“Looks like you got a champ here,” Twister said admiringly. “He sure knows what he’s doin’. Quiet, too.”
Willie simply nodded. Twister dismounted and handed Augie’s reins to Willie, taking Hoppy’s reins all in one motion. In an instant, he was putting Hoppy through the same drill, jogging and loping both directions of the ring. Hoppy cooperated almost as well as Augie but shook his head up and down several times, chomping on the bit. Once, he even threw his head down, almost pulling the reins from Twister’s hand.
“This one might need a hackamore,” Twister commented after reining him to a stop. “He don’t seem to like the bit much.”
“Man was ridin’ him with a bosal in the ring,” Willie acknowledged. “Must be what he’s used to.”
“What are they talking about?” Jody whispered to Mary, never having heard such words before.
“I don’t know, but I can’t wait to go home and look them up,” Mary replied gleefully.
“They’re words for different kinds of Western bridles,” Vicki offered, having overheard the conversation. “I had to learn them myself so I could sound like an actual Western riding instructor. I’ve been doing a lot of horse research. I’ll be in the ring with you girls tomorrow, so if I say something wrong, let me know, OK?”
Mary and Jody simply grinned and nodded, flabbergasted that the famous Vicki Beaumont was actually asking for their advice.
“All right, ready for the mare?” Willie asked Twister. Then he turned to the girls. “Have you come up with a name for her yet?”
“Yes, Willie. Her name is Shalimar,”Mary responded grandly.
“Shalimar? Who ever heard tell of a crazy name like that for a Western horse?” Willie harrumphed.
“Um, Willie, Miss Beaumont came up with it,” Mary replied. Vicki smiled and winked at her as the other adults stifled grins.
“Oh, well, I reckon it’s OK, then,” Willie replied, pulling on his earlobe in embarrassment. “But I’m goin’ to come up with a nickname for her right quick.”
“That’s fine, Mr. Riggins,” Vicki grinned. “I know Shalimar is kind of a silly name, but I always liked it.”
Vicki smiled and winked at her
as the other adults stifled grins.
Willie simply nodded as Twister mounted up on the gray mare and put her through her paces around the ring. She was a little spooky at first, eyeing the audience at ringside warily and sidestepping when Finnegan suddenly flew past the ring, barking at a squirrel.
“That’s the fastest I’ve seen Finney move in awhile,” Mary commented wryly.
Twister spoke quietly to the mare, rubbing his hand along her neck as he urged her gently forward. Responding to his voice and touch, she soon settled down and loped easily around the ring, coming down from the lope with just a gentle tug on the reins.
“This one’s a little worried, but I think she’ll be OK once we get her used to the ring,” Twister commented as he dismounted. “I think these three will do all right.”
“What about Stumpy?” Mary asked. “You didn’t ride him yet, Twister.”
“I’ll get around to it,” Twister replied nonchalantly.
“Mary, we have to get home,” Mary’s mother chided. “Frank and I both have to work tomorrow, and you girls need to get to bed.”
“That’s right, Mrs. Morrow,” Willie interjected. “I was just told that the call time is 6 a.m.”
“Oh, Willie, I almost forgot! You didn’t tell us who is in the riding scene yet!” Mary blurted.
“Hold yer horses, hold yer horses,” Willie answered, taking the folded piece of paper from his pocket. After carefully smoothing the wrinkled missive against his jeans, he raised it to his face and squinted as he read it over to himself. Mary jiggled impatiently but knew it was no use hurrying Willie when he didn’t want to be hurried.
“Well, we’ve got five names here and one alternate,” Willie said.
“Nerve-wracking, huh?” Brian McVey said to Mary, nudging her with his elbow. Mary responded by blushing beet red.
“At the top of the list we have the names of Mary Morrow and Jody Stafford,” Willie announced. Mary and Jody grinned, and their parents smiled at them proudly.
“We already knew we made it, Mom,” Mary whispered.
“And then we have Jeffrey Hunt, says he likes to be called Jeff,” Willie continued.
“Oh, a boy,” Jody grimaced.
“And then, Jenna Day.”
