Blue Ribbon Summer (17 page)

It was their final course of the show. Their other classes had gone pretty well, but so far this was their best yet. They'd met every jump out of stride, with no awkward moments or bobbled turns.

Foxy's ears pricked as they neared the second-to-last jump, an airy vertical with yellow-and-white-striped poles. For a second the mare slowed, peering at the evergreen boughs piled underneath the jump as filler. But a gentle nudge from Brooke's legs got her moving again. They met the jump at the perfect distance, Foxy folding her legs neatly for takeoff while Brooke shoved her hands forward to give the pony all the freedom she needed to stretch her neck over the jump.

The final jump went just as well. Afterward, Foxy
seemed to know she was finished. She sped up, shaking her head and snorting as she cantered her final circle. Brooke could hear the other campers cheering as she pulled up near the gate.

“Good girl!” she exclaimed, grinning ear to ear as she gave Foxy a pat. “What a good girl!”

“You were amazing, Brooke!” Paige exclaimed as she swung open the gate so Brooke could ride out. “It's hard to believe you and Foxy never jumped a course before you came here.”

“Or entered a show.” Brooke patted her pony again. “I know—Foxy's incredible.”

She glanced back into the ring. Robin had been standing in the middle, judging the classes all day. Miss Alice's nephew Dan had been with her for most of that time, leaving only occasionally to fetch her a snack or a bottle of water. Otherwise, he'd stayed busy handing out ribbons after each class, adjusting the volume on Robin's microphone, or just holding her clipboard and pen. He looked sunburned and happy now as he watched Robin make notes on her judge's card.

“Are you thinking what I'm thinking?” Hannah asked with a smirk, following Brooke's gaze.

“I don't know. What are you thinking?” Brooke asked.

“I know,” Livi singsonged. “She's thinking Robin and Dan have been looking awfully chummy the past few days. Especially today.”

The thought hadn't really occurred to Brooke until that moment. Miss Alice had been around a lot since the big announcement on Tuesday afternoon, which made sense. Natalie and Nicole, too—they'd come every day.

But now she realized Dan had been there every day too, even though Robin had already signed all the paperwork.

“And you'll notice we haven't seen poor Preston all week, hmm?” Paige added. “Maybe by this time next year, Dan will be living at Pocomoke Stables so Miss Alice can have her house back to herself!”

Brooke smiled at the thought, though she couldn't help feeling a little sad. Whatever happened between Robin and Dan, she'd have to hear about it secondhand. There was no way her stepfather would pay for her to come to camp next summer, and even less of a chance that Brooke
could save up enough herself between now and then while also taking care of Foxy as usual.

“What?” Livi asked, peering into Brooke's face. “Why do you look sad all of a sudden?”

Brooke let out a sigh. Why not tell them the truth? They'd find out eventually anyway.

“I'm not sad, I'm happy,” she said. “It's just that, well, I probably can't come to camp again next year, and I'm going to miss it. I'll miss all of you guys, too.”

“What do you mean, you can't come next year?” Paige looked heartbroken. “You have to!”

“Yeah, it wouldn't be the same without you,” Hannah added. “I'll buy the air mattress myself if I have to!”

Livi nodded vigorously. “And Lauren's dying to meet you. I've been texting her all about you.”

Brooke shrugged. “The thing is, my family can barely afford to keep Foxy as it is.” Two weeks ago, she would have been embarrassed to tell them that. But they were her friends now, and she wanted to be honest with them. “This was a onetime thing after my stepdad sold a fancy car to Lauren's dad, and we just can't afford—”

“Never mind about that, young lady,” Miss Alice's voice broke in.

Brooke turned and saw the old lady leaning on her cane just a couple of feet away. “Miss Alice?” she said.

“Sorry to eavesdrop, but you young people talk so loudly these days.” Miss Alice stepped closer. “In any case, Brooke, you won't have to worry about how to pay for Camp Pocomoke next summer. After all you did to make this deal happen, the least I can do is sponsor you for as long as you want to keep coming back.”

Livi's eyes lit up. “Awesome!”

“Yeah, that's great,” Hannah said, and Paige just grinned.

“Are you sure?” Brooke blurted out. “I mean, thank you! But are you sure you want to do that?”

“Absolutely.” Miss Alice nodded toward the ring. “Now hush up, all of you chatterboxes. Robin's about to announce the awards.”

Brooke was too stunned to say anything else anyway. She was coming back! Suddenly she didn't even care that much about the award ceremony—she'd just won the best prize ever!

But she gathered near the gate with the others, Foxy trailing along at the end of her reins, as Robin named the winners of the last jumping class. Brooke and Foxy came in third, just behind Hannah and one of the olders!

After that, Robin went on to read off a list of special awards. Some were serious, like Best Equitation, which Robin awarded to one of the older campers. Others were humorous—Livi won a ribbon for Most Talkative, and Hannah took the prize for Tallest Horse.

