Autumn Trail

by Bonnie Bryant

  As Carole set to work brushing the straw and dust from Starlight’s rich reddish-brown coat, she found herself thinking about Lisa again, and how very different the two of them were from each other in some ways. She remembered how upset she had been after Cobalt had died. Even her friends hadn’t been able to make her feel better at first. Although Carole knew that Lisa was very sad about Pepper’s death, she seemed to be handling it a lot better than Carole had handled Cobalt’s. She had been able to talk and laugh with her friends at breakfast, and in her typically logical way had even begun to sort out and analyze her own feelings about what had happened.

  Still, Carole reminded herself, the two situations had been very different. Cobalt’s death had been a tragic accident, caused by human carelessness, that had cut his life short while he was still very much in his prime. Carole had never even had a chance to say good-bye to him. Pepper, on the other hand, had simply reached the natural end of a long life. What’s more, Lisa had been able to take part in bringing that life to a humane end, and that was something she could feel good about even in her sadness.

  The situations were very different, Carole decided, but she and Lisa were very different as well. And that was okay. More than okay, it was what made The Saddle Club such a wonderful group. Each member had different strengths, so that together they were stronger than the sum of their parts.

  When Stevie and Lisa arrived shortly before three, they found Carole just finishing Starlight’s grooming. “Come on,” Lisa said. “If you’re finished with Starlight, let’s go wait out front.”

  “All right,” Carole said. After giving Starlight a last affectionate pat, she picked up her grooming bucket and let herself out of the stall. She suspected that Lisa was anxious about what she was going to say to Max about Pepper. “I’m finished.”

  The girls settled down in the locker area, where they could hear the sounds of approaching cars. They didn’t have long to wait before they heard one turning into the drive. They hurried outside and spotted Max’s car coming to a stop in front of Pine Hollow, pulling the smaller of the stable’s two horse vans behind it.

  Max and Mrs. Reg barely had time to step out of the car before Stevie started talking at them a mile a minute. She wanted to tell them about everything she’d done as an assistant stable hand.

  “Nice to see you, too, Stevie,” Max said with a laugh. Carole noticed that he seemed to be in a good mood. She wondered if that meant he’d had a good weekend with his girlfriend. She hoped it did.

  Lisa took a deep breath and stepped forward. Stevie stopped talking in midsentence, remembering that Lisa wanted to be the one to tell Max about Pepper. “Oh, here’s Lisa,” Stevie said awkwardly.

  “Hello, Lisa,” Max said to her.

  “Hi, Max. Hi, Mrs. Reg,” Lisa replied automatically. “I wanted to tell you about … about Pepper.”

  Mrs. Reg stepped forward and laid one hand on Lisa’s arm. “We know, Lisa. Judy called us.”

  “I know that,” Lisa said. “But I just wanted to say …” Then she stopped, as she realized she really didn’t know what she wanted to say.

  “You don’t have to say anything,” Max said. “But I want to say thank you.”

  “What?” Lisa was startled. “Why?” She had been trying to figure out how to tell Max how sorry she was for what had happened. She was sure that he would be upset about it, maybe even angry that she had taken matters into her own hands.

  “What you did was very brave, and very smart,” Max said. “Most of all, it was very kind. You saw that Pepper was in a lot of pain, and you took responsibility for making the tough decision to end that pain for him. I’m just glad you had the guts to do it.”

  Lisa still didn’t know what to say. She wanted to tell Max that she didn’t deserve his thanks, because she almost hadn’t had the courage to do what she had done. She had almost let her own selfish wish to keep Pepper with her forever get in the way.

  Luckily, Max saved her from answering by turning to Carole and Stevie. “And I guess you two probably deserve some thanks, too,” he said. “You three girls always help each other out. I’m sure Lisa was glad for your support.”

  “That’s true,” Lisa said, giving her friends a grateful smile.

