Read Online Hercules: A Matter of Trust by Heather Brooks - Free Book Online

rumble through her, the deep rattle that could be nothing but a horse van on themorning of the show, ready to take them off to another fantastic day.
    She squealed and hugged herself, then grabbed her robe and sprinted for the bathroom.
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    Eight minutes later, Emily ran into the barn, her garment bag over her shoulder and a duffel bag with her boots and other gear in her hand. She’d put her chaps on over her new breeches to keep them clean and was wearing paddock boots so her freshly polished tall boots wouldn’t get scuffed.
    Uncle Rick was there already, filling hay nets with hay for the trip, and Aunt Debby was making the rounds with grain for the horses that were going. The lights in the barn cast a warm glow against the darkness of the night that was still hovering.
    There were the fresh scents of hay, of clean shavings, and fresh water, and everything was perfect. “Hi!”
    Uncle Rick glanced up. “You can toss your stuff in the head of the van. Then go wrap Sapphire and Moondance and get them ready to go. Bell boots for both of them to protect their front feet.”
    â€œOf course!” Emily ran to the van, grabbed a hand-hold, and wedged her foot on the front tire, then hauled herself up the four feet to the head. There wasalready a stack of hay bales lodged inside, along with six red water buckets and a number of fully stocked brush buckets that she guessed simply stayed in the van for horse shows—and suddenly she knew the day was going to be great.
    This might be a hunter/jumper show with different rules and clothes and a different coach, but it was still a horse show, and this was her territory. This is what she loved.
    It didn’t matter if she was showing in Maiden or that she wasn’t allowed to ride Sapphire. There was magic in the air, and great things were going to happen today, for sure!
    She hummed happily as she hung up the garment bag with her new jacket, then tucked her duffel beneath it as she’d done so many times in the past. Then she brushed her fingers over her new choker pin as she turned back to the door of the van and thought of her mom. Had she started in Maiden, too?
    Emily giggled as she swung down out of the van and headed toward Sapphire’s stall to wrap his legs for the van ride. She was willing to bet that her mom had also started in Maiden if she’d been riding at Running Horse Ridge at the time.
    Sapphire stuck his head over the door and whickeredwhen he saw her coming.
    â€œHiya, beautiful.” She patted his nose and peeked at his braids, hoping he hadn’t rubbed them out during the night. Some horses had to be braided on the morning of the show, because they would rub their braids right out during the night, and you never knew what kind of horse you had until that first time you braided him.
    Emily stood on her tiptoes and inspected her braids. Still tight.
    She grinned and knew then that everything was going to be all right. Better than all right. It was going to be perfect .
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    Emily perched on the bed in the back of the horse van’s cab, peering out the windshield as they pulled into the show grounds. Aunt Debby was driving, Alison was riding shotgun, and Emily was in the back with Meredith.
    Meredith’s parents were coming later, but she’d needed a ride to the show, so she’d squeezed in with them.
    The sun was bright and shining as they turned into a dirt driveway that led into a massive field. It was so massive she couldn’t see the other side of it. It was more like a fairground in the middle of the woods than a field.
    They were almost two hours late due to an accident on the highway, and Aunt Debby was stressing because they’d all missed the preshow warm-up that had run from six thirty to eight thirty. It was, apparently, a chance to jump the courses in an unjudged warm-up, and Emily was seriously wishing that she’d had the chance to practice before tackling the course in the Maiden