City Secrets (17 page)

Next to me Heather petted Cora and let herself inside the mare's stall. She led Cora out and tied the mare to her stall bars.

I unlatched Limitless's door and put on his lead line. Like Heather had done with Cora, I tied him up outside his stall. It seemed easier than trying to find a pair of free cross-ties. The stable was busy this morning. Horses and riders filled the aisle, hot walker, and wash stall.

“We should practice in one of the outdoor arenas,” Heather said. “Inside's probably packed.”

“Sounds good,” I said. I grabbed Limitless's hoof pick out of his tack box and ran my hand down his right foreleg. “Hoof,” I said, squeezing above his fetlock. He lifted his hoof from the ground and stood without leaning on me. Scraping the dirt and muck from his mostly clean hooves took only a few minutes. I skipped
the rubber curry comb—his coat didn't need it—and picked up the dandy brush. As I ran it over his withers, I started thinking about last night. Heather and Troy had texted back and forth a few times after the first text. She'd told him about what we'd been doing over break and he'd told us about his break. He'd been having fun hanging out with his older brother and cruising around in his brother's new car.

I smiled, glad I could hide it behind Limitless. Heather had been so nervous about texting Troy—it had been shocking to see her that intimidated by a boy. But thinking about Heather's reaction to Troy made me think about how I'd first reacted when I started crushing on Jacob. His green eyes and light brown hair popped into my brain now, and I pictured his easy smile. I wondered what he was doing over break.

Stop thinking about Jacob!
I wanted to smack myself in the face. I'd sworn off boys to focus on riding and school. No more boy drama. But I couldn't stop myself. I wondered if he was thinking about me. If he'd written me a text and deleted it because he'd thought I really didn't want to hear from him.

I pulled myself out of my thoughts when I realized I'd been standing next to Limitless's shoulder, not doing
anything, while Heather was already starting to saddle Cora. I swept the body brush over Limitless and put his saddle pad on his back.

“C'mon, Grandma,” Heather said. She took off Cora's halter and bridled her. “What were you doing over there? Sleeping?”

“You caught me,” I said. “That's exactly what I was doing.”

I put Limitless's saddle on and tightened the girth. He stood still while I untied him and put the reins over his head. He took the bit easily and I finished bridling him. Heather and I put on our helmets.

“Ready?” Heather asked, smoothing her red T-shirt.

“Let's go,” I said.

We led the horses down the aisle, weaving through the traffic of horses and riders. I was glad when we got out of the congestion and stepped out of the stable. Today was the
perfect day to ride outside—it was sunny without being blinding, warm without being hot enough to sweat, and there were only a few wispy clouds in the sky.

Heather and I stopped the horses to the side of the stable and mounted.

“Let's go to that arena,” Heather said. She pointed to a large arena farther away from the stable than the others.

“Perfect,” I said.

The horses' hooves were muffled by the grass as they walked at an easy pace toward the arena.

“I know we don't have time, but do you have a favorite trail here?” I asked.

Heather nodded. “Yeah—there's one I used to take whenever I needed a break. I love it because it's not one of those with a path worn into the ground because everyone takes it.”

“I get that. I rode a school horse once that I'm sure could have taken himself on a trail ride—he knew every bend and turn on the path. Not very spontaneous.”

“Exactly. So my trail was one that I made up when I took a wrong turn on a real trail. Then I just started taking that turn all the time. I showed it to my friends and we were the only ones who knew about it.”

“What's the coolest thing on the trail?” I asked. Trail riding was one of my favorite things to do on horseback.

“It's this windy path with uncut grass that leads to an awesome lake,” Heather said. “My friends and I used to— and this is soo lame—but we'd fill our bags with granola bars and water bottles and we'd wear our swimsuits under our riding clothes. We'd tie up the horses under the trees and swim in the summer and just have fun.”

“That sounds like a great way to spend the summer,” I said. “There weren't any lakes around my stable, but there was a creek. Charm and I splashed around it in during those days when it was so hot and gross during the summer.”

