Competing for the Cup Page 9

  “It’s not bad,” Rudy decided.

  Kit tasted the smooth portions of chocolate and crunched down on the pie crust pieces. She didn’t drop dead from it, so she said, “Could have been way worse.”

  After they finished eating, Kit asked her dad to walk her back to the main building to pick up her homework assignment. They ambled across the grounds under a gray English sky, but Kit felt warm sunlight in her heart. She could tell that her dad felt the same way. By the time they entered the main building, they were giggling at each other.

  “I did not love the birthday when she insisted on the terrifying hot-air balloon ride,” Kit recalled fondly.

  “I’ll never forget the shade of green you both turned before you barfed into the picnic basket!” Rudy laughed.

  “It would have been less sad if we’d even made it off the ground!”

  “You both did it, though,” Rudy reminded her, “just like everything else you put your mind to. You’re just like her in that way.” He put his hand on her shoulder and smiled down at her.

  My dad, Kit thought happily, gazing back up at him. My dad-pal. My dad-dad-pal-favoritest-person-in-the-whole-world —

  Rudy looked up at the sound of approaching high heels. “Lady Covington,” he said.

  Uh-oh.

  “I was stopping by to suggest that, instead of homework hour, Katherine might join you for a time.” The headmistress frowned. “But I see you have disobeyed my rules in any case.”

  “She’ll make up her classes,” Rudy promised.

  Lady Covington stared at Kit’s uniform blazer. “What is that?”

  “Oh,” Kit said when she understood what the headmistress was staring at — the Ugly Brooch. “Horrible, isn’t it? It was my mom’s. She always wore it on her birthd —”

  “Please remove it,” said Lady Covington. She sounded almost angry.

  Rudy clearly had had enough of the headmistress’s haughty attitude. “Oh, come on,” he began, getting revved up.

  Kit felt a possible argument about to explode, so she said in her most reasonable tone, “Dad. It’s fine. It is against regulations.” As she took it off, she couldn’t help but whisper to him, “But it was worth it!”

  Lady Covington was not amused. “In the future,” she said, “you may both do well to remember that TK is here because I permit him to be. And I may revoke that permission whenever I choose.”

  “Lady Covington . . . !” Kit began, but didn’t know what else to say. She and her dad were already very much aware of the TK situation. Why did the headmistress need to ruin her mom’s birthday by bringing it up?

  “You would also do well to remember that you are both here because I permit you to be.” With that, Lady Covington left, the click-clack of her heels fading away around the corner.

  Kit wanted to cry. What was wrong with that woman? What was the point of being so mean? How in the world could anybody ever become so . . . so awful?

  Anya had spent almost two hours getting ready for the charity ball. She took a bath, then Madhu painted her nails, did her makeup, and styled her hair. Anya donned the gorgeous red anarkali, slipped on matching heels, clasped an intricate diamond necklace around her neck, put on diamond stud earrings, and then, finally, Madhu affixed a beautiful gem-studded maang tikka to her forehead.

  When Anya entered the main building, a coat draped across her shoulders to hide her outfit, nobody was in sight. That was the idea. At this time of the evening, everyone would be at dinner, so the corridor was safely empty.

  Well, there was one person there, waiting for her: Madhu. “Oh, you look beautiful, Princess Anya!” the governess cried upon seeing her. “Are you ready to go?”

  “Thank you, Madhu,” said Anya, “but there’s just one thing . . .”

  On cue, Josh stepped out of hiding dressed in a tux. “I scrub up pretty good, eh?” he asked, preening.

  Anya drew in a quick breath. He certainly did scrub up good. Josh Luders scrubbed up really good!

  “Anya.” Madhu’s voice took on a judgmental quality that Anya knew all too well. It meant that something traditional was not being done traditionally. “Who is this?” the governess asked, eying the young man before her.

  “Madhu, this is Josh.”

  Josh smiled and waved.

  “He will be my escort for this evening.” Anya hoped that by making the news a declaration of fact instead of asking for permission, she might get her way.

