Riding Class (10 page)

Emily frowned. “I can’t use my legs.”

“You’re going to
have
to,” Stevie said.

“I
can’t
.”

Lisa and Carole looked at Emily sympathetically, but

Stevie crossed her arms and looked disdainful. “Isn’t the whole point of doing this proving what you can do?” she asked. “Just push your ankle into his side and think, ‘Move, P.C.’ ”

Emily looked ready to spit fire. “Easy for you to say,” she said to Stevie.

Stevie looked Emily straight in the eye. “No, it isn’t,” she said.

Emily blinked. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll try it. Easier, maybe, than holding the gate in the wrong hand.” She took a deep breath and grabbed the top of the gate again. She clucked to P.C. and he walked forward. “Whoa,” she said to him softly when he was clear of the gateway. P.C. stood. Emily tried to move him sideways. He didn’t move. Emily grimaced. Sweat broke out on her forehead.

“C’mon,” Lisa whispered, “you can do it.” She wasn’t sure if she was talking to Emily or to P.C.

Emily took a deep breath and tried again. P.C. took a step sideways. The Saddle Club cheered. P.C. put his ears back and stopped. Emily relaxed and gave him a small pat with the hand she held the reins in. She was still holding the gate, bent forward in cautious balance. “One more step,” Emily said as if to herself. She concentrated hard, and P.C. gave a sigh and moved his hind legs over.

Emily dropped the gate and the reins and slouched on
P.C.’s neck. “Good boy,” she crooned to him. To The Saddle Club she said, “That’s enough of that for now. I’ll try it again later.”

“If you can do that, you can do anything,” Stevie said, her eyes shining bright. “This dismount and mount is going to be a piece of cake. Now, here’s what we need to do.…”

O
N
F
RIDAY AFTER SCHOOL
Emily brought P.C. to Pine Hollow for another trail ride. It was a beautiful day. From a distance, some of the underbrush was even starting to look green, as tiny leaves began to unfurl.

The Saddle Club groomed their horses quickly. Carole felt a slight pang of regret that she had not spent more time with Starlight in the past week. She’d ridden him on Tuesday, in their usual weekly lesson, and she’d come to Pine Hollow to groom him every day before she left for Free Rein, but she hadn’t had time to ride him.

She knew Red had turned Starlight out in the pasture to graze and play, so the horse had gotten enough exercise,
and Carole certainly didn’t regret spending the time with Emily. They’d done so much in one week! Plus, Carole had learned how much she enjoyed teaching others to ride. She’d always been helpful around the stable—sometimes a little too helpful, she knew, because other people didn’t always want her advice—but she’d never taught anyone with special needs before. It had been fun, and it had been satisfying. Still, she had missed Starlight. When she grew up, if she decided to teach riding, at least she wouldn’t have to go to school. She’d have plenty of time to spend with her own horses.

Lisa combed Prancer’s mane. She’d missed riding too, partially because she loved it so much, but partially because she knew she wasn’t as prepared as the rest of The Saddle Club for the next day’s competition. Lisa hadn’t been riding for as long as Carole and Stevie. She knew she’d learned fast, but her reflexes still weren’t as sharp as her friends’. Prancer was also the least experienced of the three horses.
Oh, well
, Lisa said to herself. She’d learned long ago to compete for the joy of doing well on her own terms. Like Emily, Lisa hoped to ride as well as she could. She wasn’t worrying about blue ribbons this time.

Lisa thought back to the evening before, when Emily had finally managed to open, walk through, and close the gate at Free Rein. “Victory!” she’d shouted, throwing her hands in the air, and The Saddle Club had crowded around
P.C., patting him and clapping Emily on the back. It had been a terrific moment.

Stevie hummed as she curried Belle’s shining flank. For once in her life, she wasn’t worried about beating Veronica. At least, not personally. She couldn’t wait until the next day’s competition.

