Horse Show Read online

  “Can I have your autograph?” the girl asked, offering Stevie a piece of paper and a stub of pencil.

  “Oh, sure,” Stevie said. She took the paper, signed it, and handed it back to the girl. She then followed her friends through the doorway to the horse show. As soon as the door closed behind her, the girls and Skye exploded in laughter.

  “You were wonderful!” Skye said in frank admiration. That made Stevie feel good because she was sure it was true.

  “What’s that girl going to think when she sees she’s got Stevie Lake’s autograph?” Lisa asked.

  “Oh, but she doesn’t have Stevie Lake’s autograph at all,” Stevie told her friends. “See, I signed it ‘Princess Di’!”

  They were laughing so hard that they didn’t pay much attention to where they were going through the back halls of Madison Square Garden. They walked right into the Rangers’ dressing room. Even though there were no Rangers in sight, an usher chased them out and shooed them in the right direction.

  ALTHOUGH THEY WERE walking into the same stable area they’d visited only two days before, Carole would have sworn it was a whole new place—not because it looked any different. It didn’t. It just felt different. It was because the competition had begun. Riders, trainers, and grooms moved about quickly and efficiently. It was the time for last-minute crises and nerves. Carole could almost smell the tension.

  Riders and grooms were doing serious grooming on their horses. They wanted their horses to gleam, like never before. The tack around the stable area was spotless. Lint and dirt was being swept off the riders’ jackets and pants. A smudge on a boot, usually just a routine part of riding, was viewed as the enemy. Carole knew that most judges were a lot more interested in the work of the horse and the rider than in grooming, but she also knew that a dirty horse or an unkempt outfit could distract a judge’s attention from the things that mattered, like skill. These riders knew it, too. The entire stable area was a frenzy of activity.

  Jean DeSoto was crouching in front of Topside, putting yet another coat of polish on his hooves. Dorothy stood in front of a dingy mirror, tucking strands of hair into a hairnet.

  “Hi, Max,” Carole said. “We’re here!”

  Max glanced at his watch. Carole was pleased to note that in spite of their detour in the Garden’s confused hallways, they were on time. Max smiled with relief. Then he spotted Skye. The girls had discussed how to explain Skye to Max. Max certainly wouldn’t know who the teenage actor was, so telling him about the meeting in the park was going to sound too weird. They’d decided to say he was the son of Marine Corps friends of Carole’s father because Skye’s father was in the Corps. So it was sort of the truth.

  Skye shook hands with Max and Mrs. Reg. The girls were pleased with their story, until Dorothy turned around from the mirror. She took one look at Skye and her jaw dropped.

  “Skye Ransom!” she said. “What are you doing here?”

  Max looked puzzled. “Was your father in the Corps with his, too?” he asked Dorothy.

  “No, Max,” Dorothy said. “This is Skye Ransom.”

  “I know,” Max said. “We were just introduced.”

  “I mean, it’s Skye Ransom. Don’t you know who he is?” Max’s blank look answered the question. “He’s a movie star, Max. He’s the teen idol of today. Girls swoon over him.”

  Max turned to his students and raised an eyebrow quizzically.

  “He’s also a Marine Corps kid, like me, and he’s trying to learn to ride for a movie role,” Carole said. “We thought an afternoon at the horse show would help so we invited him along. He’s wearing his riding clothes so he won’t attract attention. It’s okay, isn’t it?” she asked.

  “Of course it’s okay,” Dorothy said, speaking for Max. “But I don’t think Skye here is going to get much attention this afternoon. I just heard a rumor that Princess Di is at the show!”

  The girls and Skye exchanged glances and burst into laughter. The grown-ups would never understand. They didn’t even try to explain.

  “Time to get out of here, you guys,” Dorothy said. “Mother and I have a lot of work to do. The afternoon program begins with a class of Working Hunter and then my event—the Open Jumper class. Go on out there and enjoy the show, okay?”

  “I think the operative word here is ‘go,’ ” Mrs. Reg said sensibly, aiming the group toward the door.

