Course of Action

by Bonnie Bryant

  “Okay.” Stevie shrugged. Getting the pool ready for winter would actually have to rank as one of the pleasanter tasks her parents had found for her and Alex in the past week. “No problem. Thanks, Mom.”

  She hurried off before her mother could change her mind and decide she wanted her to paint the house or rotate the tires on her car before she left. Breaking into a jog as she hit the driveway, Stevie started on the familiar path to the stable, enjoying the feeling of relative freedom.

  By the time she reached Pine Hollow less than ten minutes later, her mood had already improved. She was eager to get to work with Belle—after all, the horse show was now less than two weeks away, and she wanted to be ready—but first she had to get some answers about the dance.

  She hurried into the stable building, glancing around for anyone who could tell her what she needed to know. But the place was relatively quiet for a weekend. Max was giving his five-year-old daughter, Maxi, a riding lesson in the schooling ring. Red was hosing down the entry hall. A pair of intermediate riders was just setting out on a trail ride. There was no sign of anyone who might have been at the homecoming dance. In fact, the only person Stevie saw who was anywhere near her age was Ben Marlow, who was cooling out a horse in the indoor ring, and she knew there was no chance he’d had a hot date to the big dance.

  Stevie frowned, feeling disappointed. “Oh well,” she muttered as she headed for the tack room. Maybe someone would be around by the time she and Belle finished their practice session.

  After grabbing her tack from its usual spot, Stevie walked back down the hall and across the entryway. Red had just finished his task, and he nodded at Stevie as he coiled his hose. Stevie waved back, but she didn’t slow down. She had less than two hours before she had to be home, and she didn’t want to waste a minute.

  Entering the stable aisle, Stevie saw that it, too, was empty of other people. As she approached Belle’s stall, she started to hear an odd sound among the familiar noises of the horses moving around in their stalls. For a moment she thought it must be Red’s portable radio playing softly somewhere nearby. But as she took a step closer, she realized that it was the sound of muffled sobbing—and that it was coming from Starlight’s stall.

  Pausing just long enough to pat her mare on the nose, Stevie walked to Starlight’s stall and peered inside. The bay gelding was standing in the middle of the stall with his gaze trained on Stevie. “Hello?” she said hesitantly. “Carole, are you in there?”

  The noise stopped, and Stevie heard a gulp. “S-Stevie?” a weak voice said a few seconds later.

  Leaning forward, Stevie looked directly down and saw her friend huddled against the back of the stall door. Carole’s face was tilted upward, staring back at her through red-rimmed eyes. Her face was streaked with tears.

  Stevie gasped. “What’s the matter?”

  Carole sniffled and wiped her cheek with the back of one hand. “Nothing.” Her voice was almost inaudible.

  Stevie wasn’t about to take that as an answer. “Move over,” she ordered. “I’m coming in.” Without waiting for a response, she unlatched the stall door and stepped inside.

  Carole was sitting up straighter, blinking rapidly and looking absolutely miserable. “I told you,” she said. “I’m okay.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” Stevie patted Starlight quickly, then dropped to the floor of the stall beside Carole. “Now, come on. What’s going on?”

  Carole rubbed her nose, her dark eyes looking sad and frightened at the same time. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  Now Stevie knew this had to be serious. “Come on,” she said. “Maybe I can help.”

  Carole shook her head and her eyes filled with tears. “It’s not that kind of problem,” she whispered.

  “Carole.” Stevie scooted closer and grabbed her friend’s hands in her own. “Please. Whatever’s wrong, you’ll feel better if you talk about it. Here I am. So talk.”

  Carole swallowed hard. Then she glanced up at the bay horse standing quietly in the stall a few feet away. “It’s about Starlight,” she said in a tiny, strangled voice. “I—I decided I have to sell him.”

  Stevie gasped, and her head swam crazily. “What?” she asked, suddenly wondering if she was in the middle of some kind of dream. She pulled one hand away from Carole’s just long enough to give herself a hard pinch on the leg. No such luck—this was real life, all right. “What do you mean?” she asked, rubbing her leg and telling herself she must have misheard. “You mean you don’t want him anymore?”

