Gold Medal Horse (9 page)

Nigel walked forward and looked at the horse from the side. “It’s him, all right,” he said. He stroked Prospero’s neck and ran his hand down one of his scarred legs, then straightened and gave the horse a hearty pat. Even Nigel’s eyes shone with tears.

Mrs. Harrington took a handkerchief out of her pocket and dabbed her eyes. Then she rummaged in the back of her car and returned with a bag of carrots. “Here,” she said, handing them to Drew. “Who is he?”

“His name’s Prospero,” Drew said. He fed Prospero carrot after carrot. “He’s the best horse. Oh, look at him, look at his legs. Oh, buddy, what’s happened to you?”

“He’s all right now,” Dr. Lawrence said. “He’ll never be comfortable running or jumping, but he could be ridden quietly.”

“He looks so different,” Drew said, “and yet I knew him the instant I saw him. His coat’s gone white, of course, because he’s so much older, and his face is thinner, but it’s still the same face—the same kind, regal face. I knew I’d never forget what he looked like. Look, Nigel”—Drew felt the underside of Prospero’s chin—“remember when that branch cut him and he had to have stitches? Here’s the scar, right under his noseband.”

“He’s your horse, all right,” Nigel said. “I’ve never forgotten him, either.”

Drew stepped back from Prospero to look at him fully, and his smile dissolved. “How could I let this happen to him?” he said. “I love him so—how could I let him get like this?” His happy tears had dried, but now he looked ready to cry from sorrow.

Lisa came forward and gave Prospero a pat. “You told me he was capable of more than you could do,” she said to Drew. “You told me you wanted him to have a rider who could take him to the top.”

Drew nodded.

Carole, catching Lisa’s argument, added, “And you sold him to a good person, and a good rider.”

Drew nodded again.

“Didn’t you tell us that he hurt himself while he was in his pasture?” Stevie asked.

“He hurt his tendon,” Drew said. “He was running, and he tripped.”

“That would have happened no matter who owned him,” Lisa said firmly. “Accidents can happen to any horse anytime, just like they can happen to any person. You sold him to a good home for a good reason. What happened after isn’t your fault.”

Drew looked at The Saddle Club and smiled. “You’re right, I know,” he said. “Thanks.”

“Besides,” Nigel said, “you’ll be able to take care of him from now on.”

Drew’s face shone with gratitude and happiness. “I could never, ever, leave him again,” he said.

“You won’t have to,” Nigel promised him. “There’s plenty of room for him at our farm. We don’t have any foals to worry about. He can come home in the trailer with Southwood.”

“Home,” Drew repeated.

Mrs. Harrington smiled. “Not a ghost after all,” she
said. “What a lovely day.” She promised to see them all soon at Blue Hill and prepared to get back into her car, but Drew stopped her.

“Thank you,” he said. “The girls told me you were considering giving him a home.” Drew thanked Dr. Lawrence, too, for rescuing Prospero and nursing him back to health. Then he thanked The Saddle Club.

“We didn’t do that much,” Carole said. “Of course we couldn’t let him run loose through the horse park. All we did was catch him and take him back to the hospital.”

“And try to find him a home, and arrange for him to come here,” Drew continued.

“But that was an accident,” Stevie protested. “That was just luck.”

“You did a lot, and I’ll always be grateful,” Drew said firmly. He put his arm across Prospero’s withers. “You’re right, it was luck. He’s always been a great horse, and now he’s a lucky one, too.”

T
HAT NIGHT THEY
ate dinner at a pizza parlor in Lexington. Nigel ordered a superlarge thick-crust pizza with everything, but when it arrived he hardly nibbled on one slice.

“Ummm—looks good!” Carole said, even though she hated anchovies and couldn’t believe Nigel had ordered
them. “Here, Stevie,” she added, picking through the toppings on her slice, “you can have my anchovies.”

“Only if you take my olives,” Stevie muttered. “I hate olives.”

“I don’t know why you two are so picky,” Lisa said cheerfully. “This looks wonderful!” She took a big bite, chewed, choked, and turned red. She swallowed hard and gulped some water. “So that’s what anchovies taste like,” she said. “I never had them before.”

“I’ll show you what they look like,” Carole offered. “That way you can pick them off your pizza.”

