It wasn’t easy to eat the rest of her lunch with one hand tucked into Alex’s. But Tommi managed.
“Watch out for the rollback, it rides trickier than it walks,” Tommi said to Kate as she rode past.
Kate nodded her thanks, too anxious to speak. Tommi had just finished the course on her eq horse. Now it was Kate’s turn.
“Ready?” Jamie asked, giving Fable a pat on her neck.
Again, Kate just nodded. Gathering up her reins, she glanced around. Tommi had dismounted and was running up her stirrups; Elliot was standing by, waiting to take the horse from her. Marissa was mounted on her own horse nearby, her face a mask of sheer panic as it always was before an eq class. Zara, Dani, and a few of the other people from the barn were standing at the rail. Tommi’s new boyfriend was there, too, standing by Zara, though for some reason Kate couldn’t come up with his name just then. And of course Fitz had just ridden over from the warm-up ring on his eq horse. He wasn’t going until after Kate and Marissa finished, but Kate knew he didn’t want to miss her ride.
“Ready,” she finally managed to croak out at Jamie, even though she was feeling anything but.
She nudged Fable with her calves to send him in through the open gate. As it swung shut behind them, she heard someone—Dani, she guessed—yell “Go, Kate!”
Fable was alert and jigging right away, his ears pricked toward the fences. Kate sent him into a trot, and just like that, the ring came into focus.
That was good. She’d been in kind of a daze since leaving the tack tent a couple of hours earlier. That was the only explanation for everything that had happened since. She’d ducked into an empty stall to change into the new breeches, which fit pretty well. There hadn’t been much time to think about it, since it was time to get ready for that schooling hunter division. Kate had asked Max to take Mrs. Walsh her new stuff, then dashed off to tack up.
She barely remembered the trips that had followed—outside line, diagonal, outside, diagonal, what was to remember, really? Luckily Jamie had already decided to skip the hack with both greenies, as there hadn’t been time to do more than toss the reins at Javier before rushing off again to get Fable ready.
But now she was finally snapping out of it, and the more she forced herself to think about what she’d done, the more horrified she felt. How could she have done it? Just put the breeches on Mrs. Walsh’s tab like that? It was stealing, and she knew it. What would her father say if he knew?
Still, this wasn’t the moment to worry about it. Not with Fable feeling like a lit firecracker under her and the first fence of a tough eq course coming up fast. The best she could do was promise herself that she’d return the breeches right after she finished the eq. Somehow she’d avoided getting them dirty during the earlier rides despite her reputation for attracting manure stains and horse slobber. The tags and receipt were still in the front pocket. All she had to do was convince the clerk to take them back, and she could forget this had ever happened. She’d worry about tomorrow’s classes later.
They were at the first fence. Fable leaped over it and surged forward on the landing. When Kate half-halted, he responded with a playful little buck.
“Easy,” Kate murmured. She could already tell that she couldn’t go on autopilot as she had with those greenies. Fable was feeling extra strong today. Time to pay attention and ride.
Halfway through the course, she was already exhausted from holding him together. As he cantered around a corner, pulling to the inside, she tried to ignore that her arms were shaking and her legs felt like jelly. Just a few more jumps, and they’d be done.
Fable pricked his ears toward a big oxer, but maintained a steady pace and cleared it handily. He shook his head on the sharp turn to the in-and-out, but listened to Kate’s aids and got through that just fine, too. Two more to go.
The second-to-last fence was a narrow gate. Kate saw that they were coming in a little strong and half-halted, reeling him in a bit. The horse shook his head again, swishing his tail in annoyance. He slowed as she asked, but she could feel his muscles coiling like a spring. Uh-oh.
Sure enough, the horse put in an extra-big effort as he left the ground. Kate tried to hold her position, but the back-cracking jump sent her lurching forward onto Fable’s neck. She grabbed for his mane as he started the downward arc, but her fingers couldn’t seem to grasp the tiny, slippery braids. She fought for balance and managed to stay aboard as Fable’s front hooves hit the ground. But when she tried to push herself back, get her butt in the saddle where it belonged, she saw spots dancing in front of her eyes, bright and sparkly like silver fireflies. The whole world started to tilt sideways, and then everything went black.
