Sapphire: New Horizons

by Heather Brooks

  “Your dad can ride?” Caitlyn sounded shocked.

  “Of course he can’t.” Emily glanced out the window to see what Caitlyn was talking about, then her jaw dropped open as her dad went charging out of the barn at a dead gallop on a huge dark bay horse. He was perfectly balanced, his hands soft, his body smooth and motionless as he moved easily with the horse. Holy cow! She’d had no idea her dad could ride. Why hadn’t he ever told her?

  “He’s good,” Kyle said as her dad’s horse galloped down the driveway, Aunt Debby following close behind him on another horse, yelling something at Emily’s dad. She was still wearing her dress-up clothes, and her perfectly blown dry hair was flying behind her as they rode hard after Sapphire. Aunt Debby’s body was rigid with fury, and Emily shrank back behind the drapes, wanting to crawl under her bed and never come out. What had she done?

  Caitlyn and Kyle leaned farther out, trying to watch the action until all the horses disappeared from sight, then they both turned around to look at Emily. Kyle was grinning. “You’re so busted.”

  Caitlyn’s eyes were wide. “What if we miss the funeral?”

  “Or what if Sapphire gets hurt or lost and Mom can’t sell him?” Kyle added, a mischievous grin in his eyes. “We’ll lose the farm, and it’ll be all your fault.”

  Emily’s stomach churned, and she grabbed her paddock boots and yanked them over her tights. “I’m going to help them. I’ll ride Moondance and help get Sapphire. He’ll come to me. I know he will.”

  Caitlyn’s brown eyes became even larger. “Do you have permission to ride on your own yet?”

  Emily hesitated. “Not specifically, no. Do I need it?” “Oh, if you don’t have permission, you’ll be in soooo much trouble if you grab a horse and ride after them.” Caitlyn gave a firm nod. “My mom never messes around when it comes to the horses. She’ll ground you.”

  Emily frowned. “Ground me?”

  “No riding. She did that to Alison just last month. No riding for three weeks.”

  “Oh.” Oh. Emily hated the thought of not being allowed to ride at all. No chance of riding Sapphire?

  Kyle grinned. “You should do it. You’re already in trouble anyway, right? What’s more trouble?”

  Emily hesitated, her stomach lurching. Should she help? Or hide? She thought of Sapphire racing toward the street and knew she had no choice. “I’m going!”

  Kyle gave her a thumbs-up. “Cool.”

  Caitlyn shook her head. “Oh…you’re going to be soooo sorry. Mom’s not going to want you to stay here forever anymore.”

  “We aren’t staying forever, anyway.” Still in her skirt and tights, with her paddock boots untied, Emily raced out of the room and down the stairs, aware of Caitlyn and Kyle on her heels, jabbering loudly about how much trouble she was in and whether Aunt Debby would cry if they missed Grandpa’s funeral.

  Emily sprinted into the barn and bolted straight for the tack room, where she grabbed Moondance’s tack, sweat dripping down her back underneath her nice white blouse. She jogged down the aisle, lugging the tack with her until she made it to Moondance’s stall, with Caitlyn and Kyle still following her.

  “So, I bet that Mom sends Emily home tonight,” Kyle said to Caitlyn.

  “Tonight? I bet she just grounds her. Makes her do chores for a month,” Caitlyn says. “But she definitely won’t let her near the horses. Letting Sapphire out and breaking the rules by taking a horse without permission…soooo much trouble.”

  Emily glared at them as she opened Moondance’s door. “Will you guys please stop talking!”

  “It’s so much more fun to have you in trouble than me,” Kyle said. “I’ll be sad when she sends you home.”

  “No, I’m the one who will be sad,” Caitlyn announced. “We never got a chance to play in my fort in the hay barn.”

  Emily felt sick as she threw the saddle over Moondance’s back. She hated being in trouble. Hated it. But what else was she supposed to do? Let Sapphire get hit by a car?

  “Oh!” Caitlyn jerked her head around and stared down the aisle. “I think they’re back.”

  Emily paused and stuck her head out the door, and heard the easy thud of hoofbeats outside the barn. Not galloping. Walking. Then her dad’s voice echoed through the barn. “He must have been tired from running around yesterday.”

