Hayride

by Bonnie Bryant

Simon stared after her, mouth open.

  “Pretty impressive, huh?” Stevie said, her eyes dancing merrily.

  “That was the best mounting job I’ve ever seen,” he said breathlessly. He turned to Patch and began sorting out his reins, half-dazed.

  Wanting to catch up with Lisa, Stevie mounted quickly and urged Topside after Barq. Before she could reach her, however, Max began the class for real. “No need to hurry, Stevie,” he said. “Remember to always walk your horse quietly for several minutes to relax him and yourself.”

  Stevie stiffened her shoulders grimly. Of course she knew that you should always start riding at a walk—any two-year-old knew that much! And she knew that Max knew that she knew—which meant that he also knew that she’d been trying to catch up with Lisa. And they both knew that talking was forbidden in class. So Stevie’s only option was to ask Topside to walk. Resignedly, she tightened the reins and sat deeply in the saddle. A glance in Max’s direction confirmed her suspicions: He was grinning.

  Simon had more luck. By the time he got on, Lisa had completed one circle of the ring. “Hey, wait up, Lisa,” Simon called. Nudging Patch over toward Barq, he began to chat animatedly. “So here I am with you, Stephanie, Veronica—all the good riders—”

  “We’re not supposed to talk in class, Simon,” Lisa said, cutting him off. If she couldn’t keep him from talking to her, maybe Max’s rules would.

  “Gosh, I was so excited, I forgot! I’ll just follow you and try to watch you so I can improve.”

  Lisa shrugged. She couldn’t just tell Simon to get lost. Another Pine Hollow tradition was for the better riders to help those less experienced. And because the classes were usually divided by age and not ability, riders of all levels often rode together. Lisa had been riding only about a year, but she was a dedicated student and had learned quickly. Beside her, Simon looked like the stark beginner he was.

  Still, Lisa thought suddenly, she might be able to shake him and teach him something at the same time. “I’m going to practice halting,” she said. “Make sure you keep Patch walking—don’t let him just copy Barq.”

  “Gosh, I’ll try, Lisa,” Simon said, concentrating hard.

  Lisa asked Barq to halt. He stopped squarely. Patch stopped beside Barq, ignoring Simon’s feeble kicks.

  “Not bad, Lisa,” Max said, coming over toward her. Lisa smiled at Max’s words. He rarely gave compliments, so any word of praise was precious. “I’m glad to see you two are paired up. I didn’t know if you heard me say to find partners.” He nodded to Lisa. “It will be good for Simon to ride beside you.”

  Partner? Pairs? Lisa groaned inwardly. She hadn’t heard Max say anything about riding in twos. If she had, she would have galloped pell-mell toward Topside. Now she was stuck with Simon Atherton for the entire lesson!

  As Max walked away, she gave Simon a cold look. “I usually ride with Stevie when we do pairs,” she said. She knew she was being mean, but couldn’t he take a hint and leave her alone?

  “Gosh, it’s too bad Stephanie already found a partner, then,” Simon said sympathetically.

  Lisa glanced around the ring. Poor Stevie! Left without Lisa or Carole to pair up with, she had ended up having to ride next to Veronica. She looked even less enthused than Lisa. She was staring stonily ahead to avoid all conversation with Veronica.

  Garnet didn’t look too happy either. She was laying her ears back and twitching her tail. When Max called for a trot, the mare jerked her head up and down. Veronica tried to keep her even with Topside, but she kept slowing and trying to walk.

  In a fury Veronica dropped the reins on Garnet’s neck and threw her hands up. “Max!” she yelled. “Something’s wrong with her! She can beat Topside any day, and now she’s not even keeping up.”

  Max looked at her reproachfully. He frowned on any kind of outburst while mounted.

  “What? Why are you staring at me?” Veronica cried, indignant. “It’s not my fault!”

  Max ordered the rest of the class to keep trotting in pairs. Then he had Veronica come to the center of the ring and trot in a small circle. After a few times around, Max said, “Veronica, this time you happen to be right. It’s not your fault.”

  “See!” Veronica cried. “She’s misbehaving, isn’t she?”

  “She may be misbehaving, but you haven’t figured out the reason why—Garnet’s lame in the right fore. She throws her head up when she steps on that foot to take the weight off it. It’s really hurting her.”