While they were poring over Lisa’s slice of pizza, Stevie looked at Nigel. He was sipping his iced tea with a tight, thoughtful expression on his face. He still hadn’t eaten anything.

“I wonder how Prospero is,” Stevie said. Since noncompeting horses weren’t allowed to stay in the Kentucky Rolex stables, Drew and Eddy had taken Prospero back to the horse hospital for the weekend. Drew and Eddy were there now, making sure Prospero was comfortable. Stevie knew that Prospero would be comfortable. She also knew that Drew just wanted to stay with Prospero. She didn’t blame him. Somehow, they still hadn’t been forced to meet Dready Eddy.

“He’s wonderful,” Carole said. “He’s happy.”

Nigel pushed his plate away. Dorothy gave him a sympathetic look but didn’t say anything. The Saddle Club didn’t say anything, either. They all understood the enormous test that Nigel and Southwood were going to face the next morning on the cross-country course. Even the easy routes over the fences were fantastically difficult. No wonder Nigel seemed so nervous.

T
HAT EVENING AFTER
dinner Dorothy and Nigel wanted to return to the Rolex stables to finish getting Southwood ready for the morning. They offered to take the girls back to Blue Hill. “We’d rather wander around the horse park,” Carole said. “No one will care, will they?”

“Just stick to open areas,” Nigel said. “We’ll be ready to leave in an hour.”

“Let’s go back to the hospital,” Carole suggested, after they had walked past the start box and the first few fences, all set and ready for the morning. “Let’s just look in on Prospero.”

“Eddy,” Lisa objected.

“We wouldn’t have to go into the stable,” Carole said. “We could just peek in and be sure he’s okay. I mean, I know he is,” she added, “I just want to look at him. I don’t know why. I’m so amazed that Ghost is really him.”

Stevie checked her watch. “We’ll have to hurry.” They
walked quickly across the park. The setting sun shone golden on the grass. They reached the hospital grounds and walked to the stable where Prospero was staying. The large main door was open a crack. Stevie peeked inside, then jumped back.

“Duck!” she whispered.

“Is it Eddy?” asked Lisa.

“No! It’s Nigel!”

“Nigel?” Lisa asked. She and Carole peered inside. Prospero stood in his usual stall, his head over the half door. Nigel stood alone in front of the old gray-white horse. His hands were on his hips, and he appeared to be talking quietly and earnestly.

“Who’s he talking to?” Stevie whispered. She’d come forward again and joined Carole and Lisa at the door. Nigel didn’t notice them.

“Prospero, I guess,” Lisa said.

“Why?” asked Stevie. None of them knew the answer. Nigel quit talking. He and Prospero stood silently, regarding each other. Nigel put his hand out to stroke the horse.

“Nigel!” a voice shouted from the other end of the stable. “How much grain do you think he should have?”

“Drew and Eddy!” Carole whispered. The girls scampered away. Soon they were back on the park grounds.

“Prospero looked good,” Stevie said. “But what was
Nigel doing there? He knew Drew could take care of his own horse.”

“He was talking to Prospero,” Carole said. “He looked really thoughtful, didn’t he? He looked that way at dinner, too. I thought he was nervous, but maybe he wasn’t.”

The girls stopped and looked at each other. “Maybe he’s thinking about how Prospero never got a chance to be a great competitor,” Stevie said.

“And maybe he’s thinking about Southwood’s chances to be one,” Carole added.

Lisa asked, “Do you think Nigel could be changing his mind?”

The girls let the question hang in the air, unanswered.

C
ROSS-COUNTRY DAY
dawned warm and clear. Once again Nigel and Dorothy went to the horse park before The Saddle Club was even awake, but the girls woke early, too. They ate a quick breakfast with Mrs. Harrington in the quiet kitchen at Blue Hill, then helped Mrs. Harrington load her mare Jenny into a horse trailer. Even Jenny seemed impatient to get to Rolex. She whinnied and shook and stamped her feet.

The first thing they noticed as they approached the horse park was the steady line of cars flowing into the parking lot. “Wow!” Stevie said. “Look at all the people!”

Mrs. Harrington smiled. “You didn’t expect it? After
all, this is the biggest event in America, and today’s the most exciting day. People come from all over to see it.”

