Rodeo Rider

by Bonnie Bryant

  There was no time to think, no time to worry. If the barrel went, it went. She leaned forward in the saddle and made Chocolate go as fast as she could. Lisa could hear the audience. “Ooooooh!” She knew it was the barrel. She waited for the dreaded word from the announcer, but it didn’t come. As she crossed the finish line, the crowd applauded and her teammates bounced with delight in their saddles. Lisa brought Chocolate to a perfect straight-legged halt—this time staying in the saddle—and turned around to look. At the other end of the arena, the barrel was still rocking slightly, but it was upright!

  “Good time, Lisa Atwood!” the announcer said.

  Lisa couldn’t help grinning. Carole reached over and squeezed one hand. “Great job. Thanks,” she said.

  “My pleasure,” Lisa said. “Really.” She squeezed back.

  The second Dapper Dude rider wasn’t as good as the first, but she was good. The race wasn’t over yet, and everybody knew it.

  Stevie did well. She didn’t try to do anything too fancy. She just went fast and didn’t knock anything down. Carole and Lisa welcomed her back with a hug. They’d certainly learned a lot about barrel racing in just a few days. But would it be enough?

  The third girl from The Dapper Dude seemed the weakest of that group. She had trouble controlling her horse, and her time was quite slow.

  “That’s their drop-out score,” Carole said.

  “Maybe somebody else will be slower,” Lisa said hopefully.

  “I doubt it,” Carole said. “I’ve been watching the other two girls and you can tell they know what they’re doing.”

  “This isn’t good news, is it?” Lisa asked.

  “Probably not,” Carole said, “but at least we’ve got two very good scores so far. And we’ll probably get two more.”

  Then it was Christine’s turn. Christine didn’t have the show experience that Kate did, but she was an excellent rider. As soon as she left the gate, Lisa knew she’d do fine. And she did. Christine’s horse, Arrow, seemed to be having a lot of fun on the barrel-race course. He came out of the turns and into his straightaway gallops with a real joy in his pounding step. It was clean, it was fast, and it was good.

  The team welcomed Christine back with lots of hugs. Things were looking up.

  But then the next rider from The Dapper Dude got on the course. She was the best they’d ever seen. She was even better than Jeannie had been. It seemed as if she’d just left the gate when she returned. The crowd applauded for her long and loud.

  The Bar None Riders were silent. They hadn’t thought it possible to go through the course as fast as that girl had done it.

  “I think we’re looking at second place,” Stevie said glumly.

  “I don’t mind taking second,” Kate said, watching the final riders of the first two teams cover the course. “I just mind coming in behind The Dapper Dude. Now, if there’s one thing I learned in all those years of competition, it’s that it’s not over until it’s over. And so far, teammates, it’s not over.”

  “And now the final rider from The Bar None, Miss Kate Devine!” the announcer said.

  “Go for it!” Carole encouraged her.

  “I will,” Kate said determinedly.

  A change had come over her, and Lisa couldn’t help noticing it. She was no longer their friend, Kate Devine. She was Katharine Devine, championship rider—owner of thousands of ribbons, hundreds of trophies, and many memories of tough competitions. What Lisa saw in her face was serious resolve. It wasn’t a vague let’s-do-our-best face. It was more professional than that. It was as if Kate knew, to the millisecond, exactly how fast she would have to go to carry her team. She gazed at the course as if she were figuring out exactly where she could shave that millisecond so she could win.

  “Go!” the starter cried and Kate was gone.

  Lisa watched, fascinated. She’d never seen anything like it. Kate cut closer, turned faster, leaned farther than Lisa would have thought possible. Spot’s shoulder brushed the top of every single barrel. Each one rocked slightly, but stayed up.

  Lisa glanced at the clock while Kate raced down the final straightaway. She couldn’t believe it. Kate was a full two seconds ahead of the other rider from The Dapper Dude!

