Back in the Saddle (16 page)

Soon she and Wings were in the start box, and the starter was counting down to her time. “. . . three, two, one—good luck!” the man called.

When Haley released Wings, he trotted out of the start box and burst into a canter. Feeling a twinge of alarm, Haley sat back, squeezing the reins.

“Easy, boy,” she said. “Not too fast.”

Wings shook his head as they approached the barrel jump, clearly not liking her tight hold. But Haley knew he could clear the barrels from a trot if he had to—a slow canter to the short spot would do just fine.

When they got there, Wings hurled himself over the barrels and opened up his stride on the far side. Once again Haley slowed him down, eyeing the coop a dozen strides ahead. When Haley had walked the course earlier,
she had seen that the approach was a little tricky, and she wanted to be sure she didn't miscalculate.

Once again Wings cleared the obstacle easily. Haley eased him around the curve, collecting his stride as the course sloped uphill. Her heart thumped when she saw the double log jump looming ahead.

We can do this,
she told herself firmly.
We can do it, we can do it. . . .

She didn't even realize she'd been holding her breath until they landed and cantered away on the far side of the logs. Letting her breath out with a whoosh, she smiled.

Then she gasped as something squawked loudly and burst into motion off to her left. It was a bird! Maybe even the same one that had spooked Athena.

Wings reacted quickly, leaping to one side and snorting. Haley froze, the next few seconds zipping through her mind like a movie in fast motion—herself flying through the air like Riley, landing headfirst on the hard ground . . .

But no. Haley had lost her stirrups and was a little crooked, but she was still in the saddle. And Wings had already recovered; he was cantering on, ears pricked
toward the log-cabin-shaped jump that came next.

Haley quickly fished for her stirrups, heart pounding with adrenaline and head throbbing with uncertainty. That had been close! And now they'd be at the cabin in a few more strides. She needed to act fast if she wanted to pull up—withdraw, regroup, try again another day. . . .

But she couldn't do it. Her pony was galloping on to meet the jump, brave and strong and ready. Why would they stop now?

“Go on, Wings,” she whispered, giving a squeeze with her calves and then leaning forward as he sailed over the cabin.

She was smiling when they landed, her usual confidence already coming back. Turning her head, she looked for their next jump.

CHAPTER

HALEY WAS STILL
smiling a couple of hours later as she and Wings cleared the last fence in their stadium jumping round. They'd just ridden a clean round to go with the one they'd turned in earlier on cross-country. Her friends were all cheering at the gate as she rode out of the ring.

“That was awesome, Hales!” Tracey exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Emma added. “You're, like, ready for the Olympics!”

“Great job, Haley,” Kyle added, stepping forward to give Wings a pat. “That should move you up a place or two.”

Haley noticed that Owen was clapping along with the
others. He caught her eye and grinned. “Yeah, not bad for a sissy English rider,” he said.

Haley frowned slightly. Would he ever get over that?

“But Wings here might just make a good Western horse after all,” Owen added. He nudged Vance with his shoulder. “Did you hear how he rounded up that loose horse like a real cow pony?”

“Uh-huh.” Vance nodded. “We'd better watch out for him at the next penning, huh?”

Haley's smile returned. Okay, maybe Owen and his friends would always think Western riding was better than eventing. But at least now they appreciated Wings a little more. She'd take it.

Jan appeared, grabbing Wings by the bridle. “Out of the way, everyone,” she said briskly. “Let's get this awesome jumping cow pony back and give him a bath and some pampering now that he's done for the day.”

“Yeah.” Haley dropped her reins and leaned forward to hug her pony, not minding a bit that he was kind of sweaty. “He totally earned it!”

Haley was combing out her pony's wet mane when Kyle came running toward her. Right behind him was Andrew, followed by Haley's school friends.

“Results are up!” Kyle reported breathlessly, skidding to a stop. “Guess what? Augie and I actually got a ribbon!”

“Really?” Haley dropped the comb into her bucket and clapped her hands. “That's awesome! Congratulations!”

“Thanks.” Kyle grinned sheepishly. “Only eighth place, and only elementary, but still.”

Andrew had caught up by now. He clapped Kyle on the back. “That's great,” he said. “Especially since one of the horses that beat you probably cost more than both our houses put together.”

“Dragon?” Haley guessed.

Andrew nodded. “Claire won the elementary division.”

“Surprise, surprise,” Kyle said. “Anyway, Haley, you finished sixth in BN.”

Haley nodded, glancing at Andrew. “How'd you and Turbo do?”

