Champions Until the End

Chapter Eleven

Lady up top, and last chapter had the cremello Akhal-Teke up top.

        I couldn't believe this was happening. I had thought that I would never see Lady again, and now, here she was at Pine Road Stables. Where I was. How? I thought. How did Lady end up here? Last time I saw her was when she was being led up her new owner's trailer, heading off to a new life with another rider competing on her. Then, all of a sudden she showed up here. Here. Where I was. I mean, I was pretty sure that she technically wasn't mine right now, but she might as well be. Somehow, Mike had found and bought Lady, and my mom had probably helped with that.

        Eventually I realized that everyone here probably thought I was some sort of crazy person, running up to a random new horse and crying. Everyone except for Mike and Finnick, though. I lifted my head from where it was buried in Lady's mane and stepped back to stroke her nose gently. "Lady," I whispered softly, gazing deep into her warm brown eyes. "I will never let you go again."

        Clearing my throat, I quietly composed myself before grabbing her lead rope. "That was no way to behave in the trailer, was it now?" I asked her. In response, Lady snorted, pawing the ground with a front hoof and snuffling the pocket that always held her treats. "I'm sorry, girl. No treats right now. Later." I promised.

        I turned my head to find everyone staring at me. By 'everyone' I meant Parker, Charlie (who had apparently come back from the barn), and Jocelyn, who probably came over from Blackjack's field, considering that she was leading him. Finnick, however, was just leaning against the fence with a knowing smile on his face. Not really knowing what to do, and definitely not wanting to say anything, I edged ever so closer to Lady, getting uncomfortable.

        "So... is anyone going to explain what just happened?" Parker broke in, ending the awkward silence that had been going on.

        "Yeah, I'm pretty sure we would all like to know why you just ran up to a strange horse for no reason, which is definitely something you shouldn't be doing," Jocelyn commented.

        I realized a bit late that Jocelyn and Charlie didn't yet know that I was the Kennedy Hawkings, famous eventing rider. Thankfully, I was saved from having to respond by Finnick. "That's her horse that she had to sell before she moved," Finnick replied.

        Jocelyn didn't say anything in response to this, just shrugging and leading Blackjack away, while Parker just said "Ohhh," as if what Finnick had said explained the entire situation. Which it kind of did, but that part wasn't important. Was it?

        Charlie looked confused, standing next to Parker, who was next to the trailer. I didn't offer any more explanation, though, instead I looked over at Mike, and before I could voice my question, he responded. "Yes, go ahead and take her for a ride." I grinned and went to Lady's side as if I were going to mount, then tapped her shoulder, and she lowered into a bow so that I could mount easily, and once I was settled she stood back up.

        I reached forward, unclipping the lead rope from Lady's halter and sidepassing her to the fence so I could tie it there. Finnick quickly ran off, reappearing a few seconds later on Nightshade, without any tack whatsoever. Lady still had her halter on, but what good would that really do when I was up in the saddle? I didn't particularly care, though, because I had ridden Lady like this plenty of times, and I loved it.

        "Cross-country time," I whispered to her, setting off at a trot down the driveway. Normally I would give her some time to get used to her new surroundings, but I couldn't wait to ride her, plus Lady was already so used to new places, because we had traveled for shows a lot.

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        12:00 PM, Friday, October 19

        "Everyone come to the center, please!" Mike called from the middle of the arena. He had given me permission to ride Lady for today's lesson, and I was excited, because Fridays were supposed to be 'western' days, and Lady had always been pretty good at stuff like barrels and pole bending. Even though I never competed her in any sort of western activity, I had done it plenty of times during practice, just for fun. Or competition. But never in an actual show, and that was a fact that wouldn't be changing any time soon.

        As I lined Lady up in between Finnick, who had decided to take part in the lesson, and Paige, who was as cheerful and friendly as always, Mike started to explain what we'd be doing that day. Please, barrel racing, please. I thought. "Today, we'll be doing pole bending, so I hope you're all ready for some speed." Mike announced, and I thought, Well, it isn't barrel racing, but still fun.

        Mike began setting up the poles, six of them, each twenty-one feet apart. He actually used a tape measure to make sure he had the right lengths. "All right, I won't be timing this today, but good luck to everyone. Remember, go straight, turn, weave through, turn, weave again, turn, and run home!"

        We all nodded, and lined up with a good amount of space between each horse in the order Mike called out. "Paige, Isabelle, Parker, Kennedy, Finnick, Charlie, and Jocelyn." When it was my turn, I lined Lady up at the start line, whispering words of encouragement to her as I prepared for Mike to say the word. "Three, two, one, go!" Lady shot forward, and didn't slow her pace for the turn, so it ended up being wider than necessary. She weaved through the poles both times with no problem, and flew across the finish line after the final turn. "Yes!" I whispered, happy with my ride. I definitely wasn't a western rider, but it was a lot of fun when I did take a shot at it.

        I was pretty sure that Paige was in the lead, but Jocelyn had a fast ride too. Nightshade had knocked over four poles, most likely because he was used to taking large, ground-swallowing strides, and he did not like the pole bending pattern. Finnick wasn't upset by his disastrous round, though, instead just fake-scolding Nightshade. In the end, Paige ended up winning. Turned out that she and Daisy were superstars at pole bending and barrels.

        After we had finished with the lesson, as we were exiting the arena Mike had told us that there was a show next Saturday, and that there would be a sign-up sheet in the office where we could pick our events out, with three being the maximum. It was only a small show, but I hadn't competed since my accident. Still, I couldn't help grinning at the thought of getting back into the show circuit. I wasn't sure if I would ride Faith, or Lady if I had permission. I was leaning towards Faith, though, because even though I was ecstatic over having Lady back, a smaller show would be perfect for Faith, because based on the show schedule I had taken a glance at a while ago, I thought I remembered that the next show would be a bigger one. As I untacked Lady, I thought, Show circuit, here comes Kennedy Hawkings.

And there you are! Look at me, updating so soon after the last chapter. I hope you enjoyed! I don't have much else to say here, so.. see you in Chapter Twelve! Live free and be happy.

Glorybringer1163