Milly was staring back at them both defiantly, which only made Poppy more determined to beat her. Poppy didn’t know what had gotten into her lately, but she’d become so much more serious about winning, about proving herself. Even before her aunt and uncle had told her about their problems, she’d started to think more about winning than just riding.
Poppy vaulted up onto Crystal’s back, getting comfortable and securing her grip. Times like this she wished Crystal was a bit fatter or wider – she wasn’t that comfy to ride bareback!
‘So, are we racing to the start?’ Poppy asked.
Milly’s stare told Poppy that her friend was as determined to win as she was. ‘Paper, scissors, rock for first turn,’ Milly said.
Poppy shrugged. ‘Sure.’ She nudged Crystal with her heels to make her walk up a few steps, so they were facing Katie and Milly. ‘Go. Three, two, one!’ Poppy threw her hand out flat, at the same time as the other two.
‘Ugh, typical,’ said Katie.
‘Go again,’ Milly said. ‘Three, two, one!’
Poppy did paper again, and Milly and Katie both did rock.
‘Woo hoo!’ Poppy cried. She liked the idea of going first, especially while she was all fired up. She knew they could win this!
‘Three, two, one,’ Milly chanted again.
Poppy watched as Milly beat Katie with scissors to her paper. ‘Yes!’ Milly squealed.
Ready?’ Poppy asked.
‘Yep,’ Milly and Katie both answered.
Poppy asked Crystal to walk on, then trot, followed quickly by the canter command. It was way too hard to trot bareback, especially when cantering was so much easier to stay balanced to.
They reached the arena in no time, crossing past the stables and down into the larger of the two arenas where all the show jumps were still set up from last weekend’s lesson with Aunt Sophie. They weren’t as big though, which made Poppy think that some other riding school pupils had been training over them during the week. She’d do anything to be able to ride during the week, even though she knew she should just be grateful she got to come every other weekend.
‘Go, Pops!’ Katie cheered as Poppy entered the ring.
Poppy kept focused, wanting to pretend like this was an actual competition, that it counted for something. She kept Crystal cantering, her eyes focused between Crystal’s pricked ears. They neared the first jump and Crystal took off way too fast. Poppy was virtually powerless to control her speed with no bridle or saddle on, and she started to pull hard on the lead rope that she had tied to Crystal’s halter to make pretend reins.
Stop it. Let her go. Poppy was fighting her own thoughts, but as the jump loomed ahead of them she forced herself to let go of the lead rope. Trust your pony. Let her do it on her own.
Yes! They soared over, Crystal stretching out as Poppy pretended she had a saddle on. It felt slippery and weird, but she kept her heels planted down, legs staying as close to where the girth should be as possible as she bent forward then straightened as they landed.
‘Good girl!’ she said, looking to the next jump.
Poppy’s heart was beating fast as they approached the second jump. They were going a lot faster than usual or maybe it just felt that way because they were bareback and she was struggling to keep her seat. They popped straight over and headed for the next. There were only seven jumps set up and she was feeling amazing, like they could conquer anything!
They cleared the third, then the fourth, not taking any rails, but Crystal sped up again and took off early for the fifth one. Poppy’s stomach lurched as she was jolted forward too fast, landing hard on Crystal’s neck. They made it over but she slipped sideways when Crystal shied to the left. No! Poppy managed to steady her, to point her in the right direction, but she still didn’t have her balance, was trying to correct herself as the jump came at them fast.
‘Crystal!’ she screamed as her pony cantered faster, their stride all wrong as Poppy clung on as best she could.
Oh no. Poppy knew something bad was about to happen, shut her eyes tight, waiting for Crystal’s take-off.
But Crystal never crashed. Poppy was the only one to take off, flying through the air straight over Crystal’s head as her pony changed her mind about going over the fence and slammed on the brakes at the last moment.
Poppy tried to curl into a ball to soften the impact. Boom. Thump. Ouch.
‘Poppy!’
Poppy heard her name being called, tried to lift her head, but she couldn’t. Double ouch. Every part of her hurt: her head, her back, her arm from where she’d landed.
‘Poppy!’
This time she realised it was Milly.
