City Secrets

by Jessica Burkhart

  “You’re such a good guy,” I said. “You’re used to having this done a lot, aren’t you?”

  He mouthed the bit until it was settled, and I tightened the cheek strap.

  Heather had finished tacking up Cora.

  “Ready?” she asked.

  “Definitely,” I said. We grabbed our helmets off the tack trunks, and I followed her toward the indoor arena.

  9

  YOU LOOK LIKE A BIRD

  WHEN WE REACHED THE ARENA, I STOPPED at the entrance, taking it all in. It was a gorgeous space—the entire rectangular arena was flooded with light from the huge windows. A stack of portable jumps were at one end, next to a neat pile of dressage markers. The arena was almost as big as Canterwood’s. It was empty—I suspected Mr. Fox had probably reserved it for the entire day.

  “Niiice,” I said. “This is a great space.”

  “I love the windows,” Heather said. “It always kept me from getting bored when I was riding for hours by myself. I’d pass a window and watch someone else practice in one of the outdoor arenas.”

  I patted Limitless’s neck and prepared to mount. It had been a while since I’d ridden another horse, but I wasn’t too nervous. Pam seemed to know what Heather and I could handle, especially since we were on the YENT. Gathering the reins, I stuck my left toe in the stirrup iron and pushed up off the ground.

  Limitless didn’t move as I settled into the saddle and reached down to adjust my stirrups. Beside us Heather mounted Cora, and the black mare pointed her ears toward the arena—definitely ready to go.

  Heather and I gave the horses rein and let them move at a slow walk through the arena entrance. I guided Limitless to the wall, and, with Heather and Cora behind us, we started to warm up. Limitless’s stride was smooth and he was alert and ready for any of my commands, which was great for a school horse. I flashed back to some of the horses I’d ridden before my parents had bought me Charm. They’d been an interesting mix. The first lesson horse I’d ridden had refused to trot unless he wanted to and he’d always yanked his head down to try and grab a bite of grass. A couple of horses had been high-strung and one had shied at anything that moved.

  But Limitless wasn’t anything like those horses, and from what I’d seen from Cora, she wasn’t either. I gave the bay gelding more rein and let him move into a trot. He quickened his pace and moved smoothly around the arena. Hoofbeats quickened behind us as Heather let Cora trot after Limitless. The mare didn’t want to be left behind, and she stayed a few strides behind us without tailgaiting.

  As we made our way around the arena, I looked out one of the windows. In the arena that was in full view, half a dozen adult riders were putting horses through all different exercises. I was so used to seeing people my age in the arena that I almost wanted to stop and watch the adults ride.

  “Silver!” Heather yelled from behind me.

  “What?” I looked over at her as she let Cora get even with Limitless.

  “I know I said the windows were great, but you can’t stare out them forever,” Heather continued. “We’re supposed to be practicing.”

  “We’re just warming up. And chill—I might learn something from watching them.”

  Heather rolled her eyes. “The warm-up’s about to be over and the only person you’d learn anything from watching is me.” She shifted in the saddle to look at me, a cocky smirk on her face.

  “Omigod,” I said, laughing. “Did you really just say that?”

  Heather stared at me as if my helmet was on fire or something.

  Heather let Cora into a canter, and the mare jumped in front of Limitless, swishing her tail. She was lanky, and her long legs carried her strides ahead of us. I stopped posting and sat in the saddle, giving Limitless rein and squeezing my legs against his sides. He transitioned from a trot to a canter in a few strides, and his canter was smooth enough that I had no trouble not bouncing in the saddle.

  We followed Cora and Heather around the arena twice at a canter before Heather eased her to a trot and guided her into the center of the arena.

  I pulled Limitless to a trot, then a walk, before stopping him next to Cora.

  “I assume you already have our entire workout planned,” I said.

  Heather nodded. “Down to the cooldown.”

  I looked at her, waiting. “I’m ready. Let’s go instead of just sitting here.”

  That made Heather smile. “Exactly what I wanted to hear. Let’s start by going through flatwork without stirrups, and after that, we’ll use the stirrups to work through a little dressage, and then give the horses a break for a few minutes.”