  “It’s not that.” Carole hesitated, glancing at the horse once again.

  “Is this some kind of money issue?” Stevie asked. She knew as well as anyone that owning a horse was an expensive proposition. She’d been under the impression that Colonel Hanson had been doing quite well financially since retiring from the military, but maybe she was wrong. “I mean, if you’re having trouble making ends meet, I’m sure we could figure out a way to—”

  Carole shook her head. “It’s not about money,” she broke in, pulling her hands away from Stevie and rubbing her eyes. “It’s got nothing to do with that.”

  “What, then?”

  “Well, do you remember that joke you made the other day? You know, about how I should get rid of Starlight and ask Dad to buy Samson for me instead?”

  Stevie had no idea what she was talking about. “Did I say that?” she said blankly. “I don’t remember. But anyway, I’m sure if I did I didn’t really mean it.”

  “I know.” Carole blinked and sniffled again. But her voice was stronger now. “Still, it started me thinking. And then I started talking to Ben, and then to Lisa … Well, anyway, I realized I’ve been spending most of my time with Samson, even when I don’t have to. Time that I used to spend with Starlight. Don’t you see?”

  Stevie wasn’t sure she did. She was shocked to the core to hear Carole talking like this. She and Starlight were a pair—a perfect match. “But—”

  “It’s not like I want to give him up,” Carole said. “But if I can’t give him the attention he deserves anymore, isn’t it the only choice?”

  Stevie was finally starting to see what Carole was getting at, though she was still having a difficult time believing it. “So you’re really going to do it?” she said. “Sell Starlight and buy Samson from Max?”

  “I haven’t gotten to that second part yet.” Carole bit her lip and picked at the straw covering the stall floor, rolling a small piece between her fingers. “All I know is that Samson is the one I think about all the time these days. Starlight should have someone thinking about him that way, and if I’m not doing it, I need to find someone who will.”

  “Wow.” Stevie was silent for a moment, struggling to fit this bombshell into her worldview somehow so that it made sense. Starlight had always belonged to Carole heart and soul—how could she care more for another horse, even a special one like Samson, than she did about her own? Stevie didn’t know, but she could tell by the haggard look in Carole’s eyes that there could be no mistake. “This is huge.”

  “I know. But don’t tell anyone else, okay, please?” Carole begged. A tear trickled out of the corner of her eye and traced its way slowly down her cheek. “I can’t bear to have anyone else know about this yet, not even Dad or Max.”

  “You haven’t told anyone?”

  Carole shrugged. “Well, Lisa knows I’ve been thinking about this. And I’m pretty sure Ben has guessed what I decided, but you know how he is. He isn’t prying.”

  Stevie nodded. “You know you can trust me,” she said. “I won’t breathe a word.”

  “Thanks.” Carole smiled weakly as a few more tears squeezed out. “You were right. I do feel a little better now that I’ve talked about it.”

  “You don’t look much better,” Stevie said bluntly. She moved a little closer, until she could reach over and give Carole a hug. “Isn’t there anything else I can do to help?”

  Carole clung to her for a moment before letting go. �
�Just one thing,” she said, her voice breaking as Starlight wandered over and snuffled at her hair with his nose. “You can help me find a buyer for him.”

  Stevie glanced up at the horse, feeling her own eyes well up. “Of course,” she said, blinking back the tears along with her own reluctance to do what Carole was asking. This wasn’t the time to start blubbering—she needed to be strong for Carole’s sake. No matter how much she hated the idea of the lively bay gelding possibly leaving Pine Hollow, she had to stand by her friend’s painful decision. “I’ll do whatever I can.”

  “Thanks.”

  As the two friends sat silently for a moment, watching Starlight move around in his stall, Stevie found herself wondering why she hadn’t had the slightest inkling that this was coming. Am I getting out of touch with my friends? she wondered, feeling a twinge of guilt. I have been awfully busy lately with everything that’s been going on—the horse show, the election—and getting myself grounded hasn’t helped.

