English Rider

by Bonnie Bryant

  “All right, all right,” Lisa grumbled. She gave Prancer one last distracted pat, then headed for the stall door. “I’ll call Mom. Maybe she hasn’t left yet for the printer’s.” She crossed her fingers as she said it.

  “That’s the spirit,” Veronica said complacently, stepping back to let her pass. “After all, Tessa’s only trying to help. She wants the point-to-point to be as good as it can be. Don’t you?”

  Lisa didn’t bother to reply. She was already rushing for the phone.

  CAROLE FINISHED ROLLING a bright red bandage into a neat, tight package and dropped it into the bucket by her feet. Then she leaned over and pulled out another bandage—a blue one this time—from the box perched on the trunk beside her. Alone in the tack room, she was starting to feel as though she lived there these days. This time, she had no one to blame but herself. She had volunteered to roll the boxful of bandages that had been sitting on the edge of Mrs. Reg’s desk for almost a week. Even with everything else that was happening around there lately, she hadn’t forgotten that The Saddle Club was on probation until Max decided otherwise. And she knew that nothing made him happier than hearing his riders offer to help out with extra stable chores.

  As she finished rolling the blue bandage and dropped it into the bucket, Carole heard voices approaching from outside. She looked up, hoping it was Stevie and Lisa. But she frowned when she recognized Veronica’s voice.

  “So I’m positive that Miles really likes me,” she was saying loudly. “He was even hinting around yesterday about my riding with him in the scurry race on Saturday.”

  “Really?” Carole recognized the second voice as belonging to Betsy Cavanaugh. It sounded as though Betsy and Veronica had paused just outside the tack room door. “That would be so exciting! Is he going to drive Hodge and Podge?”

  “No,” Veronica replied airily. “He’ll be driving their second team. They haven’t arrived yet from Pennsylvania, but he arranged specially to have someone drive them down just in time for the point-to-point.”

  “Are they Cleveland Bays, too?” Betsy asked breathlessly.

  Veronica paused. “Um, I don’t think so,” she said. “He said something about them being a special breed from France. But he didn’t go into detail.” She giggled in such a self-satisfied way that Carole cringed. “He was too busy telling me how perfect I would look sitting beside him.”

  “Oh, you would,” Betsy assured her.

  “I know.” Veronica’s voice was a little louder. Carole barely had time to grab another bandage and start busily rolling it as the two girls walked into the tack room. “It will be …” Her words trailed off as she spotted Carole. “Oh,” she said unpleasantly. “I didn’t know anyone was in here.”

  Before Carole could reply, Veronica whirled on her heel and stalked out. Betsy shot Carole an apologetic glance and followed.

  Carole snorted in disgust. Obviously she and her friends had completely misjudged Miles Pennington. If he actually liked Veronica as much as she seemed to think he did, he couldn’t possibly be as nice as they had thought. Like some other people I could mention, Carole thought.

  “Hi, Carole,” Stevie greeted her, hurrying into the tack room a moment later.

  Lisa was right behind her. “What are you doing in here?” she asked.

  Carole told them. “I thought it couldn’t hurt to volunteer for anything that needs doing around here,” she added.

  “Good thought.” Stevie sat down and grabbed a bright pink bandage out of the box. “I think Max is starting to get over it. But that means this is the critical point. We’ve got to totally win him over.”

  Lisa nodded. “Maybe if we’re extra helpful through the point-to-point, he’ll give in and lift the probation,” she said hopefully, reaching into the box. “I mean, how long can he keep on this way?”

  Before the others could answer, the door swung open and Veronica and Tessa walked in. “Oh!” Tessa looked surprised when she saw The Saddle Club. “Hi, guys! I didn’t know you were in here.”

  Veronica didn’t say anything to the other girls. She just turned to Tessa. “So anyway, as I was saying, I was thinking you could come home with me tomorrow afternoon after we’re done here at the stable and spend the night. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

  Carole bit her lip, remembering that the four of them had planned a sleepover for the next night. Would Tessa remember? Would she care? Or would she just go off with Veronica without a thought for The Saddle Club?

  Tessa looked anxious. “I’m sorry, Veronica,” she said. “We’re having a slumber party tomorrow at Lisa’s house.”

