Max looked surprised. “Well, yes,” he said. “I suppose it would be. But I just don’t have time to pull something like that together today. I’m sorry.”
“We could all help,” Carole spoke up. “You wouldn’t have to do a thing.”
“Definitely!” called out Adam Levine. “It sounds like a blast! I’ll help!”
Stevie grinned. All around her, people were chattering excitedly about the idea. Even the horses were shifting their feet as they picked up on the humans’ excitement.
Max frowned and scanned his students. Stevie crossed her fingers. He had to say yes. He had to!
Suddenly a new voice rang out. “I think it’s a stupid idea,” Veronica said loudly. She gave Tessa and the rest of The Saddle Club a dismissive glance. “Who cares what some dumb British soldiers did a million years ago? Riding around the countryside at night isn’t my idea of a good time.” She shrugged. “Besides, it sounds dangerous.” She turned and smiled sweetly at Max. “Aren’t you always telling us not to ride fast after dark?”
Lisa jumped in before Max could answer. “It wouldn’t actually take place at midnight,” she pointed out sensibly. “We’re talking about right after dinner. And it doesn’t get dark this time of year until late.”
“That’s true,” put in Polly Giacomin, patting her horse. “And Romeo and I could really use some practice. I didn’t own him when we held that fox hunt.” She glanced at her friend Britt, who was beside her. “And Britt wasn’t even riding at Pine Hollow then.”
“Neither was I,” called out Andrea Barry. “I think a midnight steeplechase could be fun.”
“Well,” Max said at last, sounding a little grumpy. “It sounds like you’ve all made up your minds. What else can I do but go along?” He waited a moment for the cheers to die down. “But you’re going to have to do all the work,” he warned. “It won’t be easy to pull this together in one day. Maybe we should hold it next week.”
“No, we can do it!” Stevie called out. “I personally volunteer to check with all the property owners around Pine Hollow to get permission to ride over their land tonight. I’ll also—um—take care of gathering the—uh—stuff well need for the ride.”
Max looked confused. But Carole didn’t give him a chance to ask any questions. “I’ll organize a group to come up with a course,” she offered. “Lisa can print out maps on her family’s computer.”
Several other students quickly volunteered for other tasks. Max shrugged. “Okay, okay,” he said, throwing up his hands with a wry smile. “Tonight it is, then. You can get started on your planning right after Horse Wise. Now let’s get this meeting started before it’s time to end it!”
“HI, TESSA,” ANNA McWhirter said, coming over to The Saddle Club as they cleaned their tack after the meeting. “I just wanted to say, that was a great idea you had about the midnight steeplechase. I think it will be fun.”
“Thanks,” Tessa said, returning the other girl’s smile.
As Anna wandered off to hang up her horse’s bridle, Lisa leaned over to Tessa. “I guess at least one person decided you weren’t too snooty after all,” she whispered. She didn’t want the other students in the tack room to overhear. There were at least half a dozen riders there busily taking care of their tack. So far several of them had smiled tentatively at Tessa and one or two had actually said hello. Luckily, Veronica’s prank seemed to be wearing off.
Tessa beamed. “I know,” she whispered back. “I hope it’s catching!”
Stevie hadn’t heard them. She was thinking about something else. “I told Max after class about the costume part of the story,” she said. She shook her head. “I can’t believe I almost blurted it out in front of—”
“Shhh!” Carole hissed, gesturing toward the door with her head.
The girls all turned to look. Veronica had just come in, carrying Danny’s sweaty saddle and bridle. She dropped the tack on a nearby rack, then surveyed the room with her hands on her hips.
“I can’t believe you were all so excited about that silly dinnertime steeplechase idea,” she said loudly. She let out a derisive snort. “Let me tell you, I for one have better things to do on a Saturday night.”
Stevie frowned. She hadn’t anticipated this. Their midnight steeplechase wouldn’t exactly be an official Horse Wise function, so they couldn’t count on Max making participation mandatory. What if Veronica just refused to ride?
“What’s the matter, Veronica?” she said quickly. “Are you scared of losing?”
