Horse Guest (10 page)

Britt shrugged. “They’re not foolproof, though,” she warned. “It didn’t work on this horse. He almost went crazy when they made him wear it. They were afraid he was going to hurt himself more by trying to get it off than he would by ripping off his bandages. He really hated having his head movement limited that way.” She giggled. “And Magoo really has a mind of his own. I have a feeling he might react the same way.”

“You’re probably right about that,” Stevie agreed.

“Next, they tried cross-tying him while he was alone in his stall,” Britt said. “He hated that almost as much. Luckily, the next thing they tried worked. They attached a leather bib to his halter. That did the trick.

Carole nodded thoughtfully. Britt had come up with some good suggestions for them to try. But more important in a way, she had just demonstrated once again why she was truly Saddle Club material. Her interest in horses and willingness to help had just intersected. Although she didn’t realize it, Britt had just fulfilled both of their club’s rules at once!

Lisa was thinking about something else. “Guess what,” she told Carole and Stevie, trying her best to sound casual. “Britt rode that Hedgerow mare Applesauce today.”

“Really?” Stevie said, playing along. “How come?”

Britt took a sip of water. “The groom asked me to,” she said. “He said she’d just been reshod and he was worried that one of the new shoes was bothering her. He wanted
someone to put her through her paces while he watched.” She shrugged. “But she turned out to be fine.”

Carole and Stevie exchanged amused glances. Britt didn’t sound suspicious at all, even though the story was pretty lame.

“Britt thought Applesauce had really nice gaits,” Lisa put in, looking very pleased with herself. As she had guessed, Britt had seemed to like the mare a lot. “Didn’t you, Britt?”

Britt nodded. “She’s a really nice horse,” she said, sounding a little distracted. “Hey, isn’t that Polly walking by out there?”

Lisa twisted around in the seat to look. She was just in time to see Polly stroll past on the walkway outside the glass door of the restaurant. “That’s her,” she said.

Britt quickly scooted out of the booth. “Um, I think I’ll go catch up to her,” she said. “She lives down the street from me, and maybe I can get a ride home with her if she’s leaving soon. Otherwise I’ll have to take the bus. My mom’s working late.” She gave The Saddle Club an anxious glance. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“Go ahead,” Stevie assured her. “We’ll forgive you if you eat and run this time. Even though you didn’t even eat.”

Britt looked relieved. “Thanks,” she said with a smile. She hurried away. A moment later, with a tinkling of the bell on the door, she was gone.

“It’s too bad she couldn’t stay longer,” Lisa said.

Carole shrugged. “I know how she feels,” she said. “Taking the bus is a pain in the neck, especially when it’s cold outside.” Unlike her friends, Carole lived too far from Pine Hollow to walk home. She had to take the town bus whenever she couldn’t get a ride from her father or another rider’s parents.

“Besides,” Stevie pointed out, just as the waitress reluctantly stopped in front of their table again and pulled out her order pad, “we’ll have plenty of time to spend with Britt once she joins The Saddle Club.”

“D
ID YOU GIVE
Max our list of ideas?” Carole asked.

Lisa nodded. Then, realizing that Carole couldn’t see her over the phone, she added, “Yep. He thought there were some good ones.” After Britt had left the ice cream shop that day, the other girls had spent some time thinking up more ideas for the gymkhana. Lisa had promised to stop by the stable on her way home and give them to Max. “He especially liked the costume relay where the horses get dressed up instead of the riders.”

Carole giggled. “That’s my favorite, too,” she said. “It will—” She paused as a soft tone sounded on the line. “Is that your call waiting?”

“I think so,” Lisa said. “Hold on a second.” She put Carole on hold and pressed the button to pick up the other call. “Hello? Atwood residence, Lisa speaking.”

“Hi, Lisa,” said a cheerful woman’s voice. “This is Joanne Lynn.”

“Oh, hi,” Lisa greeted Britt’s mother. “I was just talking to Carole on the other line.”

“Oh, sorry,” the woman said. “I won’t keep you long. I just wanted to call and thank you for spending so much time with Britt lately. She really enjoyed visiting that other stable with you today.”

