Maddie’s Dream Page 10

  After about an hour, Maddie and the rest of the riders reached a public park. It felt good to get out of the sun into the shade of the trees. They followed a winding dirt trail downhill, with the sound of rushing water growing louder with every step.

  When they finally came within sight of the creek, Maddie gasped. “Wow, it’s gorgeous!” she exclaimed.

  “I know, right?” Vic grinned as she stopped her pony beside Cloudy. “Looks nice and cool, too.”

  Ms. Emerson let out a sharp whistle. “All right, everyone!” she called. “There are only two rules to remember before you go in the water. First, remove your saddles and set them over there.” She waved toward some picnic tables on the bank. “Second, keep your helmets on at all times.” She grinned. “The rest of your wardrobe is up to you. Now go have fun!”

  Maddie cheered along with the others. She dismounted quickly, pulling off Cloudy’s saddle. Then she stripped down to her swimsuit and climbed back on, bareback and barefoot, with the help of one of the picnic tables.

  “Ready to cool off, Cloudy?” she said. “Let’s go for a swim!”

  She rode the pony into the creek. It was shallow along the edge, and Cloudy stopped as soon as her front feet were in the water, lowering her head for a nice long drink.

  When she finished, Maddie kicked her on, aiming for the deeper water in the middle. Several horses and ponies were already out there, splashing around happily.

  “Yipes!” Maddie yelped as Cloudy waded deep enough for her rider’s legs to hit the water. “It’s cold!”

  Vic was right behind her on her pony. “I know. It feels great!” she said with a laugh.

  “I hope that girl riding Peanut doesn’t go too deep,” Val said. “That pony is so short, he’ll probably have to actually swim!”

  “Do you have to worry about everything?” Vic asked her sister with a grin. “Because I’ll give you something to worry about!” Leaning over, she tried to push Val off her pony into the water.

  Val squawked and grabbed her pony’s mane, clinging tightly with her legs. Her pony seemed to think she was supposed to go faster and leaped forward into the deepest part of the water.

  Vic shouted with laughter as Val shrieked. “They say it doesn’t feel as cold if you just jump right in!” Vic called.

  Maddie was laughing too. “Oh yeah? Let’s see how you like it!” She leaned over and gave Vic a shove. Vic was laughing so hard she didn’t have a chance—she tipped right off her pony into the water.

  “Oh, you’ll pay for that, Martinez!” she sputtered as she came up for air. Swimming around her pony, she grabbed Maddie’s ankle.

  “Hey!” Maddie protested, trying to pull away.

  But Vic gave a sharp yank. Maddie held on as tightly as she could, but Cloudy’s back was slippery and she felt herself sliding . . . sliding . . .

  SPLASH!

  The water closed over her head, cool and refreshing. Maddie was grinning when she emerged. Cloudy’s reins were still in her hand, and she followed them back to her pony’s side.

  “Good girl, Cloudy—stand still,” she said, scrambling back onto the pony’s back. Vic was already back on her pony as well, though Val seemed content to paddle around in the water and blow bubbles in front of her pony.

  Vic grinned at Maddie, pushing back a wet strand of hair that had escaped from under her helmet. “Race you to the other side?”

  “You’re on!” Maddie grinned, giving Cloudy a squeeze with her legs. “Come on, girl! You’re a Chincoteague pony—you’d better not let them beat us at a swimming race!”

  After an hour or so, Ms. Emerson called everyone out of the water. Once the horses and ponies were grazing in a fenced meadow near the creek, the riders all gathered around the picnic tables. An adult boarder’s husband had brought over the picnic lunch in his car and set it up while everyone was swimming. There was a big platter of hot dogs, along with various cold salads, chips, rolls, cookies, and all kinds of other food.

  “Wow, everything looks great!” Vic exclaimed as she piled a paper plate with potato salad and chocolate chip cookies.

  “Yeah.” Maddie grabbed a roll. “Swimming always makes me hungry.”

  Val popped a baby carrot into her mouth. “Let’s not sit at the table,” she said. “I saw a good spot over this way. . . .”

  She led them to a dappled clearing filled with wild-flowers and a view of the area where their ponies were grazing. “Perfect!” Vic exclaimed.

