Star Gazer (19 page)

When Jordan finished the lesson, she came to join Jacob and her mother at the fence.

“Are you sure you don't want to enter the contest yourself?” Jacob asked her. “There's a category for beginners. You can use a single horse and pull just a single log. You're doing really well, and Star Gazer's feet are holding up just fine. I think you should enter. It would be a good experience.”

“And it will give people a chance to get a good look at Star,” her mother added. “It might make it easier to find a good buyer.”

In her mind's eye, Jordan could see Star taking off for the outside of the arena and the whole crowd laughing at her. “Thanks, but no thanks,” she told Jacob with a laugh. “Not yet, anyway.” She turned Star toward the barn and motioned for her mom to follow them.

But as Jordan led Star Gazer through the gate, the idea of entering her horse in the beginner's class and competing with the other kids in town suddenly seemed less scary.

She tied Star to the hitching post and pulled the reins from the guide rings on the harness. She knew her mom was dead set on selling Star Gazer. But maybe if she could keep the mare in line and do well in the beginner's class at the fair, her mom would see what a great team they made and let her keep her.

twenty

Mrs. McKenzie went to sit on the porch with Mrs. Miller while Jordan helped the boys put the horses away. When Star was bathed and brushed and fed, Jordan signaled to her mother that she was ready to leave. They said good-bye to their friends and climbed into the car. Her mom had promised to take her to the feed store today. Star needed vitamins and Jordan wanted to get some more horse cookies. The mare loved the oats and molasses treats. Jordan rolled down the window, letting the wind blow in her face. After making such a big deal about
not
entering the contest, she had to figure a way to tell her mom that she'd changed her mind. Also, money was tight and they'd have to come up with the entry fee. She rolled the window back up and squirmed in her seat, trying to rearrange the seatbelt on her shoulder.

Her mother glanced at her while she waited to pull onto the main road. “You're awfully fidgety. Is everything okay? Did something go wrong with your lesson? It looked to me like things were going well.”

Jordan cleared her throat. “Mom…I've been thinking about that beginner's class Jacob talked about. I think maybe it wouldn't be so bad to enter Star Gazer at the fair this summer. That is, if we haven't sold her by then,” she added with a frown.

“I don't know if that would be a good idea, Jordan,” her mother said. “Star still likes to disobey you occasionally and take you to the outside fence. If we're trying to sell her, it might not be good to have potential buyers see that. Let me think about it.” Her mother was silent all the way to the feed store.

As they slowed to make the turn into the parking lot, Mrs. McKenzie took up the conversation again. “You know, if you do have a good showing, it might help us find a good home for Star. It would be nice if she went to someone local here so you could go visit. But still, if anything went wrong…”

Jordan turned her head to look out the window. She didn't want her mom to see the tears gathering her eyes. It wasn't fair that she'd spent the whole summer working with Star Gazer just to turn her over to someone else. Couldn't her mom see how much she loved that horse?

As they pulled into a parking space, Jordan saw the Sutton Farm truck and cringed. She hadn't even thought about the possibility that Tommy would be working. She would hurry. Maybe they could get in and out without seeing either Tommy or his dad.

When Jordan opened the door, the first thing she heard was Mr. Sutton's voice booming out, bragging to others in the shop that he would win the big pulling contest again this year. Didn't he ever get tired of bragging about the same thing?
He might not be talking so big after the competition,
Jordan thought,
if Jacob and Daniel have anything to do with it
.

When her mother stopped to scratch the ears of the store cat sunning itself in the front window, Jordan slipped behind a big shelf in the vitamin section, trying to make herself as small as possible.

Jordan spotted Tommy stacking salt blocks in the back corner. He had his back to her. She quickly picked out some vitamins and found Star's favorite horse cookies. She had almost made it to the counter when Tommy spotted her.

“Hey, McKenzie!” His snarky voice carried across the feed store. “Kill any more of those orange cones lately? I hear they're on the endangered species list because of you.” As usual, he seemed to get a kick out of his own attempt at humor.