  The girls wished Dorothy good luck and then left. Carole led the way. The girls, Skye, and the Regnerys walked back through the stable area, past the warm-up ring and the door to the arena. The program had begun and the first rider was already out on the course. The second rider waited tensely by the double doors.

  Carole watched the rider waiting to go on. She wondered what must be going through the woman’s head. She sat absolutely still on her horse. Her face was a study in stony concentration. She seemed to be controlling her breathing, taking long, deep breaths.

  “Thirty seconds,” a woman by the door told the rider. The rider only blinked acknowledgment.

  There was applause from the audience. Carole could hear the first competitor’s horse cantering toward the door. The door swung open to admit them.

  “Smile!” the starter told the rider. The rider’s entire face changed. All solemnity was gone. Her face became the picture of joy and confidence. She gave her horse an almost invisible signal and the horse sprang to life, as transformed as his rider. Together, they bounded out into the arena, ready for the ride of their lives. It almost took Carole’s breath away.

  Quickly, Carole stepped into the seating area. Max led the way to Dorothy’s box. They filed into the seats and sat down quickly. They didn’t want to distract the horse and rider on the course. Although a good show horse was accustomed to noise and motion in the audience, it could bother a horse’s concentration, and the rider’s score would suffer. Nobody wanted to be responsible for that.

  Skye sat between Lisa and Carole. He watched intently as the rider worked the jumps.

  “I don’t look like that when I ride, do I?” Skye whispered.

  “No, you don’t,” Carole said with a smile. “But if you watch closely, you’ll learn.”

  He didn’t take his eyes off the rider. It pleased Carole. She was sure he would learn. If only they had more time!

  There were a lot of entrants in the Working Hunter class. Carole relaxed and enjoyed the show. She loved it—every minute of it. The shows she had been to were outdoor shows, and although horses were really meant to ride outdoors, the indoor arena somehow gave a kind of intimacy to the show and made her feel closer to the horses and riders. She could hear every beat of the horses’ hooves. She could hear the squeak of the clean leather tack. Their ringside seats were even close enough to hear the riders talk to their horses as they passed by.

  “The important thing in this event is form,” Carole explained to Skye. “The jumps aren’t particularly high, so just getting over them isn’t hard. What’s hard is doing it right. See, the horse has to keep an even pace and needs to jump smoothly. The instructions of the rider are really important. Notice the way this rider keeps taking off for the jump too close, so her horse has to slow down before jumping so he won’t ram into it. She’s also having trouble keeping him from speeding up right after the jump. But look at the way she sits at the canter. It’s about perfect. You’ll want to look like that.”

  Skye watched carefully. Carole was sure he was learning. It had been a good idea to bring him.

  The first event lasted almost forty-five minutes, but it seemed to Carole that it was only about ten. She couldn’t believe how fast it went. In between horses, Skye asked questions about the riders and what they’d done right or wrong. That gave the girls a chance to tell him all kinds of things they’d forgotten to mention when they were riding.

  “Did you see that one’s wrists?” Lisa said. “They were all wrong. No way they should drop like that. You hold them like this.” She demonstrated.

  After the Working Hunter event was fi
nished, there was a delay in the show while one set of jumps was removed and another put up. Carole watched the workmen for a while and then her attention turned to the audience around her and across the arena from her.

  A lot of the people there were riders or owners and seemed to know one another. For the most part, this was a horse-wise crowd. There were a lot of young riders in the audience, too. They were watching everything as eagerly as The Saddle Club.

  Then there were people who seemed to be at the horse show for some reason other than horses. There were little kids who kept nagging their mothers for food and drinks. They dashed along the aisles of the enormous arena trying to catch up with souvenir hawkers.

  There were other people, adults, who seemed to be more interested in being seen than in seeing. One woman in particular caught Carole’s eye. She came in late. She strode through the entrance gate and stood as if waiting for applause. She was tall and slender and wore a flowing red cloak, which she removed dramatically, swinging it around like a bullfighter. Carole thought it was a good thing there were no bulls around. The woman marched to her box seats, her escort trailing behind her. She headed to the front row, directly across from Dorothy’s box.

