"Up!" cried Kate. "Up, up, up!"
Molly sat on her horse Bristol and laughed. Kate always shouted during her riding lesson whenever it was time to practice jumps. Kate's horse was perfectly capable of clearing the jumps outside the Academy stables but Kate never believed he would. To encourage him she yelled directions. The riding instructor, Mrs. Newtown, thought shouting at your horse was unprofessional but Kate wouldn't stop.
"Good job, Kate!" Molly called as Kate cleared the first hurdle.
Kate waved.
"Up, up, up!" she cried as her horse approached the next jump. Mrs. Newtown shook her head.
It was Sunday afternoon and a beautiful day. A breeze from the north brought a fresh smell from the forest and a not so fresh smell from the stables.
Kate finished her jumps and trotted up beside Molly. Together the two of them watched Maddie Taylor go through the course. Maddie was annoying because she never stopped spreading gossip but Molly admired the way she rode. Maddie had perfect posture in the saddle and never yelled at her horse.
"She's good," Kate sighed.
"She is," Molly agreed. "I wish I could look that comfortable in a jump. I always freeze up like a popsicle."
When Maddie finished she trotted over with a big smile.
"That was fun!"
"You looked like a professional," Molly told her. "Like a real competitive rider. You could give us all lessons."
Maddie beamed. "Thanks! Really, it was nothing. Say, do you guys want to know what I heard about those new students and Oscar Peel in third period math? They challenged him to a fight for no reason and..."
"Oh, hang on," Molly interrupted. "I'd love to but it's my time to jump. Why don't you tell Kate?"
"Thanks a lot," Kate muttered as Molly trotted off.
Molly led Bristol to the center of the arena where Mrs. Newtown waited.
"Now Molly, I want to see you improve on the things we talked about last week," Mrs. Newtown said, tapping a riding crop against Molly's leg. "Relax, sit up straight, and keep your eyes forward. Don't watch Bristol, watch where he's going. Lead with your body, not the reins. Bristol will go where you tell him but you have to tell him with your body. Do you understand?"
"Lead with my body, not the reins," Molly repeated, but she was looking at the first jump as she spoke. It had red supports and a striped pole laid between them. There were hay bales beneath the pole. Molly was just like Kate in that she was never quite sure Bristol would clear the pole. Most of the time he looked half-asleep. She always imagined him crashing into the pole and herself tumbling out of the saddle. It wasn't a pleasant image so during jumps she usually closed her eyes.
"And don't close your eyes," Mrs. Newtown reminded her.
"Don't close my eyes," Molly repeated.
"And don't freeze up. You look like a popsicle."
But as she and Bristol walked, then trotted, then cantered around the arena and approached the first jump, Molly forgot everything Mrs. Newtown said. She froze, flopped forward, and closed her eyes.
"Jump," she whispered.
Bristol jumped but his rear hooves clipped the pole. Not enough to trip, just enough to rattle the pole in its clips and scare Molly half to death.
"You're okay, Molly!" she heard Kate call. "Just a little higher next time!"
"Lean forward," Mrs. Newtown yelled. "Don't crawl out on his neck. And keep your eyes open!"
Molly cantered Bristol in a circle while she calmed down. Keep your eyes open, she told herself. And don't be a popsicle.
The next two jumps went much the same way. Bristol cleared them but Molly didn't help. On the last jump she managed to keep her eyes open but she still slumped forward, practically lying flat on Bristol's neck.
"Good job," Maddie said generously as Molly trotted back to the waiting area.
Molly shook her head. "I get nervous," she explained. "I keep thinking about what might happen."
"That's your mistake," Maddie declared. "There are times when you should think and there are times when you should act. This is one of those times when you just act."
"Or maybe you should yell 'Up' more often," Kate suggested.
Mrs. Newtown gathered all the riders and opened the gates of the corral. "Time to let the horses cool down," she told them. "Take the Perimeter Trail, everyone. Just a quiet ride – no galloping and stay off the grass. Be back in twenty minutes."
The Perimeter Trail looped inside the Academy walls. Outside the walls was forest. Inside were the great lawns and stately trees of the Academy grounds. The Academy itself rose over it all with a silent dignity. Its wide doors and brick walls seemed especially quiet on a Sunday.
