Pony Tails 03- Corey's Pony Is Missing

by Bonnie Bryant

  Corey’s Pony Is Missing

  Pony Tails, Book Three

  Bonnie Bryant

  1 Time to Go

  “Where are my riding boots?” Corey Takamura called to her mother.

  “In your closet,” Dr. Takamura answered. “Or at least that’s where they ought to be.”

  Corey put down her riding pants and went to look in her closet. She moved a small pile of dirty clothes. There were her boots. She sighed and pulled out the laundry. She carried the clothes to the hamper in her bathroom. Then she took her boots and put them in her suitcase. She was almost ready, but she was sure she’d forgotten one more thing.

  Usually Corey was very sensible and logical and could have found her boots without help from her mother. Today was different. Today she was packing to go to her father’s for the weekend.

  Corey’s parents had been divorced for only a short while. She spent half her time with her mother, a veterinarian whose nickname was Doc Tock.

  Corey’s father lived in an apartment closer to town. He was a teacher at the high school next to Corey’s elementary school.

  Corey and her parents were still deciding which days she would spend with which parent. Sometimes, like when her mother was busy with moving arrangements, Corey spent a whole week at a time with her father. Other times, like when her father went on a trip to Mexico with his Spanish class, she spent a whole week with her mother. Usually, though, she liked to spend weekends at her mother’s house. That way, she could be with her pony, Samurai, all day Saturday and Sunday. But this weekend she was going to her father’s. Her mother had to go to a veterinarians’ convention. She was going to give a speech.

  Corey was excited for her mother, but it was confusing for her. Since she would be with her father for the weekend, she’d be going to Horse Wise, her Pony Club meeting, from his apartment, and she needed her riding clothes.

  “My hat! That’s what I forgot!” she said out loud, though there was nobody there to hear her. Her mother was busy in her own room with her own packing.

  Corey found her riding hat in her closet. That went into her suitcase, too. She started to close the suitcase. Then she remembered something else—rubber bands. She was growing her hair and it was almost long enough for a ponytail. Just in case it grew enough over the weekend, she wanted to be sure to have the rubber bands. In a minute they were in her suitcase, too. She snapped it shut. There was one more thing she had to do. She had to say good-bye to Samurai.

  “Weekends are much more fun when Corey is here,” May Grover said to Jasmine James. May and Jasmine were Corey’s neighbors. They lived on either side of Corey’s house. Corey had only lived there a short while, but already the girls were best friends. They were very different, but they had some very important things in common.

  First, they were the same age, so they were all in third grade. They were in different classes, but they went to the same school. More important, they were each pony crazy, and each had her own pony. That was why they called themselves the Pony Tails. It was like a club for best friends who loved ponies.

  May always said exactly what was on her mind. Sometimes that got her into trouble. She could be stubborn, too. But she knew a lot about ponies. Her pony had a sweet yellow coat that matched his sweet disposition. May had named him Macaroni because he was the color of macaroni and cheese. May thought he was the sweetest pony in the whole world.

  Jasmine’s pony was named Outlaw. He could be frisky and naughty. Sometimes he nipped and bucked. Jasmine called him Outlaw because his whole face was white. It looked like the kerchief outlaws pulled up on their faces when they robbed a stagecoach. Sometimes she thought he was almost naughty enough to do something like that, too! Jasmine loved Outlaw more than anything—maybe because he was so different from her.

  Corey’s pony was named Samurai after the crescent-shaped blaze on his face. It looked like a samurai sword. Samurai was a young pony and less well trained than Outlaw and Macaroni. He was very smart, but he had a lot to learn. It had taken him a long time to adjust to his new home when Corey and her mother had moved. Now both he and Corey felt at home in their new place.

  “Come on, May,” Jasmine said. May was still upset about Corey’s going away for the weekend. “Corey goes to her father’s every week.” The two girls were in Outlaw’s stable, giving him some fresh hay.

  “But this time she’s going for the whole weekend,” May pointed out. “We were going to practice the riding exercises together after school tomorrow.”

