"I won't leave him."
My legs gave out and I crumpled down next to the horse, laying my head against his warm neck and burying my face in his white mane. Will bent down and put his arm around me.
"You can't stay here," he said. "It's time to go."
"I said I'm not leaving," I screamed.
Simon looked at Will and waved his finger around his head like I was some kind of psycho but I didn't care what other people thought of me.
"Emily," Will said.
"No," I interrupted him.
He was silent for a second and then he pulled me up from where I lay.
"Look," he said.
He pointed into the dark and there they were, coming towards us like stars in the night sky, the beams of their flashlights swinging back and forth. It was people, coming to help.
"Over here." I jumped up and down, waving my arms. "We're over here."
They came with ropes and blankets, Esther with her stern face and Mickey who enveloped me in a bear hug.
"I didn't think anyone cared," I sobbed into her shoulder.
"Of course we do," Esther said, her voice all gravelly like she was trying not to cry. "Now let’s get this poor horse up on his feet and into the barn.”
CHAPTER FORTY TWO
About twenty people had come to help and it took all of them to get the horse up and on his feet. His damaged legs kept slipping out from under him in the mud but in the end he stood there, shivering and shaking, his legs buckling.
"Keep him moving," Esther said. "Don't give him the chance to go down again. We may not be able to get him up a second time."
I held the rope and everyone encouraged the horse on. He walked slowly but steadily beside me. I knew it was only half of the battle but somehow it almost felt like we had won. We'd beaten the odds and the storm and the horse was alive. That was all I could ask for.
He walked right into an empty stall with a sigh. Esther got to work on his legs, cleaning the wounds and applying her special salve. People stopped by in the dark to hold flashlights or offer bandages and soon he was wrapped and medicated.
"I wish we could get him to a vet," I said, sitting on the ground with my own bleeding hands in my lap.
"I think the wounds look worse than they are," Esther said. "Now what about you?"
"I'm fine," I said.
She crouched down and took a look at my hands, shaking her head.
"You won't be fine if you go into septic shock. Come on, now it's your turn."
She bathed and wrapped my hands with just as much care as she had the horse's legs. They hurt now that the adrenaline rush of rescuing the horse was over but I didn't care. After Esther had finished I went to check on Bluebird but he was sleeping and I didn't want to disturb him.
In the evacuation room everyone was sleeping too, all the non-horse people unaware of the drama that had unfolded out in the storm. I slipped into my sleeping bag and fell asleep. Esther had promised to watch over the horse and I knew she would keep her word. There was nothing more I could do for him now. And despite the fact that the storm was still raging outside, I fell into a dreamless sleep.
CHAPTER FORTY THREE
When I woke up my first thought was Bluebird. My second was the rescued horse. And my third was that my hands really hurt. What on earth had I been thinking? How was I going to ride like this? I could barely even bend my fingers without searing pain but if the horse was okay then it would be worth it.
Out in the barn aisle the sun was streaming in. The storm had passed and we had survived. Bluebird was eating his breakfast and nickered when he saw me. The horse, which was clearly gray and not white at all, was also standing eating. His legs were still all wrapped up and I was kind of glad. I didn't think I could stomach seeing what they looked like in the light of day.
"He's alive, thanks to you." Esther came and put her arm around me.
"Is he going to be okay?" I asked her.
"He'll live," she said. "Whether he'll ever be sound again is a different story. They are trying to track down his owners to find out what they want to do with him but the phones are still out."
"What do you mean, what they want to do with him?"
Somehow I'd forgotten about the fact that the horse belonged to someone else. I thought that if I rescued him, he would magically become mine. But this was real life and in real life horses had owners and race horses had owners who would be more inclined to put a horse to sleep than spend money on him if he would never race again.
"You don't think they'd ..." I couldn't even finish the sentence because it was too horrible.
"I don't know," Esther said. "Still, you did a good thing. A stupid thing but a good thing."
"I couldn't just leave him out there all alone," I said.
"I know."
"Do you think Sand Hill made it?" I asked her.
"I don't know," she said. "I hope so."
"Me too."
THE END
COMING SOON:
SHOW JUMPING DREAMS BOOK 11: TRICK PONY
It’s been a tough summer for Emily and her pony Bluebird. Between the beach ride and the hurricane there has been little time for showing and the fact that she didn’t make the jumping team has shaken her confidence. She thinks that maybe she’s not good enough and worries that her dreams of riding in the Olympics will never come true.
