Crown Prince (25 page)

“Hey, what's up,” Kayla said. “I thought you might be around after the lesson. I was bummed you weren't there. I'm dying to hear about your new saddle.”

“A Crosby all-purpose. I just hope it fits Prince. It can be so tricky to fit a horse correctly. I oiled my new bridle, girth, and leathers. You should see the pieces of the bridle spread all over our kitchen table. I'm glad Mom is at work!”

Sarah pulled over a chair and got comfortable. Her phone conversations with Kayla were rarely short.

“Tell me about the lesson. How did Fanny go?”

“She was super, especially over fences. Jack says I need to work on keeping my hands steady to have better contact with her mouth. But I'm feeling good about the show on Sunday.” After Kayla commented on how the other horses and riders had performed that day, she changed the subject. “Did you know Rita was moving Chancellor to Brookmeade this afternoon?”

“Jack told me.”

“She didn't waste any time,” Kayla said. “Chancellor came in practically the minute the new stalls were finished.”

“He's right across the aisle from Prince, right?”

“Yeah,” Kayla said. “Rita brought all her things over in her van's dressing room, and Judson unloaded them in the boarders' tack room while she was riding. After the lesson, Mom walked Fanny a few minutes so I could check out the new stalls. I peeked into the tack room. You should see how much stuff Rita brought with her! She has tack trunks and boxes stacked up all over the place, along with three saddles and four bridles.”

Why does she need all that?” Sarah asked. “I heard she's going to be at Brookmeade for just a couple weeks until her show season starts. Give me a break!”

“Well, knowing Rita, she'll have a different saddle for jumping, dressage, and hacking. She probably has a bridle for every bit in her arsenal, so she doesn't have to bother to change them. And she has Judson to take care of her tack. I'll bet she doesn't know how to clean and oil a bridle. I don't know what's in her tack boxes, but believe me, there's not much space left in that tack room for you!”

Sarah pondered this a moment. “So she's going to have regular private lessons with Jack. You can imagine what that will cost. It must be nice,” she said in a lilting tone.

“Rita did something totally weird,” Kayla said. “When Tim was a little late coming to the indoor with Rhodes, Rita commented that she'd seen Tim's car at your house, so maybe he'd miss the lesson. She pretended to say it just to me, but her voice was loud enough for Paige to hear. I think Rita is trying to make trouble between Paige and Tim.”

“Are you sure Paige heard her?” Sarah asked.

“I saw Paige's head jerk our way after Rita said it.”

“Great,” Sarah said sarcastically. “I just hope Paige didn't take the bait. Tim stopped here to pick up the bit that Rita is loaning him. That's all. I brought it home by mistake. Tim only stayed long enough to check out my new saddle and get the bit, but Rita must have driven by our house on the way to Brookmeade and seen his car in our driveway.”

“Exactly,” Kayla said. “I think she's hoping she can make Paige jealous, worried that Tim is interested in you.”

“This is so like Rita, and so ridiculous.” Sarah said. Just then she heard a car coming into the driveway, and turning, saw her mother's SUV pass the window. “Gotta go,” she said to Kayla. “I wanted to clean up the mess before Mom gets home. She's not going to be thrilled when she sees tack strewn all over the kitchen!”

Sarah quickly began collecting the various parts of the bridle, although she knew she'd never have it put together in time! Already she could hear her mother entering the mudroom through the back door. Mrs. Wagner noticed the strong smell of new leather and neatsfoot oil when she came into the house. “Sarah, honey,” she called out, as she used her cane to make her way through the mudroom. “You must be home.”

Sarah gulped. “I'm here, Mom. I've just finished oiling my new tack.”

Her mother's gaze hit upon the table when she entered the kitchen, and her eyes widened. Sarah knew the look. “I'll have everything out of here in a few minutes. I promise, Mom.”

Sarah was relieved when her mother said nothing before leaving the kitchen to go directly upstairs. Sarah hurriedly began putting the pieces of the bridle together, making sure the bit was attached correctly. When the bridle was assembled, she hung it on the chair with the saddle. She quickly gathered all the newspaper to put into the trash, and after a final hand washing, wiped down the kitchen table.

