Crown Prince Challenged (23 page)

A few minutes later Derek's parents strode into the arena. As they climbed up the bleachers to sit beside her, Mrs. Alexander beamed at Sarah. “It's a nice surprise to see you on a day that finally feels like spring,” she said. “You're not usually here when Derek rides.”

“We had a half day of school today,” Sarah replied. She considered how good-looking Mrs. Alexander was, with expensive clothes, attractive makeup, and her hair stylishly coiffed.

“Derek's fortunate that Winchester Academy allows his riding activities to substitute for phys ed, so he can leave school early on Thursdays,” Mrs. Alexander said. “We make a point of being here to watch his lessons with Jack whenever we can.”

“We've been hearing good things from Derek about Bismarck's neighbor, Crown Prince,” Mr. Alexander said. “He tells us your horse has a world of potential.”

Sarah wasn't sure what to say. She always felt embarrassed when showered with compliments. After pausing a moment, she said, “We owe everything to Jack and his awesome instruction. Prince and I have learned so much from him.”

Jack arrived at the same time Kelly and Nicole came into the arena and climbed up on the bleachers. Without saying a word, the girls went to the top row and slid to the far end away from Sarah.

Various jumps had been set up to make a course in the arena—spread fences, verticals, and combinations. Sarah was shocked by the size of the jumps. They were far bigger than anything her class had been asked to tackle. She was surprised when Jack began the lesson exactly as he did for the Young Riders, with exercises and flat work. After Derek trotted Bismarck in a long-and-low frame, he gradually gathered him between hand and leg and started bending and counter-bending exercises. These were followed by leg-yielding and counter-canter, frequent transitions and changes of direction. Lastly Derek worked on flying changes of lead, which Sarah knew were important on a jumping course.

When Jack felt Bismarck was sufficiently supple, he asked Derek to come back to walk and shorten his stirrups before starting work over fences. Finally Derek had the handsome bay Hol-steiner trot on a circle at one end of the arena before approaching the in-and-out. It had a moderate cross-rail as the first element, making it simple and inviting.
This is very much like what we do in my class,
Sarah thought,
except the jumps are higher and we've not gotten to flying changes of lead.

There was no ground line in front of the in-and-out, but Bismarck trotted smartly to the cross-rail and jumped it easily. After taking one stride upon landing, he lifted off for the second element, a vertical, jumping it well. Jack quickly put the rail in a higher set of cups, and Derek came through again. “Don't get ahead of him,” Jack called out, as he again raised the rail. The size of the vertical had risen dramatically, but it didn't seem to faze Bismarck or his rider. Jack raised the top rail one more time, and after Bismarck jumped it without difficulty, Jack asked Derek to continue on to a large oxer he had set up earlier.

Bismarck cantered confidently down the arena toward the jump. “Keep that pace,” Jack called out, “and after the oxer, change direction and come to the red-and-white vertical. I hope to see a clean flying change four or five strides after the oxer.” Bismarck pulled against the bit, anticipating the jump as he got closer, but Derek prevented him from going faster. They met the jump in just the right spot and sailed over in good form. “Well done!” Jack said.

Bismarck cantered away, and a few strides after the jump, Derek asked him to change from his left lead to his right in preparation for turning into the next jump. But Bismarck changed only with his front legs, and not behind, leaving his canter awkward and unbalanced. After a few strides, the horse corrected himself, but Jack called out, “Skip the red-and-white, and repeat the oxer. This time sit up and have your horse strongly between hand and leg before you ask for the lead change.” On the next attempt, Bismarck again jumped the fence athletically, and following it, Derek got a clean change of lead without being temporarily disunited. “Bravo!” Jack called out. “Now continue to the red-and-white. Following it, repeat the two fences again.”

At one point Derek's mother leaned over to Sarah and whispered, “What do you think?”

“Compared to what my horse jumps, these fences are like skyscrapers!” Sarah replied.

After a short break, Derek and Bismarck finished by jumping a full course that included all the fences. It was an excellent performance, and Sarah was definitely impressed.

When Derek had halted his horse in the center, Jack walked over to speak with him a few minutes. Kelly and Nicole scampered down from the bleachers, and when Jack turned and left the arena, they ran over to Derek, walking beside him as he rode his horse toward his parents on the bleachers.