“They’ll all be watching Nigel,” Lisa said thoughtfully.

Stevie laughed. “I bet he won’t be watching them!”

“Probably not,” Carole agreed. “Anyway, it’s Southwood that people will want to see.” Carole sighed, and all the members of The Saddle Club thought about last night’s quiet dinner and about seeing Nigel with Prospero afterward. They’d agreed not to say anything to Nigel about it.

Mrs. Harrington turned her truck into a side entrance of the park and stopped in an area reserved for the outriders. The girls helped her unload Jenny before hurrying to the stabling area.

The place was a mess—people were everywhere! Lisa thought she’d never seen such orderly chaos. Though it looked like everyone knew exactly what he or she ought to be doing, everyone was doing it as fast as possible, and the horses, riders, and grooms all seemed excited and intense.

“It’s overwhelming,” Carole whispered. The others nodded. They tried to stay out of everyone’s way. They didn’t see Nigel, Dorothy, Southwood, or even Drew.

“I’d almost welcome Dready Eddy,” Stevie said. “At least he could tell us whether Nigel’s already left. What if he has!”

“He couldn’t have.” Lisa opened her dog-eared program. “See? Nigel starts his roads-and-tracks—that’s the warm-up trot—in fifteen minutes. Then he goes straight on to cross-country. It’s all timed so that the riders start cross-country five minutes apart.”

“Could he be down by the start line already?” Carole peered anxiously through the crowd. She knew there was not much they could do to help Southwood before he started, but she wanted just one glimpse of him to see how he looked before he began. To see if he looked like a champion, a true gold medal horse.

“No—there he is!” Stevie jumped up and down and waved at Dorothy. The girls went quickly to Southwood’s side.

This is what a champion looks like
, Carole thought. Southwood seemed about to burst from energy, yet he stood still while Nigel tightened the saddle girth, breathing deeply, eyes alert, muscles quivering. He knew it was cross-country day, and he was ready to run.

Nigel, too, had lost his nervous look. He seemed intent, almost grim, as he made a last-minute check of Southwood’s tack; but as he snapped his stirrups into position, he caught Stevie’s eye and winked. Stevie, astonished, burst out laughing. “We were worried about you!” she said.

“Sorry,” Nigel said with a quick grin. “I’ve had a lot to
think about. I’m fine, don’t worry, and so’s Southwood.” He vaulted easily into the saddle and laid a hand on Southwood’s sweating shoulder. “I’m very glad you girls came with us this week,” he said before he rode away.

“Gosh!” Lisa said. “Imagine him thinking to say that at a time like this!”

Dorothy folded Southwood’s cooling sheet in her arms. “He’s right,” she said. “We’re both glad you came. And to answer the question I know you’re about to ask, no, you can’t do anything to help us now. Drew’s gathering the stuff Southwood will need at the start box, and Eddy’s going to help us carry it there. This is a really big course, and if you three want to see Southwood over any of the fences you’d better start walking. It’ll take you a while to get there.”

Stevie could see that Carole was about to protest and say they should help Southwood at the start. “Eddy,” she whispered warningly.

“Okay,” Carole said to Dorothy instead. “If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.”

Since they had walked the course with Nigel, they believed they already knew where the most interesting jumps were. Unfortunately, the most interesting jumps weren’t anywhere near one another, nor were they near the start or finish lines. Lisa opened her program to the
course map and they took one last look at it, even though they had already discussed what they were going to do.

“Here, here, and here,” Lisa said, pointing. “We’ll meet at the finish.” The Saddle Club split up.

C
AROLE TOOK UP
a position near the Lexington Bank. This was a giant man-made hill, covered with grass, rising out of the rolling horse park terrain. From her vantage point, Carole could see three sides of the bank. If Nigel took the long route, as she knew he’d planned, he would turn to the side of the bank, go over a rail fence, jump Southwood up a series of small steps carved into the bank, jump a fence at the top, turn again to jump down over an enormous drop fence, and then sail over an arrowhead fence on his way out. The short route took the horses straight up two really giant steps, then over the top fence, and headlong over the big drop. The big steps were close enough to the top fence that the horses didn’t have much time to pull themselves together.