Leap of Faith

by Laura Sieveking

  We hurriedly saddled the horses and mounted up. As we entered the cool night air, I breathed in deeply. Everything smells different at night.

  We began by walking our horses out through the rear paddocks that led to the open cross-country land at the back of the school. As we broke into clear grassland, we kicked our horses into a trot and then a canter.

  ‘Race you!’ screamed Jenna.

  The moon was shining brightly on the grass and the lights of the far-off city and roads shone in the distance. It was unlike the complete blackness of night on the farm.

  We kicked our horses into a gallop and rode across the flat grass. As Honey gained on Atlanta, her racehorse instincts kicked in and she furiously galloped in an attempt to get ahead of the other horses. As we neared the end of the grass, Honey broke out ahead, easily beating the other three horses to the edge of the property. I felt completely light and free, like I was flying through the night.

  ‘Victory!’ I yelled.

  The other girls on their horses trotted up beside me.

  ‘Wow, Honey sure is fast for such a little horse!’ Alicia said. ‘My dressage pony is no match for her!’

  I laughed and nuzzled my face into Honey’s neck as she panted heavily.

  We slowed our horses down to a walk and rode along the edge of the grounds. From there, we could see the towering buildings of the Academy stretching for what seemed like forever back up the hill. It really was a spectacular school.

  ‘This is amazing,’ I said, sucking the crisp night air deep into my lungs.

  ‘So, how are you feeling about having to do a showjumping comp so early on, Chloe?’ Rosie asked.

  I frowned. ‘A bit nervous. I mean, you’ve all known about this for weeks and I just got here.’

  ‘I’m sure nobody will think badly of you if you don’t win your first comp,’ laughed Jenna.

  ‘I know, I know. But I want to make an amazing start at the Academy. I want to prove to everyone that I belong here and that Honey may be small but she’s one of the best jumpers around.’

  ‘Is this because snooty Sasha said she’s too small? You don’t have to prove yourself to her, you know, Chloe,’ Jenna said seriously.

  I nodded. ‘I know, but there’s something about her. It’s not just that she’s mean, I feel like she’s got it in for me. I’m probably just paranoid, but the way she looks at me – and her mum too!’

  ‘Her mum is nasty,’ Alicia said. ‘I used to train at the same equestrian centre as Sasha when I was younger. Back then she did dressage like I do and I remember beating her in a show and her mum gave me death stares the whole afternoon.’

  ‘That’s horrible,’ I said, shaking my head.

  ‘Sasha’s mum used to be a champion jumper years and years ago,’ Alicia continued. ‘One year, there was a huge scandal when Sasha’s mum won the nationals. Another rider saw her putting something in the other horses’ water. She said it looked like a tablet or something. Anyway, the other horses were all really off their game for the rest of the comp – knocking down jumps they usually cleared and just acting really sleepy. Sasha’s mum seemed to have the only unaffected horse and she won the event. Nobody could prove that she had done something to the other horses, though. The following year everyone kept a close eye on her and the organisers even offered to do blood tests on the horses to make sure there wasn’t a repeat of the year before.’

  ‘And what happened?’ I asked.

  ‘Sasha’s mum lost her title. In fact, she came last. It kind of proved that she wasn’t a good rider at all and that her title the year before was fishy. She always had that story following her around and rumour has it she never got over it. She never won anything ever again and she quit riding. She only came back into it when she had Sasha.’

  ‘How do you know all this?’ I asked Alicia.

  ‘My mum was also a showjumper at the time and she told me the whole story. She was a bit younger than Sasha’s mum, so she only saw it from the sidelines, but it was a massive scandal. It was even in the local papers.’

  ‘So, you reckon she puts all that pressure on Sasha to prove that her family really are good riders?’ I asked thoughtfully.

  ‘Maybe,’ said Alicia. ‘But whatever the reason, Sasha and her mum do not like other talented riders coming in and threatening to dethrone Sasha. Maybe that’s why they don’t like you, Chloe – maybe they’ve heard you’re really good.’

