Maple Stream Riding Academy

Chapter Eighteen: Dancing in a Ring of Fire

        The minute I heard the news, I started crying. Thomas? I barely even know him, why would he want to possibly injure Raquel?       

        "Does Lynn know?" I ask, trying not to be weak.

        "She wants you to have a meeting with her and Thomas in ten minutes at the vet's building," Mason replies. "I'd get ready if I were you." With that, he turns and leaves, shutting my door behind him. I change into the same clothes I was wearing earlier. I braid my hair, put on my glasses, and leave, rushing to the vet's barn. I see Raquel with an ice package around her foot and I gasp in horror.

        "She's not too injured, thankfully," the vet explains, her blonde hair swinging behind her in a high pony tail. "The ice pack is just so the swelling goes down. You should be able to ride her in a week, as we don't want to risk infection."

        "Oh," I say, disappointed. "Where's Lynn?"

        "In my office. Here," she says, bringing me to a room in the back of the barn. In the small room, Lynn is yelling at Thomas.

        "Not even one practice, Thomas, and you're already kicked off the team!" she shouts. "Why did you do this?"

        "Because Cameron and her pathetic horse deserve it!" he shouts back. When I close the door, he turns to see who entered. "You," he snarls, pointing a finger at my face. "You did this to me! You ruined my chances at becoming a better rider." He slowly walks forward, making me back up. Soon, I'm cornered next to the door.

        "I did this?" I ask, infuriated. "I was the one who hurt a teammates horse? I'm the one getting kicked out of an academy because I couldn't deal with the fact of having a fifteen year old girl be a better rider than me?" I'm shouting now. "You're the pathetic one, Thomas. I recommend that you check your attitude before coming at me." I shove him off of me.

        He slumps against the wall in shock. "Leave," he growls, staring me down. I stay planted where I am, slightly behind Lynn. "I said, leave."

        "If you suppose," I say, slowly walking towards the door.

        "Cam, meet me here in an hour. You're going to be riding 'Dancing in a Ring of Fire'," Lynn explains, pulling the door open for me. My jaw drops, and so does Thomas's. "The Elite team has a show to compete at in a week on Saturday. You can ride Flame for it."

        I smile, hug Lynn, and run back to the dorms. Dancing in a Ring of Fire is an international superhorse when it comes to cross country. He's competed at Rolex and numerous other famous and popular events.

        He's a real superstar.

        And I'm going to be riding him.

~

        At 3:00, I meet Lynn at the vet's barn. She leads me to her dorm's barn, the orange barn. Inside, I see a familar black thoroughbred standing at least 17hh tall on the cross ties.

        "I didn't know you owned him," I tell Lynn in awe. I'm finally meeting the horse that encouraged me to continue riding.

        "Yep, I do. She's thirteen now, I started eventing her when she was seven," she explains.

        "I know," I said. "I always watched him compete when I was ten. I loved him so much. That's when I injured my arm, so I couldn't ride Raquel for two months. I stayed inside watching Flame compete."

        "Well, he seems to like you," she says, noticing Flame resting his head in my hand. "Well, I'm going to turn on the cameras on the course. Tack him up, I want to see you run the course with him." I nod and grab the tack that was is draped on his stall door. This isn't the tack that I used with Raquel, leading me to believe that Lynn has multiple horses here.

        When I finish tacking him up, I lead storm to the XC course where I get a leg up from Lynn to help me mount him. He's so tall.

~

        I'm standing in the starter box waiting for Lynn's countdown. I just came from warming Flame up in one of the empty arenas.

        "...3"

        "...2"

        "...1"

        "GO!"

        With that, I sharply kick Dancing in a Ring of Fire's sides and he takes off at incredible speed. We maneuver the jumps flawlessly, Flame's tall body soaring high over the obstacles. His strides are longer than Raquel's, slightly throwing me off at the beginning, but I catch on quick and we work well as a team. We're easily flying over jumps and when we reach the first flat running land, Flame takes off faster than any horse should be able to run. He's faster than my dad's OTTB, and he was a racer for five years before retiring.

        We finish the course with ease, getting faster with each jump. I gradually slow him into a stop next to Lynn. 

        "You guys look great together," Lynn exclaims, patting Flame's black neck. I take off my vest and dismount, using Flame's reins as a lead.

        "Thank you. And thank you so much for giving me the honour of riding such a spectacular horse," I say.

        "No problem. You can keep Flame in your barn for the next few weeks until you start riding Raquel again," Lynn says, walking alongside me. "I'll go get the cubby key for his stall from Laura."

        I lead Flame into the Pine barn and see a very sad Raquel looking at me from her stall.