High Hurdles Collection Two

by Lauraine Snelling

  DJ wiped her fingers before taking the photo. “What a cutie. When did you take this?”

  “Two days ago.” Jackie glanced over DJ’s shoulder. “She hardly ever stands still long enough to have her picture taken.”

  “You have to catch her on the run, like this one.” Brad handed her another four-by-six photo with the filly stretched out in a gallop, her brush of a tail already upright. When it grew longer, it would flag like her mother’s. “She’s going to be dynamite in the ring, a natural show-off. I thought we might show her in August.”

  “We?” DJ slanted him a questioning look.

  “Sure, you and me. By then you’ll be good on halter classes. I can’t wait to see the two of you out there.” He handed DJ another photo. “And here’s Herndon, pining away for you.”

  “The trainer says he is coming along great in the jumping. I can’t wait for you to ride him again and tell me what you think.” Jackie took a bite of her sandwich.

  “He’s beautiful.” DJ admired the sleek, warm-blood/Thoroughbred gelding.

  “He’s like Major in that he thrives on competition. I’ve been telling Brad we should bring him down for you. We’d pay the boarding fees, of course.”

  DJ glanced at her watch. “I better be getting back to Major. Thanks for the lunch and the pictures. We’re due in Junior Hunter class after the next one, ring two.”

  DJ and Major warmed up in the practice ring along with the other contestants. A breeze kept the temperature cool enough for comfort, and with the sun shining, the day seemed to have a sparkle all its own.

  “Hey, DJ!” The call caught her attention, as did the wavy red hair of the young man at the ringside. DJ guided Major over to him. “Hi, Sean. I was beginning to think you weren’t going to make it.”

  “My mom had more chores for me today than … well, let’s just say too many.” He raised his drawing pad that was tucked under one arm. “Mind if I sketch you from here?”

  DJ shook her head. “Not at all, but we won’t be standing to pose.”

  “I know. How you been?”

  “Busy. Wait until I tell you about the business stuff. Mind-blowing, it is.” She lifted a hand to wave a tiny good-bye. “See you later. I have two jumping classes, so wish us luck.”

  He nodded and anchored his pad against the post. He was hard at the drawing before they’d gone three horse lengths.

  DJ almost wished he hadn’t come. Her butterflies had gone schitzo at the sound of his voice. What fun it would be to sit or stand beside him, her art pad propped up also, and work on line and value and movement of living, breathing horses and riders.

  “Oh well, Major, let’s just give it our best shot.”

  The easy course of the Hunter class raced past as they flew over the jumps. Major took them higher than necessary as if to say, “When are we going for the real stuff?” DJ didn’t hurry. Jumping was jumping, and that moment of being totally airborne was what she lived for.

  While they came out of the class ribbonless, DJ didn’t care. So Major wasn’t the prettiest horse around. He didn’t balk like one of the warm-bloods. While she tried hard not to feel the slightest glee at the other rider’s consternation, DJ patted Major’s shoulder to mask her smile.

  Since there were only two classes between hers, she stayed in the practice ring, taking time out only for a drink that Jackie brought her. DJ introduced Sean to Brad and Jackie and left the three of them talking so she could keep Major moving.

  They were number three in the jumping order.

  DJ trotted Major into the ring and signaled him to canter, heading for the first jump, a simple post and rail. They cleared it with the kind of flair that kept DJ grinning. Straight ahead, she focused on the center of the oxer and counted the paces to herself. They lifted off at the precise moment and soared over the jump, landing with perfect timing, eyes on the next.

  The triple with the highest bar in the center came after a curve in the corner of the ring. “Easy, fella, let’s not rush it. Two, three, four, and …” They lifted again, clearing the three bars like they were one.

  It sounded like a pop as Major’s front feet hit the ground. Instead of striding forward, he crashed to the ground. DJ flew straight over his head.

  Chapter • 7

  DJ hit the ground with her shoulder and rolled.

  “Major!” Dust filled her mouth and her eyes. Who was screaming? She lay still only for a moment, fighting to get the air back in her lungs. Major! Is he down? Oh, God, no. Please don’t let him have a broken leg. Please. Thoughts flew like the dust that rose in a cloud around her.

