English Horse

by Bonnie Bryant

  Carole gulped. Max looked just about as furious as she had ever seen him.

  “It’s quite all right, Mr. Regnery,” the old woman said politely. She brushed a few drops of water off of her jacket and ran one hand through her damp, wavy gray hair. “A little water never hurt anyone. Isn’t that right, Miles?”

  The teenager managed a weak grin. “Right, Grandmother,” he agreed. He tried to shake some of the water out of his cotton polo shirt but only succeeded in getting his grandmother even wetter. He turned toward Max. “Um, is there somewhere we could mop up?” Lisa noticed that the boy had a somewhat stiff and formal way of speaking. She wondered if that was natural or if it had something to do with the cold water dripping down his back.

  “Certainly,” Max said through clenched teeth. “Let me show you to the washroom.” He started down the aisle after the Penningtons, then paused for a moment beside The Saddle Club. “Don’t move,” he ordered quietly. Then he hurried away without a backward glance.

  The three girls were silent for a moment. Finally Stevie spoke up. “Wow. Max looked pretty mad.”

  Lisa shook her head grimly. “I think ‘mad’ is an understatement.”

  They didn’t have time to discuss it any further. Max came hurrying back down the aisle toward them. Stevie opened her mouth to start apologizing again, but Max didn’t give her a chance. “What in the name of all that is decent in this world did you girls think you were doing?” he shouted. His face was rapidly turning a bright shade of magenta, and a vein in his forehead was starting to throb.

  “Um, sorry?” Stevie said meekly. “We were just … um …” She searched for the best way to explain. Somehow, now that she thought about it, she didn’t think that an explanation like “We wanted to get revenge on Veronica for making me look stupid in school” would get them very far.

  “Sorry!” Max barked. “Is that all you have to say?” He roughly ran a hand through his hair, making it stand straight up in tufts.

  Carole bit her lip to keep from laughing at the sight. “But we really are sorry, Max,” she said. “And you don’t have to worry—we were already planning to pick up all the balloon pieces so that none of the horses would swallow them.”

  “Gee,” Max said, sounding very sarcastic. “That was thoughtful of you.”

  Carole blushed, and the other two girls exchanged desperate glances. Stevie was still trying to figure out how to talk their way out of this one. She wasn’t used to The Saddle Club being the target of Max’s genuine wrath. Usually that honor was reserved for Veronica, who was always making Max angry with her carelessness and laziness.

  “What’s all the noise out here?” a familiar voice came from behind them. “You’re going to scare Danny.”

  Stevie turned and saw Veronica coming down the aisle, Danny’s saddle in her arms. Max glanced over his shoulder at her.

  “Never mind, Veronica,” he said sternly. “This doesn’t concern you.”

  Veronica’s eyes narrowed. She glanced from Max to Stevie and back again. Her curious gaze took in Carole’s and Lisa’s downcast faces, too. “Fine,” she said, a little too casually. “I’m no busybody.” She took a few more steps down the aisle. “Well, I’ll be in Danny’s stall if anybody needs me. I want to give him a good grooming before I tack him up.”

  Stevie scowled. Veronica was famous for never doing her stable chores herself. She liked to think of Red O’Malley, Pine Hollow’s head stable hand, as her personal servant. Stevie was positive that Veronica had been on her way to find Red so that she could dump the task of tacking up onto the hardworking young man. And she was equally sure that Veronica had absolutely no intention of leaving the immediate area before she spent some quality time eavesdropping on Max and The Saddle Club.

  Max didn’t seem to realize what Veronica was up to, though—or if he did, he didn’t care. “Mrs. Pennington will never board her horses here now,” he muttered. He seemed to be talking more to himself than to the girls.

  “She’s boarding some horses here?” Carole asked eagerly. Despite the trouble they were in, she couldn’t help feeling excited that there would be more newcomers to Pine Hollow. “What kind of horses? How many?”

  Max didn’t answer. He just glared. “She was thinking of boarding here,” he said icily. “But that was before she encountered our own version of monsoon season.” He shook his head in despair. “I don’t mind telling you, I really could have used the extra money those boarders would have brought in right about now. Those horses I just bought weren’t exactly cheap, you know. Come to think of it, running a stable isn’t exactly cheap, either.”