  I shrugged. ‘Maybe. I can’t see how they would know much about my riding, though. Anyway, who cares? I’m officially going to put Sasha out of my mind.’

  Rosie looked down at her watch. ‘Guys, sorry to break up the party, but we need to get back.’

  We all nodded and began a slow ride back to the stables.

  By the time we had unsaddled the horses and put them away safely in the stables, it was past one o’clock in the morning. We yawned as we silently padded along the path, winding back up to the boarding house. As we approached the main door, I saw that the hallway light of the house was on. Strange. I looked at the others, who had also noticed it and frowned.

  We quietly opened the door, and there, standing in the hallway with her arms crossed and with a furious look on her face, was Mrs Buckley.

  ‘Oh, man,’ Jenna mumbled.

  I glanced up the staircase and saw Sasha’s head peeking around the wall. She was grinning from ear to ear.

  Have you ever had that feeling where you just wish the floor would open up and swallow you whole? That was the feeling I had sitting in Mrs Brunette, the principal’s, office. Sitting next to her was Mrs Buckley and Miss Spencer, my riding instructor. They all stared at me with very serious faces and I just wanted to disappear.

  ‘You do understand how serious this is, don’t you, Chloe?’ Mrs Brunette said.

  I nodded meekly. The morning sunlight shone through Mrs Brunette’s window as I thought back to the darkness of the night before.

  ‘You’ve only been at the Academy for such a short time and already you are in trouble.’

  Tears began to prick my eyes.

  ‘We’ve discussed what punishments might have to follow such a serious offence. Imagine if you girls had been hurt in the dark or the horses had been injured? What then? We’ve discussed suspending you from the Academy …’

  A lightning bolt ripped through me at the word ‘suspension’. If I was suspended, would I lose my scholarship? That would mean I’d have to leave the Academy altogether! Panic surged in my chest. ‘Oh, please, no!’ I blurted out.

  Mrs Brunette held up her hand to quieten me.

  ‘But we are not going to go down that path. We know this is your first offence and that the girls you went out with are usually impeccably behaved students. So we’ve attributed this to an error of judgement.’

  ‘Some of the other students have called for the four of you to be banned from the upcoming competition,’ Miss Spencer said.

  Another lightning bolt whipped through me.

  ‘But again, that’s not the path we are going to choose,’ Miss Spencer said.

  I relaxed ever so slightly in my chair.

  ‘What we are going to do,’ Mrs Buckley took over, ‘is put you girls on probation. That means if you so much as put a foot out of place for the rest of the term, then the next step will be suspension. In the meantime, all four of you are on orderly duties at dinnertime for the rest of the month. That means assisting the staff with washing up and cleaning the dining room.’

  ‘You will also be on double duties for mucking out the stables,’ Miss Spencer said.

  I scrunched up my nose slightly then nodded apologetically.

  ‘I’m really sorry. I promise I won’t do anything like that ever again,’ I said desperately. I felt so stupid to have made such a bad decision to go night riding. I just wanted them to know that I wasn’t usually like that. I sighed heavily in frustration at myself for putting my place at the Academy at risk.

  Mrs Brunette pointed towards the door and dismissed me f
rom the office.

  ‘I’ll see you down at jumping practice in a minute,’ Miss Spencer called out as I headed for the door. ‘Saddle up and start on the course with the others.’

  I hung my head sheepishly and walked out the door.

  Sitting in the hallway outside the office were Jenna, Rosie and Alicia. All three looked pale and worried.

  ‘It’s okay,’ I whispered as Jenna was called in next. She gave me a light smile and walked into the office to receive her punishment.

  As I headed down to the stables, I felt like I’d swallowed a stone. This wasn’t how I wanted to start off at the Academy. So far I had one girl in the dorm hating me, a near suspension and a competition in a week which included a height that I’d never jumped before. Things were not going well.

  As I entered the stables, Honey could immediately sense my sadness. It’s amazing how a horse knows your heart. She nuzzled me affectionately in the neck and I kissed her soft nose. I stood, stroking her beautiful face and gently singing to her. She loved it when I hummed a song.

