Free Dreams by Linda Chapman

clothes, though.”
    A smile caught at her lips. She would do what she wanted this time. “OK, I’ll come!”
    The car park at the show was lit up by big floodlights. Luke parked the trailer and they jumped out. People were unloading horses, fixing tendon boots. The pony classes had already been on and ponies were being loaded back into horseboxes, riders wearing Puffa jackets over their show clothes to keep warm and clean.
    “Let’s see what class is on now,” Luke said.
    Weaving through the crowds, they headed for the indoor school where the competition was taking place. They walked into a cafe where the smell of hot dogs, sawdust and frying onions filled the air, with people sitting on the red plastic seats holding polystyrene cups of coffee as they watched the jumping. One wall was glass and Ellie could see a steel-gray horse jumping around a course in the school. Luke checked with a pretty red-haired girl with a ponytail behind the counter. “What class is it, Jodie?”
    “The Novice Jumping.” Jodie smiled at him. “I was wondering if you would be here today, Luke. I haven’t seen you for a month or two.”
    “Been missing me?”
    “Maybe, maybe not.” But Jodie’s blush gave it away.
    “I’ve missed you .”
    Ellie rolled her eyes. Honestly! Couldn’t Luke go anywhere without flirting? She wondered if Jodie was the reason Luke hadn’t wanted Sasha at the show. Luke caught her expression. “This is Ellie, by the way, Jodie. She’s Joe’s cousin and she’s living with us now.”
    “Oh, right.” Jodie looked Ellie up and down.
    Luke headed for the door. “Come on,” he said over his shoulder to Ellie.
    Ellie folded her arms. “Excuse me?”
    When he didn’t look around, she followed him. “I’m not Pip, you know!” she hissed.
    “What do you mean?”
    Ellie spoke indignantly. “Ordering me around like that.”
    Luke grinned. “Why do you always have to argue? Come on, quit with the mood. We’re at a show. Let’s enter you in a class.” He strode off.
    “Luke!” Ellie ran after him. Now they were there, the reality of the situation was starting to sink in. “I really can’t go in a class.”
    “Why not?” Luke’s eyes searched hers. “You want to, don’t you?”
    “Well, yeah,” Ellie admitted. She desperately wanted a chance to jump. “Of course I do but—”
    “Then do it.”
    “But—”
    “Listen to yourself! You’ve been spending too much time with Joe. But this…but that…” Luke imitated. He spread his arms. “Who cares about buts? Look, there’s the secretary’s office.” He bounded up the steps into the small wooden shed where people entered the classes and collected their numbers. Before Ellie could stop him, he was fishing some money out of his pocket and entering her and Gabriel in the Gamblers’ Stakes.
    She stood there open-mouthed. “You’re crazy, Luke!” she said, unable to stop herself from smiling as he jumped back down the steps and handed her a number.
    He grinned. “Nope. You’re the crazy one. You’re going to be taking Gabriel in the Gamblers’ Stakes!” Chuckling, he strode back to the horsebox.
    There were four jumping classes for the horses. The main jumping classes were the Novice, Intermediate and Open Jumping. Luke was taking both horses in the Open Jumping. The final class of the night was the Gamblers’ Stakes, a class where each rider had to jump around the ring for two minutes, collecting points for every fence they jumped, with the hardest and biggest fences having the most points attached. The rider with the most points won.
    “How do you think the horses will do?” Ellie asked as they tacked up.
    “Oh, I’m not going to jump Pericles fast. He really is just here for the experience,” Luke replied. “He’s not a speed horse and it wouldn’t be fair.”
    “What about Gabriel?” said Ellie.
    “He’s totally different. He could have been a show jumper. The problem is stopping him once he’s in the