The Search for TK Page 4

  Elaine’s eyes met his.

  Will forced himself to go on. “And I mean, Walt really likes Frances as well, as a friend, and I really appreciate all your help tutoring. I just want to make sure there’s . . . no confusion.”

  Elaine seemed flat and colorless now. Her features had gone slack, her happy smile gone. Moving with little jerks, no doubt caused by reining in her emotions, she began to collect her things — her textbook, pen, notebook, tote bag — while saying, “You’ll have to excuse me. There’s only so many times one girl can hear we’re just friends.” She managed to look at him. “I’m very, very, exceptionally clear on that. If you keep bringing it up like this, I’ll have to wonder if you believe it.” With all her belongings gathered, she made a hasty exit.

  Will watched her go, wondering if he was a good person or a really rotten one. At this particular moment, he wasn’t sure.

  Kit spent the early afternoon moping. When she’d left her last class, she’d decided to sit in the corridor near the main stairway to calm down and gather her thoughts. She was still there, though her thoughts remained distinctly ungathered. In fact, they were swirling willy-nilly around in her head so fast, she was feeling dizzy — thoughts about TK, where he might be, if he was being treated all right, if her dad would change his mind and help her find him, where Anya was, if she was ever coming back . . .

  “I was disappointed that you didn’t take Coco Pie for a ride.”

  Kit had been staring into space. She looked up at the sound of Lady Covington’s voice. The sight of the headmistress made her instantly angry. “Well,” she practically snarled, “I guess we’re both disappointed, then.”

  Lady Covington tried again. “It’s important for a rider’s growth to diversify, to become comfortable on other horses.”

  Kit stood up. “I don’t want to grow as a rider! I want TK!”

  “I make the rules of this institution, not you. Covington is a riding academy. You will ride, or you cannot stay. Am I making myself clear?”

  “Perfectly.” Kit turned her back on the headmistress and walked away.

  “Katherine, come back here! Katherine, I’m talking to you!”

  Talk all you want, Kit thought as she left. I’m not listening.

  Rudy stood before Lady Covington’s desk listening to a lecture, and as usual, it made him feel like he was the student in trouble rather than his daughter.

  “She had no right to speak to me like that,” the headmistress finished hotly.

  “I’ll talk to her,” Rudy promised, “but first I need you to reconsider this whole TK situation — that’s all.” He knew TK was trouble. That was clear. But it was also clear that Kit’s connection with the ornery gelding was the only thing holding her together right now. Lady Covington refused to even consider that selling him may have hurt Kit more than she intended and in ways she hadn’t anticipated.

  As a father, Rudy could see that his daughter needed to be taught a lesson, but Kit was a wild spirit, like her mother. In horse training terms, you don’t tame a spirited animal with threats. You don’t take away things in which it finds comfort. You have to lure the animal to you, earn its trust, and make it want to cooperate. With patience and love, you have to show it that obedience brings reward, not punishment. Otherwise the horse will flee, if not physically then at least mentally. You will never be able to connect with it, and the animal will be useless for any kind of meaningful work.

  Lady Covington, however, believed in strict control, period, and she expected it from her staff as much as from her students. In terms of her decision to sell TK, she would not budge. “It’s too late for that,” she said. “Who runs things, Mr. Bridges? You or your teenage daughter?”

  “You don’t get it.” Rudy sighed. He truly didn’t want to argue with his boss, but why couldn’t she at least try to see things from another point of view? “We’re a team,” he said, putting as much emphasis as he could into those words because they defined his relationship with his daughter, a relationship that worked, especially now that Kit’s mother was gone. He and Kit were both still trying to recover from total devastation. Their little family of three had been like a three-legged stool, whole and well-balanced. But now that one of the legs was gone, the stool kept falling over. If TK could be a temporary third leg on the stool, maybe that wasn’t so bad. “We’re still figuring things out,” he explained, “and I —”

  Will burst through the door. “I’m really sorry to disturb you, Lady Covington, and sir,” he added to Rudy, “but it’s Kit. I needed to talk to her, and I went to her room and the student lounge and the classrooms and — I looked everywhere! And — she’s gone.”

