Competing for the Cup

by Bobbi J. G. Weiss

  “If you don’t care, then don’t be mad at me anymore. Can’t you understand?” Anya asked her.

  “That’s the point!” said Kit. “I would have! Understood, I mean. But you didn’t even give me the chance! I mean, Josh got to know! I know that he’s your boyfriend and everything but —”

  “About that.” Anya squirmed. “He’s not really, kind of, like my —”

  “You and Josh aren’t even dating?” Kit exploded. “That was a brand-new lie from, like, today!”

  She fled the room. Maybe Anya was trying to be honest now, but why hadn’t she started out that way? The very first thing they’d ever done together was go through Kit’s belongings, item by item, when Kit unpacked after arriving at Covington. Kit had revealed her whole life to Anya, had answered every one of Anya’s questions. And only now was she learning that “Anya Patel” wasn’t the person that Anya had shown her in return. Was that trust? Was that honest friendship? No!

  She could hear Anya running after her. “Kit, wait!”

  Kit kept walking, forcing Anya to run to catch up.

  “Kit, wait! When Madhu arrived that day —”

  “Your mother,” Kit said. “She’s the queen! I didn’t even curtsy!”

  Now Anya looked positively guilty. “It’s fine,” she said. “That was my governess.”

  “What?” How many lies upon lies had Anya been telling?

  They were standing in the dorm hallway, and the nearest door opened. It was Elaine’s room, and she appeared, wearing a big smile. “Oh, there you are, Anya,” she said, reaching out and taking Anya’s hand. “I need to speak to you.”

  “Okay, yes, but I just need to . . .” Anya tried to pull her hand back, but Elaine didn’t let go.

  “It’s really quite an ASAP situation,” Elaine insisted, and pulled her into her room. “Come on!”

  “But —”

  The door closed.

  Kit gave up and resumed her escape, muttering, “I need to think.”

  In Elaine’s room, Anya was so overwhelmed by what was happening that she allowed Elaine to seat her in a chair. “Are you okay?” Elaine asked with concern, patting her shoulder. “I thought Kit was going to eat you alive.”

  Her mind still reeling, Anya looked at Elaine, almost seeing her but also still seeing Kit, a very upset and betrayed Kit. “You — you didn’t see the picture?” she asked. Yes, the picture, the stupid paparazzi picture. That’s what had messed everything up!

  Elaine nodded. “Yes, it was quite flattering. Loved your hair.” She reached out and stroked Anya’s hair as if Anya were a big doll. “Do you want to go grab dinner?” As a joke, she added, “Before the boys eat all the good stuff?”

  “Uh . . .” Anya wasn’t even sure what room she was in. Where had Elaine come from, anyway? And where had Kit gone?

  Elaine stood up, pulling Anya up with her. “After a tantrum like that, you need to give Kit a little time to cool off.”

  What tantrum was Elaine talking about? Kit’s feelings were hurt, but she wasn’t having a tantrum —

  She got pulled out the door and all the way to the dining hall while Elaine chatted airily about this and that and the other. Anya didn’t hear a word she said.

  In the common room, Josh was studying his definitely-not-favorite subject, English, when Will swept in and sat down at his table. “All right,” Will stated like a teacher, “your dressage is quite good.”

  Josh glanced up from his textbook.

  “And your cross-country is quite brilliant, actually,” Will went on.

  Josh waited for it.

  “But your stadium jumping is pretty shaky.”

  Ah, so that was it. “Kind of harsh,” Josh commented. “But with the cup coming up, it’s —”

  “Exactly.”

  Josh had no idea where this was going.

  “So?” Will prompted as if he’d been making perfect sense so far. “Meet me in the stables at four, and come prepared to work.” That said, he hoisted his backpack and started to leave.

  “Wait wait wait wait wait!” Josh knew that Will didn’t offer his time and effort for free. There was something of value lurking in the shadows of this situation, and he wanted some. “What’s in this for me?”

  Will regarded him sternly. “A win?” he offered. “Plus, Nav needs to lose. So if I’m not in there, you’re the next best thing.”

