“That’s great,” I told her.
“I wish you were coming too,” she said, looking all sad and hugging Winter’s head. The horse closed his eyes and sighed.
“Me too,” I said. “But I don’t have the money and I’m not registered or anything. Besides, I don’t even have a trainer to take me.”
Frank came up behind us. “Yes, you do.”
“No I don’t,” I said. “Esther can’t take me.”
“But I can.” He grinned.
I looked from him to Chloe, who was smiling and holding up her crossed fingers but I was sure that it was all some cruel joke. In a moment they were going to start laughing at me, telling me to go back to my crazy family and the tiny house across from the Chinese restaurant in town. That I should give up my Olympic dreams because they were never going to come true. Only that didn’t happen.
“You’re my student now,” he said. “Temporarily on loan from Esther,” he added as he saw the horrified look on my face.
“But the registration and the entries,” I said. “Isn’t it too late?”
“It’s never too late.” He smiled. “Besides, I have friends in high places. Sometimes they bend the rules for me.”
Chloe dashed forward and hugged me. “I’m so glad you’re coming,” she cried.
I just stood there, unable to find the words. I wanted to thank Frank but the tiny, cynical part of my brain wondered what he wanted in return. After all, no one did anything for free. But I was going to my first rated show. My chance to prove to people that I really did belong. Chloe started jumping up and down and as the realization hit me, I joined in too. It was going to be awesome as long as I didn’t do anything stupid, like fall off.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
“I’m going to an A rated show,” I said that night in the kitchen but no one was listening. “A proper rated show,” I tried again. “Kind of like the Super Bowl for horses, well maybe not the actual big Super Bowl but like one of the little Bowls. The big leagues. The real deal.” My words all ran together since I was still kind of excited but the mood in the kitchen was decidedly somber.
“No one cares,” Derek said.
They were sitting at the kitchen table, scouring over a list of names and phone numbers they found in Cat’s room. She still hadn’t come home and the police didn’t really seem to care. Her age, coupled with the fact that she’d been drinking, made them think that she had just gone to stay with friends and would show up eventually. They’d put out the customary bulletins and stuff so it wasn’t like they weren’t trying at all, just that it wasn’t like she was a five year old who had wandered off. She was a hormonal teenager, rebelling against her parents. If Cat knew what was good for her, she’d stay lost because when Derek finally found her, he was going to kill her.
“That sounds nice dear,” Mom finally said when she realized I was still standing there.
“You don’t even care, do you?” I said.
“No,” Derek snapped.
“Of course we do,” Mom added. “It’s just we have a lot on our minds right now. I’m sure you understand.”
I understood all right. When parents said they had a lot on their minds it meant clear off and leave them alone. I knew they weren’t interested in my horse stuff but the least they could do was pretend. Cat had all the luck. If I ran away, no one would probably notice.
“Oh and I should probably also tell you that I’m pregnant,” I said.
No response.
“And the father is an alien,” I added. “He’s taking me away to live on his planet in another solar system so I’ll probably never see you again.”
“I told you that it was nice dear, now can you please leave us alone?” Mom said.
“Fine. Whatever. I hate you guys,” I mumbled under my breath as I walked away.
“I heard that young lady,” Derek shouted after me.
“Good,” I yelled back. “And I’m not a young lady.”
I was sitting out in our ruined back yard when Mickey opened the gate.
“Hey!” I cried. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to stop by and see you,” she said.
“You’re not mad about Jake leaving, are you?” I asked. “I swear it wasn’t my fault.”
“I know.” She came and sat next to me. “He was an idiot so don’t worry about it. Plus, he stood me up.”
“Okay,” I said, feeling relieved.
Mickey’s affections changed so fast, I never knew who she was madly in love with or how long it was going to last. Plus I felt a little hurt that she was more upset by the fact that he had stood her up than the fact that he had nearly punched me in the face but it was easier just to go along with it than start another fight.
“So is it that guy from the beach now? The surfer dude with the messy hair?”
“Sam,” she sighed and the way she said it, I knew he was her next target. “He’s invited us all to this beach party next month.”
“That sounds like fun,” I said.
“It’s okay,” she said. “I know you don’t really think it sounds like fun.”
“I do,” I said. “But all I can think about is this big show.”
“You’ll do awesome,” she said. “You always do.”
“But this is different. It’s a really big deal. I wish you were going to be there.”
She squeezed my hand. “No you don’t. I’d just be a distraction.”
“That’s not true,” I said.
But she was partly right. A lot of my show prep included making sure she wasn’t going to throw up all over her show clothes or forget something important, like her horse’s bridle.
“Do you still miss him?” I asked her, kind of afraid to bring it up. We didn’t really speak about Hampton anymore.
“It’s funny, sometimes I miss him so bad that it hurts and other times, I kind of forget all about him.” She paused. “Does that make me a bad person?”