"So what did Maddie tell you?" Molly asked Kate as they rode along at the back of the group of riders.
"Nothing much. She says the new students are all bullies. Two of them challenged Oscar to a fight simply because he wouldn't tell them the answers to a quiz."
"What did he do?"
"He reported them but the teacher told him not to be a crybaby. Have you ever heard of such a thing?"
"Not at Laurentide," Molly admitted. "But there are a lot of things happening that we've never seen before."
"Anyway, I guess they tried to beat him up but were chased away by Bair Burton."
"Bair?" Molly asked. "The big guy whose mouth is always open? Why would he help Oscar?"
"Bair's a nice guy."
"He seems kind of dumb to me."
Kate frowned at Molly. "Don't say that. Bair's not dumb. He just thinks slow. Now, his little brother Stout is the one I'm not sure about. All Stout ever talks about is football."
"How do you know so much?" Molly demanded. "First I learn that you're passing information to Peter Dumfrey, now it seems you're friends with Bair and Stout?"
"We have, um, similar interests," Kate said carefully.
Molly was going to reply but over Kate's shoulder she saw movement in one of the Academy windows.
"Hey, someone's inside," she said.
"Inside where?"
"Inside the school. I just saw someone. Isn't that the lab?"
Other students heard her and stopped their horses. They had reached the back of the Academy estate.
"There," a girl pointed. "By the sundial. That door is open. And look! There's a broken window."
There was a door below Students Hall where teachers could enter. It opened onto a gravel driveway that surrounded the Academy like a ring. Picnic tables and a sundial sat next to the path. Normally on a weekend the door would be locked but today it was wide open.
"Someone tell Mrs. Newtown," Maddie suggested. Nobody moved at first but then Molly started to walk Bristol up the lawn toward the building.
"Molly, where are you going?" Kate whispered.
"To see who has broken into my school!" Molly replied angrily.
Kate and a few students followed Molly. Two others raced off to tell Mrs. Newtown about the break-in. The rest waited on the trail.
"We're not supposed to ride on the lawn," Kate reminded them as they trotted their horses up to the Academy. The horses seemed to agree with her. They stepped lightly across the grass as though afraid someone might see them, occasionally throwing up clods of dirt where their hooves dug in.
"I know," said Molly. "But isn't it so much softer than the trail?"
The faculty door was open. That didn't shock the students as much as seeing what someone had used to prop the door in place.
"Oh, my gosh!" said Kate. "It's one of the Memorial Cups from Students Hall!"
The door was held open by one of the polished silver cups that normally sat high on the wall by the student portraits. It was jammed into the gravel like a common doorstop.
One of the boys climbed down from his horse and pulled the cup out of the dirt. When he did the door swung closed with a bang. Seconds later there was a crash inside the building and the sound of panicked movement.
"Over there," the boy pointed. "The noise came from that classroom."
Molly turned Bristol in the direction of the sound. The other students followed. Together they rode up and down the back of the building, peering in windows.
"There!" cried a girl. "I saw somebody in my arts room."
"And somebody's running through the lab!" Kate called.
"I think they're trying to get out," the boy with the cup yelled back. "They know we're out here."
"Everyone!" Molly shouted. "Stick together."
She sounded so sure of herself that the other students immediately followed her instructions. But just as the riders came together there was a horrible screech from inside the building. At the same time a chair came flying through a window. Glass flew in all directions, startling the students and causing the horses to rear.
"Back up!" Molly urged the others. "Back up onto the grass!"
Before anyone could move a dozen figures leaped through the window, surprising them all.
The thieves were short, no bigger than Molly herself, but they were the oddest-looking people she had ever seen. They wore long waistcoats, shorts, and floppy hats. Some had sashes across their middle like wild gypsies. Some had bare feet while others wore boots. All had really long hair and long arms.
One after another the thieves leaped out and crashed onto the gravel, screaming at the top of their lungs. Then quick as a flash they were up and running across the lawn. Their sudden appearance scared the horses so much the students had their hands full staying in their saddles. But that wasn't the worst of it.
