Pony Jumpers 2- Double Clear

by Kate Lattey

  I kept glancing at Mum, watching the tight lines pinching around the edges of her mouth as her eyes narrowed, and I moved Lucas right up next to her and drew him to a halt. Mum reached out and put a hand on my pony’s neck, and Lucas raised his head and watched Dad approach, picking up on our tension.

  I dropped my fingers to his withers and gave him a reassuring scratch. I couldn’t make my problems into his.

  Dad spoke first. “Hello.”

  “What do you want?” I asked, stepping in before Mum could speak. Her fingers clutched at Lucas’ short mane, and he turned and touched her with his muzzle reassuringly. Critter hovered around Mum’s ankles, growling tentatively at my father.

  “I came to see you.”

  “Did you just? Well excuse us for not rolling out the red carpet.”

  “Katy.” Mum’s voice was a warning, and I glared down at her. Don’t you dare treat him with respect, I wanted to yell at her. If there was one fault that my mother had, it was being too nice to people. After what my father had done, walking out without a backwards glance and barely contacting us in the years since, he didn’t deserve her respect, and he sure as hell didn’t deserve her forgiveness.

  “What?” I asked her, but she ignored me.

  “I came to let you know that I’m moving back,” Dad said. “Well, I’ve moved back actually. Left Aussie a couple of weeks ago. Haven’t bought a place yet, but I’m looking. I’d like to be close by, if possible.”

  He smiled at me, as though I was going to fling myself off my pony and into his arms. As if all those years and miles that had come between us could be wiped out in an instant, but I just stared at him, unable to believe my ears.

  “What makes you think we want you anywhere near us?”

  He looked surprised by my reaction, and I wanted to punch him and kick him and scream at him for being so stupid. “I’m your father, Kate.”

  “No you’re not,” I told him emphatically, nudging Lucas forward and steering him past the tall, lanky man in the middle of my arena. “Go away and leave us alone.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  “You’re being weirdly quiet.”

  I rolled onto my stomach and looked at AJ as our horse truck rattled down the highway towards the Foxton Racecourse. It was early on Saturday morning, so early that it was still dark outside, and we were on our way to Foxton for a weekend of show jumping. And after the week I’d had, I was more than ready for a spot of healthy competition, to take my mind off everything else.

  “Just sleepy, I guess,” AJ said with a shrug.

  “Well, if you want sleep I suggest you get it now, because once we arrive it’s going to be all hands on deck,” I told her, glancing past her at the dividing wall that separated our accommodation from the row of ponies standing in the back, hidden from our sight.

  AJ’s exuberant grey pony Squib was just the other side of that wall, standing next to Molly and Lucas. My six-year-old dark bay gelding Forbes was there, and Robin, the boring bright bay gelding that we were hoping to sell as a Show Hunter pony, because he was far too dull and uninspiring to ever have much chop as a show jumper. Even four-year-old Puppet had come along, filling up the last space on the truck and about to have his first overnight experience at a show. I planned to ride him around between classes and give him a taste of the atmosphere, and maybe canter him around a couple of low classes if I had time. It was always good for the young ponies to have an outing without too much pressure – it gave them a positive experience and ensured that they looked forward to their next event.

  I closed my eyes and tried to doze, taking my own advice. This was going to be a frantic, non-stop weekend, but that was how I wanted it. I didn’t need a spare moment to be thinking about anything other than course plans and clear rounds and whether my prize money would pay back my entries this week.

  “I have to tell you something.”

  I opened one eye and looked at AJ. “Go on then.”

  “You’re not going to like it.”

  “Try me.”

  “It’s about your dad.”

  She had my attention now, and I sat up and looked at her. “What about him?”

  “I…” She looked nervous. “I think he might be coming to the show this weekend.”

  “What?” I blinked at her, my head reeling. “How does he know…”

  “It just kind of slipped out when he turned up the other day,” AJ admitted. “I’m sorry! But I didn’t even know he was your dad, and…”

  I cut her off. “How exactly does something like that just slip out?” I asked her angrily. “You only talked to him for about thirty seconds!”

