“You know what,” said Will. “We should be going now.” He held “Nigel” as if “he” were about to faint. “Nigel has a rather delicate constitution. And he suffers from vertigo. And mumps. And, um . . . cataplexy.”
Nav gave a sad nod to show how sympathetic he felt toward poor Nigel’s difficulties, while Josh backed up, grinning for no reason except that he couldn’t help it. “Yeah,” he said to Anya. “We’d best be going.” The three boys assisted good old Nigel down the path at a rather quick pace.
Anya knew something was up, but she didn’t have time to wonder about it. She needed to make a clean escape with her pilfered pink blouse.
Kit was still out in the practice arena with TK when Elaine joined her again, this time with Thunder. Bringing Thunder along had been Will’s idea, to be sure, but Elaine had soothed her ego by convincing herself that accepting good advice was a sign of superior intelligence. People like her became champions through diligence and hard work, but they remained champions by knowing when to take the good advice of others. Will might be a prat, as far as Elaine was now concerned, but he did know horses. “I hope you made some progress,” she said as she brought Thunder up alongside TK.
“Maybe.” Kit pointed to the saddle pad lying across TK’s back. It had been there for several seconds — a record — but Elaine didn’t acknowledge the success. Instead, she shoved a paper at Kit, who took it and read aloud, “‘One: get TK to keep saddle on. Two: get on saddle. Three: ride TK. Simple as that. Got it?’” She turned to TK. “What do you think, TK? Got it?”
TK answered by reaching back and pulling off the saddle pad.
Elaine wanted to scream and stomp and pull her hair out. But she remained the very picture of composure. “We cannot fail,” she stated as if it were a new law. “We’ll be here all day and all night if we have to, but you will get on that horse.”
Six hours later, with the sun long set and the night sky twinkling with stars, Kit and Elaine were still in the practice arena with TK and Thunder. The two horses had been tethered together in the hopes that TK would learn from the other horse. When Elaine placed a saddle pad on Thunder, TK should have seen that it was no threat and allowed a pad to also be placed on him. But TK just wasn’t getting it. Several saddle pads lay in the grass around him, and even Thunder was showing signs of impatience, tossing his head and grunting with annoyance.
“There’s something wrong with this horse,” Elaine finally declared as TK yanked off another saddle pad and tossed it down.
“If you were a little less rigid, we would be able to figure something out,” Kit replied. She was tired and upset and sick of listening to Miss Do It My Way.
“Being rigid is what makes me a winner,” Miss Do It My Way snapped, her own frustration leaking through. “Look, I can’t have you scoring a zero, and that is the score you’ll receive if you don’t ride!”
Kit threw her hands up. “See? That stresses me out!”
Neither of them noticed TK pawing the dirt. Thunder tensed, eyeing him suspiciously and pulling against the tether. Both horses were catching their riders’ anger, and both were tired and hungry as well.
“You are my responsibility now,” Elaine told Kit as though speaking to a three-year-old. “You’re Team Elaine. And Team Elaine always succeeds!”
“Fine,” Kit said, “but stop pressuring me to ride or I won’t. If I’m afraid, then I will get a big, fat zero!”
TK flattened his ears back and nipped at Thunder, who snorted a warning.
“Well, I won’t accept that,” Elaine said, folding her arms.
“Well, it’s a legitimate problem,” said Kit, glaring at her.
“Then solve it!”
TK lunged at Thunder, snapping at him, while Thunder kicked out angrily. Both horses strained against the tether that held them together, locking eyes and preparing to attack full-on.
Rudy sprinted out of the darkness and grabbed TK’s lead, pulling him back with all his might while he disconnected the tether. Once free, Thunder scrambled back a few steps, neighing nervously, the whites of his eyes gleaming in the moonlight. Rudy pulled TK away, murmuring to him calmly and stroking his neck soothingly until the horse quieted. By now, Kit and Elaine were aware of their mistake.
“Are you two so wrapped up in yourselves that you can’t see what’s going on around you?” Rudy demanded of them.
“Mr. Bridges, we just —” Elaine began.
