Jade at the Champs

by Amy Brown

  ‘I’m gonna take him home and shoot him!’ the mother bellowed, running to her daughter’s side and ignoring the pony, who, stirrups swinging at his side and reins trailing, was bolting from the arena.

  ‘Here, boy!’ Jade called without thinking, holding the barely interested Dorian with her right hand and reaching for the bay’s reins with her left. The pony came to her with surprising obedience. As Jade got a good handful of his reins, she saw the manic pony barrel into poor Dorian’s side and felt his freshly shod hoof crush through her thin sock.

  Jade heard her own scream but didn’t recognize her voice. She was too distracted by that sick ache behind her eyes which came with intense pain. She’d felt this before when she’d fallen off Pip, but not to the same extent. Hopping on one foot, holding both Dorian’s and the manic pony’s reins, Jade began to feel faint. She thought she’d have to sit down quite soon. At least he’s settled now, she thought, watching the bay nuzzling at Dorian, who seemed to get on with all ponies. They won’t trample me if I sit down, Jade thought, falling backwards and blacking out.

  ‘Jade! What happened to you, sweet? Jade?’ Becca’s mum was hovering over her, pulling her up and stroking her back. ‘Sweetheart, I told you to watch your feet!’

  ‘That pony was running away. Where’s it gone?’

  ‘The owner took it away; the girl was upset after her fall and the mother was set on beating the pony to a pulp by the sounds of it. Oh, good — you’ll be OK now, love,’ Becca’s mum said, seeing the St John’s ambulance pull up slowly, and the crowd of ponies and riders part.

  ‘Yep, you’ve definitely broken it,’ the paramedic said cheerfully, holding the rapidly swelling foot in its stained sock. ‘Let’s get you to A&E and put a cast on it.’

  Jade, still feeling faint, was lifted into the back of the ambulance.

  ‘What about Dorian?’ Jade asked, seeing that Becca’s mum was coming with her.

  ‘Corina’s taken her back to the truck. She’ll be fine.’

  ‘What about Becca?’

  ‘Becca’s just finished her round — she went clear too!’

  ‘Good,’ Jade said, closing her eyes. ‘Thanks for coming with me.’ Becca’s mum, who was still rubbing Jade’s back, trying to distract her from the pain, smiled wearily.

  At the hospital, Jade didn’t have to wait long before the paramedic and Becca’s mum helped her onto a bed behind a curtain, where a doctor was ready to X-ray her foot.

  ‘Horses,’ he said sternly, shaking his head as he gently snipped off her sock and cut a split in her good jodhpurs. ‘Dangerous creatures. You show-jumpers are going to keep me very busy today; I can feel it.’

  Jade mumbled an apology and closed her eyes. The paramedic had given her something for the pain, which was successfully numbing everything below her left ankle. The pain all seemed to be in her head now, muzzy and constant, like car sickness.

  She opened her eyes again and saw the doctor disinfecting the skin the hoof had broken, in preparation for the cast. Where was Becca’s mum?

  ‘I’m right here, Jade.’

  Jade didn’t even realize she’d called. ‘Oh, OK.’

  ‘I’ve just called your dad, and Michaela. Your dad’s driving up right now, he says. Though I told him you’d survive.’

  ‘Driving?’ Jade’s dad had ridden a bicycle ever since the accident. Maybe Granddad would drive him, but that would leave the garage unattended. Granddad prided himself on opening on Sundays. Jade felt like a nuisance. Why had she grabbed that pony’s reins?

  ‘Yep; he said he’d leave right away. I told him to wait until tomorrow — it’ll be midnight by the time he gets here — but he insisted. I suppose I’d be the same if it were Becca or Matthew.’

  Jade could feel the cold, wet plaster wrapping around her foot now. She didn’t want to look, though; last time she’d peeked down, it had looked more like an eggplant than a foot. But she’d be alright now. She was being looked after.

  ‘I won’t get a boot on over the cast,’ Jade said sadly, making Becca’s mum laugh. ‘Is Michaela very angry?’

  ‘Disappointed, but not at you, sweet. She knows it was just bad luck.’

  ‘I’ve ruined the team. It’s like we were cursed; first Pip going lame, now me.’ ‘You’ve had really shocking luck, I know. But it’s not the end of the world. The Jigsaw event is out of the question, but if the others do well we’re still in with a chance.’