NINETEEN
“Oh my God!” someone yelled. Zara wasn’t sure, but she thought it might have been her.
But they were all staring at the same thing. Kate hitting the ground hard and just lying there.
Fitz was already off his horse and running for the gate. Tommi was right behind him. Zara followed them, pushing past Tommi’s annoying friend Alex.
“Move,” she ordered him, in no mood to be polite.
“Wait,” Marissa said, grabbing Zara by the arm before she could follow the others. She’d slid down from her horse, too, tossing the reins to Max. “We can’t all run in there.”
Zara glanced into the ring, realizing she was right. Tommi and Fitz were already at Kate’s side, along with Jamie. What more could Zara do? It wasn’t as if she knew first aid or any crap like that. It wasn’t even as if she and Kate were such good friends. Come to think of it, she was supposed to be pissed at the girl right now for that glove thing.
But she couldn’t muster up much anger as she stared at Kate lying there in the sand like some limp old rag doll. What was going on with her, anyway? That whole glove incident had been totally weird. Especially the way Kate had looked when Zara had busted her, sort of wild-eyed and gaunt and desperate. And now this.
The crowd was murmuring with concern, while the announcer called for the paramedics to please come to the equitation ring.
Marissa herded Zara back to the others, making soothing noises at all of them. Playing mother hen. That seemed to be her thing.
Summer chose that moment to ride over from the direction of the warm-up ring. She was supposed to ride after Fitz.
“What’s going on?” she asked, pulling her horse to a halt.
“Kate came off,” Marissa said. “I guess Fable jumped her loose, and she couldn’t hold on.”
Dani shook her head. “I think there was more to it than that,” she declared. “I mean, since when can’t Kate ride a big jump? It looked like she, like, passed out or something!”
Zara glanced at the ring again. Miguel had appeared out of nowhere and caught Fable. Meanwhile Kate had actually managed to sit up, with Fitz and Jamie supporting her on either side.
The others were still chattering excitedly, but Zara stayed silent as she watched Tommi take Kate by the hand, helping her to her feet. The ring’s reddish-brown footing was ground into Kate’s clothes from head to foot.
As she stared at the other girl’s lean frame, her bony wrists sticking out from the sleeves of her jacket, Zara started to wonder if Dani was right, if something was seriously wrong here. Was it possible that Kate could be anorexic or something, and none of them had even noticed?
“Knock, knock,” Tommi called out as she pushed open the door to the hotel room Kate was sharing with Dani. “Can I come in?”
Kate looked up. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, dressed in baggy sweatpants and a T-shirt.
“Sure,” she said. “But don’t come too close. I might be contagious.”
Tommi studied her face. Jamie and most of the others seemed perfectly willing to believe Kate’s story about having a virus or something. And in a way, it did make sense. It certainly explained Kate’s scary fall in the eq ring yesterday, along with her paleness and generally unhealthy look the past week or so.
But Tommi wasn�
��t so sure. Call it a hunch.
“So when did you feel yourself getting sick?” she asked, perching on the edge of the bed.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Kate said vaguely, waving a hand. “You know how it is at shows. I was so busy I probably didn’t pay attention soon enough.”
“So do you think it’s, like, a stomach bug or something? Could it be food poisoning?” Tommi asked. “What did you eat yesterday?”
“I don’t really remember, but yeah, maybe. Anyway, I’m already feeling better,” Kate said. “Jamie’s making me stay here and rest, though. I just hope things aren’t too crazy today being one person short. At least it’s the last day.”
“I’m sure we’ll manage.” Tommi felt troubled as she stared at her friend. She could tell that Kate wasn’t telling her the truth. At least not the whole truth. What was really going on here?
Kate was picking at her fingernails, not looking at Tommi. Her blue eyes were anxious and distant.
“Look, Kate,” Tommi blurted out, unable to hold it in any longer. “You’d tell me if something was really wrong, right? I mean, you know you can trust me.”
