Leap of Faith Page 3

  I nodded in agreement. Showjumping may not be quite as graceful as dressage, but it sure did get the adrenaline pumping. There was nothing like leaping over obstacles with your horse, encouraging one another to be brave with each leap.

  Suddenly, a girl from further up the long table called out, ‘Hey, Jenna! The chocolate spread is finished in the common room and it’s your turn!’

  ‘Argh! Really? I thought I just did it?’ Jenna yelled back.

  ‘Nope, it’s definitely you!’ the other girl laughed.

  I shook my head in confusion.

  ‘We steal a jar of the chocolate spread, which is meant for breakfast toast, and keep it in the common room to eat!’ laughed Jenna. ‘I think it’s my turn to risk my life to get a new jar.’

  ‘Risk your life?’ I asked. ‘Isn’t that a bit dramatic?’

  ‘Not if you’ve met the head chef, Pierre! He’s so cranky and if he caught us stealing the jar, we’d be dead meat!’

  My eyes widened in alarm.

  ‘Watch the pro …’ said Jenna as she slowly rose to her feet.

  Jenna stalked up to the kitchen counter where the staff were preparing some fruit salad for dessert. Jenna shot us a cheeky smile as we all watched her from the tables. Walking up to the end of the serving counter, Jenna extended her arm and quickly knocked over the entire tray of dessert spoons, sending them crashing to the ground.

  Suddenly, a man came storming out of the kitchen in his white chef’s hat, yelling what I can only guess were swear words in French. The staff bustled about, picking up the spoons and apologising while Jenna slipped behind the counter, into the kitchen.

  Once all the spoons had been gathered up, Pierre turned around in a huff and stormed back into the kitchen.

  ‘Oh no! Jenna’s still in there!’ I said, worried that she was about to meet the red-faced Pierre head-on. We all waited, holding our breath for what seemed like an eternity.

  ‘Here I am!’ Jenna chirped from beside me.

  ‘How did you get out?’ I asked incredulously.

  ‘Back door of the kitchen. And then I just came into the dining hall through the front door. But here’s the best bit …’

  Jenna pulled out a huge jar of chocolate spread from under her t-shirt. ‘Ta-da!’

  All the girls cheered and laughed.

  ‘Chocolate feast in the common room, tonight!’ yelled Jenna in her strong American accent. ‘Bring your spoons, gals!’

  The next few days at the Academy were a whirlwind. School started and I was assigned all my classes. It was pretty scary trying to find my way around the huge school, but Jenna helped me out. Some days were full school days and others were a combination of school lessons and sports training. Honey had arrived at the Academy on my second day and was settling into the stables. Having her here was awesome – I finally felt complete – like a piece of home had come to the Academy with me. Each morning and afternoon Jenna, Rosie, Alicia and I would go down to the stables and see our horses. We had stable cleaning duties and were fully responsible for keeping our own horses clean and brushed. We were also responsible for keeping our horses fit. Most days we would go down to the stables in the morning and do treadmill walking with them. I’d taken Honey out for a few casual rides around the paddocks and the surrounding land and also took her trotting up the hills for exercise. The stables were right down the bottom of the school and there was a huge amount of free land to roam with your horse. There was also a big indoor equestrian arena as well as a couple of outdoor arenas that were used for jumping and dressage. The facilities were so much better than those at my equestrian club back home and I couldn’t wait to get Honey on the jumping course. So far, I hadn’t done any jumping with Honey at the Academy, as we only did jumping training twice a week. The rest of the training was fitness and flat work, as we couldn’t risk injuring the horses with too much jumping.

  Friday was a full training day. This meant no academic lessons for the whole day because everyone went off to train in their different sports. I was excited to get to Friday, as it was going to be the first jumping session with Honey at the Academy.

  When I arrived at the stables that afternoon I was the only one there and I began getting Honey ready for training.

  ‘Nice to see you down here early!’ a voice said from behind me. I turned around to see the head jumping instructor, Miss Spencer. I’d met Miss Spencer before at the selection trials and during the interviews when I first applied for the school. When an equestrian student comes to the Academy, we have the choice of using the Academy instructors or having our own instructor come to train us on site. Using the Academy’s instructors was fine with me – they had some of the best in the country. Many of them had been in the Olympics or trained Olympic champions.