  “Check her out! I think it’s Big Red Riding-Hood,” Stevie said, pointing at the woman.

  Lisa nodded, laughing. “A lot of people are looking at her—probably think she’s Princess Di!”

  It could be true. The woman was doing everything she could to get attention. Before she sat down, she did the twirling act with her cloak one more time. Even in an arena that held thousands of spectators people were noticing her. She seemed to like that a lot.

  In the arena, the jumps were assembled very carefully. It was a tricky course. The jumps were both wide and high. Even the best riders could have trouble with some of those, Carole thought. This course would require incredible skill and total concentration.

  Across the way, Big Red Riding-Hood made a show of talking to one of the riders. Carole knew she was a rider because of the number pinned to her back. Even as they chatted, the woman continued swirling her coat. Then the rider walked back out of the arena into the stable area.

  The tractors and trailers drove out of the ring. It was time for the Open Jumper class to begin. Carole felt a shudder of excitement. Now they’d see Dorothy ride! It was time to ignore Big Red Riding-Hood and focus on the horses and riders again.

  “This is a very different event from the Working Hunter,” Carole explained to Skye. “In this class, form doesn’t matter at all. What matters is getting over the jumps and doing it fast. You get faulted for knocking jumps down or for taking too much time. It’s a race against the clock and it’s a very exciting event.”

  That proved to be true from the very first rider. His horse dashed around the course and leapt over the jumps. It was a real change after the comparatively genteel Working Hunter class. The man made it through the course without knocking down any jumps, but in spite of his efforts at speed, he exceeded the time allowed. The audience clapped for him, though. He’d put on quite a show.

  The next rider did fine on time, but knocked down two jumps.

  “Too bad,” Carole said. “He won’t make it into the top fifteen for the finals.”

  Then there were three more horses. Two went through the course without knocking down anything, though one had a time fault. The third horse was a beauty—a sleek gray warmblood who was obviously fired up for the competition. As his rider rode him around before beginning the course, the horse, who was named Roo, bucked all over the place.

  “He’s trying to throw her off!” Skye said.

  “No, I don’t think so,” Carole told him. “If he wanted to throw her, he could probably do it. He’s just full of vinegar and she knows it. This should be a good round.”

  It was, too, and it was funny as well. The horse never stopped bucking, but it didn’t slow Roo one bit. He’d buck after each jump and he’d buck through each jump, whipping his legs out behind him. It seemed to lift him even higher.

  Every time Roo bucked, his rider tapped him on the flank with her crop to remind him that there was work to do. Then he’d spring toward the next jump and buck his way over that. The whole audience was laughing as well as cheering when the two finished the course. They hadn’t knocked down any jumps and they were within the time allowed.

  “That was great!” Skye said. “I wish I could ride like that!” Carole looked at him. For the first time, Carole saw real horse interest in him. It meant that he was beginning to think about riding as something he wanted to do instead of something he had to do. She smiled to herself. They’d make a rider out of Skye Ransom yet!

  The next rider was the woman Big Red Riding-Hood had been talking to. When she rode out on her horse and greeted the judges, she also waved to her friend and her friend waved back. The horse was a mare named Pearl and she had a disappointing round. She knocked down two jumps and refused a third. By the time they finished the course, it was clear they’d be eliminated. The rider was disappointed, of course, but the look on Big Red Riding-Hood’s face, even from across the arena, was clear. It was disgust. She stood up to leave.

  Carole would have kept watching her except that the next rider was Dorothy. Carole slid her hands under the program that lay on her lap and crossed her fingers. She knew that good riders were the result of hard work and training, not luck, but luck couldn’t hurt. She glanced over at Lisa. Lisa’s fingers were crossed, too.

  Topside and Dorothy entered the arena, and the Pine Hollow group applauded loudly when Dorothy’s name was announced. She circled the arena to warm up and then, when Topside was ready, they began the course.