Now she could hardly wait for her father and Abby to arrive home! When the Seaside Creamery contingent walked through the door fifteen minutes later, the family gathered to admire her new tack. “This must have cost a good piece of change,” her father remarked. “Did it finish off your gift card?”

“Almost,” Sarah replied. “But now I could use some help getting the saddle to Brookmeade. I also need to pick up my bike. Mrs. DeWitt dropped me off here this afternoon, so my bike is still at the farm.”

“Sure,” her father said. “I think that could be arranged. But after dinner.”

Mr. Wagner started toward the den, but stopped and turned back to Sarah. “Now that you have a saddle, I expect it won't be long before you'll want to ride that horse, providing his mouth has healed. I know that Jack plans to get on him first, and your mother and I would like to be there when he does. Remember, we're concerned for your safety. Crown Prince has got to prove himself.”

Sarah shook her head. Here it was again, the question of whether or not Prince was hers for good. She was reminded that he would be on trial for at least three more weeks.

Her father wore a serious, I-mean-business look. “Ask Jack to schedule his first ride on Prince so we can be there. I'm sure he'll understand.”

What if Prince acts up when Jack rides him?
she thought.
What then?

THE STRING OF SUNNY DAYS
continued, and it was already quite warm when Sarah arrived at the barn the next morning. She parked her bike near the side door and hurried down the aisle. From his new stall at the back of the barn, Prince was, as usual, watching for her through the bars, but across the aisle Chancellor was restlessly moving around in his stall.
It looks like he hasn't settled in,
Sarah thought.

As she neared Prince's stall, Sarah noticed a cardboard box in front of the door. Rita must have been true to her word and donated some of her castaways. Sarah couldn't resist checking out the contents. There was quite an assortment of partly or nearly used up bottles and cans of everything from hoof dressing to liniment. She liked the hoof pick with a brush attached and the black crop, but wasn't thrilled with the other things in the box. A plastic mane comb with two teeth missing, a worn cribbing strap, and a pair of tired-looking polo wraps rounded out the collection. Sarah didn't know whether to be grateful or insulted.
What makes her think Prince needs a cribbing strap?
she thought…. She nudged the box to the side and turned her attention to her horse.

Prince immediately shoved his muzzle against her when she entered his stall, asking for the carrot he'd come to expect. Instead she offered him a few peeled sections of Macintosh apple she'd brought in a plastic baggie—they would be softer to chew. As he chomped on pieces of apple, the juice running from his lips, Sarah watched Chancellor pacing in his stall. She noticed how different the Dutch Warmblood and her Thoroughbred were. They were both large horses, but there the similarity ended. Prince was more streamlined, built for speed, with a more refined head and longer back. Chancellor was heavier, more muscular. He had far more bone, larger feet, and massive hindquarters that could push him over tall fences.

Chancellor continued to move nervously about his stall, frequently pausing to change direction. Sarah left her horse and approached the black Warmblood. She could offer him some of the pieces of apple, and perhaps a little treat from a human friend would help him relax. Slowly she pulled his stall door open wide enough to squeeze through. Chancellor whirled and looked at her with his ears pinned, the white ring surrounding his left eye showing prominently. Sarah stood still, speaking softly. She held out a few apple sections to him, but the horse showed no interest.

Suddenly Gus appeared outside the stall, glaring in at her. “Get out of there,” he growled. “You've got no business going into another boarder's stall without an invite. And we've got hungry horses waiting to be fed!” With that he turned and strode off.

Sarah hung her head. For wanting to help a nervous horse, she'd gotten into trouble with Gus. But he was right. She wouldn't want anyone going into Prince's stall without her permission. She immediately left Chancellor, being careful to securely fasten the stall latch, and headed for the grain room. There were nickers and soft neighs from the horses along the way who anticipated what was coming next.

She went about the morning feed drill, loving the smells of the barn and the horsey greetings. The air from the loft was still fragrant with the aroma of new hay. After tossing two flakes of the seasoned hay down to every horse except Prince, Sarah started down the stairway from the loft on her way to prepare his bran mash. Paige Vargas was walking up the aisle and spotted her.

