Crown Prince Challenged (42 page)

The indoor arena was quiet and dark when Sarah arrived there with her horse. After Derek turned on the overhead lights, she led Prince through the gate and started walking him in a large circle. Derek, Mr. DeWitt, and her father watched from the sidelines as Prince followed her slowly, his head low. Sarah needed to urge him forward when he occasionally halted.

“I see you have your pickup and trailer outside,” Mr. DeWitt said to Derek.

“Yes,” Derek replied. “It was late when I got back here from the show. That's when I discovered Prince.”

Sarah kept checking her watch, and when twenty minutes had passed, she turned him back toward the gate. They had almost reached it when Prince came to a halt, and with a slight groan, passed a large pile of manure.

“Yea!” Derek called out. “This is the first time in my life I've been excited to see this.” Sarah was still too tense to laugh with the others.

“I suspect things are looking brighter,” her father said, “so I'm going home to get some shuteye. Do you want to come with me, Sarah?” She shook her head. “I think you'll have a long night here, but call when you need a ride.”

There was no sign of Gus when Sarah walked Prince back to his stall, but the grain had been cleaned up and the door to the feed room was shut with its padlock in place. Once Prince was in his stall, Mr. DeWitt said, “I'm glad Dorothy didn't wake up when I left. She would have been terribly upset to see this horse in distress.” He turned to Sarah. “At some point, we'll need to find out how this happened. You're positive you didn't leave either of the doors open, Sarah? Is there any other explanation?”

Sarah looked directly into Mr. DeWitt gray eyes. “I would
never
leave Prince's stall door open. As for the feed room, my key is at home, and I remember locking the feed room before I left. Someone else must have a key.” Mr. DeWitt's brow furrowed into a scowl, but Sarah continued. “My first key came up missing about a month ago. The chain I always kept the key on must have broken, because it wasn't there when I was ready to feed. Gus flipped out when I told him I'd lost it, but he gave me another key. Since then I've looked everywhere, and I finally decided the chain with the key must have broken when I was riding Prince. Now I wonder if someone else found it.”

Mr. DeWitt and Derek stood quietly, pondering what Sarah had said. Finally Mr. DeWitt spoke. “If someone plotted to do this, their specific objective would have been to harm your horse, Sarah.”

An eerie, dark feeling swept over Sarah. After a moment, she said, “You already know I'm not the most popular person in this barn, Mr. DeWitt. There are a few people who've been jealous of me.” She looked up at the red ribbon hanging on Prince's stall door.

Derek shook his head. “It's hard to believe anyone would stoop so low as to intentionally harm a defenseless horse,” he said. Sarah covered her face as the tears started again.

Mr. DeWitt pulled out his phone and dialed Gus's number, asking the barn manager to come back down. Almost before DeWitt could put his phone away, Gus emerged around the corner, looking disheveled and exhausted.

“Gus,” Mr. DeWitt began, “Sarah is convinced she left the feed room locked. She tells me her key came up missing about a month ago, and you supplied her with a replacement. Her original key was never found.” Mr. DeWitt paused to look in on the horse, who was looking depressed with his head hanging low. DeWitt turned back to Gus. “I'd like to know if you observed anyone else coming to the barn tonight.”

Gus scratched his head for a moment before responding. “I was expecting Derek to bring his horse back tonight,” he said, “so I wouldn't have thought twice about the sound of vehicles coming and going.” Gus paused, looking ashamed. “To tell you the truth, I fell asleep watching my Sunday night program, and I didn't even hear Derek come in with Bismarck.”

Mr. DeWitt shifted uneasily on his feet, frowning. “Thanks for coming down, Gus. You can try to get some sleep now. I'm sorry your night was disturbed.”

After Gus had gone back to his apartment, they were all relieved to see Crown Prince pass more manure in his stall. “It looks like your horse will be okay,” Mr. DeWitt said. “I think if he's resting comfortably for the next hour, you can probably leave him and go home. I'm going back to the house now, but don't hesitate to call me if he takes a turn for the worse.”

“Good night, Mr. DeWitt,” Sarah said. “Thanks for all your help. But you should know—I'm not leaving my horse until I'm sure he's okay.”

Mr. DeWitt smiled. “I'm not surprised.” But then he turned serious. “I also want to assure you I won't rest until I find out who is behind this.”