  She wriggled her hands and feet and paused to attempt another breath. She coughed on the intake of dust. Sure that all was in working order, she moved to a sitting position. “Major.”

  “DJ, are you all right?” Brad and Bridget reached her at the same time.

  “Don’t move.” Joe cracked the order as if he were still back on the police force.

  “Where’s Major?” DJ rubbed the dirt from her watering eyes and tried to get up. Hands on both sides held her down.

  “I’m fine! Where’s Major?”

  “Right behind us,” Joe’s voice rang in her ear, his hands gentle on her neck. “Can you move your fingers? Toes?”

  “Joe, I did all that. What are you not telling me?”

  She could hear people talking around them, but the silence from the stands sent shivers up her spine. She gritted her teeth. “Let me up! I just got the breath knocked out of me.”

  With hands assisting her on both sides, she got to her feet. Applause broke out. She turned to see Major dripping sweat, holding one front foot off the ground. Bridget was examining his leg, running soothing fingers down the flat bones.

  “It is not broken,” she said, glancing up at DJ. “I think it is in his shoulder.”

  “That’s the one that’s had problems before.” DJ fought back the tears. “I heard a pop or crack when we landed.” Shudders wracked her horse. “He’s in terrible pain.”

  “Or shock.” Bridget stood up and turned to the ring manager. “We must get him out of here.”

  Dr. Jones, the veterinarian for the show, jogged across the arena. “What’ve we got?” He stroked Major’s neck and down his leg, then went back to the shoulder. “Up here, huh?” With gentle fingers he probed the injured area. “We better get him X-rayed right away. I called for my trailer.” He pointed beyond the entry gate. “It’ll be right there in a couple of minutes. You want to lead him, or shall I?”

  “I will.” DJ sniffed back the tears threatening to drown her eyes. She rubbed Major’s ears and down his cheek. “Okay, fella, let’s get out of here.”

  “Here.” Brad took the horse blanket Jackie handed him and laid it over Major’s back. “We’ll get the tack off in the trailer.”

  DJ took two steps toward the gate, and Major lurched on three legs beside her. Joe walked on his other side, keeping one hand on the horse’s soaking wet neck. Applause broke out in the bleachers as they limped out of the arena.

  The tears snuck under her control and rolled down her cheeks, but DJ ignored them completely as she murmured a love song to her injured friend. Her Oh, God, please help us kept a staggering pace with them.

  They stopped outside the gate to give Major a rest, then made their ponderous way up the ramp and into the trailer. Brad stripped off the tack so DJ and Joe could buckle the blanket around the shaking horse.

  Both DJ and Joe kept up their running comfort sounds as they took care of the horse they both loved. If there’s a break in the shoulder, they’ll say to put him down. God, please, please, I can’t lose Major this way. It’s all my fault. I... oh, God, please, please.

  “Okay, let’s give him a shot of this to help with the pain. As soon as we get to the clinic, we’ll give him a tranquilizer, too. That’ll help more than anything.” Major never even reacted to the injection.

  DJ and Joe both rode in the trailer with her horse as the truck pulled them slowly out of the g
rounds.

  “Easy, old man,” Joe murmured, stroking the horse’s neck. “You’re going to be all right.”

  “I shouldn’t have tried jumping him anymore. Oh, Major, I’m so sorry.” Even with the blanket over him, Major continued to shiver and drip sweat. “Joe, he hurts so bad. Look at him.”

  “I know. But he’s tough. He’s been through a lot and come back. Don’t go giving up on him yet. Besides, a lot of this is most likely shock, too.”

  “Giving up! I just want him to not hurt so. Can’t they give him something more?”

  Major shifted his weight and grunted.

  “We’ll get a sling under him and take the pressure off. That should ease it considerably.”

  Several hours later, Dr. Jones delivered the terrible news.

  “I wouldn’t count on ever showing him again, let alone jumping. We’ll have to see how lame he is after the shoulder heals.”

  “How long will that take?” DJ asked, afraid of the answer.

  “Best case scenario, several months. Worst case, you might have to turn him out to pasture and let him live out his life in peace.”

