Chapter 335 – Maddie and Missy Jumpoff, Again
Maddie went out on the course and the first thing she did was check out the area between the number two jump and the built in water jump. She noticed that there was some water there. She went back to the in gate and said something to the officials before she went back out to get ready. The officials called her back and asked exactly where the water was. She told them and they told her to say there for a moment. The officials went to look at the spot and called for the grounds keepers to come out and deal with it.
"There will be a bit of a delay before the last two jumpers." The announcer said. "So just hang in there a moment as it looks like the an area of the grounds needs attention."
Many of the riders probably didn't check out the area and know that they could say something if there was an obvious obstruction to jumping. It didn't happen a lot, but once and a while it would happen. James stepped over to Maddie.
"What happened?" James asked.
"There was standing water between the number two jump and the water jump." Maddie said. "I said something. It wasn't a lot, but enough that the grass would have been slippery."
"Good eye." James said. "You doing okay?"
"We are fine." Maddie said. "Bubbles is plenty warm and I am ready to run."
"Good." James said.
James stayed there until the course officials came back over. The grounds crew had poured some diamond dust on the grass and raked it through the area a couple of times. Diamond dust was designed to soak up moisture on the surface. It was most often used in baseball, but wasn't unheard for other sports.
Maddie got the signal that she could resume her warm up, so she went out and checked out the spot. She still didn't really like the way that it looked, but she also saw that she could get by the slick spot if she made a sharp one eighty turn and that was what she chose to do. She would go out a stride further and then cut back. Finally ready, Maddie brought Bubbles up to nearly a gallop as she came around the field to start.
She ran though the start timer and first jump. She cleared two and took two strides out, before she made a full one eighty turn back toward the jump. She went just the water side of the jump before cutting toward the tree and the final jump. She went around the number nine jump and lined up for the double at four. She ran through four and the double combination that was now the number five number jump. Once she had cleared the fence at five c, she turned toward the tree to cut back to the number seven jump. She actually ducked so not to get hit by a branch as she cut close to the tree. She took the number seven jump at a bit of angle, but cleared it before she angled toward the tree and cut for the last jump. When she had crossed the timer, she knew that she had done the best she could and had a clean run. She looked over at the board and saw a time of fifty-nine point forty-seven. She was in first and guaranteed no worse than second. She was happy.
Maddie came off the course and high-fived her sister as she went on. Maddie immediately stopped and turned to watch her sister. While everyone in her group wanted to congratulate her, they knew to give her a moment as she watched her sister. As much as they knew that Maddie wanted to win, they also knew that she wanted her sister to do well.
… … … …
Missy went out on course and the first thing that she did was check out the spot that her sister had reported. She could see the diamond dust that had been put down. She also knew that could be a bit slippery, but as she rode through it, Squeak seemed fine and it didn't feel slippery. She took him over and showed him the water tray again, as she thought about things. She knew she wasn't as good at tight turns like she sister, but also knew that she could so something similar, if she let Squeak run a bit more then her sister had done with Bubbles.
Missy stopped in the corner, closed her eyes and said a quick prayer as she was going to try something that might backfire on her. She knew it was chance, but she was willing to take it. Missy was still in the corner when the five second warning sounded. She quickly brought her head up and clicked to Squeak. She had him at almost a full gallop as they went along the fence line to start. She took the first jump at an angle, that lined her up better for the second jump. As soon as she cleared the second jump, she immediately cut back and headed across the field and but between the four and nine jumps before making another sharp turn back toward four. She took the double with the water tray at a bit of a steep angle, but she cleared and quickly straighten Squeak out and galloped through the two parts of the combination at the number five jump.
After landing at five c, she immediately cut back to go in front of the tree like her sister. She didn't swing out as wide as her sister and almost missed the number seven jump, but made it. She then cut it close and took the last jump at an angle before straighten out to cross the finish timer. She knew that it would be close, but she turned and looked at the board and a smile broke out on Missy's face as she had beat her sister again. She had posted a time of fifty-nine point forty-five. Her gamble had paid off and she was supper happy about it. She took a lap and waved to the crowd before going to meet her sister at the in gate. As soon as she was close enough, Maddie leaned over and gave her a big hug.
"Good job." Maddie said. "But that was scary to watch."
Missy laughed and patted her sister's back.
"Girls." An official said.
The girls let go of each other and looked at the official.