Heather and I reached the arena, and I was excited to see there was already a jump course set up. It was complicated—with switchbacks, lots of verticals, and a bunch of oxers. If I'd been riding Charm, he would have dragged me toward the course.

“Want to warm up, then work on jumping?” I asked.

Heather nodded. “Definitely. That course looks exactly like what we need today.”

We guided the horses toward the rail, staying out of the way of a man who was riding a sleek Standardbred. He was working the dark chestnut at a collected trot and it looked as if they'd been working for a while. The horse's mouth foamed at the bit and flecks had splattered his chest. The man rode as if he participated on the United States Equestrian Team. He wore a blue polo shirt, black helmet, and tall black boots. Just the way he sat on the horse made me realize he was at a level of riding I'd only dreamed about reaching one day. Dressage was my weakest area, and just watching him and the connection he had
with his horse made me want to try that much harder to improve.

I tore my gaze away from him so he wouldn't catch me staring, and focused my eyes between Limitless's ears. The bay moved into an easy trot when I asked him, and I sat to his trot for a couple of laps before starting to post. It took me only minutes to fall into the familiar rhythm of practice. Ahead of me Heather let Cora into a canter and she barely moved in the saddle as Cora cantered around the arena, her legs flashing as she moved.

I trotted Limitless for another half lap before I gave him rein and squeezed my legs against his sides. He eased into the faster gait and I had no trouble moving with him. He had one of the smoothest canters of any horse I'd ever ridden. I pulled him to a trot, crossed the arena, and switched diagonals. Heather followed us and we did this a couple of times before we pulled the horses up next to each other.

“You want to go first?” Heather asked. “I'll watch, and critique you when you're done.”

“Sure. Thanks. Mind if I walk the course first?”

Heather shook her head. “Good idea. I'll do that now too. Save time.”

We dismounted and led the horses toward the first
jump. I could have jumped it without walking it first, but it was a tricky course. I wanted to do the best job I could, especially since it was getting closer to the schooling show and I hadn't jumped Limitless before.

The man working on dressage pulled his horse to a halt, patted his neck, and started him at a walk in our direction.

“Omigod,” I hissed to Heather. “Do you think he's going to say we were throwing off his practice or something?”

“I don't know!” she whispered back. “We stayed out of his way.”

He stopped his horse in front of us and looked down with a smile.

“Hi,” he said. “I'm Chad Warren. I couldn't help watching your warm-up. You're both quite talented. Keep it up.”

He tipped his head at us and rode out of the arena.

Heather and I just stared at each other.

“Chad—”

“Warren,” Heather finished.

“Omigod!” we both squealed at the same time.

“An Olympic contender just said we were talented! Omigod. Omigod,” I said. “I had no idea it was him.”

“Me either, obviously. Wow.” Heather's cheeks were pink. “That was awesome.”

“I can't believe we didn't recognize him,” I said. “His face is only in every issue of
Young Rider
or
Horse Illustrated
.”

“I know. But I'm kind of glad I didn't, actually. Then I might have gotten nervous and messed up.”

“True,” I said. “Just. Wow.”

We led the horses forward and I counted strides in my head. I wasn't worried about forgetting the order of the jumps—that was straightforward. But I was a little concerned about the taller verticals and especially the faux flowers in a flower box on an oxer. I didn't know if Limitless was spooky about things like that. He didn't seem the type, but I wouldn't know for sure until I was out there.

Heather and I spent about ten more minutes checking out the jumps before we walked the horses back to the start.

“I think I'm ready,” I said. I patted Limitless's neck and prepared to mount. I'd just stuck my toe in the stirrup iron when two tall shadows fell over us.

“Heather! And . . . Sarah. Hi,” said Blake.

“It's
Sasha
,” I said. I was tired of this girl acting like I wasn't important enough to remember my name. So. Rude.

“Hey,” Emma added. “What're you guys doing on the ground? Did you fall?” Her gray gelding flared his nostrils as he tossed his head.