  “No problem,” said Stevie. Lisa and Carole both noticed the devilish gleam in her eyes as she gave Max a sidelong glance. “Now, why don’t you tell us about your weekend?”

  “Oh, we will,” Max said casually. “But first I want to hear more about what happened here while I was away.”

  Carole tried to hide a grin at Stevie’s frustrated look. She knew that Stevie was hoping to get some news about Max’s mystery woman. But she also knew that it was awfully hard to get Max to talk about anything before he was good and ready to do so.

  “Well, there’s not much to tell, really—” Stevie began.

  Mrs. Reg interrupted her. “How’s Samson doing?” she asked briskly. “Did you have a chance to continue his training while we were gone? You know how important it is to reinforce what he’s already learned.”

  “I know,” Stevie said. “I think Red did some work with him the other day, and I worked with him on the lunge line for a few minutes yesterday in the indoor ring.”

  “Where is Red, anyway?” Max asked, glancing around. “I’m going to need his help in a few minutes.” “I think he went out to get some lunch,” Carole volunteered. “The other stable hands aren’t back yet, so he waited to go until we got here, and I don’t think he’s come back yet.”

  “Hmmm,” Max said, stroking his chin. “Well, I suppose you girls can help me instead.”

  “Help with what?” Stevie asked, instantly curious.

  “In a minute,” Max said. “First, tell me how Barq is doing. Is that scratch on his flank healing all right?”

  “You can hardly see it anymore,” Stevie answered impatiently. “But, Max …”

  “And what about Harry?” Mrs. Reg inquired. “He seemed to be getting a little bit of a cold before we left.…”

  “All cleared up,” Stevie said. “Judy checked him over and said he’s fine.”

  “Good,” Max said. “I hope you and Red exercised each horse at least once over the weekend. I know how worked up Garnet gets if she’s cooped up for too long. Not to mention Geronimo—I hope you let him out in the paddock to let off some steam once in a while. And Diablo is always a little wild after a few days without a saddle on his back.…”

  “Don’t worry,” Stevie said, gritting her teeth. “Red took most of the horses out at least once while you were gone, and we let the others out in the paddock during the afternoons when it wasn’t too cold.”

  Carole and Lisa could hardly keep from laughing at their friend’s frustration, even though they were almost as curious as she was about Max’s holiday. Finally, after a few more questions, Max seemed satisfied that things had gone smoothly in his absence.

  “Good job, Stevie,” he proclaimed at last. “It sounds as though I left things in good hands. I’ll have to start going on vacation more often.”

  Stevie groaned. “Not too often, I hope,” she said. “I don’t want to have to work that hard again for a long time. I have blisters on top of blisters. And more blisters on top of those!”

  Max laughed. “Well, I think you and your blisters will forgive me when you see what I’ve brought back with me,” he said mysteriously.

  “What?” asked Stevie, Carole, and Lisa in one voice.

  Max and Mrs. Reg exchanged a glance. “Should we introduce them now?” Max asked his mother.

  Mrs. Reg nodded. “I think now would be a perfect time,” she said. “I just hope they hit it off.”

  “What? Who?” Stevie demanded eagerly, looking from one to the other. “Where is she?”

  Lisa glanced at the car Max and Mrs. Reg had just exited. There was no one waiting inside it as far as she could see. Max had to be talking about his girlfriend, but where was she?

  “Did you bring your girlfriend back with yo
u?” Carole blurted out without thinking. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, her face turned bright red. “I—I … mean … I,” she stammered.

  Max looked confused. “What are you talking about?”

  Carole just shrugged, unable to speak.

  Stevie, who was almost never at a loss for words, decided it was time to try the direct approach. “Isn’t that what you were doing this weekend, Max?” she asked. “Visiting your girlfriend?” She smiled triumphantly, proud that The Saddle Club had figured out his secret.

  But much to her surprise, Max burst out laughing. “Whatever gave you that idea?” he asked when he was able to stop laughing long enough to speak. Mrs. Reg was laughing, too.