  They’d caught Sapphire already? For a moment, Emily sagged with relief that he’d been brought back so quickly, and it didn’t sound like he was hurt.

  “It was really helpful having both of us to corner him,” Aunt Debby said. “I’m impressed you can still ride. I thought I was going to have to ground you when I saw you get on that horse and tear out of here without my permission.”

  Her dad snorted. “I can still ride just fine.”

  “Barely. I was sure I’d be picking you up off the ground at any second…. Shoot! Look at the time!” Aunt Debby groaned. “I can’t believe we’re going to be late to Pa’s funeral. He’d never forgive us.”

  “We’re not going to be late,” her dad said firmly. “We’ll just hurry.”

  “They’re coming!” Caitlyn shrieked. “You have to get the tack back before they realize you were going to steal Moondance!” Caitlyn grabbed the bridle, her cheeks flushing with excitement. “We have to beat her back to the tack room.”

  “Cool! A race!” Kyle jumped back as Emily threw herself out of the door and shoved it shut, making sure to bolt it carefully. Then she took off down the aisle after Caitlyn, who was waving furiously at her to hurry.

  The thunk of horse hooves grew closer as they raced back to the tack room. Emily skidded around the corner, tripped on the door threshold, and crashed face-first into the saddle horse in the middle of the room.

  Pain shot through her forehead, and she staggered to her feet as Kyle burst into laughter, holding his sides.

  “Are you okay?” Caitlyn asked as she jumped up, trying to reach the bridle hook.

  “Yeah, sort of.” Blinking against the pain in her head, Emily grabbed the bridle from Caitlyn and threw it on the hook, then hoisted the saddle back onto its rack with a grunt.

  Footsteps sounded outside the tack room, and she whirled to face the door as Aunt Debby stuck her head in. She was holding on to Sapphire, his ribs heaving and sweat drenching his neck and chest. His ears flicked forward when Emily saw him, but she didn’t dare wave at him.

  Her aunt’s brow was furrowed, and her lips were in a tight line. Her perfect hairdo was now a mess, and she had horse slobber on her nice black pants. “Emily,” she snapped. “Go outside and grab my horse from your dad. I want him cooled off and in his stall in less than three minutes.” She shot a look at Emily’s feet. “And you’re not wearing paddock boots to the funeral. Go change. Kyle, go help Alison load up Max, and Caitlyn, go sit in the truck so you don’t get any dirtier than you already are.”

  “I’m on it.” Emily wiped her sweaty palms on her hands and sprinted past Aunt Debby, patting Sapphire’s bum as she ran past, not wanting to be there when Kyle stopped laughing and explained to Aunt Debby what was so funny.

  She was in so much trouble; she could tell. How could she have messed up so badly? Aunt Debby would never forgive her.

  Ever.

  8

  The silence was so unbearable, Emily felt like it was crushing her. She and her dad were following Uncle Rick’s Suburban as he whizzed down the road, the trailer containing Max clattering a little wildly. “I said I was sorry,” she said again.

  Her dad sighed. “Em, I know you didn’t mean to let Sapphire out, but it’s very upsetting to all of us to be late to Pa’s funeral.”

  She bit her lower lip against the tears stinging her eyes. Her dad never got mad at her about anything. They were on the same team, and he never got rattled. But he was gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were white and his jaw was clenched. “They’ll wait for you, though. Won’t they?” Emily asked.

  “Probably.” He said nothing else. Gave her no reassuran
ces.

  She wasn’t used to the silent treatment from her dad, and she shifted in her seat. “Maybe I should just stay in the car. Since everyone’s so mad at me.”

  Her dad shot her a look. “Emily, no one’s mad at you. These things happen. We all know that.”

  “Everyone seems mad at me. Aunt Debby yelled at me three times, and even Uncle Rick snapped at me. And they made us take separate cars. We could have all fit in their Suburban.”

  “It’s stressful. We’re all upset already at the fact Pa died, and this adds to it. And it’s good to give them a little space. It’s a difficult time.” He patted her knee and gave her a grim smile. “But I will be upset with you if you don’t come to the funeral. He was your grandfather, and you need to be there.”