“Hardly,” Heather said with a snort. “We were walking the jump course. We've got a schooling show coming up soon and—”

“We'll practice with you,” Blake said, cutting off Heather. I glanced back and forth between them.
No one
ever interrupted Heather. That was, like, taught to every incoming student on the first day of school. The more I saw Blake, Emma, and Heather together, the less I was able to picture them all being close friends. I wondered if things had just fallen apart when Heather had left for Canterwood. Maybe Heather had been the leader of this clique and Blake felt threatened with Heather back in town.

“We were kind of going to coach each other,” I said.

“Well, if you're practicing for a show,” Emma said. “You should want as many people to critique you as possible.” She smiled down at me from her bay gelding.

“Fine,” Heather said.

What?!
I didn't want to ride with these girls! Heather and I had staked out the jump course for ourselves—couldn't they go somewhere else?

“Sasha's riding first,” Heather said.

“Perfect,” Blake said.

My stomach churned. This reminded me of a lesson at Canterwood. Mr. Conner had made us all critique one another. Heather had torn up my ride and so had Julia and Alison. I had a feeling that was exactly what this was going to be.

But worse.

This was Blake's and Emma's territory. They treated Heather like a friend and an outsider at the same time. It had to be weird for her, too. But they'd all at least ridden together before. I'd never seen these girls ride. My gut told me that they were going to be pretty good if they were so quick to want to critique us.

I circled Limitless at a walk, then eased him into a trot. My fingers, already sweating, were making the reins slick. I let Limitless out of the circle and gave him rein, allowing him to move into a canter. He glided forward and I pointed him toward the first vertical. It was reasonably low with red-and-white poles.

Don'tmessupdon'tmessupdon'tmessup
ran though my head at a dizzying pace.
Focus,
I told myself. I had to forget about Blake, Emma, and Heather and just concentrate on my ride. If I thought about them, I wouldn't be able to give my best.

Limitless was strides away from the vertical, his hooves pounding the dirt, so I started counting strides.
Four, three, two, one, now!
On
now
, I lifted slightly out of the saddle and moved my hands along his neck. Limitless jumped into the air, tucking his knees beneath him. He landed on the other side of the vertical and I almost cheered with relief when I didn't hear his back hooves click the rail. One down! Nine to go. . . .

Limitless cantered for six strides before we approached the first oxer. The spread was a couple of feet and didn't have any decorations on the sides to distract the horses. I let Limitless gain a fraction of speed so he had enough momentum to easily clear the spread.

At just the right moment, Limitless launched into the air, and for a short second we were airborne. There was no rush like it. Nothing made me feel
this
good. When I jumped I forgot about everything else going on around me. All I could hear was Limitless's breathing and his hooves hitting the ground. It was my job to get him around the course, and I couldn't have been more focused. Heather, Emma, and Blake had slipped away, and it was as if Limitless and I were the only ones in the arena.

Limitless reached the third jump—another vertical. This one was taller than the last and the rails were painted
with a dizzying yellow-and-black pattern. Limitless rocked back on his haunches and thrust himself into the air. I gave him enough rein to stretch his neck and he cleared the vertical without pause.

We moved toward the fourth jump, making a half circle and approaching another oxer. This one was made of dark rails that looked like logs. Greenery and flowers surrounded both sides. There was a lot for a horse to look at with this jump. Limitless flicked his ears back and forth, slowing a notch.

I squeezed my legs against his sides and drove him forward. If I let him slow, I risked him trying to run out or halt before the jump. I kept his canter steady and I didn't count strides this time—I kept all my focus on Limitless and making sure he jumped. His hoofbeats quickened as I encouraged him to canter faster, since this oxer had a wider spread. Limitless's pace increased, but I felt him start to pull to the right. He was
not
running out on the jump. Gently I pulled on the left rein and used my legs to press him back in line. We were strides away and I pushed him forward. He jumped, hesitating only slightly, and I felt him stretch over the spread.