Ridden Hard Read online

  I hold the bottle up. “I’ll take it with us.”

  “Thanks.” Still distracted, Milly goes over to Wildfire, takes off the halter and puts the bridle on. I do the same for Hunter, and we walk across to the dressage arena, past the other areas set up for the rest of the day’s events.

  Chapter 2

  Milly

  COLE AND I WAIT for my turn to compete, standing well back from the arena and watching the girl there go through her test. She makes it look like the horse is doing the different movements by choice, effortlessly turning and stopping as she gets to each point marked by letters of the alphabet. This girl lets her horse dance and something beautiful happens with the horse and rider working together.

  “She’s good,” I say to Cole after a while. “That’s a half pass.” The horse is moving on the diagonal, moving sideways and forward at the same time. “See how the horse is bent slightly in the direction of the movement.”

  Cole nods but stays silent.

  This is awkward. I thought when I asked if Cole could drive me to this event, it’d give us a chance to talk. But it’s like he’s here just to do his job.

  Here I am talking to him about dressage when I want to know why he stopped calling or texting.

  I point at the letters around the arena. “The German cavalry used to have their dressage arenas in amongst the barracks and the letters are thought to be the letters above the doors of the huts.” It seems unlikely. The letters used in the arena look random. But it’s something to say.

  Cole shoves his free hand in his jeans pocket. I remember he used to do that when he was unsure about something.

  I put my helmet on. “She’s nearly finished, I need to warm up. One more rider and then it’s my turn.”

  He had both hands shoved deep in his pockets the first time he came to the door to ask me to go for a walk with him. That was how it all started. We went to the school ball together to win a bet, and we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. He seems to have got over that.

  Cole holds Wildfire for me, and I swing up onto her back.

  “You’ll be here when I finish, won’t you?” I ask him once the horse has settled.

  “Yeah, I’ll be here.”

  “There’s only one other rider, and I’ll have to be ready to ride again. If I’m not in the ring within forty-five seconds of the bell ringing, I get penalised.”

  Cole grins. “I know.”

  Okay, I’ve told him that a couple of times already.

  “Good luck.” He grins again, and I get that bowled over feeling I used to get when I was a kid, and I’d worked up the courage to ask him something. He’d been working for Dad for years before he noticed me.

  I ride over to the small group of other riders warming up and start walking Wildfire through a figure-eight movement.

  Today is an experiment to see if I want to get good enough to do this for the rest of my life. At Christmas, I went over to England to stay with Mum and her new partner Joe. Joe has stables like Dad does. But he stables and trains eventers. I guess that’s how he met Mum. She was competing, he was judging, and they fell in love. Now she lives in England with him and helps him bring horses on ready for sale.

  After Easter he’s organising a development squad of riders he’ll train to Olympic standard. They’ve kept a place on the squad for me. Mum wants me to bring Hunter and Wildfire over and train with the squad for the rest of the year.

  I’m not sure that’s what I want. Do I want to turn riding into a career? Am I good enough? I need to decide what I’m doing before the end of the month because Joe won’t be able to keep my place for longer than that.

  What should I do?

  Stay here and keep riding fun.

  Or do what Mum wants and go to England and hope the training will take me to the highest level.

  It’s a big decision.

  It’s nearly my turn. The girl before me has almost finished her ride.

  I see Cole go back to watching her. I watch too in case she’s any competition. She doesn’t look as good as the last girl. Doesn’t seem to be sitting up as well, and her horse is working against her.

  When the rider in the arena finishes the test, the bell rings, and the next girl and horse enter.

  I put Wildfire through a series of gentle exercises.

  When I finally asked Pippa, what was going on with Cole, she said he was with Amy, her flatmate. I want to know why he moved on when I thought we were good together.

  Then when I found out he was working for Dad fulltime, I couldn’t bear to run into him, so I stayed away for two years.

  I need to stop thinking about what happened and concentrate now. It’s my turn to ride. I ride Wildfire into the arena, salute the judges and start the test.

  When I’m finished, Cole and I wander back to the ute with the horses.

  “Did that go well?” Hunter follows Cole, he’s relaxed like he was in the arena.

  “I think so. It’s a pity Wildfire resisted, though it wasn’t for long enough to get me disqualified but I’ll have lost points.” I shouldn’t have let that happen. It’s what happens when your mind is somewhere else.

  “You won’t have lost any with Hunter though?”

  “No, he went well.” I reach over and stroke the horse’s nose. “Lovely Hunter.”

  “Morning tea?”

  I nod. “I’m famished. Can’t wait to see what Mrs Bennett has packed for us.”

  “What’s next?”

  “Cross country then show-jumping.” I look at my watch. “We’ve got time to eat.”

  And the day goes on. Both horses go clear in the cross country. And Cole and I only talk about horses and the events I’m entered in. Talk about distracting. So, I’m not doing as well as I should be.

  “Did you see that?” I swing out of Wildfire’s saddle. “She did the water jump. She didn’t even hesitate.”

  I hand Wildfire’s reins to Cole and take Hunter off him.

  “Yeah, I saw,” he says. “She just went straight down the drop into the water.”

