Crown Prince Challenged (17 page)

Mr. DeWitt continued. “Upon hearing about the incident from you, Mrs. Hoffman, Jack immediately examined Midnight Jet. Can you tell us what you found, Jack?”

“A veterinarian I'm not,” Jack said, “but I've had enough experience looking for signs of injuries, such as heat and swelling. I found nothing on Midnight Jet to indicate he had been kicked, and the horse was never off.”

“Sarah, will you tell us what
you
saw when your horse kicked out at Jet?” Mr. DeWitt said.

Sarah took a deep breath, and willed her voice not to waver. “When I looked behind me, I saw Midnight Jet trotting very fast toward Prince. I worried he might hit us. Prince also saw Jet coming, and just before it looked like they might collide, Prince kicked out with his left hind leg. Jet swerved sharply to his left to miss the kick, and Kelly fell off.”

“I think we've gotten the facts as best we can know them,” Mr. DeWitt said. “It's what happened next that is most troubling. I'm under the impression that you, Kelly, and your friend, Nicole, told a number of people—those who board their horses at the barn as well as students who take lessons here—that Crown Prince is dangerous and should not be allowed around other horses. Your rumor has been spread by word of mouth, texting, e-mail, and even on the internet. Is this true?”

Kelly's face flushed a deep red and she looked down, unable to meet Mr. DeWitt's gaze. Her mother looked at her shamefully. “Did you feed me lies, Kelly Hoffman?” she asked in a sharp voice. There was a long pause before Mrs. Hoffman turned back to Mr. DeWitt, shaking her head. “If what you say is true, my concerns for my daughter's welfare were all based on false information. I must apologize for that.”

“Kelly,” Mr. DeWitt said, “I hope you realize how serious your actions were. You've caused nothing but stress and pain for other people, not only for Sarah, but also those who worried their children might not be safe in the barns here, or riding in the arena with other horses. It showed Jack and Brookmeade Farm in a very bad light.”

“In fairness to Kelly, there's something I'd like to add,” Mrs. Hoffman said, looking at her daughter. “When my husband and I were divorced, it was hard on Kelly and her brother. I got her the horse to help her through a bad time, but she's still under a lot of stress. I hope you can give her another chance.”

Mr. DeWitt sat quietly for a moment, deliberating. He looked directly at Kelly when he spoke. “Under most circumstances, I wouldn't hesitate to insist a bully move his or her horse from Brookmeade Farm,” he said, “but I'm going to give us all the opportunity to put this behind us, Kelly. This goes for both you and Nicole, and I plan to speak to her as well. However, there's something you need to understand. If you get involved is another incident of bullying at Brookmeade Farm, you will no longer be welcome here.”

Everyone in the room looked at Kelly, who seemed on the verge of tears. “Can you tell us it won't happen again?” her mother insisted.

Kelly nodded her head, as she covered her face with her hands. When she could speak, her voice trembled. “I love it here at Brookmeade Farm. Jet does too. I won't do it again. I promise.”

Jack got up from his chair and pointed at both Sarah and Kelly. “'Tis time for
everyone
to be friends, to get along,” he said. “'Tis time to enjoy riding together and to share your love of the horse. That's what Brookmeade Farm is all about.”

DURING THE WEEKS THAT FOLLOWED,
the days became shorter, the nights turned cooler, and the forests surrounding Brookmeade Farm became a flaming patchwork of red and gold leaves. The horses at the barn began growing winter coats to prepare them for the frigid temperatures to come. To discourage the long coats that would make cooling out difficult during the winter, Tim, Derek, and Paige were among the first riders at the barn to start blanketing their horses. As Sarah made the rounds feeding them, she noticed more and more winter blankets either on the horses or draped over a rack on the stall doors.

“I might want to do a few winter indoor shows that aren't too far away,” Derek told Sarah, “and I can't have Bismarck sweating up when I'm jumping him. When I lived near Chicago, I found out firsthand with my other horse how hard it can be to get a horse's coat to dry out in the winter. After one show, my mother had to use her hair dryer on him!”

“I can just picture that,” Sarah said, grinning.