  “Wow, what a ride!” the announcer said. The crowd agreed. This time, too, everybody could hear Eli shouting “Yahoo!” and Jeannie was right alongside him, cheering almost as loud. Kate’s parents clapped and yelled for their daughter with everybody else. The entire audience was electrified by Kate’s performance.

  At last the applause quieted down. It was time for the final rider from The Dapper Dude. Lisa had been doing some calculating and realized that the competition wasn’t over yet. Their scores were very close, and this last rider was going to mean the difference between winning and losing to The Dapper Dude. The Saddle Club sat next to one another on their horses and watched. Lisa didn’t exactly want anything bad to happen to the final rider, but she did hope she’d mess up a bit. Lisa crossed her fingers. Then she looked at her friends’ hands. They’d all crossed their fingers, too!

  The final rider began and she was good. She wasn’t as good as Kate, but she was good enough to make her team win. She rounded the barrels rapidly and her horse sprinted on the straightaways at a winning pace.

  Lisa crossed the fingers of her other hand. She tried to cross her toes, but her boots were too tight. She concentrated on the rider. The girl rode very close to the barrels as she rounded them. It was the winning way. Each time, the barrel rocked a little bit, then settled back into its upright position. The girl headed for the final barrel. Her horse swept to the right and then turned left, closing in on the barrel as he went. As before, he brushed the barrel with his shoulder. As before, it rocked, ever so slightly. But then, unlike the first two barrels, the horse struck it with his hoof as he broke into a gallop for the final sprint.

  The barrel tipped to the left. The crowd went “Ooooooh!” The barrel lurched to the right. The crowd went “Aaaaaah!” The barrel rolled forward. The crowd went “Uuuuuuuh!” The barrel rocked backward and tumbled onto its side.

  The Bar None Riders went “Yippeeeeee!”

  THE AWARDS CEREMONIES at The Two Mile Creek Rodeo were very different from any awards ceremonies Stevie, Carole, and Lisa had ever seen. In the horse shows they were used to, the judges announced the winners and when the winners stepped forward, somebody clipped a ribbon onto the horse’s bridle. People clapped politely and photographs were taken.

  The rodeo was much showier. As winners were announced, the cowboys galloped out of the chute into the center of the ring, waving hats and cheering loudly. A couple of the winners even got their horses to rear right in front of the judges. Carole loved every minute of it and it gave her an idea.

  She told her teammates about it. They agreed it was the perfect finish.

  But first, they had all kinds of chances to cheer for Eli. After all, he’d taken two first places and one second place. The crowd remembered him when he came out to accept his check for taking second place in the saddle-bronc riding, and they cheered for him and for The Bar None. Carole noticed Jeannie standing by the fence. Nobody was cheering louder or harder than she was. Eli waved to Jeannie from the center of the ring. The crowd loved that, too.

  A few minutes later, Eli came out to accept his first-place prize for calf roping. He was grinning and waving even more proudly than before. But the biggest thrill for The Bar None Riders was when he came to accept his first-place prize for steer wrestling, because he didn’t come out alone. Jeannie was with him! They were riding together on his horse. The crowd roared its approval. Eli seemed to like it, too, since Jeannie was holding on by squeezing him tightly around his waist!

  It was nice, really nice, to see Eli and Jeannie so obviously happy. Carole was glad Stevie had done whatever it was she’d done that had made it work out.

  There were other things Carole was glad about, too. She was glad that Lisa had ridden so well in the barrel race, because
that had saved the team and won the event for them as much as Kate’s outstanding ride. It made her feel proud to be part of a team that knew that teamwork meant doing your best no matter what happened.

  “And now for the award to the winning barrel-race team, The Bar None Riders!”

  Kate led them into the ring at a gallop. She circled around the arena and came to a stop in front of the judges. The other four girls kept riding at a lope next to her so that when people in the stands looked down, they saw riders and horses making The Bar None symbol:

  The crowd was pleased with Carole’s idea, and Carole smiled to herself in satisfaction. Not only was it appropriately showy for a rodeo, but it was also another way to remind everyone about The Bar None.