  Veronica smirked. “Oh, that’s right,” she said smoothly. “I completely forgot about that. You told me all about it yesterday. It was really nice of you to invite me.”

  This time Carole heard Lisa and Stevie gasp, too. She couldn’t believe her ears. Could this be true? Had Tessa actually invited Veronica to a Saddle Club sleepover?

  Veronica seemed to be enjoying their reaction. “Don’t worry,” she said breezily, addressing the three girls at last. “I can’t make it to your pathetic little party.” She reached over and squeezed Tessa’s arm fondly. “But don’t worry, Tess. You’ll survive it somehow, I’m sure. If you get completely bored, you can call me. I’ll be home most of the evening—unless Miles calls, of course. Then you’re on your own.”

  Tessa looked stricken. She glanced from The Saddle Club to Veronica and back again. “Um—” she began.

  Veronica cut her off. “So, how about some preparty shopping instead?” she said, addressing Tessa only. “We can pick up a few last-minute things for the point-to-point. I promise to have you back before dinnertime.”

  “Uh, okay,” Tessa said. “That sounds goo—”

  “Come on, guys,” Stevie said abruptly, standing up so fast that Lisa had to grab the boxful of bandages to keep it from falling off the trunk. “We can finish this later. Let’s go practice our jumping for a while. We need to make sure we’re in shape for the junior hurdle race.”

  “Great idea,” Carole agreed. She knew they were being rude to Tessa, but for once, she couldn’t care less. “It’s getting stuffy in here all of a sudden. Let’s go.”

  “DO YOU THINK Tessa knew we were mad at her?” Lisa asked a few minutes later. The three girls had decided to practice for the point-to-point, so they had tacked up their horses and were warming them up by trotting three abreast around the outdoor ring.

  Stevie shrugged. “Who cares?” she replied. Her voice was angry. “I can’t believe she invited Veronica to a Saddle Club sleepover. What’s wrong with her?”

  “I don’t know.” Carole sighed so loudly that Starlight flicked his ears backward. She patted him absently. “It’s like she’s turned into a totally different person.”

  “Yeah,” Stevie muttered. “A person who likes Veronica diAngelo better than she likes us. It makes me wish she would go spend the night with her new best friend tomorrow.” She snorted. “I wish we could cancel the stupid sleepover. The last thing I feel like doing is hanging out with Tessa—Veronica or no Veronica.”

  “We can’t cancel it,” Carole replied immediately. “We’ve got to endure it for Lisa’s sake. After all, she’s got to put up with Tessa no matter what—and all her mom’s last-minute plans.”

  Stevie nodded. “You’re right,” she said. “Don’t worry, Lisa. We won’t abandon you.”

  “Thanks, guys. I wish I could tell you it’s okay not to come.” Lisa grimaced. “But I’m not sure I’d survive tomorrow night on my own.” She sighed. “Tessa leaves next week. Whoever thought we’d be looking forward to that?”

  “I know. It’s weird, isn’t it?” Carole agreed.

  Lisa stopped talking for a moment as Derby tried to break into a prancing canter. “Anyway,” she said once she had him under control again, “Tessa aside, I’m not sure the sleepover is going to be much fun. I’m afraid Mom will be hovering over us all night, chattering at Tessa about English steeplechasing and making the rest o
f us make a million more parking signs.”

  “It’s too bad Max is still mad at us,” Stevie said. “Otherwise we could ask him if we could have the sleepover in the loft here at Pine Hollow.” The Saddle Club had held several warm-weather sleepovers in the stable’s roomy hayloft. She grinned wryly. “But I’m not sure we should be mentioning the hayloft to him right now. It might remind him of the last time we were up there.”

  Her friends laughed. “It is too bad,” Lisa said. “In the loft, without my mom hovering over us every second, we’d be free to ignore Tessa in peace.”

  “Or maybe find out what’s going on with her these days,” Carole put in tentatively. She still wondered if all they needed to straighten out this mess was to sit down and have a long talk with Tessa. But a glance at her friends’ faces told her that maybe it was too late for that. “But I guess there’s no point thinking about it,” she added quickly. “Mrs. Atwood would never let Tessa out of her sight for that long.”

