Winter Circuit (The Show Circuit -- Book 2) (23 page)

Dale double-checked Arkos’s boots, bridle, and wiped Arkos’s mouth. Chris stared into the ring almost like he was meditating. The rider before him was finishing up. I took Dad and Ryan onto the viewing platform to watch the class. Ryan followed me but Dad lingered, his eyes on Chris. Ryan and I stopped at the ramp to the platform. “What is up with him?” I whispered to Ryan, as Dad waited, still studying Chris.

“I wish I could say I knew,” Ryan said.

Chris and Dale didn’t speak. Some riders exchanged last minute words with their barn manager but not Chris. He didn’t check his girth or fiddle with his reins. He just stared straight ahead.

The rider on course came out of the ring, letting her reins slip through her fingers. She blew out a big breath and threw her leg forward to loosen her girth.

Chris walked forward into the ring, sitting tall in the saddle.

Dad remained a moment or two longer and then caught up with us.

“Coming into the ring now,” the announcer said. “We have Chris Kern aboard Arkos. Chris, a former winner of our country’s equitation finals, has represented the U.S. on several occasions and placed at many top grand prix classes in the country. Arkos is a 16.2 hand Dutch Warmblood.”

This was the biggest class I’d seen Chris ride in. I was in awe of how calmly serious he was. How focused. How he absolutely looked like he belonged on this stage, and on an even bigger stage. Maybe I wouldn’t have seen him walk through the in-gate, or noticed how focused he looked, if it weren’t for my dad asking to come down. Now I had seen it and I felt like I could also see the future—Chris going into the ring in the Olympics. If only he had the right horse.

Arkos jumped brilliantly. And Chris rode him brilliantly. Whereas the other riders who had been clean had done so by having a few hard rubs and somehow also having the luck to have the rails stay up, or barely skimming over a jump like Lily had, Chris mastered the course. There was never a moment where Arkos looked anything but perfectly measured and in control. Arkos didn’t come close to touching a rail. I didn’t know if Dad or Ryan could tell how much better Chris and Arkos were than the other cleans so far—if they could see the difference. Probably not because of their uneducated eyes. I could, though, and goosebumps rose up my arms. Somehow I felt like I would always remember this moment in time. I looked down at my feet on the wooden deck. I would remember this: standing here, watching Chris and Arkos give a command performance. It felt like this was the beginning of something very big for them.

Maybe it wasn’t just me that noticed because the crowd let out an enthusiastic cheer for Chris as the announcer blasted out, “And that’s a clear go—we have another for the jump-off. Chris Kern and Arkos move onto the good list and will return at the end of the first round to try their luck over the shortened, speed course.”

Chris walked Arkos out of the ring and over to the FEI inspection area, patting Arkos’s neck heartily. Dale stood aside as the FEI stewards, dressed in blazers and jeans, took off Arkos’s boots and inspected his legs.

Dad said we could go back to the tent for the jump-off.

“We can stay and watch from here,” I said.

Dad didn’t betray any emotion. “Nope, I’m all set.”

I gave Ryan another look and we headed back to the tent. Part of me wanted to go see Chris and congratulate him but I also thought maybe it was better to not bother him, to let him focus,
to leave it at that
for now. There were only a few left to go in the class and Chris would be getting on soon for the jump-off. I looked back one more time and caught sight of Mary Beth congratulating him warmly. She had four faults but of course she was conveniently still hanging around the in-gate. When I had pointed her out to Ryan earlier, I’d felt almost silly about how worked up I got over her but now I pulsed with jealousy again. Seeing her made me want to rush back down there.

“You coming?” Ryan said.

Reluctantly I followed them.

