First Fence (Pony Jumpers #1)

CHAPTER 2

Dax was barking as I walked up the driveway, and I quickly let myself into the house, ruffling his ears and telling him to shush. I could hear them in the living room, my sister’s voice carrying as always as she yelled at Dax to shut up. She loved our dog as much as the rest of us, but she could never handle his loud bark. Or any other loud noises - with the notable exception of her own voice.

“Sorry I’m late,” I said as I went into the room with Dax on my heels.

Everyone was sitting around the kitchen table – everyone except Mum, of course, who was working late as usual. There was a big bowl of spaghetti bolognaise in the middle of the table, and I quickly sat down in the empty chair next to Alexia and started to fill my plate.

She wrinkled her nose. “You stink.”

“Eau de horse,” Dad said with a smile. “How was Pony Club? Did Squib behave?”

Anders snorted, and I shot him a dirty look as I added salad to my plate.

“He did, actually. Well, he bucked me off once but we jumped some really big jumps. There was this girl there called Katy, and she’s a really good rider. And her mum was coaching, and she was super helpful. She said that Squib…”

“Can I be excused?” Alexia asked abruptly, interrupting the flow of my conversation.

“Not yet,” Dad said calmly. “AJ’s only just started eating.”

“But she’s late. It’s not my fault that she’s late.” Alexia pouted at him, slapping her cutlery down onto the table irritably. 

“I don’t mind,” I said quickly, sensing a storm building, but Dad stood firm.

“No. We’ll wait.

“Don’t worry Lex, at the speed she eats we’ll be out of here in no time,” Anders said comfortingly, but Alexia just slumped back in her chair sulkily.

“You were saying?” Dad asked me.

“Don’t make her talk, she’ll just take even longer to finish eating,” Anders told him. “Besides, nobody cares what her pony did today.”

I kicked him under the table, but he moved his leg and I got the chair leg instead. As I winced at the pain in my toe, Anders leaned back on his chair and grinned at me.

“Serves you right.”

“I hate you.”

“That’s not a very nice thing to say,” Astrid piped up from the other end of the table, and Anders winked at her. “You shouldn’t hate anybody, right Dad?”

“That’s right, chicken.”

I shovelled more food into my mouth as Dad looked at me again, so he diverted his attention to my eldest brother, who was finishing off the spaghetti I’d left in the bowl.

“Do you have a game this weekend?”

Aidan nodded. “Saturday morning. Anders is playing in the early afternoon, so we’ll go together.” He looked at Anders. “Which means an early start for you, bro.”

“I live for early starts,” Anders assured him.

“You’ll sleep the whole way there and back again,” Aidan replied. “Good thing I still don’t trust you enough to drive.”

As Anders started trying to defend his driving ability while everyone else reminded him of the long list of dents and prangs and speeding tickets he’d already picked up in his few short months of driving, I scoffed down the rest of my dinner, well aware of Alexia’s eyes boring into me as I ate. My sister had never been any good at sitting still or waiting for other people, and her irritation could build into a tantrum really quickly. It wasn’t her fault. It’s just how she’s wired, Dad often reminded us. But I’d always do my best to keep the peace, and not set anything off. Alexia in full screaming mode was no fun for anybody, least of all her.