A Winning Gift

by Catherine Hapka

  Then she sat up, realizing there might be a tiny sliver of a silver lining she hadn’t thought about. Namely, Bridget.

  She’s so into riding all of a sudden, Maddie thought. And she loves Cloudy. If I have to leave, maybe Bridget can be Cloudy’s new special person! That way she’ll be able to keep me posted on how she’s doing and send lots of pictures. And I’ll know Cloudy is being pampered like she deserves.

  The thought made her feel both sad and a little bit excited. It could be kind of fun to spend the next two months teaching Bridget everything she knew about ponies in general and Cloudy in particular. She could spend every spare moment before she left with the two of them, bonding and creating lots of new memories to help her through the move.

  Who knows, she thought, glancing at her well-worn copy of Misty of Chincoteague, which was peeking out from its usual spot on the lower shelf of her bedside table. Maybe Bridget will even join the Pony Post!

  ♦ CHAPTER ♦

  8

  “EW.” BRIDGET PEERED INTO CLOUDY’S stall and wrinkled her nose. “There’s an awful lot of pony poop in here.”

  Maddie glanced down as she clipped a lead rope to Cloudy’s halter. There was only one manure pile in the bedding that she could see. “Are you kidding?” she said. “This is nothing.”

  Bridget shrugged, stepping back out of the way as Maddie led the pony out of the stall. “I’m just saying, Seth better step it up or he’ll lose his job.” She glanced up and down the aisle. “Where is he, anyway? I should tell him how dirty Cloudy’s stall is so he can clean it while I’m riding. We don’t want her to have to go back in a filthy stall.”

  Maddie smiled, touched that Bridget was so concerned about Cloudy already. That would make her new plan easy to execute.

  “He’s probably not here yet,” she said. “I think he usually has football right after school. But don’t worry—if he hasn’t gotten around to it by the time we finish, we can pick out the stall ourselves. I’ll show you how.”

  “Oh. Um, okay.” Bridget looked less than thrilled at that idea.

  But Maddie didn’t worry about it. She’d been dubious about the whole idea of cleaning up manure when she’d started riding too. But it hadn’t taken long before the task was second nature.

  “All right. Let’s get started,” she said, heading for the grooming area. “Since you’re getting more serious about riding, I think it’s time for you to learn how to get your pony ready.”

  “What do you mean?” Bridget said. “I’ve been helping you brush her off and stuff.”

  “Yeah, but that’s the easy part.” Maddie waved at the pony’s saddle and bridle, which they’d brought to the grooming area before going to get Cloudy. “Today you start learning how to tack up.” She grabbed a hoof pick out of her grooming bucket. “But first a lesson on picking out feet.”

  Bridget shot a nervous look at Cloudy’s hooves. “I don’t know,” she said. “What if she kicks me?”

  “She won’t.” Maddie stepped to Cloudy’s left front hoof. “She’s already trained to pick up her feet when you grab her fetlock—that’s this part of her leg here, see?”

  She demonstrated, squeezing the pony’s fetlock. Cloudy promptly lifted the leg, and Maddie dislodged some bedding from her foot with the pick. Then she set the foot down and straightened up, smiling at Bridget.

  “See? It’s easy. Why don’t you try doing the other foot?” she said.

  Bridget shook her head. “I don’t think so,” she said. “I’ll help with the saddle or whatever if you want, but I’m not in the mood to get trampled today.”

  “You won’t get trampled. She’s cross-tied, remember?” Maddie tugged lightly on the tie between one side of Cloudy’s halter and the wall. “She’s not going anywhere.”

  “Still.” Bridget pulled out her phone. “I’ve got to check my e-mail anyway. I’ll be back in a sec.” She stepped away before Maddie could protest, bending over her phone.

  Maddie swallowed a sigh. Okay, so far Bridget wasn’t making this easy. For a second she was tempted to tell her friend why she wanted her to learn everything about taking care of Cloudy—and why she needed to learn it fast.

  But she decided it wouldn’t hurt to keep quiet a little longer. At least until after her birthday. There was still enough time.

  Maddie finished picking out Cloudy’s hooves, then moved on to brushing her. Eventually Bridget wandered back and picked up a currycomb.

