“You say that about every boy,” I told her.
“But he rides so you have to approve.” She wiggled out of our hiding spot to get a better look. “Besides, this is the real deal. I can feel it.”
“You said that about the last one,” I told her but it was too late. She’d already gone. Mickey thought she was in love with every cute boy she saw while I was left wondering what the big deal was.
She ran over to the stall and waited for the boy to notice her. He made a big deal of pretending to be busy because I knew that he’d seen her, even if he was acting like he hadn’t. Mickey stood there hopping about from foot to foot until he finally came out and almost bumped right into her.
“Hi,” she said. “I’m Mickey.”
“Jake,” he replied.
There was an awkward silence. If I was Mickey, I would have taken the hint and run away by now but she clearly wasn’t intimidated by the boy who was playing it cool.
“So,” she said. “That’s your horse?”
“Yes,” he said.
“What’s her name?”
“Viper.” He leant on the stall door. “Which one is yours?”
Mickey’s face turned red and I felt bad for her. Hampton was a handsome bay Warmblood who wouldn’t have looked out of place standing next to the fancy new horses but of course he wasn’t here. He was with Jess.
“Oh, he’s out on lease right now,” Mickey said.
I could tell she was pretending like she didn’t care when in fact she cared very much.
“I’m sort of taking a break,” she added.
“That’s too bad,” Jake said.
“I know.” Mickey sighed dramatically. “But it’s too hot to ride much now anyway.” She leant on the stall next to him. “So why are you guys even here? Shouldn’t you be up north where it isn’t a million degrees out?”
“No clue.” Jake shrugged. “It was Frank’s dumb idea.”
“You’d better not let him hear you say that his idea was dumb,” Melanie scolded as she walked past carrying a giant tack trunk that was at least half her size. “Not unless you want to ride without stirrups for a month.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Jake rolled his eyes at Mickey.
“No way,” she said. “That’s your punishment too?”
“All the time.” Jake shook his head.
“Hey, want me to give you the grand tour?”
“Alright.”
She looped her arm through Jake’s and led him off as one of the older girls glared. It looked to me like Mickey was stepping on someone else’s territory, something she never really thought about until it was too late. Once a girl dumped her lunch tray all over Mickey’s head because she caught her holding hands with her boyfriend. Mickey just laughed. When it came to boys she had this natural talent, sort of like the same way I had riding talent except that so far doing well on a horse hadn’t resulted in food being thrown at me.
After they left, the girls made small talk, mostly dissing the barn and the fact that it wasn’t up to their usual standard.
“What was Frank thinking?” the older girl with short black hair said.
“I told you,” the blonde one replied. “It’s punishment.”
“She’s right,” the Faith clone nodded. “Punishment.”
I couldn’t help but wonder what exactly they were being punished for and why Frank thought that bringing them all down here was a good idea. But I was about to find out because a shiny new truck had just pulled in and there he was, mop of shaggy gray hair and all. And suddenly I noticed the stain on my breeches and I couldn’t remember if I’d brushed my hair that morning or not and while I normally wouldn’t care, those things now seemed really important.
CHAPTER EIGHT
My mom said that first impressions were the most important impressions. That the first time you laid eyes on someone was how you always remembered them. I wasn’t so sure about people but I knew that it was true with horses. I’d never forget the first time I saw Bluebird standing there all scruffy and skinny with a sad look on his face and I didn’t want Frank thinking the same thing about me. I bolted into the office and locked myself in the bathroom where I tried to wipe the dirt off but instead only succeeded in smearing it around. At least my days of wearing breeches with holes in them were over, thanks to Taylor at the local tack shop and her generous sponsorship. Now all I needed to do was find a hairdresser who could make my wild mane lay flat but in the summer humidity, that was never going to happen.
I could hear them out in the aisle, Frank chatting with Melanie about how the horses were settling in.
“It’s a bit of a dump,” Melanie said. “But it’ll do and besides, it’s out of the way which is what you wanted, right?”
“Exactly what I wanted,” Frank replied.
He had a voice like an old cowboy, all gravel and grit even though I knew he grew up in New York and went to Harvard. I knew all about him. How he studied law and passed the bar to please his parents and then promptly went out and got a job with a European show jumper, working his way up through the barn until he was the assistant trainer. Then he branched out on his own. That was back in the seventies and he’d been riding and training ever since. I wondered why he even bothered to go to college but there were probably some benefits to saying that you went to Harvard. It was the sort of thing people loved to brag about. Derek’s stupid head would explode if Cat ever made it that far but considering she was failing tenth grade, I didn’t think she stood much of a chance.
I thought maybe I could stay in the bathroom forever or at least until they all left but when someone knocked at the door, I knew I had to get out.
“Sorry,” I told the Faith clone.
“That’s okay,” she said. “I’m Mackenzie.”
“Emily.”
She stuck out her hand and I shook it.
“Which one is your horse?” she asked. She had plain brown hair and big soft eyes and didn’t suit her fancy name at all.
“Actually, I don’t have a horse.” I pointed through the window to the field where Bluebird was grazing in the shade of a big oak tree. “I have a pony and his name is Bluebird.”
