Mary and Jody in the Movies

by JoAnn S. Dawson

  At that point Mary and Jody were busy opening the gate, so they had an excuse not to answer. The adults watched in silence as the girls headed across the field to catch the two ponies. Suddenly, a voice came from behind them.

  “How’re they doin’?”

  “Willie!” Jody’s father turned and shook the hand that Willie offered. “The question is, how are you doing? Does all this movie business agree with you?”

  “Well, I guess as much as it ever did,” Willie replied. “I just hope this ridin’ test ain’t causing too much ruckus with those two.”

  “Don’t worry, Willie. They’re happy to do it. They just don’t know it yet,” Mary’s mother chuckled.

  “Well, it won’t take too long. We should know pretty quick who can ride and who can’t.We want to get started in ’bout a half hour. In the meantime, if you come up to the house with me, I’ll introduce you to the director and some of the other people who’ll be workin’ with your daughters.”

  Just as Willie finished making this offer, Mary and Jody appeared at the gate with ponies in hand.

  “Hi, Willie,” Jody said half-heartedly.

  “Mornin’,” Willie nodded. “Glad to see you two bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this mornin’. Now while you girls get the ponies groomed, I’m goin’ to take your parents up to meet Mr. Gordon and some of the others.”

  “OK,” Mary replied listlessly, opening the gate and leading Gypsy through. Jody and Lady followed without a word.

  “Oh,” Willie said suddenly. “One more thing. You don’t have to tack the ponies up.”

  “Don’t tack them up? Why not, Willie?” Jody asked.

  “Well,” Willie said, scratching the side of his head, “go ahead and put themin their stalls and then follow me up to the house. I have somethin’ to show you.”

  Mary and Jody looked at each other quizzically as they entered Lucky Foot Stable. Once they had the ponies safely in their stalls, they fell in line behind Willie and their parents, following them silently toward the farmhouse. When Willie reached the first of the white trucks parked near the house, he stopped and turned to the girls.

  “Now listen. In the movie, the main character is going to be teaching Western lessons. You girls have English saddles, so we can’t use them for the riding test.”

  “Western lessons? But Willie, we’ve only ridden English since we got our saddles!” Jody exclaimed. “And we rode English in our riding test!”

  “Neither one of you will have any trouble ridin’ Western after ridin’ bareback most of the time. Western is more like bareback than English, anyway. You’ll see.”

  “But we don’t have Western saddles!” Mary said, perplexed.

  “Oh, yes we do,” Willie said. Turning to the truck, he took hold of the bottom of the accordion door and shoved upward. The door slid up easily, revealing a cavernous interior. Curious, the girls moved closer and peered inside. Then they gasped in unison.

  Lined up on the right side of the interior wall were a row of evenly placed metal saddle racks. On the racks were five brand new Western saddles, complete with bridles hanging beneath on little hooks. Above each saddle hung a square Western saddle pad, each of a different pattern and color. Mary and Jody gazed open-mouthed at the spectacle until Willie chuckled and turned to their parents.

  “We didn’t have these in time for the girls’ ridin’ test. The production company just bought ’em this mornin.’ Must be nice to have enough money to spend on somethin’ like this.”

  “Well, girls, what do you think?” Mr. Stafford asked with a smile.

  “Dad, they’re beautiful!” Jody exclaimed, almost forgetting to be upset about other people riding her pony. “Willie, you’ll have to teach us how to put them on. The girths are different from the English saddles.”

  “First off, it’s called a cinch, not a girth, and that’s just what I’m about to do,” Willie said, stepping up into the truck and pulling a saddle and bridle from the rack. “Mr. Stafford, if you’ll handle another one of these, we’ll take ’em down to the barn and put ’em on.”

  “But, Willie, will the ponies mind them?” Mary asked worriedly. “They’re not used to them, and how do you know they’ll fit?”

  “Don’t you worry. Western saddles are a lot easier to fit than English, and the ponies will get used to them in no time. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve worn them before sometime in their lives. Now let’s quit yackin’ and get down to the barn. Time’s a’wasting, and the ridin’ test will be startin’ before you know it.”