  DJ studied the vet. He didn’t know the heart of this horse, only the injury. And he hadn’t said to put him down. Thank you, God, for that. “But he’ll be able to walk again?”

  “Oh yes. The muscles are badly torn, and there could be a stress fracture. But we won’t know that until it starts to heal. If he were a million-dollar horse, we could do surgery and stitch the ligaments together, but he’s not worth putting that kind of money into.”

  DJ felt like smacking the man. How would he know the worth of her horse? But she had to admit he was right. She didn’t have the thousands of dollars needed for a surgery like that. And why put Major through so much anyway? “Just make him quit hurting so bad.”

  “I’ve given him more Bute and another tranquilizer. Once he’s able to put some weight on that foot, you can come take him home. Riding that far in the trailer would be terribly hard on him now.”

  Major turned away at the horse cookie DJ offered him and just leaned his head against her shoulder. It was all she could do to walk away from him, but with Joe on one side and Brad on the other, she didn’t have much choice.

  “We’s sorry for Major,” Bobby said when DJ got home. Brad had called ahead and told them all what had happened.

  “We been praying for him.” Billy, who sported a Band-Aid on the right side of his forehead, added. He’d tipped off his bike and skinned himself up, so now it was easy to tell them apart.

  “Thanks, guys.” DJ dropped to her knees and hugged them close, an arm around each. She fought back the tears again. “Major’s going to be all right. He just needs lots of time.”

  “When can he come home?”

  “Not sure yet.”

  Brad and Jackie stood right behind her. “We could take him up to our place, where we have the equipment to care for him, then let him out to pasture as soon as he can handle it.”

  DJ shook her head. “Then I can’t see him. I’ll take care of him.”

  Robert shook his head. “I should have gotten going on the barn here when I wanted to. Then he could be right out our back door.”

  “Coffee’s ready, and I made some sandwiches,” Lindy called from the kitchen.

  “Come on, folks, let’s eat.” Robert led the way, and they all gathered around the table.

  As they sat down, all DJ could think of was Major at the clinic, a sling holding him high enough so only the tips of his hooves touched the floor. He was such a trooper, he hadn’t even fought the restrictions, as if he understood every word DJ said to him, telling him that it was all for his own good. But when she’d wanted to stay there, she met a wall of resistance from all the adults around her.

  “You let us take care of him for a couple of days, and then you’ll have plenty to do.” While the vet made all kinds of sense, DJ felt like screaming. Instead, she’d hugged Major one more time and was escorted out to Brad’s car. Joe had gone back to the showgrounds to load up Bunny’s horse and trailer him home.

  “Darla Jean, you need to eat and then hit the sack.”

  Her mother laid a hand on DJ’s shoulder. She flinched in pain.

  “Has anyone looked at this?”

  DJ shook her head. “It’s just tender, that’s all. I’m going to soak in the Jacuzzi before I go to bed.”

  “Some liniment might help you, too.” Brad’s brow furrowed with concern.

  DJ nodded. All of a sudden her eyes felt so heavy they pulled her head down. All she could think of was bed. She blinked a couple of times.

  “Do you need X rays?” Lindy probed the sore shoulder gently.

  “M-o-m. That’s not the worst fall I’ve taken. I’m fine.” She tried to keep the irritation out of her voice, but from the look on Robert’s face, she knew she hadn’t succeeded. “Sorry.”

  “DJ, we need to be going pretty soon,” Brad said a few minutes later. “But I want to say something first.”

  DJ dragged her mind back from Major’s suffering. “What?” She rolled her shoulders to see if she could ease the ache there, too. Inside and out she was one big ball of hurt, but she wasn’t about to admit it. Her pain was nothing compared to Major’s. If only she’d listened to Brad earlier and jumped Herndon, then Major wouldn’t be suffering like he was.

  “Jackie and I would like to bring Herndon down for you tomorrow.” He thought a moment. “No, it will have to be sometime Monday. I talked with Bridget, and she has another stall available. That will give you the week to work with him, and then you can decide if you are ready to enter him in the show next weekend.”

