English Horse (15 page)

Carole laughed. “Well, let’s just keep our fingers crossed and hope she turns up,” she said. “Did you make that call?”

“It’s all taken care of,” Stevie assured her.

“Good.” Carole led Starlight out of his stall. “I’ll see you out there.”

Stevie nodded and hurried into Belle’s stall next door. The lively mare was already saddled and ready. Stevie had left her tied in the stall for a few minutes while she had gone to see whether Veronica had arrived.

“Are you ready for this, girl?” Stevie asked her horse.

Belle snorted in reply. Stevie took that as a yes.

Stevie led Belle outside. The sun was still up, but a cool breeze was snaking its way through the crowd already gathered in front of the stable building. Most of Horse Wise was there with their horses. Max was standing by to supervise. A large cardboard box was right next to him, filled to the brim with nightclothes. Stevie had been in charge of gathering them, which meant that there wasn’t an ordinary set of flannel pajamas in sight.

Betsy Cavanaugh leaned over the box and squealed as she pulled a silky polka-dotted nightgown out of the box. “Do we actually have to wear this stuff?” she cried with a giggle.

“That’s how this works,” Max replied, looking amused. “Or so they tell me.” He winked at Tessa, who was standing nearby at Topside’s head. Then he went over to help
Simon Atherton, who had just emerged with Patch in tow. Patch’s girth was far too loose, and his saddle was already slipping to the side.

Stevie left Belle tied near the door. Tessa did the same with Topside. Both girls headed for the box. Stevie grinned as more and more riders joined them there, arguing over the best costumes. A few of the riders who hadn’t known that the costumes were part of the midnight ride were a little confused at first. But those who had been present when Tessa first told the story soon filled them in. Before long everyone was busy pulling on wacky nightclothes over their jeans and T-shirts. Joe Novick paraded around in a pink-and-green flowered housecoat. Polly and Britt found matching striped nightcaps and a couple of pea green gowns. Betsy pulled on the polka-dotted nightie.

Stevie grabbed a pig-print nightshirt for herself. “Rats,” she commented to Tessa, who was digging through the costumes. “I can’t believe Joe picked that hideous housecoat. I was hoping Veronica would have to wear that.”

“Don’t worry.” Tessa stretched to reach the bottom of the box. “There are plenty of disgusting options left in here.” She pulled out a gauzy purple gown with green lace trim and grinned. “But Veronica can’t have this. This is mine!”

Lisa and Carole joined their friends at the box. “Where’s Veronica?” Lisa asked worriedly, scrabbling through the costumes for something to wear.

“That’s exactly what I was wondering,” Stevie said.

Tessa looked up from tying a pale orange bed jacket over her purple gown, obviously surprised at Stevie’s comment. “Oh, I thought she was here already,” she said. “I haven’t seen her myself, but when I walked past Danny’s stall ten minutes ago, he was all tacked up already.”

Stevie, Carole, and Lisa stared at each other. “Red!” they exclaimed in one voice. Then they quickly explained to Tessa what they meant. Veronica nearly always made Red tack up Danny for her. She had even been known to call ahead so that her horse would be ready and waiting when she strolled in. That seemed to be the case today.

“At least that means she’s planning to come,” Carole said hopefully. She grabbed a bright yellow baby-doll gown with frog-shaped buttons and yanked it over her head.

Stevie nodded. “Actually, it’s perfect,” she declared. “The less time she has before we start, the less time she has to complain about—”

“What’s going on here?” Veronica’s shriek cut her off.

The Saddle Club turned to see Veronica striding up the driveway. Her parents’ car was just pulling away. Veronica was staring in disbelief at the strangely dressed people around her.

Lisa straightened the frilly white nightcap she’d just jammed onto her own head. “What do you mean, Veronica?” she asked innocently.

Veronica glared. Then she flounced over to Max. “I didn’t know this was some kind of pathetic costume parade,” she announced. “So I’m afraid I left my hideous outfit at home.”

“Don’t worry, Veronica,” Max replied. He gestured at the box. “We have enough costumes for everyone. You’d better hurry, though—everyone’s picked theirs out already. You may be left with the dregs.”

“What’s the difference?” Veronica stared as Joe danced past her pretending to be a ballerina while Betsy and Meg giggled wildly. “Anyway, you’ve got to be kidding. There’s no way I’m wearing a costume.”

