Dream On (Dare to Dream Book 2), page 28
“Yeah, it’s looking a bit sorry for itself.”
“Back to the Doc tomorrow for another cast?” he teased, but Van flexed her fingers and shook her head.
“Nah, it’s better this way. It’ll heal. Don’t worry about me.”
“I can’t help it.” Mike scratched the back of his neck nervously. “Hey, I’m sorry for being a jerk before.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Are you referring to a specific incident, or is this just a general apology?” she teased, but Mike looked sincere.
“I shouldn’t have tried to talk you out of leaving. I’m sorry.”
Van met his eyes squarely. “Thanks, I appreciate that.” She leaned back against the headrest and chewed the inside of her cheek. “I wish you were coming with me.”
“Me too.”
“You could, you know,” she said, wondering why she hadn’t thought of it before. “I’m sure Leo could hook you up with a job, they’d probably be happy to hire a good equine vet, and the money would surely be way…” She broke off as she noticed that Mike was shaking his head.
“I wish I could.”
“You can.”
He hesitated. “I don’t want to. I like it here. But you should go. See the world, make sure that this is where you really want to be. And we’ll see each other when you get back.”
Van nodded slowly. “I’ll call you.”
“You’d better.”
There seemed to be nothing left to say, so she started to get out of the car before turning back to him, half in and half out of his vehicle as she gave him a questioning look.
“So…is this what they call closure?”
Mike shrugged. “I don’t know. Does it feel closed to you?”
Van thought for a moment. “No. I don’t know. Maybe there are some doors that never really close.”
“I hope you’re right.” Mike smiled at her as he turned the ignition key, and the ute’s engine rumbled back into life. “I guess someday we’ll find out.”
The front door was unlocked, and Van latched it behind her before reaching over to turn out the light in the living room. Her hand was on the switch when she realised that the room wasn’t empty. Kris was sitting on the couch with her back to the door, and Van walked into the room, glancing at the clock on the wall that confirmed it was now well past midnight.
“What are you still doing up?” she asked curiously. Kris turned her head, and Van was struck by her sister’s red eyes and tear-streaked cheeks. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
And she sank down on the couch next to her, listening in astonishment as Kris haltingly explained what had happened that evening.
“I just don’t get it,” Kris finished. “Why didn’t he tell me?”
“I don’t know.”
“He has a daughter, and he didn’t say anything. All this time. It was like she didn’t exist…” She shook her head. “I thought I knew him.”
“We all did,” Van said. Kris shot her a look, and she clarified. “Well obviously you more than me or Marley, but still.” Kris had pulled her feet up underneath her and wrapped her arms across her stomach, and her face was pale. Van looked at her in concern.
“Have you eaten dinner?” Kris shook her head, and Van stood up. “I’ll make you something.”
“No thanks.”
“You have to eat.”
Kris looked sceptical. “You’re planning on making something edible?”
“Very funny. Come on, I do a mean beans on toast.” Van grabbed Kris’s hand and pulled her into the kitchen behind her. “Now sit down while I find the tin opener.”
Kris obediently took a seat at the table and watched her sister rummage around. “It’s in the next drawer down.”
“I knew that.” Van wrinkled her nose, then opened the oven door and revealed a tray of blackened biscuits. She glanced at Kris, who shrugged.
“I forgot about them.”
“Clearly. At least you didn’t burn the house down.” She got to work with the tin opener, and several minutes later, proudly dumped a plate of food in front of her sister. “Eat up.”
“Thanks.” Kris picked up her fork and poked at the meal as Van sat down opposite and tucked into her own serving, failing to notice or care that the beans were barely lukewarm and the toast was half-burnt underneath them.
“So are we going to sell all his stuff, or burn it?”
Kris smiled weakly. “I guess it depends if he plans on coming back for it.”
“Yeah, well. I’m not sure what he wants comes into play right now,” Van replied. She shovelled in another mouthful of beans as Kris picked idly at hers, fighting the waves of nausea that kept threatening her. “I suppose we could always rent out his room again.”
