Horse Spy

by Bonnie Bryant

  “Carole, you didn’t!”

  “Well, I guess I did,” Carole said. “I told her I’d exercise him four days a week.”

  “Right, like Max is going to pay you for that?”

  “Not a chance,” Carole said. “I know. It’s on me. I’m going to have to deal with it, and soon. But until I do, I made a promise. Now, I’ve got a whole bunch of stuff to do in the office before the beginners arrive. Can you give this guy the rest of his workout?”

  “I’m always happy to ride,” Stevie said.

  “This may be an exception,” said Carole. “He’s a real handful—as bad as his owner. The workout is simple, though. He’s just got to get some kinks out. Loosen him up until he’s relaxed, maybe another half hour.”

  “Oh, sure,” Stevie said. “You let me take care of this boy. All he needs is a little of Stevie’s special tender loving care. He’ll be putty in my hands in no time.”

  “Thanks,” Carole said, handing her the reins. “But don’t forget to touch the horseshoe.”

  Before Stevie could ask for any more information, Carole had headed for the office.

  It only took a few minutes for Stevie to see what Carole was talking about. This horse was a handful. There were some horses it would be wonderful to exercise, but this guy—what was his name?—was going to take more than a little getting used to.

  Walk, trot, canter. He did them all, but he balked and fussed. She didn’t like to use her crop on an unfamiliar horse, but when she did, he didn’t pay any more attention to her. She decided to use a gentle hand while she and the horse got used to one another. It meant generally letting him have his way, but it also meant they weren’t fighting all the time, and at the very least it meant that he got the exercise he needed, even if he didn’t get the discipline routine training required. Tomorrow would be another day.

  When she’d finished putting him through his paces—or, more accurately, letting him put himself through whatever paces he wanted to go through—she dismounted and walked him around the ring to cool him down. They’d need to be out of the ring before the beginner class started.

  The second time around the ring, she noticed that she was being watched. It was Callie, the girl she’d met last night. Stevie walked over to her.

  “Welcome to Pine Hollow!” she said.

  “Well, thank you,” said Callie. “You’re riding early this morning.”

  “I’m doing someone a favor,” Stevie said as she dismounted. “This horse belongs to some difficult VIP who has just started here, and my friend was trying to soothe some ruffled feathers, so she offered to exercise him for the owner—”

  Something was wrong, and Stevie knew it before she could stop the words from tumbling out of her mouth.

  “I guess that would make me the difficult VIP with the ruffled feathers,” Callie said.

  “Oh, no, I’m sure there’s a mistake here,” Stevie said, but she knew the mistake was hers. “I probably totally misunderstood. Anyway, I’ve been riding this horse and he’s a handful, so I guess what my friend meant was that the horse is difficult. I just wasn’t listening too carefully because the horse is so, um, well, he’s a beauty, but he is hard to handle. Didn’t you say he was a new horse for you?” There had to be some way to deflect the conversation into a safer zone.

  “We’re renting him with an option to buy. Fez has been winning endurance ribbons all over the place. I’m sure he’s feisty. I know he gave that girl—Carole?—trouble yesterday when he got off the van. But I rode him before we signed his papers and he’s good—that is, if you know how to handle him.”

  “I guess I have some learning to do,” Stevie said, still trying to recover from one of the most embarrassing situations she’d ever created. “But I’m about done with his exercise. I think he’s loosened up, and he won’t be so difficult tomorrow.”

  “I’m sure you’re right,” Callie said. “I have to go now—unless you need me to do something with Fez?”

  “No, no, I’ll take care of him,” Stevie said. “I’d like the chance to get to know this champ a little better. Grooming is a good way to make friends. Um, how was the pizza?”

  “The—? Oh, right, the pizza. Last night. It was fine. Thanks. Well, see you sometime.”

  “Tomorrow,” Stevie said. “Remember the trail ride?”

  “You sure? This isn’t just something nice to do for a hard-to-handle VIP?”

  “No, I’m sure. And it’ll be good for Fez here,” Stevie said. “He’ll love to spend some time in the woods. It’ll feel like home to him.”