  Lisa laughed wearily. “You’re right about that,” she agreed. “Come on.” She urged Derby into a canter, and the big gelding responded immediately, seeming eager to stretch his legs. “Let’s do some jumping!”

  LISA PULLED DERBY’S left ear forward gently. “Steady, boy,” she murmured to the horse as he snorted and shifted his feet uneasily. “This will feel good. I promise.” She gently brushed the area behind his ear with the soft body brush she was holding. Then she scratched the gelding on his favorite spot on his neck before reaching for his other ear. This time the horse didn’t move, though he rolled his eyes back apprehensively.

  Carole and Stevie were leaning on the stall door, watching. Normally they would have pitched in to help, but Lisa had asked them not to. She wanted to spend as much time as possible bonding with Derby before the junior hurdle race the next day.

  “It’s funny how different horses react to things in totally different ways,” Stevie remarked. “Belle loves it when I play with her ears. But I guess Derby’s sensitive there.”

  Carole nodded. “They’re like people that way,” she said. “You know—like some people are ticklish and some aren’t.”

  “Uh-huh,” Stevie said. “Or like some people actually seem to enjoy spending all their time at the mall with Veronica diAngelo, and some people would rather have their toenails pulled out one by one and their eyeballs dipped in boiling oil.”

  Lisa wrinkled her nose. “Ick,” she said. “Actually, I’m kind of glad Tessa has been with Veronica all day. It makes it easier to stay away from her.”

  Stevie nodded sympathetically. “It must have been tough on you last night.”

  “Not really.” Lisa shrugged. “The walk home was a little awkward—Tessa kept trying to pretend that nothing was wrong, but then she kept saying all sorts of things about Veronica and how close and trusting a relationship they have.” She turned away from Derby long enough to roll her eyes in disgust. “But Mom put us both to work as soon as we walked in the door, so after that we hardly had time to talk at all. Even if we’d wanted to.”

  Carole still felt a little unsettled about the situation with Tessa. It seemed sad that a friendship that had started out so wonderfully could have gone astray so quickly. It didn’t make sense. She glanced at her watch. “Hey, we’d better finish up here,” she said. “We’re supposed to meet Tessa back at Lisa’s house in less than an hour.” The girls had spent part of the afternoon practicing for the point-to-point. Afterward, Lisa had decided to give Derby an extra-special grooming while Stevie and Carole took care of their horses.

  “Okay,” Lisa said. “I’ll just be a few more minutes here. Would you mind refilling Derby’s water bucket for me?”

  “No problem.” Stevie stepped into the stall and unhooked the plastic bucket from its spot on the wall. “I’ll be back in a sec.”

  She headed down the aisle toward the tack room, whistling softly as she went. She was still upset about the situation with Tessa and Phil, but even worrying about that hadn’t been able to completely ruin a day spent riding with her friends. However, her good mood started to fade slightly as she thought about the upcoming sleepover. It really didn’t promise to be much fun at all, between Mrs. Atwood’s hovering and Tessa’s very presence. She wished again that they could have it in the loft instead. Maybe if they asked Max really, really nicely …

  “Hello, Stevie.” Mrs. Atwood’s voice broke into her thoughts.

  Stevie looked up in surprise. She was crossing the open area between the stable aisles and the tack room. Lisa’s mother was heading toward her from the direction of the main entrance. “Oh!” Stevie said, her heart sinking. It looked as though they weren’t even going to have another hour of peace. “Hi, Mrs. Atwood. Did you come to pick us up? That was nice of you. We should be ready soon.”

  Mrs. Atwood smiled. “I’m not here to pick you up,” she replied with a rather odd smile. Stevie thought it might even be her version of a mysterious smile. That was strange. If there was one word that normally wouldn’t be used to describe Lisa’s mother, it was mysterious. “But I need your help for a moment. Could you get Lisa and Carole and meet me outside?”

  Stevie shrugged. “Sure, I guess so,” she mumbled, feeling confused. She tossed the bucket into the student locker room, where no horse could accidentally step in it, and hurried back toward Derby’s stall.

  Moments later all three girls were leaving the stable building and heading toward the Atwoods’ car. Mrs. Atwood was standing near the open trunk, waiting for them.

