Crown Prince Challenged (38 page)

Jack hurried up to them, wanting to know how it had gone. Kayla and Derek pumped their fists into the air when Sarah could finally tell them she and Prince had gone clear. “We almost had a stop at the ditch,” she said between fast breaths, “and he was distracted by the people at the water.” She stopped a moment to try to catch her breath. “We finished the course because he trusted me,” she said. “He was unsure about a lot of obstacles, like the veggie stand, but he listened to me. He went when I asked him.”

Prince turned his head toward her, and Sarah hugged him. After a few moments she tugged on the reins. “Come on, Prince. It's back to the tent and some carrots.”

“Well-deserved carrots,” Kayla said. “I know how tough that course was. I'm proud of you, kid.”

The stabling tent was quiet when they returned, with many people out on the course to cheer for their teams. Rita and Kelly were among those getting a horse ready for the cross-country run. Mr. Snyder was observing the girls at work, but he turned to watch Prince as Sarah led him into his stall. Kayla and Derek were right behind her, and after they took Prince's bridle off, he was allowed to have a short drink from his water bucket. Then the three of them began removing his saddle and galloping boots.

“How did it go, Sarah?” Rita called to her.

“She went clear,” Derek answered, “and from the way Prince was booking, she probably doesn't have any time penalties.”

Rita came out of the stall and walked up to them. “That makes three clear rounds, and after I go, it will be four.” She thought a minute, pursing her thin lips. “You know, Kayla, if you hadn't screwed up on your dressage test, I'll bet we'd be in first place.” As Rita went back to Chancellor's stall, Sarah and Derek looked quickly at Kayla. She had been leaning over, unbuckling one of Prince's galloping boots. When she stood up, the blood had drained from her face as if someone had punched her in the stomach.

Sarah wasn't at all surprised by Rita's thoughtless remark. Rita was being Rita! But Sarah was amazed that Rita's father, who undoubtedly had overheard the conversation, didn't respond in any way.
But then, Rita acts like this all the time,
she thought.
It's her normal behavior. He probably never reprimands her about anything.

Sarah went to Kayla and hugged her, while Derek looked in the direction of Chancellor's stall, shaking his head. Finally Kayla stepped back. “Rita calls 'em like she sees 'em, I guess,” she said, picking up the other dirt-covered galloping boot. “But your horse needs a bath. And so do these.”

After Sarah had removed her tall boots and pulled her jeans on over her breeches, she led her horse outside the tent where a bucket of water had been warming in the sun. With Kayla holding Prince, Sarah went over him with a soapy sponge, rinsed him with the hose, and then removed a lot of the water from his coat with a sweat scraper. Sarah took the shank from Kayla and looked up at her wet horse. “Let's go for a walk, old buddy.”

Sarah was bringing Prince back after walking him dry when she saw her parents and Abby approaching the tent. Abby came running up to her. “How'd you do?” she asked. Sarah gave them a big smile. She was so happy she could announce to her family that she and Prince had gone clear.

“Fantastic!” her father said, coming to give her a hug. “We saw you jump the log into the water and the skinny fence after it. Prince was really going fast when he took off across the field!”

“Did you have any trouble?” her mother asked, her face still creased with worry. Sarah knew her mom was secretly relieved Sarah's ride was over but determined not to dampen anyone's spirits. She could just imagine how her mother's heart had been in her throat when she saw Crown Prince galloping by on that course.

“Prince was a star today, Mom,” Sarah said. “He went over everything.” She decided not to describe the close call when Prince almost stopped at the ditch.

When Kayla and Derek came out of the tent, Sarah waved them over. “Derek, I don't think you've met my parents,” Sarah said before introducing them.

“I'm happy to meet you, Derek,” Mr. Wagner said. “Sarah has told us about the insanely high jumps your horse goes over.”

Derek extended his arm to shake hands with them. “Yes, as a matter of fact, Bismarck and I have a show tomorrow, the first one of the summer.”

Sarah's head snapped in his direction. “Really?” she said.

“There's a show in Granger with a jumper division. I just heard about it this week,” Derek said. “So I won't be here tomorrow.”

