Kinswood Academy: Jumping Princess

Chapter 11:

I kept Omega at a full gallop as we made our way down the trails. Everything passed by in a blur, but I kept pressing on. I knew that Leslie would send Briggs after me, if he hadn't already left, but I didn't feel like talking to him, or anyone for that matter.

Omega took a sharp turn at my signal and we headed deeper into the woods, where the trails darkened from the lack of sunlight, which was being covered by the trees overhead.

Omega snorted, breathing quickly, but continued her galloping stride.

Back when my dad was still alive, I remembered one thing above all else. When I was experienced enough, he sent me out on the trails alone and told me one thing.

" Look for the horseshoe carved in the bark, follow it until the leaves part... "

At first I had thought he was just messing with me, as he was fond of making horse related jokes, but the look of seriousness on his face had convinced me otherwise and I had spent the better part of the afternoon and evening scoping the trails for what I had thought was a piece of bark that looked like a horseshoe.

I slowed Omega to a trot and then a walk, rubbing her neck and looking down. I hadn't known at the time that the horseshoe carved in the bark was quite literally a silver horseshoe that was perfectly stuck in a carved piece of tree bark.

Once I reached the horseshoe I turned Omega directly to the left. It didn't look like a path, but it was, it had just been covered by leaves and branches from my dad.

Omega didn't hesitate as we disappeared from the visible trail and made our way down the hidden one. I kept my head down to avoid getting poked in the eye by outstretched branches. It only took about a minute down the hidden trail to reach the spot.

A hidden field of tall grass with homemade show jumps made out of stumps and tree branches. Just looking at this place made me smile, remembering what my dad had said when he first showed it to me.

" This is where I take all my training horses...It's my lucky spot. I made these jumps myself. Any horse that can jump these will jump anything else for you...I promise you that... "

It was where I had taken Omega when I first started to train her to jump. She had been afraid of going over the jumps in the arena, but my dad, ever so clever, even in the afterlife, had been right about the homemade jumps in this place. Once Omega got over those, she jumped anything I put in front of her. Until that horrible derby lesson we had....

I dismounted, taking off her saddle and placing it carefully on the ground before hosting myself up onto her bare back. She shifted underneath me and eyed the jumps around us.

I smiled as I trotted her up to the lowest jump, a tiny cross-rail. The jumps increased in height all the way around the field, finally settling at the last jump which was a meter sixty in height, typical height for advanced show-jumping.

As Omega trotted towards the jump, my mind wandered. Leslie couldn't sell the stable. If she did, me, my mother and Omega wouldn't have a home. Leslie was the only manager around the whole area that would let me board my horse for free in exchange for chores and teaching young riders.

'If you weren't ditching us for Kinswood, none of this would've happened!'

I shook my head as Amelia's voice entered my mind. Was she right? Amelia would've been happy to see me go to Kinswood so she could have Briggs all to herself, but this time she was blaming me because I was going...so I knew she was serious.

And was she right? Was my leaving for Kinswood sinking the stable to the brink of bankruptcy?

I gasped as Omega suddenly halted and turned sharply, throwing me from her back and over the jump. The breath was knocked out of my lungs when I hit the ground, but the worst bruise I would have would be the one to my pride.

Once I caught my breath I sat up, wiping the grass and dirt from my breeches. Standing, I turned to look at Omega, who stared at me from the other side of the jump. She pawed the ground with her hoof and bobbed her head up and down, the reins hanging off her face.

" What's going on with us girl? Normally you would jump even if I wasn't paying attention... "

She snorted and shook her head.

I grabbed the reins and rubbed her face gently. " I know...and normally I would be paying more attention, especially during jumping...I'm sorry girl... "

She nickered and rubbed her head against me, making me smile.

" ...We shouldn't run away from our problems should we? "

She stopped rubbing and stared at me.

" ...No, we should be facing our problems head on...the stables not for sale yet! And if we do a good job at the first show before summer we could bring in new riders! " My eyes widened. " That's it girl! Our team just has to come in first at the show and we can save the barn! " I quickly tacked her back up and hopped back onto her back, cantering her out of the field and back through the secret trail, almost running over Briggs and Thunder.

" Whoa! " We both halted our horses across from each other.

" Where's the fire? " Briggs asked.

I shook my head. " Up here! " I pointed to my head. " I just came up with a plan! "

He raised a brow. " A plan? " a smirk spread across his face. " What kind of plan? "

I giggled. " Follow me and you'll find out! " I let Omega jump into a gallop and raced Briggs and Thunder all the way back to the barn.

West-Afton Stables wasn't going down without a fight!