Hercules: A Matter of Trust (7 page)

T
he entire ride home from dinner was silence.

Finally Emily had her dad all to herself, and they were both too upset to talk. Emily simply stared out the window, watching the city change to fields and trees—land that had mesmerized her only a few short weeks ago when she'd first arrived and now…it made her want to cry. Why couldn't something that was so close to her dreams actually make her happy? A farm, beautiful pastures, horses, and family? Why weren't they enough?

She didn't know. She just knew they weren't, and it didn't matter how badly she wanted them to be.

Because she did. She really, really did.

Her dad pulled up at the barn as the sun was beginning to set. Emily saw that the van was back and already parked alongside the barn.

“Emily.” Her dad turned toward her. “I'm really sorry—”

“It doesn't matter.”

She threw her door open and hadn't even set her foot on the ground when Aunt Debby shouted her name and came running out of the barn. “Emily!”

Emily grabbed the plate of brownies she'd taken from the hospital and eased out of the car, then gasped with pain when Aunt Debby grabbed her and hugged her.

“Oh! Sorry.” Aunt Debby quickly released her, gazing at her with a look Emily couldn't decipher. “You're really okay? I've been so worried.”

Emily frowned, not believing Aunt Debby's show of concern. “Yeah, I'm sure you were.” She shifted out of her aunt's grasp. “Did you sell Sapphire today?”

“No.” Her aunt sighed. “The buyer I'd arranged to watch him wasn't interested after his antics in the class.”

Emily raised her brows. “You arranged that ahead of time?
That's
why you decided to take Sapphire to the show at the last minute? Because a buyer wanted to see him?”

“Yes—”

“And you didn't tell me? You know how I feel about him and you didn't tell me that's why I was getting him ready?”

Aunt Debby frowned. “Emily, you know he's for sale.”

“Oh, and that makes it okay?”

“Em—” Her dad gave a low warning. “Aunt Debby doesn't need to account for everything she does at the farm.”

“No, she doesn't, does she? Neither of you do. I am
so tired
of you guys justifying
everything
for the good of the barn! Don't you realize that there are other things that matter besides the farm?”

Emily's throat was tight, and she turned away, not wanting them to see the tears in her eyes. “I'm going to see Sapphire.” She broke into a run, her back screaming in protest, but she didn't stop when they shouted after her, telling her to come back.

She had to see Sapphire. To know he was still there. To assure herself that they hadn't stolen him from her without telling her.

She ran past Halo's stall and saw three blue ribbons, a red ribbon, and a championship ribbon hanging from his stall door. Emily stopped for a moment and stared
at all the ribbons. Ribbons she'd thought she'd be taking home.

After a few seconds, she picked one up and flipped it over. Someone had written large pony under saddle on the back of the red ribbon. She picked up a blue ribbon and saw it was for the Open 11–14 over fences.

She suddenly felt completely embarrassed. Meredith had won her Open equitation class and been champion in Large Pony. Emily hadn't been able to place in the Maiden on the flat and hadn't even made it into the ring for her over fences class.

“Heard you blew it today.”

She turned around at the sound of her cousin Kyle's voice. He was watching her with amusement. “Why do you have to be a jerk?”

He blinked. “What?”

“A jerk! Why do you have to be a jerk?”

His eyes were wide, his face shocked, in a reasonable imitation of someone pretending he had no idea what she was talking about, but she didn't buy it. “Leave me alone.”

She shoved the blue ribbon back onto Halo's door, then stormed past Kyle.
I will not show him he matters
. Tears were brimming in her eyes by the time she rounded
the corner to Sapphire's aisle, and she tried to run but had to slow when her back protested.

His stall door was open. Was he not in there?

She hobbled the rest of the way and yanked the door open.

Alison was in his stall, taking out his braids. “Oh, hi, Emily. How are you feeling?”

Phew. He is still here
.

Emily set the plate of brownies on the floor next to the door and stepped inside. “I'll do that.” Sapphire turned his head on the cross ties to look at her, and he snorted softly. His coat was still shiny and bright, and he was wearing a fly sheet from the show. He even still had his wraps on, a wrap job that wasn't nearly as good as Emily would have done for him. His wraps were loose, not tight and perfect the way he deserved. No one else could take care of him the way she could.
No one.
“I'll finish him up.”

