Bittersweet Farm 2: Joyful Spirit Read online

  The riders and trainers left the ring and the ringmaster called for the first entrant as Lockie gave Greer a leg up.

  “Check your girth,” he told her.

  “I checked it earlier.”

  “Check it again.”

  She was able to tighten it one hole.

  “Have you memorized the course?” Lockie asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Repeat it to me.”

  “Plain rails to the brush, tight corner to the oxer, straight to the wall, right turn down the line to the cross rails, the in and out, turn, take the wall from the opposite direction, over the roll-top, the hanging panel, and finish with the plain rails.”

  “Good girl.”

  The steward called her number and she entered the ring.

  “If she can just hold on and steer, she’ll be fine,” Lockie said.

  The fences were lower than anything she schooled over at home. These were in the three-foot range. Obviously, Greer could not take a jumper to a show and pop over novice fences, as it wouldn’t be fair to the other horses and riders. She might have been there for practice but it had to be at her level and by the look of the horses around me, there was serious competition.

  This wasn’t going to be a cakewalk for her. The oxer had quite a spread, the roll-top was formidable and the wall looked to be three feet but had a rail on top of it. There was nothing she hadn’t jumped before, but riding at a show with another ring nearby and the loudspeakers, kids screaming, horses, trucks, fabric flapping in the wind and drinks cups skittering across the ground made it difficult for horses to concentrate. This was the first time Greer had shown Counterpoint and she really didn’t know what to expect.

  I found myself holding my breath as she headed for the first fence.

  “It’s okay, Tal,” Lockie said as he glanced over at me.

  He didn’t know what kind of mood Greer could be in if she had a bad ride.

  “She didn’t practice enough.”

  “She did or I wouldn’t have brought her.”

  Counterpoint cleared the first fence easily and they galloped to the brush. There was plenty of air under them. They landed, she looked for the next fence and made the turn.

  A minute later Greer had completed a clean round and was walking through the out-gate as we went up to her.

  “Good job, Greer. How did he feel?”

  “He got a little forward coming down the center line.”

  “I saw you sit back,” Lockie replied.

  “He’s strong.”

  “We’ll work on it. Take him to the other side of the hunter ring and walk him around until the class is pinned.”

  Greer nodded and left while we stood by the rail and watched the rest of the entrants go. There were many competent riders and talented horses but it was a challenging course and no one else had a clean round.

  I had to admit Greer knew how to ride. She wasn’t just sitting there like some of the equitation riders we knew. She was making the transition from hunters into jumpers within weeks instead of months. In large part that was due to Lockie’s training and finding her the perfect horse.

  The horses who placed were called back into the ring and a blue ribbon was attached to Counterpoint’s browband. Greer cantered halfway around the ring and left. We saw her head toward the van to take care of Counterpoint.

  “Are you hungry? Do you want lunch?” I asked Lockie.

  “Yes and yes but I need to talk to Hank Faustino about Memento so I’ll meet you at the van.”

  I nodded and made my way through the crowd.

  Counterpoint was untacked and in the van when I arrived. Greer was sitting on the ramp shredding the ribbon.

  She looked up at me. “I know what you’re doing.”

  “What am I doing?” I had no clue what she was talking about.

  “The two of you.”

  “Yes?”

  “You’re trying to make me feel good about myself.”

  “Why do we need to do that? You just won the class.”

  She pulled the rosette apart. “He keeps saying stuff like ‘good girl’.”

  “You did a good job. What would you have him say?”

  “Counterpoint was just better than the other nags.”

  “No. You had some real competition out there and you followed Lockie’s instructions to a tee. Counterpoint couldn’t have done it without you.”

  She didn’t look at me. “Derry’s going back to Ireland. He’s going to try out for the team.”

  “I didn’t know.”

  “How could you not know?” Greer dropped what was left of the ribbon on the ramp.

  “Derry didn’t tell me.”

  “He told Lockie.”

  “Lockie didn’t tell me.”

  “Derry was like ‘See ya, Fluff.’“

  “Excuse me?”

  Shrugging, Greer didn’t look at me. “Dollface.”

  That was rude in itself.

  I didn’t know what I was supposed to say since Derry wasn’t in my Top Ten list of anything. Taking Greer into the hayloft and laying her out on a horse sheet was hardly my idea of a romantic interlude. Seeing an opportunity, he had taken it but Derry could have been a better man than that.

  If I said she was well rid of him, that could be wrong and if I said Ireland wasn’t that far away, that could be wrong, and the truth was, I didn’t realize she cared about him so nothing said was giving me any hints. Maybe the rules were that Greer was always the dumpor and didn’t know how to handle being the dumpee. That was believable. That Greer had been in some kind of love with Derry, was not believable.

  “You could go to Ireland for Winter Break.”

  “He doesn’t want to see me again. He says I’m too high-strung. He prefers Irish Thoroughbreds.”

  “He’s got something against American Thoroughbreds?” I was really starting to dislike this guy.

  “Narrow through the chest and scatty.”