  ‘How is Honey settling in?’ Miss Spencer asked. She was a tall woman with a thin frame. She had cropped dark hair and big, brown eyes.

  ‘Good, I think. I’ve been walking her on the treadmill and taking her for short rides around the grounds,’ I said.

  ‘Well, I’m looking forward to seeing you jump with her today.’ Miss Spencer beamed. She made me feel relaxed and the butterflies in my stomach seemed to settle down a bit. ‘Bring Honey down to the outdoor arena and we’ll get started when the others arrive.’

  I nodded and began to saddle up Honey.

  Down at the outdoor arena, I could see Jenna and two other girls waiting. So it would just be the four of us training with Miss Spencer. In the adjoining arena I could see Sasha training by herself with a stocky, middle-aged man. I knew who he was immediately. His name was Roger Griffiths and he was once the top showjumper in the country. He had been to two Olympic Games and was now a very well-known trainer. I knew the other instructors were probably just as good as Roger Griffiths, but it didn’t surprise me that Sasha wanted one trainer all to herself. She struck me as the type that didn’t like to share. Sasha had already started training for the afternoon and was gracefully schooling her horse Midnight over several jumps. Midnight was a stunning horse. He was one of the three horses that Sasha stabled at the Academy. He was a Dutch Warmblood – a very expensive and stunning breed. He was black with a white diamond on his nose and his coat glistened. His flank looked like velvet as the afternoon sunshine bounced off it. Suddenly, as Sasha approached the treble combination jump, Midnight pulled out of the jump abruptly.

  ‘No, not again!’ Sasha’s trainer huffed in frustration. Sasha winced.

  ‘The thing is,’ Jenna whispered as she approached with her horse from behind me, ‘you can have the most expensive and talented horse in the world, but there’s only so much you can do with it if you are a scared rider.’ She nodded in Sasha’s direction.

  ‘You reckon she’s scared?’ I asked, frowning. Sasha looked beautiful on her horse.

  ‘She had a fall over the treble combo jump in the first competition of the year. She mistimed the whole thing and Midnight clipped the last jump, stumbled, and sent her flying. She’s been scared of it ever since,’ Jenna said seriously.

  I could see Sasha looked like she was about to cry.

  ‘Okay, girls,’ Miss Spencer called out. ‘Come and gather round and we’ll get started.’

  I walked Honey over with Jenna and her horse, Atlanta. Atlanta was a thoroughbred, like Honey, although he stood taller than my little horse. He was a chestnut colour with a much more reddy hue than Honey. The two other showjumpers introduced themselves as Rachel and Amanda. I’d never seen them before as they were not boarders.

  ‘Today we are going to work on wall jumps. As you all know, we have a competition in just a few short weeks which includes a 1.2-metre jump, which is higher than in the last comp.’

  I swallowed hard. 1.2 metres? I’d only ever competed in competitions with heights up to 1.15 metres. And even then it was a struggle. Honey was a small horse and she was easily spooked by tall walls. Walls are difficult because you can’t see through them like you can when jumping other vertical jumps with poles and pl
anks or a spread jump called an oxer. And on top of that, I only had a few weeks to train. All the other girls had known about the competition since last term and they were physically and mentally preparing for it while I was hanging around on the farm back home. I’d need to work twice as hard as everyone to catch up.

  We walked the course that Miss Spencer had prepared and then began to do some practice jumps with the horses. Honey was the smallest horse in the group, but I knew she had fire in her heart. She cleared the oxers pretty easily and Miss Spencer raised her eyebrows in surprise.

  Miss Spencer had set up a wall jump for us to tackle after our warm-up. It wasn’t as high as the competition wall jump, but seeing that foam wall with the brickwork pattern on it immediately made me nervous. I watched as Jenna kicked Atlanta into pace and guided him towards the wall. Atlanta leapt through the air, gliding over the wall like a flying Pegasus. He cleared the jump with ease and landed firmly on the other side. Jenna let out a whoop and patted Atlanta’s neck affectionately.

  ‘Great job, Jenna!’ yelled Miss Spencer.