“I guess.” Kris tried to lighten her mood. “Yours too. I could run a veritable boarding house.”
Van frowned. “You can’t rent out my room.”
“You won’t be in it.”
“Like hell I won’t.”
Kris stared at her sister, then shook her head. “You have to go.”
“No I don’t. Not if you need me here,” Van insisted. “He was supposed to cover for me while I was away, doing the trims and looking after the place, but that plan’s all shot to hell now.” She set down her fork and looked at Kris across the table. “How are you going to run this place without someone to help you? Unless you let Marley drop out of school, which I know you won’t, and you shouldn’t because God knows she’s the only one of us with any brains. But you can’t run the farm on your own, you know it and I know it, so quit pretending and let’s face the facts.”
As she spoke, Van tried to mask the bitterness in her voice, unwilling to dump her resentment onto Kris. It wasn’t her fault that things had turned out this way, but for some reason that only the universe knew, bad things just kept happening to them. Everything happens for a reason. Van scowled at the words as she recalled them, but she couldn’t stop the rest of the conversation springing to mind. Maybe something you weren’t expecting. Maybe even something good.
Maybe something worse, she thought angrily, but Kris’s voice snapped her out of it.
“We’ll manage somehow. I’m not letting you stay here.” Van raised an eyebrow, but Kris was determined. “You can’t live your life for other people.”
“You do.”
Yeah, and look where that got me. “You’re not me,” she replied. “You’ve got a chance to do something I can only dream about now. It would be an insult to both of us if you gave it up to stay here and feed me beans.” She looked at the food again and her stomach churned. She stood up quickly, knocking her chair over as she made a wild dash from the room.
Van called after her. “Oh come on, my cooking’s not that bad!”
* * *
It was a long drive from their farm in the Coromandel down to Hawke’s Bay, but it was well worth the effort. New Zealand’s Horse of the Year Show was the biggest show in the Southern hemisphere, featuring everything from dressage to eventing, mounted games to carriage driving, miniatures to Clydesdales, show hunter, endurance - and, of course, show jumping. The show boasted four show jumping rings which culminated in the big time, the Premier Arena in front of the grandstand. All of the biggest classes were held there, including the Pony of the Year, the biggest date on the Pony Grand Prix calendar. It was the class that everyone on the circuit wanted to win. And last year, that winner had been Marley.
Not this time, she thought to herself as she stuffed more hay into Maggie’s haynet. They had managed to arrange covered yards this year, and were parked right next to them, so she could sit on the ramp of their truck and keep a close watch on her ponies. After what had happened to Cruise last year, getting attacked in his yard overnight, they hadn’t wanted to take any chances.
Marley sighed and reached out to stroke the pony’s neck as she ate her hay. Maggie flattened her ears at Marley and snarled up her nostrils.
“Fine, I’ll leave you alone,” Marley muttered to the mare. “But you’d better get ready to be fussed over, because Stacey gets here soon, and you’ll never know a moment’s peace once she’s arrived.”
Maggie yanked a clump of hay out of her net and chewed it, ignoring Marley’s warning. She went back to the truck with thoughts of Maggie swirling in her head, wishing she could just take her home and keep her away from Stacey forever. No choice, she reminded herself yet again as she rummaged through her bag and found her last clean pair of jeans. Not your pony. But still she wondered whether she’d done the right thing. If there was anything she might have done differently. If she had gone too fast with her, or been too easy on her, or just didn’t understand her at all. And Stacey wouldn’t either. Stacey wanted to win, to be exceptional, and much admired by everyone. But Maggie, Marley had come to realise, just wanted to be left alone.
Marley was just buttoning her jeans when there was a knock at the side door, and then it was flung open and Stacey’s red hair appeared through it.
