Chasing Gold (7 page)

Haley blinked. “Um, what?”

“The party!” Tracey sounded impatient now. “Seriously, keep up, Hales! We've only been talking about it all week, right?”

Now Haley caught on. It was true—ever since that day at the mall, the only time Tracey and Emma weren't talking obsessively about the coming dance was when they switched the topic to Tracey's boy-girl party.

“Oh,” she said. “Um, that's cool. So when's the party?”

“That's the best part,” Tracey said. “It's Saturday night—as in
this
Saturday night, the day after the dance. Isn't that perfect?”

Haley pulled Wings to an abrupt halt, not sure if she'd heard her friend right. “This Saturday night?” she echoed. “You're having a party this Saturday night? As in, four days from now?”

“Uh-huh.” Tracey let out a little squeal of happiness. “Like I said, perfect! It'll be like one big super-romantic fun weekend, you know?”

Haley's heart sank. She might be able to skip out on a school dance, but Tracey would never forgive her if she missed her very first boy-girl party.

“Um, isn't that kind of late notice?” Haley said. “I mean, some people might already have plans or whatever. Plus, people's parents might not let them go out two nights in a row. Are you sure it wouldn't be better to wait a few weeks?”

Like, until after my clinic, when I might have enough time to breathe, let alone go to a party?
she added silently.

“No, seriously, it'll be fine. I don't want to give my dad time to change his mind.” Tracey giggled. “Besides, I happen to know that Nick Jankowski is free that night, and really, that's all that matters, right? Oh! And of course Owen will be there too.”

Haley glanced down as Wings took a step to the side, clearly tired of standing still. She nudged him into a walk.

“Okay,” she said slowly. “Look, I'm riding right now, so I should go. Call you later?”

“Sure.” Tracey sounded distracted. “I need to go too—Mom's
taking me shopping for food and stuff. Wow, there's so much to do!”

“Tell me about it,” Haley muttered as she hung up.

Then she just sat there, riding along with her reins slack, staring into space as she tried to figure out exactly how she was supposed to cram one more thing into her already packed-to-the-gills schedule.

CHAPTER

THAT NIGHT HALEY WAS SO
exhausted she could barely make it up the stairs to her bedroom. She peeled off her clothes, dropping them in a pile by the door. Taking them to the hamper in the hall would have to wait until morning.

As she pulled on her nightgown, she noticed her laptop sitting at the foot of her bed with her school bag. That reminded her—she hadn't posted on the Pony Post in a couple of days.

She crawled into bed with the computer and pulled up the site. Even as tired as she was, her friends' latest entries made her smile and feel a little more alert.

[BROOKE]
Hi Haley! Check in when u can and let us know how it's going!

[NINA]
Don't harass her, lol! She's prolly too busy riding every second of the day so she can rly wow ZC next w/e. U can do it, girl!

[MADDIE]
Jealous! Wish I could ride every day!! But I'll just have to live thru u, Haley! Gogogo Haley go!

[BROOKE]
lol, ur a good cheerleader, M.

[NINA]
Ya, Haley, wish we could all be there to cheer you and Wingsie on in person for the clinic!

[BROOKE]
And to help u earn $ for it too. Maddie is a pro at crazy ways to make $, right?

[MADDIE]
lol, too true!

Haley's smile widened at that. Over the summer, Maddie had feared that “her” Chincoteague pony was about to be sold. Cloudy didn't actually belong to Maddie—she was a lesson horse at a local barn. But Maddie loved her just as much as if she owned her, so she'd tried to raise enough cash to buy her. Luckily, the owner had decided not to sell after all. That was a good thing, since Maddie had failed to clear her plan with her parents, who had no interest in owning a pony!

Still, Haley agreed with Nina and the other Pony Posters—she wished they were close enough to do more than cheer her on long distance too. If she took Maddie's energy and optimistic outlook, Nina's creativity and confidence, and Brooke's loyalty and thoughtfulness and combined them with her own work ethic and determination, how could she fail? Besides, it would be nice to have her friends right there to cheer her on. Friends who understood why she was doing this.

For a moment her mind wandered to Tracey and Emma. Instead of helping, it felt as if they—especially
Tracey—were making Haley's life more difficult.

But she shook off those thoughts. That wasn't fair. How could she expect them to understand? Both of them had plenty of hobbies and interests of their own, but neither had the kind of passion for anything that Haley did for eventing. Well, except maybe lately for boys and shopping and makeup . . .

