Time's Up (3 page)

O
n Sunday the air was crisp and crystal clear.
A perfect day for riding,
thought Katani as she leaned back against her seat. Grandma Ruby steered Triple B, her big blue Buick, up the long driveway as Katani watched the sun glinting off the scaffolding surrounding the barn. By next spring, High Hopes would be renovated and painted, with the outdoor ring cleared and ready for riding. All the old fences would be replaced and painted white and the paddocks would be replanted with luscious green grass. Katani smiled. She imagined her horse, Penelope, grazing in this future pastoral scene as Grandma Ruby pulled into the parking area.

Kelley leaned toward the car door, ready to leap out. “Wilbur, Wilbur, Wilbur,” she sang with a carrot in hand.

“Hold your horses, hon,” Grandma Ruby said. “We're almost there.”

“Bad horse joke, Grandma,” said Kelley with her arms folded across her chest.

“Remember the first day we came and we couldn't stand the smell?” Katani laughed as she rolled down the window.

“Smelly horsey smell,” Kelley said. “Yum. I want to smell Wilbur all day. He smells so soft and gray.”

“I always wanted to ride when I was a girl. I'm so very happy I get to watch my granddaughters do it now.” Grandma Ruby shifted into park, and the girls jumped out and raced to the barn.

“Slow down, Kelley! You don't want to spook the horses, now, do you?” Claudia McClelland, the riding instructor, called after Kelley, who was racing toward Wilbur's stall. Eyes wide, Kelley slowed down and tiptoed exaggeratedly through the barn. Katani clapped her hands over her mouth, trying to suppress a giggle. Sometimes Kelley was just too darn funny.

A tall, chestnut quarterhorse with just a snip of white on her nose poked her head through her stall door. Penelope flicked her ears in Katani's direction. Katani rubbed her cheek against the horse and scratched behind the mare's ears.

“Hi, pretty girl. I missed you,” she whispered gently as Penelope pushed her nose into Katani's coat. “I know what you want.”

Katani put the apple flat on her palm, and Penelope munched it in two bites. Then Katani led the big horse to the cross-ties, where she groomed and saddled her. At the other end of the barn, Katani could see Samantha, one of the stable hands, throwing the bucket saddle on Wilbur while Kelley carefully brushed the small gray horse's mane over and over, all the while singing to him.

Katani waited for Catherine, the other stable hand, to check her saddle. Sometimes Penelope bloated out her stomach too much when Katani tightened the girth.

“You got it right today. Good job!” Catherine complimented Katani as she held the reins over Penelope's head
while Katani slipped the snaffle bit in. Katani never ever would have imagined herself doing this a few months ago. She held the reins together near the bit with her right hand and grabbed them with her left hand to make sure they didn't dangle.

Then she led Penelope toward the ring, right behind Whitney Bainbridge's enormous bay gelding, almost a hand taller than Penelope. Whitney, who was the best rider in the class, wore slick tan riding pants with a padding of suede on the inside calves, a goosedown vest over a black turtleneck sweater, and leather boots the same color as her brown velvet hard hat. Her shiny brown ponytail swished across her back.

Katani looked down at her own plain black paddock boots.
Thank goodness I polished these last night,
she thought. She was proud that she'd paid for the boots herself—and she was pretty sure that Whitney never had to pay for anything. How could any girl her age afford to buy riding clothes that expensive?

Penelope whinnied as Katani led the mare toward their class. Suddenly, Katani felt an irrepressible urge to do something—
anything
—to impress Whitney Bainbridge. She hadn't planned on saying anything about the contest to her riding friends, but when they reached the ring, she blurted, “So yesterday I heard about this young entrepreneur contest. It sounds totally cool. You just have to write up a business plan and budget, and if you win, you get to go to Washington, D.C., to meet with the heads of all these huge companies.” She felt good showing Whitney that she was a go-getter, too.

“That sounds awesome,” said Marky.

“It sounds like a whole lot of work,” commented Ling.

“I don't even know what business I'd try!” Marky laughed. “What are you going to do, Katani?”