  “I can help with this part,” she said with a smile. “It’s fun—like working at the pony beauty parlor.”

  Maddie laughed. “Yeah. Or like doing hair and makeup for one of your plays, right?”

  “Speaking of makeup,” Bridget said, “is Tillie still mad at you?”

  “Don’t ask.” Maddie rolled her eyes. “But yeah, she’s still pretty much not talking to me except to tell me what a loser I am. Can you believe it? Luckily, Mom and Dad seem to be over it, though.”

  “That’s good.” Bridget ran her brush slowly down Cloudy’s shoulder.

  Maddie flicked some dust off the pony’s rump, then tossed her brush aside. “She’s pretty clean,” she said. “Let’s move on to saddling.”

  “Wait,” Bridget protested. “Aren’t we going to brush her mane and tail? I thought maybe we could even try braiding them. I saw pictures of a cute pony all braided up online.”

  Maddie glanced at Cloudy’s mane. “I don’t usually mess with her mane and tail unless they’re tangled or something. And we only braid for shows.” She shrugged. “But maybe we can try it later if you want. Right now, let’s get moving so you can ride, okay? Now, first you need a saddle pad. . . .”

  “Whoa, what’s the big rush?” Bridget stepped back as Maddie tossed a pad onto Cloudy’s back. “This is supposed to be fun and relaxing, right? Anyway, I just realized—I’ve been spending all this time here this week, and you haven’t even showed me where your party is going to be!”

  Maddie straightened the pad and reached for the saddle. “I can show you that after your ride.”

  “But then we’ll be busy getting the saddle off and grooming her again and stuff.” Bridget tilted her head and smiled. “Come on. Cloudy will be okay standing here for a minute, right? Let’s go check out party central.”

  Maddie frowned slightly. Was it her imagination, or was Bridget acting as if she wasn’t even that eager to ride? Whenever Maddie came to the barn, she couldn’t wait to get in the saddle.

  Then again, different people wanted different things from their time with ponies. The Pony Post should have taught her that. For instance, Haley seemed happiest when she and Wings were attacking a tough cross-country jump or other riding challenge. Maddie got that—she was the same way even if she and Cloudy didn’t jump as high or gallop as fast.

  Then there was Brooke, who seemed to get the most enjoyment out of teaching her pony something new and seeing her get it. She’d bought Foxy as a weanling and had been the one to do most of her training over the past four years. Maddie wasn’t sure she’d have the patience for that herself, but she admired her friend for turning Foxy into a pony safe enough for her little brother and sister to ride.

  Nina’s pony, Bay Breeze, had come fully trained, and Nina didn’t seem to mind that one bit. And while the two of them had just competed in a show, Nina had seemed more interested in coming up with a cool idea for the costume class than in winning blue ribbons. Her favorite part of riding was social—hanging out with her pony and her friends and having a good time. Riding was part of that, of course, but not the only part. Maybe not even the most important part. Now that she thought about it, Maddie guessed that Nina’s version of pony time probably came closest to the way Bridget looked at her new hobby.

  “Okay,” Maddie said, mentally thanking her Pony Post friends for helping her to see things through Bridget’s eyes. “Let’s go check out party central.”

  She led Bridget to the addition at the back of the barn. It was a big square area with stalls along one side, bu
t the other side was open; that was where Ms. Emerson stored the tractor and other large equipment, behind a rail meant to keep horses and ponies from getting into it. The barn owner was planning to move the equipment outside and take down the rail, leaving a roomy open space where Maddie could set up her party.

  “Cool,” Bridget said, surveying the area. “This will look great all decorated. What are you doing for music?”

  “I already did a playlist on my phone,” Maddie said. “I’ve got a speaker that should make it loud enough.”

  “Can I see?” When Maddie handed over her phone, Bridget flicked through her song selections and made a few requests.

  They talked about party plans for a few more minutes before Maddie sneaked a look at the time. “We should probably go back,” she said. “Cloudy’s a good girl, but Ms. Emerson doesn’t like us to leave horses unattended in the crossties for more than a few minutes.”

  “Oh, okay.” Bridget followed her back up the aisle to the grooming area.

  When they arrived, they found Seth feeding the pony a carrot. “Hey,” he said. “I was wondering who abandoned Cloudy.”