“I think the competition has stopped for a lunch break,” Mrs. Wagner said. “We're going to get some burgers at the snack bar before we have to head home. We'd love to have all of you come with us.”

“Derek and I had lunch earlier,” Kayla said. She pointed at Sarah. “But your daughter must be famished. She didn't want to eat before she rode.”

The mention of lunch reminded Sarah how ravenously hungry she was. “Yeah, Dad,” she said. “After I put Prince in his stall, let's get some grub.” A few minutes later, they started for the snack bar, with Abby asking Sarah a million questions.

Later, after Sarah had wolfed down a grilled cheese sandwich with chips, she hurried back to the tent. The competition was about to resume, and Rita was nearly ready to go to the warm-up with Chancellor. He looked spectacular, his black coat shining like polished ebony. Along with the expensive saddle and bridle, he wore a white quilted saddle pad that had the Pyramid Farm logo stitched in one corner. Rita was turned out equally well. In addition to the team's red-and-white hat cover over her helmet and the Brookmeade rugby shirt, she had on highly polished custom boots and the same protective body vest the other riders wore.

“Kelly, I want you to have a bucket of water ready for Chancellor near the finish flags,” Rita called out, as she rode her horse toward the cross-country warm-up area. Her father picked up his folding chair and walked stiffly behind her.

Kelly took Chancellor's water bucket outside to rinse with the hose and fill with fresh water. “Would you like me to carry that for you?” Derek offered. “We're going back to see some of the other rides and watch Rita finish.”

Kelly looked darkly at Sarah and Kayla before turning back to Derek. “Okay, I guess,” she said. They hurried back to the cross-country finish and sat in the same spot they'd shared earlier. A few minutes later, Tim and his parents joined them. “What's happening?” Tim asked.

“Number 27 just came through,” Kayla said. “You remember Colin Dahlberg, the guy we walked the course with?” When Tim nodded, Kayla said, “He's Number 28, riding Senator, so he should be next.”

Their eyes turned to the coop obstacle just in time to see a chestnut horse come over it and then turn adroitly to jump the post-and-rail at right angles to it. Senator moved speedily through the field to the giant spools and continued to the dollhouse, jumping both boldly. Then they were galloping up the hill and through the finish flags. Colin had a lot of supporters cheering for him as he brought his big chestnut to a halt.

“What a gorgeous horse!” Kayla said.

Kelly sat stony-faced beside the full water bucket they'd brought for Chancellor. It was obvious she was uncomfortable being around Sarah and Kayla, and could hardly wait for Rita to return.

While they waited for the next horse to finish, Derek mentioned a conversation he'd had with another spectator. “He said a lot of riders have had problems on the course, and several were eliminated. One girl fell off in the water. Her horse quit dirty in front of the log, and the girl went right over his head. Several more have had time penalties.”

Now that Number 28 had come through the flags, they all closely watched the coop in the distance. It seemed like a long wait until suddenly Tim said, “There she is!” Chancellor had jumped the coop and was turning to the post-and-rail.
Something doesn't look right,
Sarah thought. Once over the fence, Rita turned her horse in the direction of the giant spools. But compared to how the previous horses had been moving across the field, Chancellor was crawling at a snail's pace. He appeared to move sluggishly, no longer demonstrating his usual dynamic movement and power. In fact, as he moved toward the giant spools, Chancellor was actually losing speed.

Sensing her horse was slowing down, Rita raised her crop high over her head and forcefully struck Chancellor on his side several times. He responded by increasing his speed slightly, and with what looked like a humungous effort, he jumped the giant spools. Rita steered him toward the dollhouse, but now he slowed dramatically, and despite the many blows she wielded on his side with her crop, Chancellor came to a stop before he reached the last jump. Sarah winced to see the magnificent horse treated so brutally. The Brookmeade riders gasped in shock! This was Chancellor, the perfect horse who never made a mistake? He had refused a jump!

Just then the technical delegate came running down the hill toward Rita. “I'll bet he's going to pull her!” Tim said. “I'm surprised it didn't happen earlier on the course. That horse is totally used up.”

“Yeah,” Kayla said, “and don't they penalize a rider for excessive use of a crop? I think I read that in the rulebook.”