  Alas, Madhu’s job was to see that the royal princess followed the royal rules. “This is highly irregular,” she pointed out. “Your parents would expect to approve anyone who would accompany you.”

  “I accept that it’s my duty to honor my parents’ expectations, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy,” Anya said respectfully. “It will genuinely help having Josh with me for support.”

  What happened next totally surprised her. Josh politely took Madhu’s hand and kissed it. “I’d do anything I could to help your charge, ma’am,” he said. Anya had never heard his voice sound quite so . . . adult! As much as she liked goofy Josh, she rather liked this side of him as well.

  Madhu mulled it over. “Loyalty is a quality the family values deeply,” she said. Then she smiled the smile of a woman who knows when she’s being buttered up. “You may join her.” With a formal nod, she turned and started down the hallway.

  Behind her, Anya and Josh exchanged triumphant fist bumps.

  “I saw that!” Madhu said, her back still to them. “You will exhibit behavior worthy of the maharaj kumari from this point forward, young sir.”

  Anya and Josh exchanged silent giggles as they followed, trying their best to look like a proper royal couple.

  Meanwhile at dinner, Kit set her plate down at a table, then went to get a drink. When she got back, Nav, who was sitting nearby, said, “I had a thought about TK’s phobia.”

  “Awesome,” said Kit. Then she noticed a yellow sticky note by her plate. It hadn’t been there before. It read, I have a surprise for you and TK. After dinner. Stables. It was written in the same neat block-style lettering of the previous note.

  Kit looked up at Nav, but he was busy pushing peas around his plate. Kit wondered if he was just having fun, leaving notes and telling her little hints while playing innocent about it. She decided to play along, say nothing for now, and then meet him at the stables later.

  Boys are so weird, she thought.

  Josh was in heaven. He was riding in a limousine with a lovely young girl who was his friend — not his girlfriend, just girl-who-was-a-friend — and they were heading for a party that was sure to be the fanciest event Josh had ever attended. Oh, and they were going to be the center of attention, too! Things couldn’t get cooler than that!

  So why Anya was so tense?

  “Okay,” she was saying, wringing her hands, “best-case scenario? Nobody notices me, and we get to eat a thousand desserts. Worst-case scenario? Everybody notices me when I trip over my pallu, fall into the buffet, and spill gravy all over Prince Harry . . . and it gets covered by the evening news, and everybody at school sees it!”

  “You forgot the sprinklers going off and my pants splitting,” Josh added helpfully. “Catastrophize much?” He liked the word catastrophize. He’d learned it as a kid by looking up the word catastrophe — one of his favorites — and checking to see how many different forms it could take. Catastrophize had won him quite a number of arguments because few people had even heard of the word. The takeaway lesson? What you said in an argument was important. How you said it was even more so!

  Anya wasn’t in the mood to appreciate a new word. “And then I’d be a social outcast!” she exclaimed.

  Josh couldn’t stand to see her so riled up, especially when there was no reason for it. “Look, you don’t have to worry, okay? You’ve totally got this.” He placed his hand over her hands to stop them from fidgeting. “You were born ready, like, literally, because you were born a princess.” How cool was it to know a real live princess? And such a
nice one!

  Anya tried to compose herself. “You’re right. I am Princess Anya Patel, and I can do this!”

  The limo stopped. They had arrived at the party venue. The second the driver opened Anya’s door, Josh heard people clapping and cheering for her. She got out, and Josh scrambled quickly to join her. How many times would he ever get this kind of attention, from paparazzi, no less?

  Flash! Flash-flash! “Smile!” said the reporters. Flash-flash-flash!

  Josh squinted at the bright camera lights, then realized that, no, he should relax his facial muscles and look poised and confident. The last thing he wanted was to look like a dork in the photos. They might end up online or even in the newspapers! He pretended that he was a prince and stood as regally as he could manage, slipping his arm around Anya’s shoulders and giving his adoring admirers his finest royal smile.

  After dinner, Kit pulled on a warm knit sweater and went to the stables. No one was around yet, so she visited TK. “Hi, boy.” She stroked his soft, warm nose. “How are you doing? How was your day? You know, eat hay, drink water, poop, eat again?”

