Riding Above Air: Book Four in the Defining Gravity Series Read online

  We turned to the right and rode down a sandy trail edged with young, green pine saplings, then headed steeply downhill until we reached my favourite spot, the place where the smaller trees gave way to the last remnants of an ancient rainforest. The temperature dropped a few degrees as soon as we entered the grove, enough to make me shiver and goosebumps prickle up my arms. The light barely filtered in through the dense canopy of trees and the birdsong was replaced by a deep silence. We almost never spoke in here; there was something about it that was like the inside of a cathedral, you felt like you were entering some sacred place.

  The horses picked their way carefully along the damp trail, hooves sinking a little into the spongy earth, and then, too soon, we were heading upward again, the path turning back to sand under the horse’s feet. The horses pricked their ears and picked up their pace, already knowing that soon it would be time to canter again. They needed no encouragement to move into a quick, excited trot.

  “Hang on there, friend,” Rob said, as Ferdi let out a small excited buck. He waited until Ferdi was moving in a nice, steady rhythm again and then signaled him to canter. Ferdi sprang forward enthusiastically and surged up the hill, sand flying up behind him. It was much more of a gallop than a canter, but Rob didn’t seem to mind.

  I held Artimax back a little so we wouldn’t get a face full of dirt and then shifted one seat-bone back slightly, asking him to pick up a canter. Artimax was in a relaxed mood and not worried about catching up with his friend at all so I let him move along on a loose rein. I noticed with satisfaction how much easier his upward transitions had become for me. He was so much more balanced, and it was easier for him to rock back on his hocks and pick up the canter rather than fall into it on his forehand and root at the reins for balance.

  He was the type of horse that was easy for anyone to ride, but not so easy to ride well. It had taken me a while to figure out how to help him balance like Rob did.

  I think that’s one of the things I like best about riding so many different horses, I thought, they’re all such unique puzzles, and you have to think your way through putting the pieces together so they work. And every puzzle is different than the one before. I can understand why Rob would want to do this forever.

  I came out of my daydream just as Rob moved smoothly off the path and popped Ferdi effortlessly over one of the logs we’d set up alongside the trail.

  Oh, right, I guess I should pay attention.

  Arti’s ears pricked as he spotted the jump, but he barely even had to adjust his stride, it was just like taking one huge canter step. For a second, we were suspended in the air and then back down to earth again with hardly a jolt.

  “Good boy,” I said, scratching his neck appreciatively. “Thanks for taking care of me.” I didn’t think I’d ever be a graceful jumper but at least I’d learned to sit quietly and let him do his job.

  There were only a handful of low jumps scattered through the woods, nothing too challenging, just enough to give the young horses a taste and let the experienced horses stretch their legs.

  “You should come with me to the cross-country schooling tomorrow,” Rob said, “it’s a nice track, you’d probably like it.”

  “No thanks,” I said quickly, “I’m teaching at archery camp tomorrow, but I’d love to watch another time.”

  “Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I couldn’t remember why you weren’t going with me.”

  I turned at the strange note in his voice. He sounded almost sad again, but when I looked over, his face was smooth and unworried.

  “Which horses are you taking?” I asked.

  “All of mine and I can take Ellie, too, if you like. I have time.”

  I thought of delicate little Ellie hurtling across a cross-country course and shivered.

  Rob glanced over at me and laughed, guessing my thoughts. “There’s a modified course for schooling baby horses, you know,” he said, “and scaredy-cat riders.”

  He laughed as I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out at him.

  “They’re basically the height of cross-rails to help the greenies gain confidence. There won’t be anything there that she couldn’t handle, and it would give her some new experiences.”

  “I guess.” I sighed. “You’re probably right. I know Aunt Lillian wants her out doing all sorts of stuff. But how are you supposed to take all five horses on your own? You’d need like six extra hands to get them all ready and cool them out.”

  “No big deal,” he said, grinning at me. “My dad will be there to help. The baby horses will go in the morning and Artimax and Ferdi in the afternoon. I’ll drop the young horses back off at home before taking the other guys out. Don’t worry, I’m used to it.”