  So that was it. Nav had dissed Will earlier in the day about not being able to ride in the cup, so now Will was offering to help him so that he would beat Nav in Will’s place. Clever. Josh just had to think of what he wanted out of this. A win would be good, but he wanted more than that. “Your room?” he suggested.

  Will paused. “What?”

  “It’s the nicest one in Juniper Cottage. And my roommate is a total nightmare. So, you know, if I beat Nav, then you trade rooms with me.”

  Will acted like the mere idea was an insult. “Forget it.”

  “It’s a small price to pay for me pounding Nav into the turf, dude!” Josh called after him, but Will just kept walking until he was gone.

  Josh replayed the conversation in his head. It wasn’t over. No, this meant too much to Will. He’d be back — Josh was sure of it. Reluctantly he went back to his English homework.

  The next morning, Anya sat alone at a table in the dining hall, trying to enjoy her breakfast, but she had no appetite. She kept her eye on the doorway, hoping that Kit would show up. Not only was Kit missing this morning, but she hadn’t even slept in their room the night before. Anya was scared that she had driven away the best friend she’d ever had.

  A pain au chocolat appeared on a plate before her. Elaine sat down. “For some energy today,” Elaine said. “You’re going to need it.”

  “I thought you wanted us strictly on healthy foods.”

  “Unless one is in need of a little morale boost. Plus, I know that pain au chocolat is your fave.”

  Anya tried to smile, but she wondered why Elaine was being so nice. Elaine wasn’t nice to anybody. But she had been there when Kit had stormed off. Maybe she was trying to make up for getting involved in their argument?

  “So,” Elaine said casually, “after the big photo reveal — wow! — is there anything I have to do differently around you? Like, use some kind of title?”

  “Please don’t,” Anya said. “I’m still just me.”

  “Excellent! Well, speaking of morale boosts, the forecast for today is tip-top. And we’ve been working so hard that I thought we deserve a little fun. Let’s go on a hack.”

  That sounded like a wonderful idea to Anya, if Elaine was being sincere. Taking a ride through the lovely Covington school grounds would soothe her nerves, and it would be good for Ducky. But one thing topped Anya’s concerns for the day. “I thought I should speak to Kit. I think she slept in the barn.” Anya hated the idea of Kit shivering under a horse blanket in TK’s stall all night. If that was the case, it was her fault, and she wanted to fix it right away.

  Elaine saw it differently. “She’ll find you when she’s ready. Come on. Let’s go for a ride.”

  Anya had always thought that Elaine was mean, but her smile certainly seemed sweet and genuine. Maybe seeing the stupid paparazzi photo had actually opened up a door of potential friendship that might otherwise never have opened. Anya had to admit that she didn’t really know how to deal with people very well. She had lived most of her life so protected. And that ride did sound nice.

  She nodded her agreement.

  Kit had indeed slept in the barn, much as Anya had imagined it. But unlike Anya, Kit had a lot of experience sleeping in rustic places. Her parents had run a horse ranch, after all. Little Kit had fallen asleep in sheds and barns and stalls, and she even remembered napping in a wheelbarrow once. Also, the family had gone camping quite often, so Kit had slept under the stars many times, on the ranch property and also in the nearby woods. Sleeping in a stall hadn’t been a big deal to Kit except for all the hay she’d found knotted in her hair whe
n she’d awoken.

  “TK, did you do this?” she demanded while pulling it out strand by strand. It was as if somebody had deliberately woven each piece in!

  TK tossed his head up and down, producing a low rumble that sounded suspiciously like laughter.

  “Bad horsey,” Kit scolded him.

  After munching on a stale scone she found in her jacket pocket — a leftover from her last tea with Lady Covington — she didn’t yet feel ready to return to Rose Cottage, so she decided to give TK a bath. She set up a bucket of water and a sponge and headed back to get TK, but she paused at the sight of a yellow sticky note on the door. This one read, Take me with you! A real friend helps you do more than you dreamed of.

  She looked around to see who might have left it. The only other person in her section of the stable was Nav, who was about to muck out Prince’s stall. “Morning, Nav!” she said.

