The Canterwood Crest Stable of Books

by Jessica Burkhart

  Violet turned her horse in a slow circle before pointing him at the first red and white vertical. Her horse tucked his knees and lifted into the air. Violet barely moved in the saddle—her technique was flawless. Her style reminded me of Heather’s. She piloted her horse over the course. She took the other jumps in the same style and rejoined our group. Ms. Thorne gave her a nod and marked off something on her clipboard.

  “Ms. King,” Ms. Thorne said. “Your turn.”

  Jasmine couldn’t have been more different than Violet. She kicked Phoenix forward without giving him a circle or two to settle. She lifted early in the saddle and signaled for Phoenix to leave the ground too soon. Just to show off, Jasmine forced him to work harder and jump higher than he needed to.

  Jasmine urged him forward with her hands, almost shoving them along his neck, and made him do a fast canter in the short space to the second jump. Phoenix cleared it, but the gray gelding wasn’t relaxed as Violet’s horse had been. Phoenix took the last jump and Jasmine rode him toward us.

  “Someone tell me why that was a ride I never want to see again in my class,” Ms. Thorne said.

  Cole, a cute, lanky guy with light brown hair, raised his hand. Jasmine glared at him. He saw her gaze and slowly lowered his arm. But Ms. Thorne had already seen his hand.

  “Mr. Martin?” Ms. Thorne asked.

  Cole’s eyes shifted to Jasmine before he cleared his throat. “She, uh, rode with too much force. She pushed her horse over every jump. He would have been exhausted if the course had been a normal length.”

  Jasmine sat up straighter in her saddle. “I did not force Phoenix over the jumps,” she said. “He doesn’t listen if I just sit there.”

  “But you don’t have to handle him roughly,” Ms. Thorne said. “Next time, I want to see softer hands and legs. You’re a good enough rider not to be quite so forceful, correct?”

  “Yes,” Jasmine said. Her cheeks blushed to match her raspberry lip gloss.

  “All right, let’s get back to riding,” Ms. Thorne said. “Ms. Silver, it’s your turn.”

  I let Charm into a trot and circled him. My mind should have been on the jumps, but I couldn’t focus with Jasmine glaring at me. I just wished I had at least one friend in my group.

  I pointed Charm at the first vertical. What was Callie doing in her class? I wondered as I signaled Charm to take off. He rose into the air a half-stride too late and clipped the rail.

  Pay attention! I screamed at myself silently. I glued my eyes to the next jump and focused on getting Charm over it. He huffed and shook his mane as we cantered to the last blue and white vertical. This time, he gathered his hindquarters under him and bounded over the jump—way too high—as Phoenix had done.

  I eased him to a trot and got back into line.

  What a disaster!

  “It would have been a cleaner ride, Ms. Silver, if you had paid attention,” Ms. Thorne said. She scribbled something on my chart.

  I nodded, wishing Charm and I could slip out the door and never come back. But the clinic had just started and there was a long, long way to go.

  “I’ve taken notes on areas for improvement,” Ms. Thorne said, minutes later. “Tomorrow, we’ll begin to work. I suggest you get to bed early tonight.”

  I shifted in the saddle.

  “Please walk your horses until Miss Cho arrives for your flatwork and dressage lesson,” she said. Ms. Thorne tipped her head to us and left the arena.

  Charm hadn’t walked two steps before Violet angled her horse beside me. Even though she was in eighth grade, her gray eyeliner, rosy lip gloss, and expertly braided chocolate brown hair made her look much older than her classmates.

  “What’s his name?” she asked me.

  “Charm,” I said. “Yours?”

  “Hunter. You’re on the seventh-grade advanced team, right?” Violet asked.

  “Yeah, I made it last fall.”

  As we talked, I noticed Jasmine slow Phoenix and try to eavesdrop on our conversation. I let Charm out half a stride.

  “I’ve seen you ride before,” Violet said, lowering her voice. “Are you having an off day?”

  “I know, it’s so embarrassing,” I said, my cheeks burning. “I should have paid better attention.”

  “You’ll do better next time,” Violet said, smiling at me.

