CHAPTER NINE
That night, as she lay in bed trying to get to sleep, Sam's thoughts turned once more to Emma and Malaika. She stared up at the ceiling, her covers thrown off to escape from the air's humid grip. It was so hot she couldn't sleep. She tried to remember the last time she had seen someone else ride Malaika before these past couple of days. It must have been the day she had gone to try her out. That was more than five years ago. Five years. It must have been weird for Malaika as well, Sam supposed. When you have the same rider for so long then suddenly a new one comes along it must feel rather odd. Why was she doing this? Malaika was her horse, no one else was supposed to ride her! Why should she let Emma ride Malaika? What had she done to deserve riding such a special horse? Nearly every time Sam had ridden her she had felt privileged to be in such a partnership. But now their partnership had ended and Emma would be taking over. She didn't want that to happen! What if Malaika preferred Emma's riding to her own? Grimly, Sam decided she would tell Emma she had changed her mind. They hadn't signed anything yet. They would have had to wait until Mr Gordon had some spare time before anything was made final. She should have said something before! But even after they had spoken about the lease and discussed getting Emma's father to sign the papers, why hadn't she said something then? It wasn't really fair on Emma, she knew. Maybe she hadn't had time to think about it properly, Sam decided. Hadn't had time to think of the consequences of letting some other person ride her beloved horse.
At breakfast the next morning, Sam was silent. This wasn't unusual because of the gloomy cloud that had hung over her lately, but Keith noticed she was quieter than normal.
"Something the matter?" he asked casually before crunching on some toast.
Sam grunted. He had a pretty good idea what was bothering her.
"Is Emma coming to ride again today?" he probed.
Sam chewed her food silently before replying.
"Yes."
"Is that what's making you so quiet?"
"Maybe," Sam mumbled.
"You weren't thinking of telling Emma that it was all off, were you?"
Sam stared at her bowl of cereal and didn't meet Keith's enquiring gaze.
"I don't think she's good enough."
"She looked pretty good to me yesterday when I saw you all down at the school."
"Well, you weren't right there! You can't tell from such a distance."
"Come on, Sam," Keith said in exasperation. "What's the real reason you don't want her coming here?"
"Just leave it, Keith. It's got nothing to do with you," Sam said, regretting the nastiness in her tone.
"On the contrary. It has a lot to do with me. For starters, it's my farm Malaika is on."
"Well, you should've sold her when I asked you to."
"And second of all, you're my sister," Keith said ignoring her spiteful words. "And I can see something's eating you and it's not that Emma's a bad rider."
"Malaika's my horse, okay? I'll do what I want with her," Sam said through gritted teeth and fixing her brother with a piercing glare.
"Letting Emma ride her isn't going to stop Malaika from being yours, Sam. No one can love her as much as you. Don't think Emma's going to come between the two of you."
"How can you be so sure?" Sam said helplessly.
"Just give her a chance, Sam. Please."
She hesitated.
"Fine," she sighed at last. Putting her spoon down in her empty cereal bowl, she spun her chair round and exited the room.
Just because Sam had agreed to let Emma ride Malaika didn't mean she made life easy for the girl. So eaten up with jealousy that someone else was able to ride her horse that she took a lot of it out on Emma. The young sixteen-year-old was, at first, hurt and confused by Sam's sudden temper flares but after a while realised how difficult it must be for her to see someone else on her horse. Despite these rages, she and Malaika were getting on like a house on fire. She had never known such a comfortable horse or one so enthusiastic. The ponies she had ridden at Jan's riding school were nothing compared to Malaika. The mare was sweet-natured and her outbursts of disobedience were really only due to over-excitement. Emma's confidence grew stronger and stronger as the days went by and not even Sam's sometimes disdainful attitude towards her could quell her enthusiasm. She became bolder when jumping and with Malaika she wasn't afraid to try the higher fences. Jumps which Emma would, in the past, have had to screw up the courage to attempt now didn't bother her at all. It was usually at times when Emma and Malaika were doing really well together than Sam became grumpier but despite this, Emma liked having Sam around to help and advise her on her riding and encouraged her to join them down in the paddock as much as she could. When Emma wasn't riding, Sam's attitude became lighter and they found they really got on very well with each other. She knew that it would just take a bit of time for Sam to get used to Malaika being ridden by someone other than herself.
