Riding to Win

by Bonnie Bryant

  The wild cheers from the crowd finally broke through, and Carole grinned. Turning in the saddle, she waved at the stands, hoping that her friends and her father were out there somewhere watching her.

  Garrett Shanahan was waiting near the entrance for his turn. Carole blushed as she saw him looking at her with a slight smile on his handsome face. She blushed even more as he touched his crop to his hard hat, nodding as she rode past. She waved self-consciously and called “good luck,” though she wasn’t sure whether he could hear her over the roar of the crowd that was still cheering her clear round.

  Denise was waiting to help her dismount. “That was incredible, Carole!” she said excitedly. “You’re in first place!”

  “Thanks.” Carole glanced toward the ring at the sound of the starting horn. “I guess we’ll get second, at least.”

  “Go watch Garrett,” Denise urged. “I’ll walk Samson.”

  Carole hesitated, torn between taking care of her horse and watching Garrett’s ride. But then she nodded and raced back toward the fence. The clapping from the crowd told her that Garret must have cleared his first fence. She was just in time to see his approach to the second, which was flawless. The chestnut soared up and over easily, her hooves barely seeming to touch the ground on the other side before she was off and running toward the next obstacle.

  With her heart in her mouth, Carole watched the rest of the round. As much as she wanted to win—to see the judges clip that blue ribbon onto Samson’s bridle, the first of many they would surely be winning together—she couldn’t quite bring herself to wish for Garrett and his mare to make a mistake. They were so beautiful to watch in action that Carole found herself cheering after each fence along with the rest of the spectators. It was only after the chestnut had cleared the final obstacle that Carole realized what it meant. Garrett had gone clear, too.

  She already felt a twinge of disappointment as she glanced automatically toward the time clock. But then she gasped as she saw the numbers flashing there. Garrett’s time was excellent, but hers and Samson’s was still half a second faster. She had won!

  The next few minutes passed in a blur. Carole raced back to tell Denise the news. They both hugged Samson, who seemed a little confused by all the excitement. Then Max and Ben and George were there, too, hugging and congratulating her.

  Sometime during all the joyful commotion, Garrett Shanahan walked past the group, leading his mare. Carole looked over just in time to catch his eye. The older rider looked tired and a bit disappointed, but he was smiling at her.

  “Nice riding, young lady,” he called. “Congratulations.”

  “Thanks,” Carole replied shyly. “You too.”

  Garrett nodded and glanced at Samson. “That’s quite a horse,” he said. “Looks like I made a good decision.”

  Carole wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but she just smiled politely. She knew that under ordinary circumstances she would be thrilled that a famous rider like Garrett Shanahan was even speaking to her. But these were no ordinary circumstances.

  I can’t believe I won! she thought gleefully as Garrett moved on and more people came over to congratulate her. This really is the best day of my life!

  Fourteen

  Carole couldn’t take her eyes off the blue ribbon fluttering from Samson’s bridle. It seemed to represent everything she had planned for the two of them. After all, this was only the beginning. Soon Samson would be hers—all hers, forever. Who knew what the two of them could accomplish together?

  “Congratulations!” Stevie shrieked, racing up as Carole led her horse out of the ring. “You were awesome!” She grabbed Carole in a tight hug.

  Carole laughed breathlessly, wriggling free. “Thanks,” she said. “But you should be hugging Samson. He’s the one who did most of the work.”

  Stevie obliged, throwing her arms around the big black horse despite his sweaty coat. Then she stepped back and held out her hand. “Let me take him,” she told Carole. “I’ll start cooling him out for you. I’m sure you want to take a few minutes to bask in the admiration of your adoring fans.”

  “Well, okay. Thanks.” Carole wanted to take care of Samson herself, give him a good grooming to thank him for his incredible effort, but she figured that could wait a few minutes. First she wanted to find her father and make sure he’d seen her win. That could be the first step in convincing him that she and Samson were meant to be together.