  Topside was completely tuned for this round. He raced to the first jump and sailed over it so easily that the audience said “Oooh!” His coat gleamed under the bright lights from the ceiling and shimmered as his muscles rippled. He was beautiful and elegant and he was going to win!

  Dorothy changed directions to return to the far end of the arena. There was a triple jump combination that had already been knocked down by several of the horses. Topside flew over all three of the jumps almost as if they weren’t there. He swished his tail proudly after each jump.

  Carole could barely swallow because of the thrill of Topside’s beautiful performance.

  Dorothy brought Topside straight along the far side of the ring, toward the tricky double combination. He cleared the first jump with more than a foot to spare.

  The woman with the red cape turned around.

  Topside neared the second jump of the combination.

  The woman picked up her red cape.

  Dorothy leaned forward, rose in the saddle, and signaled Topside to jump.

  The woman grabbed her cape angrily and swirled it around.

  Topside rose in the air.

  At that instant his eye caught the sudden flash of movement close by.

  Topside panicked. He bucked in midair and landed stiff-legged. Then he reared! Dorothy was tossed out of the saddle like a handful of straw. She landed hard on her back, her head striking the jump they’d just cleared. She rolled halfway over and then she lay limp and motionless.

  Carole was vaguely aware of the screams of fear, concern, and anger from the audience, but she was mostly aware of the still presence of Dorothy DeSoto. Without even thinking, Carole scrambled over the fence in front of her yard and into the arena. Max was right behind her. Dozens of people from the audience and the backstage area ran to help Dorothy.

  Carole, eager to do something helpful, took hold of Topside’s reins and checked him over. He seemed all right, but a little skittish, as if something else could set him off again. She walked him around the arena to calm him. It would be reassuring to the horse to do something so normal. She wished somebody could do something to reassure her!

  As they reached the far end of the arena, Carole looked up toward the crowd. The people were standing still, watching Dorothy with great concern. The only movement, in fact, was a blur
of bright red, marching out of the arena.

  “IT’S IMPORTANT FOR US to do this, you know,” Carole said to her friends the next morning. They stood together on the sidewalk outside of the riding stable. “Just because Dorothy got hurt in a riding accident doesn’t mean everybody gets hurt in riding accidents. We are good riders. We love horses. We should do this.”

  Stevie looked at her friend. In a way, Carole was absolutely right. As it was important for a rider who had been thrown to get back on a horse, it was important for three girls who had witnessed a riding accident to get back in the saddle. She didn’t want her nerves to beat her.

  “You’re right,” she said. “And besides, Skye needs us.”

  “Speaking of Skye, where is he?” Lisa asked. “He shot out of the horse show right after Dorothy fell. Do you suppose …?”

  “I think he had to get to the movie set,” Stevie said. She didn’t want to consider the fact that Skye might have been more frightened than they were.

  “I think he was scared,” Lisa said. “I was, that’s for sure.”

  It had been scary. Stevie and Lisa had gone to Dorothy and waited with her until the ambulance had arrived. One man in the audience had tried to help Dorothy sit up until Stevie stopped him.

  “She might have hurt her back!” Stevie had told the man sternly. She knew that in the case of back injuries, it could be dangerous to move a patient. She had learned something useful from her Health class after all.

  Dorothy had thanked Stevie for her concern but said she thought it was a broken rib or two.

  “I’ve had enough of those,” she’d said. “I’ll be back in the saddle in a couple of weeks.” Nevertheless, Dorothy had followed Stevie’s advice and remained still until the paramedics shifted her to the stretcher.

  Max had gone to the hospital with Jean DeSoto. Mrs. Reg and the girls had untacked Topside, fed and watered him, and returned to Dorothy’s house to wait.

  Max and Mrs. DeSoto hadn’t returned until late. They’d spent hours in the emergency room with Dorothy. Max swore that they’d x-rayed every inch of Dorothy’s body. Although a preliminary reading showed no immediate danger to Dorothy, nobody would be able to give a thorough reading until the morning. In the meantime, Dorothy was heavily sedated and sleeping soundly.