  “We’ve got two prizes for these girls,” the judge announced. “First, there’s the award for winning the competition. Their overall team score was the best by just one-half of one second. It’s not much, but it’s enough, and these girls deserve a big hand.”

  Kate took the envelope and shook the judge’s hand.

  “The other award that goes to this team, or rather one member of this team, is the fastest individual score. Our judges couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw this one, folks, so let’s have a big, big hand for a newcomer to rodeo riding, but a true champion in many circles, Miss Kate Devine!”

  The girls thought that was something to cheer about, too.

  DINNER THAT NIGHT was the biggest celebration The Bar None had seen since the Devines had bought the place.

  “I just had the feeling I should have some bubbly on ice,” Phyllis said, bringing champagne out of the kitchen to accompany the gigantic sheet cake she’d made that said,

  CONGRATULATIONS TO THE BEST, BAR NONE

  There were six paying guests at the ranch for the rodeo weekend and they all seemed to be just as thrilled with the rodeo and the ranch’s victory as the riders themselves. Christine’s parents had been invited to join the celebration as well.

  Frank poured champagne for the grown-ups and ginger ale for The Bar None Riders. Phyllis had just started cutting the cake when the phone rang.

  Since Kate was the closest to it, she answered it. It was for Eli. She called him to the phone and returned to the dining room.

  A few minutes later, Eli rejoined the group. There was an odd, flustered look on his face.

  “Who was it?” Stevie asked.

  Eli blushed. “It was the college,” he said.

  “Had they heard about the rodeo already?” Frank asked.

  “I didn’t know it, but their rodeo scout was there today. He came to watch me perform, but he had to leave right after it was over, so he didn’t get a chance to talk to me.”

  “Boy, are you lucky!” Stevie said. “If you’d known he was there, you probably would have been so nervous you would have blown everything. I know I would have!”

  “Well, I might have anyway,” Eli said slowly.

  “What do you mean?” Frank asked in a concerned voice. “Didn’t you get accepted?”

  “Yes, I got accepted.”

  “No scholarship, then? Is that the problem?”

  “Oh, no, sir. I got a full rodeo scholarship, including expenses, for four years.”

  “Then I don’t see the problem here, Eli. What’s wrong?”

  “Well, sir,” Eli began, stammering as he tried to collect his thoughts to explain himself clearly. “You know how it is between a cowboy and his horse, don’t you?”

  “Oh, sure,” Frank said. “If you want to use one of our horses at school, Eli, why, that’ll be okay with Phyllis and me.”

  “I may do that, sir, but that’s not what the problem is. See, today I found out that the same kind of thing can be true between a steer wrestler and his hazer—I mean in some special cases—like mine. I just don’t see that I’d be doing myself any favors going to study rodeo work unless I could be with my rodeo partner—”

  Everbody turned to look at Jeannie. She wasn’t blushing at all. She was grinning happily.

  “Eli Grimes, you go call that man right back and tell him you’ll take the scholarship, every penny of it!”

  “But Jeannie, without you—”

  “What’s this ‘without me’ stuff? I’ll be there, too. I wouldn’t go to college anyplace but where you’re going. Besides,”—and now she did blush—“I applied there months ago. Now I can send in my acceptance, too.”

  Stevie was the first to laugh. It was so funny that she’d thought she was helping to get Eli and Jeannie together. She’d undoubtedly pushed their romance, but she’d underestimated Jeannie by quite a bit! That young woman was way ahead of Stevie when it came to scheming!

  Pretty soon everybody was laughing. It seemed that now there was even more to cheer about and celebrate.

  “Well,” Eli said. “As long as I’ve got this full scholarship, Frank, I want you and Phyllis to have my rodeo winnings to help you out here, same as you’ve helped me out.”

  He handed Frank the envelope. Frank shook Eli’s hand and then gave him a hug. “Thanks,” was all he could say.

  Stevie nudged Kate. It was their turn. “Here, Dad,” Kate said, giving him the two envelopes the judges had given her.

  “Why, Kate!” her mother said. “We can’t take the money from you girls.”