  Emily turned her head to stare out the window, watching the lush green pastures whiz by, wishing she was riding Sapphire through them instead of heading off to a funeral for a grandpa she’d never met, with the entire family hating her. “Can we at least sit by ourselves when we get there?”

  “No. We’ll sit with the family. It’ll be fine.”

  Emily pressed her lips together; she knew it wouldn’t be.

  By the time they got to the reception after the funeral, Emily was so drained, she thought she’d never survive three hours of socializing.

  The funeral had been just as awful as she thought it would be. Aunt Debby wouldn’t even look at her, Kyle kept whispering that she was going to be sent back to New Jersey, and Emily felt really uncomfortable being around all these people who knew her grandfather while she didn’t.

  People kept standing up to tell stories about him, and everyone would laugh and cry at the memories, and she felt really out of place. She actually wanted to laugh a couple times, and even got sad because he sounded like he’d been a nice guy and she wished she’d known him, too…but then felt like a fraud since she hadn’t even met him. She had no idea how she was supposed to act. And when she leaned over to ask her dad…she realized he was crying.

  Her dad! Crying! Emily had almost started crying herself at the sight of the tears going down his cheeks. She’d never seen her dad cry. Ever. It scared her and made her feel even more awkward. Even when he put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her, she still felt weird. Like she didn’t even know him anymore.

  Emily sighed and leaned against a tree at the reception, watching all the people talk and laugh. There were tons of people there, which was actually nice. She was glad Grandpa had lots of friends. And his horse, Max, had even been invited, as Grandpa’s best friend.

  Emily glanced over at the old gray horse shoving his nose into the punch bowl as a bunch of kids shrieked with laughter. Aunt Debby and Uncle Rick had brought him to the reception and let him wander around the backyard, but Emily was too upset to truly appreciate how cool it was.

  She watched Max move over and start munching the watermelon right off the platter, ignoring all the hugs everyone was giving him. One woman had even made him a new sheet that said MAX on it.

  Emily took another bite of the cold cheese pizza she’d been nibbling on. The music was loud and upbeat (Caitlyn had identified it as country music), and everyone seemed determined to have a fun time in honor of how Grandpa would have wanted it. Aunt Debby and her dad still hadn’t looked at her once. Her dad was too busy greeting all these people who used to be his friends, and Aunt Debby was sitting in the corner with a group of women who were giving her hugs.

  It didn’t help that Alison was hanging out in the shade with her friends, and even though Emily had walked by six times, Alison had never invited Emily to join them. Caitlyn and Kyle had gone off with their friends, leaving Emily alone with the tree.

  Granted, it was a very cool pine tree that was about ten miles high, and she could smell the sap as she leaned against it, but still. She felt completely alone and out of place and desperately wanted to leave. She’d tried to apologize to Aunt Debby twice, and each time Aunt Debby had shaken her head and said they’d talk later.

  Emily took a deep breath, wondering whether she should try again. She couldn’t stand the thought of anyone being mad at her. Then she saw her dad walking toward her, and she could have almost cried with relief. “Dad!”

  He threw his arm around her shoulders and hugged her against his side. “You doing all right, kiddo? I know this has been a long day.”

  “Yeah.” Emily snuggled against him. “I’m sorry about Sapphire.”

  Her dad squeezed her shoulder. “It’s okay, hon. They delayed the funeral for us, and it was a wonderful service. No harm done.”

  She looked at him. “Do you think Aunt Debby will forgive me? She wouldn’t let me apologize.”

  He smiled. “It’ll all be fine. She’s emotional today, so just let her be for now, okay?”

  “You’re sure?”

  “I’m sure,” her dad said firmly, then they both looked up as someone yelled his name. It was a tall, blond man with a lined face and sunburned features. “Jack!” A huge smile split her dad’s face. “You look good for an old guy!” He glanced back at Emily. “Do you mind if I run? He and I used to be great friends.”

  She shrugged and tried not to look miserable. She’d done enough to ruin the funeral, already, and she wasn’t going to complain. “No, that’s fine.”

  Her dad gave her a sympathetic look. “Uncle Rick’s leaving now to deal with an emergency. He’s taking my car back to the farm to get his truck and dropping off Caitlyn and Kyle. You want him to take you back, too?”