All three girls heard the Free Rein horse trailer rattle up the bumpy driveway. By the time they got outside, Emily’s mother was already leading P.C. out of the van. Emily was climbing out of the cab.

The Saddle Club stopped short. Fresh from grooming their own horses, they could see how really raggedy P.C. looked by comparison. His winter coat was thick and shaggy. He still had a patch of mud on his rear, behind the saddle, and dust hung around him.

“He rolled in the paddock today,” Emily said, sounding very exasperated. “My mom helped me groom him and tack him up before we came. It took us forever, and he still looks horrible! He had mud all over, he was disgusting—I’ll never have time to get him clean by tomorrow.”

“What’s tomorrow?” Mrs. Williams asked.

“Nothing, Mom, I’ll tell you later. Okay? Thanks.” Emily kissed her mother and took P.C. from her. Mrs. Williams gave Emily a slight frown, shook her head, and got back into the cab of the trailer.

“She knows something’s up, she just doesn’t know
what,” Emily said. “She told me she’d be back in an hour and a half. We’ve got to hurry!”

They started out on the trail. This time, The Saddle Club took Emily on a slightly more varied route. “Max isn’t letting anyone ride on the trail for tomorrow’s course,” Stevie said. “He’s already got the stations up, and he doesn’t want anybody cheating. But we can show you all the different kinds of trails.”

They rode up hills and down. They rode in fields of dead grass, in deep, muddy woods, and across short stretches of gravel. They took P.C. across several streams. As Emily had predicted, he didn’t seem to mind the water at all. In fact, he even seemed to enjoy it.

At one point a small log lay across the path. Carole went over it at a trot and turned Starlight to watch Emily, who was next. Emily balanced P.C. and brought him to a walk. He came up to the log and neatly hopped over. Emily praised him soundly. “He’s having a great time,” she declared. “He’s going to do fine.”

The Saddle Club exchanged smiles of happiness and relief. It did look as though P.C. would be fine. “If only—” Lisa began.

“Hush,” Stevie told her firmly. “We don’t want to talk about it. We might jinx things.”

“No talk,” Emily agreed. “I don’t need to be any more
nervous than I already am. Let’s head home. I don’t want to make my mom mad by keeping her waiting. Not now.”

Lisa looked at Emily. She didn’t look nervous. Like Stevie, Lisa found she couldn’t wait until morning.

E
MILY ASKED HER MOTHER
to come into Max’s office. For a moment the four girls only looked at Max and Emily’s mother, not saying a word.

“Out with it,” Max said encouragingly. “I know that look,” he told Mrs. Williams. “They want a favor, and they don’t think they’re going to get it. Girls, what is it?”

“I would like to ride in the handy hunter competition,” Emily said, with characteristic suddenness.

“Oh. Well.” Max’s smile dimmed and he seemed at a loss for words. “Well, now—”

All the girls talked at once.

“She can do it, Max!” said Stevie.

“We’ve been working with her every day,” Carole added. “You know we wouldn’t ask if—you said you trusted us—”

“It’s a very simple competition,” Lisa told Mrs. Williams, though she knew that wasn’t completely true. “Max designed it for beginning riders. Emily really can—”

“I can do it, Mom!”

Max held up his hand. “Enough!” he said. The office went quiet. “Did you know anything about this?” he asked
Mrs. Williams. She shook her head. “It’s a little competition I planned for my Pony Club,” Max explained. He went on to give the details of the junior handy hunter trail competition. “It’s true that I planned it with my beginning riders in mind,” he concluded. “Everyone from Pine Hollow should be able to complete the competition safely, though only the good and more experienced riders are going to do well. But I don’t know about your daughter—I worry about whether it would be safe for her.”

“It doesn’t hurt me to fall off any more than it hurts Lisa or Carole to fall off,” Emily said hotly. “I’m not fragile. I don’t break.”

