Crown Prince Challenged (27 page)

Sarah frowned. “I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hoping to be the stable manager. But I know Kelly has been disappointed in the past. Maybe this will make it up to her. Maybe this will help build some bridges.”

Jack smiled. “I had a feeling you'd handle your disappointment with a lot of maturity,” he said. “You'll have your chance. You and your horse are exceptionally talented, and if you continue to work hard, there's no doubt in my mind you'll be rewarded someday. You and Prince have a bright future ahead.”

Sarah rose from her chair, preparing to leave, but Jack stopped her before she got to the door. “One last thing, Sarah. I've told you this information in confidence. I wanted to break it to you before you see the list that will be posted tomorrow. But please don't share this information with anyone. Will you promise to keep it confidential?”

Sarah turned back. “Yes, Jack, I will,” she said, and then left the office. It was almost time to feed the horses, but first she needed to see Crown Prince. He raised his head from his water bucket when she entered the stall, and then stood quietly as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her head against his mane. Just feeling his warmth lifted her spirits. As disappointed as she was, she was fully aware that having a horse as grand as Crown Prince was a million times better than being on the Brookmeade team. She'd be staying in Yardley when the team went to Wexford Hall, but Prince would be here, too.

While Sarah stood with her horse, Derek returned from schooling Bismarck in the outside ring. He noticed her right away and halted his horse in front of Prince's stall. “I've got some good news,” he said, smiling.

Sarah moved away from Prince and came out of the stall, sliding the door shut behind her. “Some good news would be great right now,” she said.

“Gus and Lucas just moved four stadium jumps into the outside ring,” he said. “Now I won't have to reserve schooling over fences to the indoor or hunt course.” Derek paused as he looked at her more closely. “You look like you just lost your best friend. What's going on? Are those bullies at it again?”

Sarah hung her head and then returned his gaze. “I wish I could tell you, Derek, but I can't. Not until tomorrow. And I've got to feed the horses now.” Frowning, he watched her walk away.

SARAH HADN'T BEEN HOME
five minutes when her cell phone rang. It was Kayla. “I'll be down in a minute,” Sarah called to her mother, as she hurried up the stairs to the privacy of her room. Once she was seated on the side of her bed, she spoke to Kayla. “What's up?”

“You know what Jack said about conditioning, getting the horses fit for the event?” Kayla began. “Paige and I want to ride to the beach on Saturday. Paige says there's an awesome trail that goes around the Quimby farm and comes out near the cottages on Dune Grass Lane. If we go at low tide, maybe we can let the horses run a bit on the beach! Anyway, want to come?”

“Oh, wow,” Sarah said. “That's a no-brainer! Just let me know what time.” She shifted to get comfortable on her bed. “You know, it's a shame Tim and Paige broke up. Riding in the same class makes things totally weird for everybody. Except Rita. She practically throws herself at him, even with Paige right there. But Tim doesn't seem to take the bait.”

“Tim knows Rita too well. I noticed he had a long face when he was looking at Paige this afternoon. Do you know if he still hangs out with Amy Campbell?” Kayla asked.

“I haven't a clue,” Sarah replied. “But I could ask around. I just wish Tim and Paige would stop being so stubborn. It's easy to see they'd like to get back together.”

“So who do you think will be on the list Jack's going to post? All the Young Riders? Rita and I haven't evented before, but Jack will have us whipped into shape by the middle of June. And you're a sure bet to be the stable manager.”

There was silence as Kayla waited for a response. Sarah hated to be less than honest with her friend, but no way could she tell Kayla who the stable manager would be. She'd made the promise of secrecy to Jack. “I guess we'll just have to wait and see,” she said.

Another long pause, until Kayla said, “Is something going on? You don't sound yourself.”

Sarah took a deep breath, determined to sound upbeat. “Hey, wasn't Fanny awesome today! She's going to be great in that event.”

Kayla wasn't buying it. “I think you know something you're not telling me, Sarah Wagner.” There was an awkward silence. “And I'll bet it came from Jack.” Sarah said nothing, confirming Kayla's suspicion. “Well, kid, I can understand you don't want to get into any trouble.”