I put my arm around her. “Of course not. It’s probably just your way of coping. I mean, you can’t spend six months crying your eyes out, can you? And you do want him back, right?”
“Of course I do,” she said but she didn’t sound very convinced.
Horses were hard work. You had to show up and ride them if you wanted to do well. Mickey had always been a fair weather rider, someone who liked the idea of riding better than actually riding. With Hampton gone, I wasn’t sure she would ever get back into it again and that meant that Hampton would probably stay with Jess forever.
We sat in silence, watching the birds splash about in giant puddles.
“Your yard is completely trashed,” she said.
“I know.” I laughed. “And it wasn’t that great to begin with but no one cares about the yard. They only care about finding Cat.”
“You still haven’t heard from her?”
“No.” I shook my head.
“Aren’t you worried?”
“Why should I be? She’s probably off having a fantastic time. Besides, if I was the one who had run away, she wouldn’t be worried about me,” I said.
“True. At least she doesn’t care anything about horses. That would really suck.”
“Yeah, I would have died if she wanted to ride too.” I put my arm around her. “You’ll come out to the barn and help me get ready for the show, won’t you?”
“Clean tack and wash things?” She scrunched up her nose like she hated the idea, then smiled. “I wouldn’t miss it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
I rode everyday with Frank. He didn’t say anything else about my flying changes so I figured that I had them down, either that or he realized that it didn’t really matter anyway. Bluebird was still fit from all the galloping we had done the month before in preparation for the hunter pace and Frank commended me on his conditioning. Which made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside but still didn’t take away the fact that he’d taken me down a peg or two with the whole flying changes thing.
Chl
oe and Mackenzie rode both their horses every day. Everyone was shaping up nicely for the show and things were looking good. Peyton and Jake’s horses had been shipped back home, all except for Viper. I’d glance at her out of the corner of my eye as I walked down the barn aisle, wondering why she was still here. Finally Frank told me.
“We’re taking Viper to the show,” he said. “And I want you to ride her.”
“What?” I was sitting in the tack room in front of a large fan, sweat dripping down my back. When I heard him, I choked on my soda. “No.”
“Yes,” he replied. “Do you always have to be so difficult?”
“I guess.” I shrugged. “Do you always have to put me in difficult situations?”
“I have Jake’s parent’s approval. They are thinking of selling the mare and since she was already entered in the show, it will look good if she does well and they’ll be able to get a higher price for her. You’ll just be the catch rider. But if you don’t think you can do it…” His voice trailed off.
“Of course I can do it,” I said indignantly.
“That’s settled then.” He grinned. “I already told Melanie to tack her up. Let’s see what you can do with her.”
So just like before, I now had two horses to ride but it didn’t seem so bad because Melanie did most of the work with Viper and though I felt guilty about it, it was easier just to ride the mare and not have to do all the other stuff but she wasn’t an easy ride. She was temperamental and not as excited about jumping as Fury had been. She could also put in a rather dirty stop like she did that day with Jake, as she was keen to show me right in front of Frank.
“More leg,” he yelled. “Don’t let her get away with that.”
“I’m trying,” I mumbled under my breath.
The mare was more horse than I had ever ridden. At least Fury had been a pony and was easier to manage. Viper was well over sixteen hands and not afraid to use all of her strength to fight against me but boy could she jump.
“What class is she entered in?” I asked Frank after we’d completed the course without any more stops.
“I don’t remember,” he said. “Now walk her out for a bit.”
I didn’t believe him for one second. Frank was devious. He always had a sort of secret grin on his face but he was also kind. In exchange for riding Viper, he’d offered to pay Bluebird’s entry fees. I didn’t know how to thank him and I didn’t have anything to repay him with so I just decided that I would ride my very best and try to win for him.
“You’d better not stop like that in the show ring,” I told Viper as I handed her off to Melanie.
The mare pinned her ears and snapped her teeth, just narrowly missing my arm.
“Don’t worry,” Melanie said. “She knows her job. Once she gets in the show ring, she’s a machine.”
“So why are they selling her then?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Jake’s punishment, I guess.”
“Oh great.” I felt a little woozy. It was a good job that Jake lived in another state because I was pretty sure that if I ever ran into him again, he would kill me.
And if that wasn’t enough to worry about then there was the craziness at home. Cat still hadn’t returned and Derek had gone into orbit. He was on the phone every day to his ex-wife, demanding that she come down and help look for his daughter. But the ex-wife obviously knew Cat better than Derek did because she refused to come, arguing that Cat was sixteen and more than capable of taking care of herself. My own mother was stuck somewhere in the middle, making missing girl flyers to staple to trees because she didn’t know what else to do.
“Do you want me to help?” I asked her.
She was sitting in front of a large pile of them with a black marker in one hand and a glazed look in her eyes.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” she said.
“Trying to help bring Cat home?” I asked, trying to sound cheerful.
“But that’s the thing,” Mom said, her voice all faraway and small. “I don’t think I want her to come home.”