  “I know.” I hug Wildfire’s neck. “She isn’t usually happy about water jumps.” At school, the instructors helped me work on that, but sometimes she still refuses to go through water. “And she splashed through the lake, hopped out and then went neatly over the narrow brush. Wasn’t she brilliant?” I’m trying to convince myself it’s all good, but I know it’s not. I should be winning and I’m down on points.

  “Yeah, great. You ready to go again?”

  I nod and swing up onto Hunter.

  “Wish me luck.”

  “Luck.” Cole grins, and I get that bowled over feeling again. We need to talk. I need to find out why he stopped ringing me.

  And Pippa says now Amy has gone, he’s just being Cole. Somehow, according to Pippa, he can move from girl to girl, keeping it casual, staying friends afterwards.

  That isn’t the way it worked with me. He left me heartbroken and bewildered.

  So, I’ve got some questions I want answered.

  But right now, I need to ride.

  I head off to the flags that mark the start of the course.

  Hunter jumps clean, but so much slower and less showy than Wildfire and just makes the time.

  Only the show-jumping to go.

  I trot back to Cole and slide off Hunter.

  He hands me the drink bottle. “Are you pleased with that?” he asks.

  I take a swig, then wipe my lips with my hand and nod. “He did his best. He’s reliable.”

  The show-jumping kicks off. Wildfire tips one rail.

  “That’s another four on her dressage score.” I’m disappointed. I switch from Wildfire to Hunter. “We’ll be way down the placings. Can you give me a boost?” I stand holding the reins. I’m starting to feel the effects of trying to ride two horses. There’s no time to relax between rides.

  And sexual tension!! And worrying that it’s just me feeling it!!

  Cole gives me a leg up. All professiona
l. Just the way he’d do it for one of the jockeys. “Are you getting tired?”

  I shrug as I gather up the reins. “A little.” More than a little. Usually when I mount, I leap up onto the horse.

  “Only one to go.” Cole looks worried. Concerned? I guess he’s been working with horses and riders long enough to know things go wrong when you’re tired.

  “Yes. See you soon.” I can feel him watching as I jump Hunter around the course. I concentrate and move my body with him as he goes over each jump. We’re working well together.

  Hunter jumps the course perfectly and finishes the competition on his dressage score.

  Cole leads Wildfire over. “He did well.”

  I slide off Hunter. “Flawless.”

  We wander back to the parking area. The way the scoring works I think Hunter will have done better than Wildfire, even if he isn’t as flashy. In the end, Hunter is third and Wildfire tenth. It is so frustrating.

  In that field, I should have won.

  Chapter 3

  Cole

  I DRIVE MILLY back to Awaiti, with the sun going down and the sky getting darker. It took a lot longer to pack up the gear and load the horses than I expected.

  Milly’s asleep, curled up in her seat, her cheek resting on one hand and the other gripping the seatbelt.

  Before we left the showgrounds, she changed out of her riding gear, and into the jeans, t-shirt and sneakers she usually wears. She took off the hairnet and brushed her hair out, now it ripples over her shoulders and arm like a blanket. She looks sweet curled up like that.

  We’re off the motorway, and the countryside flows past. Less traffic on this road but it’s narrow, with more bends. I change gear and feel the ute accelerate up the next hill.

  I thought she did well today. Third on Hunter and tenth with Wildfire. But she seems disappointed. I guess she likes to win as much as anyone does.

  I look in the rear vision mirror and check the float and can see the tops of the horse’s heads and their ears. They seem fine.

  Beside me, Milly moves a little in her sleep, like she’s trying to get more comfortable. Today was interesting, but just in a me helping her with her horses while she competed way.

  I glance at her again. Is she warm enough? Maybe I should pull over and get a rug out of the back to cover her. No, better to just head home so she can go to bed.

  I drive on through the gathering darkness, the vehicle tows the float easily, and everything is fine.

  Then suddenly, the ute lurches, swings to the side and we’re in the gravel, sliding and bouncing, with fence posts and power poles flashing past. I wrench on the steering wheel and try to straighten us up and get back on the road.

  Then an almighty crash comes from behind. I can’t control the direction we’re travelling, and we’re headed for a fence, there’s a loud dragging noise behind us and the screaming of tortured metal.

  I slam on the brakes and see Milly thrown violently sideways then forward. She just misses hitting the dashboard, but the seatbelt holds, and the airbag inflates. I’m slammed against the steering wheel, then against the door and back again.

  The ute slides up the side of the fence, hitting battens with a series of loud bangs like a piston hitting the cylinder. Then just before we crash into the strainer post, we come to a standstill.

  The screaming of the metal stops instantly, and an eerie silence settles in the cab, just the throbbing of the ute’s engine. I put it in neutral then hit the ignition button to turn it off.

  “What’s happened?” Beside me, Milly is desperately trying to push the airbag out of her way.

  “I don’t know. Are you all right?” I feel like I’ve been punched.

  She pushes at the airbag again. “I think so.” Then tries to swivel around to see out the back window. “Have we crashed?’ There’s a welt on her neck from the seat belt.

  “Don’t know.” But I know how wet sneakers in the dryer feel now. All of me hurts.

