Alone In The Big Leagues

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"And one... Two... Three... Up! Up, Jewel, Up! Go more into the jump! You two are a team! Let's go again!" My riding instructor scolds me. I sigh and kick Zane into a canter. Her voice rings out again. "Up! Up! Good, Jewel. Next one."

I keep myself steady in the saddle and move with Zane as he jumps. My instructor claps and tells me to do the rest. We clear all the rest perfectly and I pull Zane to a stop next to my instuctor. He snorts and plays with the bit. My instuctor gives Zane a pat on the neck. "Alright, you both worked pretty hard today. Go and take Zane's tack off. Let him cool down and don't forget to give him a treat." I nod my head and dismount Zane. I start to lead him to the stable when my instructor stops me.

"Jewel." I stop and look back at her. "You did great today. You've improved a lot." She smiles at me. I smile back and nod my head. I turn and start for the stables again.

When we get there, I untack Zane and put him into the cross ties. I groom him and put him out into the pasture. He stands at the fence, waiting for me, no doubt asking me to come with him. I laugh and climb onto the fence then onto his back. I hold on to his mane as he walks out into the middle of the pasture. I know he's done walking when he stops and puts his head down to graze. I smile then turn around and lay down on his back. My head is on the lower part of his neck and my feet dangle off of his hindquarters. I stare up at the sky making shapes out of the clouds. I then remember Zane's treat when I see a carrot shaped cloud. I sit up and click at Zane. He brings his head up and looks back at me. I pull the carrot out and show it to him. He starts to get exited so I quickly give it to him. He munches on it and in a blink of an eye its all gone. I laugh and hug him tight. I bring my lips close the his ear and whisper, "Don't leave me anytime soon, okay?"

~@~

I take a deep breath and swing into the saddle. I close my eyes and run my fingers through Dancing Silver's mane. I open them and collect the reins.

"How good of a rider is she?" I hear Lottie's mother ask.

I look over and see my mother shrug. "She's about average. Kind of in the middle." I frown. Average? I thought I would be better then just average. I look back to Dancing Silver and kick him forward. I felt uneasy. It felt wrong.

I kick Dancing Silver into a trot, trying to get into a rhythm. My hands are shaking badly and its making me more uneasy. I kick him into a canter, going around the jumping ring but I'm not jumping yet, just warming the both of us up. Finally, I take a deep breath and we head for the jump. My heart pounds in my chest.

I feel us both lift up and I move with Dancing Silver. We land and I mold back into the saddle. Next jump. Here we go... Up... Up... Over, onto the next. I slowly let myself team up with the horse I am mounted on. I give in completly and both of us become one. We jump again and already we are on to the next. We clear all of the jumps but one, the last jump has come at last and I realize what kind of jump in is. It's the narrow fence again. Only having one bar, it's hard sometimes for your horse to estimate how high to jump. The fence is very airy, making it very difficult. Zane had a hard time with it. So much difficulty that he was scared of it and it ended up being the death of him. 

We get closer and the memories flash through my head. The snap. The memory of Zane kicking and struggling to get up. All of the painful memories flash through my head. I feel us start to lift up. I cringe waiting for the snap but it never comes. We land and I almost fall out of the saddle. I lead Dancing Silver back around and slow him down until he's at a trot. I stop him at the gate and dismount. My legs wobble under me and I almost fall down. I have to hold onto Dancing Silver just to stand up straight. Barbra, her husband, and my parents walk up to the gate we are standing in front of.

"You did really well!" Barbra beams at me.

Her husband nods. "Yes. The both of you make a great team."

I smile slightly, remembering how good of a team we were. I look at my father who doesn't look impressed at all. He looks a little upset. My mother just looks at Dancing Silver with a disgusted look. I look up at Dancing Silver to see him breathing lightly and looking at the parents in front of him. 

"What do you think your doing?" I hear a shrill scream.

Dancing Silver jumps at the sound and pricks his ears towards it. All of the parents turn around and reveal Lottie. I give a little sigh and look at her stalking towards us. 

"That is my horse! You're not riding him! He's mine! Give him to me!" She screams at me again.

I hold up my hands, Dancing Silver's reins in one of them. "Look, this was the horse they told me to ride." I tighten my hand around the reins.

She twists her face. "Well too bad! Hand over the reins and go get a different horse!" She holds her hand out as she stalks closer to me.

"Lottie!" Barbra says between her teeth. Lottie blinks and looks at her mother as if just relizing she was there. "Go saddle up Jumping Jupiter or some other horse. She is our guest, so she can ride whatever horse she wants."

Lottie's frown deepens and she nods her head at her mother and turns to the stables, but not before sending me a dirty look.

Barbra sends her daughter one more frown then looks at me with I smile. I force a smile back, knowing in my head that the claws are out.