“Oh, there you are,” Paige said. “Jack wants to see you in the office, if you have a minute.”

Sarah hesitated before answering, wondering again how Paige had interpreted Rita's remark of the day before, one obviously designed to raise doubts in her mind about Tim. The comment was straight from Rita's imagination, but did Paige realize that? Paige was a total knockout! No way could Tim have a wandering eye and want to dump her. But commenting on Tim's whereabouts was Rita's attempt to start trouble. Sarah decided to try to put out the fire, if there was one.

She waited for Paige at the foot of the stairs. “Thanks, Paige. I'll head down there now. And by the way, how did Rhodes go yesterday with the bit Rita lent Tim? He came to pick it up at my house yesterday.” There. She'd offered her explanation, and hopefully it would seem innocent enough. She met Paige's gaze squarely.

Paige eyed her back for a moment, and then smiled. She'd read Sarah's between-the-lines message. “Rhodes actually went pretty well,” she said. “All the horses did. Yesterday's lesson was a good school for show jumping, and Jack said we may do some cross-country obstacles next week.”

“Awesome,” Sarah said, giving Paige a thumbs-up. “I hope I'll be here to watch.”

“By the way, Sarah, I'm going to ride Quarry early if you want to turn Prince out in the small paddock for a while.”

“That will be perfect. Thanks.” Walking away, Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. She was pretty sure Paige wasn't upset with her. Sarah imagined how nice it must be to have good looks and a sense of humor—and be a thoughtful and considerate person to boot. No wonder Rita was jealous of Paige.

In the office, Jack, Kathleen, and Lindsay were going over a lesson scheduling sheet. Jack looked up when Sarah walked in. “Mrs. DeWitt tells me you've got yourself a saddle and bridle,” he said. “But before you go riding to the hounds, we need Dr. Reynolds's blessing, and he comes on Saturday.” Sarah nodded, feeling excited, just thinking about riding Crown Prince.

“In the meantime, we need to be sure the saddle you got fits your horse,” Jack continued. “If all's well, you can begin to longe him under saddle, starting today. But we should try it on him for size. You need to be sure there's enough clearance for his withers and that it's broad enough for his back and shoulders.”

“My dad and I brought it over last night. Paige is getting ready to ride Quarry, so I thought I'd turn Prince out before I longe him. I also need to rinse his mouth out like Dr. Jenson showed me.”

Jack nodded approval. “I'm going to school French Twist in a few minutes, and at ten I'm giving Rita a lesson. We should have time to try the saddle on Prince in between.”

Sarah was glad she and her father had brought the saddle to the barn the night before. They had found the tack room an unbelievable mess. The amount of stuff Rita had crammed in there was unbelievable! Her many boxes and tack trunks were strewn around the room, and her three saddles had been placed on any available saddle rack. The other boarders used the racks over their trunks for their own saddles, and Sarah had planned to do the same. But when Rita came to town, she'd put one of her saddles on the rack directly over Sarah's trunk! When her father stepped into the room, Sarah could just imagine what he was thinking.

“Rita Snyder moved her horse in here this afternoon, and this is all her stuff,” Sarah had said. She placed her saddle on top of her tack trunk, a tight squeeze. All the bridle brackets on the wall were also taken, so Sarah nested hers with her saddle.

When Sarah returned to Prince's stall, she attached him to his stall tie and squirted some of the saline solution into the side of his mouth where the wolf tooth had been. He wasn't crazy about the salty water and tossed his head, trying to rid his mouth of it. “That will help you heal, Prince,” she said. She put on his shank and led him to the small paddock. He was happy to be outside, and cantered once around the paddock before stopping to lower himself to the ground. He rolled over on his back, his legs flailing as he twisted against the soft earth. Jumping to his feet, he ran for a few more minutes before burying his nose in the green grass.

This gave her a chance to clean his stall. Back in the barn, Sarah grabbed a manure fork and backed a wheelbarrow up to the stall. While she was working, she heard Rita's Mustang pull up by the side door. A few minutes later Rita burst into the barn, carrying still another plastic box of horse equipment and a longe whip.