“And how exactly are you going to manage riding twice a week?”
“Extra choir practice,” I said. “But she’s getting suspicious. She just asked me if she could come and listen to me sing.”
“Oh no.”
“Oh yes. This competition couldn’t have come at a better time. Once she sees me win, then she’ll have to let me ride.”
“But what if we don’t win?” Mickey said sadly.
“We have to.”
I couldn’t sleep. I had nightmares that Mickey wasn’t the one who had fallen off, that it was me. I was severely injured, lying in the arena while the ambulance arrived and they lifted me onto a stretcher. All the while crying out that they couldn’t tell my Mom I was hurt. I woke in a cold sweat, tears still wet on my pillow.
School went by in a blur. I wasn’t the best student but I kept my grades up enough to keep Mom off my back. Every day I asked Mickey how her arm was and she said it was getting better but she had it in a sling and I still wasn’t sure she’d be able to ride.
“Where are you going?” Mom asked as I tried to slip out the door on Wednesday.
“Choir practice, remember?”
“Yes,” she said absentmindedly.
She was baking for her embroidery group, pots and pans strewn across the counter amidst flour and sugar. The effort was admirable. The only trouble was that my Mom couldn’t bake. Every birthday I had store bought cakes with overly rich frosting. Those embroidery ladies were going to be in for a real treat when my Mom showed up with her pound cake that weighed five times more than a pound.
“See you later then,” I slipped out the door, silently thanking those embroidery women.
Sand Hill was only ten minutes away by car but it took me three times as long on my bike. I pedaled as fast as I dare, knowing that Harlow was waiting for me. Across the neighborhood and down the hill with the warm breeze ruffling my hair. In the distance I could hear the sound of the ocean. The surfers would be out and all the skinny girls in their bikinis but I didn’t care. I’d rather be at the barn.
The hot afternoon sun beat down on my head. Then again it was Florida and that meant it was hot all the time. I hated it here but I’d stopped complaining since I found horses here. We used to live in Virginia which was all mountains and gullies and green grass that went on for miles. But that was where Summer died. Virginia was another thing I wasn’t allowed to talk about.
The sweat stuck to my back as a car slowed down next to me.
“Just pass already,” I waved them by.
“Want a ride?”
It was Mickey, sticking her head out the window. I loaded my bike in the back, grateful for the rest my legs would get. After all, I needed them strong for Harlow.
“You know, we could just pick you up at your house dear,” Mickey’s Mom said. “It’s so hot now. You’ll give yourself heat stroke.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “I like to ride my bike.”
Mickey had mentioned it before but I was too afraid that Mom would get suspicious and start asking Mickey a bunch of questions. She would crack under pressure, I knew it. She sucked at telling lies and keeping secrets. I couldn’t take the chance that she would ruin everything for me.
“How is the arm?” I asked.
“Better,” she said.
“But your still not riding today,” Mickey’s Mom said. “Just watching. Got it?”
“Yes Mom,” she said, then rolled her eyes.
“Do you really think we have a chance at winning this thing?” I said. “Those British girls know how to ride but what if they do competitions differently over in England? What if they mess up?”
Mickey looked at me sadly. “They’re not the ones you should be worried about,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
“Hello? I’m the one who fell off.”
“Yes but you have Hampton. He wins everything.”
“But Esther says he’s figured out that he can take advantage of me now. She says I’m a pushover.”
She slouched back in the seat grumpily and shoved and handful of potato chips into her mouth.
“Well you’d better start pushing back,” I whispered. “I need to win this. I’m sick of snooping around and I’m scared that Mom is going to figure out what I’ve been up to. Without the win I have nothing. I need to prove to her that I’m good at this.”
“Do you think it will make a difference? What if she stops you from riding anyway?”
I didn’t answer. The thought was too horrible. In the back of my mind I’d known all along that I was riding on borrowed time. That at any moment Mom could put an end to the one thing that made me happy but I buried the worry back where it belonged. I couldn’t think like that. I had to concentrate on Harlow and the Fox Run competition. It was the only thing I could control.
CHAPTER THREE
“You’re still rushing him,” Esther yelled at me. “It’s not a race.”
As if to prove her point, Harlow knocked the top rail down at the next jump.
“You buried him at that one,” she said. “How do you expect him to jump when you let him get so deep? Slow down. Collect him.”
I finished the course, leaving the rest of the rails intact and pulled Harlow into the middle of the ring. We were both sweating but it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was winning.
“Sorry boy,” I patted his neck. “That was my fault.”
“Good job Emily,” Mickey called from the fence rail where she was sitting.
I glared back. Since I’d made my mind up to win this Fox Run competition, I was riding worse than ever. It wasn’t fair. The harder I tried, the worse I was. The Brits didn’t even bother and look at me. Their personalities were the same as their riding. Stiff and formal. Esther was trying to get them to loosen their reins and give the horses their head a bit but Rena and Carla just smiled politely and did whatever they wanted. It didn’t matter. They both had clean rounds anyway, unlike me.
“Very nice everyone,” Esther said as Rena came to a walk on Rocky. “But just remember, this is a team effort. Everyone has to do their best.”
