Gift Horse (Show Jumping Dreams ~ Book 14) Read online

  Bluebird was jumping better than ever and now that I was taking private lessons every day, I could feel it all coming together. Dad had us jumping intricate gymnastics and Bluebird took it all in stride.

  “He really is a horse trapped in a pony’s body,” Dad said on Friday evening after we’d finished a particularly difficult line.

  “He’s the best,” I said.

  “You know,” he said, patting Bluebird on the neck, “The first time I saw you on this pony, I thought it was the most ridiculous thing I’d ever seen. Here you were, competing in the jumpers on a pony when everyone else your age was riding all these great big horses. But now, I finally see what you saw in him all along.”

  My heart swelled about five times its size as I tried to hide the big grin that was spreading across my face. Dad didn’t think I was stupid for sticking with my pony and it turned out that neither did anyone else. Someone had found some video footage of me jumping Bluebird at a show last year and uploaded it in retaliation for the one Jess had put up of me falling off Socks. I didn’t know who had done it but I wished I did so I could thank them because it turned out that random strangers loved ponies and they especially loved ponies that jumped really high jumps. The comments were mostly positive and a lot of people had also posted on the falling off video that the others should go and check out the pony video because it turned out that I could ride after all. And I hadn’t seen Jess at the barn all week, which had been the icing on the cake. Only as I was taking Bluebird back to the barn I heard her shrill voice wafting out of Sabrina’s stall like a bad smell and my good mood faded away.

  CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

  I made it back to the house without running into Jess. The grooms had already loaded the trailer for our early morning start and I had all the stuff together that I needed for Bluebird and Socks safely tucked in my tack trunk, which I’d locked with a big padlock. I wasn’t taking any chances. I knew Jess was the one who had stolen my flash noseband at the Winter Wonderland show and I was pretty sure she’d stolen Socks’ soft brush, even though I couldn’t prove it. And now that the tides were turning and people were coming to my defense online for some reason, I knew that Jess would be madder than ever. Plus with my dad poised to talk to her father after the show, who knew what Jess would do in retaliation.

  Both Sabrina and Hashtag were going to the show. It seemed that Jess’s father didn’t like the fact that I was now showing two horses, which was probably the reason behind the sudden arrival of the new mare. I’d already heard Jess say that if Sabrina didn’t win her a place in the clinic then she was getting shipped straight back, which I thought would probably be best for everyone. Jess didn’t get on well with the horse. They both had forceful personalities that clashed and Sabrina would never be a mare that would just give in to Jess. She would fight her every step of the way and make her work for it and hard work was not something that Jess was interested in. She was just looking for the easy way to the top, even though there wasn’t one.

  The first drops of rain were starting to fall as I got back to the cottage. Missy was making soup, the steam rising into the air and filling it with delicious smells of chicken and vegetables. She was wearing an apron with a giant red apple on it and looked every part the housewife. I wondered if she missed the barn and the horses and when she was going to start teaching and riding again but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings so I didn’t ask. I knew part of the reason was because her doctors didn’t want her back in the saddle just yet.

  “That smells delicious,” I said. “I’m starving.”

  “It’s almost ready,” Missy said. “Can you go and get Owen? I think he’s fussing in his crib.”

  “Okay.”

  I dumped my stuff by the door and went into their bedroom. Owen was awake and making little cooing noises, which I much preferred to his usual crying. I picked him up, groaning under the weight. Once I was holding him, I couldn’t help noticing his cute dimples and how his chubby little fingers reached out to grab mine.

  “I guess you’re not really that bad,” I said as I rocked him back and forth in my arms. “You know, I’ve never had a brother before. Maybe you're just the thing I need. I bet if you were older you wouldn’t let anyone bully me. You’d defend me, wouldn’t you?”

  He blinked a couple of times, which I took to mean yes, and I felt guilty that part of me had ever resented him. I took him into the kitchen, where Missy gave me a bottle to feed him. She’d finally admitted that the whole breastfeeding thing wasn’t working out, which meant that we were now able to help and actually feed the baby. And as I sat there with Owen in my arms watching Missy add the final spices to the soup, I felt a sudden peace come over me. The four of us had become a family so much faster than I ever thought was possible and this was my home more than the one with my mother and Derek had ever been. It was like the four of us were meant to be together and even though I knew that things wouldn’t always be perfect. That we would fight and get mad with each other but I was okay with that because it was like we were four pieces of a puzzle that fit together and even if one of us got lost for a while, eventually we’d find our way back.

  “Are you okay?” Missy said, putting the bowls of soup on the table. “You look all misty eyed.”

  “I’m fine,” I said. “But your baby has pooped in his diaper.”

  Because even though Owen was growing on me, I still drew the line at changing poopy diapers.

  CHAPTER THIRTY SIX

  It rained all night long just like I knew it would. I’d been watching the weather for days, tracking the timing of the next cold front. It was moving fast and dumping lots of rain across the south although up north they’d be getting a snow blizzard. At least that would be pretty. Who knew what kind of a mess the show grounds would be in by the time it stopped dumping inches of rain on us.

