CHAPTER 21

The flight into the desert was a pleasant one. An eerily serene, sandy landscape stretched as far as the eye could see to the south and to the north was the shimmering Persian Gulf. The Royal jet rolled to a stop in front of a private hangar reserved for the team to get the horses rerouted to their new home for the week. Heat radiated above the hot pavement as Amy looked toward a distant wavering mirage that was the main terminal of the Abu Dhabi airport. She had little time to get everyone settled and ready to compete in the newly added show. It would be the most important event that she had ever participated in, not for her exactly, but it would be pivotal to the future of the Prince. Everyone needed to perform at their best in front of the Princes' family, friends, and critics. Ahmed knew it would be the audition his people had been waiting for to show his progress as a legitimate heir to the throne and the strain showed in his expression as he climbed out of his seat and led the others to the steps off the plane.

"Oh, my, LORD!" Amy said as she gasped the scorching air into her lungs. "What is it, like 10 o'clock in the morning? How hot is it?"

The pilot, who was standing at the top of the steps, glanced over his shoulder and then turned back to say, "The reading on the thermometer in the cabin is at 41C, ambient, Miss Fleming."

Not wanting to miss the chance to return the old western saying Amy had dropped on him during the freezing trail ride at Heartland Ranch, Ahmed promptly said, "Cowboy up, Miracle Girl!"

Amy narrowed her eyes toward the Prince and mocked a smile, "Yeah? I'll tell you what you can do with Cowb …..."

"AAMMYY… remember what I we talked about! You know, being….nice while you are here?" Kenza admonished her and then chuckled out loud from behind her veil.

Even Ahmed had to laugh openly at the abbreviated comment along with everyone else within earshot. Apparently his head trainer could get a little testy dealing with this heat.

"Kenza, I see that you still have some work to do with our head trainer! What is it they say, you can take the cowgirl out of the country, but… "

"OK, ok, I get it!" Amy gave in, "But I never even considered the heat, or, this kind of heat!" she realized. "We may have some issues getting the horses, and us, acclimated to the temperature here. We have spent all winter working in Canada, and it hasn't been all that warm during our time in Europe, but this is something else!" She told her assistant trainer. "Kenza, let's make sure to leave our boys outside as little as possible, and when we get them to water, please, make sure they don't drink too much, too quickly, OK?"

"OK, Amy, I'm on it!" Kenza replied.

"I'm on it?" Ahmed shook his head with amusement. "You now have everybody talking like cowboys! My people will not know what to think of us!"

It was the first laughter the team had enjoyed around the Prince in a while and it seemed to lighten the tension they were all feeling.

Amy was wearing the elegant lavender Hijab that all of the team had gotten her. Even with being the head strong and independent cowgirl that she was, it had touched Amy to know how much thought all of them had put into the gift, and when Kenza handed her the card from home, she had broken down and cried tears of love. Now she was thankful for the protection it offered to her from the overbearing desert sun. She would wear the scarf proudly everywhere she went during her stay in the UAE.

The venue for the upcoming competition was the nicest arena for jumping horses Amy had ever seen. Every detail was in order to accommodate the most elite horsemen of the world. 'Others could learn a thing or two from this place,' she thought.

The head trainer and her assistant began brushing each of the stallions, looking for any injuries or problems resulting from transporting the animals. Once she was satisfied they were all in good shape she assigned Kenza to work with Zeus and she tasked herself with looking after the others. By the end of the day the horses were ready, as far as she could tell, and if Kenza continued to keep Ahmed calm and focused enough do his part, they should be at their best when it counted.

From street level, the towering hotel she was staying in rose up out of the desert like a chrome plated sculpture. Upon her return to her suite at the seven star hotel, Amy took the time to look out the window and take in the view, high enough to be looking out from the within the clouds, if there were any.

The Persian Gulf glistened as the intense orange sun was setting in the west and the city scape far below her was breathtaking. There was no mistaking the purpose of the hotel as being designed for the upper crust of world travelers. She was almost afraid to touch the furniture because it looked too perfect to actually use it. She tried to imagine what it was like for the craftsmen who placed the intricately designed tile on the floors, each little piece specially cut to make the fantastic mural come to life beneath her feet.

"You are one hellufa long way from Hudson, cowgirl!" she said to herself. "Mom, I wish you could have seen this!"

Being homesick was something that had come and gone, then come again. Staying busy kept her from thinking so much about missing everyone back home, but in the evenings, when she was alone, her thoughts always drifted back to the little town of Hudson. She wished Ty could be here to see all of this with her, wondering if he would be impressed by any of it.

'Ten thirty pm is….half past noon at home. Great, he's at lunch!'

"Hey, Amy!" Ty answered, swallowing a bite of his club sandwich.

