Bridle Path

by Bonnie Bryant

  The riders were pressed for time, trying to make as many high-valued jumps as possible in the first fifty seconds. Max had spent a lot of time teaching his riders how important form was in jumping, but in this event, form went out the window. The only thing that counted was getting over the jump, high and fast.

  In the jumping that Max taught them, it was important to keep the horse at a steady gait. Steadiness was much more important than speed. That was not the case here. Also, in the jumping they usually did, if the horse knocked the top of the fence, there would be penalty deductions. In this event, the only consequence of a “tick” was that the audience would oooooh and aaaaaah until they knew whether the bar would fall down or not. The audience seemed to like the suspense and clapped every time the bar was hit.

  The horses had a lot of trouble with the forty-point jump, and it wasn’t surprising, since it was the most valuable jump next to The Joker, and everybody wanted to try it. There was no penalty for a knockdown; it was just that no points accumulated and precious time was lost.

  Most of the riders concentrated on the twenty-five- and thirty-point jumps. Anything less than that wasn’t worth trying, except that there was a ten-pointer on the way to the thirty-point jump, and almost everybody went over it.

  Each time the buzzer announced the end of the first fifty seconds, there was a breathless silence in the arena. Would the rider try The Joker? It loomed far higher than any of the other jumps. It was over six feet tall. Because the riders didn’t stand a chance if they didn’t try it, most did. There were a few exceptions. One rider who was having trouble controlling his horse decided to pass on it. Since he’d accumulated only forty-five points in the first fifty seconds, there was no way he was in contention to win anyway.

  Another rider decided to play it very safe. Her horse had done extremely well on the regular jumps, and she’d accumulated enough points there that perhaps she thought she had a shot at a prize without gambling, so she passed on it.

  Among those who did try it, not many made it. By Carole’s count, it was just a little over half. But it was clear from just watching that those who did were the best of the best. Any rider who competed in this show was good. The ones who did well were excellent. It was a real treat for the girls, and they enjoyed every second of it.

  They particularly enjoyed the seventy-five seconds in which Nigel was riding the course.

  Dorothy sat forward in her seat, and Lisa could have sworn she didn’t breathe the entire time Nigel was riding. He chose a daring course for himself, attempting the hardest jumps and ignoring the easy ten-point fences.

  Nigel’s horse was as wonderful in motion as he had been standing still. But Stevie admired his grooming even more when the horse was cantering and jumping. The horse seemed to fly over the jumps, rising effortlessly in the air, almost hovering at the apex of the jump and then landing smoothly.

  “Oh,” Lisa said. It was so beautiful, it took her breath away.

  Then the buzzer sounded, and Nigel had to make up his mind about The Joker. He didn’t really have to make up his mind, Carole realized. His mind had been made up a long time ago. He was going to go for it.

  He circled his horse around, curving smoothly past the edge of the jump, too close, really, for the horse to get a good look and become frightened. And then, at the last minute, Nigel had the horse turn, and before the horse knew what was happening, they were headed straight for it.

  Nigel rose in his saddle, putting all his weight on his stirrups, yet keeping his legs perfectly still. He leaned forward, moved his hands forward, and signaled his horse that it was time.

  The horse didn’t have to be told twice. He rose as smoothly to jump this huge fence as he had to go over the little ones. His feet pawed ever so slightly at the air above the fence and then stretched forward, reaching for the ground, where he landed with a soft pfffft.

  Dorothy stood up and applauded for Nigel. So did Max and Mrs. Reg. Stevie and her friends joined them. Stevie even let out a polite “Yaaaaay.”

  Nigel had scored well. It was too early to see how the other riders would do, but he was certainly in contention for a ribbon and a cash prize. Dorothy thought that was great.

  There were two more riders, then, neither of whom did very well. One missed The Joker. The next didn’t even attempt it since her horse hadn’t been able to succeed even on the forty-point fence. Then came Camilla Wentworth on Elementary.