  After a few minutes I began to feel better again. Honey had a way of warming up my spirits when I was down. I got her saddled and took her out to the jumping course that Miss Spencer had set up for us. A couple of the other girls were already doing some grid training, which helps the horses to become supple.

  I joined in, working hard to remember my position and seat on my horse.

  ‘Nice, Chloe!’ a voice chirped from afar. Miss Spencer was making her way down to the jumping course with Jenna and Atlanta. Jenna and Miss Spencer were smiling and talking, which made me think this whole horrible ordeal with the night ride was behind us.

  ‘Now you just have to keep your excellent position in the wall jump,’ Miss Spencer said, trying to encourage me.

  We did a few rounds of the course she’d set up, excluding the wall jump. It was a big jump and we wanted to work our way up to it.

  Finally, it was time for me to have a try at jumping the wall again.

  ‘Go, Chloe, go!’ yelled Miss Spencer.

  I approached the wall, quietly whispering encouraging words to both Honey and myself. As the wall came closer, I suddenly felt panicky again. I sat back in the saddle and gripped onto Honey’s reins, tugging on them slightly.

  I could feel Honey pull back as she reared away from the jump.

  ‘Chloe, you’re pulling back. You need to commit to the jump or Honey will never go over,’ Miss Spencer yelled.

  I trotted Honey back around the arena in a second attempt at the wall.

  Confidence. Have confidence.

  As Honey approached the wall, I focused my mind. It was as if the wall was growing in height in front of my eyes. I knew my mind was playing tricks on me but it looked like it was actually sprouting up from the ground.

  I can’t do this. I can’t do this!

  I leant back and yanked the reins. Honey’s head veered to the side and she stopped dead in her tracks, trying to back away from the wall. The momentum flung me from the saddle and I felt myself toppling over Honey’s head. I did a somersault over the front of her and fell hard onto the ground below. The full weight of my body crashed down onto my arm. A splitting pain jolted through my left arm and I cried out as everything around me went black.

  When I opened my eyes I could see Jenna and Miss Spencer standing over me. Moments later, the school nurse had joined them and was waving her hand in front of my face, asking me how many fingers she was holding up. My arm ached.

  I sat up slowly and showed the nurse my arm. She gently tried to move it in different directions and I winced in pain.

  ‘I don’t think it’s broken, Chloe, but it is definitely sprained. I suggest we get you to a doctor for an X-ray to see how much damage there is.’

  I couldn’t believe it. Could anything else possibly go wrong? My first few weeks at the Academy were fast turning into a disaster. And I had a competition in less than a week which included a jump I nearly killed myself attempting. My stomach churned and my head still felt dizzy. I looked to the side and saw Sasha standing further away with a smirk on her face.

  I thought back to my beloved farm at home where everything was just … just simpler. With only me, Mum and Dad in the farmhouse with our animals around us, life seemed less complicated.

  I shook my head and sighed deeply. Maybe this little country girl just didn’t belong here. Maybe this whole Academy thing was a big mistake.

  ‘How’s your arm?’ Anwen asked.

  ‘Not broken, thankfully,’ I said, smiling at my new friend. Anwen was an Academy gymnast and she was in a lot of my classes. Let’s just say we were both pretty good at schoolwork, which meant I’d landed myself in the top class for Maths, English and Science. When I first arrived in class, Anwen was sitting at the front and there was a spare seat next to her, so we had become friends in my starting week. She was a tiny little pixie of a person with pale skin, dark hair and bright blue eyes.

  Anwen and I had hit it off right away because we had similar personalities. Like me, she could also be pretty shy, plus she had a super-loud bestie, similar to Jenna, who helped her with her confidence. I hadn’t met her friend Evie, but she sounded larger than life – just like Jenna.

  The door to the classroom swung open and our English teacher, Mrs Mitchell, strode in.

  ‘Good morning, everyone,’ she said.

  We all stood and greeted her as we did every teacher at each lesson. ‘Good moooorning, Mrs Mitchell.’

  ‘Please be seated, girls, and get out your books.’