  Carole felt terrible. She knew as well as anyone how expensive it was to take care of horses. Her own horse, Starlight, used up practically all of her own allowance, as well as a healthy chunk of her father’s paycheck. She couldn’t even imagine how expensive it was to feed and care for more than thirty horses, as Max did. “Maybe we can talk to Mrs. Pennington,” she spoke up tentatively. “If we apologize again—you know, explain that it will never happen again—”

  “Forget it,” Max said brusquely. “I’ll deal with Mrs. Pennington myself. I don’t want you three going near her. I only hope I can convince her that all my riders aren’t total maniacs. She just bought a lot of the land adjoining Pine Hollow, you know. If she decides not to let my riders on her property, it will be a major inconvenience for everyone. And furthermore …”

  “I DIDN’T THINK he would ever finish chewing us out,” Carole said ruefully a few minutes later.

  “I don’t think he is finished,” Lisa corrected. “He just had to leave to go check on the Penningtons. I’m sure he’ll be back soon to yell at us some more.”

  Suddenly Veronica popped out of Danny’s stall. She glanced around to make sure that Max was gone, then hurried toward The Saddle Club. “So, what happened?” she demanded eagerly.

  “None of your beeswax,” Stevie snapped. “Don’t you have some important shopping or something to do? Somewhere far, far away?”

  Veronica shrugged. “Fine, don’t tell me. It’s not like I can’t guess.” She prodded a limp piece of blue balloon with the toe of her expensive leather riding boots, then bent to pick it up. “You three were trying to pull some sort of pathetic little prank, and it backfired.” She grinned. “And just your luck—it backfired all over Mrs. Pennington and her grandson.”

  “Big deal,” Stevie muttered. “The way Max was going on about that old woman, you’d think she was the queen of England.”

  Carole didn’t think that was fair. Max treated all of his students and boarders with the same amount of respect—as long as they proved themselves worthy of it by taking good care of their horses.

  But Veronica looked genuinely amazed at Stevie’s comment. “Oh, come on!” she exclaimed. “Don’t you know who the Penningtons are? They’re only the most important people to move to boring old Willow Creek in years! The whole country club has been buzzing about it for weeks.”

  “Important?” Carole repeated in confusion.

  “I think she means socially important,” Lisa explained.

  Veronica frowned. “Of course I do,” she snapped. “And they are. Mrs. Pennington just bought the old Hyde mansion, and they’re moving down here to Virginia from the Main Line.” She smirked. “That’s a very prestigious area just outside of Philadelphia, for you society outcasts.”

  “Big deal,” Stevie said again. “If the Penningtons are so snooty, why are they bothering with little old Pine Hollow?”

  Veronica rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t expect you three to know anything about society,” she said, waving the piece of broken balloon airily to emphasize her point. “But I thought even you Saddle Chumps might know a little something about horse shows. When she was younger, Mrs. Pennington used to win tons of ribbons at the Devon Horse Show, and she knows Dorothy DeSoto quite well. After all, Devon is only one of the most important shows in the country.”

  “We know about the Devon Horse Show,” Carole re
plied testily. She understood now why the Penningtons had come to Max about boarding their horses. Dorothy DeSoto was one of Max’s former students who had gone on to have a very successful career as a competitive rider. She must have recommended Pine Hollow to Mrs. Pennington.

  “Anyway,” Veronica went on, “the Penningtons won’t be keeping their horses here permanently. My mother said they’re having the old stable on their property rebuilt. Did I mention they bought the Hyde mansion? It’s probably the biggest estate in the whole county. So they just need someplace temporary while the workmen are finishing.”

  Just then the girls heard footsteps hurrying toward them. A second later Max appeared around the corner. His brow was furrowed, and he still looked angry. “They’re still cleaning up,” he reported. “Mrs. Pennington’s jacket will probably have to be dry-cleaned, though she refuses to take any money for it.” Suddenly he noticed Veronica standing there, smirking at The Saddle Club. “Veronica,” he said sharply, “I thought you were busy with your horse.”