‘Stop it,’ she muttered, keeping her eyes shut as she swatted at what she thought was Milly. Only this something was nuzzling her and blowing on her face, and Poppy’s hand connected with something soft. She peeled one eyelid open and stared into a grey nostril. It was Crystal.
‘Is this you trying to tell me you’re sorry?’ Poppy muttered.
Crystal’s face suddenly disappeared and was replaced with Milly’s. ‘Oh no! Are you okay? I’m so sorry! This was all my fault.’
‘Give her space to breathe.’ Poppy smiled when she heard Katie’s calm voice. She forced her eyes open a crack again and felt better this time.
‘Pops?’ Milly asked.
‘I’m fine, just a bit sore and . . .’ She sat up and had to grab hold of Milly’s arm. ‘Dizzy.’
‘You might have concussion,’ Katie said matter-of-factly.
‘I’m fine. Honestly,’ Poppy mumbled, reaching for the side of the jump and hauling herself up. ‘Whatever you do, don’t tell . . .’
‘Girls!’
Poppy let out a loud groan when she heard Aunt Sophie’s voice and saw her rushing across the grass, leaping the side of the arena to get to her.
‘What’s happened? I saw Joe walking off with his lead rope dangling and –’ Aunt Sophie gasped, hand to her mouth. ‘Poppy! Are you okay?’
Poppy managed a weak smile. ‘Fine. I just got winded.’
Her aunt stared at her for a second, then hurried to her side and put an arm around her. ‘Tell me what happened. How did you fall? What hurts?’
‘Nothing, I mean, I just . . .’ Poppy stammered, not sure what exactly to tell her.
‘Poppy fell off when she was riding the course bareback,’ Katie said, not making eye contact with Poppy even though Poppy was glaring at her. Why was she telling Sophie everything! ‘She went over Crystal’s head when Crystal stopped at a jump.’
Aunt Sophie pulled Poppy closer to her, her body warm. Poppy had been trying to keep her chin up and pretend like everything was okay, but when Aunt Sophie dropped a kiss to the top of her head the tears started, trickling down her cheeks and leaving her gulping for air, trying desperately to swallow them.
‘Sweetheart, you need to tell me what hurts. This could be serious.’
Poppy looked up at her, wished she found it easy to lie so she could just tell her that everything was fine.
‘Does you head hurt? Is your vision blurry at all? Any dizziness?’ Aunt Sophie asked.
Poppy sucked in a big, shuddery breath and furiously wiped away her tears with the back of her knuckles. She was supposed to be convincing Aunt Sophie that she was fine and here she was crying!
‘When I stood up I felt a little dizzy,’ she admitted slowly. ‘I kind of hurt all over, and I have a sore head. Like it’s thumping.’
She watched as Aunt Sophie pursed her lips, her face a mix of concern and anger. ‘Would you have told me that if I hadn’t asked?’
Poppy glanced at her friends, saw they looked super worried. ‘No,’ she admitted.
‘Because you don’t want to miss out on riding tomorrow?’
How on earth could her aunt suddenly read her mind?! Poppy shrugged. ‘Uh huh.’
‘If you have concussion, Poppy, you can’t ride, not without seeing a doctor,’ Aunt Sophie said softly. ‘I’m sorry, but your health is more imp
ortant than any competition.’
Poppy felt like she couldn’t breathe. Was Aunt Sophie saying what she thought she was?
‘I don’t . . .’ the words stuttered in her mouth. She couldn’t even form an answer. Not ride?
‘Mrs D, this was my fault, not Poppy’s!’ Milly burst out. ‘I’m the one who should be punished! I wanted to beat her and I made her . . .’
‘Stop,’ Aunt Sophie said. ‘This is no one’s fault and I’m not trying to punish Poppy.’ She sighed, hugging Poppy close again. Poppy wanted so badly to be angry with her, but she just couldn’t. ‘You girls were having fun on your ponies, and that’s great. It’s what being here is all about, and none of you did anything wrong. But a fall is a fall, and I have to take it seriously.’
‘But Mrs D . . .’
‘No, Milly, that’s my final word,’ Aunt Sophie said. ‘I’ll call the doctor. No one wants to see you ride tomorrow more than me, Poppy. If I can make that happen, I will. I promise.’
Tears pricked Poppy’s eyes again, but she refused to give in to them. The show jumping tomorrow meant everything to her. Why had she been so stupid and even jumped bareback in the first place? She was supposed to be practising before the big day, then washing Crystal and plaiting her up to make her look beautiful.
