Discipline Academy-The Mystery of Abbey College (#NaNoWriMo2016)

Charlotte

*Charlotte*

 The day of the first riding competition dawned gusty and wet. I took about twice as long as usual to dress, as I was so distracted I kept putting the wrong pieces of clothing on. Finally, when I realized I had pulled a petticoat over my training shirt, I shook my head, clearing it, and made myself focus.

At breakfast, Abby and Nelly were overattentive, feeding me more than I would have eaten on a regular day, when all I would have had was a tea and a piece of toast. Will, who seemed nearly as dazed as I was, was getting a similar treatment from them. When Abby heaped his plate with eggs and ham, he sent me a pained look, and shoved a forkful into his mouth. I managed a weak smile in response.

Finally, Felix Branley, our team captain, signaled me and the rest of the team to go get ready. I stood, extracting myself from Nelly's ministrations, and made my way to the barns.

Felix and Francis were already waiting by our team tack room. Francis was lounging against a saddle rack, while Felix paced back and forth across the tiny space. Kate Clark was next to arrive. She was a slight, plain fourth-year, a quick rider with insane courage. She greeted me with a cheery grin, as if she wasn't at all worried about the competition to come.

Next came Bryony Willis and Lucas Mann together. Lucas was a third-year, Byony a fifth-year, in her last year on the team. They rode well together, and often chose to work together as a pair. In races, one would often block other riders while the other inched ahead.

The last member of our team was Charles Day, a second-year. He was particularly good at resolving arguments among the others on the team, and, even though he was younger, some of us had bets on him becoming the next captain when Felix graduated in a year.

"All right, then," Felix said, rubbing his hands together. "Now that we are all assembled, let's go out there and show them the best team St. Madeline's has had in years!" We all cheered. "Now," he went on. "Remember that Ravensbrook has won every year for the last five years. We cannot let them win. Now, we have Charlotte, who is, hands down, our biggest advantage. No one knows how she rides yet, and she is bloody good–am I right?"

Francis let out a whoop, and Kate did a few steps of what looked like a war dance. Charles pounded me on the back, cheering exuberantly.

"All right, all right," Felix said, calling us back to attention. "Yes, Charlotte's great... but she's not the only one. We all have to be our best today, or we risk being eliminated in the first round–like last year, remember?" Some people booed at that. "So let's get out there and win!"

We all cheered on last time, and then went our separate ways to prepare our horses. I took my time tacking up Ash, making sure not a single strap was loose, that nothing was worn or broken, and that everything was perfect.

When I was done, I took a moment to lean my head against Ash's forehead, until she tossed her head, annoyed with me. "All right," I said pacifyingly. "Let's go, girl."

I led her out into the arena where the riders for each time were warming up and mounted up. I didn't see anyone from St. Madeline's yet, and I'd thought I'd been going slowly, which was strange.

Just then, Bryony rode out from the other barn and called across the arena to me. "Come on, d'Albury. We always warm up in the meadow by the gate. It's less hectic."

I trotted over to join her, and together we rode down to the meadow, where all the others were already putting their horses through their paces.

I trotted Ash on both reins, but she was antsy, pulling at the reins, eager to run. So when we'd lapped the arena once in each direction, I pushed her into a canter, and just let her run for a couple laps.

I could tell the others were watching us, and I took pleasure in showing off with my favorite pass-time. Felix, or someone, had set up a low jump in the center of the meadow, and I pointed Ash towards it. We took it easily, to cheers from the rest of the team.

When the bell rang, signaling ten minutes to the start if the competition, we rode back to the arena. The first round of the competition was always a relay over jumps, with each team against the others.

Felix arrayed us at our starting point in the order he thought best. Francis, who was the slowest rider, but whose horse was best at the handoffs, went first, Bryony second, then Felix himself, then Kate, then Charles, then me.

We waited as students streamed into the stands to watch, and as the rest of the teams took their positions. We were at the left end of the arena, with Ravensbrook at our right side. In their team lineup, Callingwood was first, their captain last.

Finally, Jeannie came by, handing flags to each rider at the start of each line. When Francis was given the St. Madeline's flag, which would act as the relay, he hoisted it in the air so the students in the stands could see it. The St. Madeline's students, dressed in white and copper with heather flowers adorning their outfits, cheered wildly when he did.

Jeannie walked to the judges' box, from where she would preside with other professors who would also act as judges. "On my whistle," she said. "On your marks, get set–" Tweet! went her whistle.

Francis and his horse exploded forward, the flag snapping out above them. They took the first jump at almost exactly the same time as the other riders. On they went, ahead of everyone but Callingwood. Then, they made the turn around, and the Carnegie rider pulled ahead. On they charged, as Bryony moved her horse to the starting mark. Francis handed her the flag, and she was already moving, charging forward.

The Carnegie riders fumbled the handoff. Only Ravensbrook was still ever-so-slightly ahead. Bryony made each jump with ease. A Highland rider pulled ahead of the Carnegie, then pulled even with Bryony, who bent low over her horse. They skidded around the turn at the end, pulling ahead of the Ravensbrook rider.

The last four jumps passed in three longs strides, and Bryony was shoving the flag into Felix's hand. Felix urged his horse forward, as a Morrigan rider and a Highland rider closed on his heels. The Ravensbrook rider was just barely ahead of him, his horse's head right at the Ravensbrook horse's throat. They thundered around the curve, and Kate moved up. I wondered what tricks she would pull to get ahead.

The Felix was handing the flag off to her, and she was gone. She pushed her horse from a canter into a hand-gallop–a reckless, insane pace to jump with–charging ahead of the bewildered Ravensbrook rider. She had to slow her horse to make the corner, but even so, they almost fell, before exploding forward again. But the near-fall had allowed the Ravensbrook rider to catch up.

The race was horribly close as she slammed the flag into Charles's arms, and he charged forward. He was neck and neck with the Ravensbrook rider. I eased Ash up to the line, my heart beating wildly in my chest. I snuck a glance at the Ravensbrook captain. He was mounted on a stocky horse. From what I could tell, his mount was nowhere near as fast as Ash.

Charles rounded the corner and I shifted my reins into my left hand so my right hand would be free to take the flag. Charles charged at us, and I reached for the flag. My fingers closed around it and I pushed Ash into a fast canter. Instead of fumbling to hold my reins in both hands and hold the flag, I kept my reins in one hand as I rode.

The first jump rose up before us, and I helped Ash over it, snapping my hands forward in a release to let her have her head over the jump. Ravens brook's captain was right in front of me as I took the second jump a stride later. I pushed Ash even harder, and we took the third jump cleanly, while the Ravensbrook captain fumbled it. We took the turn ahead of him, and came out first.

We thundered forward, and over the fourth jump, the tallest yet. Ash landed it easily, but the Ravensbrook rider was pulling even. His horse was panting, though, and loosing speed. I pushed Ash forward just a little harder, and Ash's head pulled in front, just barely. We took the fifth jump as easily as breathing, and then the last jump, which had a water feature, rose up before us. Ash leapt, and we soared over it.

We thundered over the finish line as Jeannie roared, "And St. Madeline's d'Albury is first to finish!" The crows exploded in cheers, and Felix was slapping me on the back, grinning like a maniac.

"Yes, Charlotte!" he yelled. "Yes! Yes!"

The rest of the team was cheering, too, everyone beaming. Someone–I think it was Kate–started a cheer of "We won! We won! We won!"