Max shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s your choice,” he told her. “But rules are rules. If you don’t dress up, you don’t ride.” He turned away to help one of the younger riders.

Veronica stormed over to The Saddle Club. “You people must think you’re awfully funny, don’t you?” she snapped. “Well, how’s this for a joke? I’m leaving.”

“But, Veronica!” Tessa spoke up quickly. “If you don’t ride, you forfeit. And you know what that means.” She swung an imaginary lasso above her head.
“Yeee-ha!”

Veronica rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right,” she muttered. “I’m out of here.”

Stevie gulped. She hadn’t considered this possibility. When The Saddle Club had talked it over a couple of hours earlier, they had thought the plan was practically foolproof from then on. Veronica couldn’t back out when
she found out about the costumes or she would lose the bet. But they had failed to take Veronica’s treacherous personality into account. Now it was obvious what would happen—Veronica would just refuse to make good on her end of the deal.

“Uh-oh,” she muttered.

“Wait,” Lisa whispered. “Tessa predicted this might happen. We came up with a plan on our way over here after dinner. Just play along.”

Meanwhile, Veronica had turned to go. But Tessa grabbed her shoulder before she could take a step. “Wait,” she ordered.

Veronica shook off her hand and turned back, looking annoyed. “Let go of me,” she snapped.

“I think you’ll want to hear what I have to say,” Tessa said, pushing up the sleeves of her purple gown. “What do you say we up the odds on our little wager?”

Veronica shrugged, not looking very interested. “I doubt you can come up with anything that will make this”—she gestured at the pajama-clad crowd around her—“worth my while.”

“How about this?” Tessa said belligerently. She put her hands on her hips. “If I beat you, your punishment stands. But if you somehow manage to beat me, I’ll dress up in whatever costume you want and perform in the town parade—
and
at the fireworks afterward.” She jerked a thumb at the rest of The Saddle Club. “And so will my friends.”

Carole let out a loud gasp. “Are you crazy?” she hissed at Tessa in a stage whisper.

Lisa was backing away. “I don’t know about that …”

Stevie felt like grinning. Tessa was brilliant! “Hold on a second, Tessa,” she said seriously, playing along. “Maybe we should talk about this first.”

Veronica couldn’t resist. “It’s a deal!” she said quickly. She gave a wicked smile. “Wearing a silly nightgown will all be worth it—when I see the four of you making total fools of yourselves in front of the entire town!” She hurried over to the almost empty box. “Okay, what do we have here?”

She bent over and pulled something out. Stevie would have laughed out loud when she saw it if she hadn’t still been pretending to be upset with Tessa. Veronica was holding the top half of Michael’s fuzzy pink pajamas!

Veronica held the bunny-print nightshirt gingerly between her thumb and forefinger and wrinkled her nose in distaste. “You’ve got to be kidding,” she muttered. She reached into the box again, but all she came up with was a nightcap shaped like a big, fuzzy sheep, complete with aqua blue googly eyes and a protruding pink felt tongue.

“Almost ready, Veronica?” Max asked briskly, hurrying over.

“Not quite,” Veronica said. “I can’t wear this stuff. If you give me fifteen minutes, I’ll call the maid and have her send over one of my decent nightgowns—”

“Forget it,” Max cut her off. “We’re running late already, and we want to be finished before dark. Put that stuff on and go get Danny. Now!”

For a second Veronica seemed ready to argue. But when Max glared at her, she gave in. “Oh, all right,” she muttered, shrugging the too-small faded pink nightshirt on over her short-sleeved red blouse.

“Hold on to that cap,” Max insisted as Veronica started to toss the sheep-shaped nightcap back into the box. “I’m sure it will fit over your riding hard hat. And everyone has to wear at least two items. Rules.”

Veronica shot him a look of pure disbelief. But Max’s expression was serious. Even Veronica knew better than to argue with him when he looked like that. She glanced around again at her fellow riders and finally seemed convinced that everyone else’s outfits were just as ridiculous as hers, even taking the sheep hat into consideration. “Fine,” she said in exasperation, tucking the woolly cap under her arm.

She headed toward the stable door. On her way, she paused beside The Saddle Club. “Don’t worry,” she whispered to them. “I may look ridiculous now. But not half as ridiculous as you’re all going to look next weekend at that parade!”