  “Oh, yeah, we’ll totally be giving the horses a break,” I said.

  Heather waved a hand at me. “Puh-lease. You better not need a break by then or the rest of the workout is going to kill you.”

  I straightened in Limitless’s saddle. “As if. I’m ready, as I said, like, an hour ago.”

  “Fine. Drop ’em,” Heather said, her eyes locked on mine.

  She kicked her feet out of the stirrups and I did the same. We crossed them over our saddles and I adjusted my legs to the right position.

  “I’ll give directions first, then you can,” Heather said. Cora pointed her ears forward and struck the ground with a foreleg. Her energy seemed to feed into Limitless, and he shifted beneath me, ready for whatever instruction I gave him.

  “Deal.”

  “Walk to the wall, then sitting trot,” Heather instructed. “And whoever is giving instructions has to ride behind the other rider and offer suggestions.”

  I knew what that meant. Suggestions meaning “you’re-the-worst-rider-ever-and-do-it-right-before-I-punch-you.” That’s what Heather meant by “suggestions.”

  But I let her and Cora drop behind Limitless and me. I gripped the saddle gently with my knees, wanting to keep Limitless’s pace steady and to keep my position in the saddle.

  “Your heels are ridiculous,” Heather said. “Basics 101, hello.”

  “They are n—” I started to argue, but I looked down and saw she was right.

  My face burned a little as I pushed my heels down and pointed my toes up. That was a beginner mistake. Something I’d learned not to do years ago.

  I felt my shoulders tense at the thought of Heather behind me, watching me and ready to jump on the next mistake. My shoulders started to inch up, and just as I caught it, Heather called, “Shoulders. Down.”

  I dropped them and straightened my back, trying not to look too stiff. Stop it, I told myself. You’ve practiced with Heather before. If you’re nervous all day about riding in front of her, then the entire lesson’s going to be a waste. Just relax.

  And as I looked through Limitless’s ears, I reminded myself that I was lucky to have a good horse too.

  Heather and I made two more circuits around the arena at a sitting trot and she had no comments on those rounds.

  “Walk for half a lap, and then posting trot,” Heather said.

  I took back a bit of rein and slowed Limitless to a walk. He listened immediately and I relaxed in the saddle, trying not to be obvious to Heather. Sitting to a trot without stirrups was hard!

  All too soon we reached the halfway point and it was time to trot again. I gripped the saddle a little tighter with my knees, preparing to post. Limitless shook his black mane as I let him back into a trot, and I couldn’t help smiling. He was having fun.

  I moved up and down slightly with his trot and felt sweat on my forehead. But I was not going to let Heather see that.

  “Tuck in your elbows,” she called. “You look like a bird trying to take off.”

  I pulled my elbows closer to my sides. “Can you critique me without the side comments?”

  “I guess,” Heather said after a few seconds. “I don’t want to distract you more than you already are.”

  “Right. Thanks,” I said, my tone a little sharp. But we both knew she wasn’t stopping just because she wanted to make my riding better for the team. There was no on
e else here and she didn’t have to act like the old Heather Fox to keep up her image.

  I focused on my posture, determined not to make a mistake for Heather to spot, and ignored the pain in my legs. Limitless kept an even pace and stuck close to the wall as if he didn’t even need me to tell him what to do.

  “Walk,” Heather said after what felt like an eternity.

  I let Limitless trot for a few more seconds, just to prove to Heather that I was fine, before I eased him to a walk.

  “Good job, boy,” I said, rubbing his dark brown neck. He flicked an ear back at me and snorted, seeming to know I was praising him.

  Heather rode up beside me. “Not awful,” she said. “I mean, once I knocked the basic beginner mistakes out of you and all.”

  “Gee, thanks,” I said. “I’m glad I’m not ‘awful.’”

  But we grinned at each other.

  “Do you like Cora?” I asked, letting my legs dangle at Limitless’s sides.

