Secret of the Stallion
Page 14
After the races were finished, the girls took their horses back to the paddocks and gave them a quick grooming. The Dickens grooms would pick them up later and take them home, where they’d get a more thorough cleaning. For now they needed hugs, treats, water, and rest. Each girl produced a couple of carrots and bid a fond farewell to the horse she’d ridden. Once again, they thanked Tessa for bringing the horses.
“We couldn’t have won without them,” Carole said, expressing the thought for all the girls.
“I don’t know about that,” said Tessa. “I think you’re all wonderful riders no matter what horses you’re riding.”
That made them give Tessa a hug, too.
They spent the rest of the morning watching the final riders in the stadium jumping competition. There were a lot of great horses and wonderful riders, but when all was said and done, Nigel and Sterling were very nearly the best. They took a second place.
“A perfect day!” Lisa declared when she’d finished clapping for Nigel. “Nothing could improve on it.”
“Lisa Atwood? Miss Lisa Atwood?” Lisa looked around to see who was calling her name. People around her did the same.
“I’m Lisa Atwood,” she said, identifying herself to a young woman in a business suit who seemed oddly out of place at the horse show.
“You? But you’re just a girl!” said the woman.
“I guess I am,” Lisa said. “Is there something wrong with that?”
“Oh, no,” the woman said, blushing. “It’s just that I was expecting—well, first let me introduce myself. My name is Sallie Latham. I’m from Equine Sureties. We’re an insurance company for horses, many of the horses here, in fact, but most specifically, Pound Sterling.”
“Did I do something wrong?” Lisa asked, afraid she might have hurt the horse.
“Wrong? Oh, not at all, my dear girl,” said Sallie Latham. “You saved the horse’s life and you saved a lot of our other clients’ horses as well. I’ve come to give you a reward. From what I understand, you, personally, are the primary reason my company isn’t paying out millions of pounds in claims today.
“Now, I’ve been authorized to give you this check, but I’m also authorized to take you and your whole party—all the brave young riders who helped—out to a celebration dinner tonight. Would you be available?”
Lisa looked around at her friends and all the other Pony Clubbers in the stand. “What do you say, guys? Are we free for dinner?”
“Absolutely!” everybody agreed.
“Good, then, it’s set. I’ve reserved a room for our party at this wonderful pizza place …”
“OH, DEAR, WHERE are the boarding passes?” Max asked, shifting his raincoat from his right arm to his left and dropping a bagful of guidebooks at the same time.
“Your left inside jacket pocket,” Lisa said.
“Your passports. What did I do with them?”
“You gave them back to us,” Lisa told him.
“Then I guess it’s time to go through security and get on the plane.” Max and Mrs. Reg went first, followed by The Saddle Club. Veronica came last.
“After we go through security, I’m going to the first-class lounge,” Veronica said. “I’ll see you all in Washington.”
“Grrrr,” said Stevie, only somewhat under her breath. She was about to say something more loudly, but was stopped by the sound of a buzzer. Veronica had set off the alarm at the security gate.
“Please step back and empty your pockets,” a guard asked her politely.
Veronica glared at the guard, but it didn’t do any good. She had to empty her pockets.
The rest of the Pine Hollow group waited and watched.
Veronica reached into one pocket and removed a metal ashtray taken from their hotel. From the other she took an envelope. It was the hotel stationery, and it was sealed.
She walked through the security gate again and there was no buzz. She picked up the ashtray and put it back in her pocket.
“Open the envelope, please,” the guard said.
“But—”
“Veronica!” Mrs. Reg said.
Veronica opened the envelope.
There, for all the world to see, was a “pearl,” a “diamond,” and a chunk of “gold.”
“Oh!” said Stevie. “It’s the fake pearl I lost from my necklace!”
“And there’s the rhinestone from the button I found!” Lisa said.
“I never thought I’d see that chunk of fool’s gold again!” Carole chimed in.
The Saddle Club grinned proudly, and at that instant Veronica knew she’d been had. Without a word, she turned on her heel and made a beeline for the first-class lounge, leaving the treasure behind.
“Pity the poor first-class flight attendants,” Lisa remarked.
Max and Mrs. Reg tried hard not to laugh with The Saddle Club, but they couldn’t help themselves.