I didn’t want to over react by jumping up and down and squealing at the top of my lungs but that was exactly how I felt. I settled for a small grin instead.
“Does that make me a bad person?” She looked up at me bleakly.
“No Mom, that doesn’t make you a bad person,” I said. “I don’t want her to come back either. But don’t tell Derek I said that,” I added.
“I won’t tell if you won’t,” she said.
I looked around the empty kitchen with all the forgotten dishes piled high in the sink and the overflowing garbage can that no one had bothered to take out.
“Where is Derek anyway?”
“Down at the police station again, raising hell,” she said. “At this rate, he’s going to get himself arrested.”
Then we both started to laugh. I thought about trying to tell her about the show again. To explain how important it was but I knew that most of the time, she didn’t want to hear about my horse life and with everything else that was going on, her nerves were already pretty fried as it was. If she thought the show might be dangerous, she could stop me from going. So I didn’t tell her anything.
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
It was the night before the show and Mickey and I were at the barn. As promised, she was helping me get ready. She had a big pile of tack to clean and I had given Bluebird the bath of his life. Melanie had even given me some extra special shampoo that got his white bits so shiny and clean that I told her I was going to swipe the bottle and keep it. Now he was standing in a freshly bedded stall with explicit instructions not to get dirty. I didn’t hold out much hope that he would oblige.
“Are you sure you’ve got everything?” Mickey asked.
“No.” I sank against the wall. “What if I forget something?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Melanie said as she dashed in to grab a bucket. “I always pack about three extra of everything and anyway, they have these amazing mobile tack stores that park at the show so you could pretty much buy anything you needed anyway.”
“Yeah,” I said to Mickey after Melanie had left. “I could if I had the money.”
I was learning fast that money really did make the world go round, at least the horse world anyway and that was all I cared about. Maybe Chloe was right. It was better to marry someone rich.
“You know, if Derek had money,” I said. “Then at least it would make up for everything else.”
“He’s still on the rampage then?” Mickey put down the saddle soap and picked up my crusty bridle.
“More than ever. They think Cat was staying with a friend all this time but she’s not there now and they don’t know where she’s gone. The harder they try and find her, the less she wants to be found and I don’t blame her.”
“At least it’s keeping him off your back,” Mickey said.
“I suppose.”
Except that without Cat around for Derek to lash out at, he was taking all his frustrations out on my mother. But I had to hand it to her, the woman who hardly ever raised her voice was giving as good as she got. Every night I heard them going at it and I’d stuff my headphones in my ears to drown them out. I wondered how long it was going to go on for but they couldn’t fight forever. Something was going to have to give soon.
“What if we suck at the show?” I asked Mickey, sitting down on an overturned bucket and sinking my head into my hands.
“Then you suck.” She shrugged. “They’ll always be another show.”
“I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to afford to go to another show like this,” I said. “And if I spend all my time going to local shows, how am I ever going to get noticed? I bet Missy Ellison wasn’t going to local shows when she was my age.”
“Shut up.” Mickey launched the wet, soapy sponge at my head. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You know how good you are. Why do you think Frank wants to take you in the first place?”
“I guess,” I said.
&n
bsp; “You don’t guess, you know.”
I knew she was right but I was nervous. This show was a big deal and having the catch ride on Viper made it even more important. If I did well, then maybe other people with expensive horses would want me to catch ride for them. At least then I’d get to ride in the big shows even when I couldn’t afford to.
“Why don’t you come and sleep over at my house tonight?” she asked. “We can order pizza and watch bad horse movies. Come on, it will be fun. We haven’t done it in ages.”
“But I have to get to the barn really early,” I said. “Like four in the morning.”
“I’ll ask my mom if she’ll bring you.”
“You don’t think she’ll mind?”
“No,” Mickey said. “She already feels sorry for you as it is.”
“Thanks a lot.” I threw the sponge back at her and it narrowly missed her nose.
I wished more than anything that Mickey still had Hampton so that she could come to the show too but at least I wouldn’t be alone. Chloe had promised to stick by my side and show me the ropes and Melanie would be there to help. I had a whole team backing me for once. It was just going to be weird to go to a show without Esther.
Mickey was on the phone with her mom, asking her if it would be okay if I slept over so I slipped out of the tack room and found Esther sitting in the office.
“Hey,” I said.
She looked up and smiled when she saw me. “You all ready for your big show debut?”
“I think so but I’m so nervous. I’m sweating already just thinking about it.” I wiped my wet hands on my breeches.
“Then don’t think about it,” she said.
“I wish.” I sighed. “But I don’t seem to be able to turn my brain off.” I sat down on the couch and Meatball, Esther’s fat orange cat, jumped into my lap and started to purr. “I wish you were going to be there.”
“I don’t think they allow cats at horse shows.” Esther laughed.
Turf Wars (Show Jumping Dreams ~ Book 8) Page 9