  We walked in silence for a few minutes while I thought it over. Of course, Ellie should go. I trusted Rob completely not to put her in a situation she couldn’t handle. And yet, I couldn’t help but worry about her. Would she have a good time? Would she be scared? She’d be with Possum and Maverick…

  I sat up straight in the saddle as a sudden thought hit me.

  “Rob, did you tell Nori that you planned to take Maverick tomorrow?”

  “Oh, shoot.” Rob’s face creased. “I totally forgot about that. I didn’t even think to run it by her. Is she going to flip out?”

  “Um, probably. She is Nori, after all, that’s kind of what she does.”

  Nori’s horse Lumi had died the year before in a horrible freak accident on course. Even though it hadn’t even happened at a fence, Nori had blamed herself and sworn off eventing forever. She wouldn’t be happy if she found out Rob was taking her favourite horse cross-country, even if it was just an easy schooling day.

  “Argh, all right, I guess I should call her and talk to her tonight.”

  “Good luck,” I said sympathetically. “You know, you should really just let her buy him. She’s the only person Maverick likes.”

  “I know. I guess it makes sense, but I’m just afraid she’s going to change her mind and want to compete again in a few months and then she’ll have to sell him. Maverick is a good all-around horse but he’s never going to be a top athlete. The Nori I knew, before the accident, was as competitive as they come, and she was talented, too. I can’t see her giving all that up forever.”

  “Well, she’s pretty stubborn once she sets her mind on something. I believe her when she says she’s quit for good.”

  “I’ll think about it. I just don’t want him to be passed around from home to home. He’s the type of horse who could end up in a bad situation in the wrong hands. He’s not exactly a joy to work with.”

  “I know. That’s exactly why I think he and Nori were made for each other.”

  We let the horses walk the last ten minutes on a loose rein, dangling our feet out of the stirrups and chatting about all sorts of things. Being with Rob was so easy. The dark shadows that often crowded around me when I was alone just seemed to melt away when he was around.

  After we’d cooled Ferdi and Artimax out and put them away, we took a break to refuel on coffee and the last of the pastries.

  “All right, Ellie and Possum next and then I’ll work Maverick in the ring,” Rob said. “I forgot that we’re short a horse now that Sadie’s back from vacation and can ride Riverdance herself.”

  “Yeah, I’m okay not having one more horse to ride.” I laughed, heading into Ellie’s stall. I’d loved riding Riverdance, Sadie’s flashy Lusitano who’d once been a legitimate bullfighting horse, but working four horses a day after doing all the stalls and paddocks and other barn work, on top of all my other chores, were more than enough.

  I’d always admired that Rob could happily ride eight horses a day without breaking a sweat but that was definitely not me.

  Ellie met me at the front of her stall with a happy little nicker. She nuzzled her soft golden nose against my arm and I smoothed her long forelock down the center of her face. She was a sweet, uncomplicated mare who’d originally been Hilary’s project horse until the whol
e ankle accident thing. Then I’d inherited her somehow.

  I hadn’t wanted to ride a green horse at first, but now I loved working with her. I had to remind myself daily that she was not really my horse, she was Aunt Lillian’s, and she was there only to be sold. Still, it was hard not to get attached.

  I ran a brush over her glossy coat, picked her feet and hesitated before putting the still-damp boots on her legs. I hadn’t gotten her a set of her own because I didn’t know when she’d be leaving, but it was times like these when I wished I had.

  I led her over to the mounting block and she stood motionless, tilting her head sideways a little so that she could watch me get on her back. She turned her nose and bumped my foot gently, lipping softly at the toe of my boot.

  “You’re a silly girl,” I said, scratching her under her golden forelock. She was pretty much any kid’s dream horse and I hoped that she’d be sold to someone who loved and appreciated her. I could hardly stand the thought that a new owner might treat her badly.

  Stop thinking like that, I ordered myself. Nobody is going to treat her badly. She’ll be sold to the perfect home. Besides, that’s probably months away, you can worry about that when the time comes.

