Georgie missed her mum so much. She knew it probably wouldnât have changed the outcome if she had been there today. But she wished more than anything that her mum were here to give her a hug, to tell her that what happened on the cross-country course wasnât her fault and that everything would be OK.
Hot tears made their way down Georgieâs cheeks. She reached up and brushed them away angrily with the back of her hand. There was no point in being like this, Georgie told herself. No use sniffling and feeling sorry for herself and hoping for things that werenât going to happen. She had lost at Great Brampton and nothing would change that. And it was no good wishing her mum was here. Because Ginny Parker was gone, and she wasnât coming back.
Chapter Two (#ulink_b1e5e5c4-bf40-57fb-bffb-a510d827903f)
Georgieâs fall at Great Brampton undoubtedly delighted Daisy King, who rose up from second place in the rankings and rode brilliantly to take first place. Strangely enough however, it wasnât just Georgieâs rivals who were happy that sheâd lost. Her friends were chuffed as well.
âI canât help it. I think itâs brilliant news!â Lily said when Georgie told her about the water jump disaster at school the following day. âHonestly, Georgie. Youâre my best friend and I canât stand the idea of you leaving to go to some posh, horsey school in America.â
Georgie sighed. She should have known better than to expect sympathy from Lily.
âI mean,â Lily continued, âI donât even understand why you want to go to boarding school anyway. Itâs like wanting to go to prison!â
âBlainfordâs not just a boarding school,â Georgie countered with exasperation. âItâs an elite training school with horses.â She didnât know why she bothered. It was the same old argument theyâd had a million times. Georgie couldnât blame her best friend for being anti-Blainford. After all, if Georgie actually managed to get a place at the academy then it would mean moving away from Little Brampton and away from Lily. They had been best friends ever since they met at Little Brampton primary school at the age of four. Now they were thirteen and in their second year at Little Brampton High School.
âThey feed you gruel at boarding school, you know,â Lily continued.
âWhatâs gruel?â Georgie asked.
âItâs like porridge only worse; tasteless and runny,â Lily told her. âI read a book about a boarding school where the children all got gruel and were whipped with a birch stick when they were naughty.â
Georgie groaned, âMaybe if you went to boarding school two hundred years ago it was like that, Lily. I donât think anyone gets beaten with a birch stick at Blainford.â
âI bet they still have the gruel though,â Lily was insistent.
âThe worst bit about yesterday,â Georgie said, changing the subject, âwas after I fell off. I was walking back to the horse truck with Tyro, all soaked and grubby and everyone on the sidelines was watching us, and then my dad says really loudly so that everyone can hear, âNever mind, Georgina, how about I buy you an ice cream on the way home to cheer you up!ââ Georgie rolled her eyes. âAs if I was a four-year-old whoâd lost a lollipopânot an eventing rider whoâd just taken a fall on the cross-country course!â
Lily giggled. âYour dad just doesnât get it, does he?â
Georgie shook her head. âHe doesnât understand me, full stop. He never has really.â
âHeâs no worse than my dad,â Lily said. âHe doesnât have a clue about me either. At least your dad was willing to let you apply to Blainford, even though the school fees must cost a bomb.â
âItâs not like it was Dadâs idea. He hates the thought of me going there. Mum was the one who had my name down on the enrolment list from the day I was born.â
It had been a massive battle for Georgie to convince Dr Parker to let her apply for Blainford. Her dad didnât understand why she wanted to go. âYou already have a pony,â he told her. âWhy canât you stay here and save riding for after school and the weekends? The local high school is perfectly adequate.â
âNo, itâs not,â Georgie had told him. âNot if I want to become a world-class rider. All the best riders in the world have been to Blainford. You get to take your horse with you and you can ride every day, plus there are specialist riding classes and they teach all sorts of horse subjects as well as the regular stuff like English and maths.â
âI think youâre being swayed by the fact that your mother went to school there,â Dr Parker said. âIâm sure if we look around we could find an equestrian school here in Gloucestershire that is just as good. I believe there are several excellent ones in the county. Why does it have to be this Blainfordâon the other side of the world in America?â
âBlainford is the best,â Georgie countered. âItâs not just because of Mum, honestly. It has amazing instructors.â Her dad didnât seem to understand that half the appeal was the fact that it was a million miles away. Georgie loved their village but at the same time she was desperate to get away. Ever since her motherâs accident, sheâd been so lonely here. Her dad tried hard, but he didnât know anything about horses, or how it felt to be a thirteen-year-old girl with dreams of horsey super-stardom, stuck in boring old Little Brampton.
Georgie had nothing in common with her dad. Everyone said she was just like her mum, tall and willowy with a fair complexion and smattering of freckles. Her mum had brown hair, though, and Georgieâs was blonde. âIf I were a pony,â Georgie liked to ask her mother, âwhat colour would I be?â
âOh, a palomino, I should think,â Mrs Parker would reply, âwith your beautiful flaxen mane. Not a boring brown mare like your mum.â
Georgie was ten years old when Ginny Parker took the fatal fall that ended her life. The accident happened on the cross-country course at the Blenheim three-star. Ginny Parker had been riding two horses that day. The famed chestnut gelding, The Interloper, generally considered her best horse, and the other her favourite mare, a stunning bay with a white heart-shaped marking on her forehead, whose name was Boudicca.
