Chocolate Horse (7 page)

“Great,” said Stevie.

This was not a good sign. Stevie rarely gave one-word answers to questions. In fact, there were several people who thought she didn’t know how to give a one-word answer to anything. She had always been a great talker. Lisa decided to delve further to see what she could find out and what she could do.

“How’s Alex doing?” she asked. “At Pine Hollow some of the kids were saying that he’s getting better. Is it true?”

“Yes, isn’t it wonderful?” Stevie said, now almost breathlessly excited. “He’s awake most of the time these days. He doesn’t remember anything from the time he was in the coma, but he’s feeling better. He’s still terribly weak. He can’t even sit up in bed. He has lots of
tubes still going places—mostly his arms—and they seem to be doing him good. The doctor has the results of all the blood work and the spinal tap. Did I tell you he’s had
two
spinal taps? Anyway, all the information the doctor gets says that Alex is responding to the medication they’re giving him and he’s getting better. Of course, we don’t know how
much
better he’ll get. The doctor says that a lot of times patients who recover from meningitis don’t recover all the way. I mean, they may have some residual problems. That’s the way he put it. Alex is going to have bad headaches for a long time. Sometimes they find neurological problems—that means things with the brain. Sometimes deafness, though he seems to be able to hear pretty well, at least when he’s awake now.”

Stevie went on, and Carole and Lisa were listening. They were glad to have all the information, though it sounded to them almost like a recording. Stevie was reciting facts and figures about Alex and about meningitis at a rate they couldn’t possibly absorb. They both felt as though they were getting a lot more answer than their question had warranted. Carole was accustomed to being accused of giving twenty-five-cent answers to nickel questions. Stevie was giving them a full dollar’s worth of information!

“Well, I’m awfully glad he’s better,” Lisa said when
Stevie finally stopped talking. “And you—how are you doing?”

“Fine. I’m fine,” said Stevie.

“Really?” Carole asked.

“Of course,” Stevie assured her. “Alex is better, so I’m fine. Really.”

“Are you coming over to ride soon?” Lisa asked.

“I don’t think so,” Stevie said. “Not for a while anyway. I want to spend a lot of time with Alex, especially now that he’s awake a little. And I’ve got my homework to do. You know how it is.…”

Lisa did know how it was. She often had trouble finding the time to do her homework. It had never been something that concerned Stevie very much, though, so it hadn’t occurred to her that Stevie would know how it was. Both she and Carole were surprised by that response.

“Listen, I’ve got to go now,” Stevie said. “Dinner’s in a few minutes, and I want to set the table. Then I’m going back over to the hospital.”

“Say hi to Alex,” Carole said.

“Yes, from me, too,” Lisa added.

“I sure will,” Stevie promised them. Then she hung up.

There was a silence between Lisa and Carole. There
was so much to say, but neither of them knew what to say about it.

“Who was that we were speaking to?” Lisa asked, putting her finger on it right away.

“Great question,” said Carole. “Do you think that maybe the good news is that Alex is getting better, and the bad news is that aliens have come down and occupied Stevie’s body?
Want
to set the table?
Find time
for her homework? I mean, those are noble things to do and all that, but hanging up the phone to go set the table isn’t exactly like the Stevie we know and love.”

“Weird,” said Lisa.

“We’ve got to do something,” said Carole.

“Let’s talk to Phil,” Lisa suggested.

“Hold on,” said Carole. Encouraged by her recent success with making a three-way phone call, she did it again. This time she succeeded on the very first try.

“Hi, Phil. This is Carole—”

“And Lisa.”

“Oh, I’m so glad you called,” he said. “I talked with Stevie last night and I’m worried about her.”

“Us, too,” said Lisa. “In fact, Carole just suggested that maybe her body’s being occupied by aliens!”

Phil didn’t laugh at that, and Lisa wondered if he’d had the same thought.

“What can we do for her?” Carole asked.