“No way,” she said. “That’s so cool. I have a pony too. Her name is Cupcake.”
“Cute,” I said.
“Oh she’s not cute,” Mackenzie said. “She’s evil.”
I started to laugh but the kid looked so serious that I had to swallow my chuckles back down and just ended up choking, which was of course when Frank decided to come into the office and see what all the commotion was about.
“If you need the Heimlich maneuver, just say the word,” he said. “I’m trained in first aid.”
“I’m fine,” I choked but he still gave me a few hearty slaps on the back for good measure anyway. And to think, I had been worried about my hair.
“You must be the girl with the pony,” Frank said when I finally stopped choking.
“Yes.” I nodded.
“Melanie has been telling me what a great jumper he is. I don’t suppose you’d be interested in selling him, would you?”
I started to choke again and only managed to shake my head. My worst nightmare was coming true and I’d only just met the man.
“I figured as much,” he said. “Too bad. Good ponies like that are hard to come by. Still, I guess you’ll outgrow him one day.” Then he winked at me.
I just stood there staring at the man I’d idolized, the one who made Missy Ellison a champion, and my heart slid into my boots. How could he be so cold? So callous to assume that I’d give up my pony just like that? Esther had been right all along. Horses and ponies came and went and that was normal for people like Frank but I didn’t want it to be normal for me.
“Well Mackenzie.” He turned his attention to his youngest student. “Ready to put Cupcake through her paces?”
“If I have to.” She looked down at her boots.
“That’s what your mother’s paying for, isn’t it?” he said.
�
�Yes,” she replied.
Mackenzie went into the bathroom and Frank and I stood there awkwardly. There were so many things I wanted to ask him, like how Missy managed to get picked for the Olympic team when she was so young and how I could too but my tongue was all fat and dry and the words wouldn’t come out.
“It’s not a bad barn,” he finally said, looking around. “Could use a little sprucing up but not bad.”
Since the barn had already been spruced up there wasn’t exactly much I could say so instead I just nodded and tried to look interested.
“You been riding long?” he asked.
I nodded.
“And you ride every day?”
I nodded again, trying to will my mouth to move and say something, anything so that I wouldn’t just look like a nodding idiot.
“Good,” he said. “That’s good. If you want something bad enough, you have to work for it.” He banged on the bathroom door. “Hurry up Mackenzie, you’re just in there wasting time.”
Mackenzie came out and they both left me standing there all confused and unsure of myself. I wanted to hate Frank for criticizing our little barn but at the same time I wanted to like him because he believed that being a great rider was something you could work for and he knew how to get riders to the Olympics. I didn’t know why life always had to be so complicated.
CHAPTER NINE
Frank assembled all his students in the ring for a group lesson. Mackenzie sat on Cupcake with a look of fear on her face. I actually felt kind of sorry for her but I didn’t know quite why she was so terrified. Cupcake didn’t seem any naughtier than Princess and Faith never had that look. The older girl with black hair, Peyton, sat on the bay that we’d seen Melanie ride. Then there was the blonde girl, Chloe, on a pretty roan and Jake on Viper.
“Jake said that Frank’s barn has state of the art everything,” Mickey said.
We were laying in the tall grass, totally spying on their lesson because Esther wasn’t around to tell us not to. I wanted to know if they lived up to their reputations. Mickey just wanted to watch Jake.
“Well why are they here then?” I said.
“I don’t know but Jake said that none of them really want to be here so it’s kind of dumb that they are.”
“It’s dumb all right,” I said. “And fishy.”
“Fishy?” she said. “Why does everything always have to be some hidden mystery?”
“Well don’t you think it’s mysterious?” I asked her.
“It’s not mysterious.” She laid back and put her arms behind her head. “It’s a miracle.”
“You should leave Jake alone,” I told her. “I think he’s already involved with that Peyton girl and she looks mean enough to rip your head off.”
“I can take her,” Mickey said.
“Suit yourself.” I sighed.
We watched as they rode around on the rail, Frank barking out instructions every now and then. He wasn’t like Esther who told you to do something and then explained why. Instead he just told them the correction and expected them to make it. He reminded me of Andre. Or maybe all male trainers were like that. I didn’t have much of a frame of reference, although I remembered my dad teaching us when I was little. Explaining to Summer that the reins were an extension of her arm and should be used as such but I pushed the thought of him out of my head. Summer was gone and he was probably on a beach somewhere, drinking a cold beer while his new family played in the surf.
“What did I tell you about letting that pony run through the bridle?” Frank yelled at Mackenzie as Cupcake cut a corner and then took off. “Circle her, now.”
Mackenzie brought the pony to a halt with tears in her eyes.
“I can’t do it,” she wailed.
I expected Frank to yell at her but instead he walked over and talked to her quietly, gently patting her knee.
“What do you think he’s saying?” Mickey said.
“Suck it up or go home?” I guessed.
But whatever he told her, it seemed to work. She shortened her reins and took Cupcake through the problem corner, this time without any problems. But except for Cupcake, none of the other horses seemed to have a mind of their own. I imagined that riding them must have been like driving a car. Every move expected and delivered with no deviation. When Frank set up some jumps, they all cantered quietly over them like one of those old pony club movies.
