Oak Valley Stables

Chapter fourteen

Gale sighed. She looked down at her revision. Maths could be very difficult at times. She rolled her eyes and looked around the library. There were only a few people studying today. A small group of students were talking at one of the big table. Some of the other students were looking at books on the shelves.
Gale looked back down at the books she had sprawled out in front of her. It wasn't the maths that was worrying her. She'd been practicing with Vlad almost everyday and, while they were improving, she couldn't shake the feeling of nervousness. The training was going well; Vlad hardly ever spooked at the jumps now. However, Gale wanted to make sure he won't refuse any of the on the day. She was also a little concerned with Vlad's tendency to knock the poles down.
See, Vlad was a very fast horse. This would came in tremendous handy if they got no faults but, in Vlad's haste, he seemed to find it hard to pick his hooves up enough. The faster he went, the more likely he was to knock the rail down.
Vlad did seem to know this was bad though. Sometimes he'd slow down if he hit one, which, if anything, was even worse.
Again, Gale was confident that Vlad could handle crossbars. For the past week, which Gale had practiced everyday of, he'd not refuse or failed any crossbars. Normally, the singles were fine. Vlad as becoming less spooked by them and for the most part was clearing them. It was the oxers that caused a problem. Because of their width, Vlad found it hard to clear them. The best round they'd had so far was one with four cleared jumps and three failed, two of which where oxers and the other was a single.

Gale shut her maths book. It was impossible to concentrate with so much being on her mind. She pulled the course map forward and turned it over so that she could see the grading system. Every obstacle knocked down meant a deduction of four points. That meant that Gale had lost 12 points, leaving her with a score of 88%. She checked the grades. That meant she'd get a B grade. Gale knew that was a good grade, if anything a great grade, but she knew she could get better. If anything she was most nervous about being beaten by Amber.
"Howdy," Jackson appeared out of seemingly nowhere. Gale smiled, caught off guard for a moment.
"Hi," She pushed her books to one side. Jackson looked across at the sheet.
"Nervous?" He asked. Gale nodded.
"Been practicing?" He raised an eyebrow. Gale nodded again.
"What's wrong then?" He leaned back in his chair.
"I'm having trouble with those oxers," Gale replied. "My time is always decent; it's the faults that'll knock me down. How about you?"
"I've always gotten a time of about 20 seconds or so," Jackson answered. Gale knew very little about barrel racing but that sounded good. "I'm just trying to improve on that. I guess it's not as competitive as being in an English event because there is nobody else who does Western around here. You've got Amber to beat."
"Exactly," Gale sighed.
"I'm sorry I can't help anymore than I have," Jackson told her. "But, I just don't know much about jumping. How about we go and watch a movie to take our minds off of it?"
"Sure. I've got plenty of horse related films up in my room," Gale nodded.
"Anything but Roy Rogers," Jackson laughed. "I'm sick of your comments!"
"But, you have to admit it, you and Goldrush are a lot like Roy and Trigger!" Gale laughed back. Jackson's smile warmed.
"How about a movie with jumping in it? It might help me understand things better," He got to his feet and helped Gale collect her books.
"International Velvet it is!" Gale decided with a smile. Jackson offered her a hand and pulled her up. She stood there for a moment, totally unaware of the fact they were still holding hands. She only noticed when Jackson squeezed it, gently.
"Sorry..." Gale laughed, awkwardly, and blushed. She went to pull her hand away.
"It's alright," Jackson murmured, softly. She smiled again and let her hand relax in his grip. He grinned back and leaned forward slightly.
Gale had never kissed anyone before. To tell the truth, she'd never had a real boyfriend before. Of course, she had no idea how to respond when Jackson leant towards her like that. That's not to say she didn't want to kiss him, just that she didn't know how.
So, in that desperate moment, she just thought about how Dale Evans and Roy Rogers kissed and the rest came naturally. When Jackson broke away after a few seconds, Gale almost fell over. Her legs felt like jelly and she couldn't stop grinning. Jackson picked up the books and handed them to her.
"How about that movie, right about now, Galeee?" He smirked. Gale suddenly became aware that the library wasn't empty.
"Yeah, film sounds great-" She hurried out of the room, Jackson not far behind.