Pony Tails 03- Corey's Pony Is Missing

by Bonnie Bryant

  “I think Sam missed you, Corey,” Jasmine said. “When you left for your father’s, he watched your every step until you went into the house.”

  Corey closed her eyes. She could see Sam watching her. She could feel how lonely he was. And if he had been lonely in the stable without her, he must be much lonelier lost in the woods.

  Then she felt bad all over again. She cried harder.

  Corey’s friends led her into Mrs. Reg’s office to a box of tissues. Corey used the tissues, but she also wanted to use the phone.

  “I can’t stay here anymore. I have to go to my mom’s and see for myself,” she told her friends.

  She called her father and told him what had happened. He said he was on his way. While May and Jasmine untacked Penny, Corey stood in the driveway at Pine Hollow, terrible thoughts filling her mind.

  Corey and her father walked past the house and into Samurai’s stable.

  It was completely quiet inside. There was no sound of nickering or snorting and no gentle stomping or quiet munching. In the empty yard, the only motion was the soft shifting of the grass in the breeze.

  No gates were unlocked. No rails were knocked down on the fence. The only thing amiss was that Samurai was gone.

  Corey had thought it would make her feel better to see the stable for herself. She was wrong. The empty stall only made her sadder.

  “Oh, Daddy!” she said. “I can’t believe he’s gone!”

  Her father picked her up and hugged her hard. “We’ll find him, Corey. I promise. Mr. Grover will call us as soon as he has any news. In the meantime, staying here will just make you sadder. Let’s go.”

  Corey buried her face in her father’s shoulder.

  “I found some new wallpaper for your room,” he whispered softly. “It’s got ponies on it. Would you like to help me put it up?”

  Corey knew that her father was trying to make her feel better. Both of them knew it wouldn’t work, though. There was only one thing that would make her feel better, and he was far, far away.

  But she said okay and took her father’s hand after he set her back down on the ground. Then they went back to his apartment.

  7 May and Jasmine Get to Work

  When Jasmine entered the Grovers’ stable, May was cleaning Macaroni’s stall. Mr. Grover was across the aisle, grooming Rascal.

  “Did you see anything?” Jasmine asked Mr. Grover.

  He shook his head sadly. “Not a thing,” he said. “I looked in all the nearby fields. I followed all the main trails in the woods. I must have crossed the creek eight times. There was no sign of him on the hill or at the quarry. He’s got to be out there somewhere, but I don’t know where.”

  “Did you go by the rocky trail?” May asked.

  “No, I didn’t try that one,” Mr. Grover said. “But I took the trail that runs right above it. I’m sure I would have seen or heard him if he’d been near the rocky trail.”

  “Were you calling for him?” Jasmine asked.

  “Sure. I called his name, and a couple of times I watched for some sign from Rascal that there was another horse around. The woods were as quiet as can be. He wasn’t there.” Mr. Grover shrugged.

  “But maybe you’ll find him tomorrow,” said May.

  “I don’t think there’s any point in looking any more. I’m convinced he’s going to come home on his own,” said Mr. Grover. He gave Rascal’s coat a final brush and then dropped the brush in his grooming bucket. “There’s nothing to do now but wait,” he said. “Trust me, girls. It’s the best thing to do, even if it’s tough.”

  “Dad!” May protested. “Are you just giving up?”

  “No, not at all,” Mr. Grover said. “Horses are hard to read sometimes. That’s been true of Sam ever since he moved into the neighborhood. I have a feeling that Sam is still getting used to his new home. Maybe he needs to be by himself right now. When he needs to be back home, he’ll come back home.”

  “Do you really think so, Mr. Grover?” Jasmine asked.

  “I really think so,” Mr. Grover told her. He clicked the lock on Rascal’s stall and stepped into the corridor.

  As a trainer, Mr. Grover knew a lot about horses. May wanted to believe what he was saying—that Sam would return when he was ready—but it was hard to just sit around.

