Headed for the Win (Nadia and Winny Book 1)

by Rachael Eliker

  “Nadia!” shouted Peter, his hands cupped around his mouth. “Over here!”

  Even from fifty yards away, I could read the confusion on her face. She'd never met Peter. To her, he was just a stranger seated in her spot. She stopped, her hands tucked into the pockets of her jacket and looked at us.

  “It's alright,” I tried to coax her.

  “Nadia, come here! What? Are you too good to be seen with your big brother?” Beckoning again, she finally broke into a slow jog towards Peter.

  “Hi,” she said cautiously.

  Peter bear-hugged her, lifting her kicking feet off the ground while she squealed with laughter.

  “Well, hello there,” purred Gretchen in a sultry voice.

  Peter dropped Winny and turned his attention to Gretchen, who had a horrified Mike in tow. He was as shocked to see Winny hugging a guy like Peter as I'd been when he 'congratulated' Gretchen.

  “Hey,” Winny answered for the two of them.

  “Nadia, aren't you going to introduce us to your guest?”

  I strained to see around Peter's lumberjack frame to Mike's face. He looked pasty white, like he was about to barf on the grass.

  Winny threw me a panicked, Who is this guy, anyway? “Oh, yeah, uh, this is…” Stalling, she faked a coughing fit, hoping Peter would step in.

  “I'm Pete.”

  He vigorously shook hands with Gretchen and Mike, who had now turned a sickly pea-green color.

  “And how do you know our darling little Nadia?” pushed Gretchen without retracting her gaze from Peter's face. She might as well have been a tigress on the hunt.

  “Nadia's my baby sister,” Peter answered proudly, throwing his arm around Winny's neck and roughing up her hair.

  Mike's sighed in relief and color returned to his cheeks. Flashing her sparkling blue eyes with single-minded determination, Gretchen's teasing smile expanded across her cheeks. There would be no competition from Winny for Peter's affections and she knew well her edge over Kristi and Sidney.

  Mr. Johnson, breathless as always, trotted up. “Gretchen? Ms. Diederich is looking for you at the stadium course. She wants to walk through it with each of us individually.”

  “You're Gretchen?” Peter inquired.

  “The one and only.”

  Peter grinned, obviously enjoying Gretchen's companionship. “Your dad was looking for you. Said you were going to have breakfast together.”

  “Shoot. I forgot,” she bit at her nails. “I'll have to find him after I walk the course.” Gretchen turned to Mr. Johnson like he was carrying the plague. “Are you alright?”

  Mr. Johnson was moping his splotchy bald head with a rag, continuing to heave. “Yeah, just finished with Ms. Diederich. She makes me so nervous,” he chuckled uncomfortably. “Your turn.”

  Defiant as any teenager, Gretchen's rolled her eyes to the back of her head. “Come on, Mike.” She dragged him away by his hand, keeping him as a safety net in case she lost interest in Peter.

  “I'll see you later, Pete,” she winked playfully. By the dumb smile on Peter's face, it looked like she wouldn't have any trouble keeping his attention.

  “Go have your grandma teach you a lesson,” I snorted. Man, that girl could get on my nerves.

  Winny peered into my stall and asked, “Did you have something to say?” Before she could read my body language, Peter rubbed his massive hand on her head again, intentionally messing up the loose ponytail in her hair.

  “How are you doing? You look pretty beat.”

  Already at ease with Peter, Winny landed a quick jab to his stomach, causing him to groan.

  “Just been a long week, that's all.” Not beating around the bush, she continued, “You think Gretchen's pretty?”

  Peter laughed heartily. “I'm not blind, Nadia.” His smirk hid little. He paused momentarily before confessing, “Yeah, she's hot.”

  My stomach churned, angry at the thought of my big brother falling for Gretchen’s thinly veiled attempt to seduce him so easily. A vision flashed in my mind. Gretchen: my future sister-in-law. If my equine physiology hadn't prevented it, I would have vomited. To make matters worse, I kept feeling a twinge of pity for the girl. She put up a tough, happy exterior when really, she’d had a harder life than most. Hadn’t I learned anything from Winny that you can’t tell much about someone’s past by looking at them? It was all so complicated.