  “Right,” said Callie. “Tomorrow. Bye.”

  “Bye,” said Stevie. She leaned against the fence and watched Callie walk back to the car that was waiting for her. Stevie thought she had never in her life been so glad to have a conversation end. She’d liked Callie from the moment she’d met her the night before, and she thought Callie liked her. This was someone she could be friends with, and any friend of Stevie’s was bound to be a friend of Carole’s and Lisa’s. Well, that was a great way to begin a friendship! She’d insulted Callie and betrayed Carole’s confidence.

  Fez broke into her unhappy thoughts by nipping at her shoulder.

  “I guess I deserve that,” Stevie told the horse. “That and more. Think you could kick me a few times? Throw me when we go over a fence? Whatever you do, it wouldn’t hurt as much as what I’ve done to myself, that’s for sure.”

  Fez just stared at her silently. “All right, then I’ll groom you. If I work hard enough, maybe it’ll make me forget what I just said to skewer my best friend. Shall we give it a try?”

  For the first time that day, Fez behaved perfectly. He followed Stevie’s slightest signal to return to the stable and stood absolutely still while she groomed him.

  The work wasn’t enough to distract her, though. Ail she could think of was how much she’d been looking forward to going on the trail ride with Carole and Lisa. This would be their last trail ride together for months, until Lisa got back from California.

  And now she had two little things she had to share with Carole. First she had to confess that she’d told Callie that Carole thought she was difficult, and then she had to tell Carole that she’d had the foresight to invite the aforementioned difficult rider along on their trail ride!

  No, Stevie told herself. It wasn’t even nine o’clock in the morning and she’d already made enough terrible mistakes for a week, much less a day. Confessing to Carole was almost certainly going to lead to at least one more mistake. That could wait.

  CAROLE WAS on the phone when Stevie stuck her head into the office the next morning at quarter of nine. Stevie had arrived early so that she’d have a chance to talk to Carole and let her know she’d invited Callie along.

  Stevie waved to get Carole’s attention.

  “No, of course we’re having the class, Mrs. Van Buren,” Carole said into the phone. “It’s just that Max will be teaching it instead of—um, yes, he’s a good instructor—Well, he owns the place. He’s taught for years. He was practically born on a—Mrs. Van Buren—”

  Carole’s eyes rolled up to the ceiling. Obviously she was having a difficult phone conversation with somebody who (a) wasn’t listening and (b) wouldn’t have understood what she was hearing even if she had been listening. Carole circled her ear with her finger to indicate her feelings about Mrs. Van Buren’s sanity. Stevie nodded.

  Finally Carole convinced Mrs. Van Buren that Max would be a worthy instructor for her first lesson. She cradled the phone. “The whole world has gone crazy,” she told Stevie.

  “Well, since we’re on the subject,” Stevie said, recognizing a chance to segue when she heard one. “There’s something—”

  Four little girls shoved past Stevie and planted themselves in front of Carole’s desk.

  “Erin said you said she could ride Patch today,” one of them began.

  “But you told me Max said the one who did the best in the relay races could have Patch this week, but Erin didn�
��t do best, even though her team won. Sophie was the best and she doesn’t want Patch, she wants to ride Penny, so Caitlin should get Patch, but she told Max I kicked Peso too hard, but that’s not true, so she shouldn’t be able to ride Patch—”

  “Stop, stop, stop!” Carole said, putting her hands over her ears. “The pony assignments are posted in the tack room. No changes will be made. Period. Nobody’s riding Patch because he’s got a swollen ankle and I know you didn’t kick Peso and there’s only fifteen minutes until class starts so what are you doing here?”

  The little girls fled.

  “Uh, speaking of difficult, well, I mean, fussy riders—” Stevie began.

  The phone rang. Carole answered it and then listened intently. “No, Mr. Burns. I am sure that what we ordered was oats and not pellets. We have pellets left, so we wouldn’t—” She covered the mouthpiece and looked at Stevie. “I spent half an hour with this man yesterday and today he wants to go over it all again— Uh, yes, Mr. Burns. I have a copy of the purchase order. I gave it to you yesterday.… Yes, sure, I’ll fax you another copy, but in the meantime, Mr. Burns—Mr. Burns?” She hung up the phone. “That man is impossible!” she said.

