A Winning Gift (9 page)

[NINA]
I'm here! Glad u are too!!!!

[NINA]
How are you holding up?

[MADDIE]
Ugh, I dunno. I just keep thinking about it. Jan. is sooo soon, you know?

[NINA]
Ya. Did u talk to the 'rents?

[MADDIE]
Not yet. It never seems to be the right time. Plus, I'm still afraid they'll be so mad I snooped that they'll cancel my party.

[NINA]
I hear you. Are you maybe also afraid that if they say it's true, that will mean it's real?

[MADDIE]
LOL. I already knew u were smart, N. But I didn't know u were a mind reader, too! I'm totally afraid of that!

[NINA]
I would be too. No mind rdg required, lol! But ur not going to give up, are you? Maybe there's still a way to change their minds.

[MADDIE]
Doubtful. The USAF doesn't change its mind very often. When they say u need to move, u move—kwim?

[NINA]
Well, what about Haley's idea to stay behind when they go? Maybe u could move in w/ yr friend Bridget, or those girls from yr barn, or??? U have tons of friends, right? I knew a girl here who stayed w/ her cousins when her mom had to work overseas for six months.

[MADDIE]
Six months is one thing. This is prolly supposed to be for longer than that. Anyway, none of my relatives live anywhere nearby, so moving in w/ them won't help. And I doubt my parents would let me stay w/ friends.

[MADDIE]
Sry. Not trying to be negative! I know ur trying to help.

[NINA]
It's OK. I understand! I hope u at least are getting lots of quality Cloudy time in to help u thru.

[MADDIE]
Not rly. Bridget has been riding her so much I've barely been on her. She's coming to the barn again tmw, actually.

[NINA]
Huh? But u need ur Cloudy time!!

[MADDIE]
I know, but what can I do? B needs her too.

[NINA]
But if she knows what u are going thru, she must see that she has to share!?

[NINA]
Wait—don't tell me u haven't told her about the move?

[MADDIE]
I haven't told anyone here. Just you guys.

[NINA]
Hmm. Well, maybe u need to tell Bridget soon? She's a good friend—I'm sure she will understand, right?

[MADDIE]
I dunno. She can be kinda emotional, u know? She will prolly freak out if she knows I'm moving away that soon. Not sure I'm ready to deal with that, kwim?

[NINA]
Sure. Just think about it, OK? U need support from yr friends right now—all of them. Including Cloudy! Anyway, I'm beat. Gotta get to bed or I'll be dead in school tmw. But I will keep thinking about ways to help—promise!

[MADDIE]
Thanks. Nighty-night!

After she posted her last message, Maddie sat back with a sigh. She was in her room, sitting cross-legged on her bed. Tillie was still downstairs, since it was her turn to help clear the table, which had given Maddie a few minutes of peace to check the Pony Post. She scanned the latest postings again, still impressed by the way Nina had nailed the real reason she was afraid to talk to her parents.

She's amazing
, Maddie thought.
They all are. They've never let me down before—we've never let one another down. They helped me when I thought Cloudy might be sold. We helped Brooke when she felt out of place at camp. We even helped Nina when she thought she was being haunted!
She sighed and touched the Pony Post logo on the screen.
I'm just not sure it's possible for them to help with this particular problem. . . .

The bedroom door slammed open, startling Maddie so much that she almost dropped her laptop. Tillie stalked in and glared at her.

“I have an idea,” she said. “Why don't you ask Mom and Dad to trade in whatever they got you for your birthday for another bottle of that nail polish you stole from me? Then you can give it back.”

“Whatever.” Maddie closed the computer and stood up, not in the mood for more of Tillie's snide comments and dirty looks. “You should probably see someone about your unhealthy obsession with makeup.”

She hurried out of the room to Tillie's outraged howl, yanking the door shut behind her. Then she wandered down the hall, still thinking about her conversation with Nina. As understanding as she was, Maddie could tell she didn't quite get why she hadn't told Bridget about the move yet.