One morning Emma arrived at the house clad in jodhpurs and clutching her riding hat, eager to ride Malaika. She and Sam made their way down to the stables being buffeted by a strong wind. The trees along the way struggled to stay upright, their branches being whipped into a frenzy like a flailing swimmer trying to stay above water. Down at the stable yard, Malaika was huddled next to the few trees in the exercise paddock, avoiding the full force of the gale.
While Emma went to catch the mare, Sam continued on to the stables to find Jem. He emerged from one of the boxes with a pitchfork in his hands.
"Morning, Sam," he said, his words immediately being whipped away by the wind.
"Hello, Jem. Nice breeze blowing today, eh?"
Jem chuckled.
"Only slightly. I tell you what, if we attach a sail to your chair you wouldn't have to wheel yourself anywhere, the wind would carry you."
Sam laughed, thinking how relaxed Jem had become about her disability compared to when she had first arrived back from hospital. Then he had been squirming awkwardly whenever he spoke to her.
Seeing Emma leading the Anglo Arab mare through the paddock gate, he automatically downed his tools and went to fetch Malaika's tack.
Once the mare had been saddled and Emma was astride, Jem turned to Sam.
"Do you need my help today?" he enquired hopefully. For the past few days all Malaika had been doing was flatwork.
"Yes please. Do you want to do a bit of jumping today?" she asked Emma.
"Oh, yes please!"
"Okay then, thanks Jem. If you'd like to help with the jumps?"
While Emma warmed up Malaika, trotting and cantering her around, Sam directed jump operations to Jem. Gradually a course took shape. The young groom had dismantled the six jumps in the paddock to make four, including a fan and a triple. The smallest, which was a parallel, stood at three foot six and the tallest was a vertical standing five foot. Sam knew they were being a bit ambitious since Emma had rarely jumped anything beyond four foot six but she trusted the girl would manage all right, especially since she knew Malaika was very capable.
Sam called Emma over once they had finished.
"Jump the parallel twice, first on one rein then on the other. Then I want you to circle right round and jump the fan in the middle. Land on the opposite lead and steady her for the vertical. With so much propulsion for the fan I suggest you do a half halt before going for the vertical, okay? It's about five foot so have your wits about you. Then circle on the same rein and do the triple down the long side. It's homeward bound so be prepared for a tearaway leap over that."
Emma nodded silently and gathered up her reins. Malaika was sulking because she didn't want to work in such windy conditions but she perked up when she realised she was going to jump. Sam exited the ring and took refuge beneath a big tree by the ringside, sheltering from the elements. She admired Emma's riding as the girl expertly put the chestnut mare over the parallel twice. Her riding had improved so much it was hard to believe that not so long ago she had been nervous of putting Malaika over a pole two feet off the ground. The next jump was the fan, an obstacle constructed from a single wing on one side and three on the other, with poles set at various heights, all protruding from the single wing and fanning out to the other three like splayed fingers. Neither Malaika nor Emma had had a lot of experience with this sort of jump and they approached it with trepidation. Sam nodded approvingly as the pair cleared it in good style and steadied for the vertical. Malaika gathered her hindquarters and leapt into the air, clearing the jump by a few inches. They turned to the last jump which, as Sam had predicted, Malaika flew over like a bullet.
"Great! Well done, that was good," Sam called. "Now try the fan, then the vertical then the triple and lastly the parallel."
