“Silver!” yelled May. She stopped to take a breath, panting. “Silver, come back! Silver! Si-i-l-l-l-verrrr! Si-i-l-l-v-e-rrrr!”
May kept on yelling at the top of her lungs, but Silver didn’t appear. Unfortunately, Doc Tock did, followed by her student assistant, Jack Henry, and Corey and Jasmine. They had all heard May calling Silver.
“What happened?” asked Doc Tock. “How did Silver get out of his pen?”
May felt herself turn red with embarrassment. She had the sinking feeling that she was in trouble again—this time with Corey’s mom. “I accidentally let him out, Doc Tock,” she confessed. “I was leaving the pen, and—”
“Never mind, May,” said Doc Tock impatiently. “Come on, Jack, we have to catch him.”
Jack was already starting toward the woods. For more than an hour he and Doc Tock, assisted by the Pony Tails, chased Silver. It wasn’t easy. They would catch a glimpse of him and call his name, but then he would dodge away. He seemed to think they were playing a game!
Finally Jack made a terrific diving leap and managed to grab Silver. Once Silver was in Jack’s arms, the dog wagged his tail and looked at them mischievously, as if to say, “What a lot of fun we just had!”
They all trudged back to the barn, exhausted. Doc Tock and Jack didn’t say anything, and the girls were silent, too.
As they got closer to the paddock, May couldn’t stay quiet any longer. “Doc Tock, I’m awfully sorry,” she said. “I didn’t know Silver would run away like that. I’ll do anything to make up for letting him out. Maybe I can clean some cages, or feed the animals, or—”
“What’s done is done,” answered Doc Tock shortly. “Silver’s not trained yet, and he should have stayed in his pen. I have several patients waiting for me in the office that could have been taken care of during this time. You,” she said, looking at Corey, “can put Silver back in his pen. I have to get back to the office right away.”
Jack handed Silver over to Corey, who held him carefully. Jack winked at May, as if to say he understood that she hadn’t meant any harm—that it had all been an accident.
But May didn’t see Jack wink. She was too upset. Normally Doc Tock was one of the friendliest moms in the world, taking an enthusiastic interest in everything the Pony Tails did. Now she was mad at May—just like Mrs. James was.
Corey and Jasmine wanted to comfort May, but they didn’t know what to do or say. The three girls walked back to the paddock in silence.
What, thought May miserably, can go wrong next?
3 The Final Straw
After putting Silver in his pen and making sure the gate was securely fastened, the three girls headed over to May’s house. They loved going to the Grovers’ because Mr. Grover trained horses for a living and the Grovers’ stable always had lots of horses in it.
Now they also wanted to go somewhere where no one was mad at May. May’s face was so gloomy, Corey and Jasmine felt awful for her. They didn’t know what to say.
When they walked into the Grovers’ house, they found Mrs. Grover in the kitchen. May’s mother loved horses and ponies, too, and could talk about them for hours.
Today, though, Mrs. Grover said a short hello to Corey and Jasmine. She didn’t even smile at them, which was really strange. That was how they knew more trouble was coming.
“May,” Mrs. Grover said sternly, “did you forget to tell me something?”
Mrs. Grover held out her hand. She was holding one of her shoes, except that it looked all wrong. The heel had broken off.
May slapped her forehead. “Mom, I forgot—”
Mrs. Grover interrupted her. “When I let you, Jasmine, and Corey try on my clothes yesterday, I thought you would be careful. Instead, I look for my favorite pair of dress shoes and find this.” She waved the shoe back and forth angrily.
May, Jasmine, and Corey all looked at each other guiltily. Halloween was two weeks away, and the Pony Tails had thought that maybe they would dress up as grown-ups this year. Mrs. Grover had agreed to let them try on some of her dresses, as long as they promised to be careful.
Trying on her dresses had been fun. They had spent an hour looking through her closet. Jasmine, who loved dolls and clothes much more than May or Corey, had been in heaven.
Both Jasmine and Corey remembered that May had been the one who had taken out Mrs. Grover’s dress shoes and walked around in them. They also remembered that after the heel had broken, she had tried to put it back on with glue. Obviously, it hadn’t worked.
Jasmine and Corey didn’t want May to get in any more trouble. So Jasmine stepped forward and said, “Mrs. Grover, we’re really sorry. We all wore the shoes. We did try to be careful. Maybe we can find some stronger glue and stick it back on—”
“No,” interrupted May. She took a deep breath. “Don’t try to cover up for me, Jazz. It was me,” she told her mother. “I took out your shoes and walked around in them until the heel broke off. I honestly thought I could fix it, but I know I was wrong to try them on in the first place.”
