Home for Christmas (7 page)

“Heather knows how to turn even a trail ride into an event,” Eric said, watching her.

“That she does,” I said.

Heather made two more circles, then trotted Aristocrat back to the creek bed's edge. She turned Aristocrat to face the stone wall. I measured it with my eyes and guessed it was about three feet high. The ground on the other side was as flat as the meadow.

Heather gathered her reins, settled herself in the saddle, and urged Aristocrat forward. He moved into a trot, then a measured canter. His long legs ate up the ground, and soon they were strides from the wall. At the right second, Heather lifted her seat slightly out of the saddle and raised her hands along Aristocrat's neck. The liver chestnut didn't hesitate. He pushed off the ground with his
hind legs, tucked his forelegs, and made a beautiful arch as he flew over the stone wall. He landed easily on the other side. That was exactly why Heather was on the Youth Equestrian National Team. Her form had been flawless. Heather let him canter a few strides before easing him into a trot and turning him back to us.

“See?” she called from the other side of the wall. “No crazy old farmer came and got me. Let's go, people!”

Now I wasn't anything but excited.

“I want to go!” I said.

Heather crooked her index finger at me. “Come to the dark side.”

“Go for it,” Eric said. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

I shot Jacob a smile before I squeezed my legs against Charm's sides. He was ready to go. Even though Heather and I were friends now, I don't think Charm had ever gotten over his rivalry with Aristocrat. He'd watched the other horse jump, and I knew Charm—he wanted to do better.

“We've got to warm you up,” I whispered to Charm. Talking to Charm while I rode him was one habit of mine that Mr. Conner hadn't been able to break. I felt more connected when I talked to my mounts.

I took a deep breath of cold air as I let out the reins a bit and let Charm move from a trot to a canter. He jumped into a canter in a stride and I guided him in a large circle. He yanked his head up, swishing his tail. He wanted more rein to go faster. I tightened my fingers on the reins and pressed my tailbone into the saddle. We were going fast enough. I wasn't about to let him fly over a stone wall—an object that wouldn't move if Charm took a misstep and hit it.

Charm's ears flicked back and forth. He wasn't happy that I didn't let him go faster, but I stayed firm and didn't give in. We completed another circle, and then I pointed him in the direction of the forbidden wall. The second Charm realized we were about to jump, his tail swished excitedly and he put his attention on me. His hoofbeats pounded on the brown grass as we neared the wall.

At the right second, I moved into a two-point position and took my weight off Charm's back. Charm thrust into the air and snapped his front legs under his body. I loved the feeling of being airborne. The landing was easy, and I let Charm canter a few strides and patted his neck. Grinning, I turned him back to face Heather and Aristocrat on our side of the wall and the rest of my friends on the other.

“That was the
best
!” I called.

That's when I noticed Jacob jerking his head in the direction of the entrance to the meadow. That's when I noticed none of my friends were looking at me, but instead toward the middle of the meadow. That's when I noticed a dozen horses and riders making their way toward us.

8

Lauren

“WHAT SHOULD WE DO?” I
whispered to everyone. “They've already seen us! We'd look dumb just turning around, right?”

“Why would we go back?” Zack asked. He held Nero's reins in one hand as the liver chestnut gelding walked beside Scout, Garret's mount.

“Because I can't see who they are, and we probably don't know them,” I said.

“Plus,” Ana said, angling Breeze, her strawberry roan mare, closer, “they're totally breaking Briar Creek's rules. We
all
know we're not allowed to jump the wall and ride on the neighbor's land. He's some insane farmer who would probably have those riders arrested for trespassing.”

Cole pulled Valentino, his black gelding, beside me.
“We should say hi. We're not the ones doing anything wrong. Why cut our ride short?”

I looked at Drew. I needed his opinion. He always knew what to do.

“I agree with Cole,” Drew said. “Let's ride past them and just be casual.”

Whisper tugged at the reins, seeing the other horses and wanting to get closer. I kept her at a slow walk.

“Okay,” I said, nodding. “You guys are right—we're not done riding, and there's still more trail to see.”

Our group moved at a faster walk across the meadow. I squinted at the other riders and horses, but they were still too far away. None of them moved—the two horses and riders on the wrong side of the property stayed there, and the rest of the riders waited on our side of the wall.

“Lauren,” Khloe said. “Omigod. On the other side of the wall. Is that—?”

“Sasha Silver!” I said, cutting her off. “No way! Those are her friends from Canterwood!”

I'm going to kill Kim,
I thought.
She knew all along that I was going to run into Sasha out on the trails.
Knowing Kim, if she hadn't said anything to us, then Sasha was in the dark, too, to keep things fair.

I spotted someone I thought was Callie Harper, and
a girl who looked like Heather Fox on the other side of the wall with Sasha. Sasha was the
parfait
model student at Canterwood. I'd never heard about her getting into trouble. Maybe I didn't know as much about Sasha as I thought.

I lifted my hand in a friendly wave, and Sasha glanced at Heather, then waved back. She looked comfy but chic in fawn breeches, boots, a black helmet, and a coat. She motioned for us to come over.

“I think I'm going to faint,” Lexa said in a whisper. She slowed Honor, her mare. “I've never met Sasha Silver!”

“I don't know if I'm ready for this!” Khloe added. “It's like meeting a celebrity.” She squared her shoulders, dropped her heels, smoothed Ever's black mane, and tucked in her elbows. Quickly, the rest of my group fixed their riding posture too.

“Lauren!” Sasha called. “Hi!”

“Hey!” I said. I drew Whisper to a halt as we reached her friends.

“What are you doing here?” Sasha and I asked each other at the same time.

Everyone laughed—kind of an uneasy laugh. I was glad I wasn't the only one who didn't know what to do in this situation.

“I came home for Christmas and brought my friends with me,” I said. I introduced everyone. Clare choked out a “Hello” and stared with wide eyes at Sasha.

“What about you?” I asked Sasha.

“Same as you,” the older girl said. “I'm with my parents for the holidays, and I convinced my besties to come along.”

“This is so insane,” I said. “We're
all
here, and you guys have your horses too.”

“Who wants to spend the holidays without their horse?” Sasha asked, smiling.

“So, Lauren,” Heather said. “You're not going to gallop back to the stable and tell on us, are you?”

I gulped. Heather made me nervous. I remembered Sasha telling me that she and Heather weren't enemies any longer, but Heather had done something to become an arch-nemesis of Sasha's. I was going to be extra careful around her.

“Um, no, of course not,” I sputtered. I wanted all of Sasha's friends to like me, and I didn't want any of them to think I was a tattletale.

“Um,”
Heather said, her tone mimicking mine. “Are you sure?”

I was glad there was a wall separating us. The girl was scary!

“I'm not saying anything,” I said. I lifted my chin and locked eyes with Heather.

“Heather, chill,” Sasha said, shooting her friend a look.

“What are you guys doing?” Khloe asked. I was glad there was someone else other than me talking from our group.

“We were trail riding,” Sasha said. “But Heather gets bored kind of easily. She dared all of us to jump the wall onto the neighbor's land.”

“The crazy, grumpy farmer?” I asked. I almost said,
Aren't you scared?!
but I didn't want to seem like a baby.

Sasha nodded. “Yeah. We know we're not supposed to be here, but we're jumping right back over.”

“I'm the lookout,” a guy, Jacob, said. “I've only ridden a couple of times and never jumped, so I got out of this dare.”

“I'm not really a rider either,” Taylor said. The two guys exchanged understanding looks. Despite Tay's lack of experience, I doubted anyone would have been able to tell from the way he sat astride Zombie—a gray gelding of Kim's.

A redhead, Paige Parker, I think, raised her hand. “I'm on lookout duty too.”

I was glad for Taylor that there were other new-slash-not-really-riders among us.

“You guys said ‘dare,' ” Clare said. She'd edged Fuego, her fire-colored chestnut gelding, closer to Sasha's crew. “Who's next?”

Heather exchanged a look across the wall with Alison Robb—a willowy girl. Alison was on a beautiful palomino Arabian. The gelding's face was delicate, and he had a gorgeous dished nose.

“How about you?” Heather said to Clare.

I shot a look at Clare.
Wait a second!
I wanted to say. This was Sasha and her friends' thing. My group and I were staying out of trouble and were having plenty of fun trail riding—on the right side of the wall.

Clare's hesitation was palpable. Her face blushed almost the same color as her hair. I wanted to jump in and answer “No, thanks” for her. But I didn't want to look like a chicken in front of Sasha and her friends.

“Heather, stop,” Sasha said, glaring at her friend. “Leave Lauren and her friends alone.”

I said a silent thank-you to Sasha. Whew. That settled it, and now we could leave Sasha's group alone to their dare and keep going on our trail ride.

Clare straightened in the saddle and looked at Heather. “You're on.” She turned Fuego away from the wall and broke apart from our group.

I wheeled Whisper around and rode next to Clare. “What are you doing?” I hissed. “It's a
huge
rule not to ride on the neighbor's land. What if Kim finds out and we get kicked out of Briar Creek for the rest of break?”

Nero, Zack's liver chestnut gelding, snorted as if he understood me and was offering his opinion.

“We won't,” Clare said. “Laur, it's
Sasha.
I can't say no to jumping in front of her and the rest of her friends. I'll jump the stone wall, turn around, and come right back over. I promise.”

“I completely understand you wanting to impress Sasha,” I said. “I feel the same way. But she doesn't care if you say no to a dare. You'll have a chance at Canterwood for her to see you ride sometime—I know it.”

Clare's big blue eyes looked into mine. “Please don't be mad about this. I won't get us in trouble.”

I pulled Whisper to a halt, sighing. “Okay,” I said with a small smile. “Just hurry back over. Go kill it.”

I circled Whisper back to face my friends and Sasha and her group. “We're not going to get in trouble,” I said to my friends. “If anyone else wants to join in, go for it.”

Khloe, who was beside Zack and Nero, walked Ever next to Whisper and me. The bay mare and Whisper sniffed each other's muzzles. Subtly, Khloe tilted her head
toward the other side of the meadow. We let the horses amble away from the group, making it look as though we were keeping them warmed up.

“You sure you're okay with this?” Khloe said in a whisper. “I know you don't want to potentially make Kim mad.”

“I didn't like it at first,” I admitted. “I don't want to break Kim's rules and disrespect her.
But
no one's hurting anyone and there's no one else here. We'll be back to the stables before we know it.”