“Third,” he said, suddenly sounding shy. “I'm really proud of him.”

“You should be.” Haley smiled. “That's amazing. Congrats.”

Tracey stepped forward and slung her arm around Haley's shoulders. “Well, I think you should've won, Hales. Are you totally bummed?”

Haley winced, remembering all her talk about winning lately. “No, it's fine,” she said quickly. “Okay, so maybe it's true that I came into this hoping to win. But I realized that's not the most important thing, you know?”

“Really?” Vance leaned against Jan's trailer, playing with Wings's lips as the pony snuffled at him. “Seems pretty important to me.”

“Don't get me wrong—I'm not saying I wouldn't have loved to win that blue ribbon,” Haley said. “And maybe next time we will. Or maybe it'll be the time after that.” She shrugged. “Who knows. As long as Wingsie and I have fun, keep getting better, and come back safe, it's all good.”

“Spoken like a weenie English rider,” Owen joked. His voice shifted into a goofy falsetto. “ ‘Oh, I don't care if I win. It's an honor just to be here.' ”

Vance stepped forward and gave him a shove. “Cut it out, dude.”

“Yeah, stuff it, Owen.” Tracey glared at him. “Haley's being, like, totally sincere here, okay?”

Emma patted Haley on the arm. “Don't pay any attention to him, Haley. I know exactly what you mean.”

“Hey, I was just kidding around,” Owen protested, his eyes darting around at all of them but not quite meeting Haley's glare. “Look, I'll make it up to you. How about some sodas? I'll go buy us some.”

Without waiting for a response, he dashed off in the direction of the concessions stands near the jumping ring. Meanwhile Tracey squeezed Haley's shoulders again and leaned closer.

“Did you see that?” she whispered excitedly into her ear. “His face was totally turning red. That
so
means he likes you, Hales!”

Haley pushed her away. She didn't want to talk about Owen right now. Because she was starting to realize that having him here hadn't been that bad after all. Maybe it had even been kind of . . . nice. But that thought just made
her confused, and she didn't really want to think about it.

“Come on, guys,” she said to Kyle and Andrew. “Let's go find out when they're handing over our ribbons.”

It was fully dark by the time Haley finished settling Wings into his stall for the night. When she emerged from the barn, yawning and looking forward to a shower and her soft bed, Bandit was sitting beneath the floodlight shining over the barnyard.

“Hey, boy,” Haley said, and whistled.

The dog pricked his ears at her but stayed where he was. Haley blinked in surprise.

“Yo, Bandit,” she said, patting her knees. “Come here, boy. Don't you want to say hi?”

Finally the dog leaped up and trotted over, tail wagging slowly. Haley was a little worried when she realized he hadn't been there to meet her when she'd first arrived with Wings. Was he sick or something?

But Bandit looked perfectly healthy as he pressed himself against her legs. Haley thought back over the past week or two, trying to remember if she'd noticed anything
strange about his behavior. He'd seemed perfectly normal the first couple of times she'd worked on his training, though he'd been a little odd after that, sometimes darting away after just a few minutes of sits and stays. . . .

“Oh, Bandit,” she blurted out, suddenly realizing what was wrong. “I guess I've been a little intense about the whole training thing lately, huh? And not just with Wings.” She dropped to her knees, wrapping the wiggly, angular dog in a big hug.

She smiled as she felt his tongue slurp over her cheek. Bandit would forgive her—he always did.

“Sorry, buddy,” she whispered into his warm, furry body. “I'm still going to work on your obedience to try to keep you safe. But we'll be sure to make the training a little more fun from now on, okay?”

She spent a few minutes tossing a stick for her furry friend. But when she couldn't stop yawning, she gave him one last head rub and headed inside.

Moments later she was in her room logging on to the Pony Post. She'd promised to update her friends after the event, and she wanted to be sure to post the photos that
Tracey had taken with the fancy smartphone she'd gotten recently as a hand-me-down from her sister. Tracey had already forwarded the pictures to Haley's e-mail.

Haley uploaded the photos first. Then she opened a text box and quickly described the event, from her iffy dressage performance, to Riley's fall, to the final placings. She also told them that someone had reported back that Riley had suffered a mild concussion and bruised ribs, along with plenty of scrapes and bruises. But she'd be able to ride again as soon as the doctors said her head had had enough time to heal.

Haley posted that much and then read it over, checking to be sure she hadn't forgotten anything important. Then she sat back, trying to decide how to say what she wanted to tell them next. Finally she began to type again.