  Jade looked grim. If she’d just gone back to the truck with Dorian, or stayed on Dorian’s back when her boots were off, none of this would’ve happened.

  ‘Oh, and Michaela had some news that should cheer you up,’ Becca’s mum said, seeing Jade’s serious face. ‘You and Dorian won the first event; Yannick was a close second, and Becca was third. Good result, eh?’

  The plaster was dry now, and Jade was handed a pair of crutches.

  ‘You look like a sensible girl,’ the doctor said, peering over the top of his glasses. ‘I don’t have to remind you to keep off your pony’s back for the next six weeks, do I?’

  ‘That won’t be a problem,’ Jade said glumly. ‘My pony’s lame anyway, and I’ll have to give back the one I’ve been borrowing.’

  ‘Jolly good,’ the doctor said, with no apparent empathy for Pip. ‘Where did you say you were from again?’ ‘Flaxton.’

  ‘I think there’s an A&E there?’

  ‘Yeah, I got my wrist fixed there last year.’

  ‘Of course you did,’ the doctor said. ‘Riders are always in the wars. Well, they can take your cast off after four weeks. Would you like to keep the X-ray?’

  Jade looked at the white branches of bone stretching down to her toes. The branch leading to her big toe had splintered in the middle, and the bone had a tiny gap, like a strand of hair.

  ‘Yes, please!’ She could pin it on her wall next to Pip’s X-ray.

  ‘Right, who’s my next equestrian casualty?’ the doctor called callously. Jade thought he was joking, but then saw another girl about her age stagger in wearing grass-stained jodhpurs and cradling her arm.

  It was a long hobble on the crutches out to the taxi Becca’s mum had ordered.

  ‘Are you sure you don’t want to go back to Mr Parry’s and have a proper sleep?’ she asked, in a motherly tone that Jade enjoyed.

  ‘No, I want to be with the others,’ Jade said. ‘I can rest in the back of your truck if I need to.’

  ‘Fair enough,’ Becca’s mum agreed. ‘But careful around the horses, and gumboot on at all times. If your other foot goes, you’ll need a wheelchair rather than just crutches!’

  11

  Taniwha

  The little cripple’s back!’ David said, as the taxi drove away slowly, so as not to scare the horses.

  ‘David, don’t use that word,’ Becca’s mum scolded.

  ‘Sorry,’ he said unconvincingly. ‘You OK, Jade?’

  ‘Yep, not too bad,’ she said, realizing the sock on her good foot was slipping down around her heel.

  The rest of the team was sitting on the ramps of each truck, eating steak sandwiches and chips from the hot-food caravan, and fruit from the chilly bin Becca’s mum had thoughtfully packed. The horses and ponies were untacked and permitted to nibble on the hay-nets for ten minutes, as there was still an hour until the next event. ‘Are you hungry, Jade? Shall I pop down and get you a steak sammie?’ Michaela asked.

  ‘Maybe a punnet of chips?’ Jade asked. Her stomach was churning, and she couldn’t tell if it was from hunger or pain.

  ‘Right you are. Get yourself comfortable and I’ll be back soon.’

  Sitting in the sun on the ramp, with her crutches by her side, Becca and Kristen brought Jade up to date on the current scores.

  ‘So, you won obviously, which is fantastic,’ Kristen said, ducking into the cab of the truck and grabbing the pile of sashes that had been hung over the rearview mirror. ‘Here, Jade, this one’s yours.’ Kristen passed her a lavish, wide red ribbon. ‘And this one’s Bec
ca’s,’ Kristen went on, untangling a yellow sash from the bundle. ‘She was only a second behind Yannick, which is amazing.’

  ‘And Kristen got fourth with Johnny,’ Becca said, pointing at the green sash.

  ‘I got second,’ Amanda cut in, with little modesty. Her own blue ribbon was rolled up neatly and sitting in her helmet.

  ‘David’s our hero, though,’ Corina continued, before anyone could give Amanda a withering look. ‘He won the senior event.’

  ‘How did you do?’ Jade asked Corina.

  ‘Not so flash — we got sixth.’

  ‘Any placing is a great achievement here,’ Becca’s mum said. ‘Was Medusa’s fetlock alright?’

