Shying at Trouble

by Bonnie Bryant

  Just then there was an unpleasant interruption. Somewhere nearby, a loud, whiny voice let out a shriek and cried, “I can’t believe you!”

  “Please, you have to listen to me,” a male voice pleaded. “I tried, I really did. My cousin said he could get the tickets, but he totally bailed on me at the last minute.”

  The first voice clearly wasn’t impressed by that argument. “Whatever,” it said coldly. “I’m not interested in your little family dramas. All I’m interested in is the fact that, apparently, I still don’t have tickets for the fall festival this weekend.”

  Lisa pulled away from Alex reluctantly. “Is that who I think it is?” she commented, glancing down the street in the direction of the voice.

  “Sounds like Veronica’s about to dump another boyfriend,” Alex replied with a smirk.

  Lisa spotted Veronica diAngelo, a girl their age, standing at the end of the block. Veronica tended to be noticeable in just about any situation—she was tall and slender, with sleek dark hair, a lovely if slightly haughty face, and a self-confident way of carrying herself that made most people sit up and take notice. In this case, she was even more conspicuous than usual. Fury radiated from her. She was standing with her arms crossed over her light cashmere sweater, glaring at a tall, handsome boy with thick black hair. He looked sheepish and kept glancing around nervously as if searching for a way out.

  Lisa couldn’t blame him. Veronica diAngelo had never been one of her favorite people, and she was even more insufferable than usual when she was angry about something. “So the Princess of Virginia doesn’t get to go to the big fall concert,” Lisa murmured to Alex. “Makes me wish even more I’d been able to get tickets.” Just about everyone she knew wanted to go to the annual show in neighboring Berryville, which featured several popular local bands. But the seats in the town’s only concert hall were limited and tickets were hard to come by. Lisa had done her best, even calling in a few times to radio station giveaways, but with no luck.

  Veronica was so busy berating her apparently soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend that she didn’t seem to notice she was attracting an audience. In addition to Lisa and Alex, several other passersby had stopped to stare.

  “Maybe someone will take pity on that poor dumb guy and give their tickets to Veronica,” Lisa joked quietly. Then she shrugged. “Probably not, though. If I had tickets, there’s no way I’d give them up. Besides, any guy who voluntarily dates Veronica deserves what he gets.”

  “And a lobotomy,” Alex whispered. “Come on, let’s get lost before she spots us and decides to start spreading the love around.” He wrapped one arm around Lisa’s shoulder and jerked his head to indicate their escape route.

  Lisa giggled and nodded, allowing him to steer her off down the sidewalk at a fast trot. Seeing Veronica with the latest in her long line of male companions made Lisa appreciate even more what she and Alex had together.

  Maybe he can’t get me tickets to the fall festival either, she thought with a secret smile. But I don’t mind. As long as we’re together, that’s all the festivity I need.

  FOUR

  Carole fidgeted and tried not to stare at the clock above the desk. She was leaning against the table near the office door waiting for Max to show up. Stevie was sitting in the single chair in front of the desk, while Ben and George stood against the side wall. Ben looked as inscrutable as ever, but the others’ expressions reflected the same curiosity that Carole herself was feeling.

  But perhaps not quite the same amount of impatience. Every minute they sat there twiddling their thumbs was a minute she could have been spending getting her chores done. She still had to sweep the stable aisles and make her monthly check of the human and equine first-aid kits kept in the student locker room and the tack room. Plus she would have to help Ben bring in the horses that had been turned out in the pasture for the day, along with the million or so other tasks that always seemed to require her urgent attention …

  As she was counting up the number of stalls she would probably have to muck out that afternoon, Max came rushing into the office, breathless and apologetic.

  “I had to run out for a second to help Denise with that hyper new filly that’s boarding here,” he explained, taking a seat behind the desk. Denise McCaskill was the assistant manager at Pine Hollow. “I was hoping she could be here for this—Denise, that is, not the filly—but she’s going to be tied up for a while yet.”