  Wow. I couldn’t believe an eighth grader was even talking to me! Especially one who rode as well as Violet. Maybe she could teach me a few things.

  Miss Cho walked into the arena and grinned at us. “Hi, everyone! If you’ll space out your horses and do a sitting trot, we’ll get started.”

  Violet dropped Hunter behind me and Charm. I followed Aaron and Rio, his strawberry roan mare.

  I was NOT going to mess this one up. I stared between Charm’s ears and took a deep breath. We circled the arena and Miss Cho watched each of us. When she looked at me, I sat up straighter and shoved my heels down as far as they would go.

  “Now, move into a working trot, please.”

  Dressage wasn’t my favorite discipline. Or Charm’s either. I’d complained about doing dressage earlier this year, but Callie had talked me into it. I sighed. The clinic would have been so much better if Callie weren’t avoiding me.

  “Miss Silver!” Miss Cho called.

  I jerked my head up and looked at her. “Yes?”

  She put her hands on her hips and frowned at me. “Do you notice anything?”

  What? I looked around and everyone was still doing a working trot…OMG. They’d changed directions!

  “I’m so sorry,” I babbled. “I didn’t hear you say to reverse.”

  “Clearly. Please follow instructions, Miss Silver.”

  I turned Charm in the opposite direction, humiliated. We passed Jasmine and she smirked.

  “Oops,” she mouthed.

  This whole day had been a complete disaster. I’d messed up in front of two instructors and embarrassed myself and Charm. If Jasmine didn’t already have a blog, she’d probably start one just to broadcast details of my embarrassing clinic mishaps.

  The rest of the class seemed to take forever. We moved through several dressage exercises and Miss Cho noticed even the tiniest of errors. I forced myself not to think about Callie or Jacob again.

  Finally, Miss Cho held up a hand. “All right. That’s it for today. Please cool and untack your horses. When you’re finished, come back to the arena for a quick meeting.”

  We dismounted and I sandwiched Charm between Aaron and Cole so Jasmine couldn’t get near us.

  I took Charm to the outer aisle of the stable and walked him up and down. I leaned my head against his neck. “That can’t happen again, boy,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry. We’ll show them next time, I promise.”

  Charm snorted and reached his head around to nose my coat sleeve. I hugged him and hooked him up to crossties. I untacked him in record time and hurried to the arena. The sooner the meeting was over, the faster I could get out of here and forget this day ever happened.

  The students trickled into the arena. No one said a word as Mr. Conner and the other instructors compared notes and talked.

  Callie, Julia, and Alison stood together at the front of the arena. Why didn’t Callie just change her name to Heather already?

  Just then, the real Heather walked up and stood by me.

  “How was it?” she asked.

  I shrugged. Heather wasn’t my favorite person in the world, but she was the only person on my team who was currently speaking to me. “Okay. You?”

  “Easy,” Heather said with a smile. “The riders in my class act as if they’ve never ridden before. One guy didn’t even pay attention and I heard Ms. Thorne tell him she’ll send him home if it happens again.”

  “Oh,” I squeaked. Had Ms. Thorne thought that about me, too?

  Heather and I turned to face the instructors as Mr. Conner began speaking. “I’ll make this brief,” he said. “This was, by far, the easiest day of this clinic. Things are only go
ing to get more difficult. If you struggled today, you might want to speak with me or one of the other instructors about your continued participation.”

  I glanced around nervously, wanting to see if anyone else felt the way I did—terrified.

  “If you still wish to continue, and I hope you all do, then you’ll need to grab a handbook and go back to your dorms to study.”

  “Study?” Heather whispered to me.

  I shrugged. Of course Canterwood found a way to inject school work into riding.

  Mr. Bright stepped forward. “Please take one of these handbooks.” He held up something that resembled a phone book. “For tomorrow’s class with me, you’ll need to have read the first three chapters about the history of the horse. Be prepared to answer questions.”

  “Joy,” Heather said under her breath.

  “And remember,” Mr. Bright said. “The goal of this clinic is not just about teaching good riding skills, but also to inform you about horse care and proper nutrition for your equine friends. Happy studying!”