Mary and Jody looked at each other, remembering that Jenna Day was the girl who forgot to tighten the cinch.
“And last in the main group, Krystal Warren.”
“I don’t remember who that is, do you?” Jody whispered to Mary.
“No, we’ll probably remember her when we see her,” Mary replied.
“And an alternate,” Willie looked up from his paper and then down again.
“The alternate is Annie Mooney.”
11
Annie Has Trouble
MARY AND JODY hardly slept a wink that night, so worried were they that they might oversleep and miss the 6 a.m. call time. They tossed and turned, waking up each hour and staring at their alarm clocks before falling into a brief and fitful sleep. Mary thought about calling Jody on the phone, but she was afraid Jody would be asleep, and she didn’t want to wake her. Down the road, the same thoughts were occurring to Jody. When her alarm finally sounded at 5 a.m., she jumped from her bed like a shot. Mary didn’t even wait for her alarm to ring. Her feet hit the floor at 4:55, and she lingered by the bed only long enough to turn it off.
At precisely 5:45, Mary and Jody were inside Lucky Foot Stable, having led Lady and Gypsy in from the big pasture, and were grooming them meticulously in anticipation of their big day. Star nickered impatiently from the paddock as if to say, “Hey! Why isn’t anybody paying attention to me?”
“Star, I promise, as soon as we finish this movie scene, I’ll take you out for a nice long walk, up to the pigeon house and back,” Jody called, concentrating on a particularly tough knot in Lady’s mane.
“Jody, can you believe Annie is going to be the alternate?” Mary blurted. When the names were announced the day before, Mary and Jody had made no comment, but Mary just couldn’t hold her tongue any longer.
“No! I honestly don’t think she ever rode a horse before the riding test. Maybe they picked her because of her red hair.”
“Ain’t you got those ponies tacked up yet?” Willie called suddenly from the back doors of Lucky Foot Stable. “They need to be up to the ring in fifteen minutes.”
“We know, Willie, we’re almost ready,” Jody replied, forgetting about Annie Mooney long enough to throw a saddle pad on Lady’s broad back. Mary was a little ahead in the tacking up process, having already tightened the cinch on Gypsy’s new Western saddle just the way Willie had shown her.
“Willie, where are the other horses?” Jody asked, lifting Lady’s bridle from the peg on the wall. “They weren’t in the stable when we got here.”
“Twister’s got ’em up at the ring already,” Willie said. “We were in here groomin’ an hour ago so’s we could make room for your old plugs to come in.”
Mary and Jody were too busy putting the bridles on to take offense at Willie calling the ponies “old plugs.” Mary looked up just long enough to notice Willie tugging on his earlobe, the way he always did when about to say something important.
“Willie, what is it? Do you want to tell us something?” Mary asked curiously.
“Well, I just want to remind you that it’s goin’ to be a long day, and you better get ready to do things over and over again. It’s not like ridin’ for fun, ya know.”
“Oh, we know, Willie. You told us that already,” Jody said nonchalantly, leading Lady toward the stable doors and followed closely by Mary and Gypsy.
“And one more thing,” Willie said, not moving from his position near Gypsy’s stall. “I don’t want to hear no remarks behind anybody’s back about anything at all, especially ab
out anybody’s ridin’ ability.”
Mary and Jody stopped in their tracks and looked at each other in silent understanding before turning to Willie. “We know, Willie,” they said in unison, and then turned and continued on their way to the brand new ring.
Inside the ring, Hoppy stood with his halter fastened over his bridle, a lead rope securing him to a fence post inside the ring. His head was turned just far enough to watch the other two horses going through their paces. Twister was mounted up on Augie, walking him along the rail and leading the gray mare behind. Stumpy, an alternate just like Annie, stood quietly away from the ring, tethered to the lowest branch of the old horse chestnut tree. And standing next to Stumpy was Annie’s brother Jimmy, one arm looped over Stumpy’s neck, chewing on a piece of straw. When Jimmy saw Jody and Mary approaching the ring, he turned and smirked at them.
“I guess you think you’re movie stars now,” he snorted.
Mary and Jody chose to ignore this statement by striding past Jimmy to the gate to await Willie’s instructions.