  Maddie just nodded, her eyes trained on Cloudy. The mare’s sleek, damp palomino coat gleamed in the sun, and her mane and tail still dripped with moisture. For a second Maddie felt as if she’d been whisked off to the opposite coast and was looking at a wild pony that had just stepped out of the deep, chilly waters of the Assateague Channel.

  Then she blinked, and it was just Cloudy again—her Cloudy, the best pony ever.

  “Hey,” Vic said, poking her in the arm. “So did you talk to Ms. Emerson about your plan?”

  Maddie glanced around to make sure nobody else was close enough to hear. “Um, sort of. She said she can’t sell her to me unless I talk to my parents first.”

  Val looked worried. “Okay. What do you think they’ll say?”

  “They’ll probably be all over it.” Vic licked some mustard off her finger. “I mean, they know how special Cloudy is. They won’t want her to leave either, right?”

  Maddie smiled weakly. “I guess. But listen, can we talk about this later? I—I kind of just want to focus on right now, if you know what I mean.”

  “Sure,” Vic said, trading a slightly confused look with Val. “I guess.”

  When everyone had finished eating, the horses and ponies were almost dry. Maddie and the rest of the riders saddled up, mounted, and headed for home. By the time they climbed the hill behind the arena, Maddie’s leg muscles were tired, her soggy ponytail was sticking to her back, and she was pretty sure her arms were sunburned.

  But she was feeling good. The Snack & Swim had been just as much fun as she’d expected. Cloudy had been perfect, leading the other pony past that barking dog, wading right into the creek, and basically not putting a hoof wrong the entire ride. Then again, Maddie wouldn’t have expected anything less.

  “You really are a rock star, aren’t you?” she murmured, giving Cloudy a pat as they crested the hill and came within sight of the arena.

  Then Maddie froze as she saw a tall, lean figure standing right outside the barn. It was Mr. Richardson. And he was staring right at Cloudy.

  CHAPTER

  12

  “WHAT’S HE DOING HERE?” VIC Hissed, riding up beside Maddie.

  “I don’t know, but he looks kind of impatient,” Val said.

  Maddie couldn’t say a word. She was tempted to turn Cloudy around and gallop back down the trail, hiding her away somewhere until the Richardsons gave up their crazy idea about buying her.

  But she knew that wouldn’t work. If Mr. Richardson was here to finalize the sale, there was nothing she could do about it. It was too late. All her plans had failed, and she was going to lose Cloudy. She dug her fingers into the mare’s mane, tangling the silky pale hair around her hand, feeling as if her heart might break.

  “Come on, Cloudy,” she choked out, sliding down from the saddle. “I’d better get you untacked and cleaned up.”

  “Maddie . . . ,” Val began.

  Maddie didn’t respond except to shake her head. She couldn’t say another word, or she might totally lose it.

  The twins seemed to understand, letting her hurry off without them. Maddie was glad. She didn’t want to be with anyone right now—except Cloudy.

  Back in Cloudy’s stall, Maddie stripped off the saddle and bridle and dumped them in the aisle right outside. Ms. Emerson would be annoyed if she noticed the tack sitting on the floor, but Maddie didn’t care. She wanted to spend every second she could with Cloudy—grooming her, giving her treats, scratching all her itchy spots, and thanking her for being so amazing for the past yea
r and a half.

  About fifteen minutes later, Maddie heard footsteps stop outside the stall. She glanced up as Ms. Emerson poked her head in over the half door.

  “What is it?” Maddie snapped. She knew she sounded rude, but she couldn’t help it. It was too soon! Couldn’t she have more time? Even ten minutes—five?

  Ms. Emerson had a strange expression on her face. “Maddie,” she said. “I just had a very interesting talk with Mr. Richardson.” She took a deep breath. “As it happens, the family isn’t interested in buying Cloudy after all.”

  Maddie blinked, not sure she’d heard her right. “What?” she cried so loudly that Cloudy flinched and took a step away from her.

  “That’s right. It seems the Richardsons got a last-minute invitation from some family friends to go skiing in the mountains yesterday. That’s why they didn’t show up for their riding lesson.” The barn owner shrugged. “And after a day on the slopes, apparently the whole family is hooked. They’ve decided to focus their time and funds on getting involved in that sport right now.”