Five went clear—Chris had been the last clear so he had the enviable position of going last in the jump-off. The jump-off had a few tight turns to the same vertical-vertical combination and then finished over a line of what looked like seven or eight strides. Lily came back first in the jump-off. She rode efficiently and finished clear. Her time seemed good but beatable. Going first, it was probably just what she needed to do. She had done the eight strides in the last line and that was what the next two riders did. One pulled a rail and the other was slower than Lily so she was still in the lead. A rider from Argentina came in next and laid down a fast and clean trip, still doing the eight, though, and finishing just shy of Lily’s time. To beat Lily you needed to do the seven and go clean. I wondered whether Chris would do the eight since he had clearly coached Lily to do the eight. I wondered if he’d play it safe for Arkos, or go for it. Going in a jump-off was all about measuring the stakes. You didn’t always go as fast as you could. Your plan hinged on where you went in the order and what you were hoping to achieve in that class.

It was impossible to tell what Chris’s plan was over the first half of the course. He was riding neat turns but there was only so much he could do. There were no shortcuts that Lily had missed. It was landing over the in of the last line that his intentions became clear. He was doing the seven and going for the win. I could feel the crowd lean forward, their breath catching in their throats. Even if, like Dad and Ryan, they didn’t know how to count the strides or even what a stride was, they could see Chris urge Arkos forward, galloping at the last jump. Since I’ve never galloped at a huge jump before, I imagine it must take a lot of trust in yourself and your horse. You have to believe that you will make it happen and then it does.

The distance to the out of the line was long. Arkos stretched and cleared the jump. Chris galloped him through the timers and the crowd erupted. The announcer confirmed what everyone else had guessed—that the clock had stopped over a second faster than Lily. Chris had won.

We watched the award presentation from the tent. I couldn’t stop smiling. Ryan leaned close and said, “Well, that was pretty fucking cool.”

Dad overheard him and said, “Really fucking cool.” It was the first thing Dad had said since Chris had gone in the first round. Ryan and I broke out laughing.

We met Chris down by the in-gate. He put his arms around me and hugged me extra tight. I hadn’t seen him look this happy in forever. I hoped MB was watching us hug from somewhere.

“Can we say something now?” I asked.

He laughed, throwing his head back. “Yes, I think we can.”

“That was really cool,” Ryan said.

Lily Teller’s dad came up to Chris and shook his hand. “Couldn’t let her win?” he joked. Or at least I hoped he was joking.

Chris introduced Craig Teller to my dad and Ryan.

“She was right behind me,” Chris said. “She rode great today. But going first and where she is at this stage she needed to do the eight.”

I knew
The Chronicle
would have fun with their article about today’s class—student and teacher going up against each other.

“Arkos looked good too,” Craig said. “Looks like you have a keeper after all.”

“He jumped great.” Chris looked at my dad. “Did Hannah tell you she was the one who figured out that he had TMJ?”

“She mentioned a little about it,” Dad said.

Mr. Teller left and Jimmy Sharpe came up to Chris and clapped him on the back. “Good go, man,” he said.

“Thanks, Jimmy,” Chris said.

Jimmy and Chris discussed a few details about how the course had ridden. Even though he was American born and bred, Jimmy seemed to have adopted a slight foreign accent or intonation to his words—as if he was trying to be foreign. I guess foreign plain old ruled in show jumping. To be American was to be nothing.

Chris said, “Arkos jumped better today than he’s ever jumped. I’m really excited about this horse again.” Chris looked over at me and I could tell he was trying to tell me just how grateful he was.

“You stuck with him, though,” I said. “You didn’t give up on him.”

“I was getting pretty close.”

“And you were the one who picked him out, who saw something special in him from the beginning when others didn’t.”

“Well, either way, I’m excited. This was nothing for this horse. He always had the scope it was just the carefulness but now it’s like he’s back.”

“It was fun to watch,” Dad said.

Chris smiled. “I’m glad you were here to see a good class. Of course they’re not all like this.”

“I think I got a good sense for what it’s like.”

It was a kind of cryptic statement. How could Dad really get a sense of what show jumping was like from one class? But maybe he could. He was used to looking at companies and figuring out what they needed in a short amount of time.