“Who're you talking to, Tommy?” Mr. Sutton asked. Just then, he rounded the vitamin aisle and saw Jordan. “Ah, it's the new girl.” He gave her a patronizing grin. “How's that mare doing? Did you get her feet squared away? My son tells me that you've been harnessing her and doing a little pulling?”

Jordan wished she could fade into the walls. She was sure Mr. Sutton remembered her challenge to him on the pulling contest. She was going to have to eat a little crow here, and the feathers were going to stick in her throat. She was about to answer when her mother joined them.

“Well, hello, Mr. Sutton,” Mrs. McKenzie said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

Jordan looked back and forth between her mother and Mr. Sutton, hoping this didn't get ugly and embarrass them both. But her mother seemed calm.

“I hear Jacob Yoder and Daniel Miller have a very good team of horses this year,” Mrs. McKenzie said. “There's speculation going around that you could get beat.” The smile on her face tightened. A few other people in the store chuckled.

“Ha!” Tommy snorted. “It's going to be a blow-out this year. Nobody can beat my dad.”

Mrs. McKenzie took the vitamins and horse cookies from Jordan and gave Tommy and his dad a contemptuous glare. “Oh, and by the way,” she said. “In case you didn't hear, my daughter will be entering Star Gazer in the beginner's class. I hope you'll both be there to cheer them on.” She turned on her heel and walked toward the checkout counter, leaving Tommy and his dad—as well as Jordan—staring after her.

Jordan came to her senses and hurried after her mother. She could feel Tommy's eyes burning a hole in her back. They paid for their purchases and left. Jordan waited until they got in the car, then turned to her mother. “Mom…you just told them I was entering that class. I know I said I wanted to do it, but I hadn't totally made up my mind yet. You know that now I'm going to
have
to compete, don't you?”

Her mother smiled sheepishly and put the car into gear. “I'm really sorry about that, honey, but I couldn't stand listening to the two of them shooting their mouths off.” She reached over and patted Jordan's arm. “We're in this together now. If you truly don't want to compete, I'm fine with that. You don't have to enter that competition. But if you're still game, I'll back you and Star Gazer one-hundred percent. I'm really proud of everything you've done. You deserve this chance to prove yourself.”

Jordan thought for a moment. Her mother was right. She and Star deserved this chance. She hurried to answer before her mother could change her mind again. “We've come this far,” she said. “I guess we might as well just go for it.”

The week before the fair was a busy one. Nicole came over to help every day, and Jordan's mom showed up twice to help clean harness and groom horses.

Jordan's hard work with Star over the past couple of weeks was beginning to show results. When they got into a battle of wills, Jordan had refused to let Star Gazer bully her like she used to, and her strictness was paying off. They'd only made two trips to the outside fence lately.

A couple of days before the big contest, Jordan decided to take the day off from the rigors of training and have some fun and relaxation. She joined Nicole for a ride to the lake. They packed sandwiches and sodas and set off for the one-mile ride to the small lake. It was a popular hangout for all the kids—especially now that it wouldn't be long before they'd all be back in school.

At the beginning of the summer, someone had put up a couple of small corrals under a large maple tree at the lake. Jordan and Nicole turned their horses loose in one of them. Jordan recognized Kathy and Mary's horses in the other one.

“Hurry up!” Nicole said as she ran across the short sandy beach toward the water.

Jordan placed Star's bridle and their lunch on a stump near the pen. “I'm coming,” she replied. “Just hold on a minute. I want to make sure the ants don't get our lunch.”

When Jordan got to the lake, Nicole had waded in up to her waist. “Come on,” she taunted. “It seems cold at first, but it's fine after you get in.” Mary and Kathy were sitting on the dock on their beach towels. Jordan ran past them and jumped in, creating a huge splash that totally soaked Nicole.

Her friend screeched like a banshee and splashed Jordan, and Jordan retaliated by pushing her friend under the water. They both came up sputtering and laughing.

A familiar voice sounded from the shore. “Hey, McKenzie! You look like a drowned rat!” It was followed by hoots of laughter from several boys Jordan had seen around town.

“Great,” she muttered under her breath. Tommy Sutton. “I can't seem to get away from that loser,” she told Nicole.