Kate’s head shot up; the startled look in her eyes reminded Tommi of the time she’d almost hit a dog with her car. It had looked at her the exact same way before darting to the curb just in time.
“I—I …,” Kate began, then gulped. “Look, you can’t tell anyone, okay?”
“Swear.” Tommi held her breath, not wanting to push too hard.
Kate bit her lip so hard it left a dent. “I really screwed up,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I—I stole something. A brand-new pair of Tailored Sportsmans.”
Whatever Tommi had been expecting to hear, that definitely wasn’t it. “Huh?” she said. “What do you mean, you stole them?”
“My show breeches got ruined, and then Mrs. Walsh sent me to pick up some stuff for her at the vendor’s tent, and I saw the breeches there and just sort of added them to the pile without thinking.” Kate took a long, shuddering breath, clutching the bedspread in both hands so tightly that her knuckles were white. “And now they’re ruined, too, so I can’t take them back, and there’s no way I can ever pay for them before Mrs. Walsh finds out, and—”
“Wait.” Tommi was having trouble following this. “So you charged a pair of breeches to Mrs. Walsh’s account—the ones you were wearing when you fell yesterday?”
“Uh-huh.” Kate looked sick. “I know it was wrong. I have no idea what got into me, I guess I was so desperate I wasn’t thinking.”
“But what happened to your other breeches?” Tommi asked.
Kate shrugged, her gaze skittering away and focusing on the hotel room wall. “I, um, spilled Thrush Buster all down the front of them when I was treating that new import horse with the bad feet,” she said. “You know how that stuff stains. It’s not like I could go into the ring with big purple blotches all over my pants.”
That part wasn’t so hard to believe. Kate was famous for focusing more on keeping the horses’ turnout spotless than her own.
“Okay,” Tommi said. “So why didn’t you just tell someone? Me, for instance? You know I would’ve helped you out.”
She had to admit it, she was a little hurt. They were supposed to be friends. Tommi wouldn’t hesitate to go to Kate for help, advice, whatever. Didn’t Kate feel the same way?
“I don’t know,” Kate whispered.
“It’s not like I couldn’t have spotted you the cash for a new pair,” Tommi went on. “Or just got them for you as an early birthday present or something. And actually, I bet Mrs. Walsh would’ve bought them for you if you’d just asked her. You’ve done her enough favors over the years, helping out with her horses and stuff.”
Kate just shrugged. “Too late now. I’ve got to tell her the truth and figure out a way to pay her back.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I hope she isn’t too mad; I never meant to hurt her.”
“You didn’t hurt her,” Tommi said. “If you didn’t tell her, she’d probably never even notice the extra charge. An extra pair of breeches to her is like, I don’t know, the cost of a DVD or something would be to most people.”
That didn’t seem to make Kate feel any better. She just sniffled, then hid her head in her hands.
Tommi slid onto the bed and put an arm around her. “Look, I’m sorry,” she said. “I’ve got to go. But I’ll help you fix this, okay? I’ll tell Mrs. Walsh, um, that I asked you to pick up those breeches for me, and things got confused. I pay her back, and it’s all good. How’s that sound?”
Kate sniffled again and looked up. “Really?” she said. “You’d do that, even after I screwed up so badly?”
“Of course.” Tommi hugged her. “Just stop beating yourself up, okay? Everyone makes mistakes. I’ll take care of it.”
Tommi was still distracted as she hurried into the hotel restaurant. Even if it made her a little late, she figured she’d better grab something to eat before she headed over to the show. It would be a long day, and she definitely didn’t want to face it on an empty stomach.
She grabbed a tray and headed for the breakfast buffet. When she got there, she found Zara poring over the selection of pastries. “Oh, good,” Zara said when she saw her. “At least if I’m late, I won’t be the only one.”
“Exactly what I was thinking.” Tommi forced a wan smile.
Zara glanced past Tommi. “That dork boyfriend of yours still around?”
“No,” Tommi said. “He drove home last night.”