“What if Mickey can’t ride?” I asked.
“We’ll see how she does on Saturday,” Esther said. “Now let’s get these horses cooled off.”
Rena and Carla walked their horses around the arena but I let Harlow walk out and into the woods. Esther didn’t mind. She’d made a little trail back there and the shade was cool and quiet. Harlow stretched his head down, stealing more of the reins. I let them slip through my fingers to the buckle as he picked his way through the dirt. I pulled my feet out of the stirrups and let my legs stretch down. Mickey’s old boots were getting too small. I didn’t know what I was going to do when I couldn’t fit in them anymore. Riding stuff was expensive and Esther only paid me in lessons. I didn’t like to think about it. Instead I leaned forward and hugged Harlow’s neck.
“You’re the best horse in the whole world,” I told him.
His ears flicked back and forth lazily. He’d been at Sand Hill for a long time. Esther had rescued him from a barn where they gave trail rides to tourists. His ribs had been showing and his coat was falling out from rain rot. I’d seen the pictures. He looked nothing like the sleek beauty he was now. I’d also seen the pictures of Esther competing on him at really big horse shows, soaring over the jumps with his legs tucked up under him like a cat.
“She says you can’t jump as high as you used to,” I said. “But I think you can. We’ll show her, won’t we boy?”
The trail went through the trees and finished at the fence line where it followed the edge of the property for a while before circling back. As soon as we came out into the sun, Harlow stiffened beneath me. I gathered up the reins quickly and took back my stirrups. If he was going to spook at something, I wanted to be in control. This wasn’t the time for him to dump me off and go running wildly around the property, injuring himself in the process.
“What is it boy?”
I patted his stiff neck.
Then I saw them, two girls on matching black horses standing by the fence. One of them nickered a soft greeting.
“It’s okay,” I patted his neck and nudged him closer. “They’re just horses, like you.”
He wasn’t so sure. He snorted and pranced his way over to the fence, acting like he’d never seen a strange horse before. He’d better not behave like that at the show or we’d never make it around the course in one piece.
“Hi,” I waved.
One of the girls waved back, until the other one reached over and smacked her. Then she put her arm down.
“I’m Emily,” I said. “And this is Harlow.”
“Jess and this is my sister Amber,” the girl who punched the other one said. “This is Beauty,” she patted her horse’s neck. “And that’s Belle.”
“They’re pretty,” I said. “They look almost exactly the same.”
The horses had black coats that shone in the sunshine and they both had a tiny white star just under their forelock. It was weird how they were so similar. Like looking at clones.
“They’re twins,” Jess said. “Just like us.”
“Really?” I was intrigued. I’d never seen horse twins before. “That’s so cool.”
“It is,” she said. “Horse twins are really rare. Usually one of them doesn’t make it.”
“They’re beautiful,” I said.
“You’re horse is nice too,” Amber said softly.
“Thanks,” I scratched Harlow’s withers. “But he’s not mine. He belongs to Sand Hill Stables and Esther, the woman who runs it.”
“Oh,” Amber said.
That old feeling turned over in my stomach. The one that said I wasn’t good enough because I didn’t have my own horse and I was stuck with the riding school hand me downs. But then I remembered how much I loved Harlow and suddenly I didn’t care anymore.
Jess shifted in her saddle, the supple leather creaking softly. I recognized it from the horse magazines that I hid under my mattress. Those saddles cost almost as much as our rent and both girls were sitting in one. I pulled my shirt awkwardly down over my dirty, too small breeches. Jess and Amber had tall riding boots and the kind of soft, cream show breeches. They didn’t have a speck of muck on them.
“So do you live around here?” I asked.
“We just moved in next door,” Jess said.
“Cool. Are you going to come over and ride at Sand Hill?”
“Hardly. We ride at Fox Run.”
“Oh,” I said, feeling a little nauseous. “Are you competing in the show?”
“Yes,” they both said in unison.
“We’re on the competition team,” Amber added.
“That’s nice,” I gulped. “Well, I’d better get back. See you around.”
I nudged Harlow away from the girls. He didn’t seem to want to leave the shining Belle and Beauty and I couldn’t blame him but I was left with a really bad feeling. Jess and Amber were only two riders and Fox Run was probably full of others just like them with their expensive tack and fancy clothes. How did Mickey, me and two girls who barely spoke stand a chance?
“Did you know people moved in next door?” I quizzed Esther as I put Harlow in the cross ties.
“Yes,” she nodded. “I think they have horses.”
“They do. Twins.”
“Twins? Really?” she looked up from the saddle she was cleaning.
“Yeah,” I said. “Expensive twins and they have super expensive stuff too.”
She shook her head, looking at my downtrodden face.
“Fancy tack doesn’t win competitions Emily,” she said.
“But it sure doesn’t hurt,” I grumbled.
Mickey was jealous that she’d missed out on the twin horses.
“You didn’t miss much,” I said.
“But those girls are so lucky.”
I wanted to tell her that she was lucky too. She had her own fancy horse standing right there in the barn.
“It doesn’t matter,” I hung on the outside of Harlow’s stall. “We’re never going to win this stupid competition.”