“Just ignore him,” Nicole said. “He'll get bored soon and leave.”

But the boys had found a beach ball someone had lost in the weeds, and they took up a game of catch, trying to show off for all the girls.

Nicole brushed her wet hair off her face. “If I didn't know any better, I'd swear Tommy has a crush on you. Every time he makes a good catch, he looks over to see if you're watching.”

“No way,” Jordan said.

“Don't be so sure,” Nicole said. “You said you've seen him stop by the Miller place to watch you drive Star.”

Jordan frowned. “Don't even go there, Nicole,” she warned. “If that's how Tommy treats someone he likes, I'd really hate to see how he treats his enemies.”

Kathy was listening from her perch on the dock. “Don't flatter yourself, girls. Tommy's showing off for me. Everyone knows he's had a crush on me since kindergarten.”

“You're welcome to him,” Jordan said.

“What's all that commotion over at the horse pen?” Nicole asked suddenly.

Jordan looked up in time to see their horses rushing through the open gate. The boys grabbed the beach ball and jumped out of the way of the charging horses.

“Oh, no!” Jordan cried, splashing out of the lake. “Whoa!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. But neither of the horses paid any attention. They had their tails in the air and were heading toward home.

Nicole caught up and stopped beside her, water dripping into the sand under her feet. “How did they get loose?”

They turned to stare at Tommy. “He did it on purpose,” Jordan said, wondering how anyone could be so rotten. “He knows I've got a competition in three days and he's trying to wreck it for me.” Jordan thought about the paved and gravel roads Star would be traveling over on her way home.
With her bad feet
…

“Tommy Sutton!” Nicole hollered. “You're to blame for this mess!”

Tommy spread his hands in an I'm-innocent gesture. “I didn't do anything,” he said. “Honest.” He turned to Jordan. “Really, Jordan. I didn't do it.”

Jordan dismissed him with a wave of her hand. “Whatever.” Who knew if he was telling the truth? She turned to Nicole. “Can you call my mom to come get us?”

Nicole pulled her cell phone from her bag, punched in the number, and waited for the phone to ring. She listened for several seconds. “Your mom's not picking up. I'll try my mom, but I think she's at a doctor's appointment. Let's start walking.”

They put on their shoes and gathered their things, then started up the long winding path to the roadway. Jordan went over things in her mind. Did she forget to latch the gate after they'd put the horses in? With the way Nicole had hurried her, it was possible, but she just didn't know. Her foot kicked something hard and she looked down to see what it was. “Oh, no,” Jordan said. She bent to pick it up.

“What is it?” Nicole asked.

Jordan held up the large horseshoe that Star had torn off when she hightailed it home. The mare was going to run all the way home without one of her shoes. “This isn't good,” she said, knowing that was the understatement of the year. If Star ran on the pavement and gravel all the way home, she'd be lucky to still be walking by the time she got there.

Jordan's mom pulled over to the side of the road, gravel flying and brakes screeching. The car came to a stop and Mrs. McKenzie jumped out of the car. “Are you girls okay?” She grabbed each of them and looked them over to see if they were harmed. “The horses came tearing into the yard with no riders,” she said, panic still in her voice. “I just knew I'd find you lying in a ditch someplace bleeding. What happened?” She herded them into the car and pulled back onto the road. “Nicole, please call your mother and let her know I have you both. I ran off and left my cell phone on the counter.”

While Nicole called, Jordan told her mom the story and showed her Star Gazer's shoe. “Was she limping?” she asked, sick at heart to think that all their hard work could go right down the drain from this one incident. Again she thought back to when they first got to the lake and tried to remember if she had latched the gate to the corral. Was all of this her fault? It would be so much easier to blame it on Tommy.

“I don't think she was limping,” her mother replied. “Or, at least it wasn't so bad that I noticed it, but we better call the shoer, just in case. And maybe the vet.”

An hour later, Mr. Walter was tacking the shoe back onto Star Gazer's hoof. “It could have been a lot worse,” he told Jordan. “She must have run most of the way in the grass. Her hoof wall stayed intact, but she's a little ouchy on the foot right now.”