  TK nickered.

  “Yeah, that must have been great.”

  Nav popped his head out from around the corner. “Kit! Excellent timing!” He held up a book. “This is The Hilary Whistlepot Guide to Technical Riding. It’s full of tips for taming a horse with . . . uh . . .”

  “Issues?” Kit suggested.

  “Quirks,” Nav said. “We’ll call them quirks.” He handed her the book.

  “This is perfect! Thanks!” Kit held the book up to TK. “See this, TK? I’m going to read you every page.” She had to pull it away, though, because TK wanted to eat it. When she turned back around, she noticed Will standing several stalls away.

  “Hi,” Will said. “Sorry. Didn’t meant to interrupt.”

  Kit’s mood dropped when he spoke to her. She could barely forgive him for just walking away from her when she’d tried to explain why she was so upset — let alone forgive him for playing a role in Rudy getting hurt and sending her back to square one with TK. “It’s fine.” She expected Will to walk past them to finish going to . . . wherever it was he was heading, but instead, he gestured to the door.

  “There’s something, uh, something in the paddock I think you should see.”

  How was it that every time she talked to Nav in the stables, Will showed up? What was he trying to prove? “I’m busy right now,” Kit said.

  Will wouldn’t let it go. “Uh, your dad says you should come. And if you could tack up TK . . .”

  Kit felt like she was being manipulated, but if her dad said to come, maybe it was important. She let Nav help her tack up TK while Will stood back and waited. Then all three of them led the gelding outside.

  Kit saw her dad waiting under the big floodlights that illuminated the practice ring. His injury was much better now. He still wore the walking boot and would continue to do so for a few more weeks, but he rarely used the hated cane anymore. He was using it now, though, probably because it was nighttime. One little slip or trip could undo all the healing, so Kit was grateful that he was being careful.

  He gestured at what looked to be a homemade jump course. Instead of poles, jumps were made with piles of logs and tree branches, many still covered with deep-green moss.

  “They’re not striped,” Will explained, “so they look like things TK knows, things he’s seen in the pasture.”

  “This way, he gets used to trotting over poles,” Rudy added. “Generally. It’s desensitization.”

  Now Kit understood. “This is awesome. Thanks, Dad!”

  “All I did was watch Will heave a few branches around.”

  Nav was studying a sturdy jump made out of three long logs held up by two bales of hay. “It’s an inspired idea, Will.”

  “Yeah,” Will said, and turned to Kit. “And then you work up to the striped ones, and he won’t even notice. Hopefully.”

  Kit liked the practice jumps, but she wasn’t ready to look at Will yet. She just couldn’t do it. From the corner of her eye, she saw him step back in disappointment.

  “Oh, before you go back out there,” said Rudy, digging in his pocket for something, “put this on. For good luck.” He handed Kit the Ugly Brooch.

  Nav saw it and said with heavy sarcasm, “Oh, my. That is quite something.”

  Kit laughed as she pinned it to her sweater. “It was my mom’s.”

  “Oh.” Nav shrugged. “Well, you know what they say — you can’t choose your family heirlooms.”

  “They say that, huh?”

  Nav nodded, trying to keep a straight face.

  Kit would have enjoyed taking the joke further, but her dad chose that moment to lean in and whisper, “Will worked real hard on this.”

  Great. Now Kit felt guilty. Was she supposed to feel grateful? She had still been focused on her lingering anger, but this was a really nice thing he’d done for her. Which emotion would be the victor? Forgiveness was the most important, Kit knew that, but it wasn’t as if Will had even apologized. Then again, perhaps this jump course was Will’s way of doing so. Words weren’t the only way to apologize. And let’s face it, she thought. Will is not big on words.

  “Will?” she said, and she made herself look directly at him. “Thank you. It doesn’t make everything okay but —”

  Will interrupted her, putting her out of her misery. “Should we see if TK likes it?” he suggested.

  Kit nodded. “I think we have to.”

  Will had been holding TK’s reins, keeping the horse calm while everyone talked. Now he handed the reins to Kit. She mounted TK and rode him to the starting point while Will and Nav moved to the rails to watch.

