The a Circuit (9 page)

NINE

“She almost ready?” Zara hurried toward Ellie, who was pawing impatiently in the cross-ties. Javier and Kate were tacking her up and getting her ready for the ring.

Kate glanced up from rubbing chalk into the mare’s white sock. “Getting there,” she said. “Don’t worry; Jamie just called to say you’ve got plenty of time. The barn ahead of us in the order of go just added like five more riders.”

Zara nodded, taking a sip of her soda and watching as Javier tightened the mare’s girth another notch. Then she heard someone call her name.

It was Summer. “OMG, Zara, I’m totally in love with your show shirt!” she gushed as she hurried over. “That color is so cool! Is it what everyone’s wearing in California?”

“I dunno. I don’t pay attention to what everyone’s wearing.” Zara chugged more of her soda, wishing it was something stronger. She had the worst case of show nerves she’d had since she was in little-kid jods and garters. What was up with that?

Summer glanced at Ellie. “So you’re riding in the Children’s today, huh?” she asked. “That’s cool.”

“Not really.” Zara shot her an irritated look. “I should be riding in the Juniors, like I usually do. Hardly seems worth doing my hair just to pop over those tiny jumps.”

Kate looked up at her again. “Jamie’s like Mr. Conservative about stuff like that,” she said. “He always wants to start slow. He’ll probably let you move up soon.”

Zara just shrugged, not bothering to answer. She wasn’t interested in psychoanalyzing her stupid new trainer. She just wanted to get through her first round and hope her nerves went away after that.

She couldn’t figure out why she was so nervous. Yeah, she was in a new place, showing in front of a whole new group of people. So freaking what? She was an adrenaline junkie, right? She should love this! But she didn’t, which freaked her out even more.

Zara clenched her fists in her calfskin gloves, feeling as if she’d just been dropped at the start of a tricky jumper round without knowing the course. Too bad there wasn’t a course diagram for life. Zara’s mouth twisted into a grimace at the thought. Yeah. A Course Diagram for Life. Sounded like the title of one of those cheesy made-for-TV movies her mom had done early in her career.

“Hey Kate, don’t forget the hoof oil,” Summer said as she watched Kate and Javier fuss over the horse. Then she turned and smiled at Zara. “I’m sure you’ll do great,” she added. “Everyone says you’re a fabulous rider, and Ellie’s such a cool horse. You’ll probably get champion today.”

Zara had gotten so lost in her own stress that she’d almost forgotten Summer was still there. The girl was irritating at best—reminded Zara of some of the groupie losers who’d called themselves her friends back in LA. The ones who were always up for a night at the clubs or walking the red carpet at a movie premiere, but seemed to be busy anytime Zara invited them somewhere a little less flashy.

“Yeah, we’ll see.” Zara shot Summer a look. “But who knows. If I have to ride some boring dinky Children’s course, maybe I’ll do something to make it more interesting. Like ride the course backward.”

“Huh?” Summer looked confused. “You mean, like, go off course on purpose?”

Zara smirked. “Nope. I mean spin around in the saddle so I’m facing the horse’s tail. I’ve jumped that way a bunch of times. It’s kind of a rush, especially if you’re riding a bucker.”

Summer’s eyes widened. “Seriously?” she exclaimed. “No way—you’re joking, right? Jamie would freak out! He’s all about being professional and stuff.”

“Whatever.
I’m
all about having fun, so we’ll just have to play it by ear.”

Summer’s pale eyes darted around, as if she wasn’t sure how to react. “I just remembered I haven’t seen my dog for a while,” she said. “I’d better go check on him. Good luck, Zara.” She hurried off.

Zara leaned back against the wall, watching Kate and Javier put the finishing touches on Ellie’s turnout. Messing with Summer had been fun, had even taken her mind off her nerves for a while. But now they were back, big-time.

“Oops, I think I forgot to grab Ellie’s martingale,” Kate said as she reached for the bridle.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get it,” Javier offered, hurrying toward the tack stall before Kate could respond.

When he was gone, Kate glanced at Zara. “You okay?” she asked softly. “I know the feeling. I’m always super nervous before I show, no matter how many times I do it or how prepared I am.”

Zara wasn’t sure how to answer for a second. Was Kate for real, or was she just another suck-up? It wasn’t like they were friends—Zara had barely said two words to the girl unless it was to order her to do something.

Deciding that figuring it out was too much trouble, she turned away without a word. “Tell the groom to bring the horse to the warm-up ring,” she said as she headed for the exit. “I’ll meet them there.”

“Learn to steer, moron!” Zara yelled as some kid on a pig-eyed bay gelding nearly sideswiped her.

The warm-up ring was a zoo.
Quelle surprise
. Normally Zara kind of enjoyed the chaos. In her wickeder moods, she’d even add to it, looking for any chance for a game of chicken over a schooling jump. But that was with her old trainer, who mostly stood there meekly and let her do whatever.

Jamie was different. He was warming up three or four riders at the same time, but somehow seemed to have no trouble keeping track of all of them. Zara saw him watching her as she guided Ellie to the rail for a breather at the walk.

Ellie was prancing a little after the close call with the other horse, but otherwise she was handling the warm-up pretty well. She felt fit, alert, and focused. In other words, definitely well prepped. Plus one for Jamie.

Zara glanced at the trainer. He’d turned away from her to watch one of his other students, a nervous-looking ten-year-old on a calm-looking bay large pony, clear the jump he’d claimed for his people.

“Very good,” he called to the younger girl, his voice cutting through the noise of the dozens of other people in the ring. Then he turned and waved to someone else. “Tommi, you’re up. Nice and easy.”

