Author's Note

Enjoy!

Jumping Through the Stars

Chapter Seven

As soon as I got home, I was bombarded by my aunt.

"Is your showing outfit clean? Have you cleaned Armor's tack? Does he have a clean saddle pad?"

"Um," I said. "Yes, no, and his saddle pad is still clean. I washed it the other day."

"Okay. Are your boots clean?"

"Yeah."

"Alright; well, go get Armor and his things put into the trailer. Then, come inside and get dressed for the show. It isn't far away, only about ten minutes." I nodded and headed outside. I brushed Armor and picked the dirt out of his hooves. I loaded him into the trailer and then went back into the barn. I gathered the tack I'd need for the show and I grabbed a brush, hoof pick, curry comb, and some shampoo and conditioner for his tail and mane. I then grabbed shampoo and conditioner for his fur and I put all those things into my trunk. I use my trunk to carry everything I need to bring to shows. I filled Armor's feed bag and grabbed a water bucket. I put the feed bag in the trailer with him to eat on the way and put the empty water bucket with my trunk. I double checked everything, put the trunk and water bucket into the back of Aunt Jeanine's car. I then jogged back into the house and up to my bedroom. On the way, I glanced at the clock; I had about ten minutes. I raced into my riding britches, my show shirt, and my show jacket. I slid on a pair of socks and quickly shined my boots. I slid the boots on and walked back downstairs.

"You'd better brush that bird's nest," I heard from behind me. I spun around.

"Caleb!" He laughed.

"I'm coming to this show. I've never seen you show before, and I want to see it. So, if I'm coming, I don't want to be embarrassed by the way you look. So, seriously, go brush your hair." I scowled.

"Fine," I said. "Come on." I led him upstairs. I grabbed my brush and glanced in the mirror as my brother sat on my bed. "It isn't that bad," I defended. Caleb laughed.

"Your hair? It looks horrible."

"Whatever. Anyway, what makes you suddenly want to see me ride? You watched me ride yesterday, which is rare, and now you want to come to a show, too?"

"I don't know; I guess I just want to be more supportive." I finished brushing my hair and looked at my brother.

"Okay," I said.

"Okay? That's all I get?"

"Yes. Now we have to go. Come on," I said and walked out of my bedroom, followed by Caleb. On the way down the stars, I asked the question I'd been thinking a lot about that day. "When I came downstairs this morning, you and Aunt Jeanine were talking. What about?"

"Well," Caleb said. I glanced over at him as I descended the last few steps. "We'll talk about it later." I nodded.

"Alright; let's go, Beatrice!" I heard my aunt call from the front door.

"Okay, I'm coming," I said and quickly walked into the kitchen. I grabbed two apples and headed outside to the car. Aunt Jeanine was already in the driver's seat; Caleb wasn't out of the house yet. I hopped into the passenger's seat and Aunt Jeanine started the car. She began to pull out of the driveway. "Wait! Caleb isn't here yet!" I noticed the confused look on her face. "He decided to come to this show." She nodded and stopped the car. A moment later, Caleb emerged from the house. He opened the passenger's seat door and saw me. He stuck his tongue out at me and hopped into the back seat, behind me. I laughed.

"Beatrice, do you have everything?"

"Yes," I responded.

"Do you have your helmet?" I thought back to everything I'd put into the trunk.

"No! I'll be right back." I scurried out of the car and down to the barn. I grabbed my helmet bag and raced back out to the car. I sat down and strapped on my seat-belt. "Now I am ready." Aunt Jeanine set off down the street.

A short time later, we were all set up at our area for the show.

"Go warm up," Aunt Jeanine said.

"Okay," I said and quickly tacked Armor up. I then led him out to the warm-up ring and I climbed up into the saddle. I noticed my girth felt a bit loose, so I got back down onto my feet and tightened the girth. I then climbed back up onto Armor's back and clucked my tongue while pressing my heels to Armor's sides. I walked around the ring with Armor twice, and then trotted around a few times. I kept reminding myself to sit up straight and keep my heels down. I then cantered a few times around the ring. I flew past a bunch of riders, smiling. Armor and I continued cantering around the ring. I went into two-point and stayed in that position for a lap around the ring. I then sat back and continued flying past other riders and horses. Every time I cantered, I felt powerful; I felt like a winner. I was confident that I could win this competition.

I didn't want to tire Armor out too much, so I slowed back to a walk. I walked around once, and then picked my canter back up; I cantered around once and then completed a few jumps. I slowed, and walked around the ring once more. I then led Armor back to our site where we'd keep our belongings. I rode all the way there, only climbing down off his back when I was at our area.

"I'm back," I said.

"Welcome," Caleb said, spreading his arms out wide. I laughed.

"Okay; it's good you're back. Your first class is in about five minutes, so we need to head to the show ring," Aunt Jeanine explained.

"Okay; how many classes am I in?"

"Only two; this one, which is the one where you don't ride, you just show off your horse and are checked by the judge, so look nice. Then, you have a class shortly after where you'll be jumping." My aunt explained all this as I led Armor down to the ring for my class.

"Class Number Five," An overhead speaker called. That was my class number, so I headed into the ring after strapping my helmet onto my head and smoothing out my jacket. I took my place in the ring and stood still with Armor as we waited for the judge to check us.

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I'd won second place in Class Number Five with Armor; we did great! Now I'm up on his back and we're walking around the show ring for Class Number Seven. This is my second out of two classes for this show, so after this one, Armor and I are done showing. I adjusted my crop in my right hand as I walked around the ring with Armor.

"Trot," I heard from overhead and easily picked up a posting-trot. I trotted around for a moment before we were instructed to pick up a canter. The only people participating in this class were two other girls with their horses and Armor and I. As I cantered around the ring in circles, I laughed and patted Armor's neck. I didn't know if the judge noticed, and I don't mind either way. We were then told that we'd each go through the series of jumps. The other girls did it first and they both did good; one of them's horses hit the pole with their hoof, but not hard enough to knock the pole down.

Now it's my turn. I lined up in front of the jump and Armor and I gracefully completed it. We lined up for the second jump, and completed that one as well.

We then lined up for the third out of four jumps and I went up into two-point position. I then went down into jump position when we were only a couple steps away from the jump. I felt Armor's front legs lift up into the air, and in that moment I saw a dark shape swoop down directly in front of Armor.

Author's Note

I really wanted to thank you for reading this story and continuing to read this far, even though we aren't extremely far into the story yet.

I hope you guys liked the cliffhanger.

Also, I am welcome to ideas that you guys have for the story. I'll consider them and see if I can fit them into the story somewhere. You can also tell me things you like and things you don't like; I'd also like to know ways you all think I could improve my writing.

Please tell me what you think; please review!

If you had a Snow Day today, Happy Snow Day!

Have a nice week, everybody!

~MoMaster