Rudy had no interest in excuses. “You almost had a very dangerous situation on your hands. That’s enough for today. Go on.”
“But, Dad, I —”
“It’s Mr. Bridges right now.” Rudy nodded toward the path leading to Rose Cottage. “Walk away.”
Kit was usually impressed at how her father managed to maintain control of a situation while also remaining calm so that any nearby horses also remained calm. It was an essential trait for an equestrian, and something that both Kit and Elaine obviously had yet to learn. But when his calm voice was aimed at her in a reprimand, it hurt.
The girls exchanged guilty looks and silently headed for their dorm. Kit knew that it was beyond bad to leave their instructor (and father) to take their horses back to the stable, and she knew as well that this wasn’t the last they’d hear about it.
Anya was having a marvelous morning. The Rose Cottage girls had finished their Guy the previous night, and now she was on her mobile telling her governess, Madhu, all about it. “Then I said, how about a little glitz and glitter?” she chirped as she entered the student lounge. “And he’s surely the best Guy England has ever seen!” She walked over to the chair where they’d sat their Guy down to dry overnight.
The chair was empty.
“No. Nonononono . . .” Frantically Anya checked the nearby chairs, couches, desks — no Guy! “Madhu, I have to go.” She hung up and ran to the other side of the room, checking the chairs and couches over there. “Oh, this isn’t happening! Where is he?”
Elaine chose that moment to enter the student lounge. “Where’s our Guy?”
“He’s just out for a walk!” Anya said before she knew she’d even opened her mouth. Pleased by the silly fib, she elaborated, “His legs were stiff. I think he maybe needed a little personal time?”
“Be real, Anya. I don’t have time for your comedy act.”
“I left him in the art room. To dry. I put a sign on the door. Nobody’s getting in there — nobody.”
Elaine stepped closer. “Then why are you panicking?”
“I’m not!” Anya said with a manic grin. “Not at all! Just sooo excited!”
“All right. See you in a bit.”
“Good day!” Anya said as relief weakened her knees. “Sir!” she added for good measure. The Elaine crisis was averted. But — where was their Guy?
If she had looked out the window at that very moment, she might have found out.
Deep within Juniper Cottage, in Will Palmerston and Nav Andrada’s room, a party of sorts was taking place. The room was filled with people! Most of them weren’t real people, though. Most of them wore glitter and paint, and one even wore a pilfered pink blouse. Another had definitely been designed to look like Rudy, with a plaid button-up work shirt, toy cowboy hat, and work gloves. One wore a yellow construction worker’s hat and outfit, though the reason for that was anybody’s guess.
Will, Nav, and Josh joked around with their latest load of stolen Guys, which they had just daringly carried right across campus, in full view of the world. It was a minor miracle that no one had noticed what they were doing. They’d certainly been laughing loud enough.
They were still laughing. “Someone went a little crazy with the glue gun.” Will chuckled, holding up a Guy covered in glitter and wearing a flower hat. He made the Guy wave.
“I quite literally have no words to describe that,” Nav said of Will’s Guy. His own Guy wore a black wig, a necktie, and glasses, which made him look like an office worker.
Will adopted an old man voice, and, manipulatin
g his gaudy Guy to speak, he said, “My name is Robert. My mother picked out my clothes.”
Josh snickered as Nav made his Guy respond. “Excuse me, sir? I’ve had complaints from other patrons. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
Will’s Guy responded with, “What kind of disco is this?”
Then Nav pulled out his mobile and took a selfie, including Will and their two Guys in it. “Blaaaugh!” they both yelled at the camera.
Josh got a very worried look on his face. “You guys are hilarious and all, but what if there’s a bed check tonight?”
“Well,” Will replied, “Robert here will distract them with some of his sweet dance moves.”
“He could have a point,” said Nav. “I mean, not Robert, the other guy — the Canadian.”
Josh cocked his head. “Thank you?”
“Yeah, we might want to hide them somewhere a bit less obvious,” Will finally agreed.
But where?
Meanwhile in the stables, Kit was leading TK from his stall. The previous day had been a disaster, but she was determined to keep trying to ride. Elaine wasn’t anywhere to be seen, though. She’d have to start by herself.
