Best Enemies (Canterwood Crest) by Jessica Burkhart Read Free Book Online

but her back hooves dragged over the top of the brush.
    “Tighten your knees!” I called.
    Eric must have heard me because his legs went back into the correct position and he urged Luna into a faster canter. She didn’t even blink at the coffin and it gave her confidence to leap the stone wall.
    “Great finish!” I cheered as Eric rode over to me.
    “She almost refused the brush jump,” Eric said, shaking his head. “Advice?”
    “Not enough pressure,” I said. “Your signals were lax, too, and you wobbled in the saddle. Luna used that as an excuse and she looked like she thought about ducking out.”
    “I lost focus for a second,” Eric admitted. “That’s dangerous on a cross-country course.”
    I circled Charm, readying him to go. “It is, but at least you’re aware of it. You’ll stay more focused next time.”
    Eric nodded, taking a breath. “Okay, cross-country superstar, it’s your turn.”
    I sank my weight into the saddle and trotted Charm forward. I was glad there wasn’t a creek around this part of campus. I didn’t want to mess up in front of Eric. But I still had to fix Charm’s water phobia.
    “I’ll take you out to the water with Callie and Jack,” I said to Charm as we reached the top of the hill. “We’ll fix it.”
    Charm didn’t need any urging to canter. He leaped forward, his strides eating the grass. He powered over the old gate. That felt
so
good! I guided him over both brush jumps and Charm wasn’t a bit winded as he cantered around a long turn and approached the coffin. The coffin—a ditch with rails on both sides—required a slower canter. Sometimes, Mr. Conner filled the ditch with water, but it was empty today. I collected Charm, preparing him for the wide spread.
    He slowed and I squeezed my knees against the saddle. Charm surged forward and stretched as he clearedthe rails and ditch. He landed with his hooves inches from the jump.
    “Nice,” I whispered to him. “One more!”
    We reached the stone wall in seconds and wind whooshed in my ears as Charm lifted into the air. He’d taken off a half second too late and had to tuck his forelegs tighter under his body to avoid touching the wall with his hooves.
    “Not bad, boy,” I said, patting his neck and slowing him to a trot.
    “You guys make it look easy,” Eric said.
    I shook my head. “We took off too late before the wall.”
    “Forget about it,” Eric said. “It’s show jumping time.”
    I laughed when I saw the gleam in his eye. “You love playing Mr. Conner, don’t you?” I asked.
    After our ride I led a cooled Charm down the aisle and passed Julia and Alison, who were grooming Trix and Sunstruck. They both saw me and glared before looking away. It had to be insanely difficult to be around horses but not be able to ride. I couldn’t even think about the possibility of not riding Charm till next January.
    “Is Mr. Conner softening at all about letting you ride?” I asked, turning back to them.
    “Yeah, right,” Julia huffed. “Alison and I are in his office, like, every other day telling him we’re innocent. But he doesn’t believe us.”
    “At least you get to see your horses. Imagine if you’d been banned from the stable.”
    Julia raised her eyebrows. “That makes me feel
so
much better. Thanks a ton.”
    Alison put down Sunstruck’s currycomb and folded her arms. “Maybe it would have been easier. Then we wouldn’t have to watch everyone else ride.”
    “Sorry,” I said, walking Charm forward. “I wasn’t trying to make you feel worse.”
    I released Charm into his stall and he went straight to his hay net. “Bye, boy.”
    I walked toward the Sweet Shoppe for my midweek cookie break and texted Paige.
    Almost @ SS. Want anything?
    She texted back.
No thanx. Just made brownies.
    Hmmm… Paige’s brownies were better than the Sweet Shoppe’s. But I felt like iced coffee after that ride. I walked toward the shop, deleting old texts as I walked. I looked up and stopped