When she was grooming Prince a few days later, Sarah noticed how much heavier his coat was getting. She pulled out her phone and punched Kayla's speed dial number. Her friend picked up right away.

“Hey, Kayla. A lot of people at Brookmeade are blanketing their horses. When do you start putting a winter blanket on Fanny?”

“I started last week. I've been blanketing Fanny early ever since I got her because of our lessons at Brookmeade over the winter. The blanket won't
totally
keep her from growing a winter coat, but it's not as long. What really keeps a horse's coat short but thick is plenty of groceries.” She paused a moment. “What's up with you, kid?”

“I guess it's time for another trip to Atlantic Saddlery. I hope I've got enough money left on the gift card the DeWitts gave me to get Prince a blanket. Do you need anything? Wanna come along?”

Kayla paused a minute. “Actually we could use dewormers, and I'm getting low on the supplement I feed Fanny to toughen up her feet.”

“I'll see when my mom can drop us off. Probably the next time she goes food shopping.”

“Hey, would a trail ride Saturday morning work for you? Mom told me this afternoon she'd drop Fanny off at Brookmeade. I've been bugging her for a while.”

Sarah was immediately excited. “We've been talking about doing that for ages! Sounds like a plan!”

“Okay. Mom said we'll aim to be there at nine. See ya!”

Sarah put her grooming equipment and tack away before going into Prince's stall to give him a final hug. He lifted his head from the pile of hay, surveying her with his large intelligent eyes while he chewed rhythmically. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Good boy, Prince. You were super today.” A few minutes later she left the barn.

On the way home, she thought about her ride on Prince that afternoon. She had been spending much of her riding time working on basic dressage exercises that Jack had mapped out for her, and Prince's progress was remarkable. Jack had said from the beginning that for a big horse, he was naturally well-balanced. With training, he was learning to carry a greater proportion of his weight with his hindquarters, making him lighter in the bridle. He was so different from the school horses she'd ridden that tended to be heavy on the forehand. Sarah was beginning to hope she and Prince might be able to compete in some small competitions in the year ahead.

Since Mr. DeWitt had stepped in to squelch Kelly and Nicole's bullying campaign, everyone seemed to have silently agreed to move on. Even Rita had been more relaxed when they rode in their lesson together. In the Young Riders class, Prince needed to jump bigger fences than he ever had in his early lessons, but so far he was holding his own. Even so, when the class was doing course work, Jack would sometimes give Prince easier fences than the other horses jumped. Jack told Sarah it was a good thing Prince always kept his cool when he was challenged, without getting rattled. He was willing to tackle the bigger fences without rushing or refusing. Sometimes he'd make a mistake and have a rail down, but he always did better on a second try. Not only was Crown Prince strikingly beautiful, but he was turning out to be a superior athlete with a wonderful temperament.

Sarah had a hard time falling asleep that night. She couldn't help thinking about how well things were going with her amazing horse. And, she was super excited that she and Kayla were finally going to take their horses on a trail ride together on Saturday. And perhaps Tim, Paige, and Derek would come along! Why hadn't she thought of that right away? Tim and Paige knew the trails on the other side of Ridge Road, and they could lead the way. With that happy thought, she finally drifted off to sleep.

* * * * *

The next day was Friday—almost the weekend. Sarah's mother was to pick up Sarah and Kayla at Yardley High after school and then drop them at Atlantic Saddlery while she did her food shopping. The girls were waiting when the SUV pulled up. Mrs. Wagner greeted them as they climbed in. “I hope you had a good day. How's school going for you, Kayla?”

“Okay,” Kayla said. “It better. I have to get good grades or my riding privileges are taken away.”

“I'll bet you do good work at school, Kayla,” Mrs. Wagner said, “and I'm sure your parents are very proud of you.” She paused a minute to glance at Sarah in the rearview mirror. “Do you know what kind of blanket you're going to get for Prince today, Sarah?”

“I looked online. I couldn't believe how expensive winter blankets are,” Sarah said. “I hope I've got enough left on the gift card. If not, I'll have to dip into my birthday money.”

