by Chris Platt
Contina was in such great shape that Mr. Henley remained on her back, but he walked up the hills so they could all stay together.
Half a mile from the vet check, the group came across a small spring that flowed across the path. The clay-based dirt and hoofprints of all the horses that had been there before them made the ground slick. Lily kept a steady hand on the reins while Astra waded through.
Contina hesitated at the water’s edge and danced about, trying to turn around. All of the other horses had made it across but her, and that seemed to make Contina more nervous. Mr. Henley steadied her, then gave a small boot in the mare’s sides, asking her to cross the stream. Contina danced about again and slipped on the muddy footing, falling forward into the shallow spring. She flailed about for several steps, and then lunged out of the water.
“Whoa!” Mr. Henley cried. Contina snorted and took several faltering steps. The ranch owner got off and checked her. “Great!” he said with a sigh.
“What is it?” Lily asked, getting off Astra and holding onto Contina so that Mr. Henley could examine her more easily.
“She tore that cut on her foot wide open,” Mr. Henley said in dismay. “I’m going to have to walk her into the vet check.”
Devin and Meloney exchanged glances, then cut their eyes to Lily.
“What does that mean? Why are you looking at me that way?” Lily asked.
Meloney gave her a look full of sympathy. “If Mr. Henley has to pull Contina from the race, then you’re done, too. You can’t go on without a sponsor.”
Lily sucked in her breath. She’d come so far and they were actually well placed in the pack. Mr. Henley had guessed they were only half a mile from the vet check.
While the rest of their group rode on ahead, Lily loosened Astra’s cinch and fell into position beside Mr. Henley for the walk in. This would be the longest half mile of the entire race.
Eighteen
Contina was limping badly by the time they made it to the vet check. Dr. Dale rushed up to meet them. “Lily, you can go through the same vet as Charlie.” He pointed over his shoulder to the station. “Dr. Atkinson will help you. Have your ride card out and ready for him.”
Mr. Henley looked surprised. “Charlie’s still here? He and the others rode on ahead of us. He should have been through the vet check fifteen minutes ago.”
Dr. Tison shook his head. “Derringer’s pulse won’t come down. His gut signs and hydration are a little off, but good enough to pass. He just needs to get that pulse down.”
“Go on through the check, Lily,” Mr. Henley said. “Charlie will help you. We’ve walked long enough that Astra should go right through now with no trouble.”
Lily hesitated.
Dr. Dale looked up from the foot he was inspecting. “What is it, Lily?”
She bit her lip. “Mr. Henley’s my sponsor. Everyone says that if he gets pulled, I can’t go on.”
The vet stood and wiped his hands on his pants, a frown upon his kind face. “That’s right, I’m afraid. Unfortunately, there’s no way I can pass Contina through this vet check. She might even need stitches. I’m really sorry, Lily. I know how hard you’ve trained for this race. It’s pretty much impossible to find another sponsor in the middle of a ride.”
Lily hung her head.
“I really am sorry, Lily.” Dr. Dale put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. “There will be other rides coming up soon. You’ll get your chance then. Go ahead and go through the vet check. The experience will be good for you. Besides, you need to become familiar with your horse’s vital signs. It will help you with training schedules in the future. And this pull won’t count against Astra since it isn’t her fault.”
Lily smiled her thanks sadly and went to join Charlie. “Sorry to hear about Derringer,” she told him. “Hopefully, he’ll pass now.”
Charlie motioned for her to go ahead of him through the checkpoint. “The others are back at the camp, eating lunch and helping Thomas take care of the horses,” he said. “Thomas has Astra’s hay net ready for her.”
Lily did everything the vet instructed. She held Astra while he checked her pulse and gut sounds. “You did really great today,” she whispered to the mare, rubbing Astra’s forehead. “You could have stayed with Contina and maybe even have gotten a place if we’d been allowed to continue.”
“Trot her up about twenty steps and then back again for me,” the vet said.
Lily followed his instructions. When she came back, the man smiled and handed her Astra’s card. “Congratulations,” he said. “Your horse gets all A’s on her ratings.”