  I drifted in and out of a light sleep, waking to hear the rain splattering against my window. I thought of Bluebird, grateful that this time around he had a stall in the barn where he wouldn’t get muddy or wet.

  By the time my alarm went off, the rain had stopped but everything was soaked through and dripping and the wind was howling. They said it was supposed to be windy all day. Really windy. The kind of wind that got under horse’s tails and made them psycho. I thought about Socks and wondered if it was really worth taking him to the show. He was more sensitive than Bluebird and much more prone to acting up. I stretched my ankle as I got out of bed, hoping that it would hold up okay throughout the day because after a week of riding, it had started swelling up again and the last thing I wanted was another trip back to the hospital.

  Dad was in the kitchen. He put his finger to his lips, signaling for me to be quiet.

  “Missy and the baby only just fell asleep,” he whispered. “Owen was fussing all night.”

  “That sucks,” I whispered back. “Will she be okay today on her own?”

  “I’m sure she’ll be fine,” he said, seeming distracted.

  We ate our toast in silence and then packed food for our lunch and carrots and apples for the horses.

  “I’d better go and make sure my boys are ready to be loaded up,” I said.

  I stepped out into the raging wind. The first light was starting to break over the horizon but clouds still filled the sky, racing past like cars on a freeway. No matter how the course rode, this wasn’t going to be an easy show thanks to the wind.

  I was on my way down to the barn when I heard a whinny. I spun around and there was my pony, standing in his paddock by the gate. He was the biggest ball of mud I’d ever seen. Only his ears had been spared from his romp in the slop that was now his paddock.

  “What are you doing out here?” I cried, running over to him.

  He nickered and reached out for a treat, seemingly unaware that anything was amiss.

  “You were supposed to spend the night in the barn, we have a show today,” I said, putting his halter on.

  Even though I knew there was a chance that on
e of the grooms had accidentally turned Bluebird out, I knew who was really behind it. Jess was the only one who would do such a horrible thing.

  CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN

  The grooms were busy with their early morning chores but they all denied putting Bluebird out in his paddock. I knew they were probably telling the truth. Jess had been there last night. I heard her in Sabrina’s stall. I’d made sure that she couldn’t mess with my stuff by locking it all away so she’d messed with my pony instead. She obviously thought better of doing anything to Socks, who belonged to Missy and was standing in his stall looking just as clean as I had left him the night before. Although maybe that had less to do with the fact that he belonged to Missy and more to do with the fact that she didn’t think Socks was a threat anymore now that I’d fallen off him.

  It wasn’t fair and this time there was nothing I could do about it. The jumper class was in the morning. There wouldn’t be time to bathe Bluebird before the class. He would have to stay behind.

  Dad came down the aisle, looking really mad.

  “Henry said there was a problem with Bluebird?” he said.

  “Yes, look at him.”

  I pointed to where my dirty pony had his head stuffed in his feed bucket, so happy and proud of himself that I almost had to laugh.

  “Jess,” Dad said through gritted teeth.

  “But how do we prove it?” I said.

  “Oh I’ll prove it,” he replied.

  “After the show though, right?” I said.

  “She shouldn’t even be going to the show,” he said.

  “You know her father would take her anyway even if you refused and she’d still get to ride so it wouldn’t make any difference.”

  “Don’t you want to see her suffer?” Dad said. “An eye for an eye? Aren’t you mad?”

  I just sighed.

  “I’m past mad,” I said. “I’m over it. I can’t spend my whole life being mad at Jess anymore and yes she needs to be stopped but I only have enough energy to focus on the show and at least I still have Socks.”

  “You’re something, you know that?” Dad said.

  “Something good?” I said.

  He put his arm around me. “Yes.”

  “I know.” I grinned.

  I was almost glad that I was only riding one horse because I didn’t think my ankle could take riding two. I just wished that Bluebird was the one who was going to the show because he was the one I could count on. He didn’t care about things like the raging wind or the way it was blowing things around. He would save me if I put him in a tight spot. Socks wouldn’t but he was all I had left.

  CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

  We got to the show in one piece but I had to admit that I was a little scared. I could feel the trailer swaying behind us in the wind and was glad that Bluebird was sitting this one out. Maybe it was for the best that he got to stay home on a day like this. I wasn’t a fair weather rider by any stretch of the imagination but going to a show in the middle of gale force winds did sound like a recipe for disaster.

  It turned out that Sabrina wasn’t a fan of the wind either. When we got to the show grounds and started unloading the horses, she kicked out at angrily at the trailer until it was her turn to be taken out, where she reared up and almost got away from Henry.

  “See,” I told Dad as I took Socks to his stall. “We don’t have to worry about Jess. Fate will take care of her.”

  “Do you know how many riders I’ve seen get away with doing really dumb stuff to themselves and their horses and yet still go on to win their class?”

  “Have a little faith Dad,” I said.