“I don’t see why they even need lessons,” Mickey said. “It’s not like they have anything to correct.”
Only Mickey was wrong. Their fancy, well trained horses were a disguise that I could see right through. They masked the way that Peyton didn’t seem able to execute a half halt and how Chloe had weak legs. Jake had a sloppy form over the fences and poor Mackenzie seemed terrified of cute little Cupcake.
“I think I’ve seen enough.” I stood up, brushing the sand off my butt. “Want to saddle up and go for a ride?”
“But it’s too hot now,” Mickey whined.
“Don’t be silly,” I told her. “Besides, don’t you want Jake to see you ride?”
“On Daisy?” she said. “Not really. He’ll think I’m ridiculous.”
“No he won’t.” I pulled her towards the barn. “Come on.”
But nothing I said would convince Mickey to join me and I left her hanging around in front of Viper’s stall, waiting for Jake to come back in.
“You don’t think it’s too hot, do you boy?” I asked Bluebird.
He tossed his head, which I took to mean that he didn’t really care either way, and we sauntered past the ring and out to the field where Esther had moved the old jumps and set them up in the shade of the oak trees. He kept looking back to the ring and once he even called out to his new friends.
“Be quiet,” I told him. “We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves.”
But that was exactly what I was hoping for. That Frank would look over and see me riding. His mouth would drop open in amazement as he saw me flying over the jumps on my super pony and he would rush over and proclaim that he would train me for free and make sure that I was the youngest person to ever ride in the Olympics.
We cantered over the cross rail a couple of times and then a vertical down to an oxer. Bluebird was fresh. He didn’t want to be out in the field, he wanted to be over there in the ring but I was too distracted to do anything but look for Frank out of the corner of my eye. One of the jumps was higher than the rest, a large double oxer that was almost four feet. I kicked Bluebird on to it. We’d show Frank. He’d never believe his eyes. And there he was, leading his students out of the ring and glancing over to where we galloped down to the jump. Only I was so busy making sure that Frank was watching that I didn’t bother and look for a distance and by the time we got to the oxer and I realized that I’d got it all wrong, it was too late.
The takeoff spot we were in was too close. Bluebird was scopey but he didn’t have wings. He did the only thing he could to save himself, which was to slam on the brakes. And I, of course, went sailing over his head and landed with a crack on one of the poles.
CHAPTER TEN
I lay there on my back, wishing that the ground would swallow me up. Bluebird stood over me with a look on his face that said he wasn’t really sure why I was lying down taking a nap instead of riding him. My magic pony who never refused, ceremoniously dumping me off right in front of the very person I was trying to impress.
I clung to the one hope that he hadn’t seen. That they’d all gone into the barn and no one would be any the wiser that I’d just taken a face palm into the dirt. But that was the sort of luck other people had. There were footsteps approaching and then that gray mop of hair came into view, blocking out the sun.
“You alright?” Frank asked casually, hands on his hips.
“Fine.” I sat up gingerly. “Only winded, I think.”
“Just checking.” He shook his head. “Choking on nothing, breaking jumps with your body, what did you say your name was again?”
�
��I didn’t.” I stood up.
I put the poles, that weren’t actually broken, back in the cups and threw the reins over Bluebird’s head.
“What are you doing?” he asked curiously.
“Going again,” I said. “Obviously.”
“Obviously,” he nodded, backing out of the way.
This time I didn’t want him anywhere near me. I willed him to go away, walk back to the barn and leave me alone but he just stood there in the shade of the tree, watching.
I circled Bluebird and took him back over a couple of the smaller fences first. He hopped over them happily, trying to please me. I knew it wasn’t his fault. If I hadn’t been so distracted by trying to impress Frank, I would have seen that I was asking him to jump from an impossible distance and if he’d actually gone for it, there was a good chance he could have been tangled up in the poles and fallen with me.
I circled around and set him up for the big oxer, this time making sure that I had him right where I wanted. Just enough impulsion, in front of my leg, his chestnut ears pricked as we both saw the spot four strides out. This time he dug in and launched up over it.
“Good boy,” I cried, patting his neck.
I circled him back and we jumped it again. Both times he cleared it with room to spare. The magic pony with his mojo restored. My ego now safely locked away in the deep recesses of my brain. It had nearly got me hurt or worse and I couldn’t let that ever happen again. Impressing people was stupid if you ended up in the hospital because of it.
“Your trainer lets you jump when she’s not here?” Frank asked as I walked Bluebird past.
“I guess she does now.” I shrugged. “She’s not around much anymore.”
He nodded. “Well, I was right about you and your pony.”
“Right about what?” I said.
I didn’t mean to sound bratty but I felt all defensive around Frank and I didn’t know why.
“You have something,” he said.
“Yes, the ability to fail spectacularly when trying to impress people,” I said, still walking around him in circles.
“You were trying to impress me?” he said. “Why?”
Turf Wars (Show Jumping Dreams ~ Book 8) Page 3