Emma was still in the process of trying to pull up and pat Malaika at the same time. The mare eventually slowed down and after doing a twenty metre circle tackled the fan again. But just as the mare was about to take off, a particularly violent gust of wind ricocheted off one of the wings. The wavering object took Malaika by surprise and she jammed on brakes, hitting the poles with her chest and sending Emma shooting over her head. Sam froze in horror, a nauseous feeling in her stomach as she recalled her own accident and her broken neck. Jem, who was still in the ring ready to replace fallen poles, rushed over and grabbed Malaika's reins. Quickly, Sam wheeled herself through the gate towards Emma, who was thankfully, now sitting up with her elbows on her knees.
"Are you okay?" Sam fretted. Seeing her pale stricken face and realising she was reliving her own fateful fall, Emma smiled reassuringly.
"I'm fine. Don't worry, Sam. I've just bruised myself. Is Mally okay, Jem?"
"She appears to be," he replied, walking the shaken mare forward a few steps.
"Then I guess you two had better do it again. If she gets a fright like this we can't have her losing her nerve. Or your nerve for that matter."
Emma nodded bleakly and got slowly to her feet and dusted off her dirty jodhpurs. She didn't let on just how much the fall had rattled her and she was feeling a lot more bruised than she let on but she knew Sam was right. She had to do the jump again. She patted Malaika and spoke softly to her while Jem held the reins for her to mount. Once on top, she clicked her tongue and sent Malaika into a trot then canter. They attempted the jump again but Malaika hesitated at the last moment and stopped short. Emma was ready for her refusal but even then was shot up the chestnut's neck. She wriggled back into the saddle and let the mare stand there for a while, gently soothing, patting and stroking her neck. Then once more she turned Malaika away for another attempt. Malaika approached the jump warily and not quite straight as she tried to stay as far away as possible from the offending wing. Putting all her confidence in her rider she leapt over the jump, clearing it by a couple of feet and even higher than the wings. Emma laughed happily as they landed and patted the mare enthusiastically.
"Didn't know if we were going to come down from there!" she called out to Sam. Sam smiled and sighed, relieved that there was no lasting damage done to horse or rider.
A couple of weeks later Emma and Sam made their way slowly back to the house after a ride for an orange juice. Emma was unusually quiet. She didn't know how she would break her news to Sam.
Once they were sitting outside on the patio Sam broke the silence.
"What's on your mind?"
"Hmm? I was just thinking how much you and Mally have taught me. I can't thank you enough."
"I'll remind you of that the next time when I'm moody and crabby and biting everyone's heads off," Sam said dryly. Emma laughed.
"To think what my riding was like when I first started on Malaika. Goodness, I could hardly trot without stirrups."
"You still can't," Sam teased.
"Seriously though," Emma said trying to stop giggling. "You have done so much to help me and my riding."
Sam squirmed uncomfortably in her seat.
"I'm the one who should be thanking you. Without you and Mally, I would still be moping around the house giving everyone hell - well, more than I do already. I wonder if Mally helps Jetsetter. There he is, lame as a three-legged donkey. I wonder if Mally comforts him when he's feeling miserable." Sam hoped so. It broke her heart to see Jetsetter, such a big powerful horse, now hobbling around, only allowed out for short walks about the paddock. Sometimes, when Sam saw him in his stable with his head down and his ears flopping sideways, she wondered if he was just dozing or instead if he was depressed and dejected. Maybe it was selfish to keep him alive if he was so sad, Sam pondered. But to put him down was unthinkable. What if one day his lameness was cured? As long as there was hope, there was life.
"There is one thing I wanted to ask you," Emma said gingerly, bringing Sam back from her thoughts.
"Hmm? What's that?"
"I know how you and Malaika have achieved great things in the past and you, more than likely, were going on to even greater things, right?"
"Supposedly so," Sam replied bitterly. "Huntingdon was going to be our next goal."
"Funny you should say that," Emma chuckled nervously. "That's what I'd like to ask you. Would you allow me to take Malaika to Huntingdon?"
