The Prize Read Free Page B

life and death!”
    â€œIsn’t it?” Alice questioned.
    All the girls knew that at Blainford, where the cliques ruled the school, being Tara Kelly’s eventers was like a badge that you wore with pride. While the polo boys were rich and arrogant, the showjumperettes were glamorous and stuck-up, the westerns were laidback and the dressage geeks intense and uptight, the eventers stood out as fearless and loyal.
    Apart from Kennedy and Arden, who had transferred from showjumping and had always made it quite clear that they wanted nothing to do with their classmates, Tara Kelly’s first-years were a tight-knit bunch.
    The danger that they faced on the cross-country course gave them a sense of camaraderie. But there was also a fierce rivalry amongst them for class rankings. Tara Kelly went through her ruthless elimination cull of her pupils in the first year to make sure that only the very best were allowed to continue up the grades. The way Tara saw it, elimination wasn’t about ruining young lives, it was about saving them.
    Eventing was a demanding subject – and a deadly one for any rider who wasn’t skilled enough to meet the challenge. Travelling at a fast gallop over solid fences meant huge risks for both horse and rider. Even the rodeo class had a grudging respect for the broken bone count in the eventing department. Incredibly, so far the first-year eventing class had avoided any major injuries.
    Or at least they had done until now. As they left the stables and walked up the school driveway the girls spied Nicholas Laurent ahead of them. The French rider was one of their cross-country gang and he was on crutches and sporting a bright blue plaster cast on his leg that went all the way to the knee.
    By the time the girls reached the dining hall, Nicholas was already in the queue, trying to hold his dinner tray whilst balancing on a single crutch. The other eventing boys – Cameron Fraser, Alex Chang and Matt Garrett – were all with him but none of them were offering to help. Instead, they were greedily dishing burgers and fries on to their own plates.
    â€œDon’t you guys ever think about anyone else?” Alice said casting a dark look at Cameron and the others as she stepped forward to relieve the grateful Nicholas of his tray. “Nicholas, you go and sit down. I’ll get your food and bring it over for you.”
    â€œMerci, Alice,” Nicholas said. “Get me extra frites, OK?” He hobbled off to take a seat at the eventers’ usual table while Alice piled his plate and her own. As soon as Laurent’s back was turned the girls began whispered speculations on the cause of the broken leg.
    â€œDo you think he did it practising cross-country?” Emily asked.
    Georgie shook her head. “I bet he did it on the hunt field in Bordeaux.”
    â€œI hope the horse was OK,” Alice said looking back over her shoulder at him as she dished up the fries. “It looks like it must have been a bad fall.”
    When the girls finally joined Nicholas and the other boys at the table, however, he refused to tell them anything about the accident.
    â€œI don’t want to talk about it,” Nicholas was adamant.
    â€œWhy not?” Matt Garrett frowned.
    â€œBecause…” Nicholas paused. “Because… it is no big deal. There is nothing to say.”
    â€œNicholas,” Alice was insistent, “you’re in a cast. You have crutches. It looks like a big deal to us.”
    Nicholas shrugged.
    â€œCome on,” Cameron persisted. “Tell us how you did it.”
    Nicholas cast a sideways glance, checking the room to see if anyone else was near the eventers’ table.
    â€œOK,” he said, leaning in over the table, his voice hushed in a conspiratorial tone. “I will tell you what happened.”
    The riders all leaned in and waited in silence for him to speak. Nicholas looked serious. And then, in a quiet voice he