Crown Prince Challenged (15 page)

“Paige, lead the ride across the diagonal at F,” Jack called out. Once they were all back on the track, he said, “Paige, circle back to take the rear of the ride.” Now Kayla led the ride, and Jack asked every rider to make a fifteen-meter circle, returning to the track where they had left it, bringing them into line again. This required the horses to maintain the same trotting speed, and on the first attempt, Quarry got ahead of the others and Fanny needed to move with more impulsion. Sarah used her aids to ask Prince to bend his body to the shape of the circle, but with his naturally longer stride, she found it was challenging to keep him in sync with the others. She used frequent half-halts to check his gait.

When it was Sarah's turn to lead the ride, Jack asked them to turn across the centerline and to track in the opposite direction once they reached the other side of the arena. Traveling side by side, the riders could easily see the other horses' positions, and everyone arrived at the other side at the same time. “Excellent!” Jack said.

The lesson continued, with Jack asking the class to do various schooling figures while maintaining their positions. Finally he asked them to walk and let their horses go on a free rein. All five horses stretched their heads down, happy to have a break. Sarah was tempted to steer Prince closer to Fanny so she could ask Kayla why she was late, but Jack was talking to the class. She knew that idle conversation during the lesson would not be appreciated.

After a few minutes, Jack asked the riders to line up at the far end of the arena. Each of them would now be asked for individual work. He prescribed a simple equitation test of a figure eight at canter in the center of the arena with a simple change of lead at the center.
Now all my “fans” will be praying for me to totally blow it!
Sarah thought, with a touch of nervousness. In her lessons with Jack, they hadn't yet attempted this exercise. She'd seen this class do a similar exercise a few weeks before, and all of the Young Riders had aced it.

Kayla went first, and rode the whole test without any problems, getting praise from Jack. Fanny looked so pretty, her four white socks moving in rhythm. Tim went next, and Rhodes had amazing transitions in his figure eight. “Very good,” Jack said, “although you need to avoid leaning to the inside on your circles, Tim.” Paige's try was a little hurried, but for Quarry, it was acceptable. Jack praised them for a good effort.

Sarah was at the end of the line, and she expected Rita to go next, but Rita extended her arm as an invitation for Sarah to go before her. Sarah couldn't help be a little suspicious, but she willed any thoughts of Rita out of her mind. As she turned to the center of the arena to begin a figure eight, she suddenly felt unsure just how to proceed. Coming to the center, she sat the trot and asked Prince for his right lead. She was relieved when he picked it up and they began the loop.

Approaching the center once more, she thought,
I've got to be careful I don't canter beyond X!
She sat deeply in the saddle and asked her horse to come back to trot. Their transition was early, and they had several trot steps before she asked him for left lead canter. Perhaps she was a little frazzled, because Prince picked up the wrong lead. Sarah noticed it immediately and brought him back to trot. She had to make a circle to approach X again, and this time Prince correctly picked up the left lead. She finished the loop before trotting back to her place in the line. She felt self-conscious of her unpolished performance, and frustrated by her nervousness.

Sarah knew everyone had been watching them closely while she rode the short test, and that the spectators awaited Jack's reaction to her ride. “You need to work on this, Sarah,” Jack said, “but for Prince's level of training, it wasn't too bad. You made the necessary corrections capably. I suggest you practice the exercise before the next lesson.”

Rita smiled broadly as she now asked Chancellor to begin the test. The black Dutch Warmblood was not only correct in every aspect of the exercise, but his movement was beautiful to see. Jack had only flattering comments to make on her ride, and Rita was smirking when she returned to the line.

When the class came to an end, Jack had a few words for them before the group disbanded. “I suggest you all continue to work on your transitions, bending, and straight lines coming down the centerline. Next week I'd like to do more of the same work, and I may possibly be mounted so we can do drill team exercises with an even number of riders.”