“What do you mean?”
“They’re on the Fox Run competition team and there is going to be a million others just like them there. How are we supposed to win against them?”
“I don’t know but we should totally go and spy on Fox Run,” she said with a wicked gleam in her eye.
“How are we going to do that?”
“I have a plan.”
Mickey’s plans were usually the worst thought out things in the world and when I went along with them, which I usually did, I was the one who always ended up in hot water. Like the time she decided we should skip school and go to the mall to see this band she liked play in the food court. I don’t even think she particularly liked the band because they weren’t very good. I think she was more interested in the drummer, Justin. Anyway, we got there and sat eating limp fries while she stared shamelessly at Justin and my Mom caught me. Of all the days, she picked that one to go to the mall to get embroidery thread. I ended up being grounded for a month.
But this time was different. This time it actually sounded like the plan could work. Mickey decided that we should go to Fox Run under the pretense of looking for a place to board Hampton. Her Mom even went along with it, agreeing to drop us off after school on Friday.
“What about my Mom?” I said.
“Tell her you’re sleeping over at my house. At least then my Mom can give us a ride to the barn on Saturday and you won’t have to ride your stupid bike.”
“Okay,” I said. “But don’t you think it will look a bit suspicious? Asking about boarding and then arriving at the show in a few weeks?”
“Why?” Mickey said. “People move their horses around all the time.”
“But what if Esther finds out and thinks you really want to move? That would really hurt her feelings.”
“If she finds out then we’ll tell her that we were scoping out the competition. All athletes do it. There is nothing wrong with finding out what you’re up against.”
But as Mickey’s Mom pulled down the oak lined drive on Friday afternoon, I wasn’t so sure I wanted to know what we were up against.
Horses grazed in four board paddocks, their coats gleaming and turnout boots on. The grass was trim. There were no weeds. Two fields over, colorful jumps were set up in an outdoor arena. There was a rider and horse going over them, its chestnut ears pricked as it flowed like water over the obstacles.
“We’re going to get creamed,” I whispered to Mickey.
The look of horror on her face told me that she knew I was right.
CHAPTER FOUR
Fox Run Farm looked like one of the places out of my magazines. Mickey and I walked into the barn feeling rather small and out of place. Her Mom had promised to wait in the car.
“I don’t mind being the driver,” she said. “But I don’t want to be involved in the actual crime.”
“It’s not a crime Mom. We just want to look,” Mickey said. “Don’t you want to know what the place is like?”
“I know what it is like,” she said. “It’s like the kind of place we can’t afford so don’t go getting any ideas.”
Mickey laced her arm through mine defensively.
”I’ll never leave Sand Hill and Emily,” she said.
So now we walked arm in arm into the huge center aisle barn. The floor was so spotless you could eat off it. Not that I hadn’t eaten off the barn floor at Sand Hill because on more than one occasion I had dropped my sandwich there and still eaten it. But here I wouldn’t feel so gross about doing it.
The roomy stalls ran down either side with brass nameplates and gleaming blanket bars. They all had fancy registered names that I could hardly pronounce. Some of them stuck their shaved noses out curiously. Others stood under their fans, enjoying the cool breeze in the heat of the afternoon. Not one of them was dirty or sweaty or probably worth less than a hundred thou
sand dollars. I remembered Esther telling me she paid seven hundred dollars for Harlow and at the time I thought that was crazy but I knew better now. Winners cost money and these people had more than enough to make sure they won every competition every time.
“Look,” I whispered to Mickey.
The tack room was lined with oak lockers and large pine trunks. Some had the lids open, wraps and boots spilling out. Every single piece of tack I’d ever drooled over was here in this room. I would have given anything to be one of the girls who rode here.
“Hey!”
It was Amber, coming out of the bathroom with a wet towel around her head.
“You have showers here too?” I asked, mouth open. The closest we came to showers at Sand Hill was drowning each other with the hose in the wash rack.
“Yes,” she said casually as Mickey prodded me in the ribs.
“Sorry, this is my friend Mickey.”
“Hi,” Mickey said, sticking out her hand.
Amber shook it before shoving some of the stuff that was spilling out back into one of the trunks. She closed the lid and sat down with a sigh.
“I hate cleaning all this stuff,” she said.
“Yeah, it must be such a drag,” Mickey said.
Now I was the one poking her in the ribs. We didn’t come here to make trouble and from what I remembered, Amber had seemed like the nicer of the two sisters. At least we hadn’t run into Jess.
“So what are you doing here?” she asked.
Mickey cleared her throat. “I’m thinking about moving my horse here,” she said.
“Isn’t it great?” Amber asked. “We have our own barn but our horses are staying here until after the competition. We don’t want to take any chances, you know?”
I didn’t know but I just nodded and smiled. It seemed safer that way. I watched as Amber shook out her wet hair and dumped the towel onto the marble floor.
“You want to see Belle?” she said.
“Sure,” I agreed.
Mickey and I followed her back down the barn. I was too busy drooling over all the pretty horses to pay any attention to what she was saying until we ran straight into Jess.
Secret Rider (Show Jumping Dreams ~ Book 1) Page 2