  Narrow through the chest implied no room for a heart, no room for lungs to insure stamina. I couldn’t imagine how Derry could have insulted her more than that, although I could think of a couple comments that might come close.

  “Then we should be glad he’s gone.”

  “Yeah. Men are like buses, right?” Greer stood.

  That’s what her mother, Victoria, said. If you miss one bus another comes along in fifteen minutes.

  That’s not what my mother said so I didn’t think I should agree with Greer.

  Considering the kind of woman Victoria was, it was no surprise Greer turned out the way she did.

  “My mother married Dad for his money,” Greer said brushing off her breeches. “He was the bus that came along at the right time.”

  If I said Victoria could often be found on the street so would have more than a passing familiarity with buses and anything else, that would hardly be a welcome comment so I decided to keep quiet.

  “Why did your mother marry him?”

  “So I would be taken care of,” I replied. That was the standard answer.

  “I think she loved him,” Greer said.

  So shocked, I was speechless for a moment.

  “He loved her,” Greer continued.

  “I’m sure of that.”

  “Do you think he loved my mother?”

  As I struggled to find the right thing to say, Greer stopped me. “Don’t bother. Even I don’t like her very much.”

  Lockie came around the end of the van and looked at us, then down at the destroyed blue ribbon. “What’s going on?”

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Why didn’t you tell me Derry’s going back to Ireland?” Greer asked.

  “When is this happening?”

  “Soon.”

  “He didn’t tell me,” Lockie said. “We’ll have to find someone else to ride Counterpoint. Are we having lunch?” He opened the driver’s side door to the van and dug around in the side pocket until he found his pill bottle.

  I went to the cool
er, opened it and took out a bottle of water. “Greer, would you move the chairs into the shade?”

  We had folding chairs in our stable colors and Greer began to move them so the van would offer some shade.

  Jules packed everything we’d require for a gourmet picnic, from utensils to strong plates, sandwiches, a variety of salads and cookies for desserts. Underneath it all, I discovered a small stash of handmade caramel filled chocolates she knew I loved.

  I handed Lockie his plate. “If you don’t feel well, take Greer’s car and go home.”

  “You don’t feel well?” Greer asked him.

  “He has a headache,” I said.

  “You didn’t say anything about it,” she said leaning over to him.

  “Too much sun.”

  “Why aren’t you wearing a hat? I have one in my bag,” she said and left to get it.

  “What happened to the ribbon?”

  “It fell apart,” I replied.

  Greer came around the van and plopped the baseball cap on his head. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you you’re supposed to wear a hat in the sun?”

  Lockie positioned it on his head. “Thank you, Greer.” He took a pill and a drink of water, then a bite of sandwich.

  “It’s so bright today that when I made the turn up-sun, for a moment I couldn’t see the fence,” she said.

  “You did a good job but the next class is going to be more challenging. It’ll be timed, the fences are bigger and they’re combining it with another jumping class.”

  “Can they do that,” I asked.

  “There were no complaints when they asked us.”

  “No one asked me,” Greer pointed out.

  “Do you object?” Lockie asked.

  “Should I?”

  “I think you’re the best jumper team on the grounds so you won’t have any trouble with it.”

  “You’re just saying that,” Greer snapped back.

  “For what purpose?”

  “So I’ll be acquiescent,” she replied.

  “If that’s how other people treat you, that’s not how I treat you. I’m here as your coach, as your trainer, not your nanny. I don’t have a pacifier in my pocket.”

  Greer gave him a look. “You didn’t have a hat either.”

  “Correct. There’s a show over into New York State in three weeks. Decide if you want to do that.”

  “Are we going to show a couple times a month?”

  “Do you still want to go to Florida this winter? If so, yes.”

  Since nothing had been said about Florida for a while, I had felt as though the issue had been dropped. If Lockie left, then I’d have to oversee the barn. They’d be gone most of the winter.

  “I’m not sure,” Greer replied. “There will always be shows around here.”

  “That’s true.”

  “It would be nice to spend the winter down south.”

  I nodded.

  “We’ll have to make the arrangements,” Lockie pointed out.

  “But I’d be there alone for three months,” she said.

  Lockie looked at me.

  “Jules sent some cookies for us and lovely chocolates. Does anyone want either or both?” I said standing up.

  “My class is right after the lunch break.” Greer took her plate and went around to the other side of the van.

  Putting my hand on his shoulder, I reached for his empty plate. “Do you feel any better?”

  “My headache is almost gone but now I learn I’m invisible.”

  I tapped the bill of the cap. “Not to me.”

  ***

  When we reached the in-gate, the grounds crew had just finished setting up the course. The fences appeared to be about three-feet-six and the course was designed to be a challenge even more than the morning’s class.

  Greer came up behind us leading Counterpoint. “I’ve never ridden a timed course before.”

  “Don’t worry about the speed. It’s practice.”

  “Are you for real? Do you actually go into a class and think it doesn’t matter if you don’t win?”

  “Yes, Greer, I actually do,” Lockie replied.

  She shook her head.

  “It doesn’t matter. Everything in our lives will be the same one hour from now whether you win or not. It really is about accomplishment.”