  “Dad,” May began, “if you’re not going to go looking for him again tomorrow, is it okay if Jasmine and I go out on our ponies? We should go on the rocky trail—and the little one by the blueberry patch. You didn’t go there. We should do it.”

  “But you don’t know that part of the forest,” he said.

  “We know most of the trails,” Jasmine said.

  “No,” he told them. “It’s not a good idea at all. It’s not safe for the two of you to wander there by yourselves.”

  “Come with us, then,” May pleaded.

  “I can’t, May. Tomorrow’s a busy day. I suppose we could try on Monday.” He thought for a moment and then nodded. “I’ll meet you girls here after school on Monday,” he promised.

  Both girls watched him go back to the house. May looked at Jasmine. Jasmine looked at May. Waiting until Monday to look for Samurai felt like waiting forever.

  “Come on, let’s talk,” May said. She closed the door on Macaroni’s freshly cleaned stall and latched it securely. The two girls climbed the ladder that led to the hayloft in the Grovers’ stable. It was the Pony Tails’ favorite meeting place.

  May sat on one bale of hay. Jasmine sat on another.

  “We have to do something,” said May.

  “We already have,” Jasmine reminded her. “If it weren’t for us, Samurai would still be in his stall!”

  “No way, Jasmine,” said May. “It wasn’t our fault. Corey leaves that door open, too. She told us that she probably would have let him out, just like we did.”

  “Maybe we did something else that Sam didn’t like,” said Jasmine.

  “Oh, yeah, right, like exercising him, grooming him, and giving him carrots?” May shook her head. “We cheered him up and got him some exercise. That’s all we did.”

  Jasmine had to admit that May had a point. They hadn’t done anything wrong. “But we still have to do something to get him back,” she said.

  “That’s what I said,” replied May.

  The two girls sat in the loft, thinking. May had her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. She tapped her cheek with her right index finger. It didn’t help her think.

  Jasmine scrunched her lips together, making an awful face. It didn’t help her think, either. They were both quiet for a while.

  “We have to let people know Sam’s missing. Just because we haven’t seen him doesn’t mean somebody else hasn’t,” said May.

  “Maybe we should go knock on doors in the neighborhood,” Jasmine suggested.

  “Maybe—but if he were in the neighborhood, Dad would have found him this morning,” May replied.

  They thought some more.

  “Maybe we should put an ad in the paper,” Jasmine suggested.

  “Great idea—but it doesn’t come out until Thursday,” said May.

  “I’ve got it!” May announced. “It’s a brainstorm!”

  Jasmine sat up expectantly. “What?” she asked.

  “We can hire a helicopter to go over the woods and look for Samurai. You can see practically everything from a helicopter!”

  Jasmine sighed. Sometimes May’s brainstorms were more storm than brain. This seemed like one of those times.

  “Like we could really hire a helicopter,” Jasmine said.

  “A balloon?” May suggested. Jasmine shook her head. “A blimp?”

  “May!” Jasmine cried.

  May put her chin back in her hands. “Someone’s got to see him sooner or later,” she said, “and that someone needs to know we’re looking for him. How about we have the governor declare a state of emergency?” May wasn’t exactly certain what a state of emergency was, but it sounded as if it would help Samurai.
/>   “I don’t think this is an emergency—”

  “You would if it were your pony,” May interrupted.

  “Well, I don’t think the governor will think it’s a state of emergency,” Jasmine replied.

  “You’re probably right,” May said glumly. “He doesn’t have his own pony. He probably wouldn’t care at all.” She put her chin back in her hands.

  They thought some more.

  “Maybe we should—” Jasmine began.

  “—put up signs!” May and Jasmine finished the sentence together.

  “Jake!” they said. Then they gave each other a high five and a low five. That was what they always did when they said exactly the same thing at exactly the same time. They were such good friends that it often seemed as if they could read each other’s mind.

  “Let’s use Mom’s computer,” May said, sliding down off her bale of hay. “That way we can make a hundred signs really fast.”

  A few minutes later, the two girls were at the keyboard of Mrs. Grover’s computer.

