Dark Harmony: A Vivienne Taylor Horse Lover's Mystery (Fairmont Riding Academy Book 2)

by Michele Scott

  I shake my head to clear it. One thing is for sure: this mare is holding on to something traumatizing. And it obviously has to do with what she has shown me. But what, exactly, does it have to do with her owner, Joel?

  I push thoughts of him aside as I think about how I can best help Melody. That’s what I do. I help horses.

  It would be great if I could just ask Joel what his horse is showing me. But again, I don’t want to come off as a lunatic. I will have to do a little more delving, particularly into Joel’s background. Luckily, I think I have a few ideas about where I might be able to get a little more information.

  CHAPTER seventeen

  My first idea for delving into Joel’s past is to find out what his school records say—at the very least I’ll learn a thing or two about his family. But getting into the records office and locating his details presents two dilemmas: first, I am not an administrator, so getting into the office won’t be easy; second, I am pretty sure that an efficient and organized director like Kayla Fairmont keeps all the records on a computer. So, since that idea seemed daunting, I move straight on to Plan B—Google.

  I sit down at my desk in front of my laptop and type Joel Parker into the Google search box. There are more than a few hits. First off, the twentieth governor of New Jersey was named Joel Parker. There is a Joel Parker doctor, a few lawyers, a former NFL player, a researcher, even Joel Parker shoes, and umpteen million Joel Parkers on Facebook. Okay then . . .

  My brain ticks and I type in Joel Parker equestrian. Aha! I click on the link that reads Joel Parker wins Junior/A-O Jumper High Classic at Saugerties and proceed to read an article that gives Joel accolades. Turns out he was not riding Melody when he won the event; he was riding a horse named Major Attitude. It must have been a sweet victory, because he’d won a $10,000 class at sixteen. I pause when I get to the part of the article that mentions his trainer at the time—a woman named Tiffany Ferris. The name is familiar but I can’t remember exactly why.

  So, naturally, I type her name into the search box. What I see next is jarring and brings back the facts: no wonder I remember the name. Tiffany Ferris had been a well-known jumper trainer back east until her career hit a major bump when she came under suspicion of drugging show ponies to mellow them out for their young riders. There had been some type of investigation, and she’d received some bad press in a few of the major equestrian publications, and she’d of course lost a lot of students. I’d learned all of this from listening to a conversation between my mom and one of her clients over the summer. The upshot, apparently, was that Tiffany Ferris had pretty much lost everything. I didn’t think much about it at the time other than that the woman shouldn’t have been drugging ponies at all. My mom had brought me up believing that if you need to drug a horse to be able to get a kid on it, then it isn’t the right horse for the kid to be on.

  I look up from my computer and out the window of my room—green grass, horses, and beyond the horizon, the Pacific. Then it hits me! The dead pony. Melody and Joel had been in close proximity to Tiffany Ferris, and must have even been at the barn when that pony died. The pony that turned Tiffany into a villain in the horse world and ruined her career.

  So, putting two and two together, I have to assume that Joel trained at some point with this woman—an interesting piece of information to say the least. On top of that, I now remembered that Tiffany Ferris had trained at Liberty Farms in Virginia, a horse farm that is right near Virginia Beach, the town that Joel and Riley are from.

  I linked back to the search engine and found articles about the pony-drugging scandal, and a lawsuit that was filed against Tiffany; however, it was later dropped. But, what I discover on the next page, I find even more interesting. “O. M. G.” A small article in the local paper out of Virginia Beach with an announcement for the wedding of Tiffany Ferris and defense attorney Jason Parker. I study the photo and there is no mistaking it—Jason Parker is Joel’s father. Tiffany Ferris as a new stepmother? No wonder the kid wanted to leave home.

  I push back from my computer, feeling somewhat satisfied that I’ve got a good lead now on what may be troubling Joel. Fear doesn’t play into his problems as far as I can tell, but anger sure might. Why wouldn’t Joel be angry, given that his dad recently left the family to take up with his former scandal-tainted horse trainer?

  The door opens and in walks my mute roomie. “Hey,” I say as cheerfully as I can muster.

  “Hey,” Martina mutters back.

  I stand and face her, blocking her from getting past me and going into the bedroom. “Please stop this. Please. I am sorry if you felt judged by me the other night. I’m sorry for being a jerk. I just want the best for you. That’s all. Really. You’re my friend. Can we please start talking and go back to being friends?”

  That’s when she pulls an envelope out of her bag and hands it to me. She bursts into tears. “I’m scared, Vivvie, and I’m sorry.”

  I open the envelope and read the note inside:

  I know where you live. I know how to reach you if I want to. I also know your parents have a secret they are keeping from you.

  CHAPTER eighteen

  What?” I say. I am totally confused. First, I am confused that Martina has received this and what it might mean, and second, I am confused by her sudden and rapid U-turn back into the friend zone. Not that I’m unhappy about it. I am happy, actually. Just confused. I think we have some talking to do. “Sit down. Hang on.” I get a Coke out of our fridge for Martina and grab water for myself.