  “Well,” Carole said uncertainly, “we thought that’s what this trip was all about.” She glanced at her friends, who were beginning to look almost as embarrassed as she felt. Feeling somewhat responsible for the whole situation, which suddenly seemed to be turning out to be some kind of huge misunderstanding, Carole tried to explain. “I sort of accidentally overheard you talking on the phone about a special lady named Lillian, so naturally we thought you were going to visit your girlfriend for a romantic weekend.” She decided to leave out their speculations about his impending marriage and/or elopement.

  “And why do you think I came along on this romantic weekend, then?” Mrs. Reg asked with a chuckle. “After all, Max is old enough not to need a chaperon.”

  “I guess we didn’t really think about that,” Stevie mumbled.

  “Besides,” Max said, “if you thought I was about to introduce you to a girlfriend, where did you think she was now? Did you think I made her ride in the trailer?” He gestured to the empty car.

  “I guess we didn’t think about that, either,” Stevie admitted, her face flaming.

  “Hey, Max, why did you bring the trailer with you, anyway?” Lisa asked curiously.

  “Well, girls, I’m not even going to lecture you about listening to other people’s phone conversations,” Max said, ignoring Lisa’s question. “This time,” he added quickly, making it clear that he did not approve of their eavesdropping.

  “So who did you want us to meet?” Stevie asked, partly to change the subject before Max changed his mind about that lecture, but mostly because Max still hadn’t told them what he’d really been doing that weekend.

  “Well, you were partly right when you thought I’d been spending the weekend with a very special lady,” Max began. He started walking toward the horse trailer, and the girls followed eagerly.

  “Oh, Max!” Carole exclaimed, catching on at last. “Did you buy another horse?”

  Max smiled, and Carole knew she’d guessed correctly.

  “Oh, Max, that’s wonderful!” Stevie cried. “Is she in the van now?”

  Max nodded. “As you know, ever since I got Geronimo, I’ve been looking for a new mare to breed with him. And I finally found her.”

  By this time they had reached the van, and Max carefully swung open the wide back door. The girls peered into the dark interior of the van, where they could see a tall, slender horse cross-tied in one of the two stalls.

  “How wonderful,” Carole said breathlessly. “Can we bring her out now so we can see her better?”

  “Did you think I was going to leave her in there all day?” Max asked, trying—unsuccessfully—to sound gruff. Carole could tell that he was just as excited about the new addition to Pine Hollow as they were. “Carole, why don’t you do the honors. But be careful. She’s had a long ride.”

  Carole nodded. She knew that even the gentlest of horses could sometimes be upset by a long van ride. But she also knew that Max wouldn’t let her bring the horse out if he wasn’t fairly certain she wouldn’t act up. He was just reminding her to be cautious, which was always a good reminder to have when working with horses.

  She climbed into the van. Stevie and Lisa helped Max lower the ramp off the back as Carole approached the mare carefully from behind, talking reassuringly to her all the while. It was never good to surprise a horse by coming up to it suddenly from the rear, especially a strange horse who might be a kicker.

  The mare’s small, delicate ears flicked backward, and she turned her head as far as the lead ropes would allow. Carole could see that the horse had the delicate, aristocratic head and the long, slender neck of a Thoroughbred. “You’re a beauty,” Carole whispered to the horse, reaching forward slowly to unhook the lead lines from the side of the van. “Now come on out with me so you can check out your new home. You’re going to love it here.” She knew that the horse couldn’t understand what she was saying, but that the tone of her voice was what mattered. She tried to make it as soothing as possible so that the mare would know she didn’t have anything to fear.

  In a matter of moments, Carole had the mare out of the van. Both the girl and the horse blinked in the strong November sunlight. Carole handed the lead line to Max and then stepped back for a better look.

  “Wow! What a great-looking horse,” Stevie exclaimed, echoing Carole’s thoughts.