  Nav greeted her with a big smile. “Good morning, Katherine Bridges!” He gestured to her rolled-up sleeping bag and pillow. “Did you really spend the night out here in the stable?”

  “Yeah, TK and I sort of had a sleepover. It’s a long story.” She fingered the note in her hand, wanting to just ask him outright if he had left the message along with all the others, but she suddenly felt shy. What a concept — a Bridges, shy!

  Nav noticed. “Is everything okay?” he asked.

  “Mostly,” Kit replied. “Ish. Mostly-ish. But I did want to thank you for all your help.” She tried to make her meaning clear by waving the yellow sticky around. What is wrong with you? she wondered of herself even as she did it, because it was clear that Nav had no idea what she meant.

  “I try to be of assistance whenever I can,” he said, watching her waving.

  Realizing she looked like a jerk, Kit stuffed the note in her pocket. “TK and I both say thank you,” she tried again. “I’m almost excited about the Covington House Cup!”

  They smiled at each other, then both went back to work.

  Neither of them saw Will appear from around Prince’s stall. He frowned. Once again he had left a note of encouragement for Kit, and once again Nav had taken credit for it! He felt anger bubble up, but getting angry, he knew, was the wrong reaction. Confronting Nav would do him no good, either. The fact was, since Kit was going to compete in the cup, Nav had an advantage over Will — he had easier access to Kit, and he could impress her with his cup performance. Will had to find a way around that.

  Luckily, he had one.

  He put his shovel away and went directly to the dining hall. As he hoped, Josh was there, hungrily slicing into a pile of about eight blueberry pancakes smothered in syrup. Will headed straight for his table and said, “All right, the deal’s on.”

  Josh stared at him, as though checking for any signs of deceit. “I get your room?”

  “If and when you beat Nav at the cup.”

  Looking pleased, Josh asked, “What changed your mind?”

  Will had no interest in going into details. He nodded pointedly at Josh’s pancakes and advised, “Eat light. You’ve got a lot of jumping ahead.” He left before Josh could make any reply. First off, he didn’t care what Josh might have to say. The deal was set — that’s all that mattered. Second, he knew that the minute he turned his back, Josh would shove that forkful of pancakes into his mouth anyway.

  Will just hoped he wouldn’t toss it back up during training.

  Kit spent the morning running through her dressage test on TK in the practice ring. She did it over and over again, as if Elaine were with her, forcing her to start at the beginning every time she forgot a move or made the wrong one. Spending time with an imaginary Elaine wasn’t Kit’s idea of fun, but it helped keep her alert.

  “Working trot from H to A,” she recited, guiding TK just as she had guided her plastic horse around the model ring a few nights ago. “Turn to center line, halt, and we’re done. We did it — woohoo!” She patted TK’s neck. “Good job, boy!” She laughed. “Good job, me!”

  Buzzing with pride, Kit dismounted TK and took a look around. She was alone in the ring. “Gotta say,” she told TK, “I thought there’d be more of a feeling of triumph after that. Maybe it’s just me, but I think there should be cupcakes or trumpets or”— she stroked TK’s cheek —“maybe a best friend cheering for us?”

  A horse’s whinny drew her attention to the ring next to hers, where a younger student was finishing up jumping.

  “Hm,” Kit mused. “Maybe we’re not done.” She fixed TK with a mischievous look. “What do you think, boy? You up for trying something else today?”

  Meanwhile, Rudy was fighting with paperwork at his desk in the tack room.

  Paperwork was a truly frightening thing. No matter how much of it he did, signing reports here and ordering supplies there, his in-box always ended up with more paperwork in it than he started with. He was beginning to think that paperwork could actually breed, and that his in-box wasn’t a piece of desk equipment but a paperwork nest in disguise.

  A petite figure bustled into the room with a quick, “Good morning — just fetching my helmet. I’ll see you out —” Sally stopped speaking, stopped moving. She stared at the doorway.

  Rudy glanced up. “Something wrong, Miss Sally?”

  Sally pinned him with a death glare. “You know exactly what’s wrong,” she said in a low voice. “The Rose Cottage good-luck horseshoe — what did you do with it?”