“Beats me,” said Phil. “When I talked to her last night, I told her I’d pick her up for the dance on Saturday, but she said she couldn’t go. Alex might come home the next day, and she feels she has to stay home and do things in preparation for his arrival.”

“Like what?” Lisa asked. “Make his bed fresh? All night?”

“I couldn’t think of what she meant, either,” Phil said. “But she seemed determined not to come to the dance—like it’s against the law to have fun if your brother’s sick.”

“She needs our help,” said Carole. “But I have no idea what we can do.”

“Me neither,” agreed Phil. “Based on my conversation with her last night, I’d say that Alex is the only thing on her mind. Our doing something for him might make Stevie feel better.”

“Carole? What do you think?” Lisa asked.

Carole found herself having a jumble of emotions. She felt as though she could understand the way Stevie was feeling, because Carole’s own mother had been ill for a long time before she’d died. The thing Carole had found the most comforting of all was riding and spending time at the stable. That didn’t seem to be what Stevie wanted now, however. All of her attention was
focused on Alex. Maybe they could just support that idea.

“I’m not sure,” Carole began. “I would have thought horses would help her. They helped
me
when Mom was sick.”

“In Stevie’s case I would have thought finding ways to get into trouble would be a helpful distraction!” Phil joked. “At the very least a fun dance.”

“Maybe the dance is the problem,” Lisa suggested. “It seems sort of frivolous to be thinking about a barn dance when Alex is so sick. Maybe we should just cancel it. Max would understand.”

“I wouldn’t,” said Carole. “Life has to go on. It’s not fair to Alex or anyone else to use their illness as an excuse to stop living. Canceling the dance isn’t the right answer. Not at all.”

Lisa was a little surprised at how strongly Carole reacted to her mild suggestion, but she realized that the idea of life continuing was something Carole had learned the hard way and truly believed. It made sense. She could agree with it.

“So, what, then?”

“Maybe we can just focus the dance on Alex a little,” suggested Phil.

“You mean like dedicate it to him?”

“Sounds kind of corny, but maybe we could have—oh, I don’t know—like a dance contest, and whoever wins it could win the right to take some of the decorations from the dance over to Alex when he gets home from the hospital.”

There was a moment of quiet. Carole spoke first.

“Phil, you’ve been spending too much time around Stevie.”

“I have?”

“Yes,” Lisa agreed. “You’re beginning to think like her.”

“I am?”

“Yes, and we
love
it,” Carole said.

“It’s perfect,” Lisa agreed. “Now, do you have enough time in the next four days to become an expert dancer so you can win the contest?”

“Me? I don’t think so,” he said. “Actually, if Stevie’s not going, I’m not sure
I
should go.”

“Of course you should,” said Carole. “Cam will be there, and he’ll be very disappointed if you don’t show up.”

“Alone? It doesn’t seem right.”

“Not necessarily alone,” said Lisa. “I was going to ask Bob Harris, but it turns out his family is going away for the weekend. Why don’t we go together? You’ve helped
us with the decorations; you’ve come up with an ingenious idea to honor Alex. You certainly ought to be there.”

“What if I step on your toes?” Phil asked.

“It’s a barn dance,” Lisa reminded him. “I’m wearing my cowboy boots. I’ll just be sure the toes are steel reinforced.”

“It’s a deal,” said Phil. “And thanks for suggesting it. I’ve missed Stevie this last week or so while she’s been so involved with Alex. Talking with you two makes me feel closer to her.”

“That’s what friends are supposed to do,” said Carole.

“And besides, you’re in The Saddle Club, and that means we’re obligated to help you when you need it.”

“Right now I think we all need one another,” said Phil.

“If only Stevie could figure that out, too,” Carole said.

They chatted a few more minutes, talking about the decorations and the schedule for Saturday night. They agreed to meet at Lisa’s house. Carole was staying over there that night anyway, so it made sense to start out together. Finally they hung up the phones, all three of them.