Lisa smiled. “I had fun, too,” she said. “Did Britt tell you she got to ride one of the horses?”

“She sure did.” Ms. Lynn lowered her voice a little. “That reminds me, I also wanted to thank you and your friends for all your help on our little project,” she said. “From everything she’s said to me, it sounds like she’s already picked out the horse she wants, even if she doesn’t know yet that she’s getting one.”

Lisa’s heart jumped with excitement. She had been right! Britt really had fallen in love with Applesauce! “That’s great,” Lisa said. She was about to press for details, but Ms. Lynn spoke up before she could.

“I’ll let you get back to your other call now,” the woman said. “Maybe we can talk more at your show on Saturday. I’ll be coming to watch, of course.”

“Great,” Lisa said. “See you then.”

She said good-bye and pressed the button to switch the line back to the original call.
Just wait until Carole hears about this!

S
TEVIE LOOKED UP
as Lisa entered the student locker room the next day. “Got everything?” she asked.

Lisa nodded and held up a pair of scissors. “I borrowed these from Mrs. Reg,” she said. “Carole is coming with the props. She went to find Britt and ask if she wants to help out.”

Stevie gestured to the piece of construction paper on the bench in front of her. “I’ve got most of the front parts of the receipts done,” she said. She was writing names of various items in large letters, making “receipts” that were half a page in size. “All I have to do now is cut them out and then add the names of the stores on the back—if Veronica ever shows up with those shopping bags, that is.”

“She said she’d be here,” Lisa said, glancing at her watch. “If she doesn’t show up soon, maybe we can try calling her. We have to get this stuff done fast—the gymkhana is the day after tomorrow.”

“I know,” Stevie said. “And I promised my parents I’d hang around at home tomorrow and spend some time with Grandma, so I won’t be able to help you if we don’t finish today.”

Just then Carole hurried into the room. She was carrying a boxful of small pieces of tack, assorted grooming tools, and other items, which would serve as “merchandise” for the game. “How’s it going?” she asked.

The others told her. “I’m just about to start making the signs that will mark the location of each store,” Lisa added, grabbing a brightly colored marking pen from the pile on the floor next to Stevie. “I won’t be able to add the names until Veronica brings us the bags—she wants them to match—but I thought I’d draw some borders and things to make them look nice.”

“Where’s Britt?” Stevie asked.

Carole set the box on the bench. “She begged off,” she said. “She told me she’d help if we really needed her, but she wanted to put in some extra practice on Coconut since she’ll be riding him in the games on Saturday.” She grinned triumphantly. “Naturally, I told her to go ahead.”

“I don’t know what you’re looking so smug about,” Lisa said. “Ms. Lynn told me that Britt already decided she likes Applesauce best.” She paused, thinking back on the
phone conversation. “At least, I thought that was what she said.”

Stevie shrugged. “Who knows?” she said. “Maybe she’s still making up her mind. For one thing, she doesn’t even know that she’s actually getting a horse.”

“True,” Carole said. “Besides, it’s a really big decision. She needs to be really sure, and that means exploring all her options carefully.” She smiled. “I can’t wait to see her face when she finds out her mom is getting her another horse. I still remember how thrilled I was when Dad surprised me with Starlight.” That had been one of the best moments of her life, and she was glad Britt would get to experience something similar. She could practically picture Britt’s shining face as she hugged Coconut for the first time after realizing that he was hers forever.

Stevie nodded. She was remembering her own feelings when she had gotten Belle. “It will be great,” she said dreamily, imagining Britt’s response when presented with Romeo’s lively, wonderful half brother for her very own.

Lisa didn’t have her own horse yet, but she would never forget the day that Prancer had come to live at Pine Hollow. Lisa had fallen in love with the lovely Thoroughbred from the first time she saw her. She knew it would be even more special for Britt when she brought her own mare, Applesauce, to live at Pine Hollow.

Carole sighed deeply. “It’s going to be wonderful for her, no matter which horse she chooses,” she said. “I just
hope that after that, being asked to join The Saddle Club won’t seem anticlimactic.”

“Never,” Lisa said loyally.

But Stevie had a very funny look on her face. “I just remembered something,” