Maddie’s Dream (7 page)

“MADDIE! I'M WIDE OPEN!” A
kid named Jack hollered, dancing back and forth on the spongy, well-irrigated grass of the high school soccer field.

Maddie dribbled the soccer ball between her feet, keeping an eye on the boy hovering to her right. But she forgot about the girl on her left. When she tried to pass the ball to Jack, the girl jumped forward and intercepted.

“Ha!” the girl cried as she quickly passed to one of the other kids on her side of the drill.

Coach Wu blew her whistle. “Sorry, guys,” Maddie called to Jack and the others who were playing on her side. “Guess I flubbed that one.”

“Just don't do it in a real game,” a girl warned.

“Yeah, hotshot.” Jack grinned, tossing his bright red hair out of his eyes. “You might not want to do it when the Cascade League scouts are watching either, or they'll take back that invite.”

Maddie grinned as the rest of the team laughed. They'd been ribbing her since practice started. She didn't blame them. It was good-natured, and she'd have done the same if any of them had been chosen.

Coach Wu jogged over. She was in her late twenties, petite and kind of hyper, with a quick smile that showed her gums.

“Okay, people,” she said. “Let's talk strategy here. . . .”

The coach spent the next few minutes discussing the drill they'd just finished, but Maddie's mind wandered after about thirty seconds. She'd spent the past twenty-four hours trying concoct a plan to stop the Richardsons from buying Cloudy, and she was pretty sure she'd finally come up with something that could work. Now she couldn't wait to get home and put it into action.

The rest of soccer practice seemed to drag on forever. But
finally Coach Wu released them. “Maddie, hold up a sec,” she added as the rest of the team took off. “We should talk.”

Swallowing a sigh, Maddie walked over to her. “What's up?”

“I found out more about the tryouts,” the coach said. “They haven't nailed down a date yet, but they're working on it. I'm guessing you'll probably have at least a week to prepare, and then . . .”

Once again, Maddie couldn't seem to focus on what the coach was saying. She did her best to nod and smile at the right spots. What difference did it make? As soon as she was sure Cloudy wasn't going anywhere, Maddie would break the news to Coach Wu that she wasn't trying out for the travel team.

When she got home, Maddie hurried up to her room and logged on to the Internet. There were several new e-mails in her in-box, including one from her friend Bridget, who was away at performing arts camp for the entire summer. But Maddie barely skimmed Bridget's news about theater tryouts and cute band boys before clicking the e-mail shut, telling herself she'd read and respond
to it later. Then she Googled Amber Richardson's name, and the first entry that popped up was the girl's Facebook page. Maddie quickly sent Amber a Friend request, along with a message:

Hi Amber! It's Maddie, from Solano Stables. Remember me? I'm having a lesson on Cloudy tomorrow (Wed) @ 3 and I thought u might want to come and watch. That way u can see what Cloudy is really like.

She hesitated for a second, reading over the message. Then she scrolled down and added one more line at the bottom:

Bring your sisters & your parents if u want, too.

She sent the message, not giving herself a chance to lose her nerve. Then she swallowed hard, fighting off a twinge of guilt. Was she doing the right thing?

Closing her eyes, Maddie pictured Cloudy standing there yesterday, head up, ears alert, mane blowing in the breeze. The little Chincoteague mare was so beautiful, so special in every way. How could Maddie just sit back and accept that she might never see her again? No, she had to do something to stop her from leaving.

“Whatever it takes,” she murmured aloud.

She clicked back to her e-mail account. Below Bridget's e-mail were several more new messages. One was from another friend and a second was from Maddie's grandmother in Arizona, but the rest were notifying Maddie of recent entries on the Pony Post. Oops. Maddie realized she still hadn't checked in with her friends there. What with the trip to San Francisco, soccer practice, and of course her worries about Cloudy, she just hadn't quite gotten around to it.

“Better post something or Nina will call out the National Guard or something,” she muttered, logging on to the site.

Sure enough, there were several concerned posts among the usual chitchat about ponies and such:

[NINA]
Did I miss any posts from Maddie? B/c I haven't seen anything from her since she put up those pix

[HALEY]
If u missed them, I did too. Hope she's OK!

[BROOKE]
Me too. Should one of us try calling her?

[NINA]
Nah. She's probably just having so much fun w/Cloudy that she forgot about lil old us. But she better remember soon! Maddie? Paging Maddie! Where are u?

[BROOKE]
Or maybe u were right, Nina—maybe she met a movie star and ran off to Timbuktu!

[HALEY]
Why would a movie star go to Timbuktu?

[BROOKE]
lol lol why not? Movie stars can go wherever they want to!

[HALEY]
Where is Timbuktu, anyway?

[NINA]
Who cares where it is? Maddie wouldn't run off to Timbuktu, not even w/the coolest movie star ever. Not unless she could take Cloudy along!

[HALEY]
They make special planes that can fly horses overseas. I saw a thing about it on TV.

[NINA]
OK, whatev. I srsly doubt Mad and Cloudy are jetting off to Timbuktu, or Paris or London either. But I hope M checks in soon . . .

“I know, I know,” Maddie muttered, clicking open a new text box.

First things first: she wanted to make sure her friends knew she was okay, and definitely
not
in Timbuktu. Her fingers flew over the keys, and seconds later her message posted:

[MADDIE]
Hi guys! Sorry I haven't posted—busy weekend! Went to San Fran w/the fam, had my
lesson, soccer, etc. But I'm here now! Gotta go catch up on your posts—more in a sec.

Almost instantly, two new posts popped up after hers:

[BROOKE]
Yay! She's back!

[HALEY]
Hi Maddie! Sounds like u had a fun weekend!

Maddie scrolled up, scanning the rest of the posts from that weekend. Haley had written about her daily rides on Wings, the spunky pinto gelding she leased from her neighbor. The two of them competed in the sport of eventing whenever Haley saved up enough money to pay entry fees. That wasn't very often, but Haley still took their training seriously.

Then there was Nina. She hadn't ridden on Sunday because she'd gone to an art gallery opening with her mom instead. But she and her pony Bay Breeze, better known as Breezy, had ridden with some friends on
Monday afternoon. Nina mostly did basic hunt seat riding in the ring at the stable where she boarded, but occasionally she got the urge to try something new, like setting up an obstacle course or trying her hand at saddleseat riding. Breezy sounded like a good sport about all of it, and Maddie could tell he was almost as special as Cloudy.

Brooke lived just a short drive from Chincoteague. She was the only one of the foursome who'd actually attended the world-famous pony penning and auction. That was where she'd bought her pony, Foxy, four years earlier. These days Brooke was busy teaching the young mare to jump, though the two of them spent most of their time trail riding or practicing their groundwork in the grass ring Brooke had created in her backyard.

Maddie always loved hearing about her friends' adventures with their ponies. But today reading the posts gave her a pang of envy. Her friends never had to worry about having their ponies taken away. Meanwhile it had always been in the back of Maddie's head that she could be separated from Cloudy if her mother was transferred to another Air Force base, though she'd tried not to think about that
much. Now? She knew it might happen even sooner.

A new thought struck her as she scanned the others' posts. If she lost Cloudy, would she lose her connection to her Pony Post friends too? They'd all bonded over their Chincoteague ponies, but if Cloudy was sold, Maddie would be left with nothing but her battered old copy of
Misty of Chincoteague
. What if the others decided they didn't have anything in common with her anymore?

Maddie couldn't stand the thought. It didn't seem fair, especially since the Pony Post had been her idea in the first place.

She stared at the empty box for a moment, not sure what to say. Finally she started typing:

[MADDIE]
Wow, sounds like u all did lots of fun stuff over the w/e! Me too—trip to SF was a blast, and I hung out w/Cloudy yesterday. We're all signed up for the Snack & Swim ride next Sun—can't wait! OK, gtg—just got home from soccer and I need a shower. Talk to u later!

She posted the message, then logged off. Maybe she'd tell them about the Richardson Situation later—
after
it wasn't a Situation anymore. Because she was more determined than ever to make her plan work tomorrow.

It
had
to.

CHAPTER

MADDIE FELT A FLUTTER OF
nerves as she coasted into the driveway of Solano Stables the next day. Could she pull this off?

Dropping her bike in the usual spot, she checked her watch. Almost an hour and a half before her lesson was scheduled to start. That gave her an hour until the time she'd asked Amber to meet her. The older girl had messaged her back the day before, saying she'd be there.

“No turning back now,” Maddie murmured as she hurried into the barn.

She made a quick stop in the tack room to grab a few grooming tools, then headed down the aisle toward
Cloudy's stall. The side door was open and Maddie paused to look out at the ring as she passed. Three little kids, maybe six or seven years old, were having their group lesson. At the moment, the girl on Wizard appeared to be trying unsuccessfully to convince him to step over a pole on the ground. Wizard kept stopping and dropping his nose to sniff at it, which caused his rider to break into uncontrollable giggles. The other two young riders were letting their ponies wander around on loose reins as Ms. Emerson focused on the first girl.

“It's a madhouse out there, isn't it?” a friendly voice commented.

Maddie glanced over and saw a woman standing in the shade of the overhang just outside the door. “Oh, hi, Mrs. Scott,” she said. “I didn't see you there.”

Maddie didn't know all the parents who brought the younger kids to lessons, but Mrs. Scott's husband worked at the Air Force base with Maddie's mother, and her older son played on one of the other teams in Maddie's league. She was an energetic, outgoing woman with a nose ring and a stylish short Afro. Her daughter was the rider who
was still trying to convince Wizard to step over the pole.

“Jada looks good out there,” Maddie added politely.

“No she doesn't.” The woman laughed and glanced out at the ring as Wizard took a lazy step backward. “But she loves it, and that's what matters, right?”

“Definitely.” Maddie smiled, preparing to move on.

But the woman stopped her with a hand on the arm. “By the way, congratulations, Maddie. Caleb told me you were selected to try out for the Cascade League. That's big news!”

“Oh.” Maddie gulped. Somehow, she hadn't realized people knew about that already. Then again, why wouldn't they? Once Coach Wu had told the other Pelicans, it was only a matter of time before the whole league knew. Including Caleb Scott. And now his mother. And soon everyone in about a twenty-mile radius, given the way the local gossip mill worked . . .

“So when is your tryout?” Mrs. Scott asked eagerly. “You must be so excited!”

“Yeah.” Maddie forced a smile. “I'm not sure yet when the tryouts start. Not for a week or two, I think.”