“Everyone will see the list tomorrow,” Sarah said. “I've got to help Mom in the kitchen. See ya!” Sarah closed her phone. Kayla was pretty sharp. But she'd just have to wait to learn that Kelly Hoffman would be part of the Brookmeade Farm team.

* * * * *

The next afternoon Sarah was riding her bicycle on the farm road heading to the barn when she met Rita leaving the farm in her convertible. The car braked to a stop beside Sarah, and Rita ran down her window. “I had to come over to see the list,” Rita said. “No surprises, but do you want to know who's on the team?” she teased. After a long hesitation, she said, “I am, along with Tim, Kayla, and Paige.” And then with a vicious smile, she added, “Kelly Hoffman will be the stable manager.”

When Sarah didn't appear the least bit surprised or disappointed, Rita seemed annoyed. It wasn't what she'd expected, and she decided to go nasty. “I hope you can get a car one of these days. It must be a total drag riding that bicycle all the time.” Now she paused to smirk. “Well, I've gotta get home to ride Chancellor in my new indoor arena.”

As Rita drove away, Sarah remembered Rita's confession last summer. Rita had admitted she was jealous of Sarah, but not just because of Sarah's spectacular horse. While Sarah's mother had survived a terrible car accident, Rita's mother had died when she was born. Rita was carrying a heavy burden of loss. No, Sarah wasn't going to let Rita get under her skin. Rita was to be pitied.
She puts on a pretty good act that she's the happiest person on earth because of all the things her father's money can buy,
Sarah thought,
but she's not.

Sarah continued biking along the roadway. There were three young foals with their dams in the broodmares' pastures to her left, all healthy and growing fast. The O'Briens' bungalow came into view, and once she'd topped the rise, she coasted the rest of the way to the parking area. She hurried into the barn, planning to clean Prince's stall while he was turned out, but she couldn't resist swinging by the office to see the notice posted on the bulletin board.

The list was exactly as Rita had described, although there was one additional detail Sarah hadn't considered. Each team would be allowed a coach, and of course Jack would be the coach for the Brookmeade Farm team. And as Sarah had known in advance, Kelly Hoffman was named the team's stable manager.

Sarah headed for the shavings shed to pick up a wheelbarrow and manure fork. While she was working in the stall, Derek arrived back with Bismarck. He'd had his weekly lesson with Jack earlier in the afternoon and then taken his horse for a short hack. As soon as Bismarck was on the cross-ties, Derek came over to Prince's stall.

“Hi,” Derek said. Sarah stopped what she was doing and came to the stall's doorway. “I saw Kelly was named stable manager,” he said. He studied Sarah's face for signs of disappointment, but instead she smiled.

“I'm not surprised, actually,” Sarah said. “Kelly has had her own horse longer than I have, and she probably knows a lot more about taking care of horses. The team deserves the most experienced person.”

“Are you okay with this? Everyone thought you'd get it.”

Sarah picked up the manure fork, and after tossing more soiled bedding into the wheelbarrow, she turned back to Derek. “I don't have time to waste feeling jealous of Kelly Hoffman. Besides, going with the team to Wexford Hall would keep me away from Prince too long. I'm thinking about taking him to the Meadow Mist Farm show in Winchester in July. Kayla wants to show Fanny there, and she said her mother could truck Prince, too. We need to work hard to be ready.” She reached toward Prince's water bucket to skim off some hay floating on top before turning back to Derek. “How was your lesson today?”

“The fences are getting pretty high, but Bismarck's holding his own. I'm looking for some shows, too. I wonder if they have a jumper division at that Winchester show.”

“I'll ask Kayla,” Sarah said, just as she remembered the trail ride on Saturday. It would be so much fun to have Derek come with them. “And by the way, Kayla and Paige asked me to come with them Saturday when they're going to ride to the beach. Would that work for you?”

“This Saturday?” Derek asked. When Sarah nodded, he shook his head. “That sucks! My dad wants to take me to look at a few colleges on Saturday, and there's no way I can get out of it. I'd love to go with you sometime.”