  I hand it to her. “Thanks,” she says. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I was being such a bitch. It’s just, well, I did think you were being overly critical, and honestly, I really do like this guy. Then, out of the blue, Shannon Burton invited me to sit at the DZ table, and I did it because I wanted to upset you. How stupid is that? It was so uncomfortable sitting with them, and then I got this note in my locker . . . and . . .” She dissolves into tears.

  “Slow down. It’s all okay. It is. Really. I get it.” I don’t completely, but for now I’m going with it. “Let’s not worry about what happened between us. We’re good. I don’t want to lose you as my friend.”

  A part of me screams that if I am her friend, I need to continue to be truthful with her and share my opinion that going out with a twenty-two-year-old guy just isn’t right. But, I can’t. Especially now. That will have to wait because what is most important at this moment is the threatening note she’s received. I read it again. “This was in your locker?”

  “Yes.”

  “It has to be a joke then. A sick and stupid one, but still a joke.”

  She looks at me. “Why do you think it’s a joke?”

  “Because it would be very hard for anyone who didn’t work here, or go to school here, to get on campus, find your locker, and put that in there.”

  “I guess that’s true.”

  “Plus, they would have to know your combination, or have the brain power to figure it out. Have you ever given anyone your locker combo?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “Why would they write this? What if it’s whoever is stalking my mom?”

  “I doubt that. I really do. Why would that person try to come after you? Your mom is the one who will get them the big coverage in the tabloids. I think we have to chalk the note up to the fact that people can be mean, and stupid, and totally ridiculous.”

  “I guess they can. Still, what should I do?” she asks.

  “Maybe tell Kayla and Holden.”

  “What good will that do? Besides, I feel like the less attention I bring to myself, the better. Just like Lydia loves to get to you, someone is trying to get to me, and I won’t let them.”

  I give her a hug. “I think that’s a good way to play it. You’re smart and you’re right.”

  Still, as much as I think Martina’s tactic of just going about her business and not letting anything
get to her is a good idea, I have some concerns. Martina’s question about who would place the note in her locker is bothering me, too, not to mention why they’d do it. I believe what I said about people being mean and ridiculous and all of that. However, I can’t help thinking that there is something more to this than just a cruel joke. And as much as I do not want to go there, I can’t totally embrace the idea of Martina’s new love interest, even now that our friendship is back on. I can’t discount the fact that he is so much older. Also, he’s a groom, which typically means that he doesn’t come from money, and if he did, I seriously doubt it’s the kind of money that Martina comes from. I have to wonder if the new guy has some ulterior motive for being involved with my friend. I am thinking the worst, I know, but what if I’m right? Could he be trying to blackmail her family in some way? I don’t know. But the fact that I am even thinking this way really, really bugs me.

  CHAPTER nineteen

  Maybe because I have so many difficult classes, I find myself almost a month into the second semester without even really noticing how much time has already gone by. There are days when I feel like I live my life in this tight vacuum, and it is one filled with a high level of intensity. A lot of my time after riding is taken up by homework—and spending time with Tristan. His class load is not easy, either, so we have to make time during the week to hang out. We try and do our homework together, but that doesn’t always lead to being productive as much as it leads to making out, unless Riley or Martina is around.

  I am a little bit at a loss where Tristan is concerned. I have a boyfriend who I care so deeply about that it kind of scares me, but what scares me even more is that I am afraid he has a secret he isn’t telling me. I think it’s a deep and dark one, too, and I don’t know how to ask him about it. I am sure his father is abusive, and I am also pretty sure that Lydia knows about it. I don’t know what the deal is with his mother, but that mystery adds to the complexity of it all, and I just wish I could find a way to bring it up and get it out in the open.

  Sebastian hasn’t given me much more on the few occasions I’ve tried to communicate with him. Once, he did that dark gray thing with me again that then turns to red, and then yellow. A different time, he once again brought forth the original images that I’d seen the month before. They weren’t as clear this time though—almost as if the horse’s memory had faded.

  I’ve had the same experience in trying to communicate with Melody. Her favorite color in the scheme of things appears to be blue—turquoise blue, to be exact. She’s also only shown me repeatedly what she already shared before—except each time she communicates, it gets hazier. It makes me wonder whether as horses move forward in time, their memories fade.

  I never thought they did. I’ve been around Dean for most of my life, and he always presents things clearly. Then again, Dean’s memories were and are many of my memories, so I suppose it’s tough for me to base my communication skills with horses on the experiences I’ve had with the horse I grew up with.

  Then, there is Harmony, who is all about pink hearts and butterflies except for the occasions when she replays the scene from when she colicked last semester. I have to say that it’s sort of confusing for me, but with as much as I have on my plate these days, I don’t have nearly as much time as I would like, or need, to psychoanalyze all of the horses—mine included.

  So as another week comes to a close I decide to take Harmony out on a trail ride. I asked Tristan to come along, but he can’t because he hasn’t finished his English paper on The Crucible. I finished my paper yesterday and I feel bad that he isn’t done. Riley has a physics test to study for, and Martina is off with Raul. At this point, I’ve met him twice. He does seem nice and he does seem really into her. She hasn’t gotten any more of those prank letters, so I don’t exactly know what to think. Maybe I am just too suspicious—period. I have decided that the best course for me where Martina and Raul are concerned is to keep quiet. I don’t want to lose my friend again.