“HELLO, DADDY? … It’s Veronica … No, I’m calling you from the airplane. There’s a telephone right here. Isn’t that cool? … No, nothing’s wrong, exactly. I just thought you should know that there was a little mistake … Right, well it has to do with those—the jewels, I mean, so maybe it would be a good idea if you canceled the order for the bulldozers … Not exactly. See, Daddy, well, it turns out that they aren’t as precious as I thought … Actually, they were more like costume jewelry … Yes, I guess fakes is another way to put it, but there was no way I could tell, Daddy. Daddy? Daddy? Are you there?”
BEFORE LONG, THEY were halfway across the Atlantic, halfway home from a trip they couldn’t believe was over.
“It was wonderful. I loved every single minute of it,” said Lisa.
“Oh, you don’t mean that,” Stevie said. “Like you didn’t really enjoy our second day of competition, did you?”
“Or risking your life to fight a fire that might have killed all the horses?” Carole reminded her.
“Well,” Lisa conceded, “maybe not every minute. But it’s nice to have that reward check—it’s going straight into my savings account for a horse of my own. And I sure loved those last few minutes when Veronica realized that we’d fooled her about the duke’s treasure.”
“It would be nice if there were such a thing,” Stevie said. “Can’t you just see us all dripping in jewels and gold?”
Lisa looked out of the window of the plane for a moment, lost in thought. Then she turned to her friends. “Maybe we did find the treasure after all,” she said.
Stevie looked for pearls and diamonds, but didn’t see any. “What are you talking about?”
“It was something Tessa said about Nigel when he and Sterling were competing over the jumps. She said that he was a rider with fire in his heart. That was what the old guy—’Ank—said the legend was about. The treasure would be found by a rider with fire in his heart.”
“You mean, like, Nigel got his treasure because he made Sterling perform brilliantly.”
“Yes, that’s what I mean,” said Lisa.
“Then what about us?” Stevie asked.
Lisa knew she was still thinking about jewels, but she also knew that Stevie recognized a real treasure when she saw one. “For me, I think I had the most fire in my heart when I was in the middle of a fire and managed to lasso Sterling on my first try because I knew that was the only try I’d get. It made me feel better about myself than almost anything I’ve ever done.”
Carole thought about what Lisa had said. “I felt good about doing such a wonderful job on the last day of the mounted games,” Carole said. “It wasn’t the blue ribbon. It was doing my best.”
“And for me, I guess it was finding that the four of us—with Tessa, of course, not Veronica—could ride so wonderfully together,” Stevie said. “What a team! There were other wonderful things, too, like the prank we played on Veronica and the good-luck horseshoe I found—”
“You found?” Carole said, echoing Stevie’s words. “You mean that wasn’t the real thing?”
“I thought it looked a lit
tle dirtier than I remembered,” Lisa said.
“It worked, didn’t it?” Stevie asked. They had to agree that it had. “So maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing.”
“Maybe,” Carole admitted. She wasn’t annoyed with Stevie. She and Lisa actually counted on Stevie to come up with silly things like that just when they most needed them. There was no point in being annoyed, especially when it had worked.
“Okay, so back to the fire in a rider’s heart,” Lisa said. “If I’ve got this right, we all think we had some of this fire, and in every case it had to do with riding and being with friends.”
“And having fun and doing a good job and helping other people,” Stevie added.
“So then it’s clear to me what the duke’s treasure really is,” said Lisa.
“What?” Carole asked.
“The Saddle Club, of course,” said Lisa. “It’s the thing I care about the most.”
“Me too,” said Carole.
“Me three,” said Stevie.
“One thing’s for sure, then,” said Lisa. “We’ve got the treasure and Veronica doesn’t!” They gave one another a high fifteen.
The flight attendant interrupted their celebration. “Ready for lunch, girls?” she asked, lowering their tables to hold the trays.
“You bet!” Stevie said. “I could eat an elephant!”
“Sorry, there’s no elephant on the menu—just a special selection for our young travelers: pizza!”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BONNIE BRYANT is the author of nearly a hundred books about horses, including The Saddle Club series, Saddle Club Super Editions, and the Pony Tails series. She has also written novels and movie novelizations under her married name, B. B. Hiller.
Ms. Bryant began writing The Saddle Club in 1986. Although she had done some riding before that, she intensified her studies then and found herself learning right along with her characters Stevie, Carole, and Lisa. She claims that they are all much better riders than she is.
Ms. Bryant was born and raised in New York City. She still lives there, in Greenwich Village, with her two sons.
READ ALL THE SUPER EDITIONS IN
BONNIE BRYANT’S EXCITING SADDLE CLUB SERIES!
A SUMMER
WITHOUT
HORSES
SADDLE CLUB SUPER EDITION #1
In this first super edition, there are three stories in one!
