Blue Ribbon Summer (9 page)

But Brooke's face was flaming. “Um, I guess she likes her mane the way it is,” she quipped weakly. “It's okay, girl. . . .”

Luckily, Foxy didn't seem interested in running off. She let Brooke grab her halter and lead her over to another set of ties.

“Want to try again?” Paige asked. “Maybe you could hold her while I pull or something?”

“No, that's okay.” Brooke didn't meet the other girl's eye. “It'll be time for our lesson soon. We should probably just tack up.”

“By the way,” Robin said as Brooke and the other girls carried their dishes into the kitchen after dinner that night. “I forgot to mention, you're all welcome to use the computer in my office if you need to check e-mail or anything.”

Brooke stopped short, the thought of contact with
home making her smile for the first time in hours. “Um, I'd like to do that, if it's okay,” she told Robin.

Livi gave her a confused look. “Can't you just check e-mail on your phone?”

“I don't have the Internet on my phone.” Brooke tried not to notice the incredulous look on the other girl's face. Hannah wrinkled her nose as if trying to figure out the concept of a phone without Internet access, and even Paige looked surprised.

“You could have asked to borrow one of our phones,” she said.

“It's okay,” Brooke said. “This will be easier. I'll be out in a minute.” Brooke was relieved when Paige nodded and followed the other two toward the back door.

“It's down the hall, second door on the left,” Robin said.

“Thanks.” Brooke found her way to the office. It was a small room that seemed even smaller due to the fact that every inch of wall space was covered in framed horse show photos and racks of ribbons. In some of the photos Brooke recognized a younger Robin piloting various gorgeous horses over tall jumps. Many others featured a pretty teenager
with Robin's strong chin and blue eyes. Brooke looked at the inscription beneath one of them:
Morgan Montgomery, Junior Jumper Champion, Upperville Horse Show.

Robin's daughter. Brooke glanced at a case full of trophies that took up most of one wall. A lot of them had Morgan's name on them too. Obviously Robin's daughter had showed and won a lot before she'd gone off to college. Brooke wondered how someone like that could stand living in New York City, so far away from her old horsey life.

She spent a few more minutes looking at the pictures and trophies before remembering why she was there. Robin's computer sat on a small wooden desk that was crammed into the corner by the trophy case. Sitting down, Brooke logged on to her e-mail account. There was a short note from her mother and another from her grandparents, both wishing her well at camp. Aside from a couple of ads and a bunch of messages notifying her of new posts on the Pony Post, that was it. There was nothing from Adam.

He probably figures I won't be able to check in anyway,
Brooke told herself, logging off of her account.
Maybe I'll send him an e-mail later.

She typed in the address for the Pony Post and logged in. Then she pushed her glasses up her nose and leaned forward to scan the site. As she'd expected, there were lots of new entries. Quite a few were about her.

[MADDIE]
I wonder if Brooke will be able to email us from camp?

[HALEY]
I'm sure she will. It's not like she's going to camp in Siberia!

[MADDIE]
lol, I know. But my friend Bridget goes to this arts camp every summer where they aren't allowed to bring any elec. stuff. Not even phones. She can only email me like once a week.

[NINA]
ugh, I'd die! Anyway, hi B, if you're out there! Hope you're having a fab time at camp!

[HALEY]
Ditto! Hi Brooke!

[HALEY]
She & Foxy are probably having so much fun she'll forget all about us tho, lol!

[MADDIE]
Never! But I hope she's having a blast!

Brooke scanned the rest of the entries, mostly just regular chitchat about what the others had been doing with their ponies. Reading her friends' cheerful words made Brooke feel both happy and weirdly sad. If only they were here with her, camp would be a whole different experience!

She couldn't help slipping into daydreams of all the fun she'd be having if the other Pony Posters were there. They'd help each other through Robin's tough riding lessons and talk late into the night in the bunkhouse. Maybe Brooke would lead her friends to that beach she and Foxy had discovered. If the cranky old lady caught them again, Nina could probably charm her into letting them stay, and then Maddie would surely have some fun ideas for games of beach tag or something, and daredevil Haley would probably convince them all to try jumping their ponies over the rocks or swimming them in the Sound. . . .

Finally Brooke blinked and snapped back to reality, not sure how much time had passed. Glancing out the tiny window just visible between a shelf full of trophies and a rack crowded with multicolored horse show ribbons, she saw that the sky was dark. Oops. A glance at her watch told Brooke it was past time for lights-out. Robin would probably be along soon to chase her off to her bunk.

Brooke was about to shut down the computer when she realized she hadn't posted a response to her friends yet. She opened a text box and typed quickly.

[BROOKE]
Hi guys! I'm here. Camp is fine so far. Foxy and I have a lot to learn! The other campers are nice. Wish u guys were here instead, tho!