  AJ hastened to explain, tripping over her own words. “Well I was brushing out Squib’s tail, and he asked me if I was keeping it clean for a special occasion, and I was like we’re going show jumping at Foxton this weekend, and he asked if Squib was much of a jumper, and I said yes but not as good as your ponies, and he asked if you were riding at Foxton too and I said yes. I had no idea who he was, Katy. I wouldn’t have said anything if I’d known how you felt about him.”

  “So you thought he was a total stranger, but you still filled him in on my life?” I couldn’t believe it. “Aren’t you the daughter of a detective? Shouldn’t you be more wary of random people questioning you?”

  “Katy.” Mum’s voice came from the front seat of the truck, reminding me that she could overhear our conversation. She adjusted her hands on the wheel and glanced in the rearview mirror at me. “She didn’t know.”

  “But-”

  “It’s done now,” Mum said. “And if he does turn up, I can ask him to leave.”

  “You can tell him, is what you can do,” I replied. “I don’t want him hanging around. God!” I lay back down on the sofa, fuming. “He abandons us and moves to Australia, conveniently forgetting that we even exist, and then comes swanning back when his girlfriend dumps him and just expects us to take him back with open arms? Who the hell does he think he is?”

  I knew from the start that it was not going to be my best show. It didn’t start well, and it got worse as the day went along. And I couldn’t even use Dad’s presence as an excuse, because there was no sign of him at all on Saturday. But the omnipresent shadow of his potential arrival was very off-putting, and I rode badly. I picked up a couple of low ribbons in the Show Hunters on Robin, but completely stuffed up the Championship. The other ponies jumped okay, but the highlight of the day ended up being AJ’s super double clear in the metre-ten on Squib. She rode a cracker and finished third, which should have put me in a great mood. After years of training ponies, the shine had long since come off my own successes in the lower rings, but helping AJ and watching her improve gave me a buzz like no other. Yet somehow even that felt flat.

  But there was still the Pony Grand Prix to come, and I could not let anything stuff that up. It was the pinnacle of every show for me, the most prestigious class at the highest level of pony show jumping. It always had the biggest prize money and the fiercest competition, not to mention the highest jumps. Nothing ever meant more at a show than doing well in the Grand Prix, and although I’d put Molly wrong at the double in the 1.20m on Saturday morning, and given Lucas an appalling ride to the oxer in the 1.25m jump off on Saturday afternoon, I had my game face on by Sunday morning.

  AJ was saddling Molly for me as I screwed in Lucas’ studs. I crouched next to him, resting his hoof on my knee as I re-tapped the thread.

  “These are getting pretty worn,” I told Mum as she slung Lucas’ tack over the railing in the covered yards. “Definitely time for a new set on his next rotation. When’s Don coming down next to do refits?”

  “Couple of weeks yet,” Mum told me. “Are you sure you can’t get a bit more mileage out of those?”

  I shook my head as I fitted the spanner around the sides of the stud and pulled it around towards me. “Nope, they’re wearing out at the toes anyway, and these threads are completely shot.” I pulled harder on the spanner, and Lucas shifted
his weight, unimpressed. “Sorry buddy. Once more around, and they’ll be snug as a bug.”

  I was just finishing up when I heard my mother’s voice in a low hiss. “You can’t be here.”

  My heart sank as I dropped Lucas’ hoof back to the ground and turned to see my father standing in front of my pony. Lucas reached over the railings and nuzzled him hopefully, his pink muzzle rummaging around Dad’s pockets as I straightened up.

  “Get out of it,” I grumbled at my pony, putting a hand on his chest and shoving him backwards as Dad tried to reach up and pat his face. “Leave him alone,” I told my father. “Leave all of us alone. What are you doing here?”

  “I came to watch you ride. Not a criminal offence, is it?”

  “It is to me. I don’t want you here.”

  Mum was muttering at him, trying to persuade him to walk away and leave us be. AJ was watching me from the next yard, her expression guilty as her eyes flickered between me and my parents. I turned away from all of them and grabbed Lucas’ saddle off the railing, slinging it onto his back in one swift motion. Focusing only on that, on making sure that the saddle blanket was completely flat and the gel pad was sitting in just the right place as I slid the saddle back into position.