  “Well, yes, some people are,” said Stevie. “Look, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

  “Thank heavens we’ll have time to talk on the trail ride. This place is a zoo; I can’t wait for the peace and quiet of the woods. Could you tack up Starlight for me?”

  “Of course,” Stevie said. “But before then, Carole, you should know—”

  The phone rang again. “Yes, Mr. Burns. Well, I’m glad you found it.… No, Mr. Burns, that’s not this order, you’re looking at the purchase order from last month.” Carole put her hand over the mouthpiece and spoke with Stevie while Mr. Burns droned on. “I’ll see you in the stable as soon as I can get away from here. Okay?”

  “Okay,” Stevie agreed. It wasn’t okay, but she knew she couldn’t do anything about it right then.

  Lisa was giving Prancer a quick brushing when Stevie returned with Belle’s tack. The two of them worked side by side, chatting about the commotion around them while they tacked up their horses.

  “Morning, Stevie,” Callie Forester said.

  “Oh, hi, Callie. I want you to meet Lisa Atwood, one of my best friends. Lisa, I didn’t have a chance to tell you yet, but I invited Callie to come along on our trail ride. She’s new to Willow Creek as well as to Pine Hollow, so I thought this would be a good chance to show off the place.” She quickly explained how she’d met Callie when she’d delivered pizza to her house.

  Lisa smiled warmly at Callie, but the glance she gave Stevie was quizzical. Stevie knew she deserved it. This was supposed to be a trail ride for three old friends, not for newcomers, even nice newcomers.

  “Welcome to Pine Hollow, Callie,” Lisa said. “Is that pretty Arab down the hallway yours?”

  “Yep, that’s right. And this will be the first chance I’ve had to ride him here. I’m really looking forward to it.”

  “Callie does endurance riding,” Stevie said. “I mean, she’s really good. She’s won all sorts of junior competitions.”

  “Not here,” Callie said. “Back home.”

  “Where’s home?” Lisa asked.

  “Out on the West Coast. We just moved here. Well, my dad’s been here since January. He’s a congressman, and he just got elected. So we’ll be here at least two years—just long enough to get me and my brother through high school. He’ll be a senior, and I’m going into my junior year. It was really tough moving.”

  “I can relate to that,” said Lisa. “Not that I’ve moved, exactly, but my parents got a divorce and my dad’s remarried and he’s living in California—”

  “Where?”

  “Near Los Angeles. And I’m going there for the summer—”

  “It’s so hard!” said Callie. “Maybe even harder for you because it’s not permanent. It’s just for a couple of months, and without going to school, it’s almost impossible to get to know people.”

  “Thanks for reminding me,” Lisa said sardonically.

  “I’m sorry. I just meant I understand.”

  Lisa smiled. “I know that’s what you meant. Did you live near Los Angeles?”

  “No, we were up north, in a little town. I could do a lot of riding there.”

  “That’s one thing your little town and Willow Creek have in common. You can do a lot of riding here. The school is close enough that you can actually come over every day after school if you want. Before, too.”

  “You can count on me being here,” said Callie. “Even though the stable said they’d exercise Fez for me, I’d like to do it myself most of the time.”

  “Max’ll ride him for you?” Lisa asked. That didn’t sound like Max at all. In the first place, he didn’t have time, and in the second place, he thought it was really important for the owners to ride their horses. Otherwise, why did they have them?

  “No, it wasn’t Max. It was that girl—I keep forgetting her name. She said she’d take care of it, so how could I refuse? Oh, that’s her,” she said, nodding at Carole, who was walking toward them.

  “Hi, Carole,” Lisa greeted her friend. “Did you meet Callie yet? Yeah, I guess you did. Anyway, she’s coming along on our trail ride. Stevie met her the other night when she was delivering pizza to her house. Small world, huh? And, wait until you see her horse. Oh. You probably did see her horse, didn’t you?”