  Kit stood before the closed door of Room 148 in the Hampshire Hotel on Leicester Square, in London. It had been quite an interesting trip from Covington all the way to this room. She should have been excited and happy — she was about to see Anya again! But she was nervous.

  Would Anya want to see her?

  She knocked on the door. When it opened, there stood Anya, casually dressed and looking as sweet as ever. The second Kit opened her mouth to speak, the words just tumbled out: “Hi. My name’s Kit. I’m wondering if we could be friends?”

  “What are you doing —?” Anya began, only to switch to “Why are you —?” and then ending with “You’re in London!”

  “Lady Covington sent TK away.”

  Anya immediately sprang forward and wrapped Kit in a hug.

  Kit hugged her back, soaking in the presence of her best friend. She had missed Anya so much! “I’m really sorry we had a fight,” she told Anya in mid-hug. “I didn’t mean it, and then you were gone, and I needed to talk to you and only you!”

  Anya took Kit’s hand and led her into the room. “First, tell me what happened.”

  Now that Kit was getting support from her friend, her emotions threatened to unravel. She’d been successfully holding them in check all during her journey. Now she could barely choke out, “She said TK was too dangerous, and Dad actually agreed with her!”

  Listening, Anya sat down on the soft hotel bed, pulling Kit down with her.

  Kit allowed herself to be led, still pouring out her story. “He’s clearly lost his mind! And then Will said . . . well, Will said weird stuff about moving on and that I should leave.”

  Anya’s eyes grew wide. “He said that?”

  “I think so. He wasn’t exactly clear.”

  “Oh, Will . . .” Anya furrowed her brow.

  “This whole thing is the worst thing that’s happened to me since I came here,” Kit said. “Well, besides the fact that we got in a ginormous fight, and you left the school.”

  A look that might have been guilt flashed across Anya’s face, but she didn’t say anything about it. She pressed for more about Kit’s predicament. “What are you going to do?”

  “Lady C said she sold him. All I know is that he’s somewhere in France.” Kit tried to seem firm and confident as she finished, “So I’m going.”

  “And I’m going with you!” said Anya.

  Kit grinned. “I was hoping you’d say that! When do we leave?”

  “I think your families would feel differently about that plan,” came a familiar voice.

  Kit turned to see Madhu standing at the door. Kit had met Madhu weeks earlier and had believed her to be Mrs. Patel, but it had turned out that she was actually Anya’s governess. She was currently giving both girls a stern frown, but Kit knew that Madhu had a lighter side. She could be pretty funny, and Kit had already seen how dearly she loved Anya. Kit pinned her hopes on those facts as she commented, “But who says we have to ask them?”

  Out of the corner of her eye, Kit saw Anya give her governess a hopeful smile.

  Madhu lifted her chin a bit so that she could look at the girls down her nose. Kit had seen adults do that before, as if it was a way to show their authority. It worked, too. Madhu seemed to be deeply pondering the situation. Kit knew that whatever she decided would become law.

&nb
sp; Back at Covington, Rudy paced in the student lounge, talking on his cell phone. “And she’s safe?” he asked his caller.

  Sitting at a nearby table, Nav, Josh, Will, and Elaine were studying, but Rudy figured they were also listening to his call. They had probably guessed, as he had, that Kit had run away from Covington to look for her horse. Rudy had been beside himself, so when he received the call from Madhu from London, he had nearly collapsed with relief. “Does she know how worried I’ve been?” he asked Anya’s governess, his voice rising. “We’ve been looking everywhere! I thought —” He paused, forcing his voice back down. “Anything could have happened. . . .”

  “She’s fine, Mr. Bridges,” Madhu told him. “I can assure you, she will be well taken care of.”

  “I have no doubt about that, ma’am,” said Rudy, “but you tell her to be ready for some pretty large consequences, yeah?”

  “I believe she’s aware.”

  Rudy sighed. “Thank you for calling me. And for taking care of Kit.”

  “It is my pleasure. Shall I put her on the phone?”