“Thanks.” Lily took the card. It was a bittersweet victory. Astra got excellent marks, which proved that the training program she’d designed had worked and the mare had been ready to race. But now she’d have to wait until the next race before she could try again. And who knew when Contina would be well enough for Mr. Henley to sponsor her again? She turned to Charlie. “Your turn. Good luck. I’ll see you back at camp.” She turned to leave, but Charlie called her back.
“Hey, Lily…I really am sorry that you don’t get to finish the race today. That really stinks.”
“Thanks.” Lily smiled. Charlie could be an okay guy when he wanted to—which wasn’t often.
“It would have been a whole lot of fun to beat you, Lil-Pill,” he called after her.
Lily just rolled her eyes and kept walking. She’d changed her mind. Once a jerk, always a jerk. One of these days she’d learn not to fall for Charlie’s nice-guy routine. She laughed at herself as she hurried back to camp. By now the others would be finishing lunch or getting ready to head out again.
Race rules stated that everyone had to remain at ride camp for thirty minutes of required rest before continuing.
As Lily entered the camp, the chatter suddenly grew quiet.
“We heard about Contina getting pulled,” Meloney said. “I’m really sorry, Lily.”
Jill and Devin nodded in agreement.
Lily shrugged. “I’m really bummed, but it’s not like it’s the last time I’m ever going to get to ride. There will be other races.”
Sharon stopped by when she saw Lily tying Astra to the trailer. “How’d your vet check go? We passed ours with no problem. I’m getting ready to head out for the last part of the journey.”
“Astra got all A’s,” Lily said proudly. She didn’t feel like talking about it being all for nothing since she wouldn’t be able to ride the rest of the race.
“That’s great!” Sharon said. “Not only are you a great little rider—and race crew—but it looks like you might be learning a thing or two about training.” She looked back toward her trailer. “I sure missed you crewing for me this time. That kid I hired isn’t very good.”
Thomas stepped up and removed Astra’s bridle. “There’s plenty more food left,” he told Lily.
“I could finish crewing for you,” Lily offered.
Sharon frowned. “You can’t do that, Lily. You’ve got a race to ride.”
Lily lowered her head and kicked at the dirt beneath her feet. “My sponsor, Mr. Henley, was pulled because Contina got hurt. I can’t ride without a sponsor. I’m done for the day.”
Sharon stood quietly for a moment or two. She cocked her head as if deep in thought. “You might not be finished yet, Lily. You go get some lunch and get that horse of yours taken care of, and I’ll be right back.”
Lily watched her walk off toward the vet checkpoint. She talked with Dr. Dale and Mr. Henley for a bit, then returned a few minutes later with a big smile on her face.
“I’m going to be your new sponsor, Lily. I’ll be at my trailer. Come get me when you’re ready to go out again.”
Lily almost dropped her tuna-fish sandwich. “But you’re way ahead of me in time!” she protested. “You’re supposed to go out now, and I’ve still got another fifteen minutes left to wait. That’ll destroy your chance of placing high.”
Sharon chuckled. “I placed well in the last race. My horse doesn’t need this r
ace to qualify for anything. It’s just a tune-up for the hundred-mile race next month. But this race is important to you, Lily. It’s your very first one.”
“Oh, thank you, Sharon!” Lily spun around to face her friends. “Did you hear that? I get to finish the ride!”
Meloney and Jill hugged her and Devin slapped her a high five. Charlie just grinned and said, “Good, now I get another shot to beat you to the finish line.”
“You wish,” Jill taunted her brother. “Derringer had a hard time passing his vet check and you’re ten minutes behind Lily in leave time. Astra has a full head of steam and Derringer is tired. Dad is going to be really mad at you if you push him.”
Charlie shrugged. “You never know. Derringer is resting now. He might make a great comeback.”
Lily quickly finished her lunch while Thomas bathed and resaddled Astra for her. The rest of her group was scheduled to go out seven minutes before her, but Jill decided to wait and ride with her brother. Mr. Henley would be stuck at the ride camp for the next couple of hours, waiting for them to return.