  Possum and Ellie were evenly matched in size, temperament and good looks. Neither of them was the flashiest of movers in the world, but they were steady and honest and got the job done. They seemed to enjoy being in each other’s company, too, preferring to trot along side by side whenever possible instead of single file.

  The sun had climbed steadily higher in the sky and the temperature had now reached the near-roasting point. Sweat dotted my face and trickled down my back and I was glad now that this was my last ride of the day.

  We didn’t push the horses too hard in the heat, just trotted and cantered them a little in the shady spots and let them walk the rest of the time. In her last email, Liza had reminded me to include some lateral work on our conditioning rides so now I gently added some leg yields on the wider trails, smoothly moving Ellie from side to side, focusing on her hind end to make sure her hind legs were crossing properly. And then added some slight shoulder-ins as well.

  When we got back, I said I’d give them both baths and get them put away myself while Rob went and tacked up Maverick.

  By the time I had both girls clean, dry and back in their paddocks snacking on hay, Rob was already cantering the grumpy little black horse around the cooler indoor arena.

  I grabbed a root beer for me and a bottle of water for Rob from the fridge in the tack room and went inside the arena to watch the end of his ride.

  They were cantering around in a wide figure eight, Maverick snorting rhythmically at every stride. Rob brought him back to a trot in the middle of the ring and then asked him to canter again, this time on the opposite lead.

  I frowned, watching the angry swish of Maverick’s tail as he passed me. The horse was doing everything he was asked to, but it was obvious that his heart wasn’t in it. He kept his ears back and there was a certain tightness around his mouth and nostrils that showed that he wasn’t thrilled about his job.

  “How does he look?” Rob asked, bringing him down to a walk.

  “Cranky,” I said honestly.

  He looked down at Maverick’s silky neck and frowned. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. He’s perfectly obedient, but it feels like there’s something missing. He doesn’t enjoy any of this.”

  “He doesn’t always look that way with Nori, though,” I said slowly. “I think he maybe tries harder for her. And he loves, or at least doesn’t hate, the archery.”

  “You’re probably right,” Rob said unenthusiastically. “But Nori is just a kid. She could drop horses completely tomorrow and take up knitting.”

  I coughed hard, nearly choking on my root beer. “Knitting? I think she’d rather use the needles to stab someone.”

  “Yeah, okay, bad example. Maybe she’d take up kickboxing or Olympic rowing or whatever. I just mean she could get bored of him and sell him at any time. I just worry about him. He’s so moody. Can you imagine him with someone who didn’t understand that? Who hit him or punished him?”

  “I know,” I said. “I get it, but they’re here to be sold, Rob. They have to go somewhere.”

  “And that, there, is the reason I hesitate to go into horses full time. It’s fine when they’re your own and you have the final say what happens to them. But when they’re not yours…. Well, maybe I don’t have the stomach for the business side of training.”

  “I think you do,” I said thoughtfully. “I think that you’ll be good at it because you do care. You’ll always go that extra mile to do what’s right for the horses.”

  “Like you do,” Rob said, smiling down at me. “I see how hard you work hard to make sure they’re happy.”

  “Yes, we make a good team.”

  Before Rob could answer we heard the sound of his dad’s truck chugging up the driveway and we had to hurry to cool Maverick out and get everyone ready to load back on the trailer.

  “See you tomorrow night for the movies,” I said once the final horse had been loaded. I let Rob pull me into a hug, resting my cheek against his shirt one final time and inhaling deeply.

  I waved them down the driveway and went to turn Ellie, Red, and Jerry out on pasture and make sure all the paddocks and stalls we’d used for Rob’s horses were still clean.

  It wasn’t until I climbed wearily onto my bike and pedalled the long, slow incline up to the house that I realized how truly exhausted I was.

  “What’s the matter, sheep?” I asked, pausing to take a break under a shade tree right beside their pasture at the top of the hill. Normally they would be out grazing in their field, but today they were all lined up against the fence, staring at me expectantly.

