Hi there! I hope you enjoy and review!
The smell hit me like a punch to the face. Horses and their manure. I scrunched my nose. I hadn't smelled that smell in over a week and it comes back hard.
At the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, we are trained in many different arts. Just one of them happens to be equestrian. During my freshman year everyone was required to take our third course in riding. But I can say, it was not my favorite class.
On the first day I had mounted my horse. She was a Pinto and fairly new to Gallagher. I mounted exactly how I was taught in Riding Basics, a class I had taken in 8th grade. Then I walked her around the corral, then switched to a trot.
She must have gotten spooked because she suddenly became crazy. She took off at a run, bumping me along on her back. All the other girls were screaming and their horses were moving nervously.
My horse ran past a bale of hay and I jumped off onto the bale. The instructor calmed the horse and then sent me to the hospital wing to get checked for any injuries. Ever since then I haven't sat on another horse. They kind of scared me.
Yet here I was, conquering my fears like a Gallagher Girl, in the Olympic Stables. Horses and riders were stationed everywhere. I was on my way to meet Macey in her stall before her competition.
I turned into stall number 7 and found Macey brushing her American Quarter Horse. It had a beautiful shiny brown coat. It's mane and tail were braided quite tight. Macey turned around and smiled.
She was fully dressed in riding attire. She had on white pants and black riding boots that came up right under her knee. She also had on a tight fitted black riding jacket with a button down front. Her hair was in a tight braid down her back under her black riding helmet. The strap was unclasped. Her blue eyes were shining.
"I brought you your new comms." We had just recently changed to a new comms set so we couldn't be hacked.
"Cool. Thanks." She put down the brush and took the comms and placed it in her ear.
"All set?" I asked.
"Yup. I was born to do this." She joked. But she really was.
I had seen Macey on a horse at school before. They acted as if they were one person, or horse. They had the same brain, limbs. Same heart. She was able to guide the animal around the grounds with a simple squeeze of her legs or flick of her wrist.
"Yeah. You're going to rock it." I gave her a confident smile. "Well, I better go join Zach." I said.
"Yeah. You should. I'm surprised he even let you walk down here by yourself." Macey joked. "But then again he didn't." I nodded and we both peered out the window of the stall and saw Zach, on the top branch of the tallest tree.
"Boys." I sighed. Macey laughed and I smiled. I patted her on the back and then left to go meet Zach. "See ya, Jane." I used her cover name.
I was walking outside of the stables when Zach fell from the tree.
"Nice landing." I smirked, seeing him sprawled out on a bush.
"No. I didn't fall. I was just merely testing the human's possibility for controlled flight." He quipped.
"Oh. Of course you were." I said sarcastically. I hooked my arm through his and we strolled along toward the stadium seating. We chose the top left hand corner of the stadium. It was a good view and well protected.
As soon as we sat down the announcer asked if everyone would be seated and that the event was starting. The announcer then announced all of the competitors as they rode proudly into the stadium. Polite applause filled the stands. We saw Macey riding in and waving. A smile on her face.
Macey was number 7 so she had a little while to wait before her competing time. We saw two competitors from Australia, one from France, one from England, another from China and a young girl from Germany.
The competition was fierce. The competitors from Australia, France, and China were ten points from perfect. The young woman from England had scored a near perfect and the crowd had gone wild. The young girl from Germany had jumped over one of the obstacles and her foot slipped from the stirrup. She crashed to the ground and was taken to the hospital with a broken arm.
"Bummer she fell off." I heard Zach mutter.
"Yeah. It really is." I snuggled up to Zach a little more. Macey entered the arena. "Go Jane!" I shouted.
"Knock 'em dead!" Zach yelled. We looked at each other and laughed. We both knew that she really could.
The buzzer beeped and Macey began. She steered her horse effortlessly through the obstacles. The big jump was coming up. She urged her horse faster. Her braid bounced behind her. The horse jumped and cleared the pole. The crowd cheered.
Macey brought the horse around slowly. She waved to the cheering crowd as the judges furiously scribbled on their scorecards before passing them down. The announcer got the card and cleared his throat. The crowd hushed.
"Ms. Jane Esplin has received a 105 out of 110." Everyone applauded. "A nearly perfect run. Congratulations Ms. Jane Esplin of the United States of America!" Macey smiled and exited the arena. We waited for the rest of the horses. Macey ended up being fourth. Just out of medal position. But we weren't here for a medal, we were here to protect the people.
Zach and I walked back to the stables to find Macey grooming her horse.
"Great job Mace!" I hugged her.
"Thanks Cam." She replied with a smile. We were the last people in the stables and it had gotten somewhat eerily quiet. The birds weren't even singing.
"We should probably be getting back." Zach said, looking around.
"See you later Lady." Macey said to her horse.
We walked down the long hallway past all of the now empty stables.
A sudden crack broke the silence. My head turned. I felt a sudden force that pushed me down onto a bale of hay. Macey was laying on the one next to me. Zach was nowhere to be seen. I peered up from where I was laying and saw two people running around the corner out of the stable.
One of them was wearing Zach's signature jacket.
"Cammie." I heard Macey's calm whisper behind me. "We have to get out of here. Zach will meet up with us later." She pulled at my sleeve. I stood up and followed her through the stables. We ended up in a stall with two horses.
"How do you feel about riding?" Macey asked with a devious smile on her face.
Please tell me how I'm doing!
105 days till Gallagher Girls 6!
-Amelia:D