  “Write it big,” said Jasmine.

  May made the words as big as they could be and still fit on a piece of paper.

  Corey’s Pony Is Missing!

  Beautiful Bay Pony with

  Sword-Shaped Blaze

  Missing since Saturday

  Morning

  Call Corey at 555-5835 REWARD!!!!!

  “Reward?” asked Jasmine, reading the words on the computer screen.

  “Sure,” said May. “That’ll encourage people to look for him, not just wait for him to show up.”

  “But how are we going to pay a reward?” Jasmine asked, shaking her head. The last thing they needed right now was one of May’s crazy ideas.

  May stared at her friend for a second. She didn’t want to admit it, but Jasmine had a good question. May had only $1.87. That wasn’t much of a reward. “Maybe a reward doesn’t have to be money,” she said finally.

  “Then what will it be?” asked Jasmine.

  “A very nice thank-you. The person who finds Sam will be rewarded by knowing they’ve done the right thing,” said May.

  “May!” Jasmine exclaimed. “That’s not enough.”

  “Maybe you’re right,” admitted May. “But I bet that the Takamuras would be willing to give a reward.”

  “Probably,” Jasmine said, relenting. They left the poster the way May had typed it.

  They printed 100 copies of the sign, borrowed tape from Mrs. Grover’s desk, and headed out on their bicycles.

  They stopped at the first telephone pole they came to. May held the poster, and Jasmine taped it. They did the same at the next telephone pole, and every one after that. When they got into the shopping center near town, they asked the store owners if they could put them in the windows. Most of them said yes. A few said no.

  “I’m never shopping there!” May declared, pointing to the store that had just refused her. “I’ll just take my business elsewhere!”

  “I should hope so,” Jasmine said, giggling. “That was a liquor store!”

  May’s eyes opened wide. She’d been concentrating so hard on what she was asking, she hadn’t even noticed where she was asking. “Whoops,” she said. “Well, when I grow up—if I ever get to be that old—I’m still taking my business elsewhere!”

  “Let’s try the newspaper store next,” said Jasmine. A few minutes later, there was a sign in the newsstand’s window. There was also one in the drugstore, the jewelry store, the shoe store, the music store, and the crafts shop. The coffee shop put one on the bulletin board. The ice cream shop, named Tastee Delight and always called TD’s for short, put one on the door.

  “Want to take a break?” Jasmine asked May. “My treat,” she added, remembering May had only $1.87.

  That sounded like a really good idea. They parked their bikes outside TD’s and went in for a treat. They sat at the counter. Jasmine ordered a dish of vanilla ice cream with sprinkles. May wanted a root beer float. She put the remaining posters on the counter beside her. There were only a few left. They’d done a lot of work in a short time. Worrying about Samurai’s being alone someplace had made Jasmine and May move fast.

  “Do you suppose he’s hungry?” May asked.

  Jasmine didn’t have to ask who “he” was. She knew May was talking about Samurai.

  “I bet he’s found some sweet grass to munch on,” said Jasmine.

  “Maybe you’re right, but I hope he hasn’t hurt himself,” said May. “What if he fell or tripped on something?”

  “Why do you always have to think of awful things? Maybe somebody’s already taking care of him,” said Jasmine. “Anyone who found him would be sure to love him and look after him.”

  “If they found him,” said May. “He could be deep in the woods where hardly anyone goes.”

  “We go there,” Jasmine said. “We ride all over some parts of the woods all the time. If he’s there we would find him.”

  “But we’re here,” said May. “We’re not out there looking for him when awful things could be happening to him.”

  “But what we’re doing here is important,” said Jasmine. “And besides, do you think our parents would let us ride in that part of the woods together—just the two of us?”

  Jasmine had a point. Their parents usually didn’t like it when only two of them were riding in the woods, especially on the rocky trail. A bigger group was a safer group. And Mr. Grover had specifically said they couldn’t go. Jasmine’s parents would say exactly the same thing.

  The waitress brought their orders. She saw the posters on the counter.