  She sits straighter. “The horses!” Then struggles frantically against the airbag. “How do you get rid of these things?”

  “I think you have to slash them, use your knife.”

  She gives me a look like that’s not funny.

  I unclip my seatbelt and then hers and turn to see if the float is still there. It is, but it’s leaning to one side.

  “Did we hit something?” Milly asks.

  I shrug. “Not sure.” Then try the door handle. “Suddenly there was this hell of a noise, and the ute was out of control.”

  The door on my side opens, but only a couple of centimetres then jams against the fence. No cars have passed us in the gloom, so no one stops to help. “Can you get out your side?”

  Milly nods, gives the airbag another shove, and opens her door. She struggles under the bag and slides out. While I slither out behind her, Milly studies the float in the dying light. It’s against the fence at a strange angle.

  I can hear the horses screaming and banging their hooves against the walls. When the ute slid sideways, the float would have been thrown around, and the horses too.

  “Oh, God.” Milly’s hand is over her mouth. “We have to get them out.”

  “Yeah.” That’s if the horses are still able to walk after what’s happened. No cars pass so at least we don’t have to worry about dealing with frightened animals in traffic.

  We go to the back of the vehicle.

  Milly squats down to look. “The tow bar has come free of the tow ball. All that’s holding it is the safety chain.”

  I squat down beside her and try and see what she’s seen.

  The screaming from the horses just keeps on and on.

  She’s right, the float’s come loose. Somehow the tow bar has leapt off the ball. The safety chain has worn down on one side where it must have scraped on the road, but it held.

  Jesus. If that had given up the float could have ended up anywhere. This could have been a thousand times worse.

  Then a loud thump comes from inside.

  Milly jumps back. “We have to get to them.”

  “Yeah, we’ll see if the back will open.” We both run down the side of the float.

  Nothing wrong with the side walls, the back looks all right too, but it’s all sitting at an angle. Will the tailgate still come down? And if it does, will it form a ramp the horses can use?

  Milly comes to the same conclusion as me. “That’s not going to work. Even if we get it down the horses won’t be able to walk on it. What are we going to do?”

  I shake my head. Beyond me. I go around to the driver’s side. The float is leaning hard against the fence, and I can see there are no wheels on this side anymore, just the broken ends of the axles polished a bright silver where they scraped along the road.

  A relief. No one can blame me for this. Somehow the wheels have broken off, this can’t be my fault.

  Milly looks horrified, then studies the back again. “Soon it’ll be so dark we won’t be able to see what we’re doing.”

  It’s pretty dark already, everything’s in shadow, and the glow of the sunset is just starting to disappear behind the hills.

  Dreadful sounds still come from inside the float. Screaming and kicking. We need to get the horses out, or at least find out what we’re dealing with. Maybe, I can use the jack to straighten the float up.

  No, the grass will be too soft, and the fence is in the way. I won’t be able to get at the frame underneath.

  Milly climbs up on the back corner of the horse float and starts tugging at the bolt that holds the tailgate closed. “Don’t just stand there, Cole. We need to do something.” She has another go at undoing the bolt. It moves a little bit. Creaking.

  “I’ll get the other side.” The float hasn’t moved under her weight, so at least it’s stable. I climb up. My chest hurts. It feels like I’ll have a bruise the size and shape of the moon by the morning, and the welt on Milly’s neck looks even redder.

  Milly doesn’t even seem to notice it in her desper
ate efforts to get to the horses.

  The float shakes a bit with my weight, but it doesn’t feel like it’ll fall over.

  I slide the other bolt out. “If we lower the back carefully, we’ll be able to see if we need to support it. Open your side the rest of the way, then hop down and move back so you don’t get caught between the ramp and the fence.”

  Milly nods, wrenches the bolt the last few millimetres so it’s open, then jumps to the down and moves away.

  I carefully wind the tailgate and lower it to the ground. Only one corner hits the gravel, the rest of the ramp is up in the air. No way the horses are going to use it. In the gloom inside I can see a tangle of flailing legs and hear the nightmarish screams.

  “How badly are they hurt?” Milly stays still on the side of the road as if she can’t bear to see for herself.

  “I can’t tell yet.” Even if I can get the horses to stand. They aren’t going to be able to walk on the sloping floor or down the ramp with it on a lean.

  Finally, Milly comes over and stands beside me. She peers inside. The screaming has quietened. Now it’s more a whimper.

  “What are we going to do?”

  Beyond me. I look over at the paddock and see a house with lights on. They might have a tractor that could straighten the float up.

  “I’ll go over there and see if someone can help us. If we put something under the end of the axles, we might be able to walk the horses out.”

  Milly’s dad needs to know about this too. He isn’t going to be impressed. “Ring Tom. Tell him what’s happened.”

  Chapter 4

  Milly

  I HAUL MY PHONE out of my pocket. While I wait for Dad to pick up, I look at the horses again, then at Cole.

  “I’d rather not be here on my own.” Wimpy of me I know but I can’t bear to be alone in the dark, with the horses making those noises. “Wait and see what Dad has to say.”

  Cole nods, then I hear Dad’s voice.