  I didn’t know why but despite the bad weather and the fact that my muddy pony had to stay behind, I was in a really good mood. Maybe it was because I already had my spot in the clinic or maybe it was because the video of me falling off had mysteriously been taken down the night before. People started calling out the person who had posted it, saying that they should post a video of their own riding. It was no wonder that Jess had felt the need to retaliate. The grooms back at Fox Run had been given explicit instructions to keep an eye on my pony and make sure that no one messed with him and Jess was going to be here with us anyway. She was the one who had something to prove. I no longer felt like I did. Although making sure that I stuck in the saddle was pretty high up on my list of priorities.

  I felt pretty confident though. It was like I had tapped into some kind of Zen calm. I stood there looking out at the show grounds as riders and horses scuttled back and forth to the ring and this time I was just happy to be there.

  CHAPTER THIRTY NINE

  It was nice to be at a normal show after the craziness that was the Winter Wonderland. There were no snow drifts or giant Santa’s to scare our horses but we didn’t need them. Just as I had predicted, the wind was blowing everything that wasn’t tied down around, including the fillers for the jumps. We stood there looking out at the ring as the grounds crew chased after flowers and brush.

  “Should we scratch?” I asked Dad.

  I’d already been to see the show secretary and scratched Bluebird. I wouldn’t have been that bothered if I had to scratch Socks as well. I’d thought I had something to prove but now I realized that was just silly. I had nothing to prove.

  “Unless they decide to cancel the show, we ride,” Dad said.

  “They won’t cancel.” I shook my head.

  Everyone was already there. People were warming up. Most of the horses had settled down to do their jobs but there were a few, like Sabrina, that had totally lost their brains. Jess already had her out there on the lunge line behind the trailers, trying to get her to go in a circle but the mare would have none of it. She stood up on her hind legs and then bolted forward, almost pulling Jess off her feet.

  “Should we go and help her?” I said.

  “What do you think,” Dad said.

  “But you’re her trainer.”

  “Not for long. After the show, I’m telling Mr. Eastford that he needs to find another trainer for his daughter. I won’t teach someone who has bullied my own child relentlessly for far too long.”

  “Thanks Dad,” I said.

  I knew he would be taking a risk, telling Mr. Eastford what Jess had done but the fact that he was putting my needs above that of the barn made me realize that what my mother had told me all these years was a lie. He hadn’t left because he didn’t love us and he’d been trying to show me that ever since I moved in with them.

  “Just make sure you keep your eye on your flash noseband this time,” he said. “I don’t want to have to run all over bribing people to borrow one again.”

  “Don’t worry,” I said. “I don’t think Jess will have much time to mess around with my stuff. She’s got her hands full.”

  Just at that moment, Sabrina spun around and kicked out at Jess, who jumped out of the way just in time, letting go of the lunge line.

  “Loose horse,” we heard her cry as Sabrina took off.

  Dad and I looked at each other and then ran off to try and help catch the horse because even though we’d had enough of Jess and her silly games, we didn’t want to see a horse get hurt and the show grounds was an open property with a road that led to the highway. The gate was wide open, allowing people to come and go as they pleased and the chestnut mare was heading straight for it.

  CHAPTER FORTY

  A horse running straight towards the highway was any horse person’s worst nightmare. It didn’t matter that the horse belonged to Jess or that she had made my life a living hell for the last few weeks, or really for as long as I had known her. All that mattered was keeping Sabrina out of the path of an oncoming semi-truck.

  Dad grabbed an extra halter and I snagged a bucket with some treats in it. A few other people had run after Jess and the horse but most had already gone back to whatever they were doing before, assuming that others would pitch in and help.

  Someone sped past on a golf cart, heading out to the road but I knew that in Sabrina�
�s frenzied state that would only make the mare worse. Not that it could get much worse than it already was.

  We ran past the trailers and down the drive where the wind whipped through the trees, snapping little branches and twigs and blowing them all around. At the end of the drive there were marks on the road where Sabrina had slid to a stop, her steel shoes scratching the tarmac before galloping on. My heart sank. Even if the worst didn’t happen, she could still slip and fall or hurt herself by running into a fence or trying to scramble up the embankment by the side of the road. The further she got away from us, the more likely it was that we wouldn’t find her in one piece.

  “Look,” I said, pointing to where the golf cart and a bunch of people had stopped.

  It was where the road split in two, one section heading towards the highway and inevitable doom and the other going away into the country.

  “Which way?” Dad said when we reached them. “Which way did she go?”

  “We don’t know,” the guy in the golf cart said.

  Jess was standing there with a pale, tear stained face. I knew she didn’t care for the horse. Didn’t even like her at all. But it was one thing to not like her and another to stand by and watch something bad happen to her. I was pretty sure even Jess wouldn’t want that.

  “Why don’t you go ahead to the highway?” Dad said to the guy in the golf cart. “You’ll get there faster. See if she’s there.”

  “All right,” the guy said. “But I’m not a horse person. I was just here to help drag the arenas. What do I do if I find the horse?”

  Dad looked around at the six of us. Besides Jess and the golf cart guy, there were two women in breeches.