  As she left the warm-up area, Carole was a little surprised to discover that Stevie hadn’t been totally kidding about her fans. Everyone she passed seemed to want to speak to her, to pat her on the back or congratulate her. One little girl even asked Carole to autograph her show program. Carole obliged, though she couldn’t help feeling embarrassed and slightly foolish as she signed her name.

  Still, she had to admit that it was fun being the center of attention. It was almost like being a celebrity, at least for the moment. Before long Carole found herself nodding and smiling and waving to complete strangers as naturally as if she’d been doing it all her life. She also encountered a few faces she knew in the throngs of people surrounding her—friends from school, younger riders from Pine Hollow, neighbors from her street. Even one of the waitresses from TD’s yelled out, “Way to go, horse girl!” as Carole walked past.

  It took her a while to find her father in the crowd. But at last she spotted him standing near the grandstand entrance.

  “Dad!” she cried, waving and racing toward him. “There you are. Did you see?”

  Colonel Hanson nodded and leaned forward to plant a kiss on her forehead. “I saw. Good riding, Carole. Congratulations.”

  “Thanks.” Carole grinned and glanced around. “Can you believe the way everybody’s so excited for me? Isn’t it great?”

  “It’s very nice. It was an exciting contest.”

  For the first time, Carole noticed that her father’s smile looked strained. And his voice sounded rather odd, too. “Is something wrong, Dad?” she asked. “You look kind of weird. Is anything the matter?”

  Her father hesitated. “Well,” he said after a moment, clearing his throat. His forehead creased into a frown. “I was going to wait until we had some privacy. But maybe this can’t wait after all.”

  He gestured for her to follow him around the back of the stands to a quiet spot behind an empty concession stand. She did so, feeling puzzled and slightly deflated. What was going on?

  When they were more or less alone, Colonel Hanson continued. “I just found out something—something you’ve been keeping from me, Carole. And I have to say, as proud as I am of what you’ve accomplished today, I’m feeling pretty furious with you right now.”

  For a second Carole was sure he’d found out somehow about her deal with Tanya. She gulped. Had Stevie or Lisa let something slip? Or had Tanya called their house again? “Um, yes?” she said uncertainly, trying to buy more time to figure out how to explain her decision. She was a little surprised that his first response was anger. Her father was pretty even-tempered—she would have expected surprise, maybe disbelief or concern. But there was no mistaking his expression. “What is it, Dad?”

  He crossed his arms over his chest. “I went over to say hello to your teachers after you pointed them out earlier,” he said evenly. “While I was chatting with your history teacher, Ms. Shepard, she asked me if I was feeling better these days. At first I wasn’t sure what she was talking about.”

  Carole felt her heart freeze. She remembered the lie she had told her history teacher—pretending that her father had been seriously ill as an excuse for failing that test all those weeks ago. “Oh,” she said weakly, wondering how much of the truth her father and her teacher had figured out.

  Colonel Hanson didn’t keep her in suspense for long. “It took us a few minutes, but then we realized what had happened.” His expression was severe. “You lied to your teacher. You took advantage of her trust and her kind nature by making up a story as an excuse for not studying. You told her I was s
ick and that’s why you did poorly on your test.”

  “I’m sorry. I really don’t know why I told her that,” Carole blurted out, feeling overwhelmed by the guilt she had kept down for so long, which now burst out of her. “I guess it was just that I knew if I flunked that test, Max wouldn’t let me ride until I brought my grade up, and—well, anyway, I’ve spent the past month feeling horrible about it, especially the cheating part.”

  “Cheating part?” Colonel Hanson repeated sharply, his expression darkening even more. “Which part would that be, exactly?”

  Carole gulped, wondering why she could never seem to control her mouth. Obviously her father and Ms. Shepard hadn’t gotten past her lie. They hadn’t realized what else she had done that fateful week to save her grade and her riding privileges.

  “What cheating part?” Colonel Hanson said again when Carole didn’t answer. “I’m waiting, Carole.”