  “No, I’m not ready.” That was the honest truth. “I need to think about what I want to say to her. Let her have the night before she faces my parental wrath. Thank you. Bye.” He hung up.

  “She’s okay,” he told the four students at the table. “Till she gets back into my sight. After that, I’m not making any promises.”

  “We’re all very happy to hear it, sir,” said Nav.

  Rudy nodded and left, muttering, “All the way to London . . . She’s a brave one, that girl.”

  Elaine watched Rudy leave. Then she tapped at her laptop keyboard, commenting, “She was only gone a couple of hours. Why is everyone so upset?”

  Josh replied, “Knowing Kit, a lot of crazy action could have happened in a couple of hours.”

  That didn’t matter to Elaine. “It’s not exactly like her donkey’s roaming the streets of London,” she pointed out.

  “No one can find him?” Will asked.

  “I’m looking into a new lead,” said Nav. “I spoke with my father. He has a contact. A scout for horses. They always know where a horse of good breeding ends up.”

  “These are the kinds of things you can do when you’re him,” Josh quipped to Will, and they both laughed. Then Josh said, “Actually, Elaine, I’m glad that you’re here. Could you do us a favor?” Like a magician, Josh reached into his backpack and presto! The coveted Covington House Cup was in his grasp. He waved it at Elaine. “Gather round the cup, boys! Our cup!”

  With delighted hoots, Will and Nav leaped from their chairs and joined him as Josh tossed his mobile to a very stern-faced Elaine.

  Josh saw her expression and rubbed it in. “That’s the Covington House Cup, ladies, just sayin’.”

  Will rapped his knuckles against it. “Such a solid win, yeah?”

  Elaine picked up the mobile, got to her feet, and sauntered closer as if positioning herself to take the photo they wanted.

  Sure that she was going to do their bidding, Josh, Will, and Nav posed for the shot: Will stuck out his tongue, Josh gave a cheery hang-loose sign, and Nav grinned a little maniacally and pointed at the cup, just to drive home the point that Elaine and Rose Cottage were loooooooosers.

  It was all so typical of the male specimen, in Elaine’s view. Boys simply couldn’t help but act like children. It was in their DNA, she supposed. They never quite matured, unlike females. “You know,” she told them, “no one likes a sore winner. Which means that people must really hate you.” With that, she dumped the mobile into the House Cup. It landed inside with a metallic clang.

  She walked out, though she glanced at the three stooges one last time out of morbid curiosity. Josh had retrieved his mobile, and they were taking a three-man selfie. “Everybody say pumped!” Josh cried.

  Will broke his pose. “Pumped? Seriously?”

  “I don’t say pumped,” Nav declared in a superior tone.

  Josh sighed. “Fine. Whatever. Just smile and bask in victory!”

  That got the guys back into the mood, and they mugged shamelessly into the camera as Josh clicked a picture.

  Elaine shook her head and left.

  Back in London, Kit and Anya were facing Madhu. Their fate had yet to be determined. “He didn’t want to talk to me, huh?” Kit asked, referring to her father.

  Madhu responded, “He just needs the night to clear his head. You gave him quite a fright, young miss.”

  Kit didn’t want to ask the next question, but she couldn’t stop herself. “Am I grounded?”

  “Because then I suppose we would have to go to bed early,” Anya said. “Sigh.”

  Madhu regarded the two girls. Kit put on her best smile, hoping that might help. She didn’t know Madhu very well, but since Anya thought she was pretty cool, maybe their punishment wouldn’t be too bad. Maybe.

  “Given that you have been separated,” Madhu finally said, “I was thinking we could allow you one night of . . .”

  Kit swallowed nervously.

  “Supervised fun,” Madhu finished.

  Anya burst out in giggles, and Kit hopped up and down in glee. We can celebrate being together again! Kit thought happily. Not everything in her life was going well right now, but this was more than she could have hoped for!

  They plopped down on the big hotel bed and spread out a menu before them. Anya picked up the phone and called room service. “Room 148,” she said. “Can we order two burgers, vanilla ice cream”— Kit gestured and Anya nodded — “and cookies. And crisps!”