  “You win and you’ve accomplished something,” she replied.

  “No. You learn from the experience and you have acquired something of real value. Go out there with the intention of leaving the ring a better rider than when you went in.”

  Greer looked at him. “Keep the hat on. I’ve heard too much sun can make people say crazy things.”

  “Let’s go walk the course,” Lockie said and walked through the in-gate.

  “Would you please do me the favor of holding my mount? I would be ever so grateful.” Greer could mimic a British accent perfectly from the years spent in England as a child.

  “It would be my honor, your Grace.” I curtsied as she handed me the reins.

  “Of course it would be. Thank you very much.” She went into the ring.

  Before that moment, I had no idea Greer possessed a sense of humor.

  The crowd of riders and trainers walked the course then exited. Lockie gave Greer a leg-up into the saddle and she left to keep Counterpoint moving along the driveway.

  “Your sister is a real piece of work,” Lockie said to me.

  “I know.”

  “Why did she rip up the ribbon?”

  “You know the answer.”

  “Because it wasn’t enough.”

  “That’s the problem with winning, it’s an inadequate replacement for feeling good enough.”

  Lockie took my hand. “Can we have dinner together, just the two of us?”

  “You’re talking about dinner already? Didn’t you eat enough lunch?”

  “I just want to be alone with you.”

  We watched the first horse take a rail down of the out fence. “In your crummy flat.”

  “It’s a nice apartment, Tali. I’m near the horses and there’s a view of the pastures.”

  “We can sit on the broken couch together,” I said.

  That entrant left the ring and another came in.

  Lockie paused. “I’m not going to try to defend the couch.”

  “What was Rui doing with that couch to leave it like that? On second thought, I don’t want to know.”

  “It’s not long enough to ...”

  “Shh. Don’t put images in my mind.”

  “Sleep on! Geez, Tal.”

  The strawberry roan had a clean round, exited to applause and a bay mare entered.

  “That couch has seen fifty miles of bad road,” Lockie added.

  “I don’t want to know what the couch has seen. Ugh.”

  “I did a horse laundry last night. We’ll put down CB’s clean sheet for you to sit on.”

  “No more sheets.”

  “What? Oh. You mean Derry and Greer?”

  “Yes.”

  “What a piece of cow flop leaving me like that.”

  “Leaving you? Leaving Greer.”

  “He was always going to leave Greer.”

  “He wasn’t going to stay with us either.”

  “It was business. He should have said something.”

  “He managed to give Greer the brush-off. Bye bye ...buffie? Something.”

  “Bitta fluff.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I spent a spring in Ireland a couple years ago. It’s not entirely complimentary.”

  “Figures.”

  “You didn’t say yes.”

  “To what?”

  “To spending time on my broken couch.”

  “Yes. Do you really feel okay?”

  Lockie nodded.

  Greer’s number was called and she appeared at the gate.

  “I hope you’ve been watching the other horses go,” Lockie said.

  “Of course. Winning may not be everyt
hing but losing is nothing,” she replied and trotted into the ring.

  Lockie raised his hand. “There’s the whole history of human endeavor in a nutshell.”

  Greer didn’t bother to circle, she just made a bee-line for the first fence, passing through the laser timer. Counterpoint took the plain rails and they made the turn to the vertical double which she took to the right side instead of in the middle as everyone before her had. It was onto the roll-top.

  “I told her to take that in six strides and she got it in five,” Lockie said as Greer galloped to the top of the ring and made the turn down the diagonal to take the line of three fences.

  Counterpoint did a flying change as they made the sharp turn to the left for the seventh fence then stretched out along the rail to take the in and out. Continuing on, she found the line between the fourth and fifth fences to take the hogsback, did another change coming off that and raced for the last two fences on the rail.

  There was loud applause as Greer left the ring and I was glad to see her lean over to pat Counterpoint’s neck. As we neared her, Greer dismounted and ran up her irons.

  “What are you doing? There could be a jump-off,” Lockie reminded her.

  “I made it count so we all wouldn’t have to go through that.”

  I wanted to say to him “don’t try to figure her out” but didn’t.

  Greer began unbuckling the girth. “Would you hang onto the saddle, Tal?”

  “You have another class,” I said.

  “I want to go home.”

  “Why?”

  Greer looked at Lockie. “He doesn’t feel well.”

  “I feel fine and staying for the next class is no problem.”

  “And leaving is no problem,” Greer replied.

  “You’ll take the ami-owner jumper championship if you win this class and the next.”

  She looked at him for a moment. “The ribbons are really substandard. You saw how the other one fell apart.”

  “Okay. We’ll go home.”

  I took the saddle off Counterpoint’s back and Greer walked him away to cool down.

  “Just be glad she’s not screaming at us,” I said shifting the saddle in my arms as we watched the other contestants do their rounds. A few minutes later, Greer’s number was called and she entered the ring to be presented with another blue ribbon. I made a mental note to take it from her before she destroyed this one, too.

  She led Counterpoint from the ring, the ribbon on his browband waving slightly in the breeze. “So.”