Devin and Meloney finished their lunch and went to bridle their horses. Meloney’s aunt was already waiting for her. “See you on the trail,” she told Lily.
Lily made a check of her equipment and restocked her saddlebag with carrots and water. Then she mounted up and went to meet Sharon. By the time they reached the checkpoint, it was time for them to start.
Riding with Sharon was quite different than riding with Mr. Henley. She kept up a steady stream of conversation and loved talking race strategy. Lily imagined this was probably the same way her mom had spent the time on rides. Whenever they’d gone out on short jaunts, her mother had talked a lot. The steady hum of Sharon’s voice was comforting to her. Lily learned all kinds of cool things from Sharon, like stowing a small cup in your saddlebag so you could scoop water onto your hot, sweaty horse—or yourself—at the watering holes.
“Your horse doesn’t like being hot and icky any more than you do,” Sharon said. “If you can keep their temperature down on these hot days, you’ll get a better performance out of them.”
They did a little cantering over a tree-lined trail where they could stick to the cool shadows. Before long, they closed in on Meloney and her aunt.
“Wow, Lily, you caught up to us so quickly! Devin’s probably a couple minutes ahead of us.” Sharon began to talk to Meloney’s aunt, while Meloney rode her horse next to Lily. The two girls posted in unison. “Astra looks great, but you look like you’re getting tired,” Meloney said. “Are you okay?”
“I’ve got to be okay,” Lily said. “I can’t be tired. Sharon gave up a chance at running a good time so she could sponsor me. And Astra is still going really strong. I owe it to everyone to keep on going. I can crash and sleep for twenty-four hours when this is over.”
They stopped at a watering hole and Lily used Sharon’s cup to cool Astra off, then doused herself.
“Some riders think it’s bad to put cool water on hot muscles,” Sharon said. “But my horse seems to enjoy it. I find that he travels a lot faster after that, too.”
Lily had to agree that it definitely made her feel refreshed. They let their horses eat a few mouthfuls of hay, gave them some carrots, then mounted up. Lily turned to see if Meloney was ready to go.
Meloney motioned for them to go on. “Jasper’s starting to tire and I don’t want to push him too hard.” When Lily and her sponsor asked the horses for an extended trot, Lily stood in the stirrups instead of posting up and down to the rhythm of the gait. Astra’s stride was long. Lily couldn’t post properly when the mare hit that big Arabian glide. Lily was just plain getting tired.
It wasn’t long before they came abreast of Devin and his sponsor. Sharon knew the sponsor, too. They rode together for a while before Sharon pulled ahead.
“Go get ’em, Lily,” Devin said. “You’ve got a lot of horse left under you.”
Lily wiped the sweat off her forehead and reached into her shirt pocket for some lip balm. She could already feel her lips cracking from the hot sun. Devin was right. Astra had a lot a horsepower left. But Lily knew she was just about out of people power. She wondered how anyone was able to make it a hundred miles. How would she ever be able to compete in the Tevis, which covered one hundred miles of the toughest terrain in endurance racing?
Lily concentrated on keeping herself still and balanced in the saddle so she wouldn’t be a hindrance to Astra. Her own energy was gone. She just had to hang on and leave it up to the horse to see her through the last ten miles of this race.
They passed several more groups of people and Lily marveled that Astra seemed to be getting better as she went. Of course, they weren’t cantering most of the way, breaking speed records like the top finishers would do. But their steady pace kept them moving forward as others tired and dropped back.
About three miles from the finish line, Lily had to get off and run beside Astra. She was tired, but her knees were aching so badly from being bent that she couldn’t have ridden another inch.
“Do you want to stop?” Sharon asked. “We can stop and rest if you’d like.”
Lily shook her head. “No way!” she said, panting. “I’m going to finish this race.” She took off her long-sleeved shirt and tied it around her waist. She couldn’t wear that hot thing for one more moment. She didn’t care if her arms got burned to a crisp. Reaching out, Lily grabbed a stirrup to pull herself along and asked Astra for a slow trot.
