Comeback (10 page)

“Um, I have never, nor will I ever, sit under a dryer and
gossip,” Drew said. He raised both eyebrows, shooting me a glance. A smile tugged
at the corner of his mouth. It made my palms a little sweaty against the reins.

Clare, Lex, and I giggled at his pretend offense.

“We're not including you in our gossipy olds count,”
Khloe said.

Drew put a hand over his heart, neck-reining Polo. “Whew. So
relieved you don't see me that way.”

Clare and Fuego and Khloe and Ever entered the trail first with Lexa close
behind, followed by Drew and me.

“Up for a new trail, LT?” Khloe asked.

“Oui!”
I said.
“Always.”

“Guys, is the one following the creek to the meadow okay?”
Khloe asked.

“Perf,” Clare said.

Drew added a yes, and we kept walking through the woods. We walked the
horses under a canopy of trees, and I took a mental snapshot of the scenery. The light
filtered through the trees, casting shadows of all shapes and sizes onto the dirt
trail.

“It's so gorgeous,” I said to Drew. “Look at the
way the sunlight reflects on those leaves.”

I tilted my head toward some maple leaves, and Drew followed my gaze.

“I like how you notice those things,” he said.
“You've got this attention to details that no one else sees.”

I blushed. “I'm definitely not the only one—”

Drew shook his head, stopping me. “Try to let me finish my
compliment. You're way too humble to say anything, but I want to.”

I looked at Whisper's mane, then back up at him. “Okay, okay.
Go.”

Drew smiled, satisfied. “I didn't even look at the leaves, but
once you pointed them out, I took a closer look. You notice the beautiful things,
Lauren, that I think most people walk right by.”

His words silenced me. I forgot where I was, what we were doing, and who I
was talking to for a second. Then I
snapped back to reality, staring
at him. “Wow. No one has ever said anything like that to me before. Thanks, Drew.
That was so sweet.”

“Just calling it like I see it,” he said.

I grinned and looked ahead, seeing that Lexa had slowed Honor so she was
closer to us. I was so calling her on that later. Eavesdropper! But I wasn't
mad.

“Right at the next fork,” Khloe called.

We made the turn, and the dirt trail widened so we could ride side by
side.

The woods were peaceful, and I couldn't imagine anything else
I'd rather be doing.

“Want to play games while we ride?” Drew asked. He was still
next to me, with Clare on his right, then Khloe. Lexa had ended up to my left.

“Totally!” Clare said.

“I
miss
games!” Lexa said.
“Remember when those actually counted as a lesson?”

“If only we could convince Mr. Conner that passing the flag or an
egg-and-spoon challenge was a good lesson,” I said, giggling.

Khloe frowned. “I always dropped the eggs. Once, when I was in Pony
Club and competing against another chapter, I lost so many eggs that they ran
out
! How does
that
happen? One of my most embarrassing moments ever in the horse world!”

“We're so doing that one day,” Clare said.
“We'll get a bunch of riders together and play. Khlo, maybe we'll glue
your egg to your spoon or something.”

Khloe nodded, patting Ever's neck. “Done. I'm so not
above that.”

We approached the fork in the trail and veered to the right. The path was
free of debris, minus a few branches, and it was wider than the path we'd been
on.

“Okay,” Drew said. “Everybody stand in your stirrups. No
holding onto manes or anything. You sit, you're out.”

I felt my competitive juices kick in. We all stood and I glanced at Drew,
a cool,
this-is-so-easy
look on my face.

“Guys! Look at the deer!” Khloe said.

I swiveled my head and immediately lost my balance. Not wanting to pull on
Whisper's mouth, I sat down.

Everyone else was standing.

Shoot.
Going out the first round wasn't
fun.

“Aw, Khloe! No fair!” Lexa said. “LT's never
played with us. That was a dirty trick!”

I looked over at her, confused. “Where are the deer?” I looked
at both sides of the trail, not seeing any wildlife.

“There are no deer,” Clare said.
“Khloe just said it to try and make some of us fall.”

I mock-gasped. “Khloe!”

Khloe gave me a guilty grin. “I'm sorry! I didn't even
think about it.”

“None of us looked, because we've played games with Khloe
before and she does it all the time,” Lexa said. “Clare, Drew, and I totally
spaced—we should have warned you about her diabolical tricks.”

I laughed. “It's okay, you guys. I fell for it. Now I get to
watch.”

“You should get a redo,” Khloe said. “You guys want to
call that a practice round?”

Everyone nodded, but I shook my head. “No way. Fair is fair.
It'll be just as fun to relax”—I kicked my feet out of the
stirrups—“and watch you guys play.”

“You call the commands,” Clare said.

“Love that,” I said. “Okay. Everyone sit, then let go of
your reins, drop your stirrups, and keep your horse moving with nothing other than vocal
commands. If your horse stops, starts to run into another horse, or generally stops
moving forward—you're out.”

As much as I wanted to play, this was fun too. Everyone followed my
commands.

“Hey, Lex,” Clare called.

“Not listening,” Lexa sang. “Can't hear
you.”

