” I said, giving him a slick pat with my glove.

  With each fence I felt my heart lift. It was fun out there. Freeing. I wasn’t thinking about all the other things that were going wrong in my life, my only thoughts were the beats of my horse’s hooves beneath me and the jumps as they came into view and then disappeared beneath us. We made it through the double where Andy had trouble and were coming down to the final fences but I knew we were invincible. We had it in the bag. And we thundered over the last fence clear.

  “Good boy.”

  I dropped the reins so that Socks wouldn’t decide to bolt out of the ring and ruin a beautiful moment and patted his neck. Great big pats that let him know he was a super star. He arched his neck and pranced out of the ring.

  I caught a look on Jess’s face out of the corner of my eye. A look that said that shouldn’t have happened. But it had and now Jess and I were going to have to jump off against each other. Socks and Valor battling it out in front of some very important trainers. But either way we’d proven that we belonged there and I just couldn’t stop smiling.

  CHAPTER FIFTY FOUR

  The jump off course was seven fences in quick succession. It would suit Socks’ speedy nature. It wasn’t quite as good for Valor who was a bigger horse and not as nimble but I knew that we’d both give it our best shot.

  “Good luck,” Jess said.

  “Same to you,” I replied but where I meant it, her words did not ring true.

  There was no way she wanted me to beat her. This was the ultimate showdown. But I didn’t feel the pressure at all. All I felt was happy. I leaned on Socks’ neck and hugged him tight.

  “You’ve been the best boy ever,” I told him. “And I know you like to go fast so give it your best shot and I’ll hang on for the ride.”

  Jess didn’t say anything to Valor. She didn’t pat him or give him any words of encouragement. She just tightened her girth an extra hole and rode back into the ring.

  “Does that girl even have one ounce of feelings in her entire body?” Andy whispered.

  “Oh she has feelings,” I whispered back. “Just not the good kind.”

  Jess blazed around the shortened course like her life depended on it, Valor’s hooves shaking the ground as the big horse took on the fences. Jess was fast and she was determined but she was also sloppy. The closer they got to the end, the faster she urged her horse on. For one moment I thought they were going to make it but they came to the final jump at a flat out gallop and Jess never helped Valor up off his forehand so that he could round his back over the fence. He jumped it flat, knocking the top rail.

  “So close,” Andy said, s
haking his head. “It’s all yours, jumper queen.”

  “We’ll do our best,” I said. “Won’t we Socks?”

  He shook his head and cantered into the ring. He knew this was a jump off. He knew it was what he was best at. He was ready and so was I.

  CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE

  In a jump off Bluebird was always my number one choice. I knew that I could count on him to be fast and quick and make tighter turns than the bigger horses could. He’d shave seconds off where it counted. But Socks was fast. He would have been my second choice and here he was, ready to go.

  Seven jumps sounded like a lifetime but as we took on the first and made our way around the course it was like time stood still and there was only Socks and me, taking on the fences, his ears pricked and a grin on my face that I just couldn’t shake.

  I knew we were faster than Jess and Valor but I also knew that I wasn’t about to blow it at the last fence like she’d done.

  “Steady boy,” I said, setting him up for that final fence, an airy white vertical with shallow cups.

  And then we were over it, clear in our jump off in front of people who really mattered.

  I patted Socks on the neck, tears of happiness filling my eyes but I blinked them away because I knew that I had to act professional and professionals didn’t cry and hug their horse like they were five years old.

  But as I got back to the group and they were all congratulating me I hugged Socks anyway. I didn’t care if they thought I was a sentimental fool because I was and if you didn’t love the horse you rode then what was the point?

  “You did it!” Andy said, slapping me on the back. “You won.”

  “Yes, congratulations,” Jess said, her face set in a frown.

  “Thanks,” I said. “I guess that makes up for you poisoning my pony.”

  I wasn’t going to say anything. I’d made my mind up to just let it go but the words slipped out. Everyone looked at me and then at Jess. Bridget laughed like it was some kind of joke but then fell silent when she realized that it wasn’t.

  “He lived, didn’t he?” Jess said.

  Then she walked away.

  CHAPTER FIFTY SIX

  I left the clinic with a packet inviting me to go and train in Europe with Hilton Myers next year, a place on the Junior Olympic team and the knowledge that I’d been right about Jess all along. There had never been a nice Jess, only one who realized it was easier to stab people in the back if they thought you were nice. She hadn’t said anything else and I knew I’d never get my proof. She’d say that it was a prank. Of course she never poisoned Bluebird. She was joking. Messing around. Pulling my leg. But her words hung in my head. He hadn’t died but she wouldn’t have cared if he had. She was eliminating the competition and it hadn’t worked. I’d still been invited to the clinic and I’d still beaten her even without my pony and she couldn’t take that away from me.

  “Did you have a good weekend?” Henry asked.

  “The best,” I said with a happy sigh but I wished that Missy had come to get me instead of our head groom.

  He’d shown up with the trailer instead of Missy. At first I was worried but he said that she’d been putting together a picnic for later and they were going to announce the foal’s name. Mickey was helping her arrange it. I was glad that she was doing something that I’d been putting off but also worried. She said she would come and get me. That she wanted to know all about how I’d done and I was worried that things at home had taken a turn for the worse.