  The girls looked at the horse carefully and still could see no sign of anything wrong with him. His ears flicked alertly, and his eyes shot around the arena curiously. He pranced, rather than walked, into the arena while the public-address system introduced him and his rider.

  Camilla seemed a little perturbed. Elementary wasn’t being any more difficult than many of the other horses had been, but Carole and her friends knew from experience that a horse who wasn’t behaving the way that horse usually behaved could be trouble. Carole hoped that wasn’t the case here.

  Elementary took off like a shot when Camilla was ready to go over the first jump. He flew over that jump and the one that followed. But there was something wrong. Even if most of the audience didn’t know it, anyone who could see Camilla’s face knew it. Elementary was giving her trouble, a lot of it.

  Camilla wanted him to go over the forty-point jump, but he seemed bound and determined to go over the thirty. She had to flick him with her riding crop to get him to go where she wanted him to go. This was definitely bad news. It wasn’t that the riding crop hurt him. It was merely an aid to getting him to do what he was supposed to do. The problem was that he shouldn’t have needed it. In a competition situation, a seasoned horse should respond better.

  Figuring that going over the thirty-point jump was better than refusal from Elementary, Camilla allowed him to go over it and then tried to take him back over the forty-pointer. He was having none of it. She rode directly at the jump, rose in the saddle, and signaled him to jump. Instead, he stopped dead in his tracks.

  Oooooooh, the audience said.

  Camilla turned the horse around and retreated about fifteen feet, enough space to allow him to get to his takeoff speed, and tried again. This time, instead of just stopping, Elementary bucked and then reared. He yanked his head to one side.

  Camilla did everything she could to stay on the horse, and in the end she managed to do that, but the violent yanking of the horse’s head pulled very hard at her left arm. Her right hand kept holding the reins firmly, but the left one released them completely. To the dismay of the audience, Camilla’s left arm simply dropped limply to her side.

  Everyone in the arena stood up to see what was happening and to lend support to a rider in trouble. Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to change the fact that Camilla was hurt and couldn’t complete the course.

  While the audience applauded politely, Camilla rode Elementary out of the ring.

  “She was having a problem before with her horse,” Carole said to Dorothy. “She even asked Nigel to look at it. They couldn’t find anything wrong with him.”

  “Maybe he’s just in a bad mood,” Dorothy said. “That happens. Every horse has good days and bad days. This is clearly a bad one for Elementary.”

  “Is she going to be okay?” Stevie asked.

  “Oh, sure,” Dorothy said. “Looks like she dislocated her arm. She’ll be better soon. It hurts like crazy, especially when they get a couple of strong guys to hold you and put the joint back where it belongs, but she’ll be as good as new and back in the saddle in a couple of weeks or a …”

  Dorothy’s voice trailed off.

  “Oh, no! I’ve got to see Nigel!” she said. Without another word, she stood up and left the seats.

  The Pine Hollow riders looked at one another.

  “I guess that’s what it’s like when you’re engaged,” Stevie said philosophically. “When you’ve got to see the man you love, there’s just no stopping you.”

  The girls smiled. It did seem so romantic—if a little bit odd.


  A few minutes later, the public-address system announced that Camilla Wentworth had, in fact, dislocated her shoulder and been taken to the hospital, where she was expected to recover completely. That sounded like good news.

  When the last of the competitors had finished the course, it turned out that Nigel had taken third place. That meant that he’d won a nice prize that would no doubt help to pay for the couple’s honeymoon.

  The Saddle Club was disappointed that they didn’t get to see Nigel and Dorothy again, but it was late, there was a lot of work to do for tomorrow, and Max was ready to take them all back to Stevie’s.

  “You’ll see Dorothy and Nigel tomorrow,” Max reminded them.

  That also reminded them about their wonderful surprise for Max. It was going to be quite an April Fools’ Day!

  THREE VERY SLEEPY riders arrived at Pine Hollow the following morning at six-thirty. Stevie had kept the girls up until very late the night (morning!) before, and it had been quite a struggle to get out of bed in the morning. Lisa wasn’t sure she could remember having gone to bed at all. Carole could remember it. She remembered it so well that she wasn’t sure she’d actually ever gotten up!