  “Callie and I have met,” Carole said.

  “Right after Fez arrived,” Callie added.

  Lisa knew an undercurrent when she was standing in the middle of one. What she didn’t know was where this one had come from. Carole was upset about something, and it seemed as if it had to do with Callie, but maybe it was something that had happened in the office. “Stevie said things were wild in the office. The phone wouldn’t stop ringing and the kids kept barging in. You must be glad to have an excuse to escape for a while. Is Emily here?”

  “Yes, she’s here,” Carole said. She glanced back and forth between Stevie and Callie, recalling how Stevie seemed to have been in a rush to tell her something when everything was going crazy in the office. Of course, now she realized it was about Callie. Carole hadn’t known they’d already met. And she certainly hadn’t known that Callie was coming along on their special farewell ride. What could Stevie have been thinking?

  Then she figured it out. Stevie had invited Callie to ride with them so that Carole wouldn’t have to exercise Fez that afternoon. She was probably just trying to do the right thing, so it was hard for Carole to be angry with her, but that didn’t mean Carole wanted to spend a couple of hours riding with Callie. Maybe Carole hadn’t made it clear to Stevie that the human VIP was as difficult as the horse one. But that didn’t make it okay, and it didn’t make Carole want to be a part of it.

  “Listen, something’s come up.”

  “With that Mr. Burns?” asked Stevie.

  “That and about fourteen other things. You know how crazy it can get on summer mornings. It was probably a mistake to think I could go riding in the first place, but I definitely can’t go with you guys now. I’ve got to stay here. Starlight needs a little workout, for sure, but I’m going to have to do it in the ring so that people can hassle me about pony assignments, grain orders, and manure disposal while I ride. You all go on ahead.”

  “But Carole—” Lisa protested.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll have some time together later. You’ll be back about noon, and I’ll meet you guys at the usual place.”

  Without offering further explanation or waiting for protests, Carole spun around to leave her friends alone. She was angry. Very angry. And hurt. Their final trail ride of the summer was being interrupted by Callie Forester. If the girl loved “back home” so much, Carole wished she’d just go there—go anyplace, in fact, other than Pine Hollow.

  What was done was done. Carole couldn’t change it. She just didn’t want to upset her friends, a
nd she wasn’t going to let Callie see her cry.

  Stevie felt terrible. She knew she’d made a mistake. In fact, it seemed as if she was doing nothing but making mistakes these days. She’d hurt Carole’s feelings and that bothered her, but it bothered her even more that she had messed up this trail ride. It was supposed to be fun. It was supposed to be great. When she’d invited Callie along, she’d been sure that both Lisa and Carole would like Callie as much as she did. How could she have known that wouldn’t be so? And what had Callie done to make Carole think she was difficult? She seemed perfectly nice to Stevie.

  Time would tell. And time was passing.

  “Boy, it’s too bad Carole can’t come along,” said Lisa.

  “Yes,” Callie agreed. “I wanted a chance to get to know her better. It was sort of rushed before.”

  Stevie wondered what that meant.

  “Come on, let’s get going,” Lisa said. “If we stand still for a minute longer, Max will try to con us into helping tack up the ponies for the beginners.”

  “Okay,” Stevie said, mounting Belle. “We’re off, and Lisa and I promise to give you the grand tour of Pine Hollow. First stop, the good-luck horseshoe.”

  Stevie led the way out of the stable, through the paddocks, and into the woods behind Pine Hollow. Although it wasn’t yet ten o’clock, the summer sun was already hot. The sweet scent of fresh field grass combined with the ever wonderful smells of horses and leather. It was a combination that never failed to make her feel better. The sun sparkled through the leaves, dappling the bridle trail. Beneath her, Stevie felt the wonderful warm power of her beloved Belle. She could feel her own worry and distress practically melt in the warm June day.

  Behind her, Lisa and Callie were chatting easily.

  “… Well, the worst part of the election was when the whole family got interviewed by this local television station. Do you know how hard it is to smile for two hours? And out of that, they only ran about three minutes of the interview. Just two and a half seconds of that was about me.”