“I think I'm going to knit scarves. But I still have to figure out how to tie my plan into the community service that's part of the project.” She glanced up at Whitney, whose blue-gray eyes were like ice looking at her.

“When's the deadline?” Ling asked.

“That's the scary thing,” Katani told them. “It's just one week away.”

“That's crazy,” Whitney said coolly, slipping on a pair of leather gloves with suede reinforcements on the palms and fingertips. “There's no possible way that someone can pull a business together that fast, unless you have a couple of experienced helpers.”

“I'm going to do this by myself,” Katani responded in an annoyed tone. Whitney might be able to buy anything she wanted, thought Katani as she looked again at Whitney's beautiful calfskin gloves, but what did that girl know about business, anyway? From the looks of it, Whitney had everything handed to her on a silver platter.

“I could help you.” Whitney looked up sharply at Katani.

Whoa, back up,
Katani thought. Why would this girl want to help? Besides, she didn't trust Whitney one bit. There was something about her that reminded Katani of Anna and Joline, the Queens of Mean at Abigail Adams. If the QOM were nice, it was only because they wanted something, or to get a good laugh. Their business was to make others feel bad in order to feel good about themselves.

“Well…I've been thinking about my business for a long time,” Katani finally managed to say, turning away from Whitney to stroke Penelope. “I'm used to working alone.”

“All right, riders, let's mount and walk around the ring,” Claudia called out, swishing a crop in the air.

Katani turned her focus back to riding. As soon as she sat tall in the saddle with her head held high, she felt the tension leaving her body and relaxed into the rhythmic motion of Penelope's gait. Penelope's ears flicked back as Katani spoke softly, “Good horse. Today we're going to jump. Are you ready, girl?”

Penelope was raring to go. Two weeks ago they had walked and trotted over ground poles. This week they'd try a low jump.

After a quick warm-up, Claudia said, “Okay, jumpers, raise your stirrups two holes.” She pointed her crop and said, “Eyes straight ahead, Marky. Ling, you're leaning forward too much. Whitney, why don't you go first, then Katani and everyone else follow in the order you're in.”

Katani's heart was pounding, even though the cross-rails set up in the middle of the ring were only a foot high. She went over in her head what Claudia had told them at the last lesson: “Remember, when you get to the jump, lift your weight forward and slide your hands up to the crest of your horse. Let your horse stretch until he's over.”

“Okay, go for it, Whitney,” Claudia said. “Check your leads,” she instructed everyone.

Whitney sailed over in beautiful form. How could Katani ever do it that well? She'd completely die of embarrassment if she fell off in front of Whitney.

“Next,” Claudia called.

As they rounded the corner, Katani pressed her heels into Penelope's side and clucked, so Penelope broke into a fast trot, then a slow canter. Katani counted the strides as they approached the first jump. Just before the jump, when she felt Penelope ready to leap forward, Katani slid her hands halfway up Penelope's neck, grabbed a clump of mane, and sunk
her weight into her heels. She felt like she was on Pegasus, soaring through the air. It was magical. Horse and rider landed smoothly, and Katani sat back, letting the reins slide through her fingers.

“Nice work, Katani. Next.”

Katani's heart soared as she slowed Penelope to a trot and patted her and told her what a good girl she was. She wished everyone from gym class at school could see her now. Mr. McCarthy always expected her to be good at basketball, as if she'd just start playing like her star sisters one day. That was never going to happen. She was an uncoordinated mess on the basketball court. It was hard to believe she was even related to Candice and Patrice. But riding was different. She and Penelope understood each other. Confident, Katani sat up straighter and posted around the ring. Next lesson, she and Penelope would jump even higher.

Three Hundred Dollars

Claudia walked over as Katani was dismounting. “You did a nice job out there today, Katani. Why don't you and Kelley sign up for Pony Camp this summer? But you better do it fast because the slots fill quickly.”

“I'll talk to my parents,” Katani replied eagerly as she grabbed the reins under Penelope's head.

“The applications are in the office. Grab one before you leave today.”

“Thanks, Claudia.”

Excited, Katani led Penelope back to the cross-ties, where she started to rub and brush down the pretty mare. She would absolutely love to go to Pony Camp. A whole week with a horse of her own to take care of—how cool would that be?!