  “Of course, Max,” Veronica said sweetly. “I just came out for a second to dispose of this.” She held up the piece of blue balloon, which she was still holding. “I wouldn’t want Danny to choke on it.”

  Stevie clenched her hands in fury. That was just like Veronica—wiggling her way out of trouble while making The Saddle Club look even worse than it already did. Veronica had picked up that balloon piece in the middle of the aisle, not in Danny’s stall. But there didn’t seem to be much point in explaining that to Max.

  “Fine.” Max held out his hand, and Veronica gave him the balloon piece.

  “Bye,” she sang out, skipping back down the aisle toward Danny’s stall and quickly disappearing inside once again.

  Max returned his attention to The Saddle Club. He crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more disappointed in the three of you than I am right now,” he began. “I know you like to fool around”—he glared directly at Stevie at this point—“but I thought you had more sense than to endanger my horses or my business. Obviously, I misjudged you.”

  Carole hung her head, feeling deeply ashamed. She really had thought ahead enough to realize that they would have to pick up the balloons so that the horses wouldn’t eat them. But she hadn’t even considered the idea that their prank could have any other bad results—aside from making Veronica madder than ever, that is.

  Lisa was feeling sheepish, too. She knew that her friends considered her the most sensible member of The Saddle Club. Why hadn’t she lived up to it this time? Sure, she had made a few feeble protests about this prank. But she could have tried a lot harder to talk Stevie out of it.

  Stevie felt bad about disappointing Max, too. He had yelled at her plenty of times in the past about her schemes, but this was different. Still, how could she have known that Max would be leading a stable tour right then? The last time she had seen him, he’d been alone in his office. Besides, nobody had really been hurt. If Mrs. Pennington and her grandson were such snobs that they couldn’t stand a little water, maybe Pine Hollow was better off without them. After all, the last thing they all needed was a couple more country club types walking around keeping Veronica company.

  “You know, I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve been too lenient with you girls in the past,” Max went on with a deep frown. “Maybe it would be best for you to take some time off until you learn the difference between a stable and an amusement park.”

  Carole gasped in horror.

  “But Max!” Stevie blurted out. She looked just as horrified as Carole felt. “You can’t ban us from Pine Hollow. You can’t!”

  Max put his hands on his hips. “Oh, can’t I?” he replied sourly. “Why not? Last I checked, my name is the one on the deed.”

  “Because we’ll die!” Stevie spread her hands out in front of her pleadingly. “Please, Max. Punish us however you want, just not that!”

  Lisa held her breath, waiting to hear what Max would say. The worst part of this whole situation was that she really couldn’t blame him for wanting to revoke their riding privileges. They had acted like irresponsible little children, and that sort of behavior wasn’t appropriate in a stable.

  “Just give us one more chance, Max,” Carole begged. Her brown eyes were wide and anxious. “We’ll make it up to you. We’ll muck out every stall six times a day all summer. We’ll mix the grain every single week for a year. Just don’t kick us out!”

  Max still looked stern. “I don’t know,” he said. “I think maybe a couple of weeks away would—”

  Suddenly Lisa remembered something. “Oh no!” she gasped, interrupting Max. “You can’t ban us now. Tessa’s coming tonight!”

  “Tessa?” Miraculously, Max didn’t look angry at being cut off in the middle of his sentence. Instead, a thoughtful expression crossed his face. “That’s right. I’d forgotten she was arriving this week.”

  Stevie nodded. “We’re picking her up right after dinner,” she explained. “Just think how disappointed she’ll be if she can’t ride here at Pine Hollow—especially after all the wonderful things she’s heard about it!”

  Max shrugged. “She could still ride here,” he muttered. “In fact, she could exercise your horses while you three are sitting home thinking about what you’ve done.” But this time, his words lacked conviction.

  Sensing an advantage, Lisa spoke up tentatively. “We really are sorry, Max,” she said. “And it would just kill us if we thought what we did was going to ruin Tessa’s visit.”