Mrs. Grover shook her head. “That’s not good enough, May. You promised me that you girls would be careful, and you broke that promise. You have to be punished. Go up to your room and stay there for one hour. You can see Jasmine and Corey later.”
Jasmine and Corey looked at May sympathetically. She was bright red and looked as if she was going to cry. May almost never cried—she was the bravest one of the group. She didn’t look at them, but turned and ran up to her room. Jasmine and Corey said good-bye to Mrs. Grover and left quietly.
In her room, May sniffed once but didn’t cry. Although she felt miserable, she was almost relieved to be alone. “Now I can’t make anyone else mad at me,” she told herself. She lay down on her bed.
Mom is mad at me. Mrs. James is mad at me. Doc Tock is mad at me, she thought. What can I do about it? I already tried to apologize, but they wouldn’t let me. I’ve got to find some way to make up for all the trouble I’ve caused.
Being in hot water was exhausting! Before she knew it, May had fallen fast asleep.
Outside, Jasmine and Corey walked slowly across the Grovers’ lawn. “Poor May!” sighed Jasmine.
“Getting in trouble once is bad enough,” said Corey. “But three times in one morning! She must be feeling awful.”
“I don’t think my mother is really that angry at her. I think she was just tired from taking care of Sophie,” said Jasmine.
“I don’t think my mother is, either. I think she was just tired from chasing Silver,” said Corey.
“I wish there were something we could do,” said Jasmine.
“Right now, I bet May just wants to be alone. Maybe we’ll think of something later. I’m going home now,” Corey said.
“Me too,” Jasmine said. The two split up and headed toward their own houses.
When Corey got home, she poked her head into the office. She thought her mother might still be busy. But the waiting room was empty, except for Doc Tock and one person holding a cat. Doc Tock was handing the cat’s owner some medicine.
When she saw Corey, she smiled. “Hey there,” she called cheerfully. “I’m just about finished here. Just put these drops into his eyes three times a day for one week,” she told the cat’s owner. “Call me if there are any problems.” Then she turned to Corey. “What say you and I take Silver over to CARL right now?”
Corey grinned. Lately her mother’s veterinary practice had become very busy. Corey loved it when her mother could do something with her, just the two of them. “I guess the sooner we take him there, the sooner he can be adopted,” she answered. “Is Jack coming, too?”
Doc Tock shook her head. “Jack has some small jobs to do around the office, and then he’s going to feed and water the patients and go home. I’m going to spend some time at the shelter looking over the animals. Maybe you’d like to help?” She knew that Corey loved being around the animals at CARL.
“Check,” said Corey, and ran to get a leash for Silver.
&
nbsp; When Jasmine got home, she opened the back door very cautiously. She tiptoed into the kitchen.
“Bah bah bah,” she heard. Her mom and dad and Sophie were in the kitchen. Mrs. James was just taking a tray of cookies out of the oven, and Sophie was lying in her baby seat, waving her arms around and gurgling happily.
Mrs. James looked at Jasmine with a smile. “Her fever’s gone. She’s feeling much better,” she added with a laugh as Sophie broke into another stream of babble.
Jasmine sighed with relief. “Mom, I’m sorry about what happened earlier,” she began.
Mr. James reached over and pulled Jasmine’s blond braid affectionately. “Forget about it,” he told her. “Sophie’s feeling better, and that’s all that counts for now. We’ve decided to go to Granny’s house for a visit. She hasn’t seen us for a while, because of all the craziness in the past weeks. How about it?”
“I’m taking these chocolate chip cookies over to Granny’s for us all to share,” added Mrs. James.
“Don’t you have to work today?” asked Jasmine, looking at her father.
He shook his head. “All done—I’m all yours.”
“All right!” said Jasmine happily. Granny was usually lots of fun!
Buy May’s Runaway Ride Now!
About the Author
Bonnie Bryant is the author of over one hundred forty books about horses, including the Saddle Club series and its spinoffs, the Pony Tails series and the Pine Hollow series. Bryant did not know very much about horses before writing the first Saddle Club book in 1986, so she found herself learning right along with the characters she created. She has also written novels and movie novelizations under her married name, Bonnie Bryant Hiller. Bryant was born and raised in New York City, where she still lives today.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1997 by Bonnie Bryant Hiller
Cover design by Connie Gabbert
ISBN: 978-1-4976-5379-5
This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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Jasmine's First Horse Show (Pony Tails Book 13) Page 6
