Madison v.s The Travelling Exchange Students

Chapter Six: Nice Necklace

"Come on!" I shout quietly.

The last two fences of the round are in sight. The blood is pumping in my reins and I'm more focused than ever. I tap Virgo on with my calves as we round the corner, his hooves kicking up sand.

The middle of the meter-tall oxer is just a few strides away. Virgo's ears ping towards it like a compass needle pointing North. The poles are painted blue to match the wings shaped like dolphins. A lot of spooking potential.

I squeeze my legs firm on Virgo's sides, to try and prevent him from running out. 

But Virgo doesn't dare. Like a rocket he launches and over we go, soaring through the air. We land on the other side of the jump and immediately lock onto the next one. A simple verticle.

We can do this Virgo.

I give Virgo a small tap with my heels to encourage him to use whatever fuel he has left. It is the last jump in the jump-off; we have to make it count.

Three.

I count down the strides.

Two.

I half-halt Virgo so we nail the striding.

One!

In perfect unison, Virgo and I move together so we can clear the jump. The wind bats at my face and for a moment I feel like I am stuck in the air. Never to return to the ground again.

But this rush can't last forever.

Finally, Virgo's hooves hit the sand and we canter away from the jump and past the timers.

"Yes!" I cry, patting Virgo's sweaty neck. "Good job! You did amazing."

I dismount and leave the arena, still whispering praise to Virgo. 

"Maddie! You did amazing!"

I look up from stroking Virgo's face and running like hooligans towards me are Alex and Will. Bishop couldn't be here to watch as he is competing in a different class to me right now.

"Thank you but it was all Virgo. Also thanks for filming," I smile.

Alex grabs me by the waist and pulls me close, planting kisses on my face.

"No problem," Will replies, giving Alex a strange look.

"How did she go in her first competition of the year?" Alex asks, draping his arm around my shoulder.

Will peers at the live results on his phone. "Umm, right the meter-five class... Here! You did really good you have placed second!"

I ignore the slight sadness in my heart that we didn't win. Virgo and I did place second afterall in a class of twenty people!

"We did super boy. That means there is room for us to improve for next time," I whisper into Virgo's ear.

He tosses his head as if to agree with me.

"Dude you need to chill out," I hear Will say.

When I look back at the boys I see Alex not so subtly trying to peer around the show grounds, obviously looking for something. 

Scratch that. Obviously looking for Elias Nilsson. 

Alex rubs his eyes with his fingers. "What, Will? I'm not doing anything."

"Sure!" I say.

Alex rolls his eyes.

"These kids aren't ghosts Alex; they aren't going to randomly appear out of nowhere."