  “A lost pony?” she asked. “I hope you get him back before anything happens to him.”

  May and Jasmine exchanged looks. The waitress had said exactly what was on both of their minds. Placing blame or worrying wasn’t important. Finding Samurai was.

  “We have to go look ourselves,” said May. “No matter what Dad said.”

  Jasmine nodded. “I know. But it’s too late to go today. Look, it’s dark out already.”

  “First thing in the morning,” May vowed. “We’ll leave before the sun is up. Maybe they’ll never even notice!”

  8 Hunting for Samurai

  Jasmine was up and out of bed before the sun came up on Sunday morning. She was dressed in her riding clothes and downstairs five minutes after that. She almost made it out of the house without her mother’s knowing it. But when she realized she had forgotten her hard hat, she had to go back upstairs. Her mother heard the thunk of her boots on the stairs.

  “Where are you going at this hour?” Mrs. James asked, opening the door to her bedroom.

  Jasmine gulped. “May and I are riding out on the rocky trail to look for Samurai.”

  “Alone?” Mrs. James asked.

  “With each other,” Jasmine said. She hoped that sounded like a lot of people.

  “Jasmine, the rocky trail can be dangerous. You can’t go riding there with just May,” said Mrs. James.

  “You’ve let us go on picnics in the woods,” Jasmine reminded her.

  “I knew exactly where you were going then and it was the middle of summer, not this cool weather,” her mother said.

  “Mom, this is an emergency!” Jasmine said. “Our best friend’s pony is missing, and it’s partly our fault. We just have to do something.”

  Mrs. James looked at Jasmine. Her frown softened. “Promise me you’ll be careful,” her mother said.

  “We always are,” Jasmine told her.

  “Good luck,” said her mother. Jasmine gave her a hug. That was to thank her for understanding how important it was to go looking for Samurai.

  It took her only a few minutes to tack up Outlaw and lead him over to May’s stable. Jasmine greeted Rascal, Dobbin, Hank, and Double-O-Seven. The horses peered curiously over the doors of their stalls in the dim light of the dawn.

  “We’ve got to find Samurai,” she explained to them. “That’s why I’m here so early.”

  Jasmine’s word
s seemed to satisfy their curiosity. They pulled their heads back into their own stalls. Jasmine could hear the idle munch of hay behind her as she proceeded to Macaroni’s stall.

  May’s pony greeted her with a curious look. He whinnied a friendly hello at Outlaw. Outlaw whinnied back. Jasmine was about to explain their mission to Macaroni when May dashed into the stable. She had run all the way from her house. She was carrying a backpack, and she had a granola bar in her hand.

  “Mom caught me sneaking out of the house. I was afraid she’d stop me. But all she said was I had to have breakfast.” May pointed to the granola bar. “She also said I had to take snacks and drinks for you and me. That’s what’s in the backpack. I guess she understands.”

  “My mom, too,” said Jasmine. “Only she didn’t give me a granola bar—just a warning to be careful.”

  “Here, help yourself,” May said. She opened the backpack to reveal a dozen granola bars and four juice boxes.

  Jasmine took a bar and ate it while May tacked up Macaroni. “We could survive for weeks on all this food.” Jasmine smiled.

  May shrugged. “It could take us a while to find Sam.”

  Jasmine nodded. She didn’t want to think about it, but May was right. Who knew how far Corey’s pony had strayed?

  The girls checked each other’s tack to be sure everything was in order. Outlaw’s girth needed to be tightened a notch. May helped Jasmine do it. May had gotten Macaroni’s reins tangled. Jasmine helped her straighten them out. Then they were ready to leave.

  Behind the schooling ring at May’s house was a large field that belonged to the Grovers. On the other side of the field were woods that belonged to the state. The woods were filled with trails for horses, hikers, and cyclists. On the other side of the forest were more fields and Pine Hollow Stables.

  “It’s possible that Samurai went out and found a horse or a cow in a field to be his friend,” said Jasmine. “Maybe we should circle around the woods and look at the fields.”