  “Listen, Carole,” she said, not certain how to express what she was thinking. “I’m really sorry I didn’t realize you were thinking about this. I mean, I wish I’d been paying closer attention, you know, so maybe I could have helped sooner.”

  Carole was already shaking her head. “Don’t worry,” she assured her. “You’re not the only one this took by surprise. I had no clue it was coming myself until, well, yesterday, I guess.”

  “Oh.” That only made Stevie feel a tiny bit better. She still couldn’t quite believe that this wasn’t all some kind of weird nightmare. But this time, she didn’t need to pinch herself. The pain in her heart as she looked at Starlight was real enough to convince her.

  ELEVEN

  Stevie was still thinking about Carole’s announcement when she walked across her driveway at exactly three minutes before two. Her talk with Carole had meant she’d only had time for a short session with Belle, but it was just as well. After their little talk, Stevie had been too distracted to accomplish much that day anyway.

  I can’t believe she’s serious about this, Stevie thought as she headed for the front door. I still don’t really understand how it happened, especially right under my nose like that. It came totally out of the blue.

  But when she thought back over the past couple of months, Stevie realized that that wasn’t really true. There had been occasional moments, ever since Samson’s arrival at Pine Hollow, when Stevie had noticed that Carole was spending an awful lot of time with the big black horse. But it hadn’t happened often enough for her to start to wonder about it consciously, let alone put two and two together and figure out what was happening. Or maybe she just hadn’t been paying enough attention because of all the other things that had been going on at the same time—the start of school, all the problems that Phil’s best friend, A.J., had been going through, the news about the horse show, the election campaign, Lisa’s fight with Alex and everything else that had happened at the party. It had really been a busy autumn, and it wasn’t over yet.

  Still, Stevie planned to do whatever she could to help Carole through this difficult time. If that meant helping her locate a new owner for Starlight, well, she would just have to find the best darn owner in the entire world—aside from Carole herself, of course. During the walk home, Stevie had already come up with a short list of possibilities, including a friend of her older brother’s, an acquaintance or two from Fenton Hall, and a summer intern from her mother’s law firm. She didn’t know if any of them would pan out, but she planned to talk to each of them as soon as possible, along with anyone else she could think of. If Carole had her mind made up, there was no sense dragging things out any longer than necessary. That would only make things harder for all of them.

  As she passed the garage, Stevie saw that her mother’s green hatchback was missing from its usual spot. She also spotted Alex in the side yard raking leaves.

  “Hi,” Stevie called, hurrying toward him. “Where did Mom go?”

  Alex stopped what he was doing and leaned on his rake. “She and Dad went to the grocery store,” he said. “They just left with Michael a few minutes ago.”

  “Oh, well,” Stevie commented. “I’m sure they left us a couple of chores to do so we wouldn’t be bored, right?”

  “Bingo.” Alex grinned and started raking again.

  Stevie headed for the door. When she pushed it open, she heard the phone ringing from inside. With a gasp, she realized that she’d never gotten any answers about the dance—in fact, in all her agitation over Carole’s big decision, she’d forgotten all about it. But now her curiosity bubbled up again. Maybe Scott was finally calling to let her know what had happened.

  She raced around the corner into the living room and lunged for the phone on the end table by the sofa. “Hello?” she blurted out.

  “Stevie? Is that you?” Phil’s voice queried from the other end of the line.

  Stevie went limp, flopping onto the sofa. “Yeah, it’s me,” she said. “What’s up?”

  “Not much. What have you been up to today?”

  Stevie shrugged off her jacket and tossed it over the arm of a nearby wing chair, suddenly remembering their rather testy conversation the day before. She guessed that Phil was calling to touch base, make sure there were no hard feelings. “I just got home from Pine Hollow,” she said, wishing she could tell him about Carole’s news. But she had promised to keep quiet until Carole was ready to let people know, and she intended to keep that promise. “Otherwise, more of the same—work, work, work.”