Pushing that thought aside too, Haley glanced over the remaining Pony Post entries.

[BROOKE]
Anyway, H, let us know how it's going when u have time.

[NINA]
Ya, esp. let us know about the $. But you're def. going to make it, right?

Haley yawned as she tried to figure out how to respond to Nina's question. Was she going to make it?

She rolled over and opened the drawer in her bedside table, pulling out the envelope where she was keeping her
babysitting cash. Her aunt and uncle were keeping tabs on what the boys owed her and would make sure she got paid before the clinic.

Opening the calculator on her laptop, Haley added up the two numbers, then added in the paltry amount left in her savings account, where her grandparents deposited birthday and Christmas money. If only she hadn't spent so much on those new rubber reins a few months ago! Her old ones probably would have held up for another year. But it was way too late to return them now. Haley chewed her lower lip as she studied the total on the calculator.

Still not enough,
she thought with a flash of panic.

Leaning back against her pillows, she thought over her schedule for the next ten days. She was babysitting a neighbor's toddler after school on Thursday, and one of her uncle's coworkers had hired her to clean out his henhouse on Friday afternoon. Oh, and she couldn't forget about the Tompkinses—they'd asked her to water their plants and feed the cat this weekend while they were down in Chicago visiting family. They always tipped her in addition to the
agreed-on amount, so that was an extra few dollars. . . .

Haley's head swam as she tried to remember what else she was doing. There were more chores for her cousins, of course, and the Vandenbergs might call again before the clinic, though she knew she couldn't count on that. She added the other numbers in with the one on the calculator. Then she deleted everything and started again, making sure she entered each amount correctly.

Finally she smiled. She returned the cash to its drawer, glancing up at the clinic flyer on her bulletin board as she did so. Then she opened a new text box.

[HALEY]
Hi all! Thx for the cheers & stuff! I don't wanna jinx anything, but I think I can do it. I just figured it all out, & by the end of next wk I should have enough to pay the balance of the clinic fees, plus a lil extra $ to put diesel in Uncle M's truck to haul us there.

She knew it was way too late for any of her friends to be on the site at the moment, so she clicked off as soon as
she'd sent the response. Setting the laptop aside, she snuggled into bed, feeling hopeful as she drifted off to sleep.

“See you this afternoon,” Haley told Wings as she turned him out in the pasture. It was Wednesday morning, and she'd decided to put off that day's trot sets until after school. The Vandenbergs still hadn't called about babysitting, and skipping her morning ride had allowed Haley to finish all her chores, so she didn't have anything to do that afternoon except spend time with Wings. Well, that and her usual afternoon chores, of course. But that should still give her plenty of time to get those trot sets done, and maybe pull the pony's thick, unruly mane. Their next dressage school could wait until the next day. Then they'd do another jumping session on Friday to freshen him up for Saturday's lesson.

Wings snuffled at her hand, letting out a snort as he smelled the mint she was holding. Haley laughed and turned her palm up, letting the pony snarf up the treat. Then, after one last pat, she headed for the house.

“Haley!” Aunt Veronica paused halfway to the table
with a platter of scrambled eggs, looking surprised. “You're in early this morning.”

Uncle Mike peered at Haley over the top of the local farming paper. “Does this mean you actually have time for a real breakfast today?”

“Uh-huh.” Haley slid into her seat beside Danny. She checked her watch. Still almost half an hour until it would be time to leave for school. “Please pass the milk.”

Her aunt set the platter in front of her. “I have to admit, we were starting to worry that you were spreading yourself too thin,” she said. “But it seems your time management skills are improving.”

“Thanks,” Haley said as she helped herself to some eggs. “I think I am getting a little better at this.”

Jake snorted. “Watch it with the compliments, Mom. Haley already thinks she's headed for the Olympics any day now.”

“Yeah.” Danny laughed. “Too bad there's no Olympic event for stinky feet! She'd win that one for sure.”

“Only if you didn't enter,” Haley shot back.

Her uncle grinned. “All right, enough talk of stinky
feet at the breakfast table. You're going to make me lose my appetite.”

Aunt Veronica patted him on the shoulder as she bustled by on her way back to the stove. “No worries, kids. That'll never happen.”

Haley laughed along with her cousins, then settled down to enjoying her first real family breakfast in what felt like forever.