  I dropped my bike on the grass and went over to the fence to visit them, reaching out to scratch my favourite one, Portia, under her chin. They were hair sheep, not the type with wool, so they really looked more like goats than traditional fuzzy sheep. Their coats were silky soft in the summer heat and their black and white fur glistened in the sun.

  “Baa,” Portia said the second I stopped petting her. She used her nose to nudge me sharply on the arm, demanding more scratches.

  “You’re so bossy, Portia,” I told her. “Why are you standing out here in the heat? Go in your nice, shady barn.”

  The flock continued to stare at me blankly. I had no idea what they wanted, but I checked to make sure their big water tub was full just in case and then continued on up to the house.

  Chapter Two

  When I opened the front door, the temperature inside the house was blissfully cold against my sundrenched skin. I stopped in the doorway, closing my eyes and just letting every last drop of heat evaporate from my body.

  The house was silent except for the hollow tock, tock, tock of the big stand-up clock in the entryway. I pulled my paddock boots off, wiggling my hot, cramped toes luxuriously against the cool wooden floor and then padded directly into the family room, the place where it was okay for Hilary and me to lounge in our dirty horse clothes and for Caprice to get up on the furniture.

  Caprice was already there, stretched out asleep with her head on a pillow at the end of one of the big leather couches.

  “Is there room for me?” I asked, sinking gratefully down into the cool, soft cushions. Caprice immediately sprang up and came to snuggle with me, curling her soft body against mine and nudging her head under my hand so I’d pet her.

  “Good girl,” I said, yawning and closing my eyes. The house was so quiet and peaceful; I could just drift away and sleep for hours.

  “Don’t you want lunch, Astrid?” Mrs. Ahlberg said, appearing beside me out of nowhere and jolting me awake.

  “What?” I sat up, looking around in confusion. “Oh, no thank you. I don’t have any energy for food right now, maybe later.”

  “Food gives you energy. Honey, you look worn out. Have you been drinking enough water? It’s so hot out th
ere today, you need to stay hydrated.”

  “Is coffee considered water?” I asked sleepily.

  “No, it certainly is not. Where’s Hilary anyway? I thought she went down to the barn when we got back from grocery shopping. Wasn’t she outside helping you get everything ready for the new coach?”

  “I haven’t seen her yet today,” I confessed reluctantly, not quite meeting Mrs. Ahlberg’s anxious gaze. I was frustrated with Hilary, but I didn’t want to get her in trouble.

  “That girl. I don’t know what’s gotten into her lately, Astrid. But I really don’t want you being left shouldering all the extra workload. You look exhausted.”

  “No, I’m good,” I murmured, closing my eyes and pretending to fall back into a doze so I could avoid this conversation. In a moment, her footsteps trailed from the room and I snuggled deeper into the couch, trying to regain the peaceful sleep I’d come out of.

  “Here you go.” It felt like only a second had passed but Mrs. Ahlberg was back with a plate of food in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. “Sit up, dear. Hilary’s in her room getting changed. Your new coach is going to be here in an hour and I know you’ll want to go down to the barn and make sure everything is tidy for her. Have your lunch and make sure you drink all the water.”

  Thanking her I pulled myself into a sitting position and set the plate, filled with a thick deli meat sandwich, my favourite salad with pecans, cranberries and goat cheese, and a small pile of chips, onto my lap.

  I did feel better after I’d eaten and drained all the water. The heavy feeling in my head passed and my muscles didn’t ache quite so much.

  Hilary trotted down the stairs, looking fresh and radiant in a clean pair of grey checked breeches and a plum-coloured polo shirt, her long blonde hair pulled up in a pony-tail and just the faintest trace of make-up on her face.

  I eyed her carefully, but she didn’t look sulky and moody like she had that morning. She looked like her easy-going, happy self again.

  “She’s almost here,” she said, plopping down breathlessly on the chair across from me, “aren’t you excited? Come on, let’s head down to the barn and make sure everything’s perfect.”