“Good.” Zara looked relieved. “I was really hoping he wasn’t going to be riding back down to the city with us. The boy’s cute and all, but man, was he bugging the shit out of me yesterday. Practically invited himself to move in with me once Zac gets back from Europe.”
Tommi shrugged, too distracted to worry about it. Okay, so maybe Alex was taking this whole networking thing a little too far. She was sure Zara had dealt with worse.
“Sorry,” she said, stepping past Zara so she could reach the toast. “He’s really into music. Wants to get into producing or something when he’s older.”
“Whatever.” Zara didn’t sound too interested as she grabbed a cherry Danish. “You check in on Kate this morning?”
Tommi shot her a wary look. “Yeah,” she said. “Why?”
“Just wondering. She looked pretty wiped out yesterday.” Zara picked up her tray. “Way more than I’d expect after a pretty ordinary slide-and-flop fall. I just wondered if, you know, there was something else going on with her. And I’m not talking about having the sniffles or whatever she’s claiming.”
“Something else?” Tommi’s voice came out sharper than she’d intended. “What do you mean?”
Zara frowned. “Don’t bite my head off, okay? If you don’t want to talk about it, we won’t talk about it.”
“Talk about what?” Tommi grabbed a bowl of fruit salad, then followed the other girl toward an out-of-the-way table.
Zara set down her tray, then flopped into a chair. “Look, I haven’t said anything to anyone else,” she said. “I didn’t want to be, you know, a gossip or something. But come on—you must’ve noticed Kate’s looking paler and skinnier than ever lately. Then there’s that fall. Don’t tell me you’d expect her to come off just because her horse overjumped a little.”
“She was probably just nervous.” Tommi sat down across from the other girl. “She hasn’t been doing the Big Eq for long. Maybe she tensed up too much trying to hold her position.”
“Maybe.” Zara sounded skeptical. “Or maybe she’s got something else going on that’s making her too weak to hold on.”
“Like the flu?” Tommi said, not really wanting to know what Zara was thinking. Even though she sort of already did.
“Like an eating disorder,” Zara said bluntly. “Don’t tell me it hasn’t occurred to you, too. I know you’re not that stupid.”
Tommi wanted to leap to Kate’s defense, to deny it. But when she got right down to it, she had to a
dmit Zara wasn’t wrong.
“I don’t know,” she said slowly. “I mean, we shouldn’t jump to any conclusions. It might just be a stomach bug or something after all, right? But—” Just then her phone went off in her pocket. “Excuse me,” she muttered, digging it out. The return number was one she didn’t recognize. “Hello?” she said.
“Tommi? This is Abby Durand-Evans.”
Tommi’s heart skipped a beat. In all the drama over Kate’s fall, she’d almost forgotten that she still hadn’t heard back from Vanessa. “Oh—hello,” she said. “I mean yes, this is Tommi. How are you?”
“Fine, fine.” The trainer sounded rushed. “Listen, sorry we didn’t get back to you sooner. Had some trouble reaching Vanessa’s folks—they’re traveling in Nepal or somewhere crazy like that.”
“Oh,” Tommi said. She clutched the phone more tightly to her ear, ignoring Zara’s curious stare. “That’s okay, no problem.”
“The wait was worth it, though,” the trainer went on. “Vanessa loved the horse, and is willing to pay your full asking price as long as he vets. Actually we were hoping to close the deal today so we can take him home with us from the show.”
“Oh! Wow.” Tommi swallowed hard, her mind racing.
Vanessa wanted Legs. Right now. No haggling. It was like her father’s dream come true. He’d probably be so thrilled he’d be willing to help Tommi buy another prospect right away. By the end of the summer she could have two or three sales under her belt, maybe, and then there’d be no way he wouldn’t let her keep at it over her senior year. And after that? Well, she would have to see. But at least she’d be off to a good start.
Then her mind flashed to the image of Vanessa riding Legs. Hauling on his mouth. The confused, unhappy look in the horse’s eyes. How long could he put up with that? Was it fair to make him try?
Tommi closed her eyes for a second, knowing the trainer was waiting for her response. She knew what her father would tell her to say. Probably Alex, too. Maybe even Jamie.
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