‘I’m sorry, Poppy,’ Milly said, her voice glum.
Poppy braved a smile, wishing the pain in her head would stop. ‘It’s okay. It seemed like a good idea at the time.’
‘Girls, can you take Crystal back for Poppy?’ Aunt Sophie asked. ‘I’m going to get her up to the house, give her some Panadol and call the doctor. As soon as she has the all-clear, I’ll let her come back down.’
Poppy didn’t look back at Crystal or her friends, just let Aunt Sophie guide her back towards the house. It had been the best day ever. And now it was the worst.
‘It’s going to be okay, Poppy,’ Aunt Sophie said.
She leant into her aunt, tucked her head to her shoulder. Sophie was wrong. She just knew it.
‘You need to be honest with me, Poppy. Promise?’
Poppy nodded as her Uncle Mark stared into her eyes. They were seated directly across from one another, Mark with his chair pulled up close to hers.
‘I promise.’
She was feeling a lot better after taking some Panadol, which had been gross to swallow down but worth it, and snuggling up in bed under her duvet for a while. But now Mark was home and he had her down in the kitchen.
‘You know, I usually can’t ask my patients questions, so I should be fine examining you,’ he said with a chuckle.
‘Mark, I really think we should have taken her in,’ Aunt Sophie muttered from where she was leaning against the table.
‘I’ve spoken at length with the doctor,’ Mark said. ‘Just let me do my thing.’
‘If she had four legs I wouldn’t be trying to tell you what to do,’ Sophie said, sounding exasperated. ‘But this is a case for a doctor, not a veterinarian!’
Poppy giggled and bit down on her lip when Uncle Mark raised an eyebrow at her and rolled his eyes. He wasn’t taking her fall so seriously, or maybe he just didn’t want to upset her.
‘I feel fine,’ she told him. ‘It hurt on my arm when I fell on it, and I bumped my head.’
‘Lucky you had your helmet on,’ Mark said, reaching for her arm when she held it out and gently touching it, running his hands over every part of it. ‘Any of this hurt?’
She shook her head. ‘No. It only hurt straight after.’ Poppy was telling the truth, it didn’t hurt anymore. If it had, she wouldn’t have been able to lie to him.
He smiled when he let go of her hand, staring into her eyes now. ‘Do you have any pain in your head or eyes? Any blurry vision or anything weird?’
She shook her head. ‘Nope.’
He used a small light to shine in her eyes, then ran his hands over her head like he was feeling for something. She was certain there were no big bumps or bruises.
‘Poppy, I honestly think you’ll be fine to ride tomorrow, but only if you promise to tell us if anything changes. If you get another headache or anything unusual like dizziness, you need to tell one of us.’
Poppy felt like she’d been holding her breath the entire time. When her lungs finally worked again she sucked in so much air it sounded like a big gasp. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she looked from her uncle to her aunt.
‘Are you tricking me?’ she asked. All this time, right from the moment she’d fallen, she’d expected them to stop her from riding no matter what.
‘I’m not tricking Pops, I wouldn’t do that to you,’ Uncle Mark said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
‘Sophie?’ Poppy asked, staring at her aunt now.
‘I want to keep a very close eye on you, but yes,’ she answered, sounding less sure than Mark.
Poppy bit her lip, staying quiet when what she really wanted to do was squeal and leap up and down!
‘You need to be careful though, Poppy,’ Uncle Mark cautioned.
‘I’m really sorry,’ Poppy said, wishing she hadn’t been so stupid and gone bareback jumping when she should have been more focused on her training. ‘I promise I’ll be careful and I’ll tell you if I don’t feel well.’
‘Poppy, you didn’t do anything wrong. Horse riding can be a dangerous sport, but you were wearing your helmet and you weren’t doing anything stupid. It’s just one of those things. We want you to have fun here!’
Poppy nodded. Aunt Sophie was right, but she was still annoyed with herself.
‘Can I go outside now?’ Poppy asked, crossing her fingers behind her back for luck.
Aunt Sophie and Uncle Mark exchanged glances. ‘I think you should stay inside for a bit longer. Rest a bit more, then head out after the girls have had their lesson.’