Veronica rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. I’m in no hurry to beat you, Stevie.” She smiled coolly. “I can wait until the point-to-point for that. It will be more fun to do it with half the town watching.” She smirked and stared at Tessa. “It’s just too bad I won’t have the chance to beat your little friend, too, since she’s stuck being a judge. Really too bad.”
“Oh, really?” Tessa said calmly, standing up. “Well, here’s your chance, Veronica. If you ride tonight, we can see who’s the better rider once and for all—you or me.”
By then, all other conversation in the tack room had ceased. Every student in the place was watching Veronica and Tessa.
Veronica laughed. “I don’t need to ride tonight to know that,” she replied haughtily.
Tessa glanced at her friends. Then she turned back to face Veronica. “All right, then why don’t we make things a bit more interesting … with a friendly wager?” she suggested.
Veronica looked around and realized for the first time that she had a sizable audience. “What do you have in mind?” She sounded cautious.
“Well, let’s see.” Tessa paused to think. “If you finish ahead of me, I’ll, um …” She turned desperately to her friends for help.
Stevie jumped right in. “If you beat Tessa”—she pointed to Veronica—“Tessa will dress up as a rodeo clown and perform in the Willow Creek Fourth of July parade next Sunday afternoon.” She smiled. “And if Tessa beats you, you have to do the same thing.”
Veronica hesitated. Carole could almost see her turning the challenge over in her mind, wavering between her malicious desire to make Tessa look like a fool and her equal desire not to take any chances on looking like a fool herself.
“Come on, Veronica,” Joe Novick spoke up suddenly, breaking the silence. “What are you, chicken?”
“Chicken!” Adam Levine sang out. He tucked his hands under his armpits and flapped his elbows up and down. “Buck, buck! Chicken!” Joe joined in, and soon both boys were dancing around the tack room acting like poultry.
Veronica shot them a look of pure hatred. “Shut up,” she snapped. “I’m no chicken.” She walked over to Tessa and put out her hand. “It’s a bet!”
“IS EVERYTHING READY to go?” Carole asked Stevie that evening.
“Everything except the most important thing,” Stevie replied grimly. “Veronica hasn’t shown up yet.”
Carole finished tightening Starlight’s girth. “Uh-oh.” She glanced at her watch. “Do you think she decided not to come after all?”
“I sure hope not.” Stevie shook her head in dismay. “Everything else is just perfect. Lisa has the special map all ready. And of course, the pajamas I collected are fantastic.” She grinned. “Even if Veronica got first pick, she’d still be totally humiliated. There’s not a designer original in the box.”
Carole laughed. “Well, let’s just keep our fingers crossed and hope she turns up,” she said. “Did you make that call?”
“It’s all taken care of,” Stevie assured her.
“Good.” Carole led Starlight out of his stall. “I’ll see you out there.”
Stevie nodded and hurried into Belle’s stall next door. The lively mare was already saddled and ready. Stevie had left her tied in the stall for a few minutes while she had gone to see whether Veronica had arrived.
“Are you ready for this, girl?” Stevie asked her horse.
Belle snorted in reply. Stevie took that as a yes.
Stevie led Belle outside
. The sun was still up, but a cool breeze was snaking its way through the crowd already gathered in front of the stable building. Most of Horse Wise was there with their horses. Max was standing by to supervise. A large cardboard box was right next to him, filled to the brim with nightclothes. Stevie had been in charge of gathering them, which meant that there wasn’t an ordinary set of flannel pajamas in sight.
Betsy Cavanaugh leaned over the box and squealed as she pulled a silky polka-dotted nightgown out of the box. “Do we actually have to wear this stuff?” she cried with a giggle.
“That’s how this works,” Max replied, looking amused. “Or so they tell me.” He winked at Tessa, who was standing nearby at Topside’s head. Then he went over to help Simon Atherton, who had just emerged with Patch in tow. Patch’s girth was far too loose, and his saddle was already slipping to the side.