One of the show’s PR people came over and asked Chris to go speak to the media. “I’ll catch up with you later,” he said.

Chapter 26

His happiness over Arkos trickled down to our relationship, making things between us feel better than they’d been. But still, I knew something lurked underneath the glow of Arkos’s turnaround.

Chris was busier than ever and had little time to spend with me and all I could think about was how circuit was almost over. I couldn’t believe it had gone by so fast and I felt like I hadn’t come close to achieving what I’d set out to do. Chris’s and my relationship wasn’t more committed or defined than it had been back in December. In fact, it was shakier. I was still paranoid about Mary Beth. The urge to bite my nails was growing stronger every day and I felt like any moment I’d cave and chew them. Then there was the question of what I’d do after circuit. Linda had said they’d love to have me come back east with them and work at the farm. “I’m not sure Dakota would
love
that,” I’d replied.

“Well, she hasn’t exactly tried to mess with you lately, has she?”

“I think she’s just waiting for the right moment. Plotting and planning.”

Actually, while I wouldn’t say Dakota liked me now, she had spoken to me once or twice out of her own free will. And she’d actually asked me to help her pick out clothes to wear when the photographer from The Book came to take candids of her with her horses. We had to get the horses looking as gorgeous as if they were going in the ring, only they didn’t need to be braided. The photographer spent an hour doing a shoot worthy of a glossy fashion magazine. He was paid a hefty sum to follow Dakota at several shows throughout the year and then at the end of the year assemble a gorgeous coffee table book of her year of riding, including the candids. It was the super upscale version of a yearbook except it featured only one person, not an entire school, and only the wealthiest of riders could afford it.

I guess I could go back with them after circuit and continue to work for them. I liked Linda and the horses. But they didn’t do all the same shows as Chris so it wouldn’t be like I’d be getting to see him often. New York was a lot closer to Pennsylvania than Boston, though.

Dakota had so many horses that she never had to take a week off from showing. Linda and I plotted out which horses she’d do each week. Some weeks we just flatted and trail rode certain horses.

At the end of week 9, Dakota and her friends begged to go see WEF’s Got Talent. I was a little tired and didn’t want to go to another social event, even though this one did sound like fun. But Dakota said her parents told her it was okay to get the tickets and just to charge them to their credit card and that she had to go since all her friends were going. Of course they told her to charge it to their card—they were expert at throwing money at her. But they hadn’t made an appearance all circuit and it didn’t look like they would be as time was running out. I remembered how I’d been worried about sharing a house with the Pearces—I could laugh about that now.

I tried to get Chris to come with us to WEF’s Got Talent but he didn’t want to. Dakota got all dressed up. I just threw on jeans and a cute shirt. Despite not being very enthused about going, I actually ended up having a pretty fun time. Auditions had been held throughout the season and the top people from each audition competed in the final. There was a lot of talent. Most of the acts competing were solo singers. There was also one group of three young women, who called themselves the Jumping Janes. There was a dressage rider who did ballroom dancing and a ring crew guy who did a whole Michael Jackson dance impersonation. There was also a stand-up comedian who riffed on all things riding. Of course there was also the obligatory auction, although this one was live and included some pretty cool items including a package to go watch the Pan American Games.

I texted Chris a few times throughout the night updating him on what act I thought should win. At one point he wrote back:
Just had very interesting phone call.

With whom? About what?

Jürgen. There’s a horse that a British owner is selling. I’ve seen it go. It’s a legit 5-star horse.

I couldn’t imagine how said horse would ever be in Chris’s price range.
Price tag?

1M.

Isn’t that low?

It took a while for Chris’s response. I kept looking at the three dots on my phone indicating that he was typing. Then came his long reply:
Very. They don’t want to sell it to anyone in GB or Europe. They want it sold to someone in U.S. The owner had a fight with chef of GB team and to spite him wants it sold to American, even if it means losing $$ on the horse. It’s also not an easy ride.

Wow. Sounds promising.