They traveled no more than a half mile before Lily reached the end of her energy. Astra finally began to lag, too. “I don’t know if I can make it any further,” Lily said. “I’m so tired!”
“Why don’t you climb back on your horse and we’ll walk for a bit?” Sharon suggested. “Then we can pick up a light trot to finish the race.”
That plan sounded good to Lily. She had to finish this race. Her dad and grandmother would be waiting for her at the finish line. She couldn’t make it forty-eight miles and drop out for the last two.
A group of three riders went cantering past them and Astra came alive, straining at her reins as she tried to go with them. Lily held tight and glanced over her shoulder. Several more people were gaining on them. Her own fighting spirit came alive and she decided to ease up on Astra’s reins, encouraging the mare to surge ahead.
“You want to go for it?” Sharon said, her brow raised in challenge.
Lily nodded. “Not so fast that I hurt my horse. But she really wants to go, so maybe we could try a slow canter?”
They rode the last mile at that pace. Lily kept glancing over her shoulder to make sure they maintained their lead over the next set of riders. As they approached the finish line, she could see riders who had already completed the race lining up to encourage those who were coming in.
Lily searched the crowd until she found her dad and grandmother. They were standing next to Mr. Henley, waving and cheering her on. She sat up straighter in the saddle, thinking of her mother as they crossed the finish line. We did it! Lily thought, grinning.
She and Sharon pulled their horses to a walk and dismounted to cool them out before going on to the vet check. Lily’s dad came running and wrapped her in a big hug. “You did really great today, Flower. Your mother would have been very proud.” He turned to Sharon and extended his hand. “I want to thank you for taking such good care of Lily. I hear that without you, she wouldn’t have been able to finish the race.”
Grams stood in the background, beaming. “I knew you could do it, Lily.”
Mr. Henley stepped forward and patted Lily on the back. “You and that mare make quite a team, young lady. I haven’t seen very many youth riders come in. You might have placed in this race.”
Lily was too tired to do anything more than grin. She wanted to lie down and go to sleep right there. But for the race to be official, Astra needed to pass her last vet check. After a few more minutes of cooling the horses out, Mr. Henley urged them to go through the checkpoint. This time she was in
Dr. Dale’s line.
“Well, well, what do we have here?” he said when Lily stepped up with her horse. “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a strong competitor.” He lifted Astra’s lips and pressed his thumb gently into her gums to see how long it took for the color to come back. He scribbled a few words on her card, then got out his stethoscope to listen to Astra’s gut sounds. When he finished, he asked Lily to trot the mare back and forth to check her soundness.
Lily did what the vet asked, then waited anxiously for another minute while he finished filling out her card. If a horse’s heart rate didn’t come down within a certain amount of time after a race, the horse was disqualified. She couldn’t imagine going through everything she’d just done and then having Astra disqualified.
Dr. Dale handed Lily back her card with a wink. It contained all A’s and one B. She’d passed with flying colors! She couldn’t wait until the rest of her friends got in so she could tell them.
“Oh, and Lily,” Dr. Dale said. “You were our third youth rider to finish. You made the top three on your very first outing. It looks like all that hard work paid off. I think your future as an endurance rider looks pretty good.”
Lily handed Astra’s reins to her dad and ran forward to hug the vet. “I couldn’t have done it without you, Dr. Dale. You saved Astra when nobody else thought she had a chance.” She turned to Mr. Henley, who had come up behind them. “I’ve learned so much from you, Mr. Henley. No wonder my mom was such a good rider. Thank you for everything.”
Lily and Mr. Henley made their way back to the camp to wait for the rest of their group. After about twenty minutes, Meloney wandered back with her aunt. “Lily!” she shouted. “You were awesome! And Devin placed, too! He’s cooling his horse out, but he’ll be back in a minute.”
Five minutes later, Devin arrived and tied Jericho to the trailer. The horse immediately dug into his hay net. Lily thought Devin looked just as tired as she felt, but he gave her a big grin and a thumbs-up.
“Congrats, Lily!” he said. He walked over and picked her up, swinging her in a circle. ”You did it!”