When Stevie Lake injures herself and can’t ride for a while, the other two members of The Saddle Club, Carole Hanson and Lisa Atwood, make a pact not to ride until Stevie has recovered. After all, they’re The Saddle Club, and they always stick together. To seal the pact, the girls decide that if any of them break the vow, they’ll have to ask stuck-up Veronica diAngelo to join their club. That’ll keep them out of the saddle for sure!
But can three horse-crazy girls really stay away from horses and riding for more than a day? Find out in The Saddle Club Super Edition #1, which contains three separate stories about Lisa, Stevie, and Carole—and their summer without horses!
WESTERN STAR
SADDLE CLUB SUPER EDITION #3
The girls of The Saddle Club can’t wait for winter break from school. Carole, Stevie, and Lisa are heading west to spend the first part of their vacation at one of their favorite places—the Bar None Ranch.
But what they thought would be a quick trip turns into a snowbound adventure. The girls must rescue a herd of horses that face a terrible fate.…
Join The Saddle Club on an unforgettable journey that recalls the true spirit of giving and the strength of friendship.
MEET THE SADDLE CLUB
Horse lover CAROLE …
Practical joker STEVIE …
Straight-A LISA …
#1 HORSE CRAZY
#2 HORSE SHY
#3 HORSE SENSE
#4 HORSE POWER
#5 TRAIL MATES
#6 DUDE RANCH
#7 HORSE PLAY
#8 HORSE SHOW
#9 HOOF BEAT
#10 RIDING CAMP
#11 HORSE WISE
#12 RODEO RIDER
#13 STARLIGHT CHRISTMAS
#14 SEA HORSE
#15 TEAM PLAY
#16 HORSE GAMES
#17 HORSENAPPED
#18 PACK TRIP
#19 STAR RIDER
#20 SNOW RIDE
#21 RACEHORSE
#22 FOX HUNT
#23 HORSE TROUBLE
#24 GHOST RIDER
#25 SHOW HORSE
#26 BEACH RIDE
#27 BRIDLE PATH
#28 STABLE MANNERS
#29 RANCH HANDS
#30 AUTUMN TRAIL
#31 HAYRIDE
#32 CHOCOLATE HORSE
#33 HIGH HORSE
#34 HAY FEVER
#35 HORSE TALE
#36 RIDING LESSON
#37 STAGE COACH
#38 HORSE TRADE
#39 PUREBRED
#40 GIFT HORSE
#41 STABLE WITCH
#42 SADDLEBAGS
#43 PHOTO FINISH
#44 HORSESHOE
#45 STABLE GROOM
#46 FLYING HORSE
#47 HORSE MAGIC
#48 MYSTERY RIDE
#49 STABLE FAREWELL
#50 YANKEE SWAP
#51 PLEASURE HORSE
#52 RIDING CLASS
#53 HORSE-SITTERS
#54 GOLD MEDAL RIDER
#55 GOLD MEDAL HORSE
#56 CUTTING HORSE
#57 TIGHT REIN
#58 WILD HORSES
#59 PHANTOM HORSE
#60 HOBBYHORSE
#61 BROKEN HORSE
#62 HORSE BLUES
#63 STABLE HEARTS
#64 HORSE CAPADES
#65 SILVER STIRRUPS
#66 SADDLE SORE
#67 SUMMER HORSE
#68 SUMMER RIDER
#69 ENDURANCE RIDE
#70 HORSE RACE
#71 HORSE TALK
#72 HOLIDAY HORSE
#73 HORSE GUEST
#74 HORSE WHISPERS
#75 PAINTED HORSE
#76 HORSE CARE
#77 ROCKING HORSE
#78 HORSEFLIES
#79 ENGLISH HORSE
#80 ENGLISH RIDER
#81 WAGON TRAIL
#82 QUARTER HORSE
#83 HORSE THIEF
#84 SCHOOLING HORSE
#85 HORSE FEVER
#86 SECRET HORSE
#87 SHOW JUMPER
#88 SIDESADDLE
THE SADDLE CLUB SUPER EDITIONS
#1 A SUMMER WITHOUT HORSES
#2 THE SECRET OF THE STALLION
#3 WESTERN STAR
#4 DREAM HORSE
#5 BEFORE THEY RODE HORSES
#6 NIGHTMARE
#7 CHRISTMAS TREASURE
THE SADDLE CLUB SPECIAL EDITIONS
#1 STEVIE: THE INSIDE STORY
#2 LISA: THE INSIDE STORY
#3 CAROLE: THE INSIDE STORY