  They each carried a bag of flowers, which they took into the tack room where they were going to work. They’d finished making crowns for the bridal party and a bouquet for the “bride’s” rider. All they had left to do was to make the grape arbor into a bower. Stevie called it the “bridal path,” and the girls liked the pun. It was one of the few things that they liked that early in the morning.

  “Come on, let’s get this stuff inside. Max and Mrs. Reg won’t be here for another half an hour, so we’ve got time to assemble the floral bower. Then they’ll be too busy with the weekend riders to notice what we’re up to until Horse Wise starts at ten, right?”

  “Of course you’re right,” Lisa said drowsily. It seemed easier than trying to think about how anything might go wrong.

  They worked in rare silence for half an hour, chaining the flowers together. Then, as each chain got long enough, two of the girls carried it out to the arbor and put it across the top. Tired as they all were, the girls had to admit that it looked fabulous. It was hard to keep from smiling when something was going to look so pretty—especially when it was finished. There was still plenty of work to do.

  The tack room was around the corner from Mrs. Reg’s office—out of her sight, but close enough so that the girls would know when Mrs. Reg got there. That was an important thing to know, because Mrs. Reg was amazing in several respects, one of which was that she always knew everything that was going on in her stable. No matter how secretive the girls tried to be, if they were still weaving flowers when Mrs. Reg arrived, they were convinced that she’d know it.

  An hour and a half seemed like enough time, but an hour definitely was not. When Mrs. Reg broke her pattern and arrived at 7:30, the girls were upset. The whole tack room was still filled with flowers, and the grape arbor wasn’t! They hoped against hope that Mrs. Reg wouldn’t make her usual morning rounds to check everything, and they worked as quietly as mice.

  Stevie cracked open the door to the tack room so they could hear when Mrs. Reg might be coming their way. Instead, they got quite a surprise. The person with her was Dorothy DeSoto.

  “Probably here to sign the papers to sell Geronimo,” Carole whispered. That seemed logical, but it didn’t explain the fact that there was a distinct sound of crying coming from Mrs. Reg’s office. Was Dorothy that fond of Geronimo? She’d be able to come and visit him anytime. This didn’t make sense.

  The girls strained to listen. The words were muffled and the message was unclear. They heard things like: “Nothing’s working … Mother … disappointed … all the guests … all the presents … I can’t believe it … six whole weeks!” The girls didn’t like the sound of this at all. They leaned toward the door of the tack room so they could hear better.

  Pretty soon they dropped all pretense of working with their flowers and moved toward the tack-room door to hear better. That wasn’t quite good enough. They opened the door wider.

  “… cancel the caterer … minister going on vacation … love him so!”

  They stepped out into the hall.

  “… honeymoon … Acapulco … Oh, Mrs. Reg, I just can’t stand it!”

  That was enough. The girls just had to know. Without a word among them, they walked into Mrs. Reg’s office.

  There was Dorothy DeSoto and a whole box of tissues, most of which seemed to have been used and scattered on the floor. Her face was red from crying. It occurred to Lisa that they might be interrupting something rather private, but such thoughts rarely crossed Stevie’s mind. She barged right in.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  “It’s Camilla,” Dorothy began, but then she was overwhelmed with tears.

  “I thought she was going to be all right,” said Lisa. “It’s just a dislocated shoulder, isn’t it?”

  “Did something happen to Elementary?” Carole asked. It would certainly occur to Carole first that the problem might be equine, rather than human.

  Dorothy took a deep breath, wiped away two more tears, and tried to explain the situation. “No, they’re both okay. I mean, sort of. Yes, Camilla dislocated her shoulder and she’ll be fine—in six weeks. And Elementary is just fine. This morning he was his usual calm, steady, professional self, so we’ll never know what was going on in his mind last night.”

  Just the act of having to explain seemed to have set Dorothy on the road to recovery. She sniffed and wiped as she spoke, but at least she was talking.