Brooke cheered every time her friends' names were called—Livi also won Best-Groomed Horse, while Paige got a sportsmanship ribbon and one for Best Flatwork, and Hannah was awarded Best Overall Younger Rider. Brooke's friends cheered just as loudly when Brooke won Shortest Horse and Best Bareback Equitation. The two extra ribbons looked jaunty hanging on Foxy's bridle along with the ones they'd earned in their classes.

“And now, one last award,” Robin announced. “It might be the most important one of the day, because it shows the recipient is eager to improve herself and her horse.” She cleared her throat. “And the ribbon for
Most-Improved Overall Horse and Rider goes to—Brooke and Foxy!”

The place exploded in cheers. Hannah whistled loudly right in Brooke's ear, making her wince and laugh.

“Come on out and accept your trophy, Brooke,” Robin called. “You earned it.”

As Brooke hurried into the ring, leaving Foxy with Paige, Dan pulled a horse-and-rider-shaped gold trophy out of the ribbon box and held it out. “Congratulations, Brooke,” he said with a smile.

“Thanks.” Brooke smiled back shyly as she accepted the trophy. She couldn't wait to show it to her family and her Pony Post friends—mostly because she knew she and Foxy really
had
earned it. They'd both learned a lot over the past two weeks, and not just about riding.

Brooke turned and held the trophy over her head like the athletes on TV, which brought more cheering from everyone. For a second she felt sad again as she looked at all her new friends—her bunkmates, Miss Alice and her family, Felicia and Abby, several boarders who'd turned up to watch the show, even the olders—but she shook the
feeling off quickly. Why be sad that camp was ending and she wouldn't see them for a while? It just gave her a reason to look forward to
next
summer.

“I know, it's not nearly as fancy as your deluxe stall at Pocomoke Stables, is it?” Brooke smiled as she rubbed her pony's neck. She'd just led Foxy into her little home barn and let her loose. “But it's still home sweet home.”

Foxy let out a snort, lifting her head and looking around. Spotting the drafts snoozing in their usual spot under the oak, the pony took off at a trot, calling to them.

Brooke smiled as she watched Foxy go. She missed camp already, but it was good to be home, too.

The house was quiet when she went inside. The whole family had come to pick her up at camp, but they'd already scattered—Brooke's stepfather and the twins to the community pool and Brooke's mother to an open house. But Brooke didn't mind. She'd promised her Pony Post friends she'd check in as soon as possible, and she didn't want to keep them waiting.

She went up to her room and grabbed her laptop. First she checked her e-mail. There were already two messages waiting for her from Livi and one each from Paige and Hannah. Brooke scanned them, smiling at Livi's second one—she'd already tracked down the latest gossip and discovered that Preston was out of the picture for good, and Robin and Dan were going out on their first official date next weekend.

“Awesome,” Brooke whispered with a shiver, still amazed how everything had worked out.

Making a mental note to write back to her new friends later, she loaded the Pony Post and scanned the latest entries.

[HALEY]
R u home yet B? We want to hear all about it!

[NINA]
Ditto! Hope u and Foxy had a smooth ride home!

[MADDIE]
Post pics as soon as u can, OK?

Brooke opened a text box and started to type, filling her friends in on the show results and the gossip she'd just learned from Livi's e-mail. She hit send, then sat back in her chair, glancing around her room. Her stepfather had carried in her stuff while she got Foxy settled, and Brooke's suitcase and other things were piled haphazardly just inside the door. But he'd taken the time to set her trophy in a place of honor on top of her bookcase. It looked good, and Brooke was pretty sure she was going to leave it there.

She opened another text box.

[BROOKE]
Almost forgot 1 more thing. We all got up early this a.m. so we'd have time for a trail ride. We decided to ride over to Miss Alice's to say bye & thank her for everything. The other horses don't go trail riding much, so they were kinda spooky at first. lol. But good ol' Foxy just marched along like a pro and showed them how it's done! The other girls were totally impressed. So I guess Foxy & I weren't the only ones who
learned a lot at camp. The others might've learned a lil something from us too! Isn't that cool?

Just as she hit send again, the doorbell rang. When Brooke ran downstairs and opened the door, Adam was standing there.

“Hey,” he said, shoving his hands in his shorts pockets. “Heard you were home. Didn't realize you'd be here so early—I was going to help you get Foxy off the trailer and stuff.”

“Oh.” Brooke pushed her glasses up her nose, a little surprised to see him. “Um, thanks. But actually, she was fine on the trailer. I got her on and off myself, no problem.” She couldn't help thinking again how much she and Foxy had learned at camp. “Anyway, we just got home a little while ago. How's everything been around here?”

He shrugged. “Boring, as usual. So, I heard the fish are biting over at Crooked Creek. Want to go check it out? You can borrow my extra pole if you want.”

Brooke smiled. “Yeah, sounds good. Just give me a sec.”

She ran back upstairs just long enough to tell her Pony Post friends she'd check in again later. Then she logged off the Internet and headed out of the room again, giving her trophy a pat on the way.

She already missed Camp Pocomoke, and would be counting the days until next summer. Still, it was definitely nice to be home.

Glossary