  Emily perked up, her heart jumping with relief. “Would that be okay?”

  “Of course.” He hugged Emily and ruffled her hair. “Thanks for coming, Em. I was proud to have you here with me.”

  She buried her face in his jacket as she hugged him back. “It wasn’t so bad.”

  “Okay, then.” Her dad kissed the top of her head and gave her a gentle shove toward the door. “Go catch Uncle Rick before he leaves. I’ll be home later.”

  “Okay!” Emily didn’t waste time sprinting for the door, so no one could see her relief at the thought of escaping.

  The ride back to the farm had been completely uncomfortable. Uncle Rick, Caitlyn, and Kyle had talked about Grandpa the entire time. Caitlyn had even cried and so had Uncle Rick. Emily had felt like a complete intruder and had been desperate to get out of the truck when they arrived at the farm. She’d run inside to change into her jeans and paddock boots and felt better almost right away just being in her real clothes.

  Emily jogged down the stairs, then stopped on the bottom step when she heard Kyle and Caitlyn talking about Grandpa in the other room, Saddle Club blaring on the TV in the background.

  “Emily? Is that you? Come watch Saddle Club,” Caitlyn called out.

  Emily tensed at the thought of going in there and listening to more stories that she couldn’t share, stories that made her feel like an outsider. She hadn’t belonged all day, and she needed to see Sapphire. To go to the one place where she could be herself and it would be okay. “I’m going to the barn.”

  “Oh, cool.” Caitlyn popped her head out of the door. “We’ll come out as soon as Saddle Club’s over. About five minutes. Then we can hang out all afternoon. I can show you this tree house that Grandpa made for us, okay?”

  “Um, yeah.” Emily didn’t especially want to hang out with her cousins, reliving memories of the grandfather she didn’t know, and who she’d never know now. She needed private time with Sapphire, time to find her space. The minute she got out there to see him, Caitlyn and Kyle would be there, too. In her space.

  Emily thought of Sapphire’s shiny coat and his dark brown eyes and knew she couldn’t share him. Not right now. Just for a short while, she needed him.

  Her gaze flicked to the living room. There was only one way she could get Sapphire to herself for a little bit. Did she dare? Aunt Debby would be furious…but if she went quickly, she could make it back before they even returned from the funeral.

  Her dad would und
erstand. He always told her to follow her heart, and her heart knew what she needed right now.

  She needed Sapphire.

  9

  Emily whirled on the stairs and vaulted back up the steps to her bedroom. She grabbed her riding helmet off the nightstand and sprinted down the stairs two at a time, moving too fast for Caitlyn or Kyle to intercept her. She grabbed an apple out of the kitchen, then leaped off the back porch as the screen door slammed behind her. She sprinted into the barn, and ran all the way to the tack room.

  Gasping for air, she grabbed Sapphire’s tack, jogged down the aisle to his stall, then propped it against the wall. Her hands were shaking with excitement as she yanked his door open.

  She sighed with delight the moment she saw his beautiful black face turned toward her and felt all her loneliness fade away. His neck was glossy and shining, curved with muscle, and the three white shavings stood out in his lustrous black tail. “Sapphire,” she breathed, in awe over his beauty once again.

  He whickered, then immediately walked over to her and pressed his warm nose into her hand. She grinned and opened her palm so he could eat the apple. As he munched, she laid her cheek on his head between his eyes, closing her eyes at his soft hair on her face. “You’re the best.”

  Sapphire gave her a hard nudge and sent her flying so she landed on her butt. She peered up at him, then laughed when he shook his head and began nuzzling her hair, as if searching for treats she might have hidden behind her ear. “Okay, let’s go. We have to hurry. We don’t have long until everyone gets back.”

  She kissed his nose, then hopped up. She ran a quick brush over him, picked out his feet, then threw the saddle on his back. As soon as she started to do up his girth, he took a few steps, and she remembered what Aunt Debby has said about hooking him up to the cross ties. “Shoot. You’re supposed to be learning to be good.”

  He swung his head around to look at her, his big brown eyes regarding her as if begging her not to tie him up.