“Okay, but Honor might,” Clare said, her voice syrupy sweet.
“Honor!” She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth.
“C'mere, girl!”

“Ooh, you guys really
play
!” I
said.

“Honor,” Lexa said, her voice firm. “Walk. Don't
listen to Clare.”

The strawberry roan mare's ears flicked back at Lexa and then
swiveled toward Clare's voice.

“Honor,” Lexa said again.

Drew and Khloe were oblivious to Clare's tricks. Both had their
horses walking, and neither showed signs of wobbling.

Lexa kept talking to Honor, trying to keep the mare from listening to
Clare's
I-have-a-treat-for-you
voice. But Honor took a
step sideways, veering in front of Whisper and starting in Clare's direction.

“Sorry, Lex,” I said.

Lexa shot Clare an evil eye, then winked. “We'll get you next
time.”

Lexa dropped back beside me.

“You make the next call,” I said. “Everyone else,
relax.”

Lex thought for a minute. Then she called a new task.

I sat back, enjoying the battle. Whisper seemed to be
watching too. This was one of the best things we'd done together in a long
time.

Khloe was the next to drop out.

Clare and Drew were the only two left.

“We're about to reach the field,” Khloe said, since it
was her turn to decide on a command. “Last task. If no one fails in a few strides,
you both win.”

“You're going down, Bryant,” Drew said to Clare.

“Whatever,” she scoffed. “You're done and you know
it.”

“Swing around in the saddle to look at us,” Khloe said.
“And keep your horses in a straight line.”

“Good one,” I said.

Drew and Clare immediately dropped their reins, moved their feet out of
the stirrups, and swung around to face Khloe, Lexa, and me. Both of them had the same
determined look on their faces. Drew's gelding, Polo, moved forward, seeming
unaffected by his rider's backward posture.

Fuego, however, sensed something wasn't right almost immediately. He
twisted his head from side to side. He had no one to guide him. He didn't have
Clare's eyes or reins. Before Clare could react, he started to circle back.
Quickly she turned back around in the saddle and halted him.

“Great job, Drew,” Clare said.

Drew smiled, settling himself back in the right direction. “You too,
Clare. I think Polo's having a sleepy day, so I got lucky.”

“You were both awesome,” I said.

Khloe and Lexa chimed in with their congratulations. Drew modestly
accepted them and caught my eye. I smiled, and he returned my gesture.

We went back to a side-by-side position and reached a grassy field. A
shallow creek wound down from a hillside next to us, and water rushed over the pebbles
and stones that covered the creek bed.

“This is the best trail!” I said. “It's gorgeous
out here.”

“We can keep walking and looking at the scenery,” Lexa said,
“
or
we could go for a gallop. . . .”

I glanced at her. “Do you even have to ask?”

“On three!” Khloe said. I could
feel
the excitement in her voice.

I squeezed my knees a little tighter against Whisper's sides, made
sure my feet were secure in the stirrups, and leaned forward a bit. My heart
pounded—adrenaline pumping.

“One . . . two . . . three!” Khloe said.

Four horses leaped forward at the same time. Dirt
changed to grass, and the hoofbeats sounded musical. Whisper matched Honor and Polo
stride for stride. Each horse engaged in an immediate battle with the others. Ever and
Fuego caught us. All the horses fought stride for stride—not one horse wanting to
be a stride behind the other.

Whisper's gray mane blew back and she snorted, digging deeper. She
found an extra burst of speed and jumped a half stride ahead. I rocked with her body,
hearing only her. The horses around us disappeared. My only focus was Whisper and the
feeling of her long, elegant strides covering the ground. It felt like magic.

Lauren Towers's Blog

8:55 p.m.: Weekend wrap-up!

Yesterday was amaze! After my sleepover at R and C's on Friday
night, we went on a trail ride with D. The best part was watching Whisper have
fun—she
loved
getting out of her stall and not heading
straight to practice. K chose a trail I'd never been on, and it was
très magnifique
(really magnificent)! The horses got to
stretch their legs, especially when we let them gallop. Whisper and I
flew
over the field, and I forgot that everything else existed.

No classes.

No R.

No drama.

No thinking about home.

No missing my friends.

No thinking abt boys.

No worrying abt riding.

Just
riding
. And loving it.

When I pulled Whisper up, I was next to D. I glanced at him and was glad
to be back to reality. D and I are getting closer,
very
slowly, and he seems like a guy I can trust. Plus, there's just something
so
interesting about him that I always feel like there's
so much we have to talk about. So much I want to know!

After the trail ride, C, K, D, and I walked our horses back to the
stable, and D and I chatted the whole way back. We went as a group to The Sweet Shoppe
and got ice cream. Everyone was excited from our ride, and we started talking about the
schooling show.

Oh, mon Dieu!

It's coming up faster and faster. One more weekend of practice and
then . . . showtime.

Can't.

Talk.

About.

It.

Too nervous. But I will say I'm going to practice a zillion
times harder and work every spare second with Whisper. I know
better than to overwork her, though, and, being with her just to talk is invaluable. I
my horse.