  “It’s just for a few days,” Jasmine told her friend. “Corey will be back on Sunday. Maybe we’ll have time to practice then. Besides, we’ll see her at school tomorrow and at Pony Club on Saturday.”

  “I know,” said May. “Sometimes it just seems strange. I mean she’s our best friend, but we don’t know anything about her other life.”

  Jasmine nodded. It was true. The girls only saw Corey at her mother’s house or at school. They had never been to her father’s apartment. They didn’t even know where it was.

  “I bet it’s a nice apartment,” Jasmine said. She was trying to comfort her friend. “And Corey probably has a great bedroom. I can see it now. It’s got pink flowered wallpaper and matching curtains.”

  May knew Jasmine was describing her own dream bedroom.

  “Nah, plain colored walls so she can cover them with horse posters,” May said.

  This time Jasmine knew May was describing her own bedroom.

  “Maybe she even has a pink bedspread,” said Jasmine.

  May rolled her eyes. “Don’t you like anything besides pink, Jasmine? I hope Corey’s room is blue with a big bookshelf for all her horse books.”

  “And a big table for all her model horses,” said Jasmine.

  “Wait a minute! You’re the one with all the model horses,” May reminded her friend.

  “And you’re the one with all the books about horses,” Jasmine said.

  May laughed. “I guess we’re both thinking about what we’d like, not what Corey likes.”

  Jasmine smiled. “Let’s go see Samurai,” she said. “We both know for sure that she likes Samurai, right?”

  “Definitely.”

  May closed Outlaw’s stall, and Jasmine snapped the lock shut tight. They turned out the stable light and walked over to Corey’s house. The Pony Tails often visited each other’s ponies.

  Samurai was in his stable. So was Corey.

  “We thought you’d be gone,” May said.

  “Almost,” said Corey. “Dad’ll be here in a minute. I just wanted to say good-bye to Samurai first.”

  “We’re going to miss you,” May blurted out.

  “I wish I could be here to practice with you two on Sunday, but it’s impossible,” said Corey.

  “Is your dad’s apartment nice?” May asked.

  “Of course it is,” said Corey. “I have my own bedroom there. Dad’s been decorating it just for me.”

  It was another thing they didn’t know about Corey! May and Jasmine exchanged looks.

  “Where is your dad’s apartment?” Jasmine asked as she handed Corey some hay for Samurai.

  “It’s on Shelley Lane,” Corey said. “It’s across from the restaurant.”

  “The hamburger place?” May asked. She was trying to picture Shelley Lane in her mind.

  “No, they have pizza,” said Corey. “We usually go there at least once a week.” She tucked the hay into Samurai’s manger. He munched happily.

  “I didn’t think you liked pizza,” said Jasmine.

  “This is really good pizza,” said Corey.

  “Oh,” said May. She couldn’t picture Corey eating pizza. It made Corey’
s life at her father’s house seem even stranger.

  May patted Samurai. He barely noticed because he was so content to chew on the hay. May barely noticed she was patting him either. She was too busy thinking about Corey at her father’s house.

  “We’re going to miss you when we go riding over the weekend,” said Jasmine, changing the subject.

  “We’ll feed Samurai. We promise,” said May.

  “Thanks.” Corey smiled.

  “And we’ll bring him to Horse Wise on Saturday,” Jasmine added.

  “Definitely,” May said. “You have nothing to worry about.”

  “I never worry when my two best friends are looking after my pony,” said Corey.

  May closed the door to Samurai’s stall. Jasmine latched it tightly.

  “Corey!” Doc Tock called from the house.

  Corey didn’t want to leave, but she knew it was time. “Dad’s here,” she explained.

  “Have a good time,” Jasmine told her.

  “Bye,” said May. “See you tomorrow at school.”

  “See you,” Corey said.

  She was talking to her friends, but she was looking at Samurai. He looked up at her and blinked. He seemed surprised that she was leaving while May and Jasmine were still there.