Thunder lived in the next stall, so Kit told him, “Thunder, if you see Elaine, let her know I’m looking for her.” She led TK out and headed for the practice ring, saddle under her arm and butterflies in her stomach.
The second she left, Nav and Will crept out of their hiding place at the far end of the corridor. Nav held a Guy in his arms while Will pushed a wheelbarrow filled with all the other Guys. Nav closed the stable doors as quietly as he could, and Will stopped his wheelbarrow near TK’s stall. Then he fetched a ladder and opened a trapdoor in the ceiling. The hayloft was stacked pretty full. But there was just enough room for a pile of stolen Guys.
Working as quickly and as quietly as they could, Nav passed the Guys up to Will on the ladder, who shoved them up among the bales of hay.
Kit was beginning to despair. The morning had gone by, and still no progress.
“TK, come on!” she complained as he yanked off yet another saddle pad. “We’re on the school’s roster now, so we will need to ride together. A pad is barely anything! Plus, if we don’t figure this out, you might get shipped to Siberia, where extra layers would come in handy, so you might want to work on it anyway. Plus there’s Elaine’s reputation to consider. . . .” As she spoke, she sneaked the saddle pad back on.
TK pulled it off.
Kit groaned. It was getting warm, so she took off her heavy jacket and absently tossed it onto TK’s back since there was nowhere else to put it. She figured she would be warm enough with just her sweater. She bent down to pick up the saddle pad, and when she straightened back up, she noticed that her jacket was still on TK’s back.
He hadn’t pulled it off.
Kit gaped in shock, waiting for TK to do his grab-jerk-drop thing, but the gelding stood quietly, staring out into space, apparently lost in a pleasant horse daydream.
Kit looked out at the main building. “Is anybody watching this?” she muttered, wishing she could see if Lady Covington was at her office window or not. “Elaine?” Where was Elaine, anyway?
As if on cue, her cell phone rang. It was Elaine. “Hey, where are you?” Kit asked.
“Setting up for the bonfire,” came Elaine’s voice. “Debate Club ran late, then I had to race into a prefect meeting. Now I’m setting lights, assigning blankets — Peaches, do I have to do it for you?” she yelled suddenly.
Kit jerked the phone away from her ear at the shriek. Elaine could really holler when she wanted to.
“Anyway,” Elaine resumed, “you need to complete what’s on your list with TK today, and you’ll have to do it alone.”
Why am I not surprised? Kit thought. She was about to tell Elaine to march herself over and help her ride like Lady Covington had ordered her to do, but a much better idea came to mind. “Hm. Well, it is going to be hard for me to do it on my own. I could give it my all if I knew there’d be s’mores at the bonfire.”
After a pause, Elaine said, “I don’t even know what that is.”
“Perfection! Graham crackers, chocolate, and perfectly toasted marshmallows.”
“Disgusting,” came Elaine’s immediate opinion. “Absolutely not.”
“Oh. Okay,” Kit said. “I’ll just tell Lady C that I’m practicing on my own this afternoon. I’m sure she won’t mind.”
Kit heard a distinct growling sound come over the phone. “Fine!” To some poor minion, Elaine bellowed, “Get me marshmallows! Stat!”
Kit clicked off, laughing. “Hey, if you behave, I’ll share,” she told TK.
Will quietly closed the hayloft trapdoor. All the Guys were now nicely stowed away out of sight. While Nav made his escape, Will set the ladder aside and had started to follow when Rudy’s voice called out, “Hey, it’s getting late. Get out of here.”
Will nodded to his teacher, then caught a flash of blue on the floor. A couple of sequins must have fallen off one of the Guys. If Rudy saw them, he would know something was up, so Will casually placed his foot over them.
Rudy stepped closer. “You okay?”
“Yeah. All good.” Will flashed a disarming smile.
Rudy left, shaking his head.
Will snatched up the sequins and darted out the stable doors.
“You, my friend, seem to confuse being funny with being stubborn. You’re a horse, not a mule!” Kit was tired. At first she’d thought that TK’s grab-jerk-drop routine had been funny, but it was quickly losing its charm.