Mrs Parker always took her daughter to the big competitions. But on this particular weekend Little Brampton was having a gymkhana and so, instead of travelling with her mum, Georgie decided to stay and take Tyro on his first outing. It was a decision she would always regret. If she had known what was going to happen that day she would have been by her motherâs side. Instead, when Ginny Parker fell, Georgie was scooping up prizes on Tyro at the gymkhana, completely oblivious to the fact that her life was about to change forever.
No one really knew exactly what happened on the course at Blenheim Palace. Everyone said that Boudicca was going brilliantly, until she reached a fence known as the Blenheim coffin. Ginny Parker had urged the mare over the log at the top of the steep bank, and Boudicca flew the jump with ease, but as she landed, the mare somehow lost her footing. Ginny tried to correct her, but it was too late. Instead of jumping the ditch at the bottom of the bank Boudicca somersaulted into itâwith Georgieâs mum pinned underneath her.
Ginny Parkerâs death rocked the whole village. Everybody in Little Brampton knew the Parkers. Not only because Ginny Parker was an internationally renowned rider, but also because Georgieâs dad was the local GP.
After the accident, Dr Parker insisted that Boudicca, who had survived the fall, should be sold along with Ginnyâs other eventing horses. Even worse, he was adamant that Tyro had to go as well. Georgie, having already lost her mother, was about to lose her best friend in the world.
That was when Lucinda Milwood stepped in. Lucinda ran the local riding school just five minutes down the road from the Parkersâ cottage. When Georgie turned up there in tears over losing Tyro, Lucinda managed to convince a reluctant Dr Parker to allow her to keep the black gelding at the riding school instead of selling him.
Lucindaâs riding school soon became like a second home for Georgie. In exchange for Tyroâs board, she went there every morning before school to muck out the stables and groom the ponies to get them ready for the dayâs lessons. Straight after school, she would change out of her uniform and into her jods to exercise the horses. Afternoons were often busy with riding-school lessons, but if there was time Lucinda would instruct Georgie on Tyro.
Georgie had ridden lots of other horses, but there was something special about Tyro. He was a handsome pony, with a solid, muscular conformation and stocky limbs that made him a jumping machine. His jet-black colouring was unusual for a Connemara, and he had an indefinable presence, a look-at-me quality, that made him stand out in the show ring. The partnership between them really clicked. In three short years Georgie had schooled him up through the grades so that he was one of the best eventing ponies in the district.
In preparation for the Blainford auditions Georgie and Tyro had trained every day. Sometimes, when her schedule had been tight, Georgie had even got up at 5am to ride before school so that she could get the black pony into top shape. But it turned out her efforts were all for nothing. When Tyro went down at the water jump he had taken Georgieâs hopes and dreams down with him. She had failed to ace the audition, in fact she had come at the very bottom of the field. Georgie truly believed her chance of a place at Blainford had gone. So she was shocked on Monday afternoon when, not long after she arrived home from school, Lucinda called her on the phone, breathlessly excited.
âIâm down at the stables,â Lucinda told her, âcome straight away and meet me! And wear your jods!â
Lucinda had hung up before Georgie had the chance to ask what was going on. By the time Georgie arrived at the yard she found Lucinda working Tyro around the arena on the lunge rein. When she caught sight of Georgie she gave her a grin. âHeâs totally sound!â Lucinda called out. âThe accident didnât hurt him at allâheâll be ready to jump in time for the weekend.â
âWhich is great, Lucinda, except weâre not entered in anything this weekend.â Georgie screwed up her face. âThe auditions are over.â
âNo,â Lucinda shook her head. âTheyâre not. Thereâs still one more semi-final audition left. Next weekend in Cirencester.â
âAnother one-day event?â Georgie was stunned.
âNo,â Lucinda said. âItâs showjumping.â
âBut Iâm not a showjumper!â
Lucinda wouldnât be deterred. âFor goodness sake, Georgie, donât be wet! You know how to jump, donât you? Tyro always goes clear in the showjumping phase at one-day events. OK, so heâs never jumped as high as a showjumper and he lacks some technique, but we have a week to train him. Isnât it better than just giving up? At least this way you still stand a chance!â
âBut I donât want to be a showjumper! Iâm an eventer.â
Lucinda rolled her eyes. âIt doesnât matter! All you have to do is make it through the showjumping audition to get yourself a place at the grand finals. And once the academy accepts you, you can revert back to being an eventing rider.â
Georgieâs heart was racing. âIs there enough time for me to enter?â
âAlready done!â Lucinda said. âYour name is on the audition list. Weâll have to leave very early on Saturday to make the drive to Cirencester.â she paused, â.and there is one other tiny detail that might be a problem.â
Georgie groaned. âWhat is it?â
âIâve just found out that the head of the Blainford selection panel will be there.â Lucinda hesitated. âHave you heard of Tara Kelly?â
âTara Kelly!â Georgie couldnât believe it. âI remember seeing her on TV when she won the Lexington Horse Trials. Sheâs an amazing rider.â
Lucinda nodded. âSheâs also the head of admissions for Blainford and sheâs got a reputation for being extremely hard-nosed. One year, she was supposed to take five riders from the UK but she decided only two were up to scratch so she cut the list and left the other three behind.â
âOK,â Georgie said, âso sheâs tough. Then Tyro and