The Eventer's Club 2: Junior Year

Chapter 19:

Evelyn's POV:

" That horse is not a selfie stick Leah " Alex teased as he turned around in the saddle.

Leah was in the middle of trying to attach her phone case to Diamonds crown piece on her bridle. She made a face at Alex. " I just want one good picture! " she whined. " But my phone won't stay balanced! "

" That's because you're on a horse L! " I called from the front of the group.

Christmas Eve, what was supposed to be a magical time for some was now a race against time for our group. Ash was supposed to leave tomorrow to move down to the states with her parents. She had barely said a word the past week and always had a sad look on her face.

So the AMPS Crew had decided that enough was enough.

We were going to find Beauty, even if it took us all night, which it was starting to seem like it would. We were riding deep into Holloway's many miles of trails, in the snow that covered the ground and fell on our heads.

I looked back at our group, everyone seemed pretty tired, but whenever I mentioned letting them go back, they perked up again.

I was proud of how well Leah, Caroline and Edwin were adapting to riding, giving myself a pat on the back for my secret lessons that nobody knew I had given them. They hadn't come as far as I had hoped, but they had come far enough that we could all trail ride safely.

Edwin had trouble finding his balance at first, since he hasn't ridden since he lost his leg, but after a few laps at a trot and a short canter he was getting back into the rhythm.

Caroline had by far been the easiest to teach. She showed no fear and her natural balance and laidback personality allowed her to move well with the horse I had let her ride. She even got into the canter nicely, rocking with the horse instead of flopping all over the place.

Leah had been a different story. She was too nervous to ride any horse taller than 16 hands so I managed to find a nice, smaller horse that didn't feed off her nerves. I ended up having her ride Diamond, a 15 hand high connemara pony thoroughbred cross. She had come from a barn that had been shut down after going bankrupt and she was the perfect beginner lesson horse. If any kids or new riders came to Holloway, Diamond was the horse they would usually ride.

Edwin was riding Grump, a 16 hand chestnut gelding that seemed to act more like a moody chestnut mare. Still, he wasn't mean when he was being ridden, just when he was being groomed and tacked up.

Finally I had put Caroline on Diablo. The 15.3 gypsy vanner gelding was a perfect match for Caroline. He had a smooth trot and canter and had no trouble staying the course of his rider zoned out, like Caroline tended to do...often.

" What did Ash say when you left? " Jake asked as he angled Luna beside Candi, the horse I was riding. With Hugo still resting, I had originally wanted to ride out with Navarre, but my hyper 5 year old wasn't exactly the best at trail riding calmly yet and if we were going to find Beauty, we all needed horses that were calm and collected, just in case we ran into the thief who took Beauty to begin with.

" I didn't see her, she was packing, so I told my parents I was going out with you guys... " I giggled. " I just didn't specify that we were going trail riding... "
Jake chuckled. " Probably a good thing, I don't think your parents would like us playing horse thief hero's "

I nodded in agreement. When we came to a fork in the trail, I noticed something odd.

" Hold up! " I called as I halted Candi. The palomino mare bobbed her head as we stopped.

" Check it out " I pointed to the ground. " Looks like someone came through here...and tried to cover up their tracks... "

There was a broken branch on the ground, and the snow in front of it had purposefully been shifted and smoothed over.

" You think it's our thief? " Alex asked as he trotted Hex, a dapple grey gelding, over to me.

" Only one way to find out " I pressed my heels against Candis' sides and she started walking forward. " ...I'll go check it out "

" Not alone you won't " Jake replied as he trotted Luna in front of Candi, forcing her to halt. " We're in this together, all of us, for Ash and for Holloway "

I smiled at him. " But this trail has some jumps in the path " I looked back at Edwin, Caroline and Leah.

Leah put her hand up. " I got on the horse, I will not be jumping... "

" I can jump as long as it's not high... " Alex replied.

" Here's what we should do " Edwin spoke up. " Leah, Caroline and I will take the path to the right, at some point it should circle around and come out to an open field, same as this trail. If you, Jake and Alex find Beauty, you call us and we'll call the police "

We all nodded at his plan and quickly split up.

Alex didn't jump with any proper positioning, but he got over the jump, which was all that mattered.

" Someone's definitely been here " Jake called as we cantered down the path. " The jumps have all been cleared of snow and there's an obvious dip in the middle of the path where the snows been packed down! "

I nodded as I stayed in a two point position. Candi had one of the smoothest jumping styles I had ever ridden, even when she was trudging through snow.

" What's that? " Alex called as he pulled Hex even with Candi.

I squinted, the snow falling making it hard to see in the clearing after the trees started becoming fewer and fewer.

" Looks like a trailer " Jake lowered his voice as we pulled our horses to a halt.

I dismounted Candi and handed her reins to Jake.

" I should come with you " He spoke up.

I shook my head. " Just find a way to get the horses down to the clearing... " I whispered before sliding down the small incline.

The trailer was covered in snow, but as I got closer, I noticed movement coming from inside.

I peeked in through the window and immediately ducked when I saw who was in there.

The good news was that we had found Beauty and the horse thief.

The bad news was that Beauty was in rough shape

And the worst news of all...

The horse thief had been Lacy all along...