“Hi Marley! Oh sorry!” she gasped, half-laughing. “I should’ve waited, I didn’t realise you were getting changed.” Stacey’s apology hadn’t stopped her from climbing the steps into the truck. Her flaming red hair was loose around her shoulders and she was grinning from ear to ear. “It’s so good to see you! I have a surprise for you. Come see!”
Stacey leapt back out of the truck again, and Marley followed curiously, wondering what Stacey had in store for her. She was just starting to daydream about being handed a ridiculously extravagant gift as thanks for her work with Maggie when she came face-to-face with a tall blonde girl. The girl wore her hair in a long braid down her back, her face was carefully made up, and her expression serious. She looked familiar, but Marley couldn’t work out where she knew her from until Stacey introduced her.
“This is my cousin who we bought Majestic from! Lottie, this is Marley who’s been riding her.”
Marley felt sick as the blonde girl held out a slender, manicured hand to her. Numbly she shook it, only half-listening as Stacey prattled on about Lottie and her family being over in Australia looking for potential new horses to buy, and hopping across the ditch to see their former pony compete at HOY.
Gordon strode up behind his daughter as she spoke, with another taller, broader version of himself right behind. That must be Lottie’s father, Marley thought, and her suspicions were quickly confirmed as the man slapped a hand down on Lottie’s shoulder and beamed at Marley.
“Hello, you must be the little girl who’s been riding Majestic while Stacey’s been recovering.” He shot a slightly disparaging look at Stacey as he spoke, and the red-headed girl looked at the ground, blushing slightly.
“I hear you’ve done wonders with her,” the man continued. “Riding without a bit and all. When Stacey told us that, we knew we had to come and see for ourselves.” He looked around vaguely. “Where is the little monster? Has she destroyed her stable yet? Always used to dig up her bedding something terrible, didn’t she Lottie?”
He laughed as he spoke, seeing Maggie’s neuroses as inconsequential. Something to joke about instead of worry over, and Marley knew that she didn’t want this brash man anywhere near the anxious mare. But it was too late. Stacey had seen her pony, and the whole family was marching towards her yard. Marley followed numbly, noticing Maggie’s reaction when she heard her old owner’s voice. Her head flew up and her eyes rolled, and she backed across the floor of her yard nervously. And as much as Marley wanted to run away from these people, she couldn’t leave Maggie alone with them. Stepping past them all, she ducked under the railing and went to the pony’s head, stroking her neck reassuringly. Maggie nudged her hip anxiously, then turned back to look at the people crowding the front of her yard.
“Bring her over here so we can give her a pat,” Stacey’s uncle insisted. “Lottie will be dying to give her a cuddle, aren’t you love?”
Lottie just stood there, looking at Maggie as impersonally as if she was a piece of furniture. Marley made a quick decision, and untied the leadrope that was tied across the front of Maggie’s yard.
“I have to take her out to stretch her legs,” she told them, clipping the lead onto Maggie’s halter and leading her to the gate. The pony surged through behind her, clipping the back of Marley’s heel hard. It hurt, but she kept walking, forcing herself not to limp, refusing to look back.
Classes started the next day and Marley was kept busy with her other ponies, allowing her to avoid Stacey and her family entourage. Maggie was beside herself and spent hours each day digging trenches in her yard, so Marley dedicated every spare minute to taking her out for walks. One of those walks ended in disaster when a slamming truck door spooked the pony, and she took off across the show grounds at a gallop. It took twenty minutes for Marley to catch up with her, and another two hours of quiet walking before she was calm enough to put back in her yard. As soon as she was shut in, she started pacing up and down and pawing at her bedding, and Marley put her head in her hands and closed her eyes, unable to bear it.
“You okay?”
Marley nodded, recognising Kris’s voice. “I’m fine. But Maggie doesn’t want to be here.”
Kris put her arm around Marley’s shoulders. “I know. I’m sorry. You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, why?”
Kris shrugged. “You’ve been out of sorts since we got here. Usually you’re running around with all your friends and I never see you, but you’ve barely left our truck unless you’re riding. And I know for a fact that playing cards with Van isn’t worth staying in for.”