  “Pizza!” said Kit.

  “And pizza!”

  Fifteen minutes later, they received their order on a rolling cart. They wheeled it to the bed and lifted big silver lids off several plates. The burgers looked scrumptious and came with lots of condiments: ketchup, brown sauce, three different kinds of mustard, mayonnaise, relish, pickles, onions, and even horseradish! The pizza had everything on it imaginable — except anchovies. They got a huge bowl of crisps (which Kit knew as potato chips), a plate of tarts and biscuits (which of course Kit called cookies), and a plate piled high with chips (French fries to Kit). Kit was starving after her long, anguished journey. She and Anya dug in, talking with their mouths full and giggling and generally acting like goofballs.

  Anya turned on the TV and ordered one of her favorite horse movies, the classic 1944 version of National Velvet, starring Elizabeth Taylor. “Her eyes were really that color,” she told Kit when the first close-up of Taylor appeared on the screen. “Natural violet eyes, can you believe it? Not contacts!”

  When a scene came showing Velvet riding her horse, the Pie, at a full gallop across an open field, Kit told Anya, “I want to ride like that!” through a mouthful of pizza.

  “You will,” Anya told her. “You will!”

  They watched the whole movie, stuffing their faces and commenting on the action the whole time. Kit knew it was a miracle they didn’t choke with all the laughing and pillow throwing going on. Madhu had to come in a couple of times and tell them to quiet down, but she always left with a little smile on her face.

  “Do you think she secretly wants to join us?” Kit wondered.

  “Oh, I’m sure she would love to,” Anya said, “but it’s far too undignified. I’m surprised she’s letting us get away with it. Then again”— she pointed at Kit — “she doesn’t have her very own Kit to show her how fun is done!”

  When the movie ended, Kit sighed. “That was so good that I almost forgot about TK for a minute.”

  Anya took out her mobile and typed for a moment. Then she gave the mobile to Kit, saying, “There. I put it on Blurter.”

  Curious, Kit read the message. “‘Lost. One slightly insane horse. Answers to TK. Mostly black. Entirely moody.’ That’s not very specific, is it?”

  “I said he’s probably in France and likes to eat paper.”

  Madhu appeared yet again. “Lights out, girls. It’s very late.”

  “Yes, Madhu,” Any
a obediently replied.

  The governess turned out the room light and left.

  With the room now dim and everything quiet, Kit knew this was the time for the Big Talk. There were important matters to clear up between them. But which one of them would speak first?

  Anya did. “I’m sorry I lied to you.”

  “I know,” Kit immediately responded. “I’m sorry, too. It just felt like everyone was in on the secret except me.”

  “And I wanted to text you as soon as I left, but I couldn’t figure out what to say. I’m so sorry.”

  “Wait,” said Kit. “Is that a royal apology?”

  “No princess jokes,” Anya said seriously.

  Kit couldn’t hold in her laughter anymore. She cracked up.

  Anya punched her in the arm. “That was mean!”

  “No, that was funny!”

  “Then I’ll banish you from my kingdom, or at least from my swish hotel room.”

  “No way! Not until I’ve pillaged this place for all the room service you super-fancy people have got.”

  Anya didn’t mind the teasing now. “Let them eat chip-n-dip!” she said.

  Kit snorted. Anya took the same history class she did, and they had been studying the French Revolution. Most people thought Marie Antoinette had said, “Let them eat cake,” when she’d heard that the French peasants were so poor they had no proper bread. But Kit and Anya had learned that, although the average French person at the time was indeed poor — that’s why they’d started the revolution! — Marie Antoinette had probably never said those words.

  Kit tried to imagine Princess Anya wearing a huge white powdered wig like Marie Antoinette. The mental image made her laugh again.

  “What?” Anya asked her.

  Kit was about to explain when Madhu, sounding fed up, called from the other room, “Go! To! Sleep!”

  Both girls pressed their lips closed, holding back more giggles. When they finally settled down, they got into bed and pulled the covers up, facing each other. “I felt like I could tell you anything,” Kit confessed. “And I just wanted you to feel the same way.”