"We are going to line up for ribbons and pictures." The official said. "We are already running long."
"Okay." Maddie said.
The official called for the top five riders to come line up. Marcus Smith with his horse Steel was in fifth with a time of fifty-nine point fifty-three. Melissa Smith with her horse Link was in fourth with fifty-nine point fifty-two. They were both from Cool Parke Farms of Garrettsville. In third was Josh Miller with his horse Wizzard from Sloan Court Academy of Richfield Springs with a time of fifty-nine point fifty. Second was Maddie Burke with her horse Bubbles with a time of fifty-nine point forty-seven and first was Missy Burke with her horse Squeak and a time of fifty-nine point forty-five. The smile on Missy's face as huge and bright as she sat in the middle of the horses as they got their ribbons. Not only did the five each get a rosette ribbon that said 'Hudson River Classic 2018' with their place. Missy and Maddie each also received a Champion and Reserve Champion rosette ribbon also saying the Hudson River Classic 2018. It was the girls first champion and reserve champion ribbons as they usually weren't given to the lower levels. The official photos were taken, including an extra one of the twins since they had asked. Then they were ushered off the field so the grounds keepers could set up for the preliminary class of jumpers.
When the girls came off and were far enough away from the in gate, they jumped down and grabbed the reins They also grabbed the ribbons off the bridles so they could get a better look at them. As they did that, they were surrounded by their group offering their congratulations. James was very happy with another top two finish for the girls. They boys liked the ribbons and were happy for the girls. Jack and Doug knew it was the first for the girls with the extra ribbons and were happy for them. Jack hoped to add a few more ribbons to his own collection. He really wanted the champion one since Nathan had gotten the one earlier in the summer.
"Very well done, girls." James said. "But Missy, you are taking a little too much after Jack. Watch it, I don't want you to get hurt."
"Yes, Sir." Missy said. "I felt it was worth the risk, but I will be careful moving forward."
"As long as we are clear." James said.
"Yes, Grandpa." Missy said. "But I won, so all is well."
Missy smiled that smile of hers at James and he just shook his head. While he didn't like her taking chances, she had a point.
"Good job girls." Jack said. "Before you go cool off the horses, there is something that I want you to talk to your parents about and then let me know when we are all back in the city."
"Okay, Jack." Maddie said.
"Next year." Jack said. "Do you want Grandpa and I to petition the league to let you jump preliminary or do you want to stay in modified for another year. Talk to each other, talk to your parents and let me know. If one of you wants to move up and the other stay, that is fine as well. Just let me know. We have until the fall finale to put in the paperwork."
"Okay, Uncle Jack." Missy said. "I don't know about Maddie, but I am immediately leaning toward staying in modified, even if I don't get as many opportunities to jump."
"Talk to your parents." Jack said.
"We will." Maddie said.
"Good." James said. "Now go care for your horses."
The girls walked off with their horses and James turned to Jack.
"Do you really think that the league will let them?" James asked. "They are just going to be eleven."
"They let me move up early." Jack said. "And with the way that the girls have dominated this year. I think that if they can demonstrate they can jump at the next level, I don't know why not. It might be good for the girls as they would actually have some competition."
"But is it fair to ask an eleven year old to compete against thirteen and fourteen year old." Doug asked.
"I don't know." Jack said. "It is a balancing act. That is why I asked the girls to talk about it and talk with your parents about it."
"I can tell you right now what Mom and Dad are going to say." Doug said.
"I had to try." Jack said.
"Let's go sit." James said. "We can talk more about it."
The group went back to the trailers. Jack immediately went back to check on Bandit and he was fine, munching on some hay in the net that had been hung for them. He made sure they had enough water as well. Once he had checked on the horses, he went and grabbed his phone. He sent a quick text to Elizabeth telling her that he missed her and he loved her. He put his phone in his inside coat pocket and took a seat.
… … … …
The group was excited as the girls had won their jumping class. Elizabeth was excited for the girls. She knew how much they loved to jump. When they got up there, she high-fived both of them.
"Good job." Elizabeth said. "That was close and both did great."
"Thank you Auntie Elizabeth." Maddie said.
"Yes, thank you Auntie Elizabeth." Missy echoed.
"Auntie?" Elizabeth questioned.
"Well." Maddie said. "We call Jack uncle, so you are auntie."
"Okay." Elizabeth said. "If that is what you want, I am okay with it."