  “He’s been doing well for the trainer. I’d hoped you could work with John on Herndon before you took him in the ring, but with this …” Jackie raised her hands and dropped them.

  DJ looked from one to the other and then to Robert. “I … I …” Tears stung the backs of her eyes and she sniffed them away. N-o-o-o. I want Major. Major is my horse.

  “Unless you’d rather not. I … I just thought … well, Jackie and I can’t think of any other way right now that we can help you get your dream.”

  “Please, DJ.” Jackie leaned forward. “Please let us help.”

  DJ looked from Robert to her mother and back at Brad and Jackie. “This … this is all happening so fast. I thought Major and me … I mean …” She closed her eyes and slumped against the chair. “I guess I really don’t have any choice, do I?”

  “You always have a choice, Darla Jean, remember that.” Brad used her full name.

  Her eyes fluttered open. “Then … then I choose to ride Herndon.” She sat up straight again. “Thank you for loaning him to me. I’ll do my best to take care of him.” Hope you do better taking care of Herndon than you did Major, the little voice in her ear buzzed like a pesky mosquito.

  Jackie shook her head. “Herndon is not on loan, DJ. He’s yours.”

  DJ stared at her, her chin flopping on her chest.

  Herndon! Herndon was hers? Her heart felt as though it would thump its way clear of her chest and run off by itself.

  Chapter • 8

  “Hello, this is DJ Randall,” DJ said into the phone Monday morning. “Could you tell me how my horse Major is?”

  “He’s doing as well as can be expected. He ate, he’s drinking, not fighting the sling. We’ll most likely lower him a bit so he can put his other three feet on the ground, but still keep the sling on so he can rest in it. …” The vet paused. “You can come and get him in a few days, I’m sure. As soon as he can put weight on that foot.”

  “Thank you.” DJ laid the phone back in the cradle before the tears could reach her throat. You will not cry. She picked up her backpack and headed down the stairs. When she had suggested she should be at the Academy when Brad brought Herndon if he came during school hours, the look on her mother’s face said otherwise. DJ had known it was a useless suggestion, but it never hurt to ask. Besides, she wanted to save her ammunition for w
hen Major got home. She had to be at the barn to care for him. After all, he’d injured himself jumping at her command.

  “How is he?” Robert asked when she entered the kitchen. Maria motioned toward the table and set a plate of scrambled eggs with ham in front of DJ.

  “The vet said he’s doing about as well as can be expected.” DJ looked up at their nanny, cook, and housekeeper. “Thanks, Maria. Hope I have time to eat all this. You want to make me fat?”

  “You need more.” Maria motioned around her body.

  “You mean I need more …” DJ’s palms curved around her upper body. “See, flat as a board.”

  Maria shook her head, her dark hair swinging in the motion. “No, no, not what I say.” Her brown eyes sparkled. “You eat.” She pointed at the plate and turned back to the stove.

  “You better get used to this,” Robert stage-whispered from around the paper he’d been reading. “She is a tyrant about eating right.”

  “You say right, Mr. Robert. I cook, you eat.”

  “How’s Mom?”

  “Morning miseries. I’m going to get her some Sea Bands this morning. One of the girls in the office swears by them. Lindy wants to go back to work, but I don’t see how, as miserable as she is.”

  “What are C bands?”

  “They’re elastic bands with a button that presses on a nerve center to stop motion sickness. Someone developed them to keep people from being seasick.”

  “Oh. Is being pregnant always like this?”

  “I don’t think so. Some women get morning sickness worse than others.”

  A car honking made DJ shovel the last of the eggs into her mouth and drain her glass of milk. “Thanks, Maria. See you, Robert. Give the boys a hug for me.” She winced as she hobbled out the door with Queenie right beside her. Sore everywhere didn’t even begin to cover it. “Stay.” DJ pointed at the steps, and the dog sat down, her pink tongue lolling out the side of her mouth. Her ears stood straight up, and the whine carried to the car.

  “Boy, do you have a good dog there,” Amy said as DJ climbed in the backseat with her.

  “I know, she understands everything I say. I told her to stay only once, and she sat just like that. Her other family trained her well.” She slammed the car door behind her. “Hi, Mrs. Yamamoto.”