Crown Prince Challenged (36 page)

“This way,” Jack said, pointing to some whiskey barrels at the treeline. “This will be challenging to your horses because you're jumping from light to dark, and horses can't quickly see what's ahead of them. Their eyes must adapt, and they'll have to trust you. Ride strong into this fence, to be sure.”

A short way after the whiskey barrels a park bench was waiting for them. The trees grew closely together here, making the trail dark and shadowy.
I hope the ditch isn't on this trail,
Sarah thought.
Who knows what monsters Prince might imagine are in a ditch in the woods!

Sarah was glad when they came into another field. There was a vegetable stand loaded with all kinds of fresh veggies, plus farther along, a Chinese puzzle and a double-drop heading down a hill. At the foot of the hill, a brook had been dammed up to make a water obstacle. They would have to jump a big log into water, gallop through the water, and jump a narrow vertical two strides out of the water. “You'll have to ride accurately to avoid missing the vertical,” Jack warned them.

After they consulted their maps once more, the riders looked at each other in disbelief. Their route followed a path up another hill, although this one wasn't as long or steep as the one before. Obstacle 14, a wagon loaded with bales of hay, was in their path once the terrain leveled off, and a large rolltop was in the distance. Kayla took a deep breath. “We must be near the end,” she said.

“I'm afraid not,” Jack replied, shaking his head. “There are quite a few obstacles ahead of us.” He pointed off in the distance to a rustic table perched near the treeline. After the table, they jumped a cordwood pile that brought them into the woods again. As they continued down the trail, Sarah saw flags on either side, but nothing solid between them. This must be it!

The ditch was a lot like the one at Brookmeade—wide, with its walls revetted with telephone poles, except this one had leaves and sections of tree branches scattered along its bottom. She caught Jack's eye after they'd looked into it. “You'll ride it just like the one on the farm,” he said. “Keep your eyes up, and with your aids, tell him 'tis a go.” The other riders didn't give the ditch much thought, but Sarah couldn't get it out of her mind. She'd dream about it that night for sure.

A coop bringing them out of the woods was closely followed by a sharp right-angle turn into a narrow post-and-rail fence. “You must ride the turn accurately, or you'll miss the second fence.” Jack said. They continued by a copse of trees and into the field where Sarah and Kayla had seen the giant spools and the dollhouse. Another hill followed, and Sarah stopped and pointed. “Look what's on the top!” she said. It was the finish flags, and tomorrow a timer would record their times when they went through them.

Jack looked up the last hill. “'Tis here you'll know if your horses have heart, that quality that makes them strive on even when they're spent.”

This hill was not as long as the others, nor as steep. But except for Rita, the riders were all thinking how demanding the course would be for their horses. “Chancellor is so strong behind,” Rita said. “He won't have any trouble pushing up these hills. He zooms up the hill we have in back of my barn.”

Tim looked at her quizzically. “There's a difference between running up one hill and doing three all at once on a long course with twenty-one obstacles along the way.”

“I'm not worried,” Rita sniffed. “As a matter of fact, anything but first place isn't on my radar screen.”

Later that afternoon, once they'd returned to the dorm, Sarah and Kayla took their second shower of the day and changed for dinner. They met Tim, Rita, and Kelly in the dining room. “I hope we've all gotten rid of the cobwebs on our brains and can ace the Equus Quiz questions tonight,” Tim said, grinning.

Sarah frowned. She'd forgotten about the quiz and had planned to go back to the event grounds after dinner. She wanted to walk Prince and let him have some grass. But it was a team activity, and she didn't have much choice.

“It's too bad we don't have Paige here,” Kayla said. “She reads horse stuff all the time. She'd probably know all the answers.” Sarah noticed Tim frowning when he heard Kayla mention Paige.

After they'd eaten the buffet dinner, which featured strawberry shortcake for dessert, the teams moved to a large meeting room. Everyone seemed to have fun playing the game, and the Brookmeade team members didn't disgrace themselves. On Sarah's first question, she was asked the name of the Native Americans who first bred Appaloosas. She was happy she remembered it was the Nez Perce tribe. The team that drove such a long distance, the Riverton Riders, must have been studying during their long trip, because they finished in first place. For a prize, each member got a leather lead shank.