  “That’s okay,” Stevie said trying to appear casual. “So what’s your big news?”

  Max smiled and glanced at Ben. “Ben already knows,” he said. “I asked him not to give it away, and I guess he didn’t, since I know Stevie wouldn’t be looking so calm right now if she knew.”

  “Give what away?” Stevie demanded as Carole glanced curiously at Ben. He was staring at the toes of his work boots, his expression neutral.

  Max tapped his fingers on the wooden desktop, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly the way they always did when he was trying to suppress a smile. “I suppose you’ve all heard about the upcoming Colesford Horse Show by now.”

  “Of course we— What!” Stevie exclaimed. “This is about the Colesford Horse Show? What? What?”

  “Colesford!” George murmured in awe, looking almost as curious as Stevie.

  Carole was intrigued. She had been hearing about the Colesford Horse Show for some time now. It was being held in a nearby town the following month, and it promised to be one of the most prestigious, most competitive shows on the East Coast. She held her breath, hardly daring to hope that Max was about to say what she thought he might be about to say. Could he …? Would he …?

  Max was grinning openly by now, clearly enjoying the expressions on the faces of the riders in front of him. Even Ben looked amused as he leaned back against the wall near the door, his arms crossed over his chest.

  “Right,” Max said briskly, still grinning. “You see, I’ve been going over the stable’s finances, and it seems we’ve had a very good year so far. Of course, we can always use a few more students and boarders, and the best way to attract them is with good publicity. That’s why I figured out that I can afford to send exactly five of my current riders to Colesford next month. I thought I could sponsor these five on the condition that they ride under the Pine Hollow name, represent the stable to the best of their considerable abilities, and—”

  Carole quickly did the math. But Stevie was faster.

  “You mean us?” she cried, sounding excited. “All of us?” She turned halfway around in her seat as if unwilling to believe it until she counted again. “Carole, Ben, Denise, George—and me?”

  Carole grinned at her friend’s excitement. She was feeling pretty thrilled herself.

  Colesford! she thought in amazement. I’m actually going to be riding at Colesford. But is Starlight ready for—She cut off the thought as she realized that Max was speaking again.

  “… and of course, you’ll be riding Belle,” he was telling Stevie. “I think you have the best shot if you stick to dressage.”

  Stevie nodded. “Sounds great.”

  Max turned to George next. “You and Joyride should be able to do well in a few different events. We can meet separately after you’ve had a chance to think it over and discuss which ones you want to enter.”

  George nodded, his eyes shining. His specialty was three-day eventing, so Carole guessed he’d probably end up entering some dressage classes and some jumping ones. “Sure,” he said. “Thanks, Max.”

  “Ben, as I told you before, I’d like you to ride Topside for this show,” Max went on, glancing at the young stable hand. Carole nodded, impressed with the pairing. The Thoroughbred gelding had been a top-notch competitor in his younger days, and he would still be a formidable competitor at Colesford—especially with an excellent rider like Ben in the saddle. “He hasn’t competed in a few months,” Max added, “but he’s in excellent shape, so if you put in some work with him between now and the show I think you’ll do fine.”

&nbs
p; “Who’s Denise riding?” Stevie interrupted. “Let me guess—Talisman, right?”

  Max seemed uncertain whether or not to be annoyed at the interruption. He nodded. “That’s right,” he said. “They’ve always worked well together.”

  Carole realized she was holding her breath as Max turned to face her. Would he think Starlight was ready for a major competition like this? Or …

  “Carole,” Max pronounced, “I hope you’re not going to be disappointed by my suggestion.” He paused and stroked his chin thoughtfully.

  “What is it, Max?” she asked a bit apprehensively.

  He rubbed his callused hands together and gazed at her solemnly. “I know Starlight is a wonderful horse, and you’ve done some incredible work with him over the years. But I’m still not sure he’d be up to the competition at Colesford. How would you feel about riding Samson in the show instead? He could use the experience, and I think—”

  “I’ll do it!” Carole exclaimed. She could hardly believe her luck. It was as if Max had been reading her mind. “I’ll do it!”