  “You won’t get in trouble for talking to me now, will you?” Phil sounded worried.

  “Nope. Mom and Dad are out,” Stevie replied, propping her feet up on the coffee table. “So have you talked to anyone who went to the Willow Creek dance last night?”

  “No,” Phil replied. “Why? Did something exciting happen?”

  “I wish I knew.” Stevie frowned. “I’m sure Veronica must have at least tried to get back at Scott for dumping her. But nobody has bothered to call and tell me what she did.” She sneaked a glance at her watch, wondering if she should risk trying to call Scott despite her parents’ ban. She wished she’d thought to ask Alex whether they’d just gone to pick up a couple of things or if they’d had a long list. That would give her a better idea of how much time she had before their return.

  “Maybe that means nothing happened,” Phil suggested.

  Stevie snorted. “Fat chance,” she said. “This is Veronica we’re talking about, remember? And she pretty much came right out and threatened to sabotage the election the other day. I heard it myself.”

  “Whatever.” Phil didn’t sound very interested. “So anyway, how was Belle today? Are you guys going to be ready for the big show?”

  “Sure,” Stevie said dismissively, her mind still focused on Scott and Veronica. “I wonder if she actually would have the gall to pay people to vote her way?”

  “You mean Belle?” Phil asked lightly. “I really don’t think she wants a blue ribbon that badly.”

  Stevie rolled her eyes. “Very funny,” she said. “Quit kidding around, okay? This is serious. If Veronica pulls something big enough, it could cost Scott the whole election.”

  “What a tragedy,” Phil said dryly. “Excuse me while I get a tissue.”

  Stevie frowned. “You could at least pretend to be supportive here, you know,” she snapped. “This is important to me.”

  “I can tell,” Phil shot back. “It’s taking up enough of your time.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “Nothing.” Phil sounded wounded. “It just kind of seems like this stupid election is all you ever talk about these days.”

  Stevie blinked in disbelief. “What?”

  “You heard me. You might as well just start going out with Scott Forester. He sees a whole lot more of you than I do, that’s for sure.”

  She couldn’t believe that Phil was acting like such a jerk all of a sudden. Didn’t he realize how much she had going on in her life these d
ays? “You’ve got to be kidding!” she exclaimed. “In case it’s slipped your mind, I’m grounded, remember? But in spite of that, I’m trying my best to do a good job running this campaign. And deal with Veronica. And prepare for a major horse show. And help my friends with their problems. Not to mention keeping up with my schoolwork so my parents don’t ground me all over again when they see my next report card.” She paused just long enough to take a deep breath. “So pardon me if I’m not rushing over to hold your hand every day and your male ego’s feeling insecure about it.”

  “Fine,” Phil said coldly. “Whatever. My sister needs to use the phone.” With a click, the connection cut off and the dial tone buzzed in Stevie’s ear.

  She lowered the receiver and stared at it in shock, as if it were a butterfly that had suddenly transformed into a poisonous spider. She could hardly believe that Phil had actually hung up on her. Her first instinct was to call him right back, but she hesitated.

  “Why should I?” she muttered. “He’s the one who’s being immature here.”

  She couldn’t believe he’d actually made that snide comment about Scott. Since when was he the kind of boyfriend who turned into a jealous, raving lunatic whenever she passed another guy on the street? They had always trusted each other. Why had he decided to stop now?

  It was too strange—she had to call him back and find out what had gotten into him. She had her hand on the receiver, ready to pick it up and dial, when it rang shrilly. She jumped and yanked her hand back, startled. Then, realizing it was probably Phil calling back to apologize for hanging up on her, she answered quickly. “Hello?”

  “Stevie? Hey, how’s it going? It’s Scott.”

  “Oh. Hi,” Stevie replied, doing her best to sound normal. “It’s about time you called. I’ve been dying of curiosity—what happened with Veronica last night?”

  “Plenty,” Scott said ruefully. “I think we need to do some strategizing to get ready for school tomorrow. Do you have time to talk now?”