“Nice outfit,” Will said, strolling up to her. “Is that for the bonfire?”
“I’m not going anywhere until I get this guy tacked up. My time is running out!”
“Okay,” Will said. “Let him smell the pad. That’s normally a good approach. Let him have a cuddle with it. And keep talking to him.”
“All right.” Kit held the saddle pad under TK’s nose. “Here, uh, here’s a nice, cozy pad. Smells just like my jacket, dude. Same thing.” She rubbed TK’s neck with it while Will fetched the saddle sitting on the rails. “I don’t want to miss my chance at my first genuine English bonfire night.” As Kit said this, she sneaked the saddle pad onto TK’s back.
Will took hold of TK’s lead to keep him from reaching back and grabbing it. “And I don’t want her to miss it either, mate,” Will told the horse, “so get it together.”
When Kit heard that, she looked up at Will to see what kind of expression accompanied such a statement. He wasn’t grinning or anything. He hadn’t said it as a joke. She blushed and smiled, making him laugh.
“Kit’s been working with you all day,” he went on to TK, handing Kit the saddle, “and now you’re just being greedy. And that’s rude.” He kept TK’s attention, holding the lead and patting his neck while Kit placed the saddle on his back.
Quickly she tightened the cinch around his belly and was elated when he didn’t react. “You’re such a good boy,” she cooed at him. “Yes, you are. It’s just me, buddy. Just me. You’re fine. Nothing to worry about.”
The saddle was secure. Will had already placed a small step stool at TK’s side. Kit climbed up on it and grabbed the front and back of the saddle — which she now knew were called the pommel and cantle — so that she could pull herself up. She felt her heart beating too fast and had to take a couple of long, even breaths to steady it.
TK fidgeted.
Kit let go of the saddle and pulled back, heart thumping.
“Easy,” said Will. “Whoa, TK.”
TK settled. Will continued to calm him with long hand strokes down his neck as he nodded to Kit. Try again, his eyes told her.
She stepped back up and firmly gripped the pommel and cantle. Left foot in left stirrup. Pull weight up. Swing leg over. Sit. She was sitting in the saddle. “Oh!”
She was sitting in the saddle.
Will beamed triumphantly up at her while Kit whispered, “Okay, okay,” over and over again,
more to herself than to TK. She remembered to secure her other foot in the stirrup. She had barely straightened again when TK took a step forward. “I’m riding,” she squeaked.
“I can see that,” Will said, and placed the reins into her hands.
“I’m riding TK!” she repeated.
TK slowly began to walk.
Everything Kit had learned as a child about riding slammed back into her brain as if she had learned it yesterday. This was an English saddle and not a Western one, so she laughed inwardly, remembering how her first impulse as a child had been to grab the saddle horn. She couldn’t do that now even if she wanted to! But she didn’t want to. She just sat as a thousand memories washed over her.
The feel of horse beneath her came alive again in her mind, that marvelous shifting of massive weight as TK rhythmically alternated his legs to walk. She remembered feeling her little-girl hips tilt one way then the other, matching the shift of Freckles’s weight as he had walked. She remembered sensing the awesome power in his muscles as his head and neck had nodded in time with his stride. She felt bigger in the saddle — she’d grown since her accident, and Freckles hadn’t been that tall. TK was a much bigger horse, so the sensation of being a flea on a giant sea serpent came back to her. This time, however, she enjoyed it.
She remembered to hold the reins correctly and tried to keep her back straight yet remain relaxed so that her body could meld with the horse to make one smooth river of movement. A moment of faintness threatened to ruin everything when she chanced a glance to the side — the ground was so far away. . . . Mental snapshots flicked past her mind’s eye: falling all that distance down, down, down, headfirst, her foot caught and twisted, Freckles galloping out of control, and her head bumping against the ground and pain and drums and thunder and —
No! I won’t go there! That was years ago, and I’m an adult now . . . almost. And I will ride this horse, and I will love it, and TK will get to stay, and I will go to the bonfire in victory, and I will ride for this school and make my mother and father proud!
Kit Meets Covington Page 14