Max looked at Mrs. Williams. “That’s true,” she admitted. “There’s nothing about cerebral palsy that makes falling off any more dangerous for Emily than for anyone else. But still—”

“But still,” Max echoed. Turning to Emily, he said, “This class is going to be run one rider at a time, through the woods. You may not be more likely to get hurt if you fall off, but I think you are more likely to fall off on a trail ride than an able-bodied rider.”

“Not on P.C.,” Emily protested.

“I know you’ve come here and ridden,” Max said, as if she hadn’t spoken. “I know you’ve done well, and I know you have a fine horse. But I’m not comfortable with the idea of you going down those trails alone, considering the
very limited experience you’ve had with them. I can’t let you ride in the trail class. I’m sorry.” He looked sorry.

“Max,” Lisa asked. “Is that really your main objection? You don’t want Emily on the trails alone?”

Max nodded. “That’s it.”

“What if I rode—well, with her, on the course, but so my ride didn’t count. There’s a word for it, I read it in a horse magazine. ‘Hors d’oeuvres?’ That’s not it.” Lisa flushed. Hors d’oeuvres were foods like the deviled eggs and cheese spreads her mother served at bridge parties.

“Hor de concours,”
Max corrected her, smiling gently.

“You can’t do that,” Emily said. “Lisa, I can’t let you! It wouldn’t be fair to you or Prancer!”

“That’s it,” Lisa said, ignoring Emily. “Emily could go first, and her ride would count. I’ll just ride Prancer along behind, and make sure she doesn’t get into trouble by herself.” Lisa shrugged. “Prancer wasn’t likely to do too well at this anyway,” she said. “Obedience isn’t her strong point, yet.”

“Well,” Max said slowly, “if you’re sure you want to—”

“Of course I want to. We’ve been practicing for this all week! It won’t be any fun if Emily can’t be with us.”

“I can’t let you,” Emily said again, in a softer voice. She looked at Lisa with a worried frown.

“I don’t mind,” Lisa said. “Honest.” She really didn’t. Emily seemed to believe her, because she smiled.

“Safety really was my only objection,” Max said. “If you want to ride with her, Lisa, I’ll let Emily try it. But you have to promise me …” He turned to Emily. “You, Emily, have to promise me that you won’t attempt any stations that are beyond your experience. Don’t experiment on the trail!”

Emily nodded. “We’ve been practicing the stuff you talked about,” she said. “But if something comes up that I don’t know how to do, I won’t try it.”

Max turned to Mrs. Williams. “I told you before that I trust these three riders, and I do,” he said. “How do you feel about this?”

Mrs. Williams looked at her daughter and shook her head, smiling. “Emily, you are so determined,” she said. “I don’t know, it seems like a lot for you to take on, but if you want to, I guess it’s okay with me.”

The girls whooped. Max smiled. “I wondered why I hadn’t seen you riding all week,” he said. “It didn’t make any sense that my three most faithful riders would suddenly desert the stable just when they most needed practice. Now I understand.”

Emily’s smile disappeared. “Oh, gosh,” she said softly. “I never even realized! None of you has been able to ride!”

“It doesn’t matter,” Carole said quickly. “We didn’t care. We wanted to help you.”

“But now you won’t be able to beat Veronica! And Lisa,
you won’t even be able to place! I shouldn’t have let you!” Emily sounded distraught.

“I would rather come in last place behind you and P.C., and have Veronica beat us both, than win the whole thing without you riding,” Stevie said in tones of utter conviction.

“And Stevie loves to win,” Carole said with a laugh, “so you know she means it!”

“We’re not doing this because of Veronica, or because we feel sorry for you,” Lisa added, because Emily still didn’t look convinced. “We helped you because you’re our friend. I want to ride with you because you’re my friend.”

At last Emily smiled. “I’m glad that we’re friends. But I still don’t feel right about taking up all your time.”

“We offered, didn’t we? And look at it this way,” Carole said. “Maybe because we helped you, none of us will be able to win, but
all
of us will be able to ride.”

“Okay.” Emily laughed. “Okay! What time should I be here in the morning?”