I glared out the window as the rain trickled down the glass, willing the traffic to clear. All I wanted was to get back to Fox Run, tuck Bluebird away in his stall and call the vet, who was probably already there.
Faith had called Missy all hysterical because Jupiter was foaling and no one was there to help her. Sandy, Missy’s once upon a time friend had dumped the mare on us and now she’d disappeared and so had my father. Apparently my dad wasn’t home when Faith banged on the door. Missy seemed worried that they’d run off together. I told her that she was being ridiculous. Thanks to my father’s broken ankle he couldn’t run anywhere, all he did was hobble from the living room to the bedroom and back again. It was more than likely that he’d taken too many of his pain meds and passed out. Besides, it didn’t matter anyway. He was still on crutches so it wasn’t like he could get in the stall and help pull the foal out anyway. Jupiter was stuck just like we were.
“Can’t you drive on the shoulder?” I moaned. “Get around all this traffic?”
“Yes because getting arrested will definitely get us back faster,” Missy replied.
“You could tell the cops you have a medical emergency,” I said.
“I don’t,” she said.
“Bluebird is sick. Jupiter is foaling. Sounds like a medical emergency to me,” I said.
“Somehow I don’t think the cops will see it that way,” she said. “Horse emergencies don’t count.”
“Well they should,” I mumbled. “It’s not fair. Why is everything going wrong?”
“It just feels like that right now,” Missy said. “Everything will be okay.”
“But you don’t know that do you? You don’t know for sure that Jupiter will foal just fine without us or that Bluebird will get better.”
“No but I can try to look on the bright side,” she said.
I knew that she was only trying to be nice and comfort me but trying to be a ray of sunshine in the middle of my thunder storm was not helping and I wasn’t five. I didn’t need to be lied to and told that everything was going to be okay when it wasn’t. They’d told me that when my sister was in the hospital. They said that she would be fine and then she died. I’d never believed anyone ever again when they said that everything was going to be fine. It was a lie told to little children who were gullible enough to believe it. I knew better. Nothing was going to be fine. I could feel it in my bones.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Claire Svendsen fell in love with horses at age two when she got her first pony. The only trouble was that it wasn’t a real horse, it was a rocking horse. From that day on she begged, pleaded and bribed for lessons, riding clothes and a horse of her own. She had to wait and work really hard to finally get her first real horse but when she did, it was a dream come true. Over the years she has trained horses, given lessons and even run her own stable.
No longer able to ride due to injury, Claire lives vicariously through the characters in her books. When she’s not busy writing, you’ll find her hanging out at the barn with her retired Thoroughbred Merlin who loves carrots, apples and bowing on command.
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Other books in the Show Jumping Dreams Series by Claire Svendsen
#1 Secret Rider
#2 Pony Jumpers
#3 Winter Blues
#4 Star Pupil
#5 Sale Horse
#6 Last Chance
#7 Hunter Pace
#8 Turf Wars
#9 Beach Ride
#10 White Horses
#11 Trick Pony
#12 Off Course
#13 Winter Wonderland
#14 Gift Horse
#15 Half Halt
#16 Young Riders
#17 Show Time
#18 Beginner’s Luck
#19 Chasing Ribbons
#20 Double Standards
(COMING SOON) #21 Stable Vices
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY ONE
CHAPTER FORTY TWO
CHAPTER FORTY THREE
CHAPTER FORTY FOUR
CHAPTER FORTY FIVE
CHAPTER FORTY SIX
CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN
CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT
CHAPTER FORTY NINE
CHAPTER FIFTY
COMING SOON
STABLE VICES: CHAPTER ONE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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