  ‘I’m convinced she’s a bit stiff and out of sorts, but Michaela swears that Mr Parry would have noticed if she was actually lame,’ Corina said.

  ‘Anyway, the main thing is that we’re currently coming second to Gorsewood,’ Kristen said, with a big mouthful of apple. ‘We’re in with a chance!’

  ‘Even without me?’ Jade said, then blushed, realizing how vain that sounded.

  ‘It is looking good, despite the scratching of Jade Lennox,’ David said. ‘The pony that stomped on your foot belongs to Gorsewood. They’re unlikely to get placed in anything, so we’re pretty much equal with our rivals.’

  Jade nodded, trying to take this in, but mainly just feeling the heavy, pulsing weight of her cast.

  ‘Why is that girl in the Gorsewood team? I thought they were a good pony club,’ Amanda said.

  Michaela, who’d just handed Jade a punnet of chips and patted her on the shoulder as if she were a co-operative pony, answered Amanda’s question. ‘I just bumped into Frieda at the food caravan and we talked about just that. It seems that their gun junior had to pull out — dislocated her shoulder last week — and Loretta Sand was their only other option,’ she said in a stage whisper, worried that a Gorsewood team member would ride past and hear her gossiping.

  ‘Loretta had a push-button first pony, apparently,’ Michaela continued, ‘but her mum has just bought her this five-year-old and they can’t do a thing with him. Frieda is livid.’

  ‘If I were Frieda I’d have strongly suggested that Mrs Sand stay at home,’ Becca’s mum said.

  ‘The Sands are quite good for sponsorship — without them Gorsewood pony club wouldn’t have a brand-new set of jump stands. Frieda’s trying to educate Mrs Sand, so far without success.’

  ‘Poor Loretta,’ Becca sighed.

  ‘And that poor pony,’ Jade added. ‘The brute that crushed your foot?’ Kristen asked. ‘Man, you’re forgiving, Jade.’

  Ignoring Becca’s mum’s suggestion to have a lie down in the truck bunk, Jade insisted on watching Becca’s round in the next event.

  ‘Well, I’m bringing you a deck chair,’ Becca’s mum said. ‘And once we’re at the ring, you’re to sit down and rest.’

  ‘I could sit on Dorian; she’d probably like to watch, too.’

  Becca’s mum stared at Jade. ‘Did you not listen to that doctor? No riding for six weeks!’

  ‘I was joking,’ Jade said quickly, although, having suggested the ride, she now wanted it. Poor Dorian, left alone at the trucks, all finished for the day. Kristen had kindly sluiced her down, unplaited her mane, put a travel sheet on and given her a feed. Perhaps Jade was imagining things, but to her Dorian seemed slightly hurt. She was always the one competing, never the one left behind. And now, here she was, all finished for the day and looking like her mane had been permed, while the other horses were still spotless and ready to perform.

  Michaela and Becca had gone ahead to have another warm-up at the practice jump, while Becca’s mum and Jade followed at a snail’s pace due to Jade’s inexperience with the crutches.

  Reluctant to rush Jade, but also not wanting to miss her daughter’s round, Becca’s mum was visibly relieved when a man on a quad bike pulled up and offered some assistance.

  ‘You’re not one of these hoons that’ll roll us over, are you?’ Becca’s mum asked, laughing. The driver wouldn’t have been a day under fifty and drove extremely cautiously.

  ‘No, that’d be my son that you’re describing,’ the man replied. ‘I like a more leisurely pace.’

  Jade was grateful for this; even driving slowly over the undulating paddock sent hot pulses of pain through her foot. It was lovely to finally sit still in a deck chair next to Becca’s mum, with a perfect view of the course. Without the disappointment of not being able to compete, Jade’s afternoon would’ve been almost perfect. The day was clear and still, but not baking hot or glaringly bright — perfect conditions for showjumping.

  From her ringside seat, Jade could see that the course had been rearranged. Becca would be nervously complaining, and Michaela would be repeating the same calming words. You’ve done this before; you can do it again. Dusty is more than capable. None of the jumps is any higher than those we’ve practised over. You are a good rider. Take it easy; slow and clear for now. Yes, there would be a jump-off, which Dorian would almost certainly have got into. Jade tried to stop feeling regretful.

  ‘Oh no, they’re not trying again, are they?’ Becca’s mum suddenly whispered to Jade. ‘Look who the first competitor is.’

