Maddie’s Dream (13 page)

“I know. I'm just saying that Doodle—” Maddie began.

Amber didn't let her finish. “Forget it,” she said flatly. “Cloudy is the only pony for our family. I mean, we're the ones who picked her out at the pony auction and brought her to California.”

Maddie was pretty sure Amber had been too young back then to do much of the choosing at that auction, but she didn't say so. Besides, the older girl had already turned to her sister.

“I learned to ride on Cloudy, and so did Raina and Tommy, and so will you,” she said fiercely. “She's better than any other pony.”

“Okay.” Filly sounded meek. “I was just saying I like Doodle, too.”

Amber shrugged and glanced at Maddie. “Look, I know you've been riding Cloudy a lot, and you probably don't want us to buy her back,” she said. “But don't worry, we'll probably still board her here. Maybe we'll even let you ride her if we're ever out of town or something.”

Maddie could tell that Amber was trying to be nice. For a moment she tried to take comfort in what the older
girl was saying. It was better than nothing, right? She'd still be able to see Cloudy, pet her and hug her and give her treats. Maybe even ride her occasionally, though she wasn't going to hold her breath for that part.

Suddenly a shout rang out from somewhere down the aisle. “What was that?” Amber looked up from unbuckling the noseband on Cloudy's bridle.

Maddie was ready for an excuse to get away from the Richardson girls. “I'd better go see,” she said, hurrying off.

She found one of the adult boarders glaring at young Frank Richardson. The woman was holding a bridle and shaking it in his general direction. Based on the scolding she was giving the boy, Maddie quickly figured out what had happened. Apparently, Frank had found the boarder's expensive new bridle hanging by her horse's stall and had used it to try to lasso the cranky barn cat.

Mrs. Richardson and Ms. Emerson soon arrived on the scene as well, drawn by the yelling. Maddie sidled away, not really wanting to get involved. Besides, the incident only reminded her of the stories she'd heard
about all the barns the Richardsons had been kicked out of before Cloudy came to Solano Stables. Even if the family decided to keep the mare there, who knew how long it would last?

That made her realize she couldn't give up. No way. She had to find a way to buy Cloudy herself. No matter what her parents said about it afterward.

CHAPTER

[BROOKE]
Happy Friday, Maddie! Just checking in to see how Operation Buy Cloudy is going! I hope u have a great day today—let us know how it goes!

[HALEY]
Same here, Mad! I know you can do it—go go go! Get that pony! We're all thinking of you!

[NINA]
Yeah, what they said! lol. Srsly, Maddie, you're like the most determined person I know. If anyone can make this work, it's def. u! Luv ya!

Maddie smiled as she read over her friends' messages a second time. Talk about a great way to wake up!

And she needed a lift that morning. She hadn't slept well—she kept waking up from weird dreams where Cloudy was trotting away from her and jumping into the surf crashing against the rocks near the Golden Gate Bridge. Maddie kept trying to stop her, knowing it was way too far for a pony to swim from there all the way around the globe back to Assateague. . . .

“Weird,” she muttered, doing her best to banish the dreams from her thoughts. She didn't have time to worry about stupid stuff like that right now. Not when she still needed to figure out how to save Cloudy from the Richardsons.

She hadn't quite dared talk to Ms. Emerson the day before about buying the mare—not after the incident with Frank Richardson and the fancy bridle. No, Maddie wanted to make sure the barn owner was in the best possible mood when she brought up the subject. With any luck, she could make some more money today—maybe
enough for a real down payment. Then she could talk to Ms. Emerson after the Snack & Swim ride, when all of them would be in a great mood.

Glancing again at her friends' cheerful, encouraging words on the computer screen, Maddie actually started to believe this could all work out. She hoped so, anyway. At least now she knew if she
did
lose Cloudy, she still had them. . . .

“No,” she muttered under her breath. She couldn't think like that—she couldn't give up! Cloudy was too important. Maddie had to make it work out, no matter what!

Logging off the Pony Post site, she headed for the door. She didn't have soccer practice or riding lessons today. That meant she could spend the entire day out earning money for that down payment.

By dinnertime, Maddie was feeling discouraged. She'd made the rounds of the neighborhood once more, but just as she'd expected, not as many people had wanted to hire her this time. The Himuras had just returned from their trip and paid her a few dollars to weed and water
their lawn, and Mr. Janicek had asked her to take Bosco to the park again. Other than that? Nothing. If things didn't pick up, it was going to take Maddie forever to earn enough money to buy Cloudy!