  Now it was my turn. I rode Honey around the ring and approached the wall. I could sense her tensing up as we neared the wall and I knew I was tensing up too. As Honey picked up pace, I felt a panic rise in my chest. Leaning back, I tugged slightly on the reins and Honey became flustered. I could feel her head jerking sideways and she ran out of the jump.

  ‘Try again!’ Miss Spencer yelled.

  I rode Honey back around in an arc and prepared to jump the wall again. As we approached, I felt the same sense of panic in my stomach and I gripped hard with my legs. Honey approached the wall with caution – I could feel it in my legs – and gave a nervous jump over the wall. The wall is actually made of foam, not bricks, which is lucky because Honey knocked the top section of the wall with her legs. I huffed in frustration.

  Miss Spencer walked over.

  ‘You’re leaning back on approach, Chloe,’ she said. ‘If you aren’t sitting in the correct position, there’s no way you are going to clear the wall.’

  ‘Sorry – Honey just gets really nervous about walls,’ I said, puffing slightly.

  ‘Honey does, or you do?’ Miss Spencer asked, raising one eyebrow. ‘A horse can feel your tension, Chloe. If you are leaning back and pulling on Honey’s reins, she’s going to get confused. Most of the time it is the rider’s problem when a horse stops or runs out of a jump, not the horse.’

  I felt my stomach drop. Miss Spencer was right – it wasn’t just Honey who didn’t like walls. I knew I’d have to pick up my game if I was going to impress Miss Spencer and anyone else at the Academy.

  I looked to the side and saw Sasha standing by the training ring. She was grinning like a cat.

  ‘Okay, girls, cool down and head back to the stables,’ Miss Spencer said.

  I took Honey to the stables and removed her saddle.

  ‘I don’t know how you expect such a little horse to be a great showjumper,’ a snide voice sang out from behind. I saw Sasha leading the beautiful Midnight back to the stables. ‘What is she, anyway?’

  ‘She’s a thoroughbred. She was an excellent racehorse but retired a couple of years ago,’ I said defensively.

  ‘All the winning horses at the moment are Dutch Warmbloods, like mine,’ Sasha smirked.

  ‘Thoroughbreds still win,’ I said, irritated.

  ‘And what’s that all over her face?’ Sasha asked, pointing to Honey’s scars.

  ‘She had an accident with a barbed wire fence with her previous owner,’ I said quietly, stroking Honey’s soft nose.

  ‘Who cares, anyway?’ Jenna yelled, coming to my rescue. ‘Last I checked there are no points in showjumping for the prettiest horse!’

  Sasha scoffed and led Midnight back to his stall.

  ‘Don’t worry about her,’ Jenna said as I lowered my eyes to the ground. ‘She’s just jealous because she’s a nervous rider. No amount of money can buy courage, and she knows it.’

  ‘But why is she so mean to me?’ I asked, confused. ‘I know I knocked her down on my first day, but it’s like she’s mad at me about something. And the way her mum looked at me … it’s just so weird.’ I went to hang my saddle in the storeroom.

  ‘Oh, just a heads-up, make sure the storeroom door is always latched open,’ Jenna said, pointing to the door, which was kept open by a hook. ‘It gets stuck if you close it. Last time I slammed it shut it took us ages to get it open again. The new door has been ordered but it has to come from Sweden, of course,’ Jenna said in a mock posh voice. ‘So until then, be careful you don’t close it or you will lock all your gear in there.’

  I nodded.

  ‘Now,’ Jenna continued, ‘let’s get back to the boarding house. We have a big night planned for you.’

  ‘You do?’ I asked.

  Jenna smiled mischievously. ‘You betcha. It’s going to be awesome, you’ll see.’

  I smiled, starting to feel a little better. I had no idea what she had planned, but knowing Jenna, it was going to be crazy.

  I was riding through the paddocks on my farm. Honey was galloping through long, lush grass, along the flowing snaky creek which dipped and weaved through our property. The cows were plump and gave a happy moo as we passed them by. I waved happily. The warm wind rushed past my face, blowing my hair out behind me. I suddenly realised I was riding Honey bareback – something I almost never did. She flew through the paddocks with grace and speed. Suddenly, in front of us was a towering stone wall that reached high into the clouds. Honey continued to ride towards it at pace. I nervously clung to her with my legs and she huffed at me reassuringly. I could hear her voice in my head saying, It’s okay, Chloe. As the wall drew nearer, I began to get nervous – why weren’t we slowing down? I closed my eyes in fear. As we came perilously close to smashing headfirst into the wall, Honey lifted underneath me. She leapt with all her might and I clung to her mane in fear and awe. I felt something brushing out by my legs. I looked down to see two feathery wings unfold from her sides. They grew out of her body and stretched out wide. Honey gently flapped her wings and took us higher and higher until we were gliding over the wall, soaring through the clouds.