  Heather patted Cora’s shoulder. “Yeah, she’s great so far. But I—”

  “—miss Canterwood,” we both said at the same time.

  Heather gave me a half smile.

  “Limitless is great, but I miss Charm so much already,” I said. “I can’t stop wondering what he’s doing right now.”

  “I thought about Aristocrat when I got here,” Heather said. “For a second, when I walked down the aisle, I thought I heard him. But that was dumb.”

  “It’s not dumb. You’re used to seeing him every day. By the middle of the week, I’ll probably be calling Mike and having him put his phone next to Charm’s ear so I can tell him hi.”

  “Oh, God,” Heather said. “That’s too pathetic—even for you.”

  But there wasn’t venom in her voice. Her eyes were teasing.

  I laughed. “Okay, okay. I probably won’t do that. But you know what I mean. I miss Charm, even though I know it’s good to ride other horses.”

  “I miss Aristocrat too. He’ll always be my favorite, but I agree—we have to ride different horses.” Heather stretched her back. “Actually, I’m hoping to get another horse when I start high school so that I’ll have a new one to train for the future and a more experienced horse like Aristocrat to compete with through high school.”

  I sat still in the saddle, just staring at Heather. “Wow. I haven’t even thought that far ahead. I’m just focused on the YENT and prepping for our first schooling show. Riding in high school seems so far away.”

  “It’s not, really,” Heather said. “Not when you’re going to start looking for a new horse and figuring out how to split your time between two horses.”

  Charm was enough for me to handle; I couldn’t even imagine having another horse to ride and train.

  “You look like your brain is about explode,” Heather said. “Let’s get back to work.”

  Heather guided Cora in front of Limitless, and I focused my attention on her, ready to critique.

  10

  GOING LUXE

  “I THINK WE SHOULD STOP,” HEATHER SAID. “The horses are probably tired.”

  Limitless seemed fine and there was barely a layer of sweat on his coat, but I wasn’t about to argue with her. I was exhausted.

  “Yeah, let’s start cooling them down,” I said. “We’ve got all week to practice.”

  I halted Limitless and dismounted, hopping to the ground. I loosened his girth and reached for the reins to pull them over his head. Heather pulled her phone out of her zipper pocket and texted whom I assumed was Paul, to tell him we’d be done after we took care of our horses.

  “Heather! Omigod!”

  Heather and I both turned toward the arena entrance as two girls led horses into the arena. The girls were dressed in black breeches and polo shirts. They carried helmets under their arms. There was something so familiar about them, down to the way they walked.

  “Blake! Emma! Hey!” Heather said. She led Cora over to the girls and they air-kissed.

  That was it. They were Heather’s friends. Part of her crowd. That’s why they seemed familiar. They had Heather’s confident walk, her cool gaze, and riding clothes that cost more than my summer clothing allowance. I took a breath and forced myself to meet their gaze and not look intimidated.

  “Sasha,” Heather said, “these are my friends from my old school.”

  “Blake,” said a girl with long, glossy black hair. She held the reins of a steely gray gelding.

  “I’m Emma,” said the other girl. She had an auburn pixie cut and freckles sprinkled across her nose. Her horse, also a gelding, was a bay like Limitless, but he had a stripe.

  “How are you guys?” Heather asked. “I haven’t seen you on IM since forever.”

  “We’ve been so busy,” Blake said. “You know how it is at school. Like, I’m juggling riding, classes, dating Nick, and—”

  “You’re dating someone?” Heather asked. “Since when? And who’s Nick?”

  Blake sighed. “I started dating Nick at the beginning of the year, and he’s a transfer student. Didn’t anyone tell you that?”

  Heather shook her head. “Someone probably texted me and I just didn’t get the message. My phone was broken for a while.”

  “Whatev,” Emma said. “So Blake’s with Nick, and I think Sam’s about to ask me out. You remember Sam Murdock, right?”

  Heather nodded. “Yeah, of course I do.”

  But something in her tone made me doubt her a little.

  “Well,” Emma continued. “We were out with a group getting sushi together and Sam couldn’t stop talking to me. His little sister is a year younger than me, so I’m totally going to get the dirt on Sam from her.”