  Each of the students stepped forward to take a handbook. Once I had mine, I immediately dodged Callie and Jasmine to get out of the room. I made it three feet out the door when I finally saw someone I didn’t have to run away from.

  “Eric!” I called.

  He was kneeling next to one of the school horses and fixing a leg wrap. He looked nice in a brown and white crewneck sweater, dark brown breeches, and matching paddock boots.

  “Hey,” he said. He stood and smiled at me, his eyes meeting mine. “How was the first day?”

  “Awful,” I moaned. “I messed up SO many times.”

  “It couldn’t have been that bad.”

  “I wish you were right. But it was that bad.”

  “Aw, sorry,” Eric said. His eyes landed on my handbook. “What’s that?”

  “Oh, we’re supposed to read three chapters from this massive thing and be ready for questions tomorrow.”

  Eric took the handbook and paged through it. “Wow. You’re going to learn a lot.”

  “I was wondering—and you totally don’t have to—but if you want…maybe we could study together. We could both share my handbook and that way you’ll learn, too. But if you’re too busy, I understand.”

  “Sasha,” Eric cut me off and grinned. “Of course I’ll study with you. Studying horses isn’t even like work.”

  “Cool,” I said, relieved once again to have a friend. “Where do you want to meet?”

  Eric handed me the book. “The Sweet Shoppe at six?”

  “See you there.”

  7

  SO NOT A DATE

  I STOOD OUTSIDE THE SWEET SHOPPE AT 5:55 and looked around for Eric.

  I couldn’t help thinking about the time Jacob and I had stood on these steps. And how he’d always opened the door for me and let me pick the table. I had the sudden, overwhelming urge to call him. I dug my phone out of my pocket, found his number in my address book, and punched send.

  “Hi, Sasha,” Eric said behind me.

  I jumped—paranoid much?—and looked at him before closing my phone and stuffing it into my bag. “Ready to study?” I asked. There. Done. I was going to study. NO JACOB.

  “Sure.” Eric opened the door for me and we stepped inside. “But how about we order something first?”

  “Um, okay.” But I was suddenly feeling less like this was a study session, and more like…well, Callie would have called it a date. But it so wasn’t. I knew that. And Eric definitely knew that.

  I mean, sure, he looked really cute tonight in his frayed dark-wash jeans and midnight blue polo sweater. And he smelled good—like his jacket, clean laundry and mint. But I was just being paranoid. I knew I was only thinking that way because Callie kept insisting it was true. And Eric had just been so nice to me. But I would never hurt Callie, even if she was being mean.

  I calmed myself down with a few deep breaths and picked out a booth in the back of the shop—one without a window.

  Eric plunked two notebooks and a handful of pens and highlighters on the table. “I probably brought enough for your entire class,” he said with a laugh.

  “You definitely did.” I smiled, picking up a pink highlighter. Why did I feel so nervous all of a sudden?

  “What do you want?” Eric asked. “I’m thinking hot chocolate and sugar cookies.”

  “That sounds great. But I’ll order my own stuff.”

  But the last sentence wasn’t out of my mouth before Eric stood and started for the counter. “It’s no problem.”

  Okay, I’d tried to order for myself. I couldn’t help it if he had manners.

  I opened The Young Rider’s Equine Guide and flipped to the first page. I selected one of Eric’s notebooks and scribbled Chapter One at the top of the page.

  “Here you go,” Eric said, sliding a steaming pink mug in front of me.

  He set a brown mug on his side of the table and put the cookie plate between us.

  “Thanks. I’ll pay you back,” I said.

  “You can get the next round.” Eric laughed.

  We sipped our drinks and I took a sweet, chewy bite of sugar cookie. Yum.

  “So, how should we do this? You want to take turns reading aloud and then make notes?” I asked.

  “Sure. You can read first.”

  I turned the book to me. “‘The modern horse of today has progressed through many stages. The first animal to most resemble a horse was called a Hyracotherium.’”

  I read to the halfway point of chapter one. “Let’s stop and take notes,” I said.