Then again, that was no surprise. Maddie didn't quite get it herself. Bridget was already pretty emotional about her breakup—a little more freaking out wouldn't make that much difference. Maybe Nina was right; maybe Maddie should tell her.

Who knows? Maybe she'd even let me ride Cloudy for a change
, she thought with a grimace.

Realizing she was right outside her parents' bedroom, Maddie stopped and glanced in through the half-open door. Flashing back to Tillie's mention of birthday gifts, she took a step inside and glanced around. Maybe searching for her gifts would take her mind off things for a while.

She hurried over to one of the dressers and started opening drawers, carefully poking through her parents' clothes. There were no gifts inside, but she did find something else among her father's socks.

“What's this?” she murmured, pulling out a glossy brochure.

Her eyes widened when she took in the photo of a nice-looking bay horse on the front—and the British flag. It was an advertisement for riding in London!

Heart pounding, she shoved the brochure back where she'd found it and backed away. Obviously, her parents had been researching ways that Maddie could keep riding after they moved to England. They were probably hoping that would make her okay with the move, make her forget all about Cloudy. Didn't they realize that was never going to happen? Maddie would never be okay with leaving her favorite pony behind.
Never
.

Feeling almost as emotional as Bridget all of a sudden, she hurried out of the room and looked around to make sure nobody had seen her. The hall was empty, though a moment later Tillie emerged from their room and made a beeline for the bathroom. Hearing the sound of the shower turning on, Maddie scooted through the bedroom door.

She flopped onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She'd never loved moving that much, but before this it hadn't seemed like all that big a deal either. Sure, a new home meant leaving old friends behind and getting used to a whole new place. But she could keep in touch with friends, and the getting-used-to part was kind of fun—like an adventure. And what could be more of an adventure than getting the chance to live in a whole new country? How many kids Maddie's age got to do that? Normally she would have been all over it.

But this time it was different. She wasn't just leaving behind people and places. Now there was Cloudy to consider too. And Maddie wasn't ready to leave her behind. Not even close.

She closed her eyes, trying to figure out how to deal with this. Because she was pretty sure she wasn't going to be able to change her parents' minds about moving—let alone the US Air Force. And she was almost as certain that her parents weren't going to let her stay behind, live with Bridget's family, or move into the spare room at Vic and Val's house. Besides, she wasn't sure she wanted that herself. She'd miss Cloudy like crazy if she left, but she'd miss her family even more if she stayed.

Opening her eyes, she sighed, feeling a bleak sense of acceptance settle into the pit of her stomach. She was moving away, leaving Cloudy behind, and that was that. She might as well figure out a way to start accepting reality.

Then she sat up, realizing there might be a tiny sliver of a silver lining she hadn't thought about. Namely, Bridget.

She's so into riding all of a sudden
, Maddie thought.
And she loves Cloudy. If I have to leave, maybe Bridget can be Cloudy's new special person! That way she'll be able to keep me posted on how she's doing and send lots of pictures. And I'll know Cloudy is being pampered like she deserves
.

The thought made her feel both sad and a little bit excited. It could be kind of fun to spend the next two months teaching Bridget everything she knew about ponies in general and Cloudy in particular. She could spend every spare moment before she left with the two of them, bonding and creating lots of new memories to help her through the move.

Who knows
, she thought, glancing at her well-worn copy of
Misty of Chincoteague
, which was peeking out from its usual spot on the lower shelf of her bedside table.
Maybe Bridget will even join the Pony Post!

“EW.” BRIDGET PEERED INTO CLOUDY'S
stall and wrinkled her nose. “There's an awful lot of pony poop in here.”

Maddie glanced down as she clipped a lead rope to Cloudy's halter. There was only one manure pile in the bedding that she could see. “Are you kidding?” she said. “This is nothing.”

Bridget shrugged, stepping back out of the way as Maddie led the pony out of the stall. “I'm just saying, Seth better step it up or he'll lose his job.” She glanced up and down the aisle. “Where is he, anyway? I should tell him how dirty Cloudy's stall is so he can clean it while I'm riding. We don't want her to have to go back in a filthy stall.”

