Chasing Gold (4 page)

But Haley's mind was already returning to everything she had to do. Her uncle wanted her to help him dump and scrub the big water tank in the main pasture after her other chores, and she'd barely started her social studies paper—oh, and she couldn't skip the reading for English again or even ditzy Ms. Reyes would probably notice. . . .

“But what are you going to wear, then?” Tracey interrupted her thoughts. “It's not like your closet is overflowing with super-stylish choices.”

“I'll just have to wear something I already have,” Haley said, picking a stray bit of hay out of Wings's mane. “I've still got time to figure it out, right? When's the dance again?”

Tracey's loud sigh carried through the phone, telling Haley more clearly than words that her friend considered
her a hopeless cause. “Next Friday,” Tracey said. “As in one week from tomorrow.”

“Next Friday?” Haley pulled up the calendar app again. When she scrolled down to the following weekend, her heart sank. She had a dressage lesson scheduled with her local trainer next Saturday—Jan had even agreed to come to Haley's place to teach her, since Uncle Mike couldn't haul Wings to her farm that day. Haley was grateful to the busy trainer for rearranging her schedule that way, and she wanted to show it. She'd been planning to give Wings a bath on Friday night so his white parts sparkled for the lesson, and maybe give her tack a good cleaning as well if there was time.

“Hello?” Tracey said. “Are you there?”

“I'm here. I was just looking at my calendar. Um, I don't think I can make the dance.”

“What?”

Haley winced as her friend's shriek rang through the barn. Even Wings pricked his ears and looked at the phone.

“Sorry,” Haley said. “My trainer is coming out early that Saturday morning and I have a ton to do to get ready.”

“Can't you reschedule?” Tracey said. “Maybe she can
come later in the day, or on Sunday. Or the weekend after.”

“The weekend after is the Zina Charles clinic.” Haley tried to stay patient. Okay, so she'd probably mentioned the date of the clinic about a thousand times. She couldn't really be mad at Tracey for forgetting, though. After all, she herself couldn't seem to keep that stupid school dance in her head for more than five minutes. Not that it was the same kind of thing at all . . .

“I can't believe this!” Tracey sounded genuinely upset. “Seriously, Hales, you're going to regret it if you miss all your important middle school moments because you're riding or whatever. This is the first dance of the year! What's Owen going to think if you don't show?”

Haley couldn't care less what Owen thought. But she didn't bother to say so.

“I'm sorry,” she said instead. “I'll make the next dance—promise.”

“But that'll be months away!” Tracey sounded horrified. “Look, I swear I won't even try to convince you to go out with Ems and me afterward. The dance ends at nine thirty, so you could be home in bed by ten.”

For a second Haley considered that. Maybe she could tell the boys they'd have to do their own chores that day. If she rushed straight home from school, she just might be able to fit in her planned schooling with Wings, then still have time to give him a bath and do her own chores before the dance. Jan probably wouldn't even notice the condition of her tack. . . .

Haley shook her head. Why was she trying so hard to figure out a way to rework her schedule to fit in a dance she had no interest in attending in the first place? Since when did she compromise something she cared about for something she didn't? Okay, so if things were different, if she had more spare time, getting all dressed up and going to the dance with her friends might not be so bad. It might even be fun. But she didn't have time right now, and that was that.

She opened her mouth to tell Tracey that, then thought better of it when Wings tossed his head and pawed. There was no time to get into a long, drawn-out argument with Tracey right now.

“I'll see how it's going next week and decide then, okay?” Haley said hurriedly. “Look, I have to go—my aunt is calling me.”

“Okay.” Tracey sounded hopeful, and Haley knew she'd be hearing more about that dance, probably much sooner than she wanted to.

But she wasn't going to think about that right now.

“Come on, Wings,” she said, grabbing a brush out of her grooming bucket. “Let's go do some dressage.”

By the time she crawled into bed that night, Haley could hardly keep her eyes open. Stifling a yawn, she grabbed her laptop and opened it as she snuggled back against her pillows. Moment later she was logging on to the Pony Post.

She smiled when she saw Maddie's latest entry:

[MADDIE]
PAGING HALEY! How's it going? Did you and the Wingman have a good dressage school today? What are u working on w/him tomorrow?

Haley was still smiling as she opened a text box to respond. It was nice to have friends who understood what was really important to her. Her smile faded slightly as her mind flashed to Tracey and Emma. Once upon a time,
they'd both been that kind of friend too. Okay, so neither of them was super-interested in horses—Tracey occasionally went trail riding with her cousins up in Door County and usually ended up complaining about her sore muscles afterward, while Ems was nervous around any animal larger than a golden retriever. But both of them had come and cheered Haley and Wings on in their very first competition together, along with most of those since. And they'd both loved hearing about Haley's big plans to move up the levels, maybe even make training and riding and competing her life's work someday.