“You girls can go on in, but stay on the far side of the ring and be quiet around those other horses. Go ahead and mount up, and walk on the rail and get Lady and Gypsy warmed up.”
“But, Willie, where are the other riders?” Jody asked, looking around as she tightened Lady’s cinch.
“They ain’t here yet,” Willie replied as if Jody should have known. “We got to get these horses warmed up and ready to ride before they get here. Their call time ain’t ’til seven o’clock.”Willie replied.
“Seven o’clock? But that’s almost an hour away!” Mary grumbled.
“What’s the matter, didja have to get up too early?” Jimmy sneered from just outside the ring, where he had quickly placed himself the moment Mary and Jody entered the gate.
“Don’t you have to go milk the cows or something?” Mary retorted, swinging her leg over Gypsy’s back.
“Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do. Some people have to do a little work around here.” Before Mary could open her mouth in reply, he turned and was gone.
By the time the other riders arrived at the ring, Lady and Gypsy were thoroughly warmed up, and the crew had set up the camera and other equipment, being very careful not to spook the horses. Augie, Hoppy, and Shalimar stood next to Twister and Willie, lazily switching their tails at flies, ready for the first shot. The three actors, two girls and a boy, and Annie Mooney, the alternate, bided their time outside the ring, awaiting Willie’s instruction. But before addressing the group, Willie approached Mary and Jody, tugging on his earlobe once again.
“What now, Willie?” Jody asked. “You look worried about something.”
“Well, I’m just gettin’ an idea,” he said. The girls waited patiently to hear what the idea might be, but Willie said nothing. Finally Mary spoke up.
“What kind of idea, Willie?”
“Well, I’m thinkin’ it might be best for the scene if you two girls rode these new horses and let a couple of the others ride Lady and Gypsy,” he said.
Mary and Jody were dumbfounded for an instant, their mouths hanging open in disbelief.
“Now, shut yer mouths, yer catchin’ flies,” Willie said, repeating one of Twister’s favorite phrases. “The point is, I know for a fact that Lady and Gypsy will behave themselves, and I’m fairly certain these new horses will too. But I know you girls could handle it if one of them decides to act up a little. I don’t know enough about these other riders to know if they could handle any horse problems.”
Mary and Jody closed their mouths and looked at each other, suddenly feeling very proud that Willie had so much confidence in them.
“Well, Willie, if you think that’s best, we can ride the new horses,” Mary volunteered.
“Oh, Willie, can I ride Shalimar?” Jody pleaded. “I think she likes me.”
“I’ll ride Hoppy!” Mary fairly shouted. In their excitement, they almost forgot to be upset about other riders handling Lady and Gypsy.
“Well, that didn’t take much talkin’ into,” Willie mumbled to Twister. He didn’t mention the other reason for switching horses. The movie scene called for riders taking their first few riding lessons on horses they hadn’t ridden before, and he thought that Mary and Jody would look much too comfortable on their own ponies.
“Well, then, I reckon those two horses would be a good fit for you two,” Willie agreed. “Now let’s get started.” Willie and Twister turned to the group by the rail. “You kids can come on in,” Twister instructed, “except Annie, if you don’t mind, stay just outside the gate and listen.”
Annie, who was already halfway through the gate, nodded and turned back, propping her arms on the top board of the ring fence. Mary and Jody glanced at each other, almost feeling sorry for her.
“Now, we’re goin’ to assign your horses to you,” Twister announced, “and then we’ll take a few turns around the ring until you’re comfortable on your mount. Remember, this is supposed to be one of your first riding lessons, so try not to look too good. I know all of you can ride, but this ain’t the time to show off your abilities. Just think back to when you first started ridin’ and try to imitate the way you did it back then.”
“When I call your name, step up and take your horse’s reins and lead them away from the group, but don’t mount up until we tell you to,” Willie continued. “First, let’s have Jenna Day ride Lady.”
As excited as Jody was about riding Shalimar, she still felt a sudden twinge of anxiety when Jenna Day took the reins from her hands. It was just too strange that someone else would be riding her pony!