  “So what am I supposed to do?” Veronica asked, full of self-pity.

  “Dismount at once and call Judy,” Max said flatly. Judy Barker was the local vet. She was often called to Pine Hollow to do everything from birth a foal to give routine shots.

  Veronica jumped off and led Garnet back into the barn. “Poor thing, I hope my baby’s not hurt badly,” she said loudly.

  “Veronica, if you need any help after class, just tell me!” Simon yelled after her.

  “All right, enough,” Max called. “I guess we’ll have to abandon the pairs work for today. There’s no longer an even number.”

  Stevie gave Lisa the thumbs-up sign. No more pairs meant no more Simon Atherton. Veronica had actually done them a favor—or at least Garnet had.

  “Okay, everyone separate and pick up a trot,” Max barked. “Like you were supposed to be doing this whole time instead of talking with each other.”

  “OH, MY ACHING thighs,” Stevie said as she and Lisa carried their tack to the tack room. Max had decided to substitute the pairs work with riding without stirrups for half an hour.

  “I may be bowlegged for life,” Lisa agreed. They had untacked and groomed Barq and Topside and were planning to relax for a few minutes. They put the tack back on its racks and gulped down the remains of the sodas—another Pine Hollow ritual—that everyone got after lessons.

  “Wow,” Stevie said, glancing at the saddles near hers. “Starlight’s saddle makes mine look a prairie dust storm.”

  “I’ll bet Carole polished it while she waited,” Lisa said.

  “No doubt. Hey, let’s check on Starlight and see how he’s doing.”

  The two girls walked out to the gelding’s stall. On the way they said hello to Judy Barker, who was examining Garnet. Simon Atherton was holding Garnet’s lead. Veronica looked on from a slight distance.

  “Guess she’s found a new volunteer,” Stevie muttered.

  Starlight was munching his afternoon hay contentedly. He pricked up his ears as they approached. Lisa fed him a carrot she had nabbed from the grain room while Stevie went into the stall and checked him over.

  “Looks fine to me,” she said.

  Judy Barker poked her head out of Garnet’s stall. “Wish I could say the same for Garnet, but I’m afraid she’s got a bruised sole.”

  “It’s no wonder,” Veronica said. “Red O’Malley was riding her outside the ring. I’m sure he let her step on sharp stones. Poor baby.” She flung her arms around Garnet’s neck.

  Stevie couldn’t let her get away with blaming Red. “Actually, Veronica, if you’ll remember, you were the one who insisted on trotting down the driveway last week, and there are a lot more stones there than on the grass beside the ring. And if you’d exercise your own horse for a change—”

  “Who cares whose fault it is!” Veronica snapped. “The only thing that matters is that I’m not going to be able to ride!”

  “That’s right. Two weeks’ vacation while the bruise heals,” Judy said pleasantly. “You’re lucky it’s not worse.”

  “Two weeks!” Veronica wailed. “What am I supposed to do for two weeks?”

  “Well, you could brush up on Pony Club horsemanship, starting with the various lamenesses,” Judy suggested.

  Veronica smiled weakly. “Sure—I guess I could,” she said.

  “I hate to vet and run, folks, but I’ve got to go tube-worm a barn of two-year-old Thoroughbreds at the track,” Judy explained. She bade them all good-bye and hurried off to her truck.
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  Once she had gone, Veronica pouted in earnest. “Two weeks! What a waste!”

  Simon patted her shoulder. “Gosh, Veronica, don’t be upset. I’m sorry about Garnet.”

  Veronica softened her tone. “Thanks, Simon. If you want, you can put her away for me.”

  “Sure thing, Veronica,” he said. “I’ll do anything to help such a devoted rider.”

  Veronica looked pointedly at Lisa and Stevie. “It’s so nice having friends around here to help me out.”

  “I’m sure it is,” Lisa said. She and Stevie turned to go.

  As they walked past Garnet’s stall, Simon yelled, “Hey, you guys aren’t leaving yet, are you?” When they nodded, Simon looked disappointed. “Aw, too bad, too bad. I guess we’ll just have to wait till first-period math to see each other again, huh, Lisa?”

  “I guess so,” Lisa said, forcing herself to be polite.

