City Secrets (11 page)

“Thank you,” I said. “I really appreciate you letting me ride here.”

“Not a problem,” Pam said. She checked a clipboard on her desk, which was as organized as Mr. Conner's. Every paper clip was in place, and manila files were stacked in neat piles.

“Your horses are in stalls eighteen and nineteen. You can
choose between yourselves which horse you'd like,” Pam continued. “You know the tack-room system, Heather, but ask a groom for help if you need it.”

“I will,” Heather said. “Thanks. See you later.”

“Bye,” I said.

Pam waved us both out of her office. “Have a good session,” she called after us.

Heather and I went down the stairs and she headed away from the aisle.

“Let's grab our tack,” Heather said.

We walked a few yards down a side aisle that was lit from skylights. The walls were lined with championship ribbons—some from show circuits I'd never even heard of. Heather turned a brass knob on a closed door. The scent of leather and saddle soap felt immediately comforting. There were racks of saddles, bridles, and saddle pads all around the room. Every saddle was so shiny, I half-expected to see my reflection if I looked at one up close.

“This tack room is amazing,” I said. “Do the grooms clean the saddles after every ride or something? They're all so perfect.”

“They don't have time to do that,” Heather said, shrugging. “They just get a lot of use, so they never get dusty. And they're so expensive, I'm sure their riders clean them
every few rides.” She walked down the row and pointed. “Here's our tack.” I looked closer and saw the saddle racks had golden plates with numbers inscribed on them.

I lifted the Stübben all-purpose saddle and white saddle pad from the rack and looped the bridle over my arm. The snaffle bit gleamed—every inch of leather was supple and polished. Heather gathered her own tack and we left the tack room. The aisle was quiet, but the riders who were here looked like adults or college students. Most of the people our age were probably still in school—not everyone got fall break like we did.

If my arms hadn't been full of tack, I would have petted every horse in sight. These were some of the most gorgeous horses I'd ever seen. Not as handsome as Charm, of course. Just thinking about my chestnut Thoroughbred/Belgian gelding made my heart twist. I missed him so much. I knew Mike and Doug, my favorite Canterwood grooms, were taking excellent care of Charm, but I still worried about how he was doing without me. We were only apart on school breaks, and he followed me like a puppy whenever I got back to school.

Heather and I reached stalls eighteen and nineteen and put the tack down on the trunks in front of the stalls.

“Do you know these horses?” I asked, peering into
stall eighteen. The nameplate said
LIMITLESS
. Inside, a lanky bay gelding with a star on his forehead munched on hay from the iron rack on the wall. He looked up at me and his dark brown eyes were friendly.

The horse in stall nineteen, a black mare, had her head poked over the door and stretched her muzzle toward Heather. Her nameplate said cora.

“They're new,” Heather said. “I didn't see either of them when I was here last time.”

“Which one do you want?” I asked. It seemed only polite to let Heather have first choice since it was her old stable.

“The mare's fine,” Heather said. “Cool?”

I nodded. “Totally.”

I took the lead line off the hook by Limitless's stall and unlatched his stall door.

“Hi, boy,” I said. I held out my hand and walked toward him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He turned his head away from the hay net and sniffed my arm. I clipped the lead line to the ring under his chin and rubbed his neck.

“I'm Sasha,” I said, keeping my voice low. Heather would mock me for days if she heard me introducing myself to a horse.

“Pam said I can ride you this week,” I said. “It's important, since I'm practicing for a schooling show when I get back to my stable,” I added. “Ready to go for a ride?”

Limitless's eyes met mine and he looked ready. I petted his neck for a few more seconds, thinking about what it must be like to be a school horse. Different riders at least every week. Each rider had his or her own style of riding, and school horses didn't know what to expect and had to adapt to every new rider.

I led Limitless out of the stall, grabbed his tack box from his trunk, and found a pair of cross-ties a few stalls down. Cora walked obediently behind Heather as they followed Limitless and me. Heather tied Cora to the bars of an empty stall nearby so we could chat while we groomed them.

“Are you freaking out about riding here?” Heather asked.

“Not anymore,” I said. “Pam was so nice and welcoming. Plus it seems like we'll have the indoor arena to ourselves.”

“Good,” Heather said. “Because I want to practice hard. We've got the schooling show coming up and I'm not going to my first show on the YENT unprepared. You never know who might be at that circuit and we can't look like losers.”

I picked up the dandy brush and looked at Heather. “You don't mean . . .”

Heather ducked under Cora's neck to look at me. “You never know. Just because she's not showing for the YENT doesn't meant she can't be there competing at a different level.”

I took a long breath. Neither of us had said her name, but we both knew the girl we were talking about—Jasmine King. Jas, an ultracompetitive rider, had transferred from her school—Wellington Preparatory—to Canterwood last semester. The girl was so mean she made Heather look angelic. But Jas had gone too far when she'd framed Julia and Alison for cheating on a history exam. They'd been kicked off the advanced riding team and hadn't been given a shot at trying out for the YENT. We'd brainstormed ways to prove their innocence but had come up empty. Finally I'd caught Jas on tape bragging about how she'd framed them. It had been proof enough of Julia's and Alison's innocence. They were back on Canterwood's advanced riding team and would soon be able to try out for the YENT.