  I considered asking Emily to go out with us, but her new horse from Germany is a lot to handle. I feel bad for her, because if anyone wanted to know what I think, I’d say he’s just too much horse for the poor girl. She seems even more miserable than usual, except for when she is around Joel. She is so obviously crushing on the guy that it makes me feel even worse for her. So many secrets. I know way too much for my own good. First, the horses tell me more than I want to know, and then go all vague on me. Riley has revealed things to me that I can’t talk about. Martina and Raul . . . I can’t tell anyone. Then, of course, there’s the dark secret that I sense lies buried within my boyfriend’s head. It’s a lot to try and sort out.

  So yes, a trail ride does sound good. But the rule at Fairmont is that you can’t go out alone. Even though I haven’t really gotten to know Joel, despite the fact that he sits at our lunch table, I figure I’ll ask him. I wish I could let go of my curiosity—the part of me that wants to find out everyone’s little secrets, but I can’t help myself. So naturally I want to see what I can learn about Joel. Maybe if we go out on a trail ride, he will say something that will help me understand what his horse is so afraid of.

  When I call his cell phone, he picks up immediately. Within a minute, he’s agreed to take the trail ride, saying he can’t look at his computer screen any longer and will come to the barn right away.

  Within a half hour, we are out on the trail.

  “It’s kind of cute the way my mare is named Harmony and yours is Melody,” I say.

  “I hadn’t thought of that. But it is, isn’t it?” he replied. “What’s her show name?”

  “Harmonious Movement.”

  “Nice. Melody’s is Unchained Melody.”

  “Ah. After the song?”

  “You know it?” he asks.

  “My grandma is a huge Righteous Brothers fan.”

  “Funny. My old trainer was as well.” He frowns.

  We ride out onto the track that surrounds the cross-country course so that we can do some galloping.

  “I think it’s really good the way you and Riley have made amends,” I say once we are out on the track.

  “Yeah. You know, I had planned on shining him. I thought that would be best for the both of us, but it didn’t take me long to figure out that the DZ, as you call them—which by the way is so perfect—totally defines them.”

  “Thank you.” I smile.

  “Yeah, well, their most intellectual conversation seems to be about which designer purse is better than the other. And the guys who hang with them are not much better. I also kind of thought that since Riley was actually reaching out that maybe I should go ahead and reach back. It’s good I did. We’ve let all of that stuff go and can be friends again. It’s good.”

  “And you don’t have any plans to ever say anything about . . .”

  “Riley?” He pauses and takes a minute before continuing. At first I’m not sure he’s going to answer me. “No. I had something happen to me not that long ago, Vivienne, and it kind of changed me. It made me realize that I wanted to be a better person.”

  “Oh?” This has piqued my curiosity.

  “Yeah. My dad, I think I told you, left us.”

  “You did.”

  “He left my mom for my old trainer.”

  “Oh.” I act like I hadn’t gone all Google detective on him, and had no idea about any of this.

  “It’s worse than that, though. See, this woman who I used to ride with, she drugged ponies back home. I was a working student, so I knew she was doing it. She did it for the little kids so that the ponies would be calm enough for them to ride. It was stupid.”

  “Yeah. Not cool.”

  “She got found out though, and had some problems because of it. You might have even seen her name in the papers—Tiffany Ferris? She lost her students, some credibility, and most of her money. Luckily for her, she already had my dad. She
and my dad had been having an affair for a year, and when she hit bottom, he left us and came to her rescue. He now has himself a new family. And, Tiffany has been able to open up a new training facility with, of course, my dad’s money, while my mom is in a huge battle to get what he owes her. After almost twenty years of marriage, I am sure he owes my mother.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Nothing to be sorry about. He is who he is, and I am working on accepting it. I have to keep him in my life in some minor way at least. He pays my way here.”

  I think about my own father for a second—not any longer than that.

  “The one good thing that came out of it is that I got Melody. I had a horse before her named Major—Major Attitude. He was awesome. He is awesome, but he belonged to Tiffany. God, I almost want to puke when I say her name. Anyway, she sold Major, trying to pocket as much money as she could, but this is a woman who loves to spend money so it didn’t last—thus, the appeal of my father, no doubt. I started riding Melody not long after she sold Major. I loved her, and my dad bought her for me—which is maybe the only decent thing I think my dad has ever done for me. Before, she had belonged to a little girl who took a bad spill on her.” He looks away for a few seconds. “And the kid was scared, so she didn’t want to ride again.”

  The picture becomes very clear to me now, as to what Melody had shown me—the girl that had fallen off her. I still don’t understand why Melody had fallen herself, and don’t know if I ever will, but at least I think I can try to convey to the horse that the fall was not her fault, and that I am sure the girl had loved her, and that Joel loves her very much and won’t leave her. Maybe if she can understand this, it will ease whatever fears she has.