  Carole spoke for them all. “Please take it, Phyllis,” she said. “We just entered the contest for The Bar None. Whether we won or lost wasn’t as important to us as doing something for the ranch. It’s our way of saying thank you, so the only thing you can do is to say ‘you’re welcome.’ ”

  “And you are welcome. All of you, anytime,” Phyllis said.

  “Say, girls, is there anything in particular you’d like to see us use this money for?” Frank asked.

  “How about a game of Pictionary?” Stevie suggested. The other girls began giggling. “I mean, it’ll help you keep that competitive edge.…”

  Frank looked at her curiously. Stevie hoped he wasn’t going to ask her to explain, because there was no way she could. But she didn’t have to. Frank smiled. “Sure thing, Stevie. Pictionary it is.” Then he turned to his other guests. “Now, I think it’s time to get on with our celebration. Who needs cake?”

  “OH, I HATE reality!” Stevie complained three days later. She and Lisa and Carole were having a Saddle Club meeting at the local ice cream parlor, Tastee Delight, better known as TD’s, following their regular Tuesday lesson at Pine Hollow.

  They were all back home in Willow Creek. The weather was still cold, and the schools were open again. In other words, home didn’t have too much going for it.

  “Don’t you wish we were still relaxing on The Bar None?” Lisa smiled.

  “Yes, I do,” Stevie said. “Being there is nicer than being here.”

  “Especially when there’s no school?” Carole asked.

  “That’s right. Definitely when there’s no school.”

  The waitress arrived to take their orders. “Oh, it’s you,” she said when she spotted Stevie.

  Stevie smiled sweetly at her.

  “What’s it going to be this time?” the waitress asked. “Caramel on Bubble Gum? Bubble Gum on Blueberry Treat? Marshmallow on Watermelon Ice?”

  Stevie was famous for ordering odd combinations of flavors. Her friends sometimes suspected she did it so other people wouldn’t take tastes of her ice cream. The waitress at TD’s seemed to think Stevie did it just to upset her stomach!

  What Carole and Lisa liked best about Stevie’s orders was that she invariably did it with a straight face.

  “Oh!” Stevie said to the waitress. “Have you tried the Marshmallow on Watermelon? Do you recommend it?”

  The woman paled. Stevie smiled sweetly. “I have to think a minute,” Stevie said.

  Lisa ordered a vanilla frozen yogurt with sliced bananas on top. Carole asked for a dish of chocolate ice cream with some almonds sprinkled on it. The waitress looked back at Stevie.

  “I’ll just have a dish of vani
lla,” Stevie decided.

  “No sauce?” the waitress asked.

  “No, just plain.”

  The waitress smiled.

  “Well, on second thought, I’ll have some chocolate sprinkles, too,” Stevie said. The waitress jotted that down. “And some almonds, too. Oh, and maybe a few banana slices, why not. And a touch of that blueberry syrup. And just a spoonful of marshmallow fluff. And a teeny smidgen of caramel. Do you still have the boysenberry sauce? Some of that, too. And then of course, a cherry, and—”

  The waitress fled.

  “Well, what’s the matter with her?” Stevie said.

  “She probably needs a week’s vacation at The Bar None,” Lisa suggested.

  “Probably,” Stevie said, recalling what they were talking about earlier. “It is restful there, isn’t it?”

  Carole leaned forward and put her elbows on the table. “Well, that depends on what you call restful,” she said. “It seems to me we didn’t do an awful lot of resting while we were there.”

  “We didn’t spend one minute of time in school,” Stevie pointed out.

  “Yes, but we did an awful lot of other things,” Lisa said. “I mean, we began as a major spy ring at The Dapper Dude. We learned a whole new riding skill, barrel racing, we camped out on a mountain in the desert, we unearthed a wicked plot by the wranglers at the rival ranch, we rode in a parade, we won a whole rodeo event—”

  “We helped save The Bar None, we welcomed a new member to The Saddle Club, western branch,” Carole continued.

  “And we put a pair of lovebirds together,” Stevie said proudly.