She picked at her food, barely hearing her sister's chatter about her super-important social plans for the weekend or Ry and Ty's arguments over who got the bigger pork chop.

“So, Mads,” her father said, reaching for the salt. “Psyched for the big tryout tomorrow?”

“I guess.” Maddie tried to sound more enthusiastic than she felt. “Don't get your hopes up, though, okay? Coach Wu says hardly anyone makes the cut their first time out.”

Her father reached over and tugged on her hair. “Hardly anyone is as talented as my daughter.”

Maddie's mother rolled her eyes. “Way to put pressure on the poor girl!”

But Maddie could tell her mother was joking. For some reason, she seemed just as excited as Maddie's dad about this whole Cascade League thing.

“Get real, Dad,” Tyler said. “It'll be a miracle if Maddie makes it past the first cut.”

Ryan looked up from his plate with a grin. “You know what's a miracle? That Mom and Dad actually convinced her to skip her prancy pony lesson to go to the tryout tomorrow.”

Tyler snorted with laughter. “Yeah, that's a miracle all right—I thought they'd have to tie her up and throw her in the trunk of the car to get her away from the ponies! Prancy, prancy, prancy . . .”

“Whatever.” Tillie speared a lima bean with her fork. “We all knew the horse thing wasn't going to last forever, right? I mean, this is Maddie we're talking about.”

Maddie frowned as the rest of the family laughed. “Shut up,” she told her sister. “I'm not the one who gave up all her other interests to start chasing boys like a pathetic loser.”

“Maddie, that's enough!” her mother said sharply. “We're talking about you right now, not your sister. And you have to admit, you do have a history of being super-gung-ho about things and then giving them up cold turkey.”

“Not this again,” Maddie muttered. Would they ever get over the judo thing? “Riding's different.”

“Okay.” Tillie sounded skeptical. “Anyway, enough about that. Can someone drive me to the mall tomorrow morning?”

As the conversation wandered away from her, Maddie stared at her plate without really seeing it. Normally, her brothers' stupid jokes and insults didn't bother her. But for some reason she couldn't get Ryan's comment out of her head. Could he possibly be right?
Had
she given in too easily when her parents had insisted she skip her lesson to go to that tryout? She didn't usually defy her parents, but she could be stubborn when she felt strongly enough about something. When they'd packed up to move here from their previous home in Colorado, she'd locked herself in her room for almost an entire day until her parents had promised not to give away her beloved Flexible Flyer just because they were moving to a place where it never snowed.

But this time, she'd given up her lesson with barely a whimper. Did that mean she didn't feel as strongly about riding as she thought she did? Maybe it really was all about Cloudy. And now that she feared Cloudy might not
be around much longer, maybe she was already starting to pull away. . . .

The thought made her feel anxious and uncertain, and she definitely didn't like feeling that way. Trying to shake it off, Maddie vowed to talk to Ms. Emerson as soon as possible. She'd just tell her the truth—she wanted to buy Cloudy, but she'd need some time to come up with the full amount. Maybe Nina could give her some tips on coming up with a payment plan. Or better yet, she could ask all her Pony Post friends for help—she knew Brooke had saved up to buy both her saddles, and Haley was always budgeting her allowance carefully to pay for her eventing lessons and competitions.

Having a plan made her feel better. With any luck, she'd be able to present her ideas to Ms. Emerson right after the Snack & Swim.

“By the way . . .” She spoke up suddenly, interrupting whatever Tillie was saying about her planned shopping spree. “Don't forget, I'll be gone all day Sunday at the Snack and Swim ride.”

“The what?” Tillie wrinkled her nose.

“The Snack and Swim. It's a trail ride where we take our ponies swimming.” Maddie felt a shiver of excitement as she thought about it. Lose interest in riding? No way, not her! “It's going to be a blast,” she added. “I can't wait!”

“Awesome job, Maddie!” Coach Wu lifted her hand for a high five as Maddie jogged off the field. “You're on fire out there!”

“Thanks,” Maddie said breathlessly.

The Cascade League tryout was taking place on the playing fields at the local community college. Maddie couldn't believe how many other kids were there. Some she recognized from the other teams in her league, while others were total strangers. But all of them were good—really good.

So am I,
she reminded herself as she chugged from the water bottle Coach Wu handed her.

For a second her mind wandered forward in time to what would happen if she made the league. Could she really give up riding for the entire summer?