  “Guess what, girl!” Stevie exclaimed as she let herself into her horse’s stall. “We’re hitting the big time!”

  Belle seemed unimpressed with the news. She swung her big bay head around to look at Stevie, continuing all the while to chew diligently on the mouthful of hay she’d just pulled from her rack.

  Stevie gave the mare a hearty pat on her sleek neck. “There’s no need to look so snooty about it,” she told the horse. “You know as well as I do that we should bow down and kiss the ground Max walks on for giving us this opportunity.”

  She was only half kidding. While she took her dressage training seriously and was good at it, she was realistic enough to know that she was the least likely of all the Pine Hollow entrants to wind up with any sort of ribbon, and she really did appreciate Max’s faith in her abilities. Even to compete at Colesford would be an honor, whether she won best in show or came in dead last in every class she entered.

  “Not that I’m planning to do that, of course,” she murmured, running her fingers through Belle’s silky mane. Stevie had a competitive streak as wide as Pine Hollow’s big south pasture, a quality that had caused her some trouble in the past. In her younger days, she had often gotten so carried away with the idea of winning that she hurt people’s feelings or forgot about other priorities.

  Over the past few years, however, she had matured enough to have a sense of humor about her own competitiveness. She still liked to win, but she realized that not every contest had to be a battle to the death, and that losing out on the grand prize once in a while made the triumphs, when they came, that much more satisfying.

  “Anyway,” she said, looking deep into Belle’s liquid brown eyes, “even though Max didn’t say so, I’ll bet he was planning on making Andrea the fifth member of his little team.” Andrea Barry was a sophomore at Willow Creek High School and one of the most talented riders at Pine Hollow. She and her athletic hunter gelding, Country Doctor, had often competed in shows almost as prestigious and competitive as Colesford. “I guess it’s lucky for us she came down with mono last week, huh?”

  Belle let out a snort and a snuffle, then turned her head to grab another mouthful of hay. Stevie took a few steps back to give her room.

  “I know, I know,” she said with a chuckle. “That’s not a very nice thing to say.” She leaned back against the wall and grinned, hugging herself in pure excitement. “But I can’t help it. It’s going to be awesome!”

  At that same moment, Carole was hurrying down Pine Hollow’s U-shaped stable aisle toward Samson’s stall. Her mind was full to bursting with Max’s news. It was thrilling enough that she would be riding at Colesford at all. To be going there as a team with Samson …

  “Incredible,” she whispered aloud, still hardly believing her luck. Samson had already won quite a few ribbons with his last owner. And he seemed to get faster and stronger and smarter every day that Carole worked with him. There was no telling what he could do, how well he could perform. More importantly, this show would be the best test Carole could imagine of the training she’d done so far. Working alone or with one or two of Pine Hollow’s other horses was fine, but it could only tell her so much. Riding Samson under the pressure of a real show—with dozens of other horses, an audience, and judges watching their every move—would be a true learning experience for both of them. For the two of them as a team.

  It’s going to be totally amazing, she thought as she rounded the corner and spotted Samson’s familiar black head sticking out of his stall halfway down the aisle. As usual, she smiled as soon as she saw him. How did I get to be so lucky? I must be doing something right!

  Despite her ebullient mood, that last thought struck a deep chord in her heart. Unbidden, the image of the big red F marked at the top of her history test floated into her mind.

  Forget about that stupid test, she told herself angrily, shaking her head as if she could shake the memory right out of it. You did what you had to do. If you hadn’t, you wouldn’t be standing here right now as an official entrant in the Colesford Horse Show.

  That much was true enough. Carole never could have passed that makeup test without cheating, and if she hadn’t passed, her grade average for the class would have dropped below Max’s cutoff point. Every student had to maintain a C average or lose riding privileges until his or her grades came up, and Carole couldn’t bear the thought of being banned from her favorite place in the entire world for something as minor as one stupid history test.