“No, it's okay. I know you're hurt so—”

“I'll do it.” Emily couldn't keep her voice from wavering, and she saw Alison's face flicker in acknowledgment. She laid her palm on Sapphire's nose and rubbed the velvety skin, barely able to keep herself from hugging him, from completely falling apart in front of Alison. “Really. I'd like to take care of him.”

“Okay.” Alison stepped down off the stool. “Keep his wraps on. After his mad sprint in the ring, my mom wants him wrapped overnight to support his legs, in case he tweaked the ankle he hurt before.”

Emily nodded, biting her lip as Alison walked out into the aisle. “Okay.”

“Emily!” They both turned as Meredith flew into the stall. She still had her breeches on, but she was wearing sneakers and a T-shirt over her choker. She threw her arms around Emily, and Emily yelped with pain.

“Oh, gosh! I'm so sorry.” Meredith quickly let go, but her dark brown eyes were fastened on Emily. “Where are you hurt? Is it bad? Do you need surgery?”

Emily warmed at Meredith's apparent concern, noting Alison pausing in the aisle to hear her answer. Alison looked curious; Meredith looked worried, scared even. So she faced Meredith and ignored Alison. “I'm okay. Just hurt my back.”

“Really? You're
really
okay?”

Emily nodded, wrapping her arm around Sapphire's neck and leaning against him, feeling his soft, warm coat against her cheek, inhaling the scent of pine shavings from his coat, as he'd clearly been lying down since his return.

Meredith seemed to sag with relief. “Good, because
I can't tell you how scary it was to see you lying there and then get carted off in the ambulance. I've been freaking out all day!” She looked at Alison. “Was it the scariest thing ever or what?”

Alison shrugged. “She got the wind knocked out of her. It happens.”

Emily narrowed her eyes at her cousin. She thought she'd been
dying
, and all her cousin could say was “it happens”?

“I already unbraided Moondance for you,” Alison said. “But you might want to check on her.”

Emily tensed at the mention of Moondance, hoping they wouldn't mention the one class she'd ridden in. “Um, thanks.”

Meredith grinned. “Oh my gosh, Emily, you should have seen Alison and Icy! She ended up riding him in a couple classes, and he was awesome. They won both of them, and she had three different people ask Debby where they'd found him! He's absolutely
gorgeous
and so good.”

Alison's face lit up. “He was brilliant, wasn't he? And you did so well with Halo! You're so going to be ranked this summer with him.”

“You think?” Meredith beamed. “That would be so cool. I'd love to qualify for Harrisburg at the end of the year, not that Debby would ever take us to Pennsylvania
for the show, you know? Or even Washington. They're both so far.”

“But if we both qualified, it might be worth it to make the trip.”

“You think? Are you going to try to qualify with Icy?”

“Next year, maybe. We could go to Arizona for the winter circuit to get some points.”

Meredith squealed, and they started to talk away. “Seriously? Is your mom thinking about taking us down there?”

“Now that we have Icy, yeah. Icy and Halo could compete, you know?” They turned the corner and disappeared, but Emily could still hear them. “And it would be great exposure. If we could have Sapphire ready to show by then, think of all the exposure….”

Their voices faded, leaving Emily alone with Sapphire. For a long moment, she stared after them, feeling completely invisible. The good feeling from Meredith's initial concern had completely faded in the face of their talk about their success and the fact they both had completely forgotten Emily was there.

Sapphire snorted quietly and nudged Emily.

“Oh, Sapphire.” She unhooked him from the cross ties and hugged him as he pressed his face to her chest, for once not trying to knock her down. She pressed her
face to his, rubbing her cheeks over his soft ears, holding him against her. “I matter to you, don't I?”

He snorted and pressed harder against her.

“You were so smart to be bad today in that class, Sapphire. Thank you for doing that,” she whispered. “I can't tell you how much it meant to me.”

He lifted his head to look at her, then lifted his upper lip in a grin that she couldn't help but laugh at. “You are such a goof.” She scratched behind his ears and giggled when he pointed his head at the ceiling and wiggled his lip with delight. “But a smart, gorgeous goof.” She stopped scratching, and he dropped his head to look at her, the expression in his brown eyes clearly requesting additional scratching.