Poppy wanted to argue that she was fine, but she didn’t dare in case they changed their minds about her competing the next day. ‘What if I just came down to watch the lesson? So I don’t miss out on what you’re teaching?’ she said in her sweetest voice.
Aunt Sophie laughed. ‘Fine. You can come down, but no riding until tomorrow!’
Poppy giggled. ‘Hand on my heart.’
‘Go on up to bed for another half hour. It’ll do you good to get some rest.’
Poppy jumped up and raced for the stairs.
‘Slow down!’ Uncle Mark yelled after her. ‘I said to take it easy, didn’t I?’
Poppy wasn’t used to going slow, but she did as he said. There was no way she was doing anything else that might ruin her chances of having a shot at winning the prize money tomorrow.
‘What did they say?’ Milly hissed as Poppy ran up behind her and fell into step beside her friend. Milly was leading Joe, and Katie was just ahead of her.
‘Katie!’ Poppy whispered as loud as she could.
Katie spun around and clamped her hand over her mouth, eyes wide. ‘You scared me! I was daydreaming.’
‘What are you doing down here?’ Milly asked.
Aunt Sophie was already in the arena. Poppy had spotted her earlier when she’d been trying to figure out where everyone was.
‘I’m not allowed to ride today, but I can compete tomorrow,’ Poppy told them. ‘All I can do is watch your lesson.’
‘Ugh,’ Milly groaned. ‘I remember what that was like. It sucked when Joe was injured and I had to sit and watch without riding.’
‘Girls, mount up please and warm up those ponies.’
Poppy gritted her teeth, wishing she had Crystal saddled up. Her poor pony would be thinking she’d been abandoned. ‘Have fun.’
Katie threw her a sad smile and Milly frowned before mounting Joe. She watched her friends ride into the arena, walk around for a while, then start to trot. After a while she glanced at her aunt and noticed that she was waving at her. She squinted into the sun and put her hand up to shield her face. Was she waving her over?
‘Poppy!’ Aunt Sophie called.
Duh, she was
definitely waving her over. Poppy went to run but stopped herself, walking fast so that her aunt didn’t tell her off. She always sprinted everywhere, wasn’t used to going slow, but she needed to be on her best behaviour this afternoon.
‘Do you need me to do something?’ Poppy asked when she finally reached her. Walking took ages!
‘Yes, as a matter of fact I do.’
Her aunt was giving her a weird kind of grin and Poppy planted her hands on her hips. Something was up, but in a good way.
‘I thought you might like to take the lesson since you can’t ride.’
Poppy burst out laughing then bit down on her lip. What? She stared at her aunt. ‘Are you serious? You want me to take the lesson?’
Aunt Sophie’s smile was wide as Poppy stood there gaping at her, realising that her aunt wasn’t kidding.
‘Of course I’m serious. If you can’t ride, you can at least think through the jumps and instruct Milly and Katie. You know the theory, and I believe in you.’
Poppy wrapped her arms so tight around her aunt that she tried to wriggle out of Poppy’s grip.
‘This is crazy. I can’t believe it,’ said Poppy.
‘Don’t make me change my mind,’ Aunt Sophie said with a laugh. ‘Besides, I might need you to start taking some lessons for me when you turn thirteen.’
Poppy squealed and jumped up and down.
‘Girls, Poppy will be taking the lesson today and I’ll be observing,’ Aunt Sophie called out. ‘Finish warming up and then listen out.’
Poppy’s cheeks were hurting she was smiling so hard. ‘Thanks. This is awesome.’
‘By the way, your friends have been pretty busy while you’ve been up at the house. You might want to look in on Crystal as soon as we finish up here.’
Poppy had no idea what Aunt Sophie was talking about, but she was super curious. She started to think about Crystal, about what they could have done. She wished she was riding her right now.
‘Poppy?’
She blinked and saw that Aunt Sophie was watching her expectantly. ‘Oh, sorry!’
Poppy turned all her attention to her friends, hoping they didn’t mind being the guinea pigs for her first lesson as an instructor. She’d helped out heaps with the summer camp kids, but they were little children. These were her friends and they were easily as good as her at riding. Which meant she had to focus and not let them down when they so needed this training session to count.
Starlight Stables: Saving Starlight Page 5