Winter Wonderland (Show Jumping Dreams ~ Book 13)

by Claire Svendsen

  There were Christmas cookies and little finger sandwiches and all the old folks wanted to meet the ponies, who ended up eating more of the little baby carrots off the vegetable trays than we did. And the ponies didn’t let us down. They lowered their heads so that old wrinkled hands could pet their necks and were so sweet and adorable that I thought maybe we’d brought some other farm’s ponies.

  “I wish they could be this good all the time,” I told Mickey as we stood off to the side.

  “I know,” she said. “Good job I didn’t bring Hampton after all because he would have totally ruined it.”

  Miss. Fontain had put her foot firmly down when she heard that Mickey was going to bring him. She said that he was too big and unruly and she was probably right although I now regretted not bringing Bluebird because he was a total ham when it came to getting attention and would have loved every minute of it.

  “Look at Macaroni.”

  I pointed to where Faith was showing off his tricks. He was bowing with one leg out in front and his head tucked between his knees to a cheering crowd.

  “She could stand out on a street corner and get money for that,” Mickey said. “Put a hat out and everything.”

  “Don’t tell her that,” I said. “You know she’d do it.”

  Faith’s Grandmother turned out to be the rowdiest of the bunch and when no one was looking she hitched up her skirt and almost got her leg over Macaroni’s back.

  “You can’t let her ride him,” I told Faith as I dashed over there just in time to pull the old lady off.

  “I rode horses back in my day young lady,” she said. “And I’m still young enough to give it a go. Come on, someone give me a leg up.”

  “No Grandma,” Faith said. “Not today.”

  It took a lot of persuading but we finally convinced Faith’s grandmother that riding the pony bareback around the parking lot would not be a good idea.

  “I hope I’m that sassy when I get old,” I told Mickey as they made the old woman sit down.

  “Remember your blood pressure Gladys,” one of the nurses told her. “It’s not good for you to get excited like this.”

  “I’ll get excited if I want,” she said. “What else do I have to live for? Besides, this may be my last Christmas.”

  “Grandma,” Faith cried. “You say that every year. You know you’re going to live to be a hundred.”

  “I know,” she said smugly. “I have good genes.”

  Visiting the retirement home was a lot more fun than I ever thought it would be and it turned out that Miss. Fontain’s mother was also an accomplished rider back in the day. She kept us all enthralled with stories of fox hunting in Ireland, leaping over brooks and into streams that sounded both horrifying and brilliant all at the same time. I wanted to stay and listen to her forever but eventually it was time to go.

  We loaded the tired ponies and over excited girls into the trailer and truck and watched as the old people waved at us until we drove out of sight.

  “That was the best Christmas evening ever,” they said.

  And it was. I just hoped the Winter Wonderland show went as well.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  With the carol singing out of the way, Fox Run went into full show mode. There were lessons from dawn until dusk and then well into the late evenings. Girls stayed late pulling manes and reclipping ponies and the grooms were working overtime but I was actually impressed by the amount of students who were doing the bulk of the work themselves. Of course Jess wasn't one of them. She stood off to the side while a frazzled groom reclipped Hashtag because his hair had grown one millimeter of an inch.

  “If you leave track marks on him again, I’ll make sure that you’re fired,” she snarled.

  “That’s nice Jess, way to be in the Christmas spirit,” I said as I walked past.

  After Mickey had talked back to Jess it seemed easier to do it myself and I got a little buzz of satisfaction from seeing the look on her face and the fact that she didn’t have a reply because she never expected me to talk back to her. But I wasn’t going to just stand there and let her treat me like dirt any longer. I was taking a stand. Only taking a stand apparently backfired.

  “You can’t ride with the group anymore.” Dad pulled me to the side in the tack room.

  “What? Why?”

  “Jess has refused to ride with you and since her father pays and you are riding for free, I’m afraid you will just have to sit the last few lessons out.”

  “But the show is only a few days away,” I said. “You can’t do this to me. I’m your daughter. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

  “Of course it does.” He shut the door so that no one else could hear. “But my job means a lot to me too and until my own farm is ready, I need to keep this one. Unless you want all of us to be out in the street?”

  “Oh save it,” I said. “I’ve heard that one a million times from Mom and not once did we ever actually end up on the street. Well, we did live in a couple of places that were condemned but still.”

  “Wait, what?” Dad said. “You lived in a building that was condemned?”

  “It was fine,” I said. “Forget about it. I don’t care about that. All I care about is getting ready for the show and I need lessons to do that.”

  “I’m sorry.” Dad shook his head. “My hands are tied.”

  “Well what about private lessons then? I’m sure you can fit me in some time.”

  “I can’t. You see what it’s been like around here since Missy had the baby. I’m teaching double the students. I barely have time to eat. I can’t remember the last time I slept.”

  “Put me in another group then,” I said, feeling desperate.

  “It just won’t work.”

  “Well why did I even come here then?” I snapped. “I thought you were going to help me. You said you would. You promised. Now you’re going back on your word just like you always do. I knew I should have gone to live with Mom.”

