Flame and the Rebel Riders (17 page)

“That woman is a serpent! I can’t believe she’d stoop to this!” Avery ranted.

“What’s wrong?” Issie asked.

“Take a look at the running order for the first event of the day,” Avery said, thrusting the piece of paper at Issie. “There are a few surprises.”

Issie looked at the list and scanned down for her name to see where she was in the running order. She found it almost at the end, but directly above was another name that she hadn’t been expecting to see.

“Natasha?” Issie was confused. According to the list Natasha Tucker was also riding in the one metre qualifier class—on Tottenham Hotspur!

“But Tottie shouldn’t even be in my class!” Issie said. “She ‘s been jumping over a metre twenty all season!”

Avery groaned. “I’m afraid Tottie still qualifies for the one metre class, so Ginty has every right to drop her down to compete in your ring.”

“But that’s not fair! Tottie’s far too good.”

“Ginty knows the rules and she knows the loopholes too. She knew that we’d be riding in the one metre class today. She’s done this on purpose so she can beat us and crow about it in front of Cassandra.”

Issie looked at the list of riders. “Natasha is riding just before me.”

Knowing that she was competing against Natasha gave Issie an awful sinking feeling. She had thought that their love-hate relationship was finally sorted out. No more silly rivalries. Had she been wrong? Did Natasha know she’d be up against Issie today and all that stuff about being friends was just part of her game?

Avery sighed. “We can’t afford to worry about Ginty’s dirty tactics. You have to keep your mind on Flame. We need to convince him that this is nothing more than another rally day at the pony club.”

Flame, however, already seemed to realise that this
wasn’t the case. He had seen the horses warming up around him and he could smell the tension in the air. As Avery held the big chestnut ready for Issie to mount up, Flame raised his head high and gave a loud whinny. His blood was up and Issie could sense his excitement.

“He’s OK,” Avery insisted as Flame began to crab-step, jogging around like a racehorse while Avery clung on to the reins. “Keep him on a loose rein and walk him about to calm him down. He’s a little hot, but that’s to be expected. As long as you can stay calm, he’ll be fine. He’ll pick up on your energy. It’s up to you to keep your cool.”

“Shall I take him over the practice jump?” Issie asked.

Avery shook his head. “Not yet. There’s plenty of time. Let’s settle him in with some walking and trot work first, try and get a rhythm going.”

With Avery instructing her, Issie spent the next twenty minutes working Flame in. He had such beautiful floating movement. Issie could feel the quality of his bloodlines expressed in every step. His quality showed through in his paces and his attitude and she could already feel the change in Flame as he responded to her now without fear or tension. Under Avery’s guidance
they had made so much progress in the past two weeks. And there was so much more still to do! When Issie caught sight of Cassandra Steele standing on the sidelines watching the ring, she suddenly realised that if the millionairess didn’t like what she saw today then she’d take Flame away from Avery and he’d be returned to Ginty’s stables. All the hard work they’d done to reschool the horse would be undone by Ginty’s awful methods. Issie couldn’t stand the thought of losing Flame like that. He had such a fantastic personality and he was trying so hard for her! She owed it to him to go into the arena and win.

“He’s looking good, Issie.” Avery’s voice shook her back to reality. “I think he’s ready. Ride him back to the truck and grab your showing jacket. I’m going to walk over to the practice fence, so meet me there.”

At the horse truck Issie tied Flame to his hitching hook and unlocked the main door, climbing into the back of the truck. Her jacket was in the closet next to the tack box. She had packed it in a drycleaning bag to keep it
safe. As she unzipped the bag and slipped it on, she felt a tingle of excitement.
I need to keep calm,
she told herself,
act like it’s an ordinary day at the pony club, and Flame will stay relaxed…

She took a deep breath and buttoned up the jacket, pausing for a moment to glance at her reflection in the mirrored door of the truck before she stepped outside once more. Flame was standing there waiting for her, but there was someone else beside him.

“Natasha?” Issie could see that she was in floods of tears. “Ohmygod! What’s the matter?”

“It’s Ginty!” Natasha sobbed. “She just fired me!”

“What?” Issie couldn’t believe it. “How? Why?”