“You were amazing!” Nicole said, reaching up to pat Bismarck's shoulder.

Kelly beamed up at Derek. “You and Bismarck are awesome!” she said.

“Thanks,” Derek said, looking ahead to his parents and Sarah. When he came to a halt in front of them, Kelly and Nicole continued to stroke Bismarck, standing in front of him. They peppered Derek with questions and compliments. In the face of Kelly and Nicole's exhibition, Sarah hung back. Finally Derek said, “Excuse me, girls,” as he vaulted off his horse. They continued to stand between him and his parents as he ran up his irons.

Mrs. Alexander was frowning and seemed taken aback by the girls' aggressive behavior. She cleared her throat and said in an authoritative tone, “Excuse me, girls. If I may, I'd like to speak to my son.” Kelly and Nicole looked surprised as they swung around to face her, mumbling, “See ya, Derek,” before walking away.

Mrs. Alexander raised her eyebrows. “You are certainly being hounded by those two,” she said.

“Oh, they're harmless,” Derek replied, watching them go.

“Well, you and Bismarck performed incredibly well,” Mr. Alexander said. “I think Jack O'Brien is bringing out the best in both of you.”

“Thanks, Dad. I need to get Bismarck moving. He worked pretty hard. I'm going to walk him in the indoor after I put his cooler on.” As he started to turn his horse away from them, his gaze landed on Sarah, standing shyly in the background. He stopped. “I hope we weren't too bad, coach,” he said, grinning.

Sarah couldn't resist a smile. “Not
too
bad.” Turning to leave, she waved to Derek and his parents. “I need to bring Prince in.”

On her way to the paddocks, Sarah passed Quarry's stall. The door was shut, but Sarah stopped in her tracks when she heard a sob come from inside. She didn't move, listening. Yes, someone was in there with Quarry. Turning back to look more closely, she saw Paige standing on the far side of her horse, her face buried in the gray gelding's mane.

“Are you okay, Paige?” she said softly. There was no response for several moments, but then Paige came toward the door and slid it open enough for Sarah to squeeze in. Paige was obviously distraught, her face wet with tears, her eyes red and puffy. Sarah instinctively gave her a hug.

Other boarders might be within hearing distance, so Sarah's voice was low, almost a whisper when she said, “Is there anything I can do?”

Paige leaned back on the stall wall and covered her face with her hands, sobbing. Finally she pulled them away and met Sarah's gaze. “Tim and I had an awful fight,” she murmured. “It's the first one we ever had, but it was serious. It might be a deal-breaker.” Her head dropped, and she began to cry again.

Sarah was silent, wishing there was something she could say or do to comfort her friend.

When Paige could speak, she went on. “There's a girl that lives near Tim, and he's been giving her rides to school. Do you know Amy Campbell?”

Sarah nodded. “Not very well. You guys are a year ahead of me, but I know who she is.”

“Well, I saw them in the cafeteria together, and they were definitely flirting. Tim says it's nothing. He says I've got a rich imagination, and that if I can't trust him on this one…. Her voice broke off, and more sobs followed. She reached into her pocket for a tissue and blew her nose loudly.

Sarah wished she knew the right thing to say. Paige had been her friend since she started riding at Brookmeade. “Would it help if you talk to Tim some more about this?” she said. “Maybe he's had a chance to think about it. Maybe he's sorry.”

Paige shook her head. “He walked away from me. I'm not going to go crawling to him!” Quarry seemed to sense something was wrong and reached around to nuzzle Paige's hair. She gently pushed his gray muzzle away and reached out to stroke him. “I think I'm going to take off,” Paige said. “I can't ride today. Quarry was turned out this morning, so he'll be okay.”

“Are you sure there isn't anything I can do to help?” Sarah asked again.

Paige shook her head. She hugged Sarah and then her horse one last time. “Bye, Quarry,” she said as the two girls left the stall. Paige slid the door shut and hurried down the aisle.

Sarah wondered if Tim was at the barn, but she saw no sign of him as she walked down the aisle on her way to the paddock to bring her horse in. Paige was such a knockout! How could Tim even think about another girl? Sarah wondered if his interest in Amy Campbell was for real.