  I stormed out of the tack room and slammed the door. I really didn’t mean it. I already regretted everything I’d just said but my words were out there now and I couldn’t take them back. As I marched down the aisle to get my pony, Jess gave a smirk. Just as I’d predicted, she was trying to ruin my new life at Fox Run.

  CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

  I tacked Bluebird up anyway. Just because I couldn’t have a lesson, didn’t mean I wasn’t going to ride. In fact, I was going to work even harder. I was going to prove that I didn’t need Dad to teach me in order to win. I was going to win all on my own. But it still stung as I rode past the arena and saw the other girls riding with my father. Jess was being all sickly sweet, calling out and asking him if she was doing her release right.

  I rode out to the jump field and worked on some of the fences that were out there but I was too annoyed to be much good. After Bluebird knocked down a couple of rails, I knew I was only messing him up. It wasn’t his fault. I should have known better than to try and ride when I was so mad. But I wasn’t ready to go back to the barn and admit defeat so I took him out on the trail. We trotted for a while and then when we got to the clearing I let him gallop. It pushed all the thoughts about Jess and my father out of my mind. I knew I shouldn’t be galloping him so close to the show. If my father found out, he’d be really furious. He’d say that Bluebird was a jumper, not an event horse and that he didn’t need to be galloping about but letting him go as fast as he could was one of my most favorite things about riding him. It cleared his head and mine. We didn’t always need to work in the ring or the field, going round in circles and making everything not fun anymore. Sometimes you just needed to be a girl and her pony, riding like their lives depended on it.

  When I finally brought Bluebird back to a walk, we’d come a lot further than I realized. The sun had already sunk below the trees and the air was cool and damp. If we didn’t hustle back, we’d be stuck out there in the dark and then we really would be in trouble. But just for a second we stood there and I listen
ed. Listened for the sound that I wanted to hear more than anything. The whinny that would let me know that my hurricane horse was still out there, only I didn’t hear a horse at all. Instead I heard a woman shouting.

  CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

  My head told me to turn around and go back to the barn but my heart wouldn’t let me. I nudged Bluebird on and when we got to the tree line and the broken fence, we walked through. My heart was pounding in my chest. My palms were all sweaty. Bluebird spooked at a rock in the bushes and nearly unseated me. Everything was telling me that this was a bad idea but I kept going.

  On the other side of the trees was a small horse property. I’d imagined that it would be awful with barbed wire and rusty nails sticking out of the fences and the stall doors hanging off. The sort of place you saw in movies where horses went after they were bought at auction by shady dealers but this place wasn’t like that at all. There was four board fencing and a little red and white barn. Horses hung their heads out the back windows and a small dog was scratching about in the dirt. It lifted its head at our approach and let out a shrill bark.

  At first I thought that everything was going to be okay. If the woman had a place this nice then the hurricane horse had to be in good hands but then I saw a flash of gray and heard the snap of a whip and my heart sank.

  We followed the edge of the property around the barn until we came across a small round pen. The gray horse was inside, cantering frantically round and round in circles while the woman chased him with a lunge whip. He was showing the whites of his eyes and every now and then he kicked out at her, barely missing her head.

  I knew that she had to know we were there but she ignored me until she’d chased the horse around a few more times for good measure. If she was trying to show off her horsemanship skills it wasn’t working because as far as I was concerned, she sucked.

  “What do you want?” She jumped over the fence and stood there glaring at me.

  “I don’t know if you remember me,” I said, clearing my throat. “But I was at the auction. I wanted to buy your horse.” I pointed to the gray who was standing with his head down and sides heaving in and out, looking like he was about to have a heart attack.

  “So?” she said. “You think that gives you the right to just ride onto my property?”

  “I’m from Fox Run,” I said. “The fence was down and I got lost.”

  The lie sounded stupid and childish and I couldn’t tell if she bought it or not but she wasn’t buying the fact that I was there with good intentions, which I totally was, at least to begin with.

  “You can cut the crap,” she said. “Who are you with? PETA? Friends of the horse? Save the unsavable?”

  “No,” I said. “I don’t even know what that is?”

  “Look, I’ve told your lot before. My horses are well fed and cared for. The ones I buy are unruly. They need a firm hand. A dangerous horse can kill a man, did you know that?”

  She was starting to not sound as crazy as I first thought but I could still see my horse over her shoulder, puffing and wheezing.

  “But that one isn’t dangerous,” I said. “Let me show you.”

  I went to get down off Bluebird but she held up her hand.

  “Don’t bother,” she said. “I’m not interested in you going in there and trying to be a horse whisperer and then getting kicked in the head.”

  “But you were the one who just nearly got kicked in the head,” I cried. “I saw it. And some horses may need a firm hand but he doesn’t.”

  “Look, I get it,” she sighed. “You think all horses need is love and then they’ll do anything for you, right?”

  “No,” I said sullenly.

