Stacy Gregg - Victory and the All-Stars Academy

“Here! Let me help!” Dee Dee lunged forward over the dressing table and somehow managed to bump a leftover cup of tea so that it splashed all over Issie’s bag.

“Dee Dee!” There was tea in Issie’s bag now, as well as nail polish!

“I’ll clean it up!” said Dee Dee brightly.

“Don’t!” Issie snapped. “It’s fine! I’ll do it later.” She flung the bag on to her new bed, out of the reach of Dee Dee, the walking disaster.

“Whatever you say, roomie.” Dee Dee put her suitcase down on Issie’s old bed and gave her a grin. “Ready for breakfast?”

The others were already at the table when Issie and Dee Dee arrived. Tara Kelly was with them.

“Good morning,” Avery said. “Issie, I see you’ve met Dee Dee—and Tara tells me that the two of you have already met as well. I was just doing introductions and explaining the training itinerary. Why don’t you girls sit down and we can get started?”

Issie made a beeline for the chair between Stella and Kate, but Dee Dee cut her off and got there first. She flung herself into the spare seat and Issie was forced to go all the way down to the far end of the table, to sit between two riders that she didn’t know. Grudgingly, she took a piece of toast off the plate in front of her and began to butter it as Avery ran through the schedule.

“I’ve put aside the rest of today for you to select your mounts under Tara’s guidance and get to know the horses,” Avery said. “The Australian team and Minka will arrive tomorrow and we can kick off the dressage training. On Tuesday you’ll be finessing your dressage tests and we’ll have showjumping training when Araminta arrives on Wednesday and Thursday. Then Tara will be taking you for your cross-country training at the end of the week.”

Tara stood up from the table. “Right. Finish up your breakfasts and grab your helmets and boots. We’ll meet at the stables in ten minutes to sort out which horse each of you gets, OK?”

As the girls gathered on the verandah of the classic old Queenslander villa to pull on their riding boots, Issie told Stella all about Dee Dee, her new roomie.

“She’s a nightmare! I came back from the stables this morning and she’d moved all my stuff and spilt nail polish on my favourite T-shirt, and then, when I tried to get my stuff out of her way, she managed to knock a cup of tea over—”

“Wait a minute!” Stella said. “Back it up! You’ve been down to the stables already this morning?”

“Yeah, yeah,” said Issie impatiently. “I woke up early and went to see the horses. So anyway, when I got back, Dee Dee was in my room and she had—”

“I can’t believe you went to the stables without me!” Stella said.

“Stella,” Issie groaned. “It doesn’t matter! I’m trying to tell you about Dee Dee. Do you think we can swap room-mates?”

“You know, Issie,” Stella said, refusing to let it drop, “you could have woken me up and I would have come to the stables with you. I am your best friend.”

“Yes, OK, OK, I’m sorry,” Issie said, trying to put the matter to rest. “But I was talking about Dee Dee. What are we going to do about her?”

“I suppose you could ask Avery if you and I can share a room,” Stella offered.

“No way,” Issie groaned. “Tom will never agree. He said it would be good for us to split up and get to know the other girls.”

“Well then,” Stella shrugged. “I guess there’s no way out. You’re going to have to live with Dee Dee for two weeks. It’s not long. I’m sure she can’t be that bad!”

Stella isn’t being very sympathetic , Issie thought. It was all right for her. Stella had the perfect room-mate. Emily wasn’t one bit like Dee Dee. She was totally normal and really nice—a quiet, thoughtful girl with a mouse-brown ponytail and freckles. Laura, Emily’s twin sister, was lovely too. She was almost the spitting image of Emily, except slightly taller and with darker brown hair, and she was sharing a room with Kate. Morgan was bunking with Charlotte, the rider from Hutt Valley.

Charlotte was fifteen. She had blonde hair, which Issie suspected had been highlighted, as it had glamorous lighter blonde streaks. Charlotte seemed very grown-up. Issie was pretty sure that she was wearing make-up—blusher, lip gloss and mascara. She also wore a pair of very tight, sparkling-white jodhpurs, even though it wasn’t even a proper training day and they were bound to get dusty.

Everything was dusty at Havenfields. The landscape here was so different to the green fields of Chevalier Point. The paddocks were burnt by the endless sunshine so there was very little green grass, and at nine in the morning the horses grazing outside were already seeking shade under the tall gum trees that bordered the paddocks.

The sun was scorching and the idea of saddling up a horse seemed positively exhausting in the thirty-plus degree heat. Luckily, the Olympic-sized sand arena where they would be working the horses was covered.

“Not to keep the rain off obviously,” Avery said. “I don’t think it’s rained in Lilydale in months.”

They entered the stables and the other girls who hadn’t already seen the horses began to ooh and aah over the ones that they liked best.

“Here’s the drill,” Avery said. “We’ll be giving all of you a chance to try out the horse of your choice. Tara and I will be watching you ride and we’ll be swapping certain riders over if we think they’d be better off teamed with other horses.”

Stella raised her hand. “Who gets to choose the first horse?”

“There’s no totally fair way to do this,” Avery admitted. “So let’s go in alphabetical order, shall we?”

He looked at the list on his clipboard. “Let’s see…Ah, Charlotte! Which one would you like to try out?”

Charlotte couldn’t believe her good fortune at being the first to choose. She bit her lip pensively as she looked down the row of horses in front of her.

“I’d like the grey,” she said.

Tara led the grey horse with the dark mane and tail forward and handed the lead rope to Charlotte. “His name is Kanga,” she said. “You’ll find his tack in that loose box over there. You can go and get him ready now and I’ll see you in the arena.”

Charlotte led Kanga away and Avery consulted his list once more.

“Isn’t this neato?” a voice hissed in Issie’s ear and she turned to see Dee Dee standing next to her.

“OK, next on the list we have…Dee Dee!”

“Here!” Dee Dee squeaked, raising her hand and grinning like a maniac.

“It’s your turn, Dee Dee,” Avery told her. “Pick yourself a horse.”

Issie watched Dee Dee’s eyes widen as they scanned the row of horses.

“It’s so hard to choose!” Dee Dee giggled. “They’re all so…so…”

“So neato ?” said Issie scathingly. But Dee Dee hadn’t heard her. She gave another squeak of delight and bounced in the air, clapping her hands together.

“I’ve decided!” she said. “I’ll take the one on the end.”

Issie watched in total horror as Tara led the chosen horse forward and handed his lead rope to her scatterbrained room-mate. She couldn’t believe it. Dee Dee had just chosen Victory.

Floyd wasn’t such a bad consolation prize. At least no one else had chosen the stunning cremello before Issie had the chance to put her hand up for him. It turned out that as well as being a cool colour, Floyd had a gorgeous nature. He stood perfectly still and well-behaved in his stall while Issie threw on the numnah and saddle, cinched the girth and slipped the bridle over his head. Adjusting her helmet, she put her left foot in the stirrup and bounced up neatly into the saddle.