  “The problem is that Camilla won’t be able to ride for six weeks, and the team is competing in some very important shows during those particular six weeks, and they just can’t be a person short. That means that they have to use the alternates, but there are only two qualified alternates at this time, and one of them is eight months pregnant, so she can’t ride at all.”

  “So, what about the other one?” Lisa asked.

  “The other one was to replace Nigel while we”—here the tears started tumbling again, but Dorothy continued in spite of them—“got married and went on our honeymoon!” The final word overwhelmed her.

  “I think I get the picture here,” Lisa said, sorting it out for her friends. “Because Camilla can’t ride, Nigel has to. He could probably beg off, but that would be unprofessional, and Nigel is very professional.”

  Dorothy nodded vigorously.

  “So the problem is that Dorothy’s wedding is scheduled to take place on Long Island next weekend, and it will be missing only one thing: the groom!”

  The tears continued.

  “Why can’t you get married before that?” Carole asked.

  Dorothy blew her nose, tossed another tissue onto the floor, and answered the question. “We can, of course, but it was going to be such a beautiful wedding. It wasn’t going to be big, but it was going to be at my stables, and it was going to be nice. I think that’s what bothers me the most. We can reschedule our honeymoon. Camilla promises she’ll be better in six weeks, and even if she isn’t, the team can be one person short after these next few important shows. So we won’t have a problem then.”

  “It’s the wedding part,” Stevie said very sympathetically. “I know how it is. A girl dreams about her wedding for years. She plans it from earliest girlhood—the most important day of her life—and you can’t stand the idea that all your dreams of a perfect wedding have been dashed against the rocks of misfortune.”

  Carole and Lisa looked at Stevie. When she started talking about things like dreams being dashed against the rocks of misfortune, she was up to something. Carole looked down at the flowers she still held in her hand, and she knew what it was that Stevie was thinking.

  “Some girls want to have big church weddings with thousands of guests. Others like the idea of a small chapel, maybe outdoors, with a few close friends. Others, like you, want to be surrounded by the people and the creatures
you love best.…”

  Dorothy nodded. “Yes, I really wanted to get married at my stable.”

  “How about Max’s instead?” Stevie asked.

  “Here?”

  “And now,” Stevie said.

  “Now?”

  Stevie looked at her watch and shrugged. “Well, maybe around ten o’clock when the chairs will be set up and the hors d’oeuvres will have arrived. You do like apple slices and sugar lumps, don’t you?”

  “What are you talking about?” Mrs. Reg asked.

  “Can’t you tell? We’re planning a wedding,” Lisa answered for Stevie.

  “For whom?” Mrs. Reg asked.

  It was such a totally logical question to a totally illogical situation that the girls could only laugh. It took a minute to explain.

  “Wait a minute!” Mrs. Reg said. “I remember now. I even had a mark on my calendar. This is April Fools’ Day, isn’t it? Look what I wrote.”

  She held the calendar out. Right there on April 1, in Mrs. Reg’s neat handwriting, it said, “Keep an eye on Stevie!”

  That was enough to get Dorothy to stop crying. First, she picked up all of her tissues, then she stood up to hug the girls.

  “You three are something else—really something else. I can’t tell you how much you’ve cheered me up with your wonderful, but practically impossible, idea. I know Nigel and I will get married one day, it’s just that circumstances have …” Her lip quivered.

  “Well, we have the whole thing planned. We thought Geronimo ought to have a proper welcome, and a wedding seemed like a good idea,” Carole explained, trying to refocus Dorothy on happy thoughts instead of sad ones. Mrs. Reg was almost out of tissues anyway. “It seemed nice and romantic!”

  “And it would be,” Dorothy agreed. “Nigel and I will be here for it. I guess we’ll be the only ones on the groom’s side of the chapel, though?” Dorothy clearly didn’t realize yet that the girls were serious. Stevie’s mind was racing. Her thoughts were interrupted by a new arrival.

  “What’s going on in here?” said a newly familiar, very British voice. “I thought there would be nothing but tears. We have laughter!”