But there are more important things to focus on. The horse community is putting together a show to help raise money to rebuild and everyone is getting involved. Emily thinks that this will be the place to prove she still has what it takes to make it.
So when a secret donor puts up a big chunk of money for the open jumper class, Emily knows she has to win and it’s not just about proving she is the best. She wants to use the money to buy the gray horse before his owners decide to put him down. But can Bluebird really win against horses like Hashtag? And with her mother threatening to move the family away from Sand Hill and everything Emily loves, will this be her final show?
TRICK PONY: CHAPTER ONE
The morning after the hurricane had been an awkward one. My mother was furious that I’d gone out into the storm to rescue a horse that didn’t even belong to me and I was grounded pretty much for the rest of my life. I’d had to leave the gray horse behind because technically he didn’t belong to me and to top it all off we had no idea if there was even a Sand Hill to go back to.
Reports had been coming in from all over Florida of downed trees and flattened homes and the power was still out in half the state but the Palm City racetrack had seen its fair share of damage. Half the roofs now leaked or were completely torn off and the regular residents needed our stalls. They hated to kick us out but they didn’t have much choice. Hurricane Joyce was over and it was time to go home.
“What happens if the barn has gone?” Mickey whispered.
“I don’t know,” I said.
Our horses were in the trailer, the first ones to make the trip back. We didn’t know what we were supposed to do with them if there weren’t any stalls left to put them in. Esther hadn’t said anything about a backup plan but she had to have one, didn’t she?
“How are your hands?” Mickey pointed to the bandages that covered my bleeding hands like mittens.
“They’re fine,” I lied. Really they hurt a lot but I didn’t dare tell anyone. “Mom is coming to get me after we get back. She’s making me go to the emergency room.”
“It’s probably for the best,” Esther said. “Who knows what kind of gunk could have got in the wounds. You don’t want them getting all infected.”
“I know,” I said.
But it had been worth it, helping the horse who was caught up in the wire. My hands would heal and eventually my mom would forgive me.
“Did your mom’s fish make it?” I asked Mickey, trying to change the subject. Her mom had brought most of her tropical fish in a giant trash can so that they could ride out the storm with us, which was fine until her dad caught his arm on fire
and used the water to extinguish the flames.
“Some of them died,” she said. “She’s going to bury them in the yard. If we still have a yard,” she added.
With each demolished house that passed we grew quieter, each of us trapped in our own minds where we imagined the worst. We’d go down some streets where everything was fine, just a few bent tree limbs to show the storm had been there but down other streets it looked like a tornado had swept through. Even if the barn made it, there would still be a lot of clean up. The fences could be down and power was almost definitely out but as long as there was a place to put Bluebird, I didn’t care. Sand Hill was my refuge, the only place that I felt whole and home. Bluebird and I needed it now more than ever.
And as the truck turned off the road and pulled into the drive, my heart was pounding in my throat as I strained to see what was left of my pony’s home.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Claire Svendsen fell in love with horses at age two when she got her first pony. The only trouble was that it wasn’t a real horse, it was a rocking horse. From that day on she begged, pleaded and bribed for lessons, riding clothes and a horse of her own. She had to wait and work really hard to finally get her first real horse but when she did, it was a dream come true. Over the years she has trained horses, given lessons and even run her own stable.
No longer able to ride due to injury, Claire lives vicariously through the characters in her books. When she’s not busy writing, you’ll find her hanging out at the barn with her retired Thoroughbred Merlin who loves carrots, apples and bowing on command.
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COLLECT THEM ALL
Other books in the Show Jumping Series by Claire Svendsen
#1 Secret Rider
#2 Pony Jumpers
#3 Winter Blues
#4 Star Pupil
#5 Sale Horse
#6 Last Chance
#7 Hunter Pace
#8 Turf Wars
#9 Beach Ride
#10 White Horses
(COMING SOON) #11 Trick Pony
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY ONE
CHAPTER FORTY TWO
CHAPTER FORTY THREE
COMING SOON:
TRICK PONY: CHAPTER ONE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
STAY CONNECTED & WIN A FREE BOOK
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White Horses (Show Jumping Dreams ~ Book 10) Page 11