A Winning Gift (13 page)

MADDIE AND BRIDGET WERE SILENT
for a few minutes after that, each of them lost in her own thoughts as they brushed Cloudy's glossy palomino coat. Then Maddie heard the chatter of the twins coming down the aisle.

“Remember, they don't know,” she whispered to Bridget.

Bridget nodded, then pantomimed zipping her lips. “Hey, guys.” She greeted Vic and Val in a cheerful voice. “Took you long enough. Did you have to drag that tractor out yourself, or what?”

Vic giggled. “Nope, everything's out of the way. We just stopped to say hi to some of the ponies.”

“Cool.” Bridget dropped the brush she was using back into the grooming bucket. “So that means it's time to put up the decorations, right?”

“We'd better hurry.” Maddie checked her watch. “Mom and Dad will be here with the food in like an hour and a half, and everyone else should start getting here pretty soon after that.”

“Eh, eh, eh!” Bridget waggled a finger in her face. “What's this ‘we' business? You can't set up for your own party. The three of us will take care of it. Right, girls?”

“Sure,” Val said, and Vic nodded and shot Maddie a thumbs-up.

Maddie barely saw it. She was gazing at Bridget, feeling kind of impressed. If she hadn't known better, she'd never have guessed that her friend had a care in the world right now beyond streamers and balloons.

What do you know?
she thought.
I guess she really is a good actress—even when she has to make up her own lines
.

“Okay. That's nice of you guys to offer,” she told all three of her friends. “But what do you expect me to do while you're working—sit here and twiddle my thumbs?”

“Duh.” Vic gestured toward the pony standing behind Maddie. “You've got just enough time for a nice, relaxing birthday ride on Cloudy.”

“Don't worry,” Val added. “Ms. Emerson already said it was okay. Just don't leave the regular trails.”

“Really?” Maddie couldn't help a little flash of happiness. Finally she would have her favorite pony all to herself for a while—guilt free. “Okay. In that case, thanks, you guys!”

A few minutes later she was riding out past the ring, heading for the public multi-use trails that wound through the local fields, forests, and vineyard-dotted foothills. Cloudy's ears were pricked, and she felt eager to go.

“You love exploring, don't you, girl?” Maddie leaned forward and patted Cloudy on the neck. “Maybe it reminds you of being on Assateague Island when you were a foal.”

She smiled at the image of baby Cloudy trotting and cantering around the sandy dunes of Assateague, stopping only long enough to nibble on the salty cordgrass growing in the local marshes before galloping off through the surf. Thanks to reading and rereading
Misty of Chincoteague
and its sequels, Maddie could picture it perfectly, even though she'd never been there.

Then the images faded and she glanced around at the familiar trails she'd ridden on so often over the past couple of years. How many more times would she get to see them?

Probably not many
, she thought, stopping herself from adding up the days.
So I'd better make sure to enjoy it while I can
.

“Don't worry, Cloudy,” she said as the mare ambled along the sun-dappled path beneath a line of tall valley oaks that separated the trail from a road. “I'll come back and visit you. I promise. As often as I can.”

She bit her lip, once again trying not to think too much about the details. England was a long way away, and plane tickets were expensive—that was what her parents were always saying whenever the kids pestered them to visit their relatives in other states or take vacations in various far-flung spots. Tyler wanted to see New York City, Ryan was dying to go to Cape Canaveral in Florida, and Tillie had been agitating for a trip to Paris for as long as Maddie could remember.

Maybe she'll finally get to go there
, she thought.
Paris is a lot closer to London than to California
.

Cloudy stepped out into a sunny clearing, and Maddie squinted, glad that the weather was so nice—bright, a little breezy, low sixties. Not bad for November, especially compared to the stuff Haley had been writing lately about the snow and cold in Wisconsin. Maddie was pretty sure it didn't snow much in England, though she'd heard it was kind of rainy and gloomy a lot of the time.

“Forget about that,” she told herself out loud. “It's time to live in the moment.”

That was a phrase she'd heard a lot from her dad and various other people. Maddie had never thought about it much before, and now she realized why. Normally she had no trouble living in the moment. Why do anything else?

But now it was much harder, knowing that this moment was part of a countdown to something very different. And for once she couldn't just look forward to the adventure. She had to deal with the sadness of leaving something very important behind, knowing that things would never be the same.

“But I don't have to deal with it right this second, do I?” she murmured, nudging the pony into a trot. “Right now I just want to enjoy this moment.”

And for the rest of the ride, she did her very best to do just that.

“Thanks for inviting me, Maddie.” Coach Wu, Maddie's soccer coach, came toward Maddie, clutching a cup of punch in one hand and a cookie in the other. “This is fun. Now I understand why you always rush off to this place right after practice.”

“I'm glad you could come.” Maddie smiled at the coach, though it felt a little forced.

Her party had been in full swing for more than an hour. By the time Maddie had returned from her trail ride, her friends had the barn decorated to the hilt. Soon after that, Maddie's family had arrived, bearing boxes and coolers full of food and drink. Ms. Emerson had helped them set up three large folding tables along the wall. Sergeant Martinez's best punch bowl went on one, with Ryan and Tyler proudly pouring in the bright purple concoction they'd helped mix at home. Another table was laid out with platters of cookies, chips and dips, her father's spicy homemade empanadas, and various other finger foods, while the third table was intended to hold gifts.

By the time everything was ready, Maddie's friends had started to arrive. Vic switched on the music, Bridget started to dance, and the party was on. Everyone seemed to be having a good time—even Tillie was smiling as she led her boyfriend around by the hand.

Maddie was trying to have fun—to live in the moment—but she wasn't quite feeling it. How could she enjoy herself when she knew she'd probably never see most of these people again after January?