It was almost half-past nine when the quiz ended, too late to return to the event grounds. Sarah and Kayla went back to their room and pulled their cross-country maps out to look at the course one more time. “What do you think?” Sarah asked Kayla.

“I'm afraid Fanny might spook at some of the strange-looking obstacles, like the dollhouse. There's a lot out there our horses have never seen before.” She stretched out on her bed to study the course map more closely.

“I just hope Prince won't freak out at the ditch,” Sarah said. “And those hills are going to slow everybody down. Thank goodness for the old orchard trail!” She'd been making it her conditioning ride at least three times a week, and sometimes they'd galloped up the ridge to the top.

Kayla put her map down to look at Sarah. “There are some hills in the preserve where I ride, but they're not nearly as steep as the ones on the course.” Her eyebrows scrunched up with concern. “I guess I just won't push Fanny tomorrow. I want to go clear, and I'm not going to worry about time penalties.”

“Yeah,” Sarah said. “This is our first event. I'm more interested in not stressing my horse than bringing home the Wexford Cup.”

Kayla banged a fist on her bed. “The team is in third place. I wonder where we'd be if I hadn't blown the test!”

“Forget about today,” Sarah said. “We need to think about tomorrow. Let's go over early enough so we can walk the course again.”

* * * * *

The next day dawned bright and clear—so far, their luck was holding on the weather. When Sarah and Kayla arrived at the event grounds, Tim and Kelly were already there, but there was no sign of Rita. Tim was changing his shoes, getting ready to walk the course. Kelly had fed the horses, and when Sarah went to check on Prince, he was cleaning up the last of his grain. He was quick to leave the bucket to come to her for the carrot she offered. After she hugged him and stroked his face, Sarah went back to Tim.

“Kayla and I want to walk the course again. Mind if we come with you?” Sarah asked.

“No problem,” Tim said. “Is Kayla ready?”

“Ready!” Kayla called out, as she came out of Fanny's stall. “Fanny has settled in, and last night she cleaned up all of her hay. Let's roll ‘em.”

As they got closer to the starter's box, they saw quite a few other riders walking the course. Directly in front of them was a rider from the Castleton Stable team. Colin Dahlberg, a thin blond boy, was in second place behind Rita in dressage, and his team was in first place. He had paused at the brush fence, carefully inspecting the footing on the approach, when the Brookmeade riders caught up with him.

“What do you think of the course?” Tim asked him.

Colin shook his head. “I'm actually surprised the technical delegate let them include so many hills. The terrain makes this course really challenging. I've been working on conditioning for some time, but I still wonder if my horse will handle it okay.”

“I guess I'll take it slow and easy,” Kayla said.

“Yeah,” Tim said, “one competition isn't worth ruining your horse.”

Especially if it's your horse's first event,
Sarah thought.

Colin joined them as they walked, often making interesting comments. Sarah had a pretty good memory of the course from yesterday's walk, but of course there was one obstacle she especially wanted to inspect a second time. As they approached the ditch, she tried to decide what she would focus on so she wouldn't look down.
I hope Prince won't think those thin branches on the bottom are creepy-crawling things!
she thought.

The team had visitors when they arrived back at the tent. Jack, the Dixons, and the DeWitts had arrived at Wexford Hall after a bountiful breakfast at their B-and-B, and the Alexanders and Richard Snyder had driven to Wexford Hall from home that morning. Sarah was disappointed her parents and Abby weren't there yet, but she was glad to see Derek.

The area around their stalls was crowded, and Kelly was trying to answer their questions as best she could. Sarah went to say hello to the DeWitts. “We can see it's busy here,” Mrs. DeWitt said. “Chandler and I are going to head out onto the course with our folding chairs and picnic lunch to find a pleasant spot to watch the horses come through. The Alexanders also brought chairs, and they're coming with us.” She paused to give Sarah a quick hug. “Good luck to you and Crown Prince. Throw your heart over the jumps, and your horse will follow!”

Jack was relieved to see Tim return. “Will you be getting Rhodes ready now?” he asked. “Your start time is not far off. Kelly has brushed Rhodes and picked out his feet.” Tim went to the team stall to get his tack. His parents stood outside Rhodes's stall as Tim tacked him up.