Just then Kelly burst around the corner, heading straight to Derek. “Guess what!” she exclaimed. “I'm going to be the Brookmeade Farm team's stable manager at Wexford Hall. Isn't that awesome?” Kelly turned and gave Sarah a smug smile, before turning back to Derek. “Jack must think I know more about taking care of horses than anyone else in this barn.” She looked at Sarah again, smirking.

“That's great,” Sarah said, hoping she didn't sound obviously insincere.
Kelly must have gone totally bananas when she saw her name on the list,
Sarah thought.
I hope she feels she's evened the score and will take me off her most-hated list.

“Congrats,” Derek said. “I'm glad you're so happy. I hope it won't be a lot of totally grungy work.”

But nothing was going to bring Kelly down from the cloud nine she was soaring on. She danced away to get Midnight Jet ready to ride.

* * * * *

The sun was barely up Saturday morning when Sarah's clock radio came on, awakening her from a deep sleep. She lay there a few minutes until she remembered why she'd set the alarm so early. Today they were going to ride the horses to the beach! She needed to get to the barn extra early to make a dent in her barn chores before Kayla and Paige were ready to go. She gulped down a light breakfast before retrieving her lunch and several carrots from the refrigerator. She got on her bike and headed to Brookmeade Farm.

It was one of the few times Sarah had been the first person to arrive at the barn, beating out the early birds who liked to ride when the day was coolest. She first went to her horse and hugged his dark bay head before giving him his mandatory carrot. Prince had a coating of shavings on his left side where he'd lain down in the night.

Stepping out of the stall, Sarah noticed the sounds of horses anxious to receive their morning hay and grain. It was still early to feed, but the horses knew she was there. Many of them were circling their stalls, expressing their impatience with soft nickers and occasional deep throated neighs. But Gus would have to give his approval for her to change the feeding time, and she certainly didn't want to cross him! Sarah hoped he had finally gotten over being mad that she'd lost the feed room key. It had never shown up, leading Sarah to believe the chain had broken when she was riding on the trail that afternoon. Its replacement was on a new, sturdier chain around her neck.

There was no sign of Gus when Sarah looked down the front aisle, and he wasn't in the back of the barn either. It was hard to believe Gus wasn't already filling water buckets. Sarah decided to start with her sweeping chores, but she had just begun with the push broom when Gus appeared, red baseball cap and all. He must have noticed her bicycle parked outside the doorway, because he showed no surprise when he saw her. Sarah leaned her broom against the wall and walked up to him. “Is it too early to feed the horses?” she asked.

Gus looked at his watch. “Won't do any harm,” he said before turning abruptly to retrieve the long hose.

Great!
Sarah thought.
Prince will have plenty of time to polish off his hay before we leave.
She went to the feed room to get the grain push cart. When she arrived at Prince's stall, he stood near his feed tub tossing his head and then dove into the grain after she poured it into his tub. Bismarck nickered softly as she approached with his ration.

Later in the morning, after both aisles, the lounge, and the two tack rooms had been swept, Sarah went outside to see if Kayla had arrived. Mrs. Romano and Kayla were just pulling into the parking area in their pickup with the trailer in tow. Sarah waved to Kayla and went back into the barn, where Paige was grooming Quarry in the aisle. “Be ready in a few minutes!” Sarah called to her.

She couldn't help being excited. She'd always dreamed of someday riding a horse on the beach, cantering along a huge expanse of packed sand close to the ocean waves. She could almost smell the salt air and hear the sound of the white-capped surf. And now it was going to happen. They'd soon be on their way!

Sarah hurried back to Prince's stall and put him on the cross-ties. She had groomed him earlier, so it was just a matter of tacking up and getting herself ready. Once Prince was saddled and bridled, she put on her half chaps and helmet and led her horse to the courtyard. Paige was already outside on Quarry, and Kayla was approaching the barn riding Fanny. Sarah led Prince to the mounting block and moments later she was astride her horse.

“Hey, kid,” Kayla greeted her as she rode Fanny into the courtyard. Sarah could tell Kayla was keyed up too. “In all the time I've had a horse, I've never ridden on the beach before,” Kayla said.

“How about you, Paige?” Sarah asked, as Fanny and Crown Prince came alongside Quarry. “Didn't you and Tim ride to the beach last year?”