  Veronica immediately broke into the conversation. “Simon, I’ve got something else you can do for me. I—”

  “ ’Bye, Lisa!” Simon called after them.

  Once they were out of sight, Lisa and Stevie burst into laughter. “You know, we really ought to straighten Simon out about the real Veronica,” Lisa said.

  “You mean the devoted rider?” Stevie asked, grinning.

  “I mean the devoted mall shopper!” Lisa said. “We should tell him what she’s really like.”

  “Let’s hold off on that particular explanation,” Stevie said mysteriously. “I just may have an idea.” Then she told Lisa all about the idea she’d come up with at lunch-time that day.

  “EASY DOES IT. Watch that ankle.” Colonel Hanson helped Carole lower herself into the front seat of the sedan. Then he took the crutches from her and tucked them into the backseat. Once she was all settled, he closed the door firmly and got in on the driver’s side. He started the engine and pulled slowly out of the Quantico Military Base Hospital parking lot.

  Carole stared out the window glumly. Usually she liked going onto the base with her father. It was fun to watch the enlisted men and women marching in formation. Today she hardly noticed them. She kept hearing Dr. Curtis’s diagnosis echo in her mind: sprained ankle. Treatment: soaking and rest. No riding for two weeks. Keep walking to a minimum, and use crutches to keep the weight off.

  “How does it feel, honey?” Colonel Hanson asked gently.

  “A little better,” Carole said. She made an effort to smile. It seemed as if her father felt worse than she did about her ankle.

  “Good thing it’s wrapped so well,” he joked. They both laughed. Dr. Curtis had tried to explain to Carole how she should wrap the Ace bandage, but she already knew how. “It’s just not that different from bandaging a horse’s leg,” she had told him honestly.

  “I’m sorry, honey,” Colonel Hanson said.

  “It’s okay.”

  “We’re still going to make your party the best hayride birthday ever, you know.”

  Luckily, Carole could still have the party. She wouldn’t be able to dance—so much for the slow dance with Cam she’d been imagining—but Dr. Curtis had said she could go on the hayride if she promised to sit still. What else was she going to do? Carole wondered. Stand up and hop around on her left ankle? She had to admit that it was still quite painful, even with the Ace bandage on.

  “We’ll put our heads together one more time and think up sitting-down games for people who don’t want to dance,” Colonel Hanson said.

  Carole was still excited about the party, of course, but even it wouldn’t make up for two whole weeks without riding. Carole had been riding for as long as she could remember. The only time she’d taken more than a day or two off was after the tragic death of one of her favorite horses, Cobalt. And not riding had just made her more miserable. Besides, even if she could handle it, she wasn’t sure Starlight could.

  “He’ll be higher than a kite after two weeks off,” Carole said, voicing her thoughts.

  Colonel Hanson reminded her that there were other people at Pine Hollow who could exercise Starlight for her. Carole nodded, but it was hard to think of the right person. Red and Max were far too busy. Lisa was too inexperienced. Maybe she would ask Stevie to take him out once or twice if she wasn’t too busy with Topside.

  WHEN CAROLE AND her father got home, the phone was ringing. “Why did the horse make friends with the cow next door?” she heard her father say as she limped into the kitchen. A dumb joke could only mean that he had an appreciative audience on the other end of the line. And, as far as Carole knew, Stevie was the only person who fit that qualification.

  “Because he wanted to be a good neigh-eigh-eighbor!” Colonel Hanson finished. He handed the receiver to Carole. “I really got her that time,” he said.

  Carole took the phone from her chuckling father. “I was just going to call you,” she said.

  “Good, because I’ve been trying to call you for the past hour.”

  “What’s up?”

  To make sure she didn’t forget, Stevie told Carole right away all about Veronica’s phone call to Phil. Carole agreed that this latest incident might be the most revolting crime Veronica had ever committed against The Saddle Club. Then Stevie filled Carole in on the lesson—Simon following Lisa around, Garnet being lame, Veronica freaking out as usual.

  “How bad is the bruise?” Carole asked.

  Stevie grinned into the receiver. Of course Carole was more concerned about Garnet than about any of the humans involved. Her heart always went to horses first.

  “Not too bad, but Judy says she needs two weeks off.”