  “You got this, kid,” Rudy said as Kit began with a comfortable walk. “Beautiful. Keep his rhythm even.”

  “Okay, heels down, hands light,” Kit recited to herself. She sat straight in the saddle but not rigid. She loosened her death grip on the reins and tried to settle her emotions so that TK would feel confident under her command.

  “Keep breathing,” Rudy advised her. “And don’t worry.”

  TK was approaching the first obstacle: a small pile of branches. “We’ve got this, boy,” Kit encouraged him. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.” She guided him over the branches. At the last moment, his back hoof clipped a branch, causing it to topple from the pile with a loud clunk!

  TK kept going as if nothing had happened.

  Kit wanted to shout out, “Yee-HAW!” but settled for a soft sigh of relief. Knocking over a branch was a small thing, but it could easily have spooked TK. Will had been right — TK knew what branches were and showed no interest in them whether they were stacked or not. Excellent! Kit thought.

  Will watched Kit with pride. She always tried so hard, and Lady Covington gave her such a hard time. Lady Covington gave everybody a hard time, as far as he was concerned. But he was glad to be helping Kit, even if she was angry with him. It would all work itself out, he was sure of it, as long as he kept proving to Kit with actions that he really was sorry.

  “What. Is. That?” came a familiar voice.

  Will glanced over at Elaine, who must have seen the lights on in the practice ring and come to investigate. If something important was going on, she was always determined to be a part of it. “I would’ve thought you’d recognize a horse after all these years,” he quipped. “Oh, he’ll like the next one,” he added, speaking of TK as he watched horse and rider.

  Noticing how Elaine glared at Will and how Will ignored her, Nav explained, “Will created some special jumps to help TK.”

  They all watched as Kit guided TK around for a proper approach to the hay-bale jump. Up to this point, TK had calmly walked the course, but he suddenly picked up speed. Will and Nav gasped, and Rudy gritted his teeth as girl and horse actually jumped over the logs smoothly and cleanly.

  “Whoa!” Rudy said when Kit wobbled a little in the saddle. “That’s it, kid. Keep your balance!”

 
Kit was in her own wonderful little world. We jumped! she thought. We JUMPED! She was only vaguely aware of how far over she was leaning until she heard her father’s warning. She straightened back up and walked TK over to her dad. “We jumped!” she said aloud, proud enough to burst.

  Rudy laughed in delight. “Good! That’s good!”

  Kit thought it was more than good. It’s totally freaking amazing! she thought. Before she realized what she was doing, she gave Will a huge smile.

  He smiled back.

  The front door of Covington’s main building opened a crack, and Josh poked his head in. His eyes slowly swept from left to right.

  All clear.

  He opened the door wider to let Anya through, then closed the door behind them. They had agreed to return as quietly as possible, but as they tiptoed down the hallway, Anya let out a giggle. That made Josh snort. Before they knew it, they were laughing.

  “Did you see how close I was to that Swedish princess?” Josh said, still feeling euphoric over the amazing evening he’d just experienced. “Like, I could have reached out and touched her nose!”

  Anya gave him her best imperial stare. “You do realize that all those guards are not just there for decoration?”

  “Yeah, but the point is, I could have, you know? I can’t wait to tell the boys at home about this!”

  “No!” Anya squealed. She faced him square on. “Josh, you promised. It’s fine to be Princess Anya for a couple of hours, but just plain me goes to Covington . . . just plain me who isn’t loved just because of her crown.”

  Josh felt his eyebrows arch high up on his forehead. “Y-you have a crown?”

  Anya nodded.

  “Okay, new deal. If you don’t want me to tell anybody, you need to let me try that bad boy on.” The minute the words were out of his mouth, Josh worried that he’d gone too far.

  Fortunately, Anya knew he was joking. “I’m not quite sure it’s your style.”

  “I don’t know — any bling is kind of my style,” Josh insisted, and then laughed. He liked teasing her. She understood his humor and returned zing for zing. He waited to hear what she would say as her expression went from wide-eyed amusement to sudden eye-bulging alarm.