  Exactly one half-hour later, Mary and Jody stood at the gate of the new outdoor ring with Lady and Gypsy groomed and tacked up, looking very smart in their new Western saddles. Mary’s mother and Jody’s father sat on folding chairs outside the ring, chatting as they waited for the test to begin. The girls looked to the right and left, expecting to see a group of would-be riders lined up expectantly, but there was no one in sight.

  “I wonder where everybody is?” Jody asked, scratching Lady on the forehead. “Willie said the test is supposed to start at nine o’clock.”

  “Maybe they’re not coming after all,” Mary said hopefully. But just as the words escaped her mouth, she spotted Willie coming around the corner of the farmhouse, followed by Twister. Falling in behind Twister, in single file, marched the group of young actors. Jody drew in her breath at the sight of them, and Mary patted Gypsy nervously on the shoulder as they drew near. Willie was tugging on his earlobe, but when he was close enough for the girls to see, he winked at them ever so slightly.

  “All right, troops,” Twister said, turning to address the group. “Let me introduce you to the people who have made your ridin’ test possible today. This is Mary and her pony Gypsy, and this here is Jody and Lady. They are allowin’ you to ride their ponies today out of the goodness of their hearts. So let’s line up along the rail, and I’ll go over the rules.”

  With that, the group spread themselves out along the ring fence, allowing Mary and Jody to get a good look at them. Mary counted heads silently down the line to the twelfth and final rider and then gasped in astonishment.

  It was Annie Mooney! Mary cut her eyes to Jody, whose mouth was open in shock, having seen Annie at the same instant. Annie, paying no attention whatsoever to Mary and Jody, was concentrating on Twister’s speech. So the girls had no choice but to do the same.

  “Now, we’re goin’ to have you go in two at a time,” Twister was saying in his best voice of authority. “We’ll give you a hand mounting up, and then we’ll just have you do one or two turns around the ring at a walk, jog, and lope. Make sure all your helmets are fastened right good before you mount up. We might have some of you do a pattern in the ring to show that you can stop and turn. I don’t want to see anybody doin’ anything dangerous, or you’ll be asked to dismount. Any questions?”

  Mary and Jody looked from one face to another, noticing that several of the riders seemed even more nervous about riding the ponies than the girls were about having their ponies ridden. The next comment, coming from Willie, showed that he observed the same.

  “Now look, if any of you don’t want to go through with this, speak up now,” he said kindly. “Your parents are waitin’ at the farmhouse for you. If you’re afraid, or don’t feel comfortable ridin’, just say so, and you can leave now, no questions asked.We don’t want nobody gettin’ hurt.”

  At that, one of the girls in the middle of the group raised her hand and burst into tears.

  “I don’t want to ride,” she wailed. “My mom made me come!”

  Twister immediately strode over to the girl and patted her on the back. “It’s all right, sweetheart,” he said. “It’s brave of you to speak up. Now, is there anybody else? Last chance.”

  The first boy in line looked at his feet and shook his head vehemently. Twister took the hand of the crying girl in his and went to the boy, putting his arm around him, and without another word the three turned and walked toward the farmhouse together.

&nb
sp; Willie said nothing for a moment, waiting to see if there were more dissenting members of the group. Seeing none, he opened the gate and addressed the first two riders in line, two girls who looked fairly confident in their jeans and Western shirts.

  “Come on in, and let’s have you each stand by whichever pony you choose. I want to see you tighten the cinch first and then mount up. You can use the mounting block if you need to.”

  “I don’t need it,” the first girl in line sniffed as she took the reins from Jody’s grasp. “I mount up all the time by myself.” She placed the reins over Lady’s head and hastily put her left foot into the stirrup to swing herself up. But the instant her full weight landed in the stirrup, the saddle slipped onto Lady’s side, and the girl landed on her rump in the sand and rubber of the ring. After raising his hand to quell the snickers from the group along the rail, Willie reached down and helped the red-faced girl from the ground.

  “That’s why I said to tighten the cinch first,” Willie said, making a point to speak to the group rather than directly to the girl, saving her further embarrassment.

