Authors: Kelly McKain
Jessica and Jewel (9 page)
Once everyone was in bed and the lights were out, I was lying there listening to all the whispering and fun down the corridor. I'd thought Tegan was asleep, but then she told me to go and join in. I said I didn't want to, but she said, “I know you
do
, Jess, and I promise you I'll be fine here. I know I can come and get you if I feel lonely or scared.” And so I went! I sneaked back a couple of times to check on her, but she was soon fast asleep.
It was brilliant all squashing into the secret camp on Claudia's bunk bed. Me, Bailey, Claudia and Dannii had so much fun!
We told secrets, which I won't properly write down in here of course, but I can say I was amazed by what Claudia told us about her BFF! I also found out which one of Dannii's bro's mates she has a crush on.
We had a midnight feast of Skittles and Twirls that Dannii had somehow managed to save until the last night, and talked about private girl stuff, which I'm not going to write down here either! It was fantastic and I didn't get back into my own bed until past one o'clock. So I should probably feel tired this morning, but I'm so keen to make the most of my last day with Jewel that I don't at all!
We’ve had THE most amazing day!
This morning we had a lesson first thing, only there wasn’t a lecture afterwards because instead we needed to prepare for the display we were putting on. It wasn’t a proper gymkhana or anything, but just a fun thing for the parents to watch, showing them everything we’ve learned this week.
After a break for juice and biccies (which we really needed after that lesson – it’s been a scorching day!) it was time to get our ponies ready. We brought them down to the yard and tied them up along the wall. That way Sally and Lydia could help us, and we could share all the kit for making our ponies look extra cool.
Everyone was getting really creative, with plaits in the mane and ribbons in the tail and even stencils on their ponies’ hindquarters. Shine did look fantastic with the star stencils on and Sugar was cute in glitter hoof varnish, but I knew that none of that stuff would suit Jewel. She’s a wild western girl and I wanted her to look that way!
So I did a kind of natural beauty makeover on her, like they have in girls’ magazines, but a pony version! I gave her coat a really good brush until it gleamed, and I used a tiny bit of this special conditioning spray of Claudia’s to really bring out her rich chestnut colour – she looked amazing after that, like a new conker that had just fallen off the tree. I gave her legs a good shampoo and carefully wiped her face
marking with the sponge, so her white bits really stood out. Then I combed out her mane until it was silky and flowing.
All the time I was chatting on to her about how fab she was, and how lucky I’d been to have her for my pony, and how much I’d miss her. I had to keep stopping what I was doing to give her hugs!
Then I gave my tack a really good clean and wound some blue and white ribbons round her brow band, which looked really gorgeous. Tegan was on the other side of Lola to me and I was just getting Jewel’s bridle on when I heard her say she needed the loo. I automatically called, “T, do you want me to come with you?”
But instead of saying yes as usual, she started giggling and said, “Of course not, I can go by myself. I’m not a baby, Jess!” The other younger ones all giggled too, as if I was being silly!
I raised my eyebrows, and said, “Fine, Miss Grown Up, I’m only asking!” in a pretend moody way, but secretly I was really pleased.
When our ponies were all ready we put them in the barn and went to have some lunch. As we were finishing up our fruit salad, some of the parents started arriving and poking their heads round the door. Mum and Dad didn’t appear, so Tegan and me (and Bailey) helped Jody with the clearing up.
They still hadn’t arrived when the display was about to start, so Sally let us have a few more minutes on the yard to wait for them, and we grabbed our cameras and got her to take some
pix of us all together, and standing with our ponies, and then we swapped addresses so we could write to each other (so I now have an American penfriend – how cool!).
As we were riding into the manège, Mum and Dad came dashing up from the car park. They’d been stuck in traffic and only just made it in time.
First we did a demonstration for about twenty minutes, which was similar to a normal lesson, with Sally calling things out so we could show all the skills we’d learned for the trail ride. The parents were really impressed with our
balance work. And when Sally split the group in half and got us doing figure of eights riding in between each other, they couldn’t believe there were no crashes. They gave us all a big clap at the end, and Jewel whinnied with delight, making everyone laugh.
Then we played a few mounted games, which were brilliant fun, and the parents all cheered us on. Jewel and I won the egg and spoon because she’s so smooth to ride – everyone else’s eggs were going flying, but I hardly had to even
try
to balance ours!
For the relay race, Sally said we’d need to go in twos, an older one with a younger one. I looked round at Tegan, assuming she’d want to go with me. But she was already waving at Dannii, so I paired up with Lola instead. I was really pleased Tegan wasn’t clinging to me any more, but in a funny way I was a bit sad she
wasn’t – huh! I never in a million years expected to feel like that!