Derek walked out of the barn with Mr. DeWitt to unhook his horse trailer, and he went around shutting off many of the lights that illuminated the parking area. While he was outside, Sarah got a dandy brush from her grooming caddy and began removing the shavings that clung to Prince's coat. Her horse had cooled down, but he continued to stand quietly with his head lowered. Bismarck moved restlessly, stopping frequently to watch the activity around Prince's stall.

Derek returned just as Sarah finished brushing Prince. She looked relieved when she came out of the stall. “The mineral oil is working. I think Prince is going to make it!” As Sarah walked closer to Derek, her face became more serious. “I've been, like, totally self-centered tonight. You and Bismarck had your first show since you moved east, and I haven't asked you how it went.” She paused, looking at him expectantly.

A smile spread across Derek's face. “I hope you won't be too critical,” he said, pausing to add some drama. “We won two red ribbons and a blue.”

Sarah's eyes widened. “Oh, my god! That's fantastic. What class did you win?”

“It was the class my dad was really hoping we'd do well in, because there were a few bucks involved. We won the last class of the night, Open Jumpers Sweepstakes, with a pretty hefty purse.”

Sarah felt like throwing her arms around Derek in a big hug, but she stopped herself in time. She was ecstatic, and her face told it all. “That's awesome! You must have been totally psyched.”

“Something like that,” Derek said, wearing the smile that melted many girls' heartstrings. “After all the money my folks plunked down to import Bismarck, I was really happy to do well.”

Sarah walked closer to Derek. “It's so late—you'd probably like to go home. Thanks for staying so long. I'll be okay, and I think I'll call my dad before long.”

Sarah was turning for the tack room when Derek took her arm and gently turned her toward him. “Sarah, there's something I have to tell you.” He hesitated, choosing his words carefully. “I hope I'm not being too pushy at a tough time.” He stopped again, wondering if he should go on. After an awkward pause, he said, “I'm not sure why you've kept me at arm's length for a long time, but I got the message. You've sent plenty of signals that you want to be my friend, but nothing more, and you've been pretty clear about that. Then tonight I put my arm around you at a time when all you could think of was your horse. I guess I was out of line.”

Sarah was reeling. She was physically and emotionally drained, and now this. He was right—she had kept herself from thinking of Derek as anything other than a riding friend. She looked directly in his eyes, those incredibly blue eyes, and there was a tightening in her throat. “Derek, how can you talk to me this way? Don't you think I know about your girlfriend in Chicago? Why would I be interested in a guy who's already taken?”

Derek's jaw dropped, and for a moment he was speechless. “Girlfriend in Chicago?” he said. “Whatever gave you that idea?”

Sarah shook her head to clear it. Then she remembered learning about Derek's girlfriend from Kayla, who'd been informed by … Rita! Sarah looked back at Derek. “Rita told Kayla she was calling you a lot until you finally spilled the beans. Didn't you tell Rita about a girlfriend named Meredith you dated in Chicago? Didn't you tell her you were going back to see Meredith at Christmas and during spring break?”

Derek shook his head, his teeth clenched. “How could you buy a line that came from Rita Snyder? I don't know any girl named Meredith, and I don't have a girlfriend by any other name either. I'm not seeing anyone!” He expelled a deep breath. “I did get tired of Rita calling me all the time, and I told her I was busy a few times, but I never mentioned a girlfriend.”

Their conversation was interrupted by Gus, who ambled around the corner. Without saying a word, he went directly to Prince's stall and looked in on the horse.

“He's passed manure three times, Gus,” Sarah said.

A wave of relief came over Gus's face. With a slight hint of a smile, he said, “Good. But I'll keep looking in on him every hour.” With that, he turned and started back to his apartment.

Derek smiled at Sarah. “Yes, I've heard what everyone says about Gus—he takes incredible care of every horse in the barn. Do you feel it's safe to leave Prince now?”

“Knowing that Gus will be checking him through the night, yes, I do.”

“Come on, then,” he said, taking her hand. “I'll give you a ride home.”

