Show-Jumping Dreams (5 page)

“Are you all right, Alex?” Comet champed at the bit. “It felt like you didn’t really want me to jump. I didn’t want to go over it if you were frightened.”

She leaned down to rub his silky caramel neck. “I did get scared for a
moment when I remembered how Pasha got hurt the last time I was jumping. I thought I might have done something wrong that time, and I didn’t want you to get hurt, too.”

Comet turned his head and blew air out of his flared nostrils. “That was not your fault. Pasha told me on the journey to your home that she had slipped on a patch of mud. It was an accident.”

“Really?” Alex said as relief flowed
through her. “Thanks, Comet. It’s great to know that for sure.” She felt a surge of affection for her magic friend as they rode over to Zoe and Saffron.

“That last jump was really messy,” Saffron criticized. “To be a good show jumper, you have to keep your mind on what you’re doing. Otherwise you won’t get anywhere!”

Alex reacted without thinking. “So I lost concentration for a minute. It’s not a crime, is it?” she said sharply.

“I was only saying,” Saffron said huffily. “Some people are so touchy!”

There was an awkward silence.

Alex saw that Zoe’s face had clouded with embarrassment and immediately wished that she’d bitten her tongue. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap,” she
apologized. “I guess I’m still a bit worried about Pasha’s bad leg.”

Saffron shrugged. “If you say so. My turn again.” She urged her pony forward. “Come on, Princess! Let’s show them how it’s done! Watch and learn, you two amateurs!”

Alex tried to suppress a flicker of irritation. “Why does she have to be so bossy all the time? I thought this was supposed to be fun,” she whispered to Comet.

But she must have spoken more loudly that she’d intended because Zoe heard her.

“Saffron can’t help being competitive,” she said, defending her cousin. “Wouldn’t you be if your dad expected you to follow in his footsteps
and be a top show jumper? Uncle Tim’s nice, but he’s really strict. Give her a chance, Alex. She’s okay when you get to know her better.”

Alex wisely kept quiet. She didn’t actually want to get to know Saffron better.

Why can’t it just be me and Comet and Zoe and Maxi for the school break? Like we’d planned
, she thought wistfully.

“Anyway, we all need to work extra hard if we’re going to try out for the jumping show at the Pony Club fund-raising event in two weeks,” Zoe was saying.

Alex blinked at her. “The what?”

“I was going to tell you. Saffron entered all three of us. It’s a special surprise.”

Alex was stunned. “She could have asked if we even wanted to try out for it!”

Zoe started grinning. “Duh! Then it wouldn’t have been a surprise, would it, you silly goose?” she teased.

“I guess not.” Alex felt a smile beginning to surface. It was the first time today that she and Zoe had laughed together. It felt good—like old times,
when it was just the two of them.

“Clear around—again—for the marvelously talented Saffron Hall-Chapman on the wonderful Sparkly Fairy Princess!” The over-the-top voice echoed around the field as if it were coming out of a loudspeaker at a horse event.

Zoe was giggling as she rode over to her cousin. “You’re a riot, Saffron!”

It was actually pretty funny. Despite herself, Alex managed a smile. She still thought that Zoe’s cousin was the bossiest girl she’d ever met, though. How was she going to get along with her for two whole weeks?

But as she wound Comet’s thick mane through her fingers, Alex felt herself calming down. She thought she could probably put up with anything,
even Zoe’s pushy cousin, as long as she had Comet. He was her own wonderful secret, never to be shared with anyone.

“I think you deserve a treat, Comet!” Dismounting, she fished in her pocket for a packet of mints and held them up to him in the palm of her hand. She smiled
as the palomino’s soft lips nuzzled her hand as he snuffled them up.

“Delicious!” He crunched them, spraying bits everywhere and making Alex laugh.

Alex fought back tears the following day. She and her mom stood in the yard, watching the horse ambulance disappear down the winding lane.

A different vet had just come over to check Pasha’s leg. He suspected there might be complications, so the pony was being taken to a special treatment center.

“Pasha won’t like being away from
her own stable. She’s going to miss having her cuddle when I settle her for the night.” Alex gulped.

“Try not to worry about her, honey,” Mrs. Judd said gently. “Pasha’s in very good hands.”

“I know, but I can’t help it. I’m really going to miss her.”

“’Course you will. That’s normal. So will I.” Her mom gave her a hug. After
a while she said, “Are you hanging out with Zoe and Saffron today?”

Alex shook her head. “They’re going out for the day with Zoe’s aunt and uncle. But we’re meeting up here tomorrow so we can do some more jumping. I thought I might go out for a ride in the fields by myself,” Alex told her.

“Good idea. That’ll take your mind off things.”

Mrs. Judd stood by as Alex tacked up Comet and then mounted him. As she rode out into the yard, her mom reached up and patted the palomino pony’s neck.

“Look after her, won’t you, boy? She’s my special girl.”

Comet whickered softly and pricked his ears.

“I could swear he understands
everything you say to him,” her mom said, smiling.

Alex smiled back. “He does!”
If only Mom knew
.

“See you later!” called Mrs. Judd over her shoulder as she went toward the farmhouse.

“Bye!” Alex answered.

As they trotted out of the yard, she spoke to Comet. “Destiny might be hiding among the rocks and crags. We can search for her.”

His sandy tail flicked up. “Thank you, Alex.”

At the end of the winding lane, Alex pointed him toward one of the stony tracks that led up to the high fields. Soon they found themselves in a stark landscape under huge open skies.

Alex loved it up there. Drystone walls snaked across the hillside, where sheep and their lambs grazed on the scrubby grass. Here and there, enormous jagged gray stones thrust upward from the bare soil like sleeping giants. Some of them were grouped together, forming natural shelters and hiding places.

“Hold tight!” Comet shot forward like a rocket, and Alex felt a glow of excitement.

Tiny rainbows glimmered in his mane as his shining hooves ate up the ground. She felt a warm tingling feeling flow to the ends of her fingertips and his magic swirled around her, keeping her safe as they galloped as fast as the wind. She knew that she’d never get tired of riding the magic pony.

“Yea! Go, Comet, go!” she shouted, her voice ringing out across the expanse of the fields.

Comet raked the landscape with his keen eyes, looking for any signs of his lost twin. Alex kept her eyes peeled, too. They explored the rock formations and hidden spaces. But all they saw were three walkers climbing a hill and a farmer on a tractor checking his flock.
There was no sign of any ponies.

The ground sloped gradually upward, and the soil became thin and stony. Pink and purple heather clothed the ground and grew in cracks in the stones. Comet galloped on tirelessly, but they found no trace of Destiny.

Alex suggested that they search lower down among the winding lanes and farm buildings. The sun came out, turning Comet’s caramel coat and sandy mane and tail to molten gold. Cloud shadows rippled across the sloping hills.

Suddenly, Comet stiffened. Catching a movement from the corner of his eye, he laid back his ears.

“What’s wrong?” she asked him.

“A dark horse is close!” he neighed in panic.

Alex couldn’t see anything but before she could catch her breath, Comet bolted straight for a gap in a broken wooden fence. He was going to barge through it!

Alex caught sight of the dull sheen of metal. There was barbed wire strung across the gap, but Comet hadn’t noticed.

“Stop!” she cried, pulling on the reins.

But Comet pounded on, blinded by his terror of the enemy horses from his world who wanted to steal his power. The dangerous fence was right in front of them!

One step. Two steps. Three . . .

In desperation, Alex pulled at the reins. “Stop, Comet!” she begged. “There’s nothing there!”