  “I used to think that way too. Then I ended up in the hospital. Now I show them who is boss before they can show me. And I have work to do so beat it before I call the cops.”

  “But…” I said but she pulled out her phone and was dialing before I could finish. “Fine,” I called out as I turned Bluebird away. But I still want to buy him.”

  “Kid,” she called back. “I’ll never sell him to you now. Not in a million years.”

  I cried all the way back to Fox Run. I’d only wanted to make sure the horse was okay and now I’d blown any chance of ever owning him. Everything was going wrong. It wasn’t fair.

  “What happened?” Mickey asked when I came into the barn still sobbing.

  I hadn’t wanted to tell her because I knew she wouldn’t approve but the words all came spilling out anyway.

  “Now she’ll never sell him to me. She said not in a million years,” I cried.

  “I know it sucks,” Mickey said gently. “But can’t you just forget about him? You can’t save every horse.”

  “I can try,” I sobbed.

  “Why don’t you just try and focus on the show. That’s what you should be thinking about right now. You know where he is and that he’s being fed and cared for and even though I know he’s not being trained the way you would train him, at least he isn’t at the slaughter house or something.”

  I knew Mickey was just trying to talk some sense into me so I nodded and smiled and told her that I would try and forget about him but I knew in my heart that I never would.

  CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

  The day before the Winter Wonderland show was a hot mess. Literally. It was eighty two degrees out and both horses and riders were sweating to death. Everyone was flustered both from nerves and the heat and instead of getting my own two mounts ready, I spent all day running around diffusing arguments and soothing frayed nerves. As usual Jess was the worst. She didn’t have anything to keep her busy like the other girls did because her father paid extra for the grooms to do everything but that didn’t stop her from getting in the way.

  “You stole my saddle pad,” she shouted at her sister.

  “I did not,” Amber replied.

  “You did. I know you did. I had that new one that had never even been used and I was saving it for the show and now look at it.”

  She threw down a saddle pad that was no longer a snowy white color. Instead it had dirty sweat stains on the underneath and an orange mark where the girth had rubbed against it.

  “I can’t use that now,” Jess said. “What am I going to do?”

  “Do what you usually do,” Amber said. “Tell father and I’m sure he’ll run to the store and buy you a new one.”

  “They don’t have that one at the store.” Jess started screaming. “I ordered it online. It was special and now it’s a piece of junk.”

  “It’s not junk,” I said, stepping in to try and calm things down before the girls started throwing things at each other. “Why don’t you run it through the wash with some bleach? I’m sure it will come out okay.”

  Jess looked at me like I was some kind of alien with five heads.

  “Do I look like I do laundry?” she snapped.

  “Fine,” I said, picking the pad up off the ground where it was getting even dirtier. “I’ll put it in the washing machine then.”

  “Do whatever you want,” Jess said. “I don’t care but I’m not using an old dirty pad for an important show like this.”

  She stormed off, texting on her phone as she went. Probably informing her father that he needed to order another two hundred dollar pad and have it shipped overnight.

  “I didn’t use it,” Amber said, pulling her own mare’s bridle off the rack. “She used it last week when she ran out of clean ones.”

  “It’s okay,” I said. “I know how she is.”

  Since the carol singing expedition, Amber had been nice to me. I wanted to think it was genuine but Mickey said that Amber would always have her sister’s back because blood was thicker than water and they were twins, which meant they were supposed to be even more connected, like two half’s of a whole. But I’d always liked Amber, even when she was being mean to me in front of her sister and I felt sorry for her, living with Jess and always being eclipsed by her shadow.

  “Sure you don’t want
to come to the show?” I asked her.

  “Not a chance,” she said.

  Amber wasn’t showing because her father didn’t think she was good enough to win anymore which was hardly fair since Jess was the one who got all the private lessons and fancy horses but Amber didn’t seem to mind. In fact, I think she was relieved. There was a scream from the other end of the barn aisle. I looked at Amber and shook my head.

  “Looks like I have another argument to smooth over,” I said.

  “Good luck,” she said.

  “Thanks,” I replied wearily.

  I was getting tired of being everyone’s babysitter.

  CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

  I followed the sound of the commotion only it turned out that it wasn’t an argument at all. It was Faith who had pulled Macaroni out of his stall and was standing there wailing. Tears were literally streaming down the kid’s face. She was obviously having some kind of meltdown only I didn’t know why.

  “What on earth is wrong?” I said.

  She pointed at Macaroni’s leg and blubbered something that I couldn’t understand.

  “Faith,” I said, trying to remain calm even though I wanted to grab her and shake some sense into her. “Take a deep breath and then tell me what is wrong. I can’t help you while you’re making all that noise.”

  Faith gulped a few times and wiped her face.

  “It’s Macaroni,” she sobbed. “I pulled him out of his stall and he can’t walk. He’s lame. I think his leg is broken.”

  I looked at the pony that was standing there with his head down. He didn’t look any different then he usually did but then again his general expression was one of distain so who could tell?

  “Do you know which leg?” I said.