When Sarah neared his paddock, she saw Prince on the far side, grubbing for bits of grass where the snow had melted thin. This was the first day in a long time he hadn't worn a blanket when turned out. When she whistled softly, his ears shot forward and he raised his beautiful head to look her way, his large eyes watching her inquisitively. Against the backdrop of snow, he was like a noble statue.

Sarah slipped through the gate and went to her horse. He stretched his neck to lift the piece of carrot she held in her hand, chewing it as she attached the lead shank to his halter. His eyes were soft and wrinkled in the corners, showing he was glad to see her. “C'mon, buddy,” she said, and they started back to the barn.

Derek was on his way to the side door as Sarah led Prince into the barn. She halted her horse in the aisle and called to Derek, speaking as he walked back to her. “I'm glad I caught you before you left. You and Bismarck were amazing today!” she said. “I can't imagine
ever
jumping fences that tall and wide.”

Derek grinned. “But that's all we do,” he said. “Bismarck doesn't have to do dressage tests or cross-country.” He thought a minute. “He's a specialist.”

“I don't know about that,” Sarah said. “You were doing as many dressage movements in your warm-up with Jack as we do in our lessons. With all the flatwork training he's getting, Bismarck could be a fantastic event horse.” She steadied Prince, who was tugging on the shank to get closer to Wichita in his stall. “Bismarck is a wonderful horse, Derek. I'm sure your parents think so, too.”

“Yeah,” he said. “They're looking forward to when we can start showing again. As for our flatwork, doing all the dressage stuff is entirely new to us. My instructor in Chicago didn't bother with anything except some generic walk, trot, and canter before we started jumping. Bismarck is going so much better with Jack's approach.” He stepped back to leave. “Thanks for coming to my lesson.”

Once Prince was on the cross-ties, Sarah got busy with her curry comb and brushes. He'd come to enjoy being groomed and was completely relaxed. His head drooped as she curried his rump in a strong, circular motion. While she was tacking him up, Sarah began to have second thoughts about what she and her horse would do that day. It was so warm and spring-like outside. Maybe she'd ditch her plan to work in the indoor and just hack Prince on the farm road instead. Yesterday's lesson had been like all of Jack's lessons—challenging—and perhaps Prince could use an easy routine today. The higher temps as of late had melted all the ice on the entry road, leaving the gravel surface soft and forgiving.

After putting on her helmet and grabbing her crop, Sarah led Prince from the barn to the mounting block in the courtyard. The afternoon sun was warmer than it had been for some time, promising spring and green grass around the corner. As they started up the entry road hill, she unzipped her jacket part way, soaking up the sun. At that moment she wished Derek was riding with her. They could talk about so many things, and after watching his lesson, she had a lot of questions.

Prince seemed content to walk without pulling to go faster, which was a blessing. She wasn't in a mood to contend with a feisty horse, and was glad he was walking quietly on a longish rein. After rounding the top of the hill by the O'Briens' bungalow, Sarah saw a car coming toward them, making its way along the road and over the bridge. It was Tim's black Jeep. Fortunately Gus plowed the road wide enough so Tim would have plenty of room to pass her, in spite of the remaining snow banks. When he got closer, the Jeep slowed and stopped right beside her.

Sarah halted her horse as Tim rolled down his window, wearing his typical grin. “Has a little spring fever driven you outside?” he asked?”

He's such a neat guy,
Sarah thought.
It's no surprise lots of girls would put him in their sights.

“I
guess you could say that,” she said. “After the winter we've had, the sun sure is nice. What are you doing today?”

“I'm not sure.” He paused a moment. “Do you know if Paige is riding Quarry?”

Before she could bite her tongue, Sarah blurted out the words. “She left for home a little while ago. She seemed pretty upset.” Sarah studied Tim's face, waiting for a response.

Tim shook his head and then looked up at Sarah. “Look, she's got this crazy idea that Amy Campbell and I've got something going. Amy lives a couple houses down from us. You know her, right?” When Sarah nodded, he went on. “Just because I give her a ride to school, Paige thinks I'm hitting on her.”