“And Jody Stafford will ride Shalimar,” Willie announced immediately, noticing Jody’s dismay and trying to take her mind from it quickly. Jody smiled bravely as she took the reins from Willie’s grasp.
“Jeff Hunt will be riding Augie,” Twister continued, handing the reins over to the boy, who smiled and patted Augie vigorously on the neck before leading him off.
“Mary Morrow, your mount is Hoppy,”Willie said, leading Hoppy a few steps toward Mary. At the same time, he announced the last rider.
“And last but not least, Krystal Warren will be up on Gypsy.”
At the same instant Willie surrendered Hoppy’s reins to Mary, Mary handed Gypsy’s reins to Krystal, therefore not giving Mary any time to have second thoughts about someone else riding her pony.
“Now that everybody has the correct mount, we’ll come around and tighten your cinches, and then we’ll get started. Miss Beaumont will be here shortly, and then we’ll start shooting the scene, so we don’t have much time to get used to our horses.”
Although Willie didn’t say so, his intention was exactly that. He didn’t want the riders to get so comfortable on their mounts that they would look too practiced for the “beginner rider” scene.
Cinches were tightened, and riders were instructed to mount up. Mary and Jody both had a bit of trouble putting their left feet in the stirrups, as Shalimar and Hoppy were quite a bit taller than the ponies they were accustomed to. But determined not to ask Willie for help, they struggled until they were both seated firmly in their saddles along with the other riders. Twister and Willie silently surveyed the group for a moment, and then Twister began giving instructions.
“All right now, let’s put Jeff and Augie in front, and the rest of you fall in behind. Walk your horses along the rail single-file twice around and then we’ll pick up a slow jog.”
Mary and Jody grinned at each other, each knowing what the other was thinking. It was a new sensation, riding a horse rather than a pony! It was certainly further from the ground, and almost scary! To keep from glaring at the girls up ahead riding Lady and Gypsy, they focused all their attention on their own mounts, waiting for the next command, which came a little sooner than expected.
“Now, let’s jog,” Twister instructed loudly. The group of riders picked up the jog almost in unison.
“Go ahead and let yourselves bounce some,” Willie called. “Remember, y
ou don’t really know how to ride at this point. You can let your reins have a little slack, too.”
Jody was having no trouble “letting herself bounce,” as Shalimar’s jogging gait was much rougher than Lady’s. Up ahead, she could see Mary having the same trouble on Hoppy. Just when she thought her teeth might jounce out of her head, Twister gave the command to walk.
“Good job, everybody,” Twister said. “Let’s walk to the gate and halt in a straight line across the ring.”
Turning Shalimar’s head toward the gate, Jody looked up to see Miss Vicki Beaumont standing between Twister and Willie in the center of the ring, looking beautiful in light-tan jeans and a white riding shirt. Jody turned silently to Mary and pointed, trying not to be obvious, but Mary had already seen the actress, as had the other riders, all of whom had grins on their faces as they brought their horses to a halt.
“Good morning, everyone,” Miss Beaumont smiled brilliantly and waved. “Oh, there’s my favorite horse!” she continued, striding directly up to Shalimar and stroking her neck. “How does she ride, Jody?”
Twister and Willie silently surveyed the group for a moment, and then Twister began giving instructions.
Jody nearly fell from Shalimar’s back in shock when Vicki Beaumont called her by name, but she recovered in time to reply.
“She rides fine, Miss Beaumont. She’s really good, actually.”
“I knew she would be. And Mr. Riggins, have you gotten used to her name yet?”
“No, ma’am, I just call her Sally,” Willie replied, scratching the side of his head.
At this statement, Jody and Mary giggled until Willie glared at them, prompting them to cover their mouths and try and look serious. They were saved by the appearance at ringside ofMr. Gordon, the director.
“Are we about ready to shoot, Will?” he asked.
“I believe so, Mr. Gordon. We don’t want to rehearse too much and wear everybody out. We’re ready whenever you are.”
“And I’m ready, too,” Miss Beaumont called, patting Shalimar one last time and giving Jody a wink.
Mary and Jody in the Movies Page 8