Zara searched the crowds, finally finding Tommi aboard her junior hunter, Toccata. They made a pretty impressive pair. No wonder they’d won so much.

“Don’t worry, girlie,” Zara whispered to Ellie, patting the mare on the neck. “Once we’re in the Juniors where we belong, we’ll start kicking their butts.”

Ellie tossed her head and skipped sideways as a pair of glossy bay hunters trotted straight at her. Before Zara could react, Ellie threw out a hind leg, cow-kicking at the closer of the two horses.

“Hey, watch it!” the rider exclaimed, glaring at Zara.

“Watch it yourself,” Zara shot back.

“Isn’t that Zara Trask?” the second girl asked her friend as they rode on.

They were already too far away for Zara to hear any more. But she saw both riders glance back at her, then turn away again. A moment later they caught up to another rider, and all three of them stopped in the center of the ring and watched Zara ride by.

From then on, Zara could feel more and more eyes on her, watching her every move. She was so distracted that she screwed up her next jump, running Ellie at it way too fast. Then she overcorrected the next time around, crawling to the base so the mare had to lurch her way over from a near standstill. That seemed to make Ellie testy, and things went downhill from there. Ellie ended the warm-up much more agitated than when she’d started, overjumping everything and looking for any excuse to spook.

Finally Jamie pulled Zara over to the rail near the gate. “Listen, Zara, I can tell you’re trying to hold things together,” he said kindly. “But it’s starting to look like this just might not be Ellie’s day.”

“She’s fine.” Zara gave a tug on the reins as the mare slung her head around restlessly. “I’m sure she’ll chill once she’s in the ring by herself.”

“Maybe. But she’s still a little green, and we don’t want either of you to have a bad experience your first time out. How about if we scratch, regroup, and maybe try again tomorrow?”

His eyes were already turning toward the next rider, and Zara could tell he was expecting her to nod, say he was right, and agree with the plan. She was sure that was what any of his other riderbots would do. Jamie Knows Best, right?

But she was no bot. “We’ll be fine,” she said firmly. “I want to show today.”

“I understand,” Jamie said, just as Tommi rode toward them. “But if you’re not ready—”

“I’m ready,” Zara interrupted loudly. “I mean, it’s a Children’s Hunter course, right? Not the Grand Prix at Spruce Meadows. What’s the big deal? So we had a less-than-perfect warm-up, so what? That’s no reason to scratch. I want to show.”

She stared at him, daring him to say no. Jamie hesitated, then shook his head.

“I’m sorry, Zara,” he said. “I really think—”

“Excuse me, Jamie,” Tommi put in, dropping Toccata’s reins on his neck. “I don’t mean to butt in or anything, and you can totally tell me to shut my noisehole if you want. But if Zara wants to show, why not let her? It’s not like she’s some newbie at this. I’m sure she can handle a bad warm-up.”

“Yeah. I’m not some pony brat who’s going to fall apart if I don’t win a pretty blue ribbon.” Zara frowned at the trainer.

Jamie hesitated, glancing from Zara to Tommi and then back again. Finally he shrugged.

“Fine,” he said, obviously not fully convinced he was making the right decision. “If you still want to show, let’s show. You’ve got about ten minutes, and I think any more jumping in here would be counterproductive. Just walk her along the rail and try to keep her calm.”

With that, he hurried off toward the young rider on the bay pony, who was waiting for him in the center. Zara sent Ellie into a walk along the rail, and Tommi and Toccata fell into step beside them.

“Thanks for that. He was totally going to make me scratch.” Zara shot the other girl a curious look. “But why’d you butt in?”

“Couldn’t help it.” Tommi sat relaxed in the saddle, her body swaying gently with her horse’s long, flowing walk. “I think it’s a cop-out to scratch just for nerves or whatever. I thought you might feel the same way.” She turned her head and met Zara’s eye. “Jamie’s the best, but he’s a little too cautious sometimes. I hated to see him treating you like some wimpy Adult Amateur who has a panic attack if her horse, like, stomps at a fly or something.”

Zara couldn’t help being surprised. She and Tommi barely knew each other. Probably the longest conversation they’d had was that time Tommi had reamed her out for supposedly inviting the entire staff of Daily Scandal Dot Com to the barn. So how come Tommi seemed to get her so well all of a sudden?

It was weird. Unexpected. Maybe a little nice, too. But mostly weird.

“Okay, well, thanks,” Zara said. “Hope I don’t fall off over the first fence and make us both feel stupid.”

She didn’t fall off over the first fence. Ellie settled down once she was alone in the ring, just as Zara had predicted, and actually seemed to remember her job. Zara could hear Jamie’s voice in her head as she steered through the opening circle:
Easy, keep it quiet. Less is more with this mare.

They met the first jump smoothly, and the next one, too. Ellie changed leads at the barest whisper of a leg aid, cantering softly down toward the next line. As they rounded the turn, Zara knew they were kicking ass. Okay, so it was only a Children’s round, but still. Jamie would have to eat his words if they ended up with a ribbon, right?

The thought distracted her just enough for her to lose focus. It was time for another lead change, and she gave the mare a firm nudge to ask for it. That was what her old hunter, a lazy sort, had needed.

But this was Ellie. Taking offense at Zara’s overly strong aid, the mare raised her head a little and kicked out, speeding up as she rounded the turn. She did make the swap at the same time, but the bobble was just enough to screw up their approach to the next line, resulting in a minor chip at the first fence and a gappy spot at the second.

Okay, could’ve been worse, Zara told herself as she completed her final circle. Despite that one sketchy line, she figured she hadn’t done too badly for what was basically her fourth ride ever on her new horse.

“Good girl,” she murmured as they slowed to a walk and turned to exit the ring. “Sorry about the brain fart.”