"Did I catch you at a bad time?" she asked.

"It's always a good time when you call, don't you know that by now?" he replied.

"You wouldn't believe the view I am looking at right now, but, you know something? I really miss sharing this with you. As beautiful as this is, I just wish you were here with me to see it too."

"Someday, we will," he told her. "I promise we will see all of those places, and some new ones too."

"How far is it?" she asked him out of the blue.

Ty was confused by the question. "How far is what?"

She playfully asked, "Don't you know how far it is from where you are to me, right now, this very minute?"

"Eleven thousand six hundred twenty seven point two seven kilometers, give or take a couple of meters, depending on where you may be standing in the room!" he showed off a little to his fiancée.

"It won't be long now," she reminded him. "I also want to thank you for the birthday gift. The scarf was gorgeous and the horse shoes were….perfect! I have been wearing it when I go out, and it gets a lot of attention from everyone who sees it."

"It may not only be the scarf, Amy," he said. "It just might be because the most beautiful cowgirl they have ever seen is wearing it."

"You're pouring it on pretty thick there buster!"

"Is it working?" he asked.

"Yeah, it kind of is!" She giggled.

"So, have you blended in with the locals yet?" he teased.

"Oh, yeah, I've blended in alright," she chuckled, "I'm the one running from water fountain to water fountain. I can't begin to tell you how hot it is over here. I'm losing weight just from sweating so much. A pale Canadian girl putting on more clothes in this heat to protect herself from the sun? It just seems…backwards, somehow, but I would fry my skin in five minutes without it."

"Well, take care of yourself," he warned. "I want you in good shape when you get back home."

"Oh, really?" she chortled.

"Yeah… really!

Every seat was filled and the crowd in attendance was there to see their young Prince come home to show off his world class jumping team, and curious to witness the mystique of the true to life Alberta 'horse whisperer', which Amy preferred not to be called, outfitted in a modern version of their traditional dress, complete with her old reliable cowboy boots peeking out from underneath the hem. Amy Fleming had become a celebrity in her own right. The people were amazed to see how such a relatively small lady could command the respect of the high strung, 16 hand stallions and a Prince who only one year ago was not considered to be an earnest contender to a role in their country's leadership.

The arena was alive with excitement in anticipation of the days' events. Nothing was spared by the officials in putting on a first class show. The first round went smoothly and the Princes' Royal jumping team had all three to easily qualify for the second round, with all three of the first positions belonging to them. Zeus had responded well to Ahmed's commands through the difficult technical jumps and as a becoming a favorite to win.

After a brief rest, round two was begun with a modified course designed with higher and wider jumps. Amy was encouraging Kenza to take more of a lead role in helping Ahmed keep his composure and the team looking sharp. She was pleased with the results she saw and looked forward to having her assistant take more of the responsibility she had been carrying.

The early competitors in the round were setting a quick pace. Amy watched in awe as each horse and rider navigated the course with authority and the graceful leaps were more like dancing than a simple jump would have been. The first of the Royal Trio took to the course and topped the field with the best time so far. The next one did likewise, leaving Ahmed to finish up the competition with a chance to make it a clean sweep for his team in front of the home crowd.

Zeus began with a fast pace and the excitement was building by the stride. The pair was clearing the jumps with ease and the Prince remembered Amy's strategy she had pointed out to him about the order in which to take the jumps. It was something Ty showed her when she won the Fall Finale in Hudson at the age of fifteen. Ahmed was riding with confidence that Amy had not seen in him before, and felt the sense of accomplishment from all the hard work she and the others had put into the effort. The pair was executing the course flawlessly and the crowd had worked itself into an exhilarated chant, urging them on.

Ahmed pulled Zeus around to line up the last obstacle and all they needed to do at this point was make the distance and the win would be theirs. The big stallion was clear of the final pole and ready to head for the finish when suddenly, all of the grace and beauty of the performance turned into a frenzy of flailing hooves, flying clumps of dirt, and the Prince tumbling head over heels across the turf. The crowd nearly drew all of the air out of the arena as they collectively gasped in horror at the sight of the crashing horse and his rider. Kenza led the officials from the edge of the arena, racing to the aid of Ahmed as he lay in a heap against one of the hedges.

Amy ran as hard as her boots would carry her to the thrashing stallion, grabbing onto the plated leather strap above his nose to see if she could calm him down enough to keep him from hurting himself any worse than he already was, or one of the workers trying to help him. The sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach was all too familiar, remembering the jump that brought her own prized horse, Spartan, down in a thrashing mess at a local competition back home. For now, all she could do was to comfort the wounded animal and hope for the best for him and the man she knew as her friend laying only a few feet away.