  Before long, Gretchen ambled back to Winny and Peter. She must have ditched Mike somewhere—he was nowhere to be seen. It was just as well. As daft as Peter was at times, even he might notice that his baby sister was a bit off. More than usual, anyway.

  “Ms. Diederich's waiting for you. Danika's joining you, too,” Gretchen said with a sly smirk on her pretty face. “Thought maybe you could use the extra instruction.”

  “I suppose,” Winny answered, innocent as ever. Beneath her frankness, however, she cultivated a healthy sarcasm. She pointed out, “I have only been riding about a year and I've already caught up to you.” Gretchen was speechless. Winny thanked her and skipped off, leaving Gretchen unsure how to retort.

  “So, Pete, right?” Gretchen stepped uncomfortably close to him. Uncomfortably close for me, anyway.

  He could only manage a squeaky, pre-pubescent sounding, “Yup.”

  She linked arms with him and traced the contours of his flexed triceps with her fingers. “Why don't we go for a walk and you can tell me a little more about yourself.”

  “Where'd you leave your boyfriend? Don't want anyone getting jealous.”

  “Boyfriend? Jealous?” Gretchen giggled. “He's just a good friend. More like a brother, I'd say.”

  Peter looked like he'd died and gone to heaven. I'd seen pretty girls dote on him before but none had had this kind of effect. There wasn't an inkling of protest from him. I rolled my eyes and muttered to myself how idiotic guys could be.

  With Winny busy studying the fences with Ms. Diederich and Danika and Peter having been lured away by the tantalizing call of Gretchen the Siren, I was left to myself. About to doze off, a dapple gray at the end of the tent startled and snorted, “Who is that? Why's she running?”

  I pressed my face to the bars and searched the nearby surroundings, to see if it was Winny returning so quickly. Inhaling deeply, I could smell my sweet pea shampoo she'd used on my hair long before I could see her.

  Tearing around the row of trailers and nearly barrel-rolling from her momentum, Winny came racing to my stall. Out of breath, she collapsed at my door. Unable to speak for several minutes, her chest heaved desperately for air.

  “What? What is it?” I paced back and forth, etching a groove in my bed of shavings.

  “Nadia,” she hissed as she pulled herself up, “I know how we can win!”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “How?” I squealed, impatiently waiting her masterful plan.

  “If we make it to the jump-off there's a—”

  “Nadia! There you are!” Winny and I both jolted at the unexpected approach of my mother. She entwined Winny with a giddy hug, jumping up and down while giggling.

  “Are you alright?” Winny asked, peeling my mom from her.

  “Oh sweetie, I'm just so excited! I can't believe you're tied for first. Well, I can. You're so talented. I just never thought—”

  “What she's trying to say,” my dad interrupted, amused by my mom's rambling, “is that we're very proud of you for doing so well. Tied in first and four points ahead of the second place rider? Not bad, honey.”

  “Are you tied with that awful Gretchen girl you keep telling me about?” my mom whispered quietly, looking around like she was afraid Gretchen might overhear.

  Isis flicked her ears towards the conversation at the mention of her rider's name. “You'd better watch it, lady.”

  “She doesn't deserve to win, that little spoiled rich girl.”

  Isis pinned her ears flat and gnashed her teeth at my mom. With her back to the black-as-coal eleven hundred pound beast, Mom was blissfully
unaware of the open threat against her.

  “Sorry about that, Isis,” I humbly apologized. “She's just repeating what she's heard from me.”

  Isis pursed her lips and resumed eating. Though it was the last day of competition, the horses were beginning to get as jittery as the first day. Isis, Willow, Dodger and I had already watched the big palomino buck his rider off right in front of us. Spinning around, he tore back to the comfort of his stall before his rider could get his feet under himself. Isis and I laughed, hearing the bewildered and angry owner cursing his horse and swearing he'd send him to be made into dog food as soon as he caught him.

  “Mom, calm down,” Winny reassured her. “Gretchen and I are on much better terms now. And don't worry either. Na—” Winny caught herself for the umpteenth time, “Winny and I are going to give her a run for her money.”

  My mom started bouncing again, clapping with little stutters of excited shouts. Winny glanced at me with a bewildered look.