  Still, all the rationalization in the world couldn’t make her feel easy about what she’d done. Fortunately, she knew one surefire way to take her mind off it. Jogging the last few steps to Samson’s stall, she gave him a welcoming pat on his soft nose and reached for the latch on the door.

  “Carole.”

  The voice startled her so much that she jumped and let out an involuntary “Eeep!” She hadn’t realized anyone else—well, anyone on two legs—was in the aisle. She turned and saw Callie standing in the shadow of a support beam a few yards down the aisle.

  “Sorry if I scared you,” Callie said quietly.

  “That’s okay.” Carole smiled. “I guess I was kind of distracted. Hey, you’ll never guess what Max wanted to talk to us ab—What’s wrong?”

  She had just noticed that Callie’s blue eyes were red-rimmed and her face was taut and grim. Her knuckles were white as they clenched and unclenched rhythmically on the handles of her metal crutches.

  Callie tossed her head, sending her blond hair flying out of her eyes. “Do you know where Stevie is?” she asked. “I don’t want to have to repeat this more than I have to.”

  “With Belle, I think,” Carole said automatically, still staring at Callie. “Does this have something to do with that horrible article?”

  “No, it’s not that.” Callie was already moving off down the aisle toward Belle’s stall. “Come on.”

  Carole followed, worried and mystified. Callie wasn’t usually the dramatic type, and she certainly wasn’t the type to wallow in her own misery in front of other people. So what could have happened in the time since they’d left her? She and Stevie and the others had only been in Max’s office a few minutes.

  Carole could hear Stevie chattering away at her horse as she and Callie approached. As far as she could tell, Stevie seemed to be explaining the complexities of show grooming and etiquette to Belle.

  At Carole’s knock, Stevie stuck her head out over the stall’s half door. “Hi, guys,” she said, pushing a strand of dark blond hair out of her eyes with the back of her hand. “What’s up?”

  “Callie has something she wants to tell us,” Carole said.

  Callie glanced up and down the aisle to make sure they were alone. Then she leaned heavily on her crutches and gazed solemnly at Stevie and Carole.

  “It’s about Emily,” she said, her voice breaking slightly on the name. “She just told me. She’s moving. To Australia.”

 
; FIVE

  Stevie twirled the combination lock on her gym locker expertly. Yanking open the door, she tossed her shoes inside and began digging for a clean T-shirt and pair of shorts. “But really,” she said without looking around. “You can’t help being a teensy bit excited for her, right?”

  Behind her, she heard Callie sigh. “I know. You’re right. If she has to move at all, it’s pretty cool that she’s moving to Australia. I was there once, and it’s awesome—the people are super nice.”

  Stevie shook her head in amazement. Callie had led quite a life as the daughter of a successful politician. She’d probably been to more interesting places than Stevie could even imagine. Still, Stevie knew there were plenty of trade-offs. In exchange for their interesting, glamorous lifestyle, Callie and her family had given up an awful lot of their privacy.

  “I think Emily’s really going to like it there,” Callie went on. “When she gave me the news, I could tell she was already nervous. But I could also tell she was kind of excited, but that she didn’t want me to see that and feel bad … you know.”

  “I know.” Stevie pulled off her light cotton sweater and tossed it into her locker. Reaching for the only slightly rumpled T-shirt she’d found, she thought about Emily’s big news. When Callie had first told her and Carole the day before, Stevie had hardly been able to believe that their friend was really moving halfway around the world. But now it was finally starting to sink in. Emily’s father’s company had transferred him to Sydney, and her mother, who worked for the government, had managed to line up a job at the American embassy there.

  “Is that what the lunch thing with her parents last Saturday was all about?” Stevie asked when her head emerged from the neck of her T-shirt.

  Callie nodded. “That’s why she couldn’t come with us, remember? They told her the news over lunch.”