Stevie left Belle tied near the door. Tessa did the same with Topside. Both girls headed for the box. Stevie grinned as more and more riders joined them there, arguing over the best costumes. A few of the riders who hadn’t known that the costumes were part of the midnight ride were a little confused at first. But those who had been present when Tessa first told the story soon filled them in. Before long everyone was busy pulling on wacky nightclothes over their jeans and T-shirts. Joe Novick paraded around in a pink-and-green flowered housecoat. Polly and Britt found matching striped nightcaps and a couple of pea green gowns. Betsy pulled on the polka-dotted nightie.
Stevie grabbed a pig-print nightshirt for herself. “Rats,” she commented to Tessa, who was digging through the costumes. “I can’t believe Joe picked that hideous housecoat. I was hoping Veronica would have to wear that.”
“Don’t worry.” Tessa stretched to reach the bottom of the box. “There are plenty of disgusting options left in here.” She pulled out a gauzy purple gown with green lace trim and grinned. “But Veronica can’t have this. This is mine!”
Lisa and Carole joined their friends at the box. “Where’s Veronica?” Lisa asked worriedly, scrabbling through the costumes for something to wear.
“That’s exactly what I was wondering,” Stevie said.
Tessa looked up from tying a pale orange bed jacket over her purple gown, obviously surprised at Stevie’s comment. “Oh, I thought she was here already,” she said. “I haven’t seen her myself, but when I walked past Danny’s stall ten minutes ago, he was all tacked up already.”
Stevie, Carole, and Lisa stared at each other. “Red!” they exclaimed in one voice. Then they quickly explained to Tessa what they meant. Veronica nearly always made Red tack up Danny for her. She had even been known to call ahead so that her horse would be ready and waiting when she strolled in. That seemed to be the case today.
“At least that means she’s planning to come,” Carole said hopefully. She grabbed a bright yellow baby-doll gown with frog-shaped buttons and yanked it over her head.
Stevie nodded. “Actually, it’s perfect,” she declared. “The less time she has before we start, the less time she has to complain about—”
“What’s going on here?” Veronica’s shriek cut her off.
The Saddle Club turned to see Veronica striding up the driveway. Her parents’ car was just pulling away. Veronica was staring in disbelief at the strangely dressed people around her.
Lisa straightened the frilly white nightcap she’d just jammed onto her own head. “What do you mean, Veronica?” she asked innocently.
Veronica glared. Then she flounced over to Max. “I didn’t know this was some kind of pathetic costume parade,” she announced. “So I’m afraid I left my hideous outfit at home.”
“Don’t worry, Veronica,” Max replied. He gestured at the box. “We have enough costumes for everyone. You’d better hurry, though—everyone’s picked theirs out already. You may be left with the dregs.”
“What’s the difference?” Veronica stared as Joe danced past her pretending to be a ballerina while Betsy and Meg giggled wildly. “Anyway, you’ve got to be kidding. There’s no way I’m wearing a costume.”
Max shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s your choice,” he told her. “But rules are rules. If you don’t dress up, you don’t ride.” He turned away to help one of the younger riders.
Veronica stormed over to The Saddle Club. “You people must think you’re awfully funny, don’t you?” she snapped. “Well, how’s this for a joke? I’m leaving.”
“But, Veronica!” Tessa spoke up quickly. “If you don’t ride, you forfeit. And you know what that means.” She swung an imaginary lasso above her head. “Yeee-ha!”
Veronica rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right,” she muttered. “I’m out of here.”
Stevie gulped. She hadn’t considered this possibility. When The Saddle Club had talked it over a couple of hours earlier, they had thought the plan was practically foolproof from then on. Veronica couldn’t back out when she found out about the costumes or she would lose the bet. But they had failed to take Veronica’s treacherous personality into account. Now it was obvious what would happen—Veronica would just refuse to make good on her end of the deal.
“Uh-oh,” she muttered.
“Wait,” Lisa whispered. “Tessa predicted this might happen. We came up with a plan on our way over here after dinner. Just play along.”
Meanwhile, Veronica had turned to go. But Tessa grabbed her shoulder before she could take a step. “Wait,” she ordered.
Veronica shook off her hand and turned back, looking annoyed. “Let go of me,” she snapped.
“I think you’ll want to hear what I have to say,” Tessa said, pushing up the sleeves of her purple gown. “What do you say we up the odds on our little wager?”