Snap out of it, girl
, she chided herself as Coach Wu wandered off to talk to some of Maddie's teammates.
Someone's going to notice you're acting all emo.

She pasted on a bright smile as she heard footsteps behind her. When she turned and saw that it was Bridget, she relaxed.

“Oh, it's you,” she said.

“Are you okay?” Bridget peered at her. “Because I'm totally not. This is all such a huge farce! How can your parents act so carefree when they know they're about to rip you away from everything good and wonderful in your life?”

Okay, that was a little dramatic even for Bridget. “Chill,” Maddie told her, glancing around to make sure nobody was close enough to hear them. “We just have to deal with it, okay? At least until the party's over.”

“Whatever,” Bridget muttered, looking sulky. “I'm just saying.”

At that moment Maddie's father whistled for attention. “Thanks for coming, everyone,” he said. “I think it's time to get to Maddie's favorite part of the day.”

“Presents!” Tyler shouted.

Everyone laughed and applauded. “Yes, come open your gifts, Maddie,” her mother said. “Is there a chair?”

Ms. Emerson appeared, pushing her wheeled office chair toward the gift table. “Here you go, Maddie.” She patted the seat. “Make yourself comfortable.”

“Thanks.” Maddie made her way forward. “Thanks, everyone.”

She took her seat and looked around at her party guests. Vic and Val were smiling at her from the front of the crowd. Nearby, a couple of her soccer teammates were petting one of the barn cats. Several school friends were hanging out near the refreshments, and Coach Wu was chatting with one of Maddie's neighbors over by the punch bowl.

Everyone Maddie cared about from this place was here, and for a second she felt as if she might start crying. How could she leave all this behind?

“Maddie.” Her mother leaned closer. “Are you okay? You look odd.”

“I'm fine.” Maddie tried to channel Bridget's acting skills as she grinned at her mother. “Uh, it's just kind of weird being so old, you know?”

Her mother laughed. “Did you hear that?” she joked to Ms. Emerson with a wink. “Talk about making someone feel old . . .”

“Here, open this one first.” Vic darted forward and tossed a large but lightweight wrapped gift into Maddie's lap. “It's from us.”

“Okay.” Maddie ripped into the package and held up a blue saddle pad. “Cool! I love it.”

“We thought that color would look nice on Cloudy,” Val called out. “But you can exchange it for a different color if you want.”

“No she can't,” Vic said. “That color's perfect!”

Everyone laughed, including Maddie, though she couldn't help feeling a little sad. The blue pad
would
look nice against Cloudy's pale palomino spots. Too bad Maddie would probably get to see it on her only a few times before she moved.

“Open mine next!” One of Maddie's school friends pushed forward and handed over another package.

Maddie set the saddle pad aside to unwrap the new gift. She
ooh
ed and
aah
ed over the book the girl had given her, then moved on to the next package.

As she unwrapped gift after gift, Maddie did her best to be grateful. Everyone had gone out of their way to get her things she'd like, and she really did appreciate that. How could they know that the only gift she really wanted was to be able to stay here with Cloudy and all her friends?

By the time she neared the end of the pile of gifts, her face was starting to hurt from smiling so hard. Then Tyler grabbed one of the last wrapped packages.

“This one's from all of us,” he said, dropping it in Maddie's lap. “Me and Ry and Tillie, I mean.”

“It was mostly Tillie's idea,” Ryan spoke up.

Maddie glanced at her sister, who was leaning against her boyfriend over by the stalls. Tillie smiled and waggled her fingers at Maddie. Did that mean she'd finally gotten over the nail polish thing? Maddie hoped so. For one thing, she didn't relish the thought of a long plane ride to London with Tillie mad at her in the next seat. . . .

“What are you waiting for?” Tyler broke into her thoughts, sounding impatient. “Open it already!”

Maddie laughed. “Okay, okay.” She ripped off the paper to reveal a flat cardboard box. When she opened it, she gasped. Inside, nestled in tissue paper, was a beautiful tortoiseshell frame—with a photo of her and Cloudy.

“Tillie took the picture,” Tyler explained, darting forward to peer at it. “We thought we should use one of you guys jumping or doing something more exciting, but she thought this one was better.”

“It's beautiful.” Maddie couldn't stop staring at the photograph. It had captured a quiet moment between her and Cloudy. The mare had her ears pricked and an alert look in her kind eyes. Maddie was holding her lead rope, gazing at the pony with a soft smile. Maddie had no idea when Tillie had taken it, but it was perfect.

Bridget stepped forward to look at it over her shoulder. “Oh, it's gorgeous!” she exclaimed. “It'll be a great memento you can take with you to remember Cloudy by.”

“Yeah,” Maddie said, then froze, realizing what Bridget had just said.

“To remember her by?” Tyler sounded confused. “What do you mean?”

“Is Cloudy going somewhere?” Ryan added.

“No, it's nothing,” Maddie blurted out. “Uh, Bridget was just kidding around.”

“It's a line from a play,” Bridget said at the same time. She shot Maddie a guilty look. “Um, I mean I was kidding around.”

Ms. Emerson raised an eyebrow. “You're not planning to stop riding Cloudy anytime soon, are you, Maddie?”

“No,” Maddie said. “I mean, I don't want to. I mean . . .” She glanced at her parents, thinking it was about time for them to jump in. After all, they had to know that the cat was pretty much out of the bag. . . .

But both of them looked confused. “What's the matter, Maddie?” her father asked. “You look like you have indigestion or something.”

“It's okay.” Maddie stared at her father meaningfully, then shifted her gaze to her mother. “I know.”