  “All right,” she said briskly when the girls reached her. “Here are your things.” She waved a hand at the trunk, which was stuffed full of suitcases, sleeping bags, and pillows. Lisa recognized her own things and Tessa’s, as well as Stevie’s and Lisa’s, which their parents had dropped off at her house that morning.

  Lisa stared at her mother, completely mystified. “What?” she said. “What’s going on? Why did you bring this stuff here?”

  Mrs. Atwood laughed. “Surprise!” she cried. “You’re having your sleepover here—in the hayloft.”

  “But Max—” Carole blurted out, her brown eyes wide with confusion.

  “It’s all arranged,” Mrs. Atwood said, her eyes twinkling. “Max gave his permission. It was all Tessa’s idea.”

  “Tessa?” Stevie sounded stunned. “What are you talking about?”

  Mrs. Atwood shrugged. “For some reason, Tessa really wanted your sleepover party to be in the hayloft.” She wrinkled her nose in distaste. “I can’t imagine why—it must be terribly dusty and hot up there. But I suppose it will be a novelty for her. She even promised to bring you all dinner.”

  Lisa wasn’t really listening to her mother. She was trying to figure this out. “So Tessa decided we should have the sleepover at Pine Hollow,” she murmured. “And she arranged it with you and Max.”

  Her mother gave her a perplexed look. “Of course, dear,” she said. “Isn’t that what I’ve just been saying?”

  “I STILL CAN’T believe she came up with the same idea we did,” Lisa said. It was a few minutes later. The girls’ things were safely stowed in a corner of the big hayloft. Now Carole and Stevie were watching Lisa finish grooming Derby.

  Carole nodded. She felt more confused than ever. “I guess this goes to show that we’re not on totally different wavelengths,” she suggested.

  “I don’t know about that,” Stevie said. She had gone to retrieve and fill Derby’s water bucket. Now she hooked it in place. “She probably has some other motive in mind. Maybe she wants to ignore us as much as we want to ignore her.” Her expression brightened at that thought.

  Lisa sighed. “Well, I guess with Mom out of the picture, this sleepover might not be quite as bad,” she muttered.

  Carole was beginning to wonder if that was true. At least with Mrs. Atwood hanging around, the girls would have had to be polite to each other. With the way Stevie and Lisa were feeling about Tessa, Carole feared the worst. Especially since I’m not exactly in the mood to
play peacemaker, she thought, remembering the water bucket incident. She bit her lip anxiously. No, she wasn’t looking forward to this sleepover at all.

  STEVIE, CAROLE, AND Lisa managed to keep themselves busy for the next few hours. They mucked out stalls. They swept the stable aisles. They knocked cobwebs out of the corners. They caught and led in horses that had spent the day in the paddocks and fields. Even after Tessa arrived, they hardly had time to say two words to her.

  But after they finished helping Red with the evening feeding, there wasn’t much left to do. Finally the girls had no choice. It was time for the sleepover to start.

  Lisa reluctantly led the way as they climbed the wooden ladder to the loft. Tessa was already there. She had arranged their sleeping bags in a circle near the window and was busy unwrapping cold cuts and cheese on a picnic cloth on the loft floor. Other sandwich ingredients were ready nearby, along with bags of chips and popcorn. Several cans of soda and juice waited in a bucket of ice.

  Lisa’s stomach grumbled, and she realized she was famished. She was impressed that Tessa had laid out such a nice picnic. But she wasn’t about to admit it. “Oh,” she said with a bored shrug. “Is it time to eat already?”

  Tessa smiled tentatively. “I hope it’s okay,” she said. “I picked up most of the food at the mall, and I wasn’t sure what you’d like.”

  Stevie shrugged, too. “I guess it will do,” she replied. “If I’m hungry enough, I can choke down almost anything.”

  Tessa’s face fell. Carole, watching, felt a pang of guilt. This was all wrong. They shouldn’t be acting so cold and mean. Tessa was their friend! Wasn’t she? A vision of Tessa and Phil giggling together in the hallway outside the tack room floated into her mind. It was followed by the image of Lisa bent over a computer keyboard as the clock ticked toward midnight and Tessa slumbered in her cozy bed. And worst of all, there was the picture of Topside stepping into that metal bucket and pitching forward, his leg crumpling beneath him.…