  I pulled out my copy of our English text, Jane Eyre, and opened up my folder. I’d read the entire book over the school holidays as I knew we were going to be studying it this term. I loved reading.

  Mrs Mitchell flicked back her long, thick silver hair and turned on the electronic blackboard. Her first slide lit up on the screen, featuring the heading ‘Triumph through adversity’.

  ‘So, who can tell me what adversity is?’ Mrs Mitchell asked.

  A girl at the back put up her hand and Mrs Mitchell pointed to her.

  ‘Is it, like, when you are opposed to something? Like, you don’t agree with it?’

  Mrs Mitchell shook her head. ‘No, that’s not it, Sarah. Good try, though. Anyone else?’

  I looked around and saw everyone staring with blank faces. I knew the answer but I didn’t want to put up my hand.

  ‘Anwen?’ Mrs Mitchell asked, even though Anwen had not raised her hand.

  Anwen startled in her seat and her cheeks reddened. ‘Well,’ she said slowly, ‘I think adversity is a tough situation a person needs to get through. Like, they have to endure something hard.’

  ‘Yes, that’s a good definition, Anwen, thank you,’ said Mrs Mitchell. ‘So, what qualities does a person need to triumph through adversity?’

  ‘Courage?’ one girl suggested.

  ‘Conviction in what you believe?’ another offered.

  ‘Confidence?’

  Mrs Mitchell wrote the words on the electronic board with her stylus, nodding after each one.

  ‘Good, good!’ she sang. ‘Now, what I want is for you to work with a partner and go through the book and pick out the sections where you think Jane Eyre is triumphing through adversity. Note down the trials she faces – there are a lot of them – and then work out what characteristics we see in her that help her to overcome them.’

  Anwen tapped me lightly and raised her eyebrows, silently asking me to be her partner. I smiled and nodded.

  I glanced up at the board as I lightly chewed on the end of my pen.

  Confidence.

  Conviction.

  Courage.

  The words swirled around my mind for the entire lesson. I sure felt like I was facing some adversity at the Academy. I just wished I had the courage to overcome it.

  ‘So, how’s the arm?’ Mum asked in a concerned voice. I held my arm up to the computer camera and waved my soft bandage in front of the screen.

  ‘It’s
fine – it’s not even really sore anymore. The nurse says the bandage can come off this week.’ I could see my mum’s relief through the computer screen.

  ‘And how is Honey getting on in the stables?’

  ‘She’s great,’ I said half-heartedly. ‘She’s settled in really well and seems to be happy.’

  Mum frowned slightly.

  ‘And has everything smoothed over since … the ah … incident?’

  I knew she was referring to the night ride. Mrs Buckley had to call my parents and tell them about it, as it was a serious offence. I’d spoken to my parents and they knew how devastated I was about the whole thing, so they were pretty good about it, actually. I was expecting my dad to go nuts, but I think he felt sorry for me. We’d agreed not to talk about it anymore and to put it behind us.

  ‘Yes, it’s fine,’ I said, irritated. I knew I was being sulky. But I had just come off an hour of kitchen duties as part of my punishment for the night riding incident.

  ‘Are you happy there, Chlo?’ Mum whispered gently.

  ‘Of course I am!’ I said defensively. ‘I’ve just got a lot on my mind with this competition next week. I haven’t once jumped the high wall in practice. I got in trouble for the night ride, and then I hurt my arm. And then there’s Sasha …’

  ‘Who is Sasha?’

  ‘You know that girl I bumped into in the hallway on my first day? The one with the mean-looking mum?’ I asked.

  Mum opened her mouth as if to say something but then closed it again. She looked weird – kind of confused and like she was deciding if she should say something.

  ‘What is it?’ I prodded.

  Mum seemed to startle. ‘Well, I didn’t want to go into it, but I have a feeling I know why Sasha might have it in for you.’

  I shook my head, confused.

  ‘Her mother – Miranda – did you notice that she recognised me on that first day?’

  I thought back to the incident in the hall – there had been a weird look between the two of them, that’s for sure. And Sasha’s mum did say something about knowing my mum in the past.