  “It’s OK, Lad,” Jody whispered to Lady. She adjusted the saddle to where it belonged on Lady’s back and stood aside while the girl silently hooked the stirrup over the saddle horn and raised the cinch. Lady simply turned her head and looked at the saddle as if to say, “Now, stay put.”

  Twister returned to the ring, and once the two girls were seated firmly in the saddles, he instructed them to walk along the rail. Gypsy and Lady walked on as though everything was perfectly normal, causing Mary and Jody to feel a little twinge of jealousy. After all, they expected the ponies to act up just a little with different riders on their backs, not to mention different saddles.

  But as the riding test continued with Twister and Willie putting each pair of riders through their paces, the girls had to admit that the ponies were just fine no matter who rode them, even when it was obvious that about half of the “riders” had no clue what they were doing. When it came down to the last few in line, Mary leaned over and whispered to Jody.

  The saddle slipped onto Lady’s side and the girl landed

  on her rump in the sand and rubber of the ring.

  “Isn’t it funny how you can tell as soon as they walk up to the ponies whether they can ride or not? Willie can tell too. He just tells the scared ones to walk along the rail and then dismount.”

  But the girls had to admit to themselves that there were a few good riders in the group; three of the girls and two of the boys. Then it was down to the last two in line, one of which was Annie.

  “I wonder where she got her helmet,” Jody whispered to Mary as they watched Annie fasten the strap of the riding helmet under her chin. Mary squinted her eyes at the helmet, and then she gasped.

  “Jode, I think that’s my helmet!” she whispered back. “Isn’t that my helmet?”

  “I don’t know, Mare, they all look alike, don’t they?”

  “No, mine has that little tear in the velvet where Finnegan chewed it. See?”

  Then it was Jody’s turn to squint, and she nodded when she saw the rip in the back of the helmet.

  “Hmph, she could’ve at least asked me to borrow it!” Mary said indignantly.

  “Shhh, they’re getting ready to mount up.”

  Annie strode up to Gypsy with the confidence of someone who had already seen all the mistakes the others had made and was determined not to repeat them. She checked the cinch, found it tight enough, and, putting her left foot in the stirrup, swung herself up.

  The girl riding Lady seemed sure of herself as well. Twister had the two of them walk, jog, and lope once around the ring. Although she didn’t have the best riding form, Annie held her own, even at the lope.

  “Do you think she’s ever ridden before?” Mary mumbled.

  “If she has, she never told us,” Jody replied. “But you know how Annie is with animals. She seems to have some kind of gift or something.”

  Twister gestured for the girls to halt at the gate and watched as they dismounted. Then he turned and addressed the group.

  “That ends the test for today. Mr. Will Riggins and I will get together with the casting director and give our opinion. Before you leave, stop at the house and make sure we have all of your headshots and resumés and other paperwork. You’ll be hearin’ sometime next week if you were chosen.”

  The girl who rode Lady handed the reins to Jody, and Annie led Gypsy to Mary.

  “Thanks for letting me use your hat, Mary,” Annie said, unfastening the helmet and handing it to Mary.

  “But, but…” Mary sputtered.

  “I know you didn’t give me your official permission, but when they said I needed a hat, I ran down and got it from the stable, and I was hoping you wouldn’t mind. Thanks for letting me wear it. Gypsy was good.”

  And with that, Annie turned and was gone.

  Before Mary could say another word,Willie was by her side, patting Gypsy on the shoulder. Mary’s mother joined Willie in the ring while Jody’s father stood outside with his elbows propped on the rail.

  “Well, I guess these old plugs did pretty good today,” Willie said. “I toldja they’d be fine, now didn’t I?”

  Jody and Mary looked at Willie expectantly, trying to ignore him calling the ponies “old plugs.”

  “Well, Willie?” Jody said breathlessly. “Which ones made it?”

  “Which ones made it?” Willie repeated. “Now how am I supposed to know that?”

  “Well…well…aren’t you and Twister supposed to choose?”

  “All we do is give the casting director our opinion on who can ride and who can’t. Then they go through the pictures and decide which ones look best for the part. You girls were automatically picked because they’re your ponies and we know you can handle them. They need three more riders, and then they usually pick at least one extra just in case. We won’t know ’til next week.”