  But back at Fox Run it didn’t seem like Missy had any time to feel sad or sorry for herself. There were three long tables set out in the shade with food and balloons and streamers tied to the trees. Socks spooked at them as I unloaded him, his eyes bugging out of his head as the balloons bobbed and swayed in the breeze.

  “It’s okay,” I told him. “Don’t have a cow. You’re home now, safe and sound.”

  I put him in his stall and ran to check on Bluebird. My pony let out a throaty nicker when he saw me and I dashed into his stall and threw my arms around his neck.

  “Oh Bluebird, I missed you so much,” I cried. “Are you okay?”

  He seemed fine and probably happier to see his carrots than to actually see me.

  “Are you going to come out some time this century?” Mickey asked.

  “Hey,” I said, coming out of the stall and dabbing my eyes. “Was all this your idea?”

  “Sort of,” she said. “But Missy said she was sick of the foal not having a name and now that he is staying we’d better jolly well get on and pick one.”

  “Great,” I said, looping my arm through hers. “And guess what? I beat Jess. You should have seen her face.”

  “I bet it looked like this,” Mickey said, scrunching hers up into an ugly frown.

  “Pretty much,” I replied.

  I didn’t tell her about Jess’s spontaneous admission of guilt. It was almost like a dream. Like it hadn’t happened at all. If other people hadn’t heard it too, I wouldn’t have believed it had happened myself.

  “We won,” I told Missy, rushing over and hugging her. “We beat Jess and got on the team and we’re going to Europe next year to train.”

  “That’s great,” she said.

  But I thought her voice sounded wobbly.

  “Is everything okay?” I asked.

  “Everything is fine,” she said, her smile back in place.

  But her eyes said that everything wasn’t fine only I couldn’t talk to her about it in front of everyone and I desperately wanted to know what was going on.

  CHAPTER FIFTY SEVEN

  A lot of our students and most of our boarders had come out to see the foal named. They devoured the hot dogs and the burgers that Dad had cooked on the grill and when everyone was full, Mickey brought out a cake in the shape of a foal that her mom had made.

  “Should we go and get him?” I asked Missy.

  “Why not,” she said. “We have to make it official.”

  We brought the foal up to the gathering, Chantilly and Bandit in tow. He wasn’t fazed by the people or the balloons and he tried to stick his little nose in the frosting and eat the cake.

  “Hey, that is for people,” Mickey scolded, pushing him away. “Not foals.”

  Missy held up a bucket. “We have gathered here today to name a very special little foal,” she said. “One that probably wouldn’t be here without a lot of help from a lot of people.”

  Everyone clapped and the foal jumped and snorted.

  “And that is why we invited all of you to help us name him because he is not just our foal, he is everyone’s foal. Emily? Would you like to do the honors?”

  Missy held out the bucket.

  “For goodness sake let Mickey do it before she explodes.” I pointed to my best friend who was hopping about on one leg like she had to pee.

  Mickey rushed over with a big grin on her face. She stuck her hand in the bucket and closed her eyes, making a big deal of swirling her hand around and around. Then she finally pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.

  “And the foal’s new name is,” she said, unfolding it. “Phoenix.”

  Everyone cheered and I just breathed a sigh of relief. I’d been so afraid that his name would end up being Jelly Doughnut or something. And Phoenix suited him. He’d risen from the ashes and he sure liked to blaze around the field like his tail was on fire.

  “Phoenix, I like it,” Dad said nodding.

  And it seemed everyone was pleased with the name even though no one would admit who picked it.

  “I bet it was Missy,” Mickey said. “It sounds like the kind of name she would choose, don’t you think?”

  “Maybe.” I shrugged.

  And everyone played with the foal for ages until they got tired and he got tired and tried to lie down on Mickey’s lap.

  “He’ll crush you,” I said.

  “I don’t care.” She laughed as the foal half laid on her.

  And as the picnic died down and people started to
leave, I sat there in the shade watching my best friend play with my foal and reliving the glory that had been beating Jess and I couldn’t have asked for a better end to a better day.

  “I’m glad you had such a great time,” Missy said as she came and sat down next to me.

  “Thanks,” I said. “Are you sure you are okay? You seem a bit off.”

  Missy was quiet for a moment and then she said, “I’m leaving.”

  THE END

  COMING SOON

  SHOW JUMPING DREAMS #23: DARK HORSE

  Emily and Socks showed everyone at the Talent Scout Clinic that they belonged, winning the jump off and securing a place on the Junior Olympic team and a ticket to train in Europe. But back home things are going from bad to worse. Missy is moving out. Emily’s mother and her step sister Cat are moving in and it’s not right. Emily doesn’t know why her father wants to patch things up with her mother but she knows that she doesn’t want him to.

  And Fox Run is hosting a Halloween show. It will be Bluebird’s big comeback and a chance to show everyone that he is back in the game. But Emily has to keep Socks in the game too now that they have been picked for the team but she is worried that with Missy moving out, it won’t be long before she changes her mind and takes Socks away from her forever.

  So when a new horse shows up on the circuit that everyone wants to buy, Emily thinks that maybe he might be the one to replace Socks in her stable of jumpers. But there is something about the horse. A dangerous past that the owners want to keep hidden. But danger is exactly what Emily needs because living on the edge is the only way she can escape everything else in her life and riding dangerous horses can give her that thrill. But at what cost?