Heartlines

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Thankfully, the weeks flew by between then and when our next event was. Next thing I knew, I was helping Jared pack the trailer on Thursday. Navy had tagged along with me this time, wanting to help before sissy had to leave for another three days. It was agreed that he would stay at Holly’s house for the weekend. She had a little girl of her own, who was only a year older than Navy. They had played together before and got along very well, so I was comfortable leaving him there with Holly and Stacey. He came up behind me now, with his arms wrapped around two green buckets with hay bags folded and tucked inside of them. He looked to me and my friend and smiled, “is this the last of it?” I patted the top of his head and grinned back to him, “yup, you got it all finished up for us!” He swiftly turned to Jared with pleading eyes, “can we play basketball now? Please oh please!” Jared laughed before responding, “If you think you’re up to it! Come on little man, you know where the court is!” Navy took off full speed, leaving me and Jared laughing behind him. “Oh, I love him. Best little brother I could ask for.” Jared agreed, and we began walking after him.

After the boys shot some hoops, we all head up to the lounge to cool down. With Navy glued to a movie, we discussed the weekend’s events, “Now this show is a lot bigger than the one we went to – a lot bigger,” Jared started, “This is one where me and NG will really have to fight to get where we want to be, and though Kiro is certaintly something else, don’t think it will be a walk in the park like last time was. I do have faith in you guys, but this is some stiff competition. That said, I want to get there really early tomorrow. That way we can walk the grounds and warm up before everyone else does, and we can have an easy show day. Stadium and Cross are on Saturday, and Dressage is Friday, so we shouldn’t have many problems. Stadium is Saturday, and since we are in the higher divisions, we will probably be showing till late; might have to take turns driving. Are you okay with that?” I nodded my head. The truck and trailer were quite sizable, but I had towed Trina’s biggest gooseneck before with no issues. Of course, I was always very cautious on the roads anyway, so I figured we would be just fine.

“Perfect,” came his quick reply, “then we set out tomorrow at three. I’m glad you brought Kiro down today; it will be nice for everyone to just spend the night. We drop Navy off at his babysitter’s, and we will be on our way. You ready, Kat?” I gave a slightly nervous smile, “I was born ready! I’m super excited to get to be a part of a bigger event – I love me some competition,” Jared grinned, happy to know I loved the sport as much as he did. “Excellent!! Well, it’s getting late, we should all hit the hay. There is a guest apartment above the arena that I’ve rented. You and Navy take the bed, I’m on the couch; and no, you cannot protest. I demand it. One word of opposition and I will make all three of us sleep in stalls,” he jeered teasingly. Obliging, I made the motion of zipping my mouth shut, and Jared led us to the space in question. Before we said our final goodnights, Jared needed one more piece of information, “Oh, so what lie did you tell Trina to get her off of your back?” My face went a shade of pink. I hated knowing I had lied to my trainer, and it was obvious Jared wasn’t fond of it either, “same thing as last time. Camping. Don’t worry, I’m thinking if we do well at this event, I’m going to tell her when we get home. She will want to know if we start doing big stuff. Don’t worry, I’ve got everything under control.” He gave a wayward nod, “Yea, yea, if you say so. Goodnight Kat. Sleep well!” I wished him the same and we went to pass out in our respective areas. “Everything under control,” I muttered to myself, “yea Krista, you keep telling yourself that …”

~*~

The next morning did come very quickly. Navy was a bit of a trouble to awake and get moving, but after that it was pretty much smooth sailing. Everybody loaded easily, Navy went to Holly’s, and me and Jared were on our way. Jared did ask if I wanted to take the truck for a test drive while he slept a bit more, something I would have to do on the way back. I quickly agreed, wanting to help as much as possible.