Kayla and Rita immediately rode their horses out of the arena to the parking area, followed by Kayla's mother, Rita's father, and Judson. Sarah was dying to talk to Kayla, but that would obviously have to wait. Instead, she rode Prince toward the bleachers where her mother was sitting. She halted Prince just as Mrs. Wagner was climbing slowly down from the bleachers. “Hi, Mom,” she said. “This is a surprise! You got out of work early?”

Sarah thought her mother's speech and manner seemed reserved when she responded. “Actually, I had the day off. I'm glad I could see you ride. We have a few things to go over, though.” She started for the exit. “We'll talk after you get home.”

Sarah was dumbfounded. It wasn't like her mother to be short with her unless there was a major issue to be addressed. What was going on? Prince became restless and wanted to move forward. She was about to start for the gate when Derek walked up beside them. He reached up to stroke Prince's neck.

“Chill out, handsome one,” he said to Prince, grinning up at her. “I can't imagine a more beneficial lesson for you guys.”

Sarah was rattled, but Derek's presence seemed to calm her. For a moment she forgot her mother's coolness and could think only of the boy standing beside her. “Prince didn't totally ace the individual test. I guess we've got our work cut out for us.”

“Sarah, he's only been off the track for four months. You've got to be realistic and not expect too much.”

She took a deep breath before answering. “I don't think I rode him very well. He's only going to perform as well as I ride him, and when I misjudged the center at X, nothing went well after that.”

“Take it easy on yourself,” Derek said. “It was your first lesson in front of a lot of people in quite a while. Hey, I'm going to tack up Bismarck. Are you going back now? I'll walk with you.”

“Sure,” Sarah said, as she dropped her stirrups and slid down from her horse. After pulling the reins over Prince's head and running up her irons, she started for the outgate alongside Derek. They met Nicole and Kelly as they were leading their horses in for the four o'clock lesson.

“Hope you have a good class,” Derek called cheerfully. The girls were too busy giving Sarah dirty looks to answer.

When they were out of earshot, Derek said, “Those girls certainly run hot and cold.”

Sarah rolled her eyes. “With me, I'm afraid it's all cold.”

Later, as Sarah did the night feeding, all she could think about was the conversation with her mother after her lesson. Something was going on. She knew it. She almost dreaded going home to find out.

But first to call Kayla. The Romanos should be home by now. Sarah was relieved when Kayla picked up right away. “What's up, kid?”

“What happened to make you late today? Was everything okay?”

Kayla laughed. “We've made the trip with Fanny over to Brookmeade so many times, you'd think we'd have the routine down like clockwork. Today I forgot my saddle pad. I'd given it to Mom to wash. Judson said Rita didn't have an extra one with her, so Mom ran to the barn to ask around. Mrs. Hoffman found an extra pad in Kelly's trunk.”

So that explained Mrs. Hoffman and Mrs. Romano showing up together at the lesson. “Kayla, I think something's going on that I'll hear about when I get home.” She swallowed hard before continuing. “Mom was sitting with Rita's father today. I don't know what he told her, but as she was leaving, she was acting funny and said there was something we need to talk about. I suspect she's heard Kelly's trumped-up story about the kick. Did you hear anything going around today?”

Kayla's voice got low. “I was going to call you later. Mrs. Hoffman told my mom she should be worried about Fanny because there was a horse in my class that is a dangerous kicker. Same old, same old. Mom didn't buy it and told her as much. Mom thinks that woman is a troublemaker.” Kayla hesitated a moment. “But Sarah, there's something else you should know. After I got home, I got a group text message from Kelly that might have gone out to a whole lot of kids. It warned everyone to be careful around Crown Prince because he's a dangerous kicker who injured her horse, and that you don't care.”

Sarah felt as if
she
was the one who'd been kicked—right in the gut. At first she was speechless. When she was able to continue, she said, “So Kelly is texting all kinds of trash about me and my horse to who knows how many people?” She thought a minute. “Where could Kelly have gotten your cell number?”

Both girls instantly knew the answer and said in unison, “Rita!”

“There's more,” Kayla continued. “After I read the text, I checked Kelly's Facebook page. The same lies are all over it.” Kayla paused to draw in a deep breath. “I'm sorry to tell you about this, kid, but you need to know what's going on.”

