True Riders (5 page)

It was Adam. “Hey,” Brooke greeted him in surprise. “Since when do you come to the front door?”

Adam grinned and shrugged. “Just come on. I looked up some pictures of jump plans during study hall today, and I have some ideas. . . .”

A few minutes later they were dragging tools and two-by-fours out of the shed behind the garage. After hearing about the jump-building project, Brooke's stepfather had told her she could use anything she wanted from in there. It was where he stuck all the stuff he didn't have any particular use for but didn't want to throw away, and it was a treasure trove of scrap lumber, stray hardware, loose screws and nails, half-empty cans of paint, and random semi-broken tools. The weather was a little warmer than it had been for the past couple of days, so instead of working in the garage as they'd planned, they decided to set up their tools and materials on the frostbitten grass right outside Foxy's pasture.

“That way we won't have to carry the stuff as far once it's done,” Adam said, dropping a stack of boards onto the ground next to the tool bag he'd brought.

“Sounds good.” Brooke was glad that he seemed to be in a cheerful mood. She'd been afraid he might be mopey after getting cut from the basketball team. She was sure she would have been feeling pretty blue if something like that had happened to her.

But she wasn't going to complain, that was for sure. It was almost feeling like old times, the two of them together and getting started on a fun project. Like all his weird behavior over the past six months had never happened at all. Brooke liked the feeling.

Once they were set up, it didn't take long to build two sets of jump standards and a small coop. That was one of the jumps Adam had researched online. It was a triangular jump, sort of like an A-frame shelter for chickens. As she held a piece of wood steady so Adam could screw it into place, Brooke made a mental note to take a picture of her new jumps to show the Pony Post. She was sure they'd be interested—especially Haley, who had built all the jumps in her cross-country schooling field, with some help from her uncle and cousins.

Adam kept up a steady chatter as they worked, talking about school, their families, and various other topics, though he didn't mention basketball at all. After a while Foxy noticed the two of them working and wandered over to watch them over the fence, between nibbles of dry grass.

Finally Adam hammered one last nail into the coop, stepped back, and brushed off his hands. “Okay, that should be enough to get you started,” he said, sounding pleased with their work. “We can paint them another time if you want. For now let's bring them in, and then how about you and Foxy give it a try?”

“What—you mean jump right now?” Brooke couldn't help feeling startled. Somehow she hadn't thought much past this building project. Now her heart thumped as she stared at the coop, which suddenly looked much bigger than it had a second ago. Were she and Foxy really ready to get back to serious jumping?

“Go on and throw on that English saddle of yours,” Adam urged. “I can't wait to see Foxy go. I'm sure she's going to be a jumping superstar!”

“Yeah, she is.” Brooke flashed back to summer camp, where Foxy had done really well over fences, especially considering her lack of experience. She'd even won some ribbons at the little end-of-camp show, and the camp's owner, a very experienced show jumper, had mentioned more than once that she thought the pony had natural talent. Remembering that made Brooke feel a little more excited about seeing what Foxy could do over their new jumps.

By the time she'd caught Foxy and had done a quick grooming and saddling, Adam had dragged all the new stuff into the corner of the pasture that served as Brooke's main riding area. He was settling one of the wooden poles that had already been in there into the notches they'd made in the standards, when Brooke led the pony toward him.

“Put that a little lower, okay?” she said. “We should start with— Hey, Foxy, what's wrong? Easy, girl!”

The mare was backing up to the end of the reins, head high and eyes rolling as she stared toward the riding area. Brooke realized that Foxy had just noticed the new jumps, and like most horses, she could be a little nervous about anything new. That was another memory from camp, actually. When they'd first arrived, Foxy had acted more like a wild mustang fresh off the range than the calm, steady pony she normally was.

“What's with her?” Adam glanced over his shoulder at Foxy. “She's totally spazzing out.”

“She'll be okay.” Brooke talked soothingly to Foxy. She waited until Foxy had settled a bit, and then gave a gentle tug on the reins to lead her forward again. “She'll probably calm down once I get on.”

Brooke pulled down her stirrups and quickly swung aboard. But as she settled into the saddle, she could feel that Foxy was still tense. When Brooke stuck her foot into the off-side stirrup, the mare jumped and spun around, almost causing Brooke to lose her balance.

“Whoa, Foxy—settle down!” Brooke quickly gathered up the reins, trying to get Foxy's attention back on her. She glanced at Adam. “I'm not sure we're going to be able to actually jump anything today. Maybe I should just let her walk around and get used to the new stuff.”

“Oh, I'm sure she'll be fine in a minute,” Adam said. “You're brave, right, Foxy?”

Brooke smiled tightly, steering the mare a little closer to one of the new jumps. Foxy kept a wary eye on it, sidestepping when they passed it.