  “Humph.” Max still looked skeptical. But then he shrugged resignedly. “Well, I suppose you didn’t mean to drive me out of business. And it would be a shame if Tessa had to suffer for what you three did. She’s a good rider, and I know she and Topside will get along splendidly.” Topside was one of Max’s best horses, a well-trained Thoroughbred who had once belonged to Dorothy DeSoto. The Saddle Club had already arranged for Tessa to ride him while she was visiting.

  Carole crossed her fingers. She glanced down and noticed that Stevie and Lisa had already done the same. “Does that mean we’re not banned?”

  “All right, you’re not banned,” Max said. He held up a hand before the girls could speak. “Not for now, anyway. But you’re on probation. One more stunt like this one and that’s it. No riding for at least a month.”

  “That sounds fair,” Carole said quickly. She took a deep breath, hardly believing their narrow escape. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be banned from Pine Hollow even for a day, let alone a whole month.

  “I can only hope Tessa will be a good influence and keep you out of trouble,” Max muttered. “Sweet girl. Lovely manners.” Without another word, he turned and stomped off in the direction of the bathroom.

  “Whew!” Stevie exclaimed as soon as he was out of earshot. “That was a close one.”

  Lisa saw that Stevie’s face was pale. “I’ll say,” she agreed. “Can you imagine getting banned right before the point-to-point? I mean, I know it’s not actually at Pine Hollow, but …”

  Stevie’s face got even whiter. “I didn’t even think of that,” she admitted. “I was too busy worrying about how to explain to Tessa why we couldn’t go riding while she’s here.”

  Danny’s stall door banged open again. “Did I hear right?” Veronica demanded, looking annoyed as she came toward them again. “Is that obnoxious royal pain actually coming here for a visit?”

  “If you’re referring to Tessa,” Lisa replied coolly, “then the answer is yes. And I’m sure she’s just dying to see you, too.”

  “Like I care what she thinks,” Veronica snapped huffily. “She may hide behind that British accent and her stupid title, but underneath it all she’s just as immature and—and—stupid as the three of you.” She whirled around and stormed back to Danny’s stall.

  “Uh-oh,” Carole whispered. “It looks like you were right, Lisa. Veronica is holding a major grudge against Tessa. I guess she’s mad that Tessa didn’t recognize her superior
breeding and introduce her to the queen.”

  Stevie rubbed her hands together. “Uh-huh,” she agreed. “This could be trouble. We’ll have to figure out the best way to handle it so that—”

  “Stop right there, Stevie,” Lisa interrupted. “In case you’ve already forgotten, we can’t ‘handle’ anything right now. At least not the way you’re thinking.”

  Carole nodded emphatically. “Lisa’s right,” she said. “Max is really mad this time. And the worst part is, Veronica knows it. If we do anything to her …” She let her voice trail off meaningfully.

  Stevie nodded. She realized that her friends were right. There was no way she could risk losing her riding privileges, especially now. She would just have to wait until Max cooled off to get her revenge for “best dressed boy.”

  “Okay,” she said. “I guess all we can do is try to keep Tessa and Veronica out of each other’s way.”

  Carole and Lisa nodded, both looking relieved. “Right,” they said in a single voice.

  LATER THAT EVENING, the three friends hurried into the waiting room at the airport.

  “Is her plane here yet?” Stevie asked breathlessly.

  Lisa glanced up at the arrivals board, quickly scanning the listings. “There,” she said. “Flight One-oh-one from London—due in at 7:45.” She checked her watch. “We have ten minutes before the plane lands, and then she has to go through customs.”

  Carole collapsed onto one of the hard plastic chairs nearby. “I hope your dad doesn’t mind waiting in the car for that long.”

  “He brought the newspaper, remember? Anyway, I think he really needs the peace and quiet,” Lisa said. “Mom was so busy chattering at him about the point-to-point this morning that he didn’t have a chance to read it over breakfast like he usually does.”

  Carole and Stevie laughed. Mr. Atwood had offered to wait in the car in the airport’s pickup zone while The Saddle Club went inside to meet Tessa. He had claimed it was so that he wouldn’t have to find a parking space. But all three girls suspected that he just wanted some time to himself. For the past few weeks, Mrs. Atwood had been so busy with the point-to-point that the Atwoods’ normally quiet, sedate household had been a whirlwind of activity.