  “Sorry. That was us.” Bridget giggled and hurried forward to pat the pony’s nose. “Sorry, Cloudy! We didn’t forget you. I promise.”

  “Right,” Maddie said. “Okay, time to tack up.”

  This time Bridget didn’t protest, so Maddie straightened the pad still sitting on the pony’s back and then grabbed the saddle. “Uh-oh, time to go to work, Cloudy,” Seth joked.

  Bridget laughed again. “Don’t worry. It’s just a pony ride,” she said. “I won’t work you too hard, Cloudy.” She shot a look at Seth. “Probably way less hard than your football coach makes you guys work, right?”

  “Tell me about it!” Seth rolled his eyes. “I thought he was trying to kill us today.”

  “Okay,” Maddie broke in. “Watch what I’m doing, Bridge. You need to lift the saddle up and set it gently on her back—like this. Make sure the pad doesn’t get knocked out of position while you do it.”

  “Mm-hmm,” Bridget responded, not seeming too interested. “So, Seth, how’d you get into football?”

  He shrugged. “Runs in the family, I guess. My dad played in college.”

  “Cool.” Bridget smiled at him. “Did you know Maddie’s, like, a soccer genius? She even got scouted for this really prestigious traveling team last summer.”

  “I didn’t end up doing it, though.” Maddie was starting to feel uncomfortable. She wasn’t interested in making Seth her boyfriend, and she wished Bridget would stop praising her to him every chance she got. “Okay, pay attention, Bridge. I’m going to put on the girth now.”

  Bridget glanced over for about half a second before returning her attention to Seth. “I played soccer for one summer when I was little,” she told him, still stroking Cloudy’s nose. “But I was totally hopeless! I decided I’d better stick to things I was good at—like acting and singing and dancing and art and stuff.”

  “Wow. You do all that?” Seth looked impressed. “I can’t even draw a stick figure.”

  Maddie sighed as Bridget laughed and started talking animatedly about the last art show she’d entered. She wasn’t paying any attention at all to what Maddie was doing. Then again, at least she wasn’t trying to convince Seth how wonderful Maddie was anymore.

  As Maddie was buckling the noseband on Cloudy’s bridle, Ms. Emerson appeared. “Seth! There you are,” the barn owner said briskly. “Can you help me with something?”

  “Sure,” Seth said, following her off down the aisle.

  Good. Maddie quickly finished with the bridle, then led Cloudy into the aisle. “Come on,” she called to Bridget over her shoulder. “Let’s get you on this pony.”

  She expected Bridget to be more enthusiastic once she was in the saddle. And she was—for maybe five minutes. After walking around the ring a couple of times, Maddie suggested a trot.

  “That’s okay,” Bridget said. “My legs were a little sore after my last ride. I probably shouldn’t push it today.”

  “What?” Maddie blinked at her. “You mean you’re getting off already?”

  Bridget shrugged. “I have a dance recital in a couple of weeks. I don’t want to be too sore to rehearse.”

  “Oh.” Maddie wanted to argue. Bridget was going to have to get more serious about riding if she was going to take over with Cloudy once Maddie left.

  But just then she spotted a couple of middle-aged women coming out of the barn, tacked-up horses in tow. Uh-oh—if that was the regular Friday-afternoon intermediate adult lesson, that meant it was getting pretty late. And it was Maddie’s turn to help make dinner. Normally it wouldn’t be a big deal if she was a few minutes late, but her parents had only just forgotten about the Pink Twinkle incident. Maddie didn’t want to give them any reason to get annoyed with her again so close to her birthday.

  “Okay,” she told Bridget. “Maybe you can ride longer next time.”

  After dinner, Maddie went upstairs to check in with the Pony Post. Tillie was out on a date, so she had the bedroom to herself.

  There were several new postings from the others, along with a few photos. Maddie looked at the photos first. Nina had taken several artsy ones of Breezy grazing under a tree with drooping bunches of Spanish moss hanging down from its branches. Haley had posted a cute picture of Wings touching noses with a rangy brown-and-white dog.

  Still smiling at that, Maddie scrolled down and scanned the postings.

  [NINA] TGIF, everyone! Tough week in school; looking forward to a relaxing w/e!! I should finally have time to think of ways to keep Maddie in the good old US of A.