After a few circles around the jumps, Foxy seemed calmer. But Brooke could tell she was still nervous.

“Go ahead. Try a jump now,” Adam called from where he was perched on the pasture fence watching them.

Brooke hesitated, knowing that he was eager to see the results of all their hard work. She wasn't quite comfortable with how Foxy was feeling. “I have an idea,” she said. “Can you take one of the rails down and put it on the ground between the standards? Then I'll try to get her to step over it—you know, to get her used to the idea.”

Adam looked dubious, but he shrugged and went over to one of the fences. Foxy startled in place when he dropped one of the wooden rails to the ground, letting out a snort in reaction to the loud
thunking
sound the rail made.

“It's okay, girl.” Brooke reached forward and stroked the pony's neck. “You can do this.”

She urged Foxy forward. A few steps out, the mare tried to stop, and for a second Brooke was tempted to let her. But she channeled her Pony Post friends, trying to be brave like they were.

“Walk on, Foxy!” she said sternly, closing both legs on the mare's sides.

The pony let out another snort but finally skittered forward, half-stepping and half-hopping over the rail and then trotting away with her head held high.

“I think that's enough for today,” Brooke called to Adam, feeling a little breathless as she wrestled Foxy to a walk and then turned her around.

“Are you kidding? She hasn't even jumped anything yet!” Adam stepped toward them. “Want me to get on?”

“You want to ride her?” Brooke was surprised. It had been a long time since Adam had expressed any interest in riding. “Um . . .”

“Come on. What's the worst that could happen?” He grinned and grabbed Foxy by the bridle. “Hop off and let me take her for a spin.”

Still feeling a little uncertain, Brooke dismounted and helped Adam lengthen the stirrups on her English saddle. Then she watched as he swung aboard and clucked to Foxy, sending her trotting off before he'd even bothered to gather up the reins.

She held her breath as he turned her toward the second set of jump standards, which he'd set up as a crossrail. Would Foxy freak out, refuse the jump, maybe even spook so hard that Adam fell off? If she did, would he stop coming around again?

To Brooke's surprise, however, her pony's ears were pricked and her trot was mostly steady as she neared the crossrail. Two or three strides out she hesitated, trying to veer off to the left. But Adam growled at her and gave her a kick, and just like that—Foxy surged forward and leaped over the jump!

“Wow!” Brooke exclaimed as Foxy landed and cantered off nicely. “That looked great!”

Adam grinned at her over his shoulder. “Told you she's a superstar. Let's try the coop next, Foxy.”

Brooke watched with amazement as they hopped over several more jumps. Adam didn't exactly have the finesse of the girls Brooke had ridden with at camp. But he was athletic enough to manage the basics, and more important, he was confident, which seemed to make Foxy feel confident too.

Finally he brought the pony to a halt in front of Brooke, still grinning. “Okay, your turn again,” he said. “Ready to give it another try?”

“Sure, I guess.” Brooke felt a shiver of nerves up and down her spine. But she tamped them down as she remounted. She'd just seen how important it was to give her pony a confident ride. She had to do that too.

Foxy didn't feel tense anymore, which helped Brooke relax. She aimed the pony at the crossrail, holding her breath as they trotted toward it.

“Kick her if you have to,” Adam called. “Don't let her slow down!”

Nodding, Brooke released her breath and gave the pony a nudge with both heels. “Go on, girl,” she whispered.

Foxy flicked an ear back, then pricked it forward again—and jumped the crossrail as if she'd been doing it forever. Brooke smiled, then turned the pony toward the coop.

When Brooke entered the house half an hour later, she was still smiling. Who knew all it took was a little confidence to get Foxy to jump like that? She couldn't wait to tell the Pony Post all about it.

Unfortunately, she soon discovered that she had no way to do that, at least not at the moment. “Sorry, Brooke,” her stepfather said when she asked if he'd seen her laptop. He was sitting at the kitchen table poring over some paperwork from the used car lot while Brooke's mother bustled around making dinner. “The twins are obsessed with some new online game and wouldn't stop fighting, so I told Emma she could play on your laptop while the E-man hogs the desktop.”

Brooke's mother glanced at her. “You don't mind, do you, sweetie? It's so peaceful and quiet with them both busy.”

“Sure, no problem.” Brooke decided she'd rather take a shower before dinner anyway. Filling her friends in could wait.

CHAPTER

ON WEDNESDAY MORNING
Brooke woke up a few minutes before the alarm was set to go off. When she left her bedroom to go to the bathroom, she noticed that someone had left her laptop on the floor outside her door. She grabbed it and ducked back into her room, glad to have a few extra minutes to update the Pony Post at last.

After logging on to the Internet, she saw her e-mail icon blinking, so she clicked on that first. There was a new message from Adam:

I'll come after school again today to help u with the jumps. O and here are some of the pix I took of the twins riding the other day—lol!