I realized I was just standing there—not brushing Limitless. I pushed Jasmine out of my head and started brushing. Jasmine wasn't at Canterwood anymore. She wasn't
on the YENT, and there was nothing she could do to mess with Charm and me. There were other important things to focus on—like the schooling show.

A few minutes later, I switched to a softer blue body brush and ran it across Limitless's neck and back, flicking nonexistent dust from his coat. Chestnuts were my favorite, but I loved how bays shined. Beside me, Heather worked silently, seemingly caught up in her own thoughts.

“Does it feel weird to be back here?” I asked. I took a soft cloth and wiped Limitless's face.

Heather shrugged. “Kind of. It's weird coming back to a stable that used to be
yours
and to have people and horses you've never met be here.”

“That's how I felt when I visited Briar Creek, my old stable, after being at Canterwood,” I said. “It was strange to see my old instructor working with students I'd never met and not to have Charm in his old stall.”

“Your stable wasn't anything like this, was it?”

Heather had
never
asked about Briar Creek. She'd mocked Union, my hometown, and had known that I'd come from a tiny stable without a reputation like Canterwood's. But she hadn't ever talked to me about Briar Creek's facilities.

“No, it wasn't,” I said, deciding to be completely honest. “
Our outdoor arena was more like a round pen with peeling paint. There were only a handful of stalls and not too many boarders. But Kim, my old instructor, kept it as clean as Canterwood and did what she could with repairs.”

Heather nodded and started to saddle Cora. “Did Kim teach you the basics?”

“Yeah, but she knew Briar Creek couldn't give me what I needed to keep progressing. She encouraged my parents to help me apply to Canterwood and I did.” I paused, thinking about the bittersweet moment when I'd heard I'd been accepted.

“It was weird, you know?” I said. “I loved Briar Creek and I was comfortable there. It was like my second home. Canterwood sounded so scary and intimidating. But I knew if I didn't take the chance, I wouldn't grow as a rider. So I took it.”

I walked a few feet away to grab Limitless's saddle and pad. I smoothed the pad onto his back and placed the saddle over it. He stood still while I tightened his girth and ran my hand under it, making sure none of his skin was pinched.

I released the cross-ties and slid the reins over Limitless's head. I put the bit on my palm and he opened his mouth without hesitation.

“You're such a good guy,” I said. “You're used to having this done a lot, aren't you?”

He mouthed the bit until it was settled, and I tightened the cheek strap.

Heather had finished tacking up Cora.

“Ready?” she asked.

“Definitely,” I said. We grabbed our helmets off the tack trunks, and I followed her toward the indoor arena.

 9 

WHEN WE REACHED THE ARENA, I STOPPED at the entrance, taking it all in. It was a gorgeous space—the entire rectangular arena was flooded with light from the huge windows. A stack of portable jumps were at one end, next to a neat pile of dressage markers. The arena was almost as big as Canterwood's. It was empty—I suspected Mr. Fox had probably reserved it for the entire day.

“Niiice,” I said. “This is a great space.”

“I love the windows,” Heather said. “It always kept me from getting bored when I was riding for hours by myself. I'd pass a window and watch someone else practice in one of the outdoor arenas.”

I patted Limitless's neck and prepared to mount. It
had been a while since I'd ridden another horse, but I wasn't too nervous. Pam seemed to know what Heather and I could handle, especially since we were on the YENT. Gathering the reins, I stuck my left toe in the stirrup iron and pushed up off the ground.

Limitless didn't move as I settled into the saddle and reached down to adjust my stirrups. Beside us Heather mounted Cora, and the black mare pointed her ears toward the arena—definitely ready to go.

Heather and I gave the horses rein and let them move at a slow walk through the arena entrance. I guided Limitless to the wall, and, with Heather and Cora behind us, we started to warm up. Limitless's stride was smooth and he was alert and ready for any of my commands, which was great for a school horse. I flashed back to some of the horses I'd ridden before my parents had bought me Charm. They'd been an interesting mix. The first lesson horse I'd ridden had refused to trot unless he wanted to and he'd always yanked his head down to try and grab a bite of grass. A couple of horses had been high-strung and one had shied at anything that moved.

But Limitless wasn't anything like those horses, and from what I'd seen from Cora, she wasn't either. I gave the bay gelding more rein and let him move into a trot.
He quickened his pace and moved smoothly around the arena. Hoofbeats quickened behind us as Heather let Cora trot after Limitless. The mare didn't want to be left behind, and she stayed a few strides behind us without tailgaiting.

As we made our way around the arena, I looked out one of the windows. In the arena that was in full view, half a dozen adult riders were putting horses through all different exercises. I was so used to seeing people my age in the arena that I almost wanted to stop and watch the adults ride.

“Silver!” Heather yelled from behind me.

“What?” I looked over at her as she let Cora get even with Limitless.

“I know I said the windows were great, but you can't stare out them forever,” Heather continued. “We're supposed to be
practicing
.”

“We're just warming up. And chill—I might learn something from watching them.”

Heather rolled her eyes. “The warm-up's about to be over and the only person you'd learn anything from watching is me.” She shifted in the saddle to look at me, a cocky smirk on her face.