When they arrived at Atlantic Saddlery, Mrs. Wagner stopped the car near the entrance to let the girls out. “I should be back in less than an hour. I'll take Kayla home first and then drop you at Brookmeade,” she said. The girls quickly exited the car and hurried into the tack shop. It wasn't nearly as busy now as when it first opened several months before, and there were only a few other customers there.

“I think blankets are in the back,” Kayla said.

“I'm going to have my gift card checked first,” Sarah said, heading to the front of the shop. As she approached the cash register, she saw the shop's owner, who had helped her pick out her new saddle back in June. The woman must have recognized her, too.

“How's that saddle working out for you?” she asked, smiling at Sarah.

“It's great,” Sarah said, handing her the card. “Now it's time to get a winter blanket, but I need to find out how much is left on my card.”

The woman slipped the card through the register. “Oh, you've got a lot left,” she said reassuringly. “You can get more than a winter blanket, even if you buy our best one.”

“Cool,” Sarah said.

“See, you worried for nothing,” Kayla chided her. “Maybe you can get a sheet or a cooler, too.”

On their way to the back of the shop, Kayla asked, “What color do you want? I don't remember that you picked out a color for Prince.”

“Everything I got before was pretty generic, like black. I didn't even know what color my horse would be then.” They stood before the big racks that had several styles of blankets bagged in plastic, with a few opened up and hanging on display. At the end of the rack was a bright red quilted winter blanket.

“I think red would go with a dark bay,” Sarah said. “What do you think?”

Kayla scrunched up her eyebrows, thinking. “Actually almost any color would work for him. Red wouldn't look good on a chestnut like Fanny. That's why I went with green for her. Do you like the red one?”

“Totally. I guess there's no question what size Prince will need,” Sarah said, laughing. She pulled out the blanket, a size LL, that took both of her arms to hold it, and checked the price tag. “That's settled. Want to look for your dewormer?”

They passed some beautiful high-quality halters as they walked down another aisle. “Look, Kayla,” Sarah said, pointing to a fleece-padded leather halter on a model horse. “Prince would look so handsome in one of these.”

“Yeah, I have fleece to put on Fanny's halter when we go to shows,” Kayla said. “I always get horse stuff at Christmas and for my birthday. Hey, if you've got money left on your card, why don't you get one of those?”

Sarah thought a moment. “Yeah, I could get the fleece and maybe a cheap leather halter for turnout. I hate it when Prince gets mud on his good one. I have to clean it and use neatsfoot oil on it, a real pain.”

They walked further down the aisle until Kayla stopped before a bin. She scooped up a half dozen packages of dewormer of different kinds. “We have to stagger what we give the horses to hit different kinds of worms,” she said. “With two horses in our barn, we go through these pretty fast.” She looked at Sarah. “What about Prince?”

“Dr. Reynolds wormed him when he came to the barn last month. One of these days, I'll have to watch you give the meds to Fanny, so I can start doing it myself.”

“Fanny hates the taste of it, so my mom holds her head up and then squirts it into her mouth while her nose is in the air. That way she can't spit it out.”

Kayla walked further down that aisle. “And here's the Biotin supplement that I need. It's supposed to make horses grow a strong hoof wall.”

After the girls paid for their purchases, they left the shop and stood near the entrance watching for Mrs. Wagner. “I hope she gets here pretty soon,” Sarah said. “We've got better things to do than stand around waiting!” The afternoon was ticking away, and she still needed enough time to clean Prince's stall before she fed the horses. She wouldn't be able to ride, but with any luck, she might be able to longe Prince before her father picked her up.

“It must be good to have Kelly and Nicole off your back,” Kayla said. “It took some nerve for them to send out all those text messages. You'd think they'd be smart enough to know they'd get caught.” Kayla paused, and a lopsided smile crept onto her face. “Or maybe not!”

“Kelly still gives me dirty looks when I see her in the tack room or when I'm leading Prince to the indoor. She's kind of a ditz, if you ask me.” Sarah looked up the street, watching for their SUV. “But I guess she's had a tough time with her parents' divorce.”

“Oh,” Sarah said, “I forgot to ask—how about Paige and Tim coming with us tomorrow? And maybe Derek?”