Veronica shrugged, not looking very interested. “I doubt you can come up with anything that will make this”—she gestured at the pajama-clad crowd around her—“worth my while.”
“How about this?” Tessa said belligerently. She put her hands on her hips. “If I beat you, your punishment stands. But if you somehow manage to beat me, I’ll dress up in whatever costume you want and perform in the town parade—and at the fireworks afterward.” She jerked a thumb at the rest of The Saddle Club. “And so will my friends.”
Carole let out a loud gasp. “Are you crazy?” she hissed at Tessa in a stage whisper.
Lisa was backing away. “I don’t know about that …”
Stevie felt like grinning. Tessa was brilliant! “Hold on a second, Tessa,” she said seriously, playing along. “Maybe we should talk about this first.”
Veronica couldn’t resist. “It’s a deal!” she said quickly. She gave a wicked smile. “Wearing a silly nightgown will all be worth it—when I see the four of you making total fools of yourselves in front of the entire town!” She hurried over to the almost empty box. “Okay, what do we have here?”
She bent over and pulled something out. Stevie would have laughed out loud when she saw it if she hadn’t still been pretending to be upset with Tessa. Veronica was holding the top half of Michael’s fuzzy pink pajamas!
Veronica held the bunny-print nightshirt gingerly between her thumb and forefinger and wrinkled her nose in distaste. “You’ve got to be kidding,” she muttered. She reached into the box again, but all she came up with was a nightcap shaped like a big, fuzzy sheep, complete with aqua blue googly eyes and a protruding pink felt tongue.
“Almost ready, Veronica?” Max asked briskly, hurrying over.
“Not quite,” Veronica said. “I can’t wear this stuff. If you give me fifteen minutes, I’ll call the maid and have her send over one of my decent nightgowns—”
“Forget it,” Max cut her off. “We’re running late already, and we want to be finished before dark. Put that stuff on and go get Danny. Now!”
For a second Veronica seemed ready to argue. But when Max glared at her, she gave in. “Oh, all right,” she muttered, shrugging the too-small faded pink nightshirt on over her short-sleeved red blouse.
“Hold on to that ca
p,” Max insisted as Veronica started to toss the sheep-shaped nightcap back into the box. “I’m sure it will fit over your riding hard hat. And everyone has to wear at least two items. Rules.”
Veronica shot him a look of pure disbelief. But Max’s expression was serious. Even Veronica knew better than to argue with him when he looked like that. She glanced around again at her fellow riders and finally seemed convinced that everyone else’s outfits were just as ridiculous as hers, even taking the sheep hat into consideration. “Fine,” she said in exasperation, tucking the woolly cap under her arm.
She headed toward the stable door. On her way, she paused beside The Saddle Club. “Don’t worry,” she whispered to them. “I may look ridiculous now. But not half as ridiculous as you’re all going to look next weekend at that parade!”
“EVERYBODY READY?” Max called.
The riders in the midnight steeplechase were forming a jagged line on the far side of the outdoor ring, facing the broad, open fields behind Pine Hollow.
Veronica had just mounted. “Hold it,” she complained. “Nobody even told me where we’re supposed to end up.”
Lisa rode over to her and held out a folded piece of paper. “Here’s a copy of the map,” she said brightly. “We’re doing this as an old-fashioned point-to-point, so you have to choose your own route. The first one who gets to the spot marked on the map with an X is the winner.”
Max glanced at his watch. “Veronica, you have exactly thirty seconds to look over the map,” he announced. “Then we’re starting this race. Meanwhile, I just want to remind everyone of a few ground rules. You all know which property owners allow us on their land and which don’t. And by the way, I should add that Mrs. Pennington has graciously agreed that we can ride on her property whenever we like, as long as we follow the usual courtesies about leaving gates the way we found them and so forth.” He took a breath. “Also, please remember—even though this is a race, that’s no excuse for risky riding. Don’t go faster than you and your horse are comfortable with. If you don’t think you can handle an obstacle, stop and go around it. And don’t crowd your fellow riders.” He glanced at his watch again. “Got it? Okay, with that said—have fun! Red is already waiting at the finish line. I’ll see you there!”
English Horse Page 11