“Kayla, I really don't know what to do. I just hope people who hear this garbage will realize that's all it is.”

“And here's a bit of news I learned from Rita,” Kayla said. “I guess she's been calling Derek, probably so she could to make a move on him. He told her he has a girlfriend named Meredith in Chicago. He's going out to see her over Thanksgiving break. Bummer, huh?”

Sarah swallowed hard. She didn't want Kayla to know just how disappointing this news was to her. “Sure, Kayla. Thanks for being my eyes and ears on the ground.”

After she put her phone away, Sarah didn't move for a few minutes. So Derek already had a girlfriend! She bit her lip and took a deep breath. Better not to fall for a guy who was already taken. She had enough problems on her plate without adding another one.

Sarah decided to see Prince one last time before she left for the day. She slid into the stall where he was eating his hay. “Good boy,” she murmured, as she cradled his beautiful head and then hugged his neck for a moment. “I'm going to keep fighting to keep you, Prince.”

I'VE GOT TO FIND OUT
what's going on with Mom,
Sarah thought, as she pedaled her bike homeward. Sarah had left Brookmeade on time, so at least she wouldn't be holding up dinner. Braking to turn into their driveway, Sarah saw her father's Hyundai parked by the back steps. Her mother probably had told him about whatever was bothering her.
It looks like I'll have to face both of them,
she thought. Sarah removed her paddock boots in the mudroom and washed her hands before entering the kitchen. A quick glance at her mother confirmed that nothing had changed since the end of her lesson. Sarah had come to recognize that look—her mother was upset about something.

“What's going on, Mom?” Sarah asked, deciding to face the trouble, whatever it was, head on. Her mother glanced at the kitchen clock. Let's go in the den where your father is working. He'd like to be part of this.”

As he often did when he first got home, Mr. Wagner was grading papers at his desk. He swiveled around in his chair when Sarah and her mother came into the room, and Abby looked up from a homework assignment she was reading. The air felt thick with tension as Sarah sat down in the wingback chair across from Abby. After Mrs. Wagner got comfortable on the plaid loveseat, she looked at her husband. “Good time to talk?”

“Sure,” Sarah's father said. “Let's get to the bottom of this.”

Sarah's mother turned to her. “It appears there's been a lot going on at Brookmeade Farm we haven't been privy to, and I had to make a visit there today to learn the scoop.” She was silent for a moment, looking intently at Sarah, waiting for her to volunteer information. When Sarah said nothing, her mother continued. “Rita's father filled me in on this business about Crown Prince kicking another horse. He told me Prince kicked Kelly Hoffman's horse, causing Kelly to fall off. Is this true?”

Sarah raised her hands and let them drop into her lap as she exhaled loudly. “It's a totally bogus story, Mom. You need to hear what
really
happened.” Her parents listened closely as Sarah told them the details of that rainy afternoon, mentioning her suspicion that Kelly planned to upset Prince by intentionally coming too close to him. “I was looking back when Prince kicked out, and I
saw
that his leg didn't come anywhere near Midnight Jet. If Kelly had kept a reasonable distance when she came trotting fast behind Prince, it wouldn't have happened. Most horses would have done the same thing Prince did. When Mrs. Hoffman complained to Jack, he checked Jet all over and couldn't find any sign of a kick. The bottom line is, I know what really happened, because I saw the whole thing. Prince
didn't
kick Jet. I can promise you this is the truth.”

“Why, Sarah, why?” her mother asked, a doubtful expression on her face. “Why would these two girls go out of their way to harass you?”

“I used to ride in their class. They wanted to go into the Young Riders class last spring, but Jack said they weren't ready. After that, Jack moved me up to that class, even though I was riding schoolies and they had their own horses. That totally frosted them, I guess. Maybe they get their kicks ganging up on someone. All I know is they've had it in for me ever since. Now they've told everyone in the barn to stay away from Prince because he's dangerous.”

Mrs. Wagner frowned, obviously troubled. “Why didn't you feel you could talk to us about this, Sarah?”