  “Good idea,” Eric said. “There are a lot of dates and Latin terms in that section.”

  Eric flagged the pages with dates while I started to make a timeline of the horse’s evolution. I chided myself for getting so worked up over nothing before. Callie had really gotten in my head! Eric was a great friend, and my study partner, and I was lucky for it.

  We moved through the section quickly and then Eric took his turn reading. I half closed my eyes and listened to his voice. He was a good reader—not too fast or too slow. I’d bet he was a bookworm like me. While he read, I made notes on my paper.

  I looked up when the door squeaked open and the little bell rang.

  Heather and Ben walked through the shop hand in hand, and peered at the slices of pie in the glass display.

  So she was with Ben. No wonder Julia and Alison had been ignoring her. I wondered if she’d faked going after Jacob so no one would pay attention to her real target—Ben.

  Heather looked over her shoulder, saw me, and tucked a golden lock of hair behind her ear, almost nervously. Eric, oblivious to everything, kept reading. Then it came to me: Heather would probably run straight to Callie and tell her in a not-so-nice way that Eric and I had been together in the Sweet Shoppe. Ugh—I didn’t even want to know what Heather’s version of the story would be.

  “Can you hold on a sec?” I interrupted Eric.

  He stopped and looked up at me, inquiringly.

  “Sorry,” I said. “I need to talk to Heather for a minute.”

  “Heather?” he said, surprised. But then his expression changed. “Sure, I’ll start highlighting notes for this chapter.”

  I got up and walked over to Heather.

  “Hey,” I said.

  Ben peered around Heather and smiled at me. “Hey, Sasha.” Heather whispered something to him and he said, “I’m going to look at the ice cream.” He let go of Heather’s hand and walked away.

  “So, it is true,” Heather said. She unbuttoned her red coat.

  “Me and Eric? Nooo. It’s not. See the books? We’re studying. So don’t run off to find Callie and tell her Eric and I are on a date. We’re not.”

  Heather gave me an amused smile. “Do you think I care if you date or ‘study’ with Eric? Please. I’m not telling Harper anything.”

  Ben walked back over and put his arm around Heather’s waist. “My parents should be here in an hour,” he said. “They were suppose
d to pick me up yesterday, but they’re a day late, like always.”

  “Have a good break,” I said. You jerk who dumped Julia for Heather!

  I stepped back and started for my table.

  “Two oatmeal raisin cookies,” Heather barked to the girl behind the counter. “And a caramel latte. Half skim, no sugar. Extra hot. Mine was cold last time.”

  The girl nodded furiously at Heather’s directions and I headed back to my table, thinking about Jacob. About how we used to come to the Sweet Shoppe together, talking and laughing over frozen hot chocolates or cake.

  I slid into my seat and tried to shake off the memory.

  “Everything okay?” Eric asked.

  “Yeah, fine. So, should we quiz each other now?” I shifted in my seat and looked at the book.

  Eric must have realized I didn’t want to talk. “Sure. I’ll ask you first.”

  “Ready.”

  Eric closed his notebook and capped his green highlighter. With a grin, he pulled the book to his chest, reached across the table and swiped my notebook.

  “Hey!” I protested.

  “No cheating,” Eric teased.

  I mock-rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out at him. “Fine, Mr. Rodriguez. Go ahead.”

  “All right. Who brought the first modern horses to America?”

  “The Spaniards.”

  “Right. How many toes did the Eohippus have?

  I paused. “Four in the front…and three in the back?”

  Eric frowned.

  “Wait! Five in the front and four in the back?”

  He laughed. “You were right the first time. I was just messing with you.”

  I kicked him under the table. “Mean.”

  “My turn.” He slid the book to me.

  I looked for the toughest question.

  “Estimate how long ago the horse was domesticated.”

  “Five to six thousand years ago,” Eric said without hesitation. “Is that all you’ve got?”

  I smirked. “Okay…what was the first horselike animal with one hoof and no toes?”

  Eric’s face lost its cocky grin. “Uh. Hmm.”

  “Hmm? Did you say hmm?” I started to hum the Jeopardy! theme song.