“I was getting Tottie ready for the event,” Natasha sniffled, “and everything was fine until Ginty came over with this injection she wanted to give her. So I asked her, ‘Is it bute?’ and anyway she just went bonkers at me and said she was tired of being questioned by know-it-all grooms. Then she said I had to prove myself as a professional rider. And she gave me the needle and told me to inject Tottie.”

Issie was appalled. “Did you do it?”

“Of course not! I told Ginty that bute is illegal
when you’re competing, but then she told me that she wasn’t interested in hearing my opinions and I didn’t know anything…and well, I lost my temper at that point and said a few things…and she fired me!”

“But if she fired you,” Issie said, “then who is riding Tottie?”

Her question was answered by the announcer’s voice over the Tannoy. “There has been a change to the next combination in the arena today,” the announcer said. “Instead of Natasha Tucker, Tottenham Hotspur will be ridden in this class by Penny Greville.”

“Typical,” Natasha said darkly. “I should have known Penny would take the ride. She’s too much of a coward to stand up to Ginty.”

The girls both turned their attention to the arena where Penny and Tottie were about to ride through the flags to take the first jump. Despite having just been assigned the last-minute ride on the dapple-grey mare, it seemed entirely likely that Penny would get a clear round. She had ridden Tottie many times before so she knew how to handle the mare. As for Tottie, the jumps were kindergarten stuff as far as she was concerned.

Sure enough, the jumps seemed a piece of cake for
the duo. Tottie rattled a couple of rails as she took the double, but nothing fell. “She’s going to go clear,” Natasha said through gritted teeth as she watched Tottie clear the sixth fence and then pop neatly over fence number seven.

Tottie was on her way to take fence number eight when Issie heard Aidan shouting out her name. He was cantering Fortune over and waving frantically at Issie as if something was wrong.

“What are you two doing?” Aidan asked as he pulled up beside them. “Natasha? Shouldn’t you be in that ring now?”

“Penny is riding Tottie instead,” Issie explained.

“Ginty fired me!” Natasha said.

“She’s totally crazy,” Aidan sympathised before turning his attention to Issie. “Tom sent me to find you. He’s been looking for you everywhere! He’s been waiting for you at the practice jump.”

“Ohmygod!” Issie gasped. She was due in the ring straight after Natasha — only Natasha wasn’t riding any more. Penny was! Which meant it was her turn next!

As she raced toward the practice fence, Issie’s heart was pounding. She could see Tom standing there waiting for her, looking tense as he checked his watch.

“There you are!” he cried out with relief when he saw her. “Where have you been? We’re totally out of time.”

“It’s OK,” Issie insisted. “We’ve still got a couple of minutes. They haven’t called my name yet—”

Suddenly the loudspeaker crackled to life. “Isadora Brown, riding Flame. Proceed now to arena number one.”

“Ohmygod!” Issie was struck with panic.

“It’s OK, Issie,” Avery said, as he gave her a leg-up. “The main thing is to keep your cool. We’re out of time, but Flame is already warmed up. You don’t need a practice jump — he’ll be fine. Off you go!”

“I still have a minute before I have to be in the ring,” Issie pleaded. “There’s enough time, Tom. Let me do one jump!”

“Issie, there’s not enough time. If you rush him—” Avery began to say. But Issie wasn’t listening. She urged the big chestnut into a trot and circled him towards the practice jump. She took just a moment to eye up
the cross rails, getting the practice fence in her sights. Her palms were wet with sweat. How much time did she have? It must be less than a minute by now. Was that enough time to get over the jump and then into the arena and through the flags? Beneath her she felt Flame tense up as she turned him to face the jump. The horse could sense the sudden urgency in his rider. He shook his head, trying to release himself from the hackamore restraining him, and without even thinking about it, Issie fought back.

“Have patience,” Avery called out to her. “Stop trying to look for the stride. Let the jump come to you.”

But Issie still wasn’t listening. Her hands gripped tighter on the reins as the gelding fought her even more and then suddenly it was just like the old days at Ginty’s stables—Flame racing at the fence with his head in the air and Issie hauling on the reins.

In front of the jump Issie threw the reins at him and Flame took two massive strides as if he were readying himself to leap but then, at the last minute, he changed his mind and skidded into the jump.

