Silver Hawk Ridge: Taking Flight

{ Chapter 19 }

Without Madeline, nothing was the same. When we got to the lunch table, there was no infectious, bubbly laugh to greet us. The warm, gentle hands that had guided Sal since she was a foal, were now cold and frail as Madi laid in the hospital. They'd let us visit her on Wednesday. She was lucky to not have sustained any spinal injuries, but she'd sustained a nasty concussion that would have killed her if she hadn't had her helmet. They were keeping her sedated while the swelling in her skull healed. The rest of her wasn't quite as lucky. The fall had fractured her wrist, as well as managed to put a spiral break in her left lower leg and tear that ACL. She wasn't coming back to riding anytime soon.

The days this week passed on in a lull. They all ran into each other from the monotony...

Tuesday....

"Remember, your quiz over directional and regional terms is this Friday"

"And because of that first settlement..."

"Would you be interested in- " "Don't even think about it buddy"

Wednesday...

I walked numbly into the office. Now we were going to find out the fate of our team. Madeline's injury meant an open spot, and people would be clamoring for it. It didn't matter who it was. They would never hold the same place in my heart. Eventually Mr. Watts and Ms. Brandt walked into the office, an air of business about them both.

"Alright varsity team, I told you I would have the new team situation figured out by Wednesday, and I intend to deliver on that. Based on the first practice and a re-evaluation of try-out results, Ms. Brandt and I have decided to bring up Jennifer Hammond. Jenny?" She strode into the room with a confident smile on her face. She aimed a shared smile with Kennedy as they both looked at Avery and I with arrogant smirks.

   "On that note, let's get to work. Get out of my office. Go tack up. We're gonna focus on flatwork today". We exited the office. At this point I'd all but given up on practice today. No, I needed to try. I owed it to Rega, my trainers, myself, Avery, and...

Madi

The lump stuck in my throat as I opened my locker. Kennedy and Jenny had gone, with no sign of Daniel around either, so I took the opportunity and braced with arms locked and hands gripped against the edge of my locker floor and took deep breaths. I Absolutely. Could not. Cry. Not here. I drew back at attention when Anna laid her hand on my shoulder and raised an eyebrow for confirmation. Nodding, I hefted my gear up into my arms.

Here we go...

   "Drew, tighten that knee a bit, I don't want to see a flopping fish on that horse!"

   "For God's sake Daniel! If I don't see the correct lead this time I will move you to the JV team...THANK YOU! See? That wasn't so hard, now was it?"

   "Jenny, roll your shoulders back. You keep curling them forward. Spice can sense that lack in control, don't let her use it!"

   These were the remarks ringing out all over the place from Ms. Brandt and Mr. Watts. The more they had to correct you, the more sarcastic and pointed the corrections got. At one point, Daniel, Kennedy, and Drew all got into a horse jam when Nova stumbled in the sand (most likely due to a small rut, but that's dangerous enough anyway)

"Hey!"

"For God's sake Daniel!"

"Watch it Willard!"

"Alright, that's it! Everyone line up in the center right now!" Mr Watts yelled out. We all wordlessly pulled into formation. He ran a hand down his face.