  This was the moment that Rudy had been looking forward to all morning. He hadn’t been sure exactly when Sally might stop by the tack room, but he knew she would. Now that the House Cup was getting close, she had begun taking daily rides with her Rose Cottage girls, probably to build up team spirit. And now that she had finally stepped into his domain, Rudy was ready for a little fun.

  “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re referring to,” he said, his voice oozing with cowboy charm.

  The expression on Sally’s face was priceless. Her eyes were big, her lips pursed. Rudy thought she looked so cute that way, like a disgruntled sparrow when an uppity blue jay steals its worm. “It was here,” she told him, pointing at the empty spot on the wall, “right here. A good-luck horseshoe. And it’s been here for nearly twenty seasons — since I was a student!”

  Rudy tipped his head to one side as if perplexed. “Huh. That’s curious.” He turned to Will. “Will, do you know anything about this?”

  Will was busy cleaning tack in the corner. “No, sir,” he replied.

  “We don’t know anything about it,” Rudy told Sally.

  The disgruntled sparrow turned into a feisty raven as Sally advanced on Rudy one slow step after another. “Your gee-whiz-aw-shucks cowboy act is not fooling me. This is unacceptable!” She narrowed her eyes in an attempt to look intimidating. Rudy just thought it made her look cuter. “Return my shoe, or you and your team will live to regret it!” Sally pantomimed I am watching you, and then, with a final glare and a harsh “Good day, Mr. Bridges,” she left.

  It was all Rudy could do not to bust a gut laughing.

  Will looked at the empty space where the horseshoe had been. “Did you . . .?”

  Rudy would have liked to take Will in as a confidant — pranks were so much more fun when shared with other pranksters, and Will was a champ. But he decided to keep this prank between himself and Sally. “Maybe.”

  Will easily sensed the truth. “And Lady Covington thought I wasn’t learning enough out here in the barn!”

  An hour later, Kit was still in the practice ring working with TK. While he had taken a short rest, she had set up a simple jump course. Most of the jumps were only a few inches high, and some were just poles lying on the ground. Now she guided him through the course at a steady walk, using all of her willpower to stay calm and in control. She needed to communicate to TK that she was in charge, but also that he was safe under her charge. So far, it seemed to be working.

  “Step one, two, three, four, jump,” she recited, and TK walked over a pole on the ground. “Step one, tw
o, three —”

  TK balked and tried to veer sideways. Kit gently spoke his name and corrected his movements back toward the next jump. “Easy,” she murmured, pouring all the calm energy she could into the word. “And . . . jump!”

  TK awkwardly jumped over the only oxer in the course. It was about ten inches high, and he cleared it. “All right!” Kit praised him. “Good boy!” She basked in the moment.

  Anya had gone riding with Elaine, and as they returned, Anya stopped to watch Kit work with TK. “Look at that,” she said to Elaine, who sat astride Thunder next to her.

  Elaine watched TK clear the oxer. “Something you and I both mastered by the time we were six,” she observed.

  Anya didn’t like how Elaine put Kit down. “But that’s huge for her,” she said, annoyed by how riders like Elaine just couldn’t understand. Elaine had probably begun her career in competition as soon as she could walk, just like Anya had. Kit was a beginner.

  When Kit suddenly noticed them watching, Anya smiled, hoping that her roommate would see how happy she was at TK’s success. Instead, Kit’s expression slid into disappointment, and she looked away.

  Anya felt hollow.

  “Well, I had fun,” Elaine said, pulling Anya’s attention back. “I hope we can do it again sometime.”

  Preoccupied, Anya nodded vaguely. “Yeah.”

  “Peaches and I are having a movie marathon tonight,” Elaine went on. “All sports films, as inspiration.” She smiled coyly. “I think you should join us.”

  Instead of answering, Anya looked out again at her roommate, who instantly looked away again. Was Kit mad at her? Of course she was, and why shouldn’t she be? Anya had lied about her identity — there was no other way to phrase it. From Anya’s point of view, she had been protecting herself, but from Kit’s point of view, she had lied.