Mounting up

Chapter 14

Meghan Rumely slipped away from Elle's stall, going unnoticed by stable hands. She had an evil smirk on her face as she crept away.

// back to current time //

I looked at the broken pieces in dismay. "Oh, how I wish Meghan would go to hell!" I said bitterly as I picked up the mangled pieces. 10 minutes before I was due back at the trailers.

I sighed. Alright, I would clean up the pieces, then rummage through my tack trunk to try and find the spare bride I took with me. Elle whinnied impatiently as she looked around wildly, wondering why her rider was in
such a frenzy.

I sighed, and picked up the torn
pieces. I had a handful already, as
I noticed, thankfully that the bridle
Megan tore up had not been the one with Elle's name engraved in a gold plate. It had been the one she used for practices.

I threw the torn pieces into the garbage, and then stood up. I dusted off my breeches and opened up the tack trunk. Things flew out of the trunk, as I furiously searched for the bridle. A thin piece of brown learnt caught my eye. I grabbed it with such force that the whole bride came out in a second. "Thank god." I murmured as I placed everything neatly back into the trunk. I placed the bridle into the trunk as well, then closed it and locked it with a small lock. I stuffed the key into her pocket.

I fed Elle some apple treats before giving her a kiss goodnight. "Nighty-night Elle. See ya tomorrow." I said, smiling at her.

I left the stable, and ran out to the bus that was taking us back to the hotel. Everybody was on the bus already, as I ran up the stairs, and signalled to Mr. Rossi that I was here. I took a seat beside Kayden.  "Hey." He grinned softly, and took my hand and squeezed it. "How are you?" He asked me, before giving me a quick peck on the cheek. I blushed, still and said "I'm good. Tired, but alright." I decided to not tell people about the Meghan issue. Paige bounded over as soon as she realized I
was on the bus. "Hey girl!" She said happily, and made Kayden squeeze closer to me so she could take a seat with us. "Hey Paige!" I said with the same enthusiasm she had.

The bus' tired crunched the gravel as he pulled out of the parking lot. "Alright Gang! When we get back to the hotel,
I want everybody to go upstairs, get showered and then come back downstairs for dinner, okay?" He said.
"Yes, Mr. Rossi!" We chanted all together.

He sat back down, beside Ms. Jenkins, satisfied with our response. I cuddled up into Kayden's chest. The ride was about an hour or so, I suppose.

I fell asleep, exhausted from the day of nationals. I was hot, and sweaty and my breeches that were white and pristine this morning were now covered with horse hair, mud and straw. Kayden played with my hair, as he gazed down at me. I felt him take my hand as the bus pulled into the hotel lobby entrance. We exited off the bus, and I found Paige with Taylor, still rubbing the sleep out of my eyes I said hi.

Taylor and Kayden went into one elevator, while Paige and I took another. Upon arriving at our hotel room, I collapsed onto my bed, before even taking off my boots. Paige looked at me with a stern gaze. "El, now our room will smell like dirty boots. Take off your boots please and have a shower!" She advised. I sighed. "Yes mom." I grumbled slightly, a smile on my face. I slipped off my boots, and stuck them in the sink so the rubber on the outside could be washed.

I peeled away my clothes, and grabbed a fluffy bathrobe from the hotel. I went into the bathroom, and turned on the shower. I slipped off the bathrobe and stepped into the shower, determined to have the all the stress and mud of today get washed away by the hot water.

After lathering myself fivrously with soap, and washing my hair, I step out of the shower and turn the tap off. I wound myself into a white bath sheet with the hotel name monogrammed onto it. I step outside of the bathroom and call to Paige "Paige! The bathroom's free!" She nodded and scurried off to the shower.