Carole stood up from her father’s recliner and
stretched. She hoped that what they were planning for Alex and Stevie would do some good. She didn’t like feeling so helpless. It was a familiar and uncomfortable feeling. She was, at least, confident that they weren’t doing anything that would hurt. That was a start.

“H
I
, M
RS
. R
EG
,” said Stevie as she peered into the office at Pine Hollow.

“Stevie, how great to see you! How’s Alex doing?”

“He’s doing a little better,” she said. “The doctor said he could probably come home on Sunday.”

“What wonderful news. You must be feeling relieved.”

“Yeah, yeah, I am,” Stevie told her. “I couldn’t go to the hospital this afternoon, so Mom said I should come over here and be with my friends, but I don’t see them. Where is everybody?”

“They just left. They talked someone into driving them over to the mall so they could pick up some more
red crepe paper, though I doubt there’s much left in the world, considering how much they’ve already used!”

The dance. It was Saturday, two days from now, the day before Alex was to come home. All the time that Alex had been in the hospital, her friends had been working on the decorations and the food for the dance. They’d probably had to work extra hard without her. That was too bad. Stevie was very good at decorations and food. She liked to work on parties, but this was one she was completely missing. She felt a twinge of sadness, but she knew that Alex’s health was more important.

“Go see what they’ve done, dear,” said Mrs. Reg. “And it’ll be even better by Saturday. You’ll love it when you see it then.”

“I won’t be there,” Stevie said. “I have to be with Alex. He’s supposed to come home the next day, you know.”

“Hmmm,” was all Mrs. Reg said.

“I’ll go check out the decorations and let you know what I think,” said Stevie.

It was just a short walk to the old barn, but it took Stevie quite a while. In the first place, a young-riders class was just letting out, and everybody asked Stevie how Alex was.

By the time she finished explaining it to Jackie and
Amie, May had come along and wanted the same information. Then she saw Max.

“How’s Alex?” he asked. She told him.

Two other students in the class asked the same thing. Two other students got the same answer. It was nice that everyone was so concerned, but at the same time Stevie was sick of filling everyone in.

On the way to Topside’s stall, Stevie ran into Veronica diAngelo. Much to her own surprise, Stevie was actually relieved to see the snobby girl. Veronica was so self-centered, it wouldn’t occur to her to ask about anybody else, especially not the brother of one of the Saddle Club members.

“Stevie!” Veronica said. “How’s Alex?”

Stevie sighed with resignation and told her.

Topside seemed glad to see her.

“You’re not going to ask me about Alex, are you, boy?” she whispered into his silky ear. He didn’t answer, but he didn’t ask about Alex, either. She gave him the hug he deserved.

Then she walked over to the old stable where her friends had been working so hard. When she opened the door, she gasped. It was spectacular, and they’d done it completely without her!

They’d stacked all the bales of hay so that they were like a set of bleachers around the dance floor. Then
they’d trimmed the bare ends with red and pink crepe paper. From the rafters hung a sparkling mirrored ball as well as dozens of bright red hearts. The dangling hearts and mirrored ball would look wonderful when it was dark outside and the whole place was lit by the spotlights that had been strategically placed behind the bales of hay.

Stevie felt a pang of sadness and it took her a minute to identify it. All the brightly colored crepe paper and the shiny mirror ball seemed to say that somebody had been having fun—and that somebody was her friends. It should have made her happy to know that her friends were enjoying themselves, but she felt a little cheated. She should have been having fun
with
them. In fact, she was quite certain that if she’d been having the fun with them, they all would have had more fun. That was one of the things Stevie was good at—making something that was fun just be more fun.

Stevie took a deep breath and swallowed. Feeling left out and envious wasn’t going to do anybody any good. She reminded herself that right now she had something more important to do than to have fun. She had to take care of Alex. Besides, she reminded herself, one of the nice things about The Saddle Club was that they all helped one another and learned from one another. Obviously her friends had learned a thing or two about
festive decorations from her. And it was great that they could do such a fabulous job without her, she decided, walking back toward Mrs. Reg’s office.