  “Next week? Why does it take so long?” Mary asked.

  “Next week’ll be here before you know it,” Willie replied. “And speakin’ of next week, have you asked your parents if you can go to the horse auction on Monday?”

  Mary and Jody gasped, realizing that they hadn’t asked permission for that trip yet. They turned in unison to their parents and pleaded all at once.

  “Can we? Willie said we could go and help him pick out horses for the movie. Twister’s going too. We’ve never been to a horse auction before. Can we go? Please?”

  “Hmm,” Jody’s father said, stifling a grin as he came around to the gate. “I think it would be all right if you stay home tomorrow and get all your chores done. What do you think, Katherine?”

  “The same for you, Mary. Your bedroom looks like a tornado went through it.”

  “We will! We will! We’ll come up to the barn in the morning to take care of Lady and Gypsy and Star, and then we’ll stay home the rest of the day,” Mary exclaimed, while Jody nodded vigorously in agreement.

  “All right, then. Meet back here Monday mornin’ at nine o’clock sharp. Auction starts at ten,” Willie said. “Now I got to get down to the barn. It’ll be milkin’ time before you know it.” And he turned and was gone.

  8

  The Horse Auction

  AS IT TURNED out, Willie didn’t have to worry about Mary and Jody being late to the barn on Monday morning. Their parents dropped them off promptly at eight o’clock so they would have plenty of time to feed the ponies before leaving for the auction. They had just finished filling Star’s water bucket when Willie appeared in the back doorway of Lucky Foot Stable.

  “You girls ’bout ready to go?” he asked. “The earlier we get there the better. Gives us more time to look around.”

  “We’re almost ready, Willie!” Mary exclaimed. “We just have to put Star’s bucket out in the paddock for him. Is Twister coming?”

  “He’s already at the truck waitin’ on us.”

  “Oh gosh, Willie,” Jody suddenly said. “Are we all goi
ng to fit in your truck? Mary and I barely fit on the front seat with you! Where’s Twister going to sit?”

  Willie tugged on his earlobe and chuckled before replying. Then he simply turned and answered Jody over his shoulder as he left the stable. “You’ll see,” he said mysteriously.

  Jody hastily toted the full bucket of water out to the paddock and made sure the Dutch door was fastened securely. Then she and Mary fairly flew out the stable doors and around to the barn hill, where they expected to find Willie waiting at his old red pickup truck. But the truck was nowhere in sight. Without taking time to catch their breath, they ran back around to the stable. Still no sign of Willie or Twister.

  “You don’t think they left without us, do you?” cried Jody. “Where could they be?”

  Just then, the girls heard the deep growl of a truck engine behind them on the lane. They spun around and gasped at the sight of a brand new, shiny black double-cab pickup rumbling down the lane from the farmhouse. Hitched to the truck was a huge silver horse trailer. Twister waved to them from the passenger seat. And behind the wheel, grinning like a teenager, was Willie.

  “Oh my gosh! What in the world?” Mary yelped.

  “Mary!” Jody exclaimed, grabbing Mary’s arm. “That must be the truck and trailer Mr. Gordon talked about the other day! Remember?”

  Willie pulled up next to the girls and rolled the window down. Then he opened the door and gestured to the extra bench seat behind the driver. “Well, git in,” he said.

  Mary and Jody needed no more prodding. Climbing in behind Willie and Twister, they sunk down on the plush gray-and-black seat and marveled at the spacious interior of the truck.

  “Willie, is this yours? Where did you get it?” Jody asked breathlessly as Willie steered the big truck and trailer expertly down the lane.

  “Well, I wish I could say it was mine,” he said. “But it’s just bein’ rented by the film company so’s we can pick up some horses. Pretty nice, huh?”

  The hour it took to get to the auction seemed to fly by as the girls savored the beauty of the farm landscapes along the way and the richness of the truck, compared to Willie’s rickety red pickup with the deep cracks in the seat. Before they knew it, Twister was pointing at the sign for New London Sales Stable. The words were painted on the side of a white, barnlike building at the end of a large parking lot filled with trucks and horse trailers.