  The mare really was a beauty. She was tall for a mare, with a long, slender neck and an intelligent face. Her coat, which was a medium-chestnut shade, gleamed in the sun where it wasn’t covered by the blanket strapped on her. She had four white socks and a little strip of white on her forehead that resembled a question mark. “What’s her name?” Carole asked Max without taking her eyes off the mare.

  “Well, her full registered name is Al’s Calypso Lady,” Max said, stroking the mare’s velvety nose. “She started out as a racehorse. But I think around here we can just call her Calypso.”

  “Calypso,” Carole repeated, trying the name out. She decided it fit the horse perfectly. While helping Judy Barker on her rounds, Carole had spent some time at a local racetrack, where she had learned a little bit about the sport of racing. In fact, she had been surprised to find out how much there was to know—it was almost like a whole new world. Since Carole was determined to learn as much as humanly possible about every subject having to do with horses, she had taken her own ignorance about racing as a challenge and checked out of the library a few books on the subject.

  Among the things she had learned was that American Thoroughbred racehorses, who all had to be registered at birth with the American Jockey Club, sometimes had strange names because of the rules for registration. These rules stated that a horse’s name couldn’t have more than eighteen characters, including spaces and punctuation. The horse couldn’t have the same name as any other registered horse that was still living, or had been dead fewer than fifteen years. And it couldn’t have the same name as any of racing’s greatest stars, such as Man O’War or Eclipse, no matter how long ago they had lived.

  “Calypso is the perfect name for her,” Stevie agreed. She stepped forward to pat the mare’s nose and get acquainted. Calypso turned her large, liquid brown eyes toward Stevie, seeming to smile. Her delicate ears flicked forward alertly.

  “She’s so beautiful,” Lisa said. “I mean, she’s really beautiful!”

  Carole laughed. “You’re such a sucker for a pretty Thoroughbred face,” she teased her friend.

  Lisa laughed, too, mostly because she knew it was true. Next to Pepper, Lisa’s favorite horse in the stable was a lovely bay Thoroughbred mare named Prancer. Like Calypso, Prancer also had started as a racehorse, but a weak bone in her foot had ended her racing career and made it possible for Max and Judy Barker to buy her.

  “Lisa’s right, though,” Stevie said. “Calypso is a beauty, and she looks fast, too, and young. And she doesn’t look injured or anything as far as I can tell. So how come she’s not still racing?”

  “I suppose that’s your tactful way of asking how I could afford such a fantastic horse,” Max said.

  Stevie grinned. “Well, maybe,” she admitted.

  Luckily, Max didn’t take offense. “You’re right, she is an excellent horse, with amazing racing bloodlines. And I wouldn’t have had a prayer of buying her, except for a luc
ky accident she had in her last race.”

  “What do you mean?” Lisa asked. She’d thought that any accident a horse had was unlucky. “Did the same thing happen to Calypso that happened to Prancer?”

  “No, no, nothing like that,” Max hurried to assure the girls. “No, believe me, Calypso doesn’t have any hereditary weakness in her bloodlines—anything but. And she wasn’t injured, not physically at least.”

  “What, then?” Stevie demanded. She was getting tired of Max’s mysterious, roundabout way of explaining things today. “What’s wrong with her?”

  “Well, this is what happened,” Max said. “Calypso here has some of the best bloodlines I’ve ever seen. Her first race was a maiden race, which means that none of the horses running in it had ever won a race before. She won it easily, even though she was running against colts as well as fillies.”

  Carole, Stevie, and Lisa knew from their experience with Prancer that colts were usually faster than fillies. In fact, there were separate races exclusively for fillies and mares, although they often raced against male horses as well. So the fact that Calypso had won her first race against colts made her victory even more impressive.

  “Then what happened?” Carole asked.

  “Then what happened was her second race,” Max said. “Her owners were so pleased with her performance that they decided to run her against colts again. The jockey had told them that she hadn’t even exerted herself to win the first time. He was convinced that there was nothing this horse couldn’t do, and the owners agreed.”