“E
VERYBODY READY
?” Max called.

The riders in the midnight steeplechase were forming a
jagged line on the far side of the outdoor ring, facing the broad, open fields behind Pine Hollow.

Veronica had just mounted. “Hold it,” she complained. “Nobody even told me where we’re supposed to end up.”

Lisa rode over to her and held out a folded piece of paper. “Here’s a copy of the map,” she said brightly. “We’re doing this as an old-fashioned point-to-point, so you have to choose your own route. The first one who gets to the spot marked on the map with an X is the winner.”

Max glanced at his watch. “Veronica, you have exactly thirty seconds to look over the map,” he announced. “Then we’re starting this race. Meanwhile, I just want to remind everyone of a few ground rules. You all know which property owners allow us on their land and which don’t. And by the way, I should add that Mrs. Pennington has graciously agreed that we can ride on her property whenever we like, as long as we follow the usual courtesies about leaving gates the way we found them and so forth.” He took a breath. “Also, please remember—even though this is a race, that’s no excuse for risky riding. Don’t go faster than you and your horse are comfortable with. If you don’t think you can handle an obstacle, stop and go around it. And don’t crowd your fellow riders.” He glanced at his watch again. “Got it? Okay, with that said—have fun! Red is already waiting at the finish line. I’ll see you there!”

“Here we go!” Carole said. She was feeling excited, and
not only because of their prank. Somehow, being out in the evening air preparing to ride cross-country was even more exciting than she would have thought. The horses seemed to feel it, too. Most of them were tossing their heads or stamping their feet eagerly, despite the fact that it was almost their dinnertime.

“On your marks,” Max said, raising one hand above his head. “Get set … 
Go!
” His hand fell, and the horses took off.

“There she goes!” Stevie called to her friends as they all lunged forward.

Danny had responded instantly to his rider’s command, as usual. That meant that Veronica had a jump on most of the other riders. She immediately aimed him off at a left angle, while the rest of the pack veered to the right.

Stevie was sure that some of the other riders were surprised at Veronica’s choice of paths. Come to think of it, if Max was still watching, he was probably surprised, too, since the old stone wall marked with an X on the maps of every other rider was off to the right. She just hoped he put it down to Veronica’s poor map skills.

“Come on,” Carole shouted, crouching lower over Starlight’s back as he broke from a canter into a brisk gallop. “We’ve got to keep up!”

The four members of The Saddle Club raced after Veronica and Danny. Stevie grinned as the wind whipped Belle’s mane back toward her. This was fun! She just hoped that Veronica didn’t realize too soon where her
map was leading her—or wonder why The Saddle Club girls were the only other riders in sight.

They came to the fence marking the boundary of Pine Hollow’s land. Stevie steadied Belle, slowing her to a fast canter. She leaned forward as the horse sprang over the gate, with Starlight half a pace ahead to the left and Topside and Derby half a pace behind to the right.

“Wahooooo!”
Tessa yelled with joy as they all landed safely on the far side.

They were entering the woods now. The path was wide and smooth, but the girls slowed their horses to a trot nonetheless. Veronica and Danny had slowed down a little bit, too, and were visible through the sparse trees a dozen yards ahead.

Before long the trees thinned out even more, and a meadow carpeted in fresh green grass and tiny blue wildflowers spread before them. Only a low stile separated the path they were on from the field, and the girls’ horses jumped it easily, one after the other. Danny was already halfway across the meadow, moving at a steady gallop. The Saddle Club urged their horses forward. They weren’t really trying to keep up, but they didn’t want to lose sight of Veronica, either. Otherwise it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun when she reached the “finish line.”

“This is great,” Lisa called to her friends as the horses galloped eagerly after Danny.

Carole had just been thinking the same thing. The sun
was sinking toward the horizon, but there was still plenty of light left in the clear summer sky. Overhead, birds twittered and flew busily about their business, and in the woods all around the wildflower meadow spring peepers were just warming up for their evening song.

Carole took a deep breath, drinking in the scents of the outdoors mingled with the sharp odor of Starlight’s sweat. There was just a whiff of mothballs mixed in with it, too, courtesy of the nightgown, which she had hiked up over her waist in order to ride more easily, and its matching yellow nightcap. But that didn’t make things any less wonderful.