“And I'm so glad you screwed up Aunt Debby's plans to sell you. It looks like we have lots of time now.” She fisted his mane, gripping tightly as she leveled a determined gaze at him. “There's no way I'm going to let her sell you, Sapphire. We'll find a way, won't we?”

He stomped his foot and swished his tail, and the tightness finally began to ease from her chest. “Just so you know, you're my best friend.”

He pressed his face to her belly, gently, as if he knew she was injured and fragile, and she knew then that she could always count on him.

Always.

Then she thought of his antics in the model class, and she grimaced. Would Sapphire have taken off like that if Emily had been showing him, or would he have been good? She'd liked to think he would have given her what she needed—

He gave her a hard shove and knocked her onto her butt.

She frowned as she stared up at him. “Do I need to be careful about what I trust you for, Sapphire?”

He turned his head toward the door and flared his nostrils. Then he nickered and popped his head out the door, snuffling the plate of brownies. Emily gingerly hopped to her feet. “Oh, I forgot! I brought you treats!” She grabbed the plate and handed Sapphire a carrot and popped another brownie in her mouth.

She grinned as they chomped. “I know you wouldn't have let me down in that class, Sapphire. You and me, beautiful. We're on the same team. High five.” She held up her hand for a high five, and he licked the chocolate off her palm in what she decided to take as an affirmative.

They'd met over chocolate, and they were bonding over chocolate. Chocolate buddies never let each other down.

E
mily was up and dressed before six o'clock the next morning, her back too sore for her to sleep. It felt almost normal when she was vertical, so she decided to get up and get going for the day, hoping she could slip in and take Sapphire on a walk before the barn got active. A little private time before dealing with everyone.

But when she walked into the kitchen, Aunt Debby was there eating oatmeal and reading the latest issue of
The Chronicle of the Horse
. She looked up when Emily entered the kitchen. “You'll ride Moondance in your lesson today.”

Emily tensed. “My lesson?”

Aunt Debby nodded. “Your lesson. We'll talk about
what happened at the show and then work on some more jumping—”

“My back still hurts,” Emily interrupted. “I can't.” She thought about jumping again and…No. She wasn't ready.

Aunt Debby stopped chewing and looked at her for a moment, studying Emily so intently that Emily began to feel uncomfortable. “Okay, I'll give you a day, but the doctor said you are okay, so we'll do a lesson tomorrow. Eight o'clock on Moondance.”

“Can I ride Sapphire?”

“No.” Aunt Debby closed the magazine and looked at her. “So, you want to talk about your flat class?”

Emily glanced longingly for the back door. “I don't know what happened.”

Aunt Debby raised her brows. “No?”

“I picked up the wrong lead,” Emily mumbled.

Aunt Debby nodded. “I saw that. We're on the same team, Emily. Don't hide things from me.” She leaned forward. “Emily, I know you were expecting great things at the show, but it's okay that you didn't win. This type of riding is different, and you need to give yourself time. You'll get there.”

Emily gritted her teeth, hating that she had no rebuttal. She'd proven her aunt right, that she didn't
deserve to be in higher classes.

“Now, I'm thinking that part of the confusion was that there were so many other horses in the flat class, so I want you to ride Moondance on Thursday at ten. I teach a group lesson then, and the ring will be crowded. I want you to participate.”

Emily tensed at the thought of trying to maneuver around all those horses again, felt the same franticness that she'd experienced at the show, and she shook her head. “My back—”

“When you're ready then.” Aunt Debby stood up. “If you aren't riding, what's your plan today?”

“I was going to spend some time with T.J., hang out with Sapphire, and then check on Hercules.”

Aunt Debby nodded, completely ignoring the T.J. comment. “Good. Let me know how Hercules is.” She tossed her bowl in the dishwasher then left, letting the door slam shut behind her.

For a second Emily was tempted to race after her and beg for the lesson at ten o'clock, but then she thought of jumping, thought of that moment when she hadn't been able to breathe or move, her panic and fear…and she shook her head.

No. Too soon.

There was a whicker from the direction of the sink,
and Emily looked toward the window, then smiled when she saw Max's grizzled gray head sticking through the frame. “Hi, Max.”