Issie felt the horse pull up and went into a defensive position, throwing her weight back and doing her best
to hang on as Flame ploughed straight into the rails, crashing into them hard with his chest and scattering them everywhere!

It had all gone horribly wrong. Flame had refused to jump and had bowled the whole fence over instead!

“Isadora Brown on Flame — this is your last call. Into the arena now, please!” The voice over the loudspeaker was firm and clear. She had to go into the arena now or she would be disqualified!

There was no time left for Issie to attempt the practice jump again. With a sick feeling in her belly, jangled nerves and a leaden heart, she turned Flame away from the disastrous practice fence and rode the big chestnut into the arena to begin their round.

Issie desperately needed a moment to settle Flame down—but the clock was ticking. She had run out of time and if she wanted to avoid being disqualified she had to cross the start line right now!

As she turned Flame towards the flags, the headstrong chestnut began to canter on the spot in anticipation. Their crash just moments before had really rattled his nerves. Issie could sense the tension bubbling under the surface, and she caught a glimpse of Flame’s wild eyes, and the froth of sweat that had already formed on his neck. Flame was on a hair trigger, ready to go totally berserk!

Trying to keep control, Issie tightened her grip on
the reins. But it was like trying to hold back an elephant. Flame ignored her hands, surging forward and bolting at the first jump in a mad panic. Issie had no choice but to try and stay onboard as Flame leapt from too far out and bashed the top rail as he flew the fence, whacking it hard with both hind legs.

“Stop it, Flame!” Issie shouted angrily at him as she tried to wrestle the gelding back under control. The top rail had fallen, but really they were lucky they hadn’t bowled the whole jump over!

At that moment Issie felt as if they were back in one of Ginty’s awful training sessions. She had a vision of Flame losing control and mowing down everything in his path. It was as if all the hard work that she had done with Avery had never happened.

On the sidelines, Avery had his eyes glued on Issie and the big chestnut. They had come so far in the past two weeks, but now, in her hurry to get into the arena, Issie and Flame had fallen apart. The question was, could she pull the horse — and herself — back together again?

“Come on, Issie,” Avery muttered under his breath. “Stop fighting him and start riding as a team.”

In the arena, Issie was trying to unravel everything
that had gone wrong. Avery was right, of course. She should never have rushed the practice jump. Her panic had got Flame hyped-up when she should have been calming him down. It was all her fault. But it wasn’t too late to fix her mistake. She had spent the past two weeks reschooling this horse with Avery. Surely there must be a way to settle Flame back down again?

With the next fence still a few strides away, Flame was bouncing up and down on the spot like a jack-in-the-box, fighting her every single step of the way.

“Flame, easy, boy, easy,” Issie breathed softly to the horse. There was nothing else for it. The fighting and the tension had to stop.

Issie took a deep breath, sat heavy in the saddle and centered herself. She imagined that she wasn’t even in a showjumping ring any more. She was at home at Winterflood Farm with Tom. This wasn’t a competition—this was training. She remembered Avery’s words.
It’s all part of the training. Even the competitions are nothing more than fancy schooling sessions with prizes.

Staying calm and focused, she checked the powerful Hanoverian, and this time he didn’t fight her. Flame came to a complete halt.

On the sidelines, Aidan was completely baffled. Issie had suddenly stopped dead after the first jump. “What is she doing in there?”

“Issie’s doing the right thing,” Avery countered. “She’s getting control back before she continues.”

In the arena, Issie was talking softly to Flame. “Good boy.” She gave him a reassuring pat on the neck. “It’s no big deal. They’re just little jumps. In fact, they’re so little we’re going to trot them!”

Keeping a light contact on the reins Issie asked Flame to trot on. She approached the second jump as if it were one of the poles on the ground in her schooling sessions back home, focusing on keeping a steady rhythm and letting Flame have his head, sliding the reins loose to the buckle.

“She’s trotting!” Aidan was beside himself. “She’ll never make it inside the time if she trots him!”

Avery disagreed. “She’s doing brilliantly. It doesn’t matter if they make the time.”

Issie and Flame took two more fences at a trot. Each time, Issie kept totally still and calm, remembering Avery’s words, trying to be patient and waiting for the jump to come to her.