  ‘Poor Loretta,’ Jade sighed.

  ‘I hope everyone near the gate has their shoes on,’ Becca’s mum said. ‘That pony’s a liability.’

  ‘He’s got a jump on him though. Look!’ Jade pointed.

  For some reason, Loretta’s difficult pony had now made up his mind to co-operate. Clearly, though, this decision had nothing to do with Loretta’s riding: as the bay cleared the first oxer, tucking his knees up neatly, Loretta’s own legs slid so far back that she was almost kneeling in the saddle. On landing, she lost a stirrup, but managed with a sudden jerk on the rein to steer her pony round to the next jump, a purple upright.

  ‘Sit back; heels down; slow down!’ Becca’s mum was hissing inadvertently. Yet even if Loretta had heard, she didn’t seem capable of performing any of these actions. The only reason she was staying in the saddle was the large handful of unrolled plaits to which she was clinging.

  Free to charge flat-out at the purple jump — or baulk, or run out — the nervy bay pony made an uncharacteristically good decision. Two strides out, he slowed his pace and, without any contribution from his rider, took off perfectly.

  ‘You’re right: that pony’s got some talent,’ Becca’s mum agreed. ‘But little Loretta is really struggling.’

  Having managed valiantly to clear the second jump with only one stirrup, Loretta lost her other stirrup on the corner to the third jump. Bouncing in the saddle and clinging to her pony’s black mane, the child, seeing the imposing buzzy-bee triple fast approaching, did what one should never do on horseback, however scared: she screamed. At that moment, the bay went from nervous excitement to panic. Too late to pull out from the triple, he graunched to a halt. Loretta cleared the toppling poles without her pony, landing remarkably well on the far side.

  ‘She’s had some practice at that, poor thing,’ Becca’s mum said. ‘And now that manic creature’s off again.’

  Jade watched him bolt past on the other side of the arena rope, but this time, instead of reaching for his rein, she pulled her broken foot well back under the deck chair.

  ‘He’s going to get tangled up in the rope; he’ll burn his legs and frighten all the other ponies,’ Becca’s mum worried, reminding Jade where Becca’s nerves came from.

  ‘I think he’s gonna jump it,’ Jade said quietly. A few seconds later, the bay bounded over the rope as if it weren’t there.

  ‘Stop that pony!’ Mrs Sand bellowed, chasing the bay with an unexpected turn of speed.

  As he’d done the first time, the bay stopped of his own accord when he joined a group of ponies, whose riders’ feet were safely in their stirrups.

  ‘Thanks, girls,’ Jade heard Mrs Sand say before she yanked at the bay’s reins. ‘What was that for, you silly dog?’ she shouted at the pon
y. ‘You like terrorizing my daughter, do you?’ As if waiting for the pony to reply, she jerked the bay’s reins again, before delivering a vicious kick to his belly. The pony shuddered and snorted.

  ‘Mum! Stop it!’ Loretta sobbed, running over now, followed by the junior-ring steward. The steward spoke too quietly for Jade or Becca’s mum to hear what she said, but they could guess from Mrs Sand’s strident response.

  ‘He could’ve killed my daughter, and you’re complaining about a bit of discipline? Get your flipping priorities right! He deserves to be shot — I won’t even be able to sell him on after this. My conscience wouldn’t let me even give this beast to another child.’

  ‘She’s not really going to shoot him?’ Jade asked Becca’s mum.

  ‘I hope not, Jade. But I do hope they get rid of him. Each day he gets beaten up by that woman, he’ll become harder to salvage. It’s such a shame. In fact, it makes me sick.’

  It made Jade sick, too. Throughout Becca’s excellent clear round, which even earned applause from Frieda Van de Meer, Jade could only think about the bay’s neatly tucked-up knees, and the way he’d shuddered at Mrs Sand’s kick.

  ‘I think I’ll have to go back to the truck and lie down for a bit; I’m feeling quite sore,’ Jade said to Becca’s mum, Michaela and Becca as they all walked to the intermediate ring to watch Amanda’s round.

  ‘I knew you were looking pale!’ Becca’s mum said, triumphant. ‘Do you want me to come with you?’

  ‘Nah, I’ll be fine thanks. Got used to the crutches now.’