  “Whoa!” Maddie just stood there, trying to take in what the barn owner was telling her. Part of her wanted to jump around and scream with joy. Cloudy was staying!

  But another part didn’t dare to celebrate quite yet. Amber might be willing to give up riding for skiing, and the rest of the family too. But Filly Richardson was definitely, genuinely, hopelessly horse crazy—Maddie could tell, since she was exactly the same way herself. No, Filly wasn’t likely to give up her pony dreams permanently. And the Richardsons were pretty flaky—what if they got tired of skiing after a few weeks or months and came around, wanting to buy Cloudy again?

  Ms. Emerson was watching Maddie closely. “You don’t have to worry, Maddie,” she said. “The truth is, I wasn’t going to sell Cloudy back to the Richardsons regardless.”

  “What?” Maddie blinked, not getting it. What had all the fuss been about over the past week? “But I thought—”

  “I didn’t really want to sell Cloudy at all—she’s a valuable part of the barn and would be difficult to replace.” Ms. Emerson folded her arms and leaned on the stall’s half door. “Plus, given the Richardsons’ past with the mare, I had my doubts all along, to say the least. But they begged me to consider their offer, so I figured I’d give them a chance to prove they’d learned their lesson and intended to become more responsible horse owners this time around.” She grimaced. “It didn’t take me long to realize that wasn’t the case.”

  “Yeah.” Maddie thought back to the careless way Amber had acted around Cloudy—as if she already knew everything there was to know about ponies and riding.

  The barn owner nodded. “I probably should have told them it wasn’t going to work out as soon as I figured it out. I guess I was just hoping that spending some time here, taking a few lessons, might make them think twice about rushing out to buy another green horse or pony—or, who knows, maybe even flying back out to Chincoteague next month for the pony auction.”

  For a moment, Maddie was too stunned to speak. Then a big grin spread across her face. “I never would’ve guessed you were such a sneak!” she exclaimed. Then, seeing Ms. Emerson raise an eyebrow, she quickly added, “Um, I mean that as a compliment, okay?”

  “Hmm.” Ms. Emerson pursed her lips. “Well, are you just going to stand there, grinning like a loon? Or are you going to actually groom that poor filthy pony?” She waved a hand at Cloudy. “There’s more to being a horsewoman than just riding, you know.”

  Maddie’s grin widened, threatening to split her face in two. “Yes, ma’am.” She saluted crisply, just as she’d seen her mother do a zillion times. “I’m on it, ma’am.”

  “That’s more like it.” Ms. Emerson’s expression remained stern, but her eyes twinkled. “I’ll leave you to it, then.”

  As the barn owner hurried off, Maddie flung her arms around Cloudy’s neck. “Did you hear that, girl?” she exclaimed. “You’re staying!”

  She was so happy and relieved she could barely stand it. Her mind raced, imagining all the fun she was going to have this summer—and beyond—with the best pony ever to swim the Assateague Channel.

  Maddie’s laptop chimed. She pulled it closer on the bed, peering at the screen. A new post had just appeared.

  [HALEY] I’m here! Nina just called and ordered me to get online. What’s going on?

  [NINA] Took u long enough!!! Maddie won’t tell us what happened on her ride today until we’re all here.

  [BROOKE] Ya—and we’ve been dying of curiosity! So spill it already, M! Was the S&S amazing?

  Maddie smiled and opened a new text box. Nina and Brooke had been trying to convince her to tell them about her day ever since she’d logged on fifteen minutes earlier. But she wanted them all together when she gave them the news.

  [MADDIE] The ride was great. I’ll tell u all about it in a sec. But first, big news—Cloudy’s staying!

  [NINA] Wait, WUT?!?!?!?!?!?

  [HALEY] OMG, r u serious?

  [BROOKE] What happened?????

  Maddie typed fast, giving them the basic story. The next few entries from her friends were a jumble of exclamations of joy, with plenty of careless typos and even more exclamation points.

  Finally the excitement died down a little. Then a new post popped up.

  [BROOKE] Wait, I almost forgot—what happened w/the soccer thing? If u make the travel team, won’t u have to stop riding for a while?