  My parents’ voices grew louder and I ducked around to the other side of my pony to avoid them. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a dark bay pony come to a halt next to Lucas’ yard, and I turned to see Susannah Andrews sitting on her experienced show jumper Buckingham, staring at my bickering parents. She was kitted out in all the top brands, money just oozing from her and her pony alike. Her parents were right behind, her father leading her second mount, the gorgeous chestnut Skybeau, also rigged up to the nines. Both of her ponies were top notch, pushbutton rides. The kind of ponies that a five-year-old could ride, completely fool-proof and absolute winning machines. They were the only type of pony she’d ever owned, because her parents only cared about winning. Everyone knew just how far they’d gone in the past to ensure that their darling daughter won, and as a result, most of the other pony riders on the Grand Prix circuit steered pretty well clear of them. Nobody wanted to incite their wrath, and face the potential consequences. Their last attack on a rival’s pony had been unsuccessful, at least in terms of taking them out of contention, but we all knew that the pony still bore the scars.

  Susannah glanced at me, then back to my parents, whose argument was blocking her progress down the sand aisle that ran between the covered yards. I decided not to care. Let her wait. I went back to the other side of Lucas and snugged up his girth, then reached for his bridle, hanging over the yard railing.

  Susannah’s pony Buck reached out a friendly nose to Lucas, and they sniffed each other briefly before I elbowed Lucas in the chest, pushing him back so I could get his bridle on.

  “Are they going to be long?” Susannah asked me, nodding towards my parents.

  I narrowed my eyes at her tone. “Sorry, are we in your way? Should we part like the Red Sea to let you through? Mum!” I turned and looked at my mother, whose head swivelled towards me. “You’re in her Highness’ way.”

  Susannah’s eyebrows drew closer together as she frowned at me, but I couldn’t care less what she thought of me anyway. I watched in relief as Dad finally threw up his hands in a gesture of defeat and walked away down the aisle, and Mum came back over to me.

  Susannah looked down her nose at us as she nudged her pony into a walk, then said something to AJ as she rode past. I shot a glance over my shoulder at my friend, trying to give her a warning look, but she was smiling at Susannah. Hopeless.

  I’d tried to explain to AJ why she should despise Susannah, and avoid her like the plague, but somehow the notion of her being a vile person who would purposely wound other people’s ponies wasn’t getting through AJ’s thick skull. Like my mother, she had this weird propensity to dole out forgiveness to people who didn’t deserve it. At least Mum was standing up to Dad though. Maybe she was going to turn out to have a spine after all.

  I rubbed Molly’s crest proudly as she cantered back through the finish flags after her clear round, and she arched her neck, pleased with herself. Drawing her back to a steady trot, I turned her towards the gate where Tessa Maxwell was coming in on her sister’s grey pony Misty Magic. Misty was entering the ring in his usual fashion, bounding sideways in unseating leaps, and Tessa’s face was white and scared. Hayley leaned over the wooden railing, her thick mane of curly blond hair billowing down her back.

  “Sit up and get your leg on!” she yelled at Tess, who appeared to simply be clinging on for dear life. I walked Molly back through the gate and pulled her up next to Mum, who was standing alongside Hayley. She handed me a water bottle, and I took it gratefully, swigging back a mouthful as I watched Tess aim Misty at the first jump.

  “Get him straight!” Hayley cried as the pony approached the fence on an angle, baulked, then put in a huge effort, springing into the air and somehow clearing the jump. Tess was clinging onto his mane and looking utterly terrified as he landed. She lost a stirrup, and tried and failed to get it back. Hayley was shouting at her to kick on, but Tess pulled Misty out from the jump and circled him, trying to get her stirrup back rather than jump a fence without it.

  Hayley swore loudly and slapped her palms down on the railing in disgust, making Molly jump. She turned to look at her, and then glanced up at me.

  “Sorry. But Tess is doing my head in, honestly! What is wrong with her?”

  She’s terrified of riding a very difficult pony, I wanted to point out, but I said nothing. There was no point in disagreeing with Hayley, because she’d just bulldoze her opinion over top of you if you tried.

  “You had a good round. Molly’s jumping well,” she added idly as she kept an eye on her sister, who was riding Misty back to the second jump, both feet jammed securely into her stirrups. But Misty had Tess’ number now and he knew she didn’t really want to do it. He swung out to the side and ran past the fence, trying to look innocent. Hayley started yelling again and Molly’s sensitive ears swivelled back and forth, her skin shivering with tension. I picked up the pony’s reins, wanting to get her out of the firing line before Hayley’s histrionics upset her too much. She needed to be walked off anyway, to cool down her muscles, and I turned her away from the fence and came face-to-face with my father.

