“… and the winner is … a team who worked hard, in spite of difficulties …”
Just when Stevie thought she couldn’t stand the tension and the buildup for one more second, Mr. Daviet did it.
“… the winning team is Dinah Slattery, Betsy Hale, and our newcomer Stevie Lake!”
They’d done it! They’d won! Stevie felt her self bursting with a feeling of total joy.
Nearby Betsy was jumping up and down excitedly. Behind the refreshment table, Dinah was stunned. Soundlessly she said the one thing that was on her mind. Stevie couldn’t hear it, but she saw the word forming on her friend’s lips.
“Goldie!”
STEVIE HAD LOVED almost every minute of her trip to Vermont. The one thing that had been missing—two things, actually—were Carole and Lisa. She got home too late Sunday night to call, and she couldn’t see them all day Monday because she was at school. When the final bell sounded, she couldn’t get to Pine Hollow fast enough. She knew she’d find them there. They were in the paddock, where Carole was working Starlight on a lunge line. The minute they saw Stevie, Carole secured Starlight, and the three of them had an impromptu Saddle Club meeting—their first in over a week.
“Oh, Stevie! We’re so glad you’re back! We have the most wonderful news!” Lisa greeted her.
Carole gave her a hug. “It’s a big secret, see, but you’re going to love it!” she said.
Stevie groaned. “I don’t want to hear about secrets. They can get you into real trouble, so whatever it is, you’re just better off telling other people and letting them help. You just never know about secrets. They’re no good and that’s that.”
Carole and Lisa exchanged glances. “Is this Stevie Lake in front of us, or was there some kind of extraterrestrial bodily exchange while she was in Vermont?” Lisa asked.
“Maybe just a Vulcan mind-swap,” Carole said. “After all, the Stevie we know loves secrets more than anything in the world—especially when she can tell them!”
“And we can tell this one,” Lisa said.
“You can?” Stevie was very wary of secrets, but if something could be told, then it wouldn’t be a secret anymore, and that would be okay.
“Sure.”
“Then tell,” she said.
“When we called Phil and told him you couldn’t come to the pony club meeting, like you asked us to, he told us we should come instead,” Carole said.
“We weren’t sure whether you would think it was okay,” Lisa said uncertainly. “But Mrs. Reg told us this story—”
“Oh, come on, Lisa,” Carole said. “Stevie doesn’t care about that old mare. She’s going to be much more interested in the meeting.”
“If you’ll ever tell me what it was about,” Stevie said pointedly. In her opinion, when it was time to share secrets, they should be shared, not just hinted at.
“Oh, right,” Lisa said. “Well, it turns out that Phil was really glad we called because it was sort of an organizational meeting … and only people who were there, or represented there, can be involved.…”
“In what?” Stevie shrieked. “Tell me!”
“Does the word ‘tallyho’ mean anything to you?” Carole asked.
Stevie could hardly believe it. “A hunt?” she asked. “There’s going to be a fox hunt?”
“And we can be there!” Lisa said.
“It’s going to be at Cross County. I guess it’s an annual hunt for all the young riders and this time they can invite friends, too!” Carole said.
“And that means us?” Stevie asked.
Her friends nodded.
“Now I understand why Phil was so insistent that I be at the meeting. Boy, am I glad you guys called him and went. Wouldn’t it have been awful if we couldn’t have gone just because I was away? Oh, fabulous!”
Lisa and Carole filled her in on some of the specifics and told her there would be another organizational meeting the following week. They all agreed they would be there—with bells on.
“No, in pink jackets,” Stevie said excitedly, recalling pictures of hunters wearing red jackets that were somehow called pink.
“Did you know that’s not actually pink?” Carole asked.
“Sure, they’re red,” Stevie said. “I still don’t know why they’re called pink, though.”
“It’s P-i-n-q-u-e,” Carole said, spelling it out. “It doesn’t have anything to do with the color. Pinque was the tailor who designed it.”
“There’s so much to learn!” Lisa said.
“And we’re going to have so much fun learning it,” Stevie said.
“Speaking of learning new things,” Lisa said. “Tell us all about making maple syrup.”
Stevie grinned. “I thought you’d never ask,” she said. “Now I’ll begin at the beginning.…”
And she did.
About the Author
Bonnie Bryant is the author of nearly a hundred books about horses, including the Saddle Club series, the Saddle Club Super Editions, and the Pony Tales series.
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