My Second Chance

Chapter Eighteen

Three weeks after our incident, Buck and I are pretty much back to normal, except for the fact that I decided that I would never go on that trail ride again! I slept in the hay loft with Chloe who needed to get up so early to get everything ready. At four o'clock I heard her alarm go and I heard her get out of her bunk, get dressed and go and tend to Fly and the other horses. I heard Ranger and some of the Border Terriers go as well. Chloe said that I could get up at half-past five. But I was awake now. I knew that I would need the energy for today so I tried to go back to sleep. After a few minutes of tossing and turning, Chester, Mac and Blaser came to sleep with me. I drifted off into a nice sleep with them and was only awakened by my alarm, moaning at me that it was time to go. I stopped it but I couldn't bring myself to get out of bed. In the end, Buddy and Chester had to drag me out. I changed and went downstairs to say hello to Buck and Ava.

"Hey guys," I said as I approached.

Ava nudged my arm, looking for a snack but I had nothing to give her. I smiled a little but I was so nervous for the race. What if Chloe fell off? What if she fell off, got trampled by the other horses and died? I shook my head and reassured myself that nothing like that would ever happen. Chloe knew all of her horses inside out and she couldn't fall off. It was against her principles. I saw her over by her snazzy blue trailer which was being hauled by the families Land Rover. She was loading everything into the boot and Fly was waiting to be loaded in himself. Elizabeth would be driving us there. Archie and Elliot were coming with us too. They had really hit it off in the few months that we had been here and I rarely saw him for he and Archie were always out, hunting or setting traps or looking after Archie's crop and cows. Archie had a small herd of cattle in the far side of the farm and he went to care for them at least six hours a day and Elliot went with him. Elliot had gotten over Dad's death quite quickly, as I had. I began to think that the country could solve all of my problems.
We had set off by six, no if us saying anything until we got there where Chloe gave everyone their orders. She got Fly out and told me to groom him and plait his mane and tail. I was very quick and good with my fingers and I often plaited Ava's mane. Elizabeth, Archie and Elliot set to work getting everything put while Chloe went to sign in. She came back about fifteen minutes later holding her number and a red numnah with a big 1 planted on the side. Chloe smiled slightly but said nothing. I could tell that she was nervous and maybe even a little bit afraid. No, Chloe isn't afraid of anything. She was so reckless and fearless and I just hoped that one day, I could be like her. Fly wasn't racing until 12:30 so we had a lot of time to spare. Chloe first wanted to get everything secure and get Fly to his stall and whatnot. It was a very posh and very roomy stable. Fly didn't seem to think much of it except that it had food in it. He tucked right into his hay and Chloe finished everything off. But by the time she had finished, we still had two whole hours to spare. So I managed to persuade Chloe to come and explore with me. There wasn't much; just a lot of food stalls. We had a fun time wandering around though. We got back after about an hour and I let Chloe take over. She told me to groom Fly one more time and make sure that he was spotless and then she would tack him up. I did as I was told, and in the time it took me to brush Fly, Chloe got changed into her race clothes. She looked really nice and I told her that but she wasn't really interested in her appearance. She told me to go up to the VIP section where Elizabeth, Archie and Elliot should be and she gave me a pass in case they didn't let me in. I did as I was told and before long, I was sitting in between Elizabeth and Elliot. Chloe came out last on Fly. He was looking so handsome but he was very twitchy and itching to get going. We watched the as they were put into their little sections and then, there was absolute silence. The world seemed to hold still as I waited in my nervous state. Suddenly, a loud bell sounded and the horses leapt out of their sections, Fly amongst them. Immediately, I picked up my binoculars and focused my gaze on Fly. He was already at the front of the pack, alongside a big bay stallion. Big And Fast. I gulped as the rounded the first corner. Fly was nearest to the rail and I could see that Big And Fast's rider was trying to push Fly into the rail. It was working. Fly was getting confused and he began to fall back. Before long, he was right behind the pack. As I squinted through my binoculars, I caught sight of Chloe. Her foot had come out of her stirrup and she was falling.