Elite Ambition (19 page)

I changed the blade and carefully ran the clippers over Charm's muzzle until his long chin hairs were gone. He blinked at me, sleepy, as I got him ready for tomorrow.

“You couldn't enjoy this just a bit more, huh?” I teased.

After his bridle path, chin, ears, and fetlocks were trimmed, I turned him loose in his stall.

Charm took a not-so-dainty slurp of water, dribbling everywhere. I laughed, watching him from outside the stall.

“Get a good night's sleep, boy,” I said. “Love you and see you in the morning.”

I picked up his tack and walked to the tack room. Brit was inside, sitting on a saddle pad and cleaning Apollo's bridle.

I grabbed a sponge and went to work on Charm's tack.

“Is it weird that I actually like cleaning tack?” Brit asked.

“No way,” I said. “I don't mind it either. It's probably because we're doing it for our horses and we want them to look and feel good.”

“Definitely,” Brit said. “Agreed.”

We cleaned our tack regularly, so after soaping our bridles and saddles, we buffed them to a soft sheen.

“Nice work,” Brit said, high-fiving me as we put on our saddle covers and hung up our bridles.

“I think we deserve dessert with lunch, don't you?” I asked as we headed out.

“Um, most definitely,” Brit said.

We walked to The Sweet Shoppe and washed up in the bathroom. At the counter, I ordered a corn dog and fries while Brit got a burger and a shake. We took our food to a comfy booth and, starving, I shoved fries into my mouth.

Brit, who'd taken a giant bite of her burger, saw the fries sticking out of my mouth and covered her mouth as she started to laugh.

“Stop!” I said, laughing too, but trying to swallow. “I'm so hungry!”

“Me too,” Brit said, wiping her eyes. “I was just thinking how ridic we probably both looked right then.”

“Point,” I said. “I probably looked like Charm when he stuffs his face with hay.”

We grinned at each other and went back to our lunches.

I looked up when I felt someone waiting at the counter staring at me.

Callie.

She took her bag and headed toward us.

“Good luck tomorrow,” she said. Her comment seemed directed at both of us, not just Brit.

“Um, thanks,” I said.

“You too,” Brit said.

“I'm sure you'll do well for Canterwood's YENT team,” Callie said.

And, with that, she walked out of The Sweet Shoppe. Brit and I looked at each other—neither of us having the right words.

 20 

KILLER DISTRACTION TECHNIQUE

“GOOD LUCK, EVEN THOUGH YOU SOOO DON'T need it,” Paige said, hugging me. It was early Sunday morning, and I was dressed in my pre-show clothes: yoga pants and a hoodie. I wore my breeches and show shirt under my casual clothes in case Charm decided to sneeze on me, which he'd done before. Several times.

“Thanks, P,” I said. “I keep telling myself that it's just a schooling show, but I'm so nervous because it's my first time as a YENT rider.”

Paige let go of me and shook her head. “You should walk in there like you own the place because you
are
a YENT rider.”

That made me smile. She was back to the old Paige this morning, and I felt comforted by that.

“Right,” I said, taking a breath. I shouldered my bag with my show boots and pulled open our door. “Text you later!”

“Go, Team Sasha!” Paige cheered.

I made a “shhh!” motion with my finger. It was barely five in the morning, and everyone else on our floor was probably still asleep. But Paige had gotten up with me when my alarm had gone off, and she'd distracted me with entertainment gossip until I'd been ready to leave.

I tiptoed down the hallway and eased open the door. It was still black outside as I made my way across campus and walked to the stable. I looked up at the sky, focusing on a star.

This is superlame because it's not even a shooting star, but whatever,
I told myself.
I wish I could do well at the show today. I don't even have to win—I just want to prove to Mr. Nicholson that he made the right choice in choosing me for the team.

I stopped, closed my eyes for a second, then kept walking. The chilly air had made me alert and awake the second I stepped outside, and I shivered in my jacket. I couldn't wait for the sun to come up.

Lights blazed in the dark as I neared the stable. Mike, Doug, and Mr. Conner were all moving from rider to rider. I waved to a sleepy-looking Alison who was wrapping Sunstruck's
legs with blue wraps for the trailer ride over. She was keeping him in his stall instead of on crossties since the Arabian had a tendency to get nervous when he knew he was going to travel. But Alison's calm personality meshed with the Arabian's high-strung personality and the two were a perfect match.

“How's he doing?” I asked her. I reached over the stall door and rubbed Sunstruck's cheek. The Arabian's nostrils were flaring pink and the palomino was sweating even in the cool air.