  [MADDIE] O right, I almost forgot to tell u guys that part. I talked to my parents about it as soon as I got home from the barn.

  [HALEY] What did u tell them?

  [MADDIE] I said I didn’t want to give up riding to do the C. League. I love soccer, and I still want to play on my reg. team. But I love riding even more. I don’t want to give it up, even for 1 summer.

  [NINA] Good for u! What did they say?

  Maddie smiled, still surprised by her parents’ reaction. That was at least partly thanks to her Pony Post friends—she’d applied some of the tips they’d given her for talking to Ms. Emerson to the conversation with her parents. And it had worked. Her parents had been impressed with the grown-up way Maddie presented her arguments. They were disappointed, of course—they still thought playing for the Cascade League would be a good opportunity. But they’d agreed that it should be Maddie’s choice and had agreed to call the league to withdraw her name from consideration.

  [MADDIE] They said it was OK. They want me to be happy.

  [NINA] And we all know Cloudy makes u happy!

  [BROOKE] Ya. Chinc. ponies are amazing!

  [HALEY] Definitely!

  Maddie smiled, thinking again about all the fun times she had to look forward to with Cloudy.

  [MADDIE] Long live Chincoteague ponies!

  Glossary

  Chincoteague pony: A breed of pony found on Assateague Island, which lies off the coasts of Maryland and Virginia. Chincoteague ponies are sometimes referred to as wild horses, but are more properly called “feral” since they are not native to the island but were brought there by humans sometime many years past. There are several theories about how this might have happened, including the one told in the classic novel Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry. That novel also details the world-famous pony swim and auction that still take place in the town of Chincoteague to this day.

  aids: The cues given by a rider to a horse or pony, such as squeezing with the legs to ask for more speed or pulling on the reins to request the animal to slow or halt. Both horses and riders must be taught what these aids mean.

  breeches: Pants specially designed for horseback riding. They come in a variety of styles but often have patches of leather or other material to protect the rider’s legs.

  buckskin: A color of horse or pony. Buckskins have a coat that is light brown, yellowish, tan, or gold, with black legs, mane, and tail.

  chestnut: This term has two horse-related meanings: (1) a horse color; chestnuts can be various shades of red, with manes and t
ails of the same or lighter hue and no black points; (2) the callous-like spots on the inside of a horse’s front legs, believed to be a vestigial toe.

  crossrail: A type of jump with two poles that cross in the middle to form an X shape. Crossrails are usually very low, with a clear midpoint, and thus often used for beginners (riders and horses alike) who are first learning to jump.

  dressage: A sport in which horse and rider perform a series of movements in the ring, known as “tests.” Dressage is one of the three equestrian disciplines seen in the summer Olympic Games along with show jumping and eventing.

  farrier: Also known as a horseshoer or blacksmith, a farrier takes care of horses’ feet by trimming them on a regular basis (they are always growing, just like human fingernails) and applying shoes if needed.

  foal: A baby horse or pony.

  gelding: A neutered male horse or pony.

  girth: The strap that goes around a horse or pony’s barrel—rib cage area—to hold a saddle in place. (Western riders call this piece of tack a “cinch.”)

  lunge line (or longe line): A long rope used to exercise and train horses and ponies from the ground. The person holding the lunge line stands still while the animal moves around him or her in a circle. A horse or pony can also be lunged/longed with a rider on it.

  mare: An adult female horse or pony. (A young female is called a “filly.”)

  palomino: A color of horse or pony. Palominos have a cream, gold, or yellowish coat with a white mane and tail.

  pinto: A type of horse coloring consisting of spots of white and a second color. Pintos are common in the Chincoteague pony breed—Misty was a palomino pinto.

  tack: The equipment used in riding or driving a horse or pony, such as a saddle, bridle, harness, or reins. Putting this equipment on a horse or pony is known as “tacking up,” and taking it off is “untacking.”

  Thoroughbred: A breed of horse used in horse racing, as well as in almost every other riding sport and discipline.

  weanling: A young horse or pony that has recently been separated from its mother. The horse or pony will typically be referred to as a weanling until it turns a year old, at which time it will be called a yearling.