Mr. Snyder walked up to Jack. “Do you have any idea where Rita is?” he asked. “She should be here!”

Kelly overheard the question and piped up, “She doesn't ride until this afternoon. I think she's sleeping in.”

Mr. Snyder appeared disgruntled as he turned away from them, yanking his phone from his pocket.

Mrs. Romano and Kayla had disappeared into Fanny's stall, while Derek stood looking at Crown Prince. Sarah was attempting to pick out his feet, but Prince was nervous with all the commotion and kept moving in his stall. “Whoa!” Sarah said, beginning to get exasperated. Derek slid through the door and went to Prince's head to hold on to his halter.

Derek had heard about the dressage rides from the DeWitts. “I've been telling you Prince is a world-beater,” he said, grinning. “Seriously, you should be proud of yourself—and your horse.”

Sarah turned her head to smile up at him, as she released Prince's near hind leg. “Thanks. But I can't dwell on yesterday. The course is going to be tough, with lots of steep hills. I just hope Prince is fit enough.”

“I haven't seen any of the course, but with all the hills around here, I can just imagine,” Derek replied. “Will you take me out to watch some of Tim's ride?”

Sarah was taken aback, as she always was when Derek suggested doing something with her. This was a guy who was supposed to already have a girlfriend. She looked at her watch. “Tim will be heading for the warm-up any minute. After I pick out Prince's stall, we can find a place to watch, if you'd like.” She reached in her jeans pocket for the course map and handed it to Derek. “Here, while I get the wheelbarrow, maybe you can figure out the best place to see the most obstacles.”

Tim had a crop in his hand and was wearing his helmet and tall boots with spurs when he led Rhodes from his stall. Tim's red and white hat cover matched his rugby shirt and red body vest, compliments of the DeWitts. He mounted Rhodes, and to a chorus of good luck calls, headed to the warm-up area. Jack and Tim's parents followed close behind.

Sarah quickly picked out Prince's stall, working around her horse as he pulled hay from his net. After she had emptied the wheelbarrow and returned it, she looked in on Kayla and her mother. “Will you have time to watch any of Tim's ride?” she asked.

“I don't think so,” Kayla said. “I don't want to be rushed getting Fanny ready. I've got Mom to help me, so you go along. Tim's going to tell me how the course rode once he's back.”

Derek poked his head into the stall. “Good luck, Kayla. We'll be watching,” he said.

As they walked away from the tent, Sarah asked, “Did you decide on the best place to watch?”

“Well, the best vantage point is probably on one of the hills,” he said. “Duh!”

Sarah laughed. “How about the last hill that's near the finish? I think we could see some of the last obstacles on the course, like the dollhouse, and watch Tim finish.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Derek said. “Lead the way.”

Derek and Sarah found a spot with a good view near the finish line, and they sat down in the grass. The scene had changed dramatically since Sarah had walked the course earlier. From their vantage point, they saw fence judges with clipboards sitting on folding chairs near every obstacle, and there was a lot of activity near the finish flags. Sarah noticed the ominous presence of an ambulance parked nearby, always at the ready if disaster should strike. Part way down the field, a photographer was poised to snap pictures of the horses as they came over the giant spools. With the sun bringing out the deep green of the fields, it was a perfect day to photograph horses in action, and many of the spectators carried cameras.

Loudspeakers in various locations helped fence judges and spectators know when horses were on course. Sarah closed her fists tightly when they heard the announcement, “Number 8, Tim Dixon riding Rhodes Scholar, is now on course.”

As Derek and Sarah watched a few riders ahead of Tim come galloping up the hill, they noticed that all the horses were blowing hard as they came through the finish flags. Sarah's eyes were glued to the woods where Rhodes would first appear. Suddenly the red-and-white Brookmeade colors came over the coop. Tim turned Rhodes sharply to jump the post-and-rail fence that followed it, and then galloped strongly away. He jumped the giant spools and the dollhouse boldly, and as he started up the last hill, Tim leaned low in the saddle, asking Rhodes for all he had left as he ran toward the finish.