  “Don’t worry, boy,” Jasmine told him. “She’ll be back before you know it.”

  Samurai stared at Corey as she walked out of the stable. When she passed through the entryway, he stuck his head out over his stable door and watched her until she disappeared into the house.

  “It’s okay, Sam,” Jasmine said softly. “You’ll see her again soon.”

  He snorted and stomped his feet.

  May patted Corey’s pony. “That’s right, boy,” she added. “You and Corey will be riding together again before you know it.”

  2 Corey’s Other Home

  Corey dashed through the house. She gave her mother a hug. Then she picked up her suitcase.

  “Good luck with your speech,” Corey said.

  “Thanks,” Dr. Takamura said. “I’ll bring you a present from New Orleans. Now, don’t forget, if you need anything from the house, Jack will be here in the daytime.” Jack was Doc Tock’s student assistant. He would look after the patients that were staying in Doc Tock’s infirmary while she was gone. He’d also feed Samurai in the mornings.

  Corey trusted Jack, though she didn’t know him very well. He never said much to people. But when it came to animals, he talked constantly. And no matter what he said, the animals seemed to understand him. Doc Tock said he’d make a fine veterinarian one day.

  “Okay, Mom,” Corey said. Then she took a deep breath and turned to the door. The hardest thing about having divorced parents was saying good-bye to one and hello to the other.

  Her father was waiting at the curb. Mr. Takamura was a short man with straight black hair. Some of his students at Willow Creek High School thought he was a strict man. Corey knew better. She thought her father was the gentlest, most understanding man in the world.

  Now he was standing next to his car with his arms out.

  “Hi, sugar!” he called.

  “Daddy!” Corey answered. She ran over to him and dropped her suitcase by the car before she jumped into his waiting arms.

  The hard part was over. She was with her father now.

  A few seconds later her suitcase was tucked into his trunk, and they drove away from the curb.

  “I didn’t get to go shopping,” her father explained. “Do you mind eating out at Pat’s?”

  “Not at all,” Corey said. “I love Pat’s pizza. In fact, it’s the only pizza I do like.” Then she told him that her friends had been surprised to hear that she ever ate pizza.

  Corey’s father thought that was funny. He’d seen Corey eat a lot of pizza at Pat’s pizza parlor since he’d moved into the apartment two months ago.

  When they got to Pat’s, they ordered a pepperoni pizza and two sodas.

  “Tell me about your friends,” Corey’s father said.

  Corey smiled. “That’s funny,” she said.

  “What is?” he asked.

  “They were just asking me about you and your apartment,” Corey replied. Corey’s father laughed. “It’s almost as if I lead two lives,” she went on. “They don’t know about you and you don’t know about them.”

  Mr. Takamura took a sip of his soda. “I guess it seems that way sometimes—that you have two lives, I mean. But it’s really one life with different compartments. When you stop to think about it, everybody has different compartments, don’t they? For instance, your teachers may not know about your pony.”

  “Sure they do. I talk about horses all the time at school,” Corey said.

  “All right, then something else,” Mr. Takamura said. “They don’t know what your home is like and you don’t know what their homes are like. Your riding instructor, what’s his name, the man who runs Pine Hollow Stables?”

  “Max Regnery,” Corey told him.

  “He doesn’t know anything about your school, does he?”

  “No, I guess not,” she answered.

  “So, see, everybody’s life has separate parts.”

  The pizza came. Corey took a slice and bit into it. As she chewed she thought about what her father had said.

  “I guess so,” she said a minute later. “But sometimes I wish I didn’t have so many separate parts.”

  “Corey—your mother and I …,” her father began. Corey knew what her father was going to say. She’d heard it dozens of times and she knew it was true. That didn’t mean she had to like it all the time.

  “I know, Dad,” she said. “You guys don’t get along, but you each love me.”

  “Very much,” Mr. Takamura added.

  “But that’s not what I was saying,” Corey replied. “Sometimes I just wish I could be with May and Jasmine when I’m with you.”