A final figure leaped through the window. He was short and stout and his arms hung almost to the gravel. His hair was as long as his arms and he even had little tufts that stuck out on his face. His nose was wide and his eyebrows thick and bushy. A red sash tied a moth-eaten coat around his waist. He was the ugliest person Molly had ever seen. Before she could say anything the thief opened his mouth and let loose a screech that was so loud it should have broken all the windows in the Academy.
The horses freaked out. Two of the students were thrown. Kate jumped free of her saddle as her horse reared high. The others galloped off in terror.
Molly was scared, too, but when Bristol reared up she reacted without thinking. She dug one heel into his side and hauled sharply on the reins to bring him into a tight turn. Instead of toppling backward Bristol spun and backed up behind the picnic tables. There he found himself trapped. When he realized he had nowhere to go he stopped struggling. That gave Molly a chance to look around.
What she saw was chaos. The school alarm was going off, glass was everywhere, horses were running free, and Kate lay on the grass. Most of the burglars, fast as greyhounds, had run all the way to the wall and were climbing over it to disappear into the forest. But the last one was still racing across the lawn, carrying a bag packed with silver Memorial Cups. Deep inside Molly felt a wave of anger build.
"Oh, no you don't," she growled. "You DO NOT steal from my school. Come on, Bristol. Up, up, up!"
With an explosion of energy Bristol leaped over the picnic tables and burst into a run.
"Molly!" Kate yelled. "Come back! Wait for help!"
I'll wait for help, Molly thought as Bristol galloped over the grass. I'll wait while Bristol is stomping all over that fat gypsy's head...
Bristol was a thoroughbred and born to run. He and Molly rapidly closed the distance on the burglar. When the gypsy looked over his shoulder and saw her coming he realized he couldn't get away in a straight line so he swiftly cut to his right into the flowerbeds by the pond. Molly leaned right to cut him off. Bristol turned and caught up with the man before he got to the water. But the burglar then cut left and with a leap that Molly didn't think possible he jumped across the whole pond. He and Molly were now on opposite sides of the water!
Molly spurred Bristol onward. Together they raced down one side of the pond while the burglar ran down the other, seeing who could reach the perimeter wall first. At the end of the water she leaned left: Bristol turned and without breaking stride leaped over a picket fence that bordered the pond at that end. Coming down he almost landed on the gypsy, who shrieked in terror and leaped away. But Molly had her riding crop out. As Bristol passed she swung it and smacked the burglar sharply on the side of the head.
"Aaiieeee!!"
The burglar yelled and dropped his bag. Silver cups spilled everywhere. He stopped to collect them but Molly now leaned back in the saddle and squeezed her legs: Bristol slid to a halt, tearing up great clumps of turf. He spun around and charged back toward the burglar who gave up all thought of the silver and made a beeline straight for the Academy wall. This time he ran as though his pants were on fire.
If the wall had been a little farther away Molly and Bristol would have caught the thief. But with his headstart the gypsy got there first. He leaped to the top of the wall in a single jump, just avoiding Bristol's hooves. The odd-looking man screamed one more time and then vanished into the forest.
Molly waved her crop as Bristol stomped his feet.
"And don't come back!" she yelled.
The Academy grounds fell quiet again. Molly's heart raced. She felt a sudden need to lie down. Dropping from the saddle, she lay on the grass and waited for the butterflies in her stomach to settle down. Bristol stood beside her.
Mrs. Newtown and Maddie galloped up followed by the other students.
"Molly! Molly! Are you hurt?" Mrs. Newtown called.
"I'm okay," Molly answered. "I'm just waiting for my legs to stop shaking."
"That was amazing, Molly!" Maddie exclaimed. "I can't believe what I just saw – that was the best riding ever! You were going a million miles an hour and you jumped that fence like it was nothing. You should be giving me lessons!"
"Ohhhh," Molly groaned. Even lying on the ground she still felt as if they were galloping at top speed. She looked over to see if Bristol was also trembling but he wasn't. In fact he looked as sleepy as ever, chewing grass and swishing his tail. He even returned her gaze with an expression that said, Don't mention it. It was nothing.