  Psst!

  What was that noise? It was kind of a hissing sound. I clung tighter to my flying horse, burying my hands into her soft mane.

  Psst!

  I looked around, irritated. What was that noise?

  ‘Chloe! Wake up!’

  I murmured sleepily as the dream of the flying Honey started to fade away.

  ‘Wake up!’

  I rubbed my eyes and sat up in my bed. It took me a minute to work out where I was – it wasn’t my bedroom on the farm – no, it was … the Academy, of course. Sitting on the end of my bed was Jenna, wide-eyed and smiling.

  I turned to see the digital clock glowing in the darkness; it was 12.02 am.

  ‘Jenna, what are you doing?’ I croaked. ‘It’s the middle of the night!’

  I noticed Jenna was wearing jeans and a jumper and was holding out a bundle of clothes for me.

  ‘Get dressed – we have something planned.’ She smiled mischievously.

  I frowned at Jenna. ‘What do you mean get dressed? Are we going to get into trouble, Jenna? Because you know I’ve only been here a few weeks and –’

  ‘We do it all the time,’ Jenna laughed as she pulled me out of bed.

  I fumbled around for my clothes in the darkness, questioning why I was getting dressed in the middle of the night. The door of our room creaked open and Rosie and Alicia tiptoed in.

  ‘Ready?’ giggled Alicia.

  Jenna grabbed my hand as we crept up the corridor.

  ‘Walk on the edge of the floor, by the walls,’ warned Rosie. ‘It creaks less.’

  ‘Guys, are you sure we aren’t going to get busted?’ I asked nervously.

  ‘Chloe, it’s fine,’ laughed Alicia.

  My gut told me that this was a risky idea. I didn’t want to be getting into trouble so soon after
starting at the Academy. But the girls seemed so excited for me to come and the last thing I wanted was to look like a scaredy-cat.

  As we got to the front door of the boarding house, Jenna took the lead and gently unlocked the door. Trying to subdue our giggles, we bundled out into the crisp, winter night. Even in the middle of winter it wasn’t as cold here in the city as it was on the farm. A gentle cool breeze blew back my hair, which hung loosely around my shoulders, still knotted from sleep.

  I turned back to look at the boarding house and something caught my eye. There was a light flutter in one of the upstairs windows – a curtain shifting ever so slightly. I squinted in the darkness and thought I saw a pair of eyes peek out from behind the curtain. I counted the windows to work out whose room it was – it was Sasha’s.

  ‘Is that Sasha?’ I whispered, pointing to the window.

  The others glanced up to where I had pointed.

  ‘You’re imagining things, Chloe,’ said Alicia, as she looked at the boarding house. ‘There’s nothing there. The curtain is drawn. And anyway, why would Sasha be up at midnight?’

  I nodded. Perhaps my eyes were playing tricks on me.

  The school was completely silent as we padded down the pathway towards the stables. It was so odd for the school to be this quiet. Usually, there was a bustling pace at the Academy – girls shrieking, laughing and yelling, the sound of whistles coming down from the oval and a bell piercing through the air at regular intervals. But tonight, it was pure serenity.

  We entered the stables and a few of the horses gave an alarmed neigh. We comforted them with soothing words. I approached Honey and gave her a kiss on the nose. A warm sense of joy filled my heart every time I laid eyes on my horse.

  ‘Saddle up!’ cried Jenna.

  ‘Jenna, what on earth are we actually doing?’ I asked, confused.

  ‘We call this Night Riding,’ giggled Alicia. ‘We’ve only done it one other time but it is the best fun!’

  I shook my head in disbelief. When I came to the Academy, I was not expecting to be out riding my horse in the middle of the night. Even though I’d owned horses back home on the farm, I had hardly ever ridden at night. It made me a bit nervous.