Chapter 9
Tom and Leo were over the moon that their father let them compete at Canter Cove for the competition, and what even better was the fact that both of their parents were coming to watch.
The boys, though, couldn't understand why their father had said they could compete when they were still grounded. Maybe it was because their horses were moping around the paddock with sheer boredom and he felt sorry for them.
Tom and Leo went out to the paddock to get their horses ready, and Tom did not like what he saw.
He glared at his little brother after he looked at his horse, "you shaved off more of Charley's fur?"
Leo smirked at Tom, "that's what you get for sticking my stuff on the roof."
"That had nothing to do with horses. And now how am I supposed to ride Charley like this?"
This was not going to look good at all. All horses looked impeccable during competitions, and Tom was going to be the laughing stock of the entire equestrian community today.
"Like you usually do; in the saddle and you control the horse with the reins," Leo teased.
Tom just groaned. He didn't feel like arguing right now so he just went to get his horse ready, hoping that too much attention wouldn't be drawn to the ugly shaved patch. Tom went and got Charley and led him around to the driveway where Riley was waiting with the float. Tom noticed that his father eyed the freshly shaved patch of fur, and he raised an eyebrow.
"Leo did it," said Tom.
Riley said nothing as he stepped aside to let his son put Charley in the float. And when the horse was in the float, Tom went to get the things he needed for the day. He shoved past his little brother, making sure to push him hard. In return, he received a cold glare, but Tom didn't care. Leo continued on his way to put Keeta in the float, and Tom listened as he was told off by his father.
But Leo didn't listen.
He never did.
Neither did Tom.
But Leo was going to get some sort of payback soon.
...
When everything was ready, everyone got in the car and headed for Canter Cove. Tom couldn't wait to get out on the course and have a good go. Tom thought that he was rather good at it. He couldn't wait to show off his and Charley's skills and finish the day with a blue ribbon.
And Tom couldn't wait for his mother to see him compete.
This was one of the only times that she would be able to see him compete. This was Tom's first competition and he couldn't wait to show his mother how well he could do. He couldn't wait for his mother to see him, and he hoped that him doing well would persuade her to get back on a horse.
Nicole stopped competing when her horse, Lightning, broke his leg during a competition. She used to be a great rider and Tom really wanted his mother to start riding again. She did have a horse, a stocky black gelding called Jim who she brought home from the vet, but she didn't ride him. Tom wished that his mother would do more than lunge the horse, but she refused to get on the back of one ever again.
Riley said it was because she had a broken heart.
But Tom knew she was just scared.
Often, when he was riding, Tom found that he liked to imagine what it would be like to ride with his mother. He wished that they could have gone trail riding together, down the trail that Nicole had told her son was her favourite. Tom would have loved to do that, and he had spent such a long time thinking of how he could get his mother to ride again. The only thing that he had come up with was doing well in the competition and persuading her to ride again with that.