Out of the corner of her eye, Katani saw Whitney wiping
down her bay in quick, efficient strokes. Whitney was as tall as Katani and though she didn't wear makeup, there was something perfect about her face, like a doll's. Her eyebrows looked like they'd been waxed into neat arcs, her nose was small and buttonish, and her lips were heart-shaped.
She could easily be a model
, Katani thought, and made herself look away.

“Katani?” Samantha asked.

Katani looked up, startled.

“You won't forget to clean Penelope's hooves, will you?”

“No. No, I won't. I promise,” Katani said, embarrassed that she
had
forgotten.

She immediately retrieved the pick and started with the front hoof. She clucked and squeezed the back of Penelope's lower leg until the horse gently lifted her foot, which Katani placed in the palm of her left hand. With her other hand, she dug out the dirt and muck stuck in the soft leathery pad.

Katani looked up to see that Whitney was rubbing Penelope's nose. A piece of paper was in one hand. At the top it read “Pony Camp.” Of course she was going, too, Katani thought. She was the best rider at High Hopes, and money wouldn't be an issue.

“So, Katani,” Whitney started. “I know you have a lot of ideas already, but I could help you with your business plan. I've done this sort of thing before.”

“Okay, thanks. I'll let you know if I need help.”
Why won't this girl just drop it already?
Katani thought with irritation.
Maybe Whitney's a stalker,
she thought unkindly.

Whitney folded the Pony Camp application into squares and slid it into her vest pocket. Then she lifted her velvet-trimmed hat and unclipped a barrette from her golden brown hair. “I make these. I paint them all. It's my ‘business.'”

Tiny brown horses with blue ribbons strewn in their manes and tails pranced at either end of the barrette Whitney held out. Katani had to admit they were much nicer than any of the painted barrettes she'd seen in JB's Bead, Yarn, and Craft store. She reminded herself to tell Isabel about them, since she was always looking for new arty ideas.

“I sell them at horse shows. I made three hundred dollars last month at the big show at Myopia.”

“Three hundred?” Katani was impressed in spite of herself. She'd made only one hundred dollars total from Kgirl Enterprises so far. She was shocked someone her age could make that much money.

“I'm going to be selling these at Dover Saddlery as soon as I get enough of them painted,” Whitney informed her with a toss of her ponytail.

“Really?” Katani said coolly. She would love to have some of her things for sale at a classy shop like Dover Saddlery in Wellesley. It was one of the best riding apparel stores around. Katani moved to Penelope's back hoof to avoid Whitney's penetrating eyes. This so-together girl was making her nervous.

Whitney walked behind Penelope, pinning her hair back in place with the barrette. “See, I do know a thing or two about being an entrepreneur.”

Katani could feel Whitney's eyes traveling up and down her. Prickles ran along Katani's back. Yikes! She realized that Whitney was as competitive as she was. Maybe she shouldn't have mentioned the contest to her.

“Like I said, I'd be happy to help you,” Whitney continued. “I mean, if you're doing scarves, we could put our products together and market them as riding accessories.” Katani had to admit that sounded like a great business idea, but she really
wanted to do this all by herself. Especially without help from some snobby girl who already had her own successful business. Besides, if she won, she wanted the award to be all hers.

“Uhh…no thanks, Whitney,” Katani finally spit out.

As she bent down to clean Penelope's last hoof, Katani sneaked a glance at Whitney. Did she actually look a little bit…hurt? Katani suddenly felt guilty for blowing her off, but immediately a bright, fake smile filled Whitney's face.

“That's okay,” Whitney said quickly. “Can you just let me know where the ad was for the contest?”

Katani opened her mouth, but before she said anything, Kelley was standing beside Whitney, blurting, “
T-Biz!
,
T-Biz!
The ‘Entrepreneur of the Year' contest encourages young entrepreneurs to develop their expertise to successfully start and manage their own businesses. This is an opportunity for all young entrepreneurs to fulfill their dreams,” Kelley repeated the contest ad in a monotone voice.

Katani gripped on to Penelope's mane and slowly counted to ten. Kelley's incredible memory was about to make her scream.