  “We can do that,” Mr. Takamura said. “Would you like to invite them over to our apartment on your next visit?”

  “Really?” Corey stared at her father.

  “Sure,” he told her. “It’s your home. You can have your friends in it.” He smiled. “Besides, I spent all of last weekend working on your bedroom. Wait till you see it. You’re going to love it.”

  “I know,” Corey said. And she meant it. She always loved home—both of her homes.

  3 Samurai Goes for a Ride

  “Meet you in our ring in ten minutes!” May said to Jasmine when they were getting off the school bus.

  “Make it five!” Jasmine answered.

  “Okay,” May yelled, racing across her family’s front lawn. It was Friday afternoon, the end of a long week of school and the beginning of a long weekend of pony riding. There wasn’t a minute to waste.

  May dropped her book bag on the floor of her room. She changed into her riding clothes and pulled on her boots. Her hard hat was in her closet. She kept it on a glob of papier-mâché that was originally supposed to be the head of an apatosaurus her second-grade class had made. It didn’t look at all like the head of an apatosaurus. It looked a lot more like a glob of papier-mâché, but it worked perfectly as a hat rack.

  May dashed downstairs. She couldn’t wait to see Macaroni, but she wasn’t in such a hurry that she forgot to pick up three carrots from the refrigerator.

  One carrot was for Macaroni. The next was for Outlaw, just in case Jasmine forgot. And the third was for Samurai. May and Jasmine were planning to visit him. They could take Macaroni and Outlaw along, too. May was sure Samurai would like to have the ponies’ company as well.

  May loved walking into the stable in her backyard. Every time she did it, all the horses stuck their heads over their stall doors to greet her.

  “Hello, Dobbin, Rascal, and Hank,” she said, patting each one as she passed the stalls. Dobbin was her mother’s horse. Her father rode Rascal, and Hank was the horse he used to ride. May’s father said that Hank was semiretired. There was a new horse in the stable now, too. He was
a big gray gelding named Double-O-Seven. He didn’t belong to the Grovers.

  May’s father trained horses for a living. His “students” sometimes stayed in the Grovers’ stable so that Mr. Grover could work with them every day. Double-O-Seven was a good student. Mr. Grover thought that one day he’d be a champion jumper. Double-O-Seven was also a friendly horse. He nodded cheerfully when he saw May. She waved to him on her way to Macaroni’s stall.

  Macaroni pranced in his stall when he saw May. He knew what was coming. It was time for a ride!

  “How are you?” May asked him.

  He answered her by sniffing curiously at her pocket.

  “You can smell a carrot from a mile away, can’t you?” she asked. He opened his big brown eyes wide.

  “You don’t get a carrot by flirting with me,” she told him. “You have to behave while I put your saddle on you.”

  Macaroni stood absolutely still while May put on his bridle and saddle. He even stood still while she tightened the girth on his saddle. That earned him his carrot.

  He was still munching noisily when she led him out into the schooling ring. She was about to climb into the saddle when Jasmine arrived, leading Outlaw. He was munching on a carrot, too.

  “I brought a carrot for Macaroni,” Jasmine said.

  “And I’ve got one for Outlaw!” May told her.

  Each girl gave the other’s pony a treat. Then it was time for the best fun of all.

  In just a few minutes, the girls were in their saddles and circling the ring together. They always walked their ponies first, to let them warm up. The ponies had to be properly warmed up before they trotted or cantered, or they might hurt their muscles. At the end of each ride, the girls had to walk them again, to let them cool down before they returned to their stalls.

  May could feel Macaroni’s stride becoming more comfortable as he walked around the ring. By the time he’d circled it three times, Macaroni was ready to go. So was Outlaw.

  “Let’s try those exercises Max told us about last week,” May said. Jasmine nodded.

  They began trotting in a pattern. First they circled the ring. Then they crossed through the center, changing directions. After that they made circles that got smaller and smaller and then changed directions and made circles that got larger and larger.