Starlight Christmas

by Bonnie Bryant

  “Open this one!” Stevie handed Lisa a very large box. Inside, Lisa found a pair of waterproof riding boots. “They were mine,” Stevie told her. “I outgrew them and they’re just your size now. You’ll need them for riding in the ocean.”

  “Can you believe it?” Lisa asked dreamily. “Riding on the beach, with the sun, sand, water, and palm trees? I can’t wait!”

  “Sounds wonderful to me,” Carole agreed. “To be honest, though, I’d rather stay here, with Starlight.”

  “I don’t blame you,” Stevie said. They all looked up at the horse, who was peering up over the door to his stall as if he were hanging on every word the girls were saying.

  “Speaking of Starlight, that reminds me,” Carole said. “What’s the story about you two helping Dad get him for me?”

  “Oh, that was fun!” Stevie laughed. “See, we ran into your dad the day we were at the mall, and he told us he wanted to get you a horse and asked if we had any ideas how he should go about it. So, I started to tell him he had to talk to Max, when Lisa said—”

  “When I said I knew the perfect horse for you,” Lisa interrupted. “Remember when my parents got the bright idea of buying me a horse?” she asked. “Around the same time Max was starting Horse Wise?” Carole and Stevie nodded. They remembered because Lisa had been so reluctant to tell them about it, thinking they’d be jealous. “Well, one of the horses I saw was Pretty Boy. I knew he was terrific the minute I saw him, but as soon as I was on him, I also knew he wasn’t the horse for me. He needs a better rider than I am and he probably still needs some more training. I couldn’t own him, but even then I knew you’d be perfect for him. So when your dad said he wanted to look for a horse for you, I told him he didn’t have to. I already knew about one you’d love. Was I right?”

  “You were right!” Carole said.

  “Hi, girls. Have a good Christmas?” Judy Barker greeted them. “Well, I know you did, Carole!” she teased, looking at Starlight. “How about your friends?”

  “It was great,” they both told her.

  “You here to check on Starlight?” Carole asked.

  Judy stepped into Starlight’s stall and checked him over quickly. “Yes, and I’m glad to see he’s fine,” she said, approving his new quarters. “And I thought I ought to look at Garnet, too. Any problem there that I should know about?” she asked.

  Carole tried to keep a straight face. She didn’t really want to tell Judy what had happened, but before she could control it, her laughter erupted, and so did her friends’. They just couldn’t help themselves. Almost without meaning to, they told Judy the entire story—including Veronica’s pranks and the stall switching.

  Judy, who was normally quite reserved and who definitely took horse health very seriously, was soon laughing along with them, especially when they got to the shaving cream. That explained Veronica’s hysteria as well as Garnet’s speedy and total recovery.

  “Don’t worry, I hosed her down and got all the soap off. She smells like a freshly shaved man,” Stevie promised.

  “Well, I can see everything is under control here,” Judy commented. “I’m on my way back to Mr. Michaels’s to see the newborn filly.”

  “So everything worked out all right there?” Carole asked. She’d meant to call Judy and ask, but she’d been pretty busy herself.

  “Just fine,” Judy replied. “Within half an hour after you left, Carol was up and nursing.”

  “Carol? Huh?”

  “Oh, didn’t you know?” Judy said. “Mr. Michaels named the horse Carol—no e—for Christmas Carol. Isn’t that sweet?”

  “Well, sure,” Carole-with-an-e said. “I like the idea that my horse has a sister with the same name as me!”

  On that note, Judy left to continue her rounds. Carole planned to go out with her again the next day. This day, however, was saved for her friends—Stevie, Lisa, and Starlight.

  “Back to presents,” Stevie commanded. She’d been holding the other box from Carole for too long. It just had to be opened!

  “Okay, so go ahead and open it,” Carole said.

  Stevie did. She unwrapped a pink sweat shirt with a horse screen-painted on it. The horse was a bay who looked a lot like Topside. “It’s perfect!” Stevie told Carole.

  “Now it’s your turn,” Carole said to Lisa.

  “Is it the same?” Lisa asked, eyeing the box, which was the same shape as Stevie’s had been.

  “Not quite,” Carole said. Lisa opened the box. Her sweat shirt was almost the same as Stevie’s, except that her horse was a dappled gray who looked a lot like Pepper. “Wow!” she said. She and Stevie put on their new sweat shirts right away.

  “You both look great,” Carole said. “One thing I always say is that you can never have too many horsey clothes!”

  Both Lisa and Stevie hugged and thanked her.

  “Too bad you can’t wear what we gave you,” Lisa remarked.

  “I love what you gave me,” Carole insisted. Her friends’ gift to her was a complete horse-care kit for Starlight. They’d gotten some things, like Starlight’s blanket and halter secondhand, and lovingly cleaned them until they were spotless. Other things, like Starlight’s buckets and his grooming gear, were brand-new, and they’d had Carole’s name engraved on them for her. Best of all, Stevie and Lisa had bought a brass plaque for the door of his stall—the plaque that told everyone that Starlight was a privately owned horse. So far, the plaque only read

  Carole Hanson

  but soon, perhaps as soon as tomorrow, Max would take it to the shop where they’d put

  STARLIGHT

  above her name.

  Carole took out her new currycomb and began to work on Starlight’s coat. She wanted it to gleam all of the time.

  “You know, the thing I don’t get, Lisa,” she remarked as she worked vigorously, “is how Stevie managed to keep not one, but two secrets—your trip and my horse.”

  “I don’t know how she did it, either,” Lisa said. “Her average secret-keeping time is much less than two weeks. It’s more like two minutes!”

  “Maybe it’s because she’s been distracted,” Carole suggested. “She still hasn’t been able to make up her mind about what she’s going to wear to the big New Year’s Eve dance with Phil Marston.”

  Stevie made a face. She didn’t mind their teasing, but she didn’t like to admit, even to her best friends, how much the dance had been on her mind. “Well, at least it gives me something to look forward to,” Stevie said, defending herself.

  “Speaking of Phil, I think it’s time we made it official,” Carole said. “He and A.J. both earned their way into The Saddle Club on Christmas Eve with the Garnet prank, don’t you think?”

  Stevie nodded, pleased. She’d wanted to invite Phil to join them ever since summer, but she was hoping her friends would suggest it. “I’ll call him tonight and ask,” she said.

  “And you know what?” Lisa said. “The tie tack you gave him for Hanukkah will make a perfect Saddle Club pin for the boys.”

  Stevie’s grin told her friends that she’d already thought of that.

  “Can we get one for A.J.?” Carole asked.

  “No problem,” Stevie said. “I’ll go back to the place I bought Phil’s and buy another one. I’ll give it to him from all of us when I see him at the New Year’s Eve dance.”

  “Then it’s decided. We’re officially expanded,” Carole said proudly.

  “Growing bigger every day,” Lisa said.

  “And better, too,” Stevie added.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Carole said. She hugged her horse and her friends at the same time. “It’s hard to think that it could get any better than this!”

  About the Author

  Bonnie Bryant is the author of nearly a hundred books about horses, including the Saddle Club series, the Saddle Club Super Editions, and the Pony Tales series.

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