Maddie smiled, touched that Bridget was so concerned about Cloudy already. That would make her new plan easy to execute.

“He's probably not here yet,” she said. “I think he usually has football right after school. But don't worry—if he hasn't gotten around to it by the time we finish, we can pick out the stall ourselves. I'll show you how.”

“Oh. Um, okay.” Bridget looked less than thrilled at that idea.

But Maddie didn't worry about it. She'd been dubious about the whole idea of cleaning up manure when she'd started riding too. But it hadn't taken long before the task was second nature.

“All right. Let's get started,” she said, heading for the grooming area. “Since you're getting more serious about riding, I think it's time for you to learn how to get your pony ready.”

“What do you mean?” Bridget said. “I've been helping you brush her off and stuff.”

“Yeah, but that's the easy part.” Maddie waved at the pony's saddle and bridle, which they'd brought to the grooming area before going to get Cloudy. “Today you start learning how to tack up.” She grabbed a hoof pick out of her grooming bucket. “But first a lesson on picking out feet.”

Bridget shot a nervous look at Cloudy's hooves. “I don't know,” she said. “What if she kicks me?”

“She won't.” Maddie stepped to Cloudy's left front hoof. “She's already trained to pick up her feet when you grab her fetlock—that's this part of her leg here, see?”

She demonstrated, squeezing the pony's fetlock. Cloudy promptly lifted the leg, and Maddie dislodged some bedding from her foot with the pick. Then she set the foot down and straightened up, smiling at Bridget.

“See? It's easy. Why don't you try doing the other foot?” she said.

Bridget shook her head. “I don't think so,” she said. “I'll help with the saddle or whatever if you want, but I'm not in the mood to get trampled today.”

“You won't get trampled. She's cross-tied, remember?” Maddie tugged lightly on the tie between one side of Cloudy's halter and the wall. “She's not going anywhere.”

“Still.” Bridget pulled out her phone. “I've got to check my e-mail anyway. I'll be back in a sec.” She stepped away before Maddie could protest, bending over her phone.

Maddie swallowed a sigh. Okay, so far Bridget wasn't making this easy. For a second she was tempted to tell her friend why she wanted her to learn everything about taking care of Cloudy—and why she needed to learn it fast.

But she decided it wouldn't hurt to keep quiet a little longer. At least until after her birthday. There was still enough time.

Maddie finished picking out Cloudy's hooves, then moved on to brushing her. Eventually Bridget wandered back and picked up a currycomb.

“I can help with this part,” she said with a smile. “It's fun—like working at the pony beauty parlor.”

Maddie laughed. “Yeah. Or like doing hair and makeup for one of your plays, right?”

“Speaking of makeup,” Bridget said, “is Tillie still mad at you?”

“Don't ask.” Maddie rolled her eyes. “But yeah, she's still pretty much not talking to me except to tell me what a loser I am. Can you believe it? Luckily, Mom and Dad seem to be over it, though.”

“That's good.” Bridget ran her brush slowly down Cloudy's shoulder.

Maddie flicked some dust off the pony's rump, then tossed her brush aside. “She's pretty clean,” she said. “Let's move on to saddling.”

“Wait,” Bridget protested. “Aren't we going to brush her mane and tail? I thought maybe we could even try braiding them. I saw pictures of a cute pony all braided up online.”

Maddie glanced at Cloudy's mane. “I don't usually mess with her mane and tail unless they're tangled or something. And we only braid for shows.” She shrugged. “But maybe we can try it later if you want. Right now, let's get moving so you can ride, okay? Now, first you need a saddle pad. . . .”

“Whoa, what's the big rush?” Bridget stepped back as Maddie tossed a pad onto Cloudy's back. “This is supposed to be fun and relaxing, right? Anyway, I just realized—I've been spending all this time here this week, and you haven't even showed me where your party is going to be!”

Maddie straightened the pad and reached for the saddle. “I can show you that after your ride.”

“But then we'll be busy getting the saddle off and grooming her again and stuff.” Bridget tilted her head and smiled. “Come on. Cloudy will be okay standing here for a minute, right? Let's go check out party central.”