SARAH SLEPT LATER THAN USUAL
the next morning, waking only when a beam of bright sunlight played on her face. She lay still, her head gradually clearing, as the events of the last few days came flooding back. Wexford Hall, Prince's colic, and Derek. Could she have dreamed any of it? Remembering her late night conversation with Derek, she felt almost giddy. Finally she threw the covers off and got up. She had to go to the barn to check on Prince.

Soon Sarah was pedaling her bike along Ridge Road on her way to the farm. She immediately went to her horse and was overjoyed to find him eating hay in his stall. He took the carrots she offered and lowered his head for her hug. He didn't seem perky, and his eyes weren't as bright as usual, but he was definitely over the colic.

Stepping outside the stall, Sarah speed-dialed Kayla. She wanted to tell her about the nightmare they had gone through and see how Fanny was after Wexford Hall. Kayla picked up right away. “I hope Fanny came out of the event okay,” Sarah said.

“Absolutely fine,” Kayla said. “She's getting to be a seasoned campaigner.” Then Kayla asked about Crown Prince. Sarah's friend sounded horror-struck when she said, “How is Mr. DeWitt going to get to the bottom of this? I think we both have a strong suspicion who did it.”

Sarah's brows creased into a frown. “I wish I knew.”

“Keep me posted.”

Sarah was cleaning Prince's stall when Mr. and Mrs. DeWitt came to the barn with their Jack Russells charging ahead of them. Mrs. DeWitt hurried to Sarah as she came out of the stall. “You poor girl,” she said, giving her a hug. “Chandler told me everything you went through last night. What a horrible experience! I'm so relieved Crown Prince came out of it all right.”

“I hope you slept in this morning,” Mr. DeWitt said. “It certainly was a late night.” The DeWitts walked over to look at Crown Prince.

“I guess it's not surprising that he's totally dragging today,” Sarah said. “I wonder when he'll be feeling like himself.”

Mr. DeWitt studied the horse, who was standing quietly in the rear of his stall with his head slightly lowered. “Crown Prince does look drawn and tucked up,” he said, “but he'll be fine in a day or so. The big dose of meds Dr. Reynolds gave him last night to relax him probably hasn't completely worn off. That would partly explain his lethargic manner.”

Mr. DeWitt's face was grave when he turned back to Sarah. “I assured you that I intend to find out who acted so maliciously, and I've already begun my own investigation. Gus and Dorothy both confirm that a second key was given to you, so we know that your original key is currently missing.”

Mrs. DeWitt voiced an opinion. “I told Chandler that if you say you remember locking the feed room last night, then of course you did. And it doesn't make any sense you would leave your horse's stall door wide open as you were leaving.”

“I spoke to Jack this morning,” Mr. DeWitt said. “He was absolutely stunned when I told him what happened. He's a light sleeper, and he distinctly remembers hearing Derek's pickup and trailer go by the bungalow on the farm road very late last night. But he also heard a car go by a few hours before that, and not long afterward, a car again passed the bungalow as it left the farm.”

Sarah's eyes grew large as she listened expectantly, her mind racing.

Mr. DeWitt read her mind. “Unfortunately Jack didn't see any of the vehicles, so we don't have any positive identification. I'd like to continue my inquiry this morning. Dorothy is planning to ride Medina, and if you can leave your horse for a while, I'd like you to come with me.”

Sarah's face clouded, unsure what this meant. “How can I help?” she asked.

“It's your horse that was threatened, and you need to be on top of everything that comes to light. It's possible you'll remember some helpful information as we talk to a few people.”

Sarah looked at her horse, who had started nibbling on some hay in his stall. “Okay,” she said. “I can leave Prince for a while.”

Once they were in his red Blazer, Mr. DeWitt drove out to Ridge Road and turned right toward the beach. They chatted about the Wexford Hall competition as they passed through the Yardley village and onto the road to Winchester. With a lump in her throat, Sarah knew what their destination would be. They were going to see everyone's top suspect: Rita.

A few miles later, they turned by the green-and-white Pyramid Farm sign into the long paved driveway that would take them to the Snyders' estate. Coming out of a grove of evergreen trees, they passed the trout pond, the barn surrounded by white-fenced paddocks, and the hulking indoor arena looming behind it. The Snyders' van and new gooseneck trailer were parked beside the barn. Mr. DeWitt continued along the driveway and pulled up near the portico in front of the pillared house.