She paused, reading over the last line. Once again, her mind drifted as she imagined how much fun the four of them could have here together.

But never mind. Wishes didn't move merchandise, as her stepfather liked to say. Brooke added
GTG! More later!
at the end of her entry, then pressed enter and signed off.

When she left the office, the house was dark and quiet. She tiptoed down the hall, surprised that Robin hadn't noticed she was still out and about, and not particularly wanting to alert her to that fact. As she passed an open window, voices drifted in on the evening breeze.

“I was hoping we could at least enjoy one evening before this came up again, Preston.” That was Robin; she sounded kind of annoyed.

A man's voice responded: “Why put it off? You need to look at this logically.”

Robin responded, but she'd lowered her voice enough so Brooke couldn't make out what she said. All she caught were the words “farm” and “big change” and “rush.”

Preston's voice was louder. “Well, you can't sit on this decision forever.”

“I know.” Robin's voice was louder again too, and sharp—like when she reprimanded a horse that tried to nip. “But not tonight.”

Realizing she was eavesdropping, if only accidentally, Brooke jumped back into motion before she heard any
more. When she reached the cabin, the other girls were already in bed.

“There you are,” Hannah said with a yawn. “You must have had a ton of e-mails to read.”

Paige giggled. “Yeah. We were just going to send out a search party.”

Brooke doubted that—if they'd really been worried about her, wouldn't they have come looking by now?—but she didn't say so. “I'm here,” she said instead. “Um, listen, I was wondering something. Preston is the guy Robin mentioned before, right? Her boyfriend or something?”

“Yeah.” Livi snuggled farther into her covers. “It's kind of a romantic story. Preston heard about this place from his cousin, and dropped by to see if Robin was interested in selling the farm.”

“Selling the farm?” Brooke echoed.

“Uh-huh,” Paige said. “He's in real estate. My stepdad knows him and says he's a real go-getter.” She giggled. “Sounds dorky, right? But coming from my stepdad, it's supposed to be a compliment.”

“Anyway”—Livi picked up the story again—“Robin said no to the selling thing, but when Preston asked her out she said yes.”

“And the rest is history,” Hannah mumbled sleepily, her dark eyes falling shut as she snuggled back under her covers. “You'll meet him tomorrow, probably. Robin said he's supposed to get here tonight. I guess he's helping out this year or something.”

“Yeah, which is kind of weird, actually.” Livi wrinkled her nose. “He never showed much interest in horses before.”

“Hmm.” Brooke was already losing interest. Whatever she'd heard, it was none of her business. So what if Robin and Preston had been arguing? Brooke's mom and stepfather argued all the time, and it was no big deal.

As the others drifted off to sleep, Brooke lay awake feeling unsettled and homesick. Seeing the nice words from her Pony Post friends had only reminded her once again how well she fit in with them—and how much she
didn't
fit in at Camp Pocomoke. She'd never be like Robin and her daughter in those pictures, holding their trophies and patting their fancy show horses. That didn't mean she
couldn't learn a lot from Robin, but was it really worth it? Maybe Brooke and Foxy were wasting everyone's time, including their own, trying to fit in here. Maybe they should go back home where they were comfortable. For a second Brooke was tempted to dig her cell phone out of her cubby, call her mother, and beg to come home early.

Then she imagined telling her Pony Post friends. None of them would ever give up so quickly, would they?

The answer came into her mind immediately:
No way!

So maybe Brooke shouldn't give up just yet either. Maybe she should stick it out, at least for another day or two. That way, nobody could say she hadn't given it a real try.

CHAPTER

BROOKE AWOKE WITH A START
the next morning when a bird burst into enthusiastic song right outside the bunkhouse window. She sat up, rubbing her eyes, and glanced around. The other beds were empty—Paige's neatly made, Livi's a complete mess, and Hannah's somewhere in between. Brooke checked her watch and saw that she was late for breakfast.

“Thanks for waking me, guys,” she muttered as she climbed out of bed.

She dressed quickly, not bothering to shower, and rushed to the main house. There was barely time to choke down half a piece of toast and a few gulps of orange juice
before Robin was shooing them off to the barn for their morning lesson.

As she pulled Foxy out of her stall, Brooke was feeling rushed and sleepy and generally out of sorts. The pony seemed to pick up on her mood, spooking at the click of the crosstie being clipped on and generally being antsy and difficult all during grooming and tacking.

Robin wasn't in the ring yet when the girls entered. The other three mounted their horses, barely pausing in their conversation as they did so.

Finally it was Brooke's turn at the mounting block. But Foxy stepped to the side before her rider could put her foot in the stirrup. Brooke climbed down and led her around for another try, but the pony did the same thing.

“Quit it, would you?” Brooke exclaimed, yanking on the reins to try to stop Foxy from moving off a third time.