  “I thought I told you to leave.” I nudged Molly forward, but he stepped up and blocked her in. If she’d been any other pony, I’d have just ridden over the top of him, but I knew that Molly would freak out if I tried.

  “You rode beautifully out there,” he told me, pretending as though he was a supportive and caring parent who actually gave a rat’s ass about me, when I knew full well that he didn’t.

  “What would you know about it?” I snapped back.

  There was a groan and some more swearing from behind me, and I glanced over my shoulder to see Tess jogging Misty back towards the gate as the bell rang for elimination. The pony’s neck was lathered in sweat and he pranced sideways, rolling his eyes at Hayley as if to say Is this really what I have to put up with now? Hayley echoed the sentiment, immediately laying into her sister, who charged directly past her and rode off, much to Hayley’s disgust.

  “That girl, honestly. I could kill her! If I didn’t love Misty so much, I’d sell him, but I promised him I never would. If Tess would just harden up and ride like a person and not like a sock puppet, she might get somewhere. He’s not that hard to ride!”

  I did my best to tune out her raving as I looked around for AJ, finally spotting her leading Lucas around on the other side of the warm-up area.

  “I have to go,” I told my father. He looked like he was going to argue, but then Hayley stepped up on the other side of Molly and put a hand on her neck, making my pony tremble again. So sensitive. I rubbed the base of her mane reassuringly as Hayley spoke.

  “I was meaning to ask you, how’s Sam? I mean, have you heard anything?”

  I shook my head. “Nothing.
Mum talked to Steph a couple of days ago though. Kat’s gone over to the UK to be with Sam, and her dad’s heading over tomorrow. Steph’s staying home to look after the horses, at least in the interim. But she just said what they’ve been saying on the news, that Sam’s in critical condition and her injuries are serious.”

  Mum said Steph had sounded upset, and she hadn’t liked to pry any further. She’d offered her condolences, and the other usual niceties – If there’s anything we can do…Don’t hesitate to ask…You’ve done so much for us, we’d love to repay the favour… But Steph had assured her that she was fine. Mum didn’t really believe her, but there was nothing left that she could do except hope that Steph would call her if she needed her help. It was a wish that Mum expressed on a regular basis. Out loud, to me, as though it was a sentiment that I didn’t share. I did, of course, but I couldn’t see what we possibly had to offer Steph that she couldn’t get from someone else much closer to her. Still, I nodded along agreeably whenever Mum brought it up.

  “Let us know if you find out anything more,” Hayley said, and I told her that I would, which was a blatant lie because Hayley was the biggest gossip out. Not to mention the fact that she barely knew Sam, who had based herself in the UK three years ago and rarely returned to New Zealand. But I made the false promise and managed to manoeuvre Molly past her and around my father, and then I was finally able to ride over to where my other pony was waiting.

  “Swap ya,” I told AJ, jumping down from Molly’s back and taking over Lucas’ reins. We made the exchange quickly, and soon I was on board Lucas and trotting away, trying to clear my mind of everything except the pony under me and the course ahead.

  “Woah,” I murmured under my breath as Lucas powered down the line towards the planks. I checked him back once, twice, then let him settle into his pace. He jumped cleanly, flicking his flaxen tail into the air as he cleared the jump, and I steadied him and turned towards the big rustic oxer. Lucas approached it confidently, his stride smooth and even, until we were only two strides away from the jump. It happened too quickly for me to tell if it was a slip, or a stumble, or simply a misstep, but I felt his rhythm break, one of his forelegs buckled slightly, and his head lowered as he tried to regain his footing. I sat tight and pushed him on, knowing that we could still make it if he recovered in time. We still had time. We still had room. I tried not to think about what had happened to Sam, tried not to review the image of her horse catapulting through the air and landing on top of her. We can do this, I told myself, clicking my tongue encouragingly to Lucas, who made a valiant effort to correct himself on the last stride. He still felt a little uneven, but he had his head up and his eyes focused on the fence ahead. He was back on the job, and as I squeezed his sides with my lower leg, he took a bold leap over the fence.