  My dad reined her in again before Danika and Ms. Diederich strolled over to exchange pleasantries. Not long after, Peter and Gretchen returned, still attached at the hip. Peter was having the time of his life with Gretchen on his left and two steaming corn dogs drenched in mustard clenched in his right. Selma had found the couple and followed on their heels with Rooney, straining at the end of his leash, trying his hardest to follow every interesting scent trail he came across.

  Gretchen, who could at times looked as stern as her German grandmother, had softened. When genuinely happy, she was radiant. It wasn't the same haughty smugness as when she tried to coax Mike from me. Usually, that was accompanied with an evil giddiness and devilish grin. With Peter, she looked honestly content.

  Ms. Diederich didn't waste much time with small talk. “Gretchen. Nadia. Get your horses tacked up and ready to go. You ride in less than two hours.”

  “Yes, ma'am,” Gretchen snapped to attention.

  Winny, on the other hand, gave a goofy two-fingered salute, sparking laughter from the entire gathering.

  I took a breath of fresh air as I stepped from the stall. No one was more thankful than I that the weather was the absolute definition of perfect. It was warm but not hot and though clouds hung in the sky, it wasn't dark enough to cause eerie shadows.

  Danika gave me the once over and noticed a piece of my front left hoof had begun flaking.

  “Where's Mike?” asked Danika, surveying the crowd.

  A hush fell over everyone except for Rooney, who incessantly yapped while protectively circling Selma. Everyone was either wondering who Mike was or unsure of where he'd disappeared.

  Gretchen answered from behind Isis' rump and said, “He got a call to put new shoes on that chestnut Holsteiner. I think he's still there.”

  Ms. Diederich rummaged through Gretchen's tote, pulling out a well-used rasp. She wedged my foot between her legs and expertly filed away the peeling hoof until the damage was indistinguishable.

  “Thanks,” Winny grinned, no doubt amazed at Ms. Diederich's jack-of-all-trades quality.

  Mom and Selma helped groom me while Winny snuck away to the trailer to change and grab her freshly oiled jumping saddle. Ms. Diederich polished my hooves with a generous helping of spit and as a thanks, I nuzzled her smooth white hair. I got a gruff swat in return.

  Danika gave Winny and Gretchen a leg up so their spotless white breeches could stay spotless as long as possible. My mom ran her hand across my face and hugged Winny's leg, “Good luck, Nadia. We'll be watching for you.” Dad peeled my mom off of Winny who graciously thanked her for the support.

  Before I could escape, mom snagged my loose-ring snaffle and squared my face with hers. “I heard what you did, bucking my daughter off a few days ago. Let's not have a repeat of that, okay?”

  Winny laughed hysterically on my back as I rolled my eyes and yanked my bridle from my mother's grasp. I trotted to catch up with Isis and Gretchen while Winny shouted behind her that she didn't think I'd be a problem today.

  The warm up ring was as bustling as dressage day. Dodger waited calmly while Mr. Johnson fidgeted on his back, watching the other contestants in his class faultlessly finish.

  “Try to relax, Mr. Johnson,” Danika soothed him. “You're going to do just fine. This isn't about how well you place, this show's about getting experience.”

  He removed his spectacles and wiped his face with a handkerchief. “I guess I can't do any worse since I'm already in last place.”

  Danika smiled and said, “That's one way to look at it. You'll do fine.”

  Isis and I entered the busy flow of horses leaping the four fences set out for warm up. I took the outside rail and slowly jogged around to stretch my tight muscles. My elevated heartbeat and breathing flushed out any nervousness and I began to focus on the final phase.

  “Ready for some jumping?” Winny challenged me. I gave a spirited snort in response.

  We merged with the traffic to spring over a three-foot vertical in the center of the arena. Clearing it with little effort, I landed, corrected my lead and moved back to the outside rail.

  “Another one?”

  I crow-hopped happily and waited for Winny's direction. Adjacent to the vertical, we wound our way to a stripped oxer. Tucking my haunches close to the ground, I collected my frame and basculed the length of the fence.

  “Good girl,” Winny patted my shoulder.

  Keeping my focus on her, I didn't notice a crazed Friesian careening towards me until Winny gasped.