  “Nothing,” she said quickly, wishing desperately that she could rewind the past few minutes of her life and avoid this whole conversation. She grabbed a wooden pillar on the back of the empty concession stand for support. “I meant lying. Not cheating.”

  Her father frowned. “I’m going to ask you once more, Carole, and I expect a truthful answer. Is there anything more you want to share about this incident?”

  Suddenly Carole gave up. It was too late. Her wonderful day had already gone dark and horrible, and all because of something she’d done ages ago, something she’d been sure was behind her. It was no use trying to hide it anymore. She couldn’t stand lying to her father for one more second. “Yes,” she said, her voice shaking. “I wish I’d told you a long time ago. I—I didn’t study enough for the retest Ms. Shepard gave me, either. So when she left the room …” She swallowed hard.

  “Yes?” Colonel Hanson prompted grimly.

  Carole didn’t dare meet his eye. “I kind of, um, peeked at some of the answers in my textbook,” she said quietly. “I know it was wrong. I couldn’t believe I’d done it afterward. But it was too late by then.”

  Colonel Hanson didn’t answer for a long, tense moment. When he spoke again, his voice was dangerously calm. “I’m leaving the horse show and driving home now,” he said. “I realize that you have a duty to help Max bring the horses back safely, and I expect you to fulfill that duty. But as soon as you’re finished, I want you home to discuss this.”

  Carole blinked, hardly believing her ears. She didn’t know what she’d been expecting, but it wasn’t merely an order to come home and talk about what she’d done. For a second, she dared to hope that she might get off easy this time. After all, it was the first time she’d ever done anything so horrible and wrong. Surely her father realized that, too. “Okay, Dad,” she said quickly. “I promise. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  Colonel Hanson nodded and started to turn away. Then he paused. “Oh, and one more thing,” he said coldly. “Before you leave Pine Hollow, you might as well tell Max he’ll have to find a replacement for your job there. And you’d better speak to him about finding someone to exercise Starlight for you, too. Because after today, you won’t be setting foot in that stable for a good long time—the rest of the semester at the very least. You’re grounded.”

  Judy Barker shook her head, her face twisting into a grimace of sorrow. “I can’t pick it up at all anymore,” she said, lowering her stethoscope from Prancer’s flank. “I think we’ve lost the second foal, too.”

  Red glanced at his watch, his face somber. “I could try reaching Max again,” he offered.

  “Don’t bother.” Judy sighed and rubbed her eyes with the balls of her hands. “It would just make him worry. There’s nothing he could do anyway.”

  Lisa wished she could shove her fingers in her ears so that she wouldn’t have to hear any more bad news. She and Red and Judy had been with Prancer all day, and things just kept getting worse. The mare was in obvious distress, her sides heaving and her head hanging lower than ever. Judy had given her antibiotics and something for the pain, but she admitted there wasn’t much else she could do except wait and see what happened.

  Walking to Prancer’s head, Lisa ran her fingers across the mare’s cheek. Her mind was struggling with the idea that Prancer might not make it. It just didn’t seem possible—not now, when the mare was finally going to be all hers.

  Lisa’s eyes filled with tears as she looked at the horse she’d loved for so long. Prancer hardly seemed aware of her presence. She was staring blankly, all her efforts apparently focused on breathing through her suffering.

  No, it didn’t seem possible. And it definitely didn’t seem fair.

  Carole was in shock as she stumbled back to the stable area. Her mind was reeling with her father’s pronouncement. Despite her protests, he had remained firm. She was grounded, and that meant no friends, no phone calls, no TV—and no Pine Hollow.

  He can’t do this to me, Carole thought as she flashed her badge at the woman guarding the gate to the stable area. He can’t possibly mean it. He’s just angry right now, not thinking straight.… He knows what Pine Hollow, my job there, means to me!

  Even as she thought it, though, she knew she was kidding herself. Her father didn’t hand out punishments lightly, and he didn’t make empty threats. Like the good Marine he’d always been, he always followed through on his word. If he said she was banned from Pine Hollow, she was banned.