  “Sound like a good plan,” Heather said, her voice sounding a bit bored. “Have you guys heard any Canterwood gossip?”

  Blake and Emma looked at each other.

  “No,” Blake said. “There must not be anything going on or we would have heard about it.”

  “Actually,” Heather said. “We had a huge scandal when—” She shut her mouth and her eyes narrowed when she watched Blake check the time on a dainty silver wristwatch.

  “We want to catch up and tell you everything about school, but we’ve got to ride first,” Blake said. “Looks like you and Sarah are done.”

  “It’s Sasha,” I said.

  “Yeah, we’re done,” Heather said. “And we’ve got to go, anyway.”

  Blake nodded. “Totally. We’ll text you later so we can go out or something.”

  “Cool,” Heather said.

  And with fake smiles to Emma and Blake, Heather led Cora away from them and out of the arena. I led Limitless out behind them and caught up to Heather when we reached the aisle.

  “Let’s cool them outside,” she said. “It got a little crowded in there.”

  We exited the stable and headed away from the busy arenas and toward a quiet, well-worn path that took us away from the stable.

  I waited until we’d walked for a couple of minutes before I got up the guts to ask what I was thinking.

  “Were Emma and Blake your best friends at your old school?” I asked.

  “Yeah.” Heather shrugged. “I transferred to Canterwood a year before you, but I always stayed in touch with them. On every break I stayed at one of their apartments and we talked every day on the phone. In seventh grade . . . I don’t know what happened, really. We just stopped talking so much.”

  “That happens sometimes,” I said. “But they seemed happy to see you.”

  “Yeah, so happy that all they wanted to do was talk about themselves,” Heather said. “They didn’t ask me anything about what was going on at school or if I was dating anybody.”

  Heather looked over at me. “Honestly, it was annoying, but I really don’t care,” she said. “Julia and Alison have been my best friends for a long time and I’m not part of Emma and Blake’s crowd anymore. They could have at least pretended to care what I was doing. But why, I guess? We’re all going to go back to our own schools and st
ables and not talk anymore, anyway. I just wish I could have said . . .” Heather shook her head and pulled Cora a step in front of Limitless.

  “Said what?” I asked.

  I caught up with her.

  “I don’t know. I guess I just wish I could have said that I was dating someone too. Not so they could go back to school and be like, ‘Omigod, Heather’s dating this guy from Canterwood,’ but just because I want to be, you know, dating.”

  “Let’s get specific,” I said. We guided the horses down a gentle incline and reached a shallow creek. “You want to be dating Troy.”

  Heather paused, then nodded. “Duh, I told you I liked him at the Homecoming dance.”

  We gave our horses rein to take tiny sips of water from the creek.

  “So what are you going to do about it?” I asked.

  Heather whipped her head around to look at me. “I don’t know! Nothing right now. If he’s interested, he’ll come talk to me.”

  “Please,” I said. “That’s so yesterday. If you want to go out with Troy, talk to him. You could text him or e-mail him over break just to say hi. Be totally casual. Or write on his FaceSpace wall or something.”

  Heather pulled Cora’s head up from the creek, and water dribbled from the mare’s muzzle. Limitless raised his head, and the two sniffed muzzles.

  “No. Way,” Heather said. “And we’re done talking about this now. Let’s get them groomed so we can go.”

  “Okay,” I said, deciding not to argue.

  We led the horses away from the sandy creek bed and back down the dirt path. But I wasn’t going to give up. Heather deserved to have something in her life besides riding, and if she wanted to date Troy, she had to at least try to make it happen. She’d encouraged me the night of the dance to go after Jacob—even though I wasn’t ready and had refused. Interesting that confident, I-always-get-what-I-want Heather Fox was at a surprising loss at how to handle boys. Even though my track record wasn’t that great, I was sure I could help her at least start talking to Troy.

  We led the horses back toward the stable in silence. Limitless kept his head close to my shoulder as we walked and I liked him more every minute I spent time with him. I reached up and rubbed his star.