  The Friesian bucked viciously, lashing out at any horse that got too close. Trying in vain to escape, he pinned his ears, spinning around to get a good shot with his very effective hind end.

  “What are you looking at?” he snapped, ignoring his panicking rider's attempts to stop him.

  I held my breath, seeing a blood red ribbon tied in a bow at the top of his thick, wavy tail. It was a blatant warning that he was a kicker. Not much use if he was the one invading other horses’ space.

  In slow motion, I watched his hooves raise off the ground and take aim directly at me. The sand from his shoes pummeled into my eye, blinding me to an escape. Unable to see which way to dodge, I received two piercing blows just below the point of my shoulder. Bolts of stabbing pain twisting through my entire side.

  Winny screamed in sheer terror and rage, watching the unruly horse maul me. Leaning out of the saddle like an experienced polo player, she delivered several lightning quick strikes to his haunches with her riding crop. The ill-mannered stallion bolted away, cussing Winny as he continued his rampage.

  Before the shooting pain totally registered, Winny was off, tenderly feeling along my shoulder.

  “Where did he get you?” she desperately whispered. “Good gravy, that horse is nuts.”

  With my lips, I nudged the hot, swollen knot where I'd been hammered. “Ouch! Careful, it's right there.”

  “That idiot,” she cursed. “What is a horse like that doing out here?” Tears began to trickle down her face but she didn't stop to wipe them away.

  “What happened?” Danika shouted at she dashed through the sand.

  “That stupid black horse nearly lamed Nadia.”

  “Winny, you mean,” Danika corrected her without a second thought.

  “That's what I meant. Here. It's hot right here.”

  Danika put her palms on my shoulder and pushed slightly. The same shooting pain as the kick replayed in my muscles. I couldn't conceal a wince and I stepped away.

  “It looks pretty bad, my dear. Let's get Dr. Calvert to give us a better diagnosis.”

  Winny didn't have to be asked twice. With speed rivaling a quarter horse, she sprinted to the information tent, reappearing with Dr. Calvert in tow.

  Ms. Diederich limped her way through the sand, the fastest I'd ever seen her move. She skillfully moved her hands along my shoulder, massaging the tender muscles. “This should help the swelling go down,” she murmured to Danika, ever aware of an opportunity to teach.

  “Is
she alright?” Gretchen trotted up on Isis, an expression of genuine concern shadowing her face.

  “Are you okay? That stallion really nailed you,” Isis asked.

  “It looks like she might be lame. She's not bearing much weight on this leg,” Danika pointed out.

  Not wanting to be disqualified by an injury, I grimaced and shifted my heavy body back onto my left foreleg.

  “I'm fine,” I reassured Isis. “He did get a direct hit but I'll be alright.” Pathetically, I attempted to joke, “I thought stallions liked mares.”

  Isis didn't laugh. “Never know what's going through a stallion's head. One minute their cooing, harmless kittens, the next, they're maniacs.” She swung her head at him, “Looks like he got disqualified. Rightfully so.” The black stallion, still prancing around and snorting, was being yanked from the arena by his rider.

  Winny returned, her face glistening with free-falling tears. Dr. Calvert followed with his oversized box of medical supplies. In a much less gentle manner than Danika or Ms. Diederich, he examined my muscle. I kept my lower lip tucked in and tried with all my might not to flinch at his prodding fingers. Winny and I had worked too hard to be finished because of some out-of-control psycho horse.

  “Walk her down to the end of the arena and back for me,” Dr. Calvert gravely requested.

  Winny snatched the reins from Danika and slowly led me to a row of lilac bushes rustling in the gentle breeze.

  Out of earshot, she begged, “Are you alright? Tell me you're alright?”

  Weakly, I nudged her cheek but it must have been obvious how injured I was. Each step was agonizing, sending a slash of pain through the entire left side of my body. My head bobbed uncontrollably every time I placed weight on my front left leg. I was giving one of the most telltale signs of a lame horse.

  An eternity later, we made it back to Dr. Calvert, who stood in front of Ms. Diederich and Danika. Their combined expressions were solemn enough to condemn me.

  “I'm afraid,” Dr. Calvert hung his head regretfully, “that she appears too lame to finish.”