"Good." Maddie said. "We decided this morning that is what we want to call you."
"Well, I am okay with it." Elizabeth said. "Thank you."
The girls went and grabbed some food from Gran. They were hungry after jumping. Gran pulled out some paper plates from her bag and made each of the girls a sandwich. She then added some fruit and veggies on the plate. She gave them a choice for their sweet treat. Missy took a brownie while Maddie wanted one of the donuts. Each of the girls grabbed a bottle of Gatorade to have with their snack. Trish offered to help, but Gran said she got it. The girls sat down and used the bleachers as a table while they sat and ate. They played on their Ipads while they were eating. They didn't use social media a lot, but they did want to post about their wins. They had taken a couple of pics of each other with their ribbons as well as a couple selfies with some of the other jumpers, so they wanted to add them to their pages.
Trish had set up a Facebook page for each of them. She watched it and they really only had other jumpers and kids from the home school group on it. They had gotten the contact information from some of the jumpers and wanted to add them to their friends list. There were a few of the kids that Maddie and Missy wanted to stay in touch with. While they were eating, they also had a conversation about what they wanted for the next year. The girls agreed that it was probably the best if they stayed in modified for another year. While they were good, they weren't sure about moving up a level and jumping with kids that much older then them. They were already some of the youngest in the class and if they moved up, they would definitely be the youngest at every show.
As the girls were eating, Elizabeth grabbed a water and some veggies as well. She wasn't really hungry, but just needed a couple bites of something. She checked with everyone else to see if they needed a drink before she sat back down. She saw Frank had grabbed a Gatorade and headed off somewhere. She figured he was going to go sit with the guys like he had been at the last few shows.
Just as Elizabeth sat down and was going to talk to Katie again, several of John's business associates came over. John introduced everyone and Elizabeth decided to wait to talk to Katie about what she had wanted and instead asked more about what Katie had planned for her kids before school started back again. Katie told Elizabeth that her and Chris were probably going to take the kids out of the city for the weekend just to have some time with them and catch up. They had friends that had a nice place in Montauk, so they might head there for a few days. Elizabeth agreed that sounded like fun. Elizabeth knew that was a nice place, but she had never actually been there. S he thought she might like to check it out.
… … … …
The guys had only been sitting for a few minutes when Father Mark walked up and grabbed a camp chair to join the guys.
"Hey." Father Mark said.
"You made it." Nathan said.
"Glad to see you." Jack said.
"Yeah I made it." Father Mark said.
"Get everything taken care of?" Nathan asked.
"I think so." Jack said.
"What are you talking about?" Jack asked.
"Just some paperwork that I needed to take care of before I left for DC." Father Mark said.
"Why are you going to DC first again?" Jack asked.
"Because there are three other priests from the east coast flying to Rome." Father Mark said. "They are flying out of Reagan National, so the Bishop thought it would be nice for me to be able to join them on the flight over."
"Okay." Jack said. "Did Grandpa John offer you the jet?"
"Yes, he did and I turned it down." Father Mark said. "I did relent and allow him to bump my ticket up to first class. I am going to park my truck at his place and let Andrew take me to the airport in Albany so I can fly to DC."
"Good." Jack said. "I have already called and upgraded your phone plan starting Monday. So don't worry about it."
"Thank you again." Father Mark said. "I am grateful that you are willing to do that."
"Are you alright?" Jack asked. "You don't seem like yourself."
"Just realizing how much I am going to miss everyone." Father Mark said.
"We are going to miss you as well." Jack said. "But we can talk and you will be home before you know it. Thanksgiving is not that far away and we will be together again. I am hoping to be able to make it back here for the fall finale the weekend before Thanksgiving. I might have to come here, jump on Saturday and fly back on Sunday, just to fly back up here Wednesday afternoon, but we will just have to see. Grandpa said he could talk to the school, but I asked him to let take care of it."
"Well." Nathan said. "If you are jumping in the fall finale, then I want to."
"Me too." Doug said.
"Fine by me." Jack said. "So the question becomes, do we take the horses down to the facility near the city. I don't know how much time we are going to have to jump once school starts."
"Let's see what the schedules look like." Doug said. "We can always move the horses later."
"True." Jack said. "Just trying to plan."
"I know." Doug said.
The guys bantered back and forth. They were joined by Frank after the twins had gone up to the family group.
… … … …