  Still, Carole couldn’t quite make herself believe it. It was too horrible, too foreign a concept. What would she do with her time if she couldn’t go to the stable? She couldn’t even imagine. Horses and riding had always been such a huge part of her life that she couldn’t picture the days without them.

  On top of all that, she was still having trouble realizing that her dirty little secret was out in the open at last. She thought she’d been so careful, so lucky in keeping anyone from knowing what she’d done. But soon everyone would know what she was—a cheater, a liar, an awful person.

  She tried not to think about that. First she had to figure out how to handle things right now. What was she going to say to Max about her job, about Starlight’s departure that very evening? More importantly, her plans to buy Samson from Max suddenly looked a whole lot more difficult, if not impossible. How was she going to ask her father for money now? How was she going to convince Max to sell her the big black gelding when she wasn’t even allowed near the stable?

  It was all so overwhelming that she couldn’t stand it. She figured the only thing that might help her make sense of it all was seeing Samson himself. Maybe just being with the horse she loved so much, taking strength from him, would help her figure things out—or at least make her feel a little better.

  She headed for the Pine Hollow stable area. When she arrived, she saw that Max had taken over Samson’s care from Stevie, who had disappeared. Max was walking the big gelding back and forth up the path, cooling him out carefully. Walking alongside him was Garrett Shanahan.

  Carole was surprised to see the famous rider hanging out with Max again, but she didn’t have the energy to wonder about that at the moment. She just wanted to lead Samson off somewhere private and wrap her arms around his neck for a while until the numb feeling in her brain wore off and she could think straight again.

  Mustering as normal an expression as she could manage, she hurried toward the two men and the horse. “Hi,” she said, willing herself to sound cheerful, like a girl who’d just won a blue ribbon instead of one whose whole world was collapsing. “Um, thanks for taking care of Samson for me, Max. I can take him now.”

  Max obviously hadn’t seen her approaching. “Oh!” he said, and brought Samson to a halt. “Carole.”

  Garrett Shanahan stepped toward her and stuck out his hand. “Congratulations again on your win,” he said cordially. “You rode very well. You deserved the blue. So did your horse—or perhaps I should say my horse.” He smiled and winked at Max, looking pleased, then reached out to pat Samson on the neck.

  Carole frowned, not sur
e what he meant. Glancing at Max for help, she saw that his face had gone white under his tan. “Carole,” he said. “I was going to tell you after the show. I—uh, I didn’t want to break your concentration by saying anything about this before.” He shrugged. “Besides, Garrett and I didn’t really finalize the deal until this morning, so …”

  Carole struggled to follow his words. What was he telling her? Her mind suddenly seemed to be moving like molasses, though she wasn’t sure why.

  Garrett chuckled, clapping Max on the shoulder. “That’s right,” he said. “Wily old Max here knew what he had even before today’s performance. He kept me bargaining for almost a month—ever since a friend of mine first told me about Samson here.”

  “But—” Carole clenched her fists so hard that her fingernails dug into her palms. She couldn’t be hearing what she thought she was hearing. “Do you mean you—Max, did you—Is Samson—”

  “I’m thrilled to have such a wonderful new horse to work with,” Garrett said, still apparently unaware of Carole’s distress. He was gazing happily at Samson. “I’ve been looking for a good prospect ever since I retired my favorite horse, Cloverleaf, a while back. And now I’m pretty sure I’ve found a new favorite in Samson. I think we’ll make quite a team, if I do say so myself.”

  A sharp stab pierced Carole’s heart as she realized the truth at last. Max had sold Samson. The horse of her dreams would be going far away, all the way to Canada, where someone else would ride him and train him and take care of him and love him. Carole hadn’t felt a pain like that since her mother had died all those years ago. It was so strong that she wasn’t sure she could bear it without shattering into a million brittle, anguished pieces.

  “Um, I’ll walk him for you now,” she mumbled, grabbing blindly at the lead rope through a sheen of tears. Any second now they would spill over and she wouldn’t be able to stop them. Before that happened, she wanted to get away from the men, away from everyone except Samson.