His ears perked up, and she went to the fridge and grabbed him a head of iceberg lettuce and set it on the counter. He snorted his appreciation and began munching it, spreading lettuce bits all over the counter. She watched him for a moment and saw that he was keeping his eyes on her. “You're lonely, aren't you? You miss Grandpa, don't you?”

She rested her elbows on the counter and watched him eat, realizing that she knew exactly how he felt. Alone.

Then there was a scuffle from outside, and suddenly Sapphire shoved his head in through the window as well. “Sapphire!” Her heart lightened. “You got out again! You're such a bad boy!”

He snorted unapologetically and jerked his head, as if to beckon her out of the kitchen.

“Okay, okay. I'm coming!” She grabbed an apple off the counter, filched a lead shank by the door, and then headed out of the kitchen.

Sapphire was standing at the back door waiting for her the moment she stepped onto the porch. She hooked a lead shank to his halter. “You want to come
with me to visit Hercules? Maybe you can show him that I'm not so scary.”

He pranced in place happily, his ears perked and his tail up as Max lumbered around the corner. She patted Max. “You want to come, too? We can all visit Hercules.”

Max sighed his assent, and she chortled at him, then slung her arms over the backs of each horse as the three of them began to head toward the back pasture: Sapphire's well-muscled shiny black coat and Max's old swayback. She heard someone shouting for Sapphire, and she yelled back that she had found him, laughing as Sapphire winked at her. “You're such a troublemaker. You know that, don't you?”

He pranced slightly, not enough to jar her back but enough to make her laugh, and Max gave Sapphire a baleful look, as if he couldn't deal with such energy and impertinence.

“Oh, Max, give him a break! He's actually quite charming.”

Max ignored them both, plodding along at a slow, steady pace, as if he were leading the way to their destination—with them but not truly committed to them. It was like he was putting up with them because he had no one else to be with, and they were better than nothing.

Yeesh. Even Max didn't think she was anything special.

Then Sapphire turned his head back to look at her, and she saw his chocolate eyes fasten on her. “Yeah, except for you. I won't forget.”

Sapphire swished his tail, then he did a little dance that dislodged her arm from his back and made Max roll his eyes. Sapphire danced again and looked at Emily, so she did a little jig like he'd done.

His tail went up, and he pranced again, then looked at her.

She laughed and danced again, this time waving her arms and wiggling her head like he'd done.

He snorted and spun in a little circle, ripping the lead shank out of her hand before he came to a stop, looking at her expectantly.

With a giggle, she shimmied in place then spun around like he'd done, totally cracking up by the time she was facing him again. “You are soooo funny, Sapphire!” She grabbed the lead shank with a light heart and started back toward the pasture again, this time with a grin, feeling truly happy for the first time in days.

The sky was a gorgeous blue, not a cloud to be seen. The air was fresh and crisp, and she could see endless fields before her. Tall, thick pine trees were hiding birds
that were singing, and up ahead were pastures full of horses. And beside her was her best friend. “Everything's going to be just fine, isn't it?”

He snorted in agreement, and her heart leaped with joy.

Then she realized they were passing a trailer full of extra jump standards. She looked at them as they walked past, at the white wood, at the little black cups for the rails to sit in, at the red-and-white-striped rails on the ground. Exactly the kind of rail Moondance had tripped on.

How badly would she have been hurt if the jump had been bigger? Would she even have survived?

Sapphire nickered softly, and she looked at him. “Maybe it's okay that Aunt Debby won't let me jump you. Maybe I'm not meant to be a jumper, you know?” But even as she said it, she knew she didn't want it to be true. She wanted to jump. She did.

But as she looked back over her shoulder at the pile of jumps again and felt the ache in her back…

Max whinnied and stopped beside her. She jerked her gaze to see where he was looking and saw Hercules standing at the fence, his little head peeking over the bottom rail, watching them approach.

She tightened her grip on Sapphire's lead shank.
“That little guy needs us, Sapphire. You up for the challenge?”

Sapphire snorted, but it was Max who walked forward. It was Max who led the way.

She held Sapphire back for a second, letting Max approach the little pony. Hercules watched him intently, his dark eyes fastened on Max.

The old gray horse reached the pony, and for a long moment they simply stared at each other, nostrils flaring as they scented each other.

Then Max whickered softly and lowered his head to Hercules's level and touched the little pony's nose gently with his own.

And Emily knew her scared little pony had found a friend.