“She cheats, all the time!”
“I know. She’s the worst.”
Marley sighed. “I guess I’m just not in the mood for partying.”
“You and me both.”
Marley returned her sister’s hug with increased vigour, clenching her jaw tight as she thought about Seamus. They hadn’t heard anything from him since he left. Van was constantly grumbling about all of the half-finished work that he’d left behind, and all the things he’d promised to do that he’d walked out on. Marley had been sure at first that he’d come back, or at least call and explain himself, but it had been over a week now with no contact from him at all. Kris was keeping her chin up, as always, but it had taken a toll on her, and she’d lost her appetite and was even quieter than usual. It was the pain he’d caused her sister that made Marley angry with him. How dare he do that to her?
Kris patted her shoulder, bringing her back to the moment. “There’s nothing you can do for her right now.” Marley blinked, then realised she was talking about the pony. “Come have something to eat.”
“As long as Van’s not cooking.”
“Definitely not. The last thing any of us needs right now is food poisoning.”
CHAPTER 17
Marley ran a hand down Maggie’s hard neck, feeling the mare’s tension thrumming through her. She was tense as a tightened bowstring, and ready to snap at any moment. She pressed the mare into a trot, guiding her across the busy warm-up arena, and Maggie plunged forward in raking strides, her head held high as she spooked left and right at anything that moved.
“Easy girl,” Marley soothed her. She couldn’t spare a hand from the reins to give the mare a reassuring rub, so she tried to keep her body as relaxed and soft as possible. It wasn’t easy, with Maggie pulling hard against her and leaping forward away from her leg. Marley saw Kris standing at the railing and watching her, and brought Maggie back to a walk, glad of an excuse to stop for a moment and rest her aching arms.
“She’s coiled tighter than a spring,” Marley told her sister anxiously. “I don’t know what she’s going to do when she gets out there.”
Kris simply raised an eyebrow and glanced sideways at the people standing next to her, and Marley belatedly realised that Stacey was there, beaming at her.
“She’s looking super,” Stacey gushed, reaching over the railing to try and pat Maggie. The mare flinched away from Stacey’s touch, and Marley stroked her neck gently. But it was like trying to reassure a block of wood – she got no response. Maggie had turned back into the nervous, wilful pony she’d been when Marley had first taken her on, as though none of the past few months had happened at all. Marley felt a sinking sensation in her stomach as Lottie finally spoke in refined accents.
“She’s certainly looking fit, but I don’t know how you’re going to hold her in that hackamore.” Her tone lingered somewhere between good-natured and mocking, and Marley couldn’t quite work out which one it was.
“She’ll be okay,” Marley said. “She’s jumped super in it for the past few weeks.”
A man who had to be Lottie’s father scoffed. “Maybe at your smaller shows, but this pony knows all about atmosphere. She was always a proper handful at the bigger events, wasn’t she Lottie?” he said. “Almost had you off at European Pony Finals, but you stuck on and gave her a good reminder who was in charge.” He emphasised the words European and Finals, trying to catch the attention of bystanders, wanting to impress them. “I see you’re not carrying a stick,” he added. “You’ll need one to get her going out there, you’d better borrow one from someone.”
Marley shook her head. “I’m not interested in beating ponies into submission, thanks.”
The man’s colour deepened and he opened his mouth to respond when Van interjected.
“Marley, you’re only two away and you haven’t even cantered her yet. Get moving.”
Marley willingly spun the mare around and sent her straight into a canter, a decision she quickly regretted as Maggie took full advantage of her rider’s encouragement towards forward motion and raced away from her. By the time Marley had the mare back under control, the gate steward was calling her to the chute that led down to the main arena.
Marley looked over at Kris in a panic. “I haven’t even jumped her yet!”
“Hurry up then,” her sister said. She leaned on the railing and watched Marley send Maggie towards the practice fence, digging her fingernails into the wooden post nervously, wondering what was about to happen.