  [HALEY] She doesn’t only need to stay in the USA, tho. She needs to stay in CA, near Cloudy!!!

  [NINA] LOL, I know. So, Mads, anything new to report?

  [HALEY] I don’t think she’s checked in since last night. Maybe soon?

  [BROOKE] Hi, all! Anyone still on?

  [BROOKE] Oh well, guess not. Too bad, I need to vent to someone about my little sis and bro. They are STILL all into riding all of a sudden! Mom says it’s just a phase and I should be patient. But it’s hard to be patient when I just want to ride my pony!!!

  “I know how you feel,” Maddie murmured. “Trust me!”

  She glanced at the time stamp on Brooke’s last message, wondering if she might still be on the site. But it had posted more than an hour earlier. Still, Maddie opened a new text box.

  [MADDIE] Hi, guys! Brooke, I totally feel u re: the kiddos. B/c I have barely been on Cloudy all week! My friend Bridget is still into riding too. Tho I’m hoping in her case it ISN’T a phase . . .

  She went on to describe her plan to groom her friend to take over with Cloudy. Then she posted the message and sat back, scanning what she’d just written. When they read it, would the other Pony Posters think she was giving up too soon on staying in California? She opened another text box.

  [MADDIE] Btw, I’m planning to talk to M&D after my b’day to see if there’s any chance this might not happen. But I’m not holding my breath, so I need to start dealing with it, u know? I’ll also need to talk to Bridget then. B/c so far she’s not rly getting with the program. She seemed more interested in talking to the “cute” (according to her—and Vic, too) stall cleaner dude than in learning how to help get C ready. I’m just glad she didn’t say anything embarrassing—for some reason she’s convinced I have a crush on him, which is so not true. But that doesn’t stop her from teasing me every chance she gets. . . . Anyway, when she finally got on Cloudy, she only walked around the ring about twice and then was ready to quit! Can u believe that?!? I mean, Ms. E practically has to drag me out of the saddle after a lesson’s over, lol!

  By the time Maddie posted the message, she was smiling. Somehow, just pouring out her problems to her Pony Post friends was making her feel better. After one last glance at her friends’ photos, she logged off.

  ♦ CHAPTER ♦

  9

  MADDIE WOKE UP ON
SATURDAY morning feeling as if her brain were stuffed with cobwebs. She’d fallen asleep a little later than usual, only to be awakened when Tillie came crashing in from her date, making no effort to be quiet. After that she’d lain awake in the dark for a long time, trying to imagine what life in England would be like. When she’d finally fallen back to sleep, she’d been haunted by troubled dreams—some of them involving Cloudy swimming across the English Channel.

  With a yawn, she sat up. Glancing at the alarm clock, she gritted her teeth when she saw that someone had turned it off. Great. Now she was going to have to hurry to be ready in time for her riding lesson.

  “Thanks a lot, Tillie,” she muttered, glaring at her sister’s empty—and already neatly made—bed. It was tempting to go over and muss the sheets, since that was guaranteed to drive her tidy sister crazy. But Maddie resisted. She didn’t need Tillie even more annoyed with her. Not with her party only a day away.

  She rushed through a quick shower and an even quicker breakfast. Then she biked over to Solano Stables, arriving less than twenty minutes before her group lesson was scheduled to begin.

  Dropping her bike outside the front entrance, she hurried inside. The grooming area was on the way to Cloudy’s stall, and Maddie was startled to see the Chincoteague pony standing in the crossties. Bridget was fussing with Cloudy’s forelock.

  “Hey,” Bridget said when she noticed Maddie. “I was starting to wonder if you were coming today.”

  “Overslept,” Maddie replied. “Um, but I didn’t know you were coming today.”

  Bridget shrugged. “It’s such a nice day, I decided I was in the mood for a ride. So I called Ms. Emerson this morning, and she said I could join your lesson again if I wanted.”

  “Oh.” Maddie blinked, taking this in. “And she told you to ride Cloudy?”

  “Not exactly.” Bridget shot Maddie a sidelong look. “At first she was going to put me on some pony I never heard of, but that made me nervous. So I told her you offered to let me ride Cloudy again today.”