Alone In The Big Leagues

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

 I play with Dancing Silver's mane, running it through my finger nails and twirling it around my finger. I have been waiting for Lottie to come back for fifteen minutes. Dancing Silver just stands next to me, playing with the bit in his mouth. Everyone left to go back to the house after Lottie's outburst.

We wait for another ten minutes before I see Lottie coming out of the stable, a big bay horse following behind her. Her face is hard and she tugs on the horse roughly as she stalks towards me. She stops in front of me, making a point to kick dirt onto my boots. I look down at the mess, then back up at her. She gives me an evil grin and I know that she's using those dagger-like claws of hers.

"Come on, Jewel! Get on Silver and let's go for a ride," she chirps at me before mounting Jumping Jupiter. She pulls the reins tight, pulling harshly at his mouth. He snorts and lays his ears back. She just pulls back harder, making him buck slightly. She turns and harshly slaps his hind quarters. He rears his head a bit and I can see the white of his eyes.

I put my hand up. "Lottie, stop. You're hurting him."

She looks at me with wide eyes. "Hurting him? He just need to know who's the boss."

"But he hasn't done anything wrong. Lottie, you know better. I know you do. Loosen your grip on the reins." I hold an uneasy Dancing Silver, who senses Jumping Jupiter's pain and stress. I quickly calm him and look back at Lottie, who then sighs and loosens her grip. Jupiter chews on the bit and streches out his neck. He quickly calms down and stands there quietly.

I nod my head and mount Dancing Silver. I collect the reins in one hand to pat Dancing Silver then gather the reins in both of my hands. Lottie's lips are pressed tightly together and her eyes are locked on my hands, which still hold the reins. I clear my throat and she looks at me with envy before kicking Jupiter forward hard. She quickly trots past me, leading me towards a riding path. It leads into the woods that are by her house. The path has been well worn, showing that people have been on it a lot. I kick Dancing Silver forward into a trot, following after Lottie. I catch up to her and we both slow to a walk. I look around at the trees, admiring how beautiful it looks with the light shinning through them. 

Lottie looks at me with a smile playing on her face. "Are you ready?"

I look at her, shocked. "Ready for wha-" I'm cut off as she kicks Jumping Jupiter into a gallop. I stare for a few seconds then kick Dancing Silver after her. I look ahead and see something that makes my heart sink. A log. Put there to jump over. No, I wasn't ready but there was no way around it. I slow Dancing Silver down and prepare the both of us to jump. Over we go. I land back in the saddle and look ahead. I see another jump and sigh. Lottie was truly evil. No, I wasn't ready.

 We jump again and again, jump after jump. Finally I see Lottie mounted on Jumping Jupiter, standing a few steps away from the jump. A dark smile clouds her face as we get closer. I shove her out of my head as I feel Dacing Silver start to lift into the air. I take a peek at Lottie who holds something in her hands. I don't have time to make it out, so I turn my attention back to the jump. Dancing Silver's two front feet land on the ground and I prepare myself for his back two feet to hit the ground.

 A snap rings out into to air. It wasn't a memory or my imagination. I was real.

A gasp escapes my lips and it feels like my heart has been shot. I cringe at the sight of the ground. I land with a thud against the saddle. Dancing Silver huffs at the impact that I had just made on his back. My hands are shaking and when Dancing Silver throws his head in the air he rips the reins from my hands. I don't try and collect them again I just sigh and slump against Dancing Silver's neck.

I hear Lottie's claps to the side of me. "You did a great job." She throws something at Dancing Silver's feet. I look at it only to see a snapped stick. It's dark brown and is pretty thick. I relize what the snap was and it brings tears to my eyes. They soak into Dancing Silvers neck. I bury my face into him, letting the smell of horse enter my nose and consume me. I breathe it in frantically, wishing it was my baby that was here with me. I sniff loudly and hear Lottie laugh quietly. "Are you happy you were actually able to make the jump? Is that why you are crying? Are you happy that you are actually riding a horse that can make any jumps you throw out there? It's nice not riding absolutely useless bags, huh?" She laughs a little louder then before. 

I grit my teeth together and sit up from Dancing Silver's neck. I sniff and look at Lottie, who has an evil grin on her face. "You set me up." I scowl at her.

She shrugs and puts a small smile on her face. "Well, of course. I wanted you to know what it felt like to fail."

  I stare at her with hate-filled eyes. I don't understand how anyone could be so hateful and mean. Fail? I already know what is was like to fail. How do you think I felt from this last show? My best friend lost his life in that show. Of course I knew what it was like to fail. I had lost everything in that show. My parents don't even look at me the same anymore. No one looks at me the same. Not Alley, not the kids at school, not the teachers, not anyone.

"You were always so perfect. It was all about you. You were always the winner of everything. Every show, everyone loved you and what did the rest of us get? Nothing. We never got a chance. No matter what we did, it was never good enough," Lottie sneers at me. I just sit there and blink in surprise.