  “Just like me,” Carole said. She told Stevie that her ankle was really sprained and that, as far as riding went, she was literally “grounded” for the next two weeks. “I’m really worried about Starlight’s training,” she added.

  Stevie volunteered to exercise him at least a few times.

  “That’s nice of you, but I know it’ll be hard since you also have to work with Topside. You don’t want to let him slip now that he’s doing so well.”

  They discussed the other possibilities. Stevie agreed that Lisa couldn’t really do it. She was a good rider, but she didn’t have the experience to handle Starlight if he continued being as moody as he had been. The minute he sensed any timidity on Lisa’s part, he’d do exactly what he wanted.

  “Who else? Let’s see …” Stevie’s voice trailed off as she thought.

  “There is someone else, you know,” Carole said hesitatingly. “Someone who’s got a forced two-week vacation from riding.”

  “You can’t mean Veronica!” Stevie cried, knowing that that was exactly who Carole meant.

  Carole began cautiously. She knew how mad Stevie was at the suggestion, but she had to put Starlight first. “I know she tried to cause problems for you and Phil, but—”

  “Cause problems! She tried to get him to dump me!”

  “—and that’s terrible, but she is a good rider.” Carole paused, letting her words sink in. Then she added, “And I can’t think of anyone at her level who won’t be able to ride her own horse for two weeks. It seems like the best solution.”

  It was true. Carole couldn’t ride at all. Veronica couldn’t ride Garnet. And no matter how despicable Veronica was when it came to people, she did ride well. Even so, Stevie could barely bring herself to admit that Carole was right. She was still fuming inside over the phone call. “I guess it would be okay, but I’d think it over first,” she said.

  “I have, and it’s the only sensible thing to do. I’ll bet Lisa would think so, too,” Carole said.

  Stevie agreed that Lisa would like the logic of the situation. The horseless rider riding the riderless horse: It would work perfectly. “I guess so,” she said.

  Trying to cheer her up, Carole reminded Stevie that Starlight’s well-being was at stake, and that that was all they should care about. Then she had to go—she wanted to soak her ankle before dinner. They finished the conversation and hung up.

  Stevie knew that
Carole’s plan was the horsemanlike thing to do. Still, it filled her with disgust to think about The Saddle Club again doing something nice for Veronica. She would just have to keep her mind on her own plan—the plan of revenge!

  CAROLE HAD BARELY got her Ace bandage off and her foot into the basin of warm water when the phone rang again. Colonel Hanson stretched the cord over to the kitchen table where Carole was sitting. Then he mumbled some excuse about having to do some desk work and left. Carole said hello eagerly, realizing it must be Cam. Her father would never excuse himself if one of her girlfriends called.

  She was right: Cam’s deep voice greeted her. Knowing she could no longer keep her ankle a secret, she told him all about the trip to the hospital, ending with her plan to have Veronica ride Starlight. “What do you think?”

  “Sounds fine,” Cam muttered. Carole was puzzled. It was an unusual response for him. Normally he would be as eager as she was to weigh the pros and cons. Tonight he was answering everything she said in a monotone. He sounded distant and upset.

  Carole decided to change the subject. Maybe he had had a bad day with Duffy and didn’t want to talk horses. “So the party’s still on, at least, and I think it’ll be really fun.”

  There was a pause. “I guess you’re inviting a lot of boys, huh?” Cam asked.

  “I sure am,” Carole said. “I want it to be as evenly numbered as possible.”

  “I hope I’m not ruining the ratio,” Cam said.

  “You?” Carole asked. What was that supposed to mean?

  “Because if I am, I don’t have to be there.”

  Carole was even more confused. Was this Cam’s idea of a joke? He seemed to be asking her if she actually wanted him to come. “Cam, I want you there,” she insisted.

  When he didn’t respond, she wondered if she’d said the right thing. Maybe he was the one who didn’t want to come. Carole sighed. Why did people have to be so impossible to understand? Horses were so much simpler. She always knew what was bothering Starlight. She decided to drop the subject of the party and try yet another subject.

  “Hey, did I tell you about what Veronica tried to do to Stevie and Phil?” she asked. She related the phone-call incident. “That’s why Stevie doesn’t want me to let Veronica ride Starlight. Can you believe Veronica would do something so awful? If Phil hadn’t known better, she might have convinced him Stevie liked someone else.”