By this time, Rita had dismounted, run up her irons, and with the technical delegate at her side, was leading Chancellor out of the path of oncoming horses. The black Warmblood walked slowly with his head low. His breathing through red dilated nostrils was rapid, and his body was lathered with sweat.

Kelly picked up the water bucket and hurried down the hill to the exhausted horse and his rider. Chancellor was allowed to drink a few swallows, and he eagerly plunged his muzzle, bit and all, into the bucket. Meanwhile, the veterinarian on duty arrived to check the horse. After he took Chancellor's temperature and listened to his heart, Rita was told to walk her horse back to the tent to cool him out properly. Kelly went with her, carrying the water bucket. The Brookmeade group followed them back to the tent, but afraid they'd be the brunt of Rita's anger over what had happened, they were reluctant to approach her.

As they got closer to the stable area, Jack appeared on the gravel roadway, and he walked hurried toward Rita. Word must have traveled fast, because Jack was obviously aware of everything that had happened. From his reddened face and heated manner, he was obviously angry. Despite his measured voice, everyone listening knew he was livid. “How dare you bring an improperly conditioned horse to this competition! You could have killed him! You ignored my repeated instructions to condition your horse so he'd be to fit enough to compete here.”

Rita appeared dazed, and she said nothing while Jack continued on his tirade. “You were not only eliminated from the competition because your horse failed to finish the course, but you were disqualified for continuing to press an exhausted horse and excessive use of the whip. The technical delegate made this ruling against you!” Jack's fists were clenched as he continued. “Your performance here today is shocking. I'm embarrassed to be the coach of someone who behaves as badly as you have. Now take care of your horse!”

Without a reply, Rita hung her head and turned Chancellor toward his stall. Her father had arrived at the tent and had heard every word Jack said. Mr. Snyder followed them inside and stood in the stall's doorway, waiting for Rita to enter and turn the horse in his stall. Once she was facing him, he glowered at her, his mouth tightened into a thin line. “Rita, I'm extremely disappointed in you. Take care of this poor horse and then get your things together. You're going home!” He turned abruptly and walked away. With an arm over her forehead, Rita slumped against the stall wall, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed.

THAT EVENING,
the remaining members of the Brookmeade Farm team attended the festive barbeque put on by the Belmont School. The DeWitts had purchased tickets for the team and the other adults staying at the Juniper Inn—the Dixons, the O'Briens, and Kayla's mother. Along with the other competitors and supporters, they gathered on the lawn outside the residence hall. A tantalizing aroma wafted from the oversize grills the caterers had set up near a large tent filled with tables and folding chairs.

Conspicuously absent were Rita and her father. Mr. Snyder had phoned Judson and instructed him to bring their smaller horse van to Wexford Hall immediately. Chancellor was to be shipped back to Pyramid Farm that afternoon, although Mr. Snyder assured Jack that Judson would be bringing the other three horses back to Brookmeade in the larger rig following show jumping on Sunday.

The group wasn't in a mood to celebrate. With Rita's disqualification for abuse of her horse, the Brookmeade Farm team was eliminated from the competition, along with two other teams that had also dropped out of contention. All four riders from one team were woefully underprepared and failed to finish the cross-country course. Only five out of the original eight teams were still in the running for the Wexford Cup.

But there was some hope on the individual placings, since Tim, Kayla, and Sarah had gone clear in the cross-country phase with no time penalties. Kayla had refused to press Fanny on the hilly course, but she and her chestnut mare had still squeaked in under the time limit. The grueling course had caused ten entries to have time penalties added to their scores. In a competition based on penalty points, where the lowest score wins, the addition of time and jumping faults changed the scoreboard considerably.

With Rita removed from the competition, Colin Dahlberg and Senator were now in first place, and Tim and Rhodes Scholar had moved from fourth place up to second. Sarah and Prince had improved from being in ninth place after dressage to fifth place in the standings, but Kayla and Fanfare had jumped the farthest, from twenty-sixth up to fourteenth place. With one phase yet to go, everyone was hoping to avoid penalty points by having a clear jumping round with no rails down. The competitors would ride in reverse order of the standings, so the winning team and the winning individual rider wouldn't be known until the last horse had finished the show jumping course.