“That was then, this is now,” Haley muttered under her breath.

Then she turned her attention back to the Pony Post. She typed her response quickly:

[HALEY]
Dressage today was good, mostly. W. was kinda up at first, but I let him canter around the ring about eleventy-billion times to warm up, and he settled down after that. Still have stuff to work on in our dr. lesson next week, tho!

It was only a few seconds after she hit send that another line popped up beneath hers.

[NINA]
Haley! You're here! I'm on right now too.

Haley's smile returned. Most of the time, the Pony Posters had to wait for responses to their posts to one another. After all, they were spread out across three different time zones. Just about the only times they were all on the site together were birthdays and other special occasions. But once in a while, two or even three of them would happen to be logged on at the same time so they could have a real-time conversation.

[HALEY]
I'm here! Just barely—had a looooong day today!

[NINA]
I bet! The clinic is almost here, huh?

[HALEY]
Tell me about it! I'd be too excited to breathe if I wasn't too busy to breathe! LOL!

[NINA]
ha-ha! Maybe that's good—u won't get so nervous about riding in front of a superstar that way.

As she read Nina's message, Haley yawned so widely it felt as if her face might crack in two. Glancing at the clock, she did some quick mental math. Just six and a half hours until her alarm went off. Tomorrow was going to be another long day—even without a trip to the mall in the mix.

[HALEY]
U may be right. Anyway, I'd better go—falling asleep on keyboard! LOL! Sorry I'm not more chatty 2night!

[NINA]
No worries, I get it. Go get some sleep, girl. & keep us posted!

[HALEY]
U know I will! G'night!

CHAPTER

“I'M HOME!” HALEY SHOUTED AS
she rushed through the front door, barely pausing to toss her jacket in the general direction of the closet. She was already mentally adding up the minutes and seconds it would take to tack up Wings, ride out to the cross-country field and school him over a few jumps, cool him out, do her chores, then get back into the house in time to throw on something clean before Mr. Vandenberg showed up.

“Haley.” Aunt Veronica appeared in the kitchen doorway when Haley was halfway up the stairs. “Stop.”

Aunt Veronica was a petite, slightly plump woman with rosy cheeks and an angelic smile. But her softness
was backed with steel. When she gave an order, even her tough old farmer husband always obeyed instantly.

Haley stopped with one foot halfway to the next step. “Yes?”

“Mrs. Vandenberg called.” Aunt Veronica wiped her hands on the dishrag she was holding. She almost never stopped moving—if she wasn't in her home office working as a freelance computer programmer, she was cleaning or cooking or weeding the garden. “One of the kids has a fever, so they're staying in tonight. They won't need you after all.”

Haley just stood there as her mind struggled to take in this turn of events. “Oh,” she said at last. “No babysitting tonight?”

“No babysitting tonight.” Her aunt shrugged. “She sent her apologies and said they'll probably reschedule their dinner, and they'll call you then.”

“Okay.” Haley wasn't sure what to do for a moment. She'd been counting on the money from tonight. If the Vandenbergs didn't call her back before the clinic, she'd have trouble making up the difference.

But at least there was a silver lining. Now she had some extra time this afternoon. It was tempting to ask Jake and Danny if they wanted her to do their chores today after all. But then she had a better idea.

“Tracey and Emma wanted me to go shopping with them today,” she told her aunt. “Is that okay?”

Aunt Veronica looked surprised. “Of course,” she said immediately. “You've been working so hard lately, it'll be good for you to get out and have some fun with your friends.” She stepped over and smoothed down Haley's hair. “I'm really sorry your uncle and I can't help you out more with the cost of your clinic. You've certainly earned it with your devotion to that rotten little pony of yours.”

Haley laughed. Ever since she'd sprained her wrist last year hitting the ground after an extra-exuberant buck, Wings had been officially known to her aunt as “that rotten pony.” But Haley knew Aunt Veronica didn't mean it. For one thing, she always smiled when she said it. For another, talking about Wings often sent her aunt off on endless stories about her own “rotten pony” from
her childhood, a mischievous little Appaloosa mare with a habit of scraping off her riders on any available tree or fence post. But that mare had made Aunt Veronica a terrific rider, even if she didn't have much time for it anymore. And it was Aunt Veronica who'd convinced Uncle Mike that Wings would do the same for Haley.

“Okay, thanks,” Haley said, pulling out her phone. “I'd better call before they leave without me.”