“He's nervous, you can tell,” Alison said. “But I know he'll be fine. After he's bandaged, I'm taking him away from the craziness of the stable. Mr. Conner told me to lead him up and down the lanes with Mike or Doug's help if I need it.”

“That's a good plan,” I said. “Let me know if you need help.”

Alison smiled. “Thanks, Sash.”

Julia had Trix on crossties and I ducked under them. The black mare was unfazed by the commotion of the stable, and she looked half-asleep as Julia groomed her. We traded quick smiles, and I headed for Charm's stall. I wanted to start waking him up before I got his tack.

“Hey, guy,” I said, softly. “Time to wake up.”

Charm's tail was to me and he had his head down in the corner. His hind leg was cocked and he was in a deep sleep.

“Charmy …” I called him a name I knew he hated.

He lifted his head and turned around to face me.

“Sorry,” I said, trying not to laugh. “I know how much you hate that name. But I had to wake you up. I'll be right back with your tack and then we'll get you groomed and ready to go.”

On my way down the aisle, I passed Callie. Like me, she was in sweats. She stared ahead, not saying a word or looking at me. In the tack room, I grabbed Charm's gear and put it on top of his trunk. Mike or Doug would load it in the storage bin in the trailer.

I reached Charm's stall and led him out. He'd stayed clean overnight, so it only took minutes for me to brush his body, pick his hooves, and run a comb through his mane and tail.

“Listen up, please,” Mr. Conner called. “The trailers will be leaving in fifteen minutes. I suggest you start leading your horses out front so we can begin loading. It should take us about twenty minutes to get there, so no falling asleep on the ride over.” He smiled at us.

I tried to force my stomach to stop flip-flopping.

“Let's go, boy,” I said to Charm. We walked outside, and I led him over to Brit who was waiting with Apollo.

“Is he a good traveler?” I asked Brit.

“The best,” she said. “What about Charm?”

“Oh, he'll only sleep the entire twenty-minute ride.”

We laughed and waited for our turn to have Mike or Doug load our horses.

Mike came and held out his hand for Charm's lead line. I kissed Charm's muzzle and handed the lead to Mike.

“See you there, boy.”

Doug came and took Apollo from Brit, and we both climbed into the same truck, Brit sliding in next to Heather.

“Here we go,” Heather said. “We've all got about twenty minutes to think about how we're going to win and not mess this up.”

I shook my head at her. “Very inspiring pep talk, Heather. Thanks.”

Heather flashed a cocky grin at me. “Oh, Silver. It wasn't a pep talk. It was a you-better-not-mess-up-on-my-team-or-I'll-have-to-hurt-you talk.”

As much as I didn't want to, I laughed. Heather's attitude distracted me from being afraid.

 21 

FOUR, THREE, TWO …

“HERE WE ARE,” MIKE SAID, PULLING THE trailer onto the show grounds. There were hundreds of horses and riders everywhere—I'd never seen so many. Because it was a schooling show, riders of all age group and levels of riding had come to prep for show season. Mike pulled the trailer up to an empty parking spot and turned off the ignition. He got out of the truck, heading for the back to unload the horses.

“There are
so
many riders,” I said, my voice squeaky.

Heather looked around Brit and glared at me. “Okay. Look. Half of them are, like, what? Under seven? The other half beginner and intermediate with
very
few YENT riders. You've probably seen
one
in this entire crowd. So shut up and get out of the truck.”

“Okay, okay,” I grumbled. But I was secretly glad for her not-so-scientific breakdown of the competition.

Brit, Heather, and I got our horses and headed to open stalls to groom and tack them up.

The three of us were ready in record time, and I pulled off my jacket and sweat pants. I looped Charm's reins around my arm and sat on an empty tack trunk, swapping my paddock boots for my show boots.

Mr. Conner met Heather, Brit, and me near the exit of the stable. “Take your time walking the course. Then, warm up your horses and then we'll head to the show jumping arena,” he said. “The three of you have your jumping class first.”

We all looked at each other. No one had known who was doing what. It hadn't exactly been a secret—but it had been unspoken.

“Let's go, competition,” Heather said.

Making silly faces behind her back, Brit and I followed the signs to the show jumping arena. We were all riding for Canterwood, but in the arena, it was every girl for herself.

An hour and a half later it was show time. Mom and Dad had already called me twice, and I'd gotten good luck texts
from Paige and Jacob. But now, my mind was all about the ride in front of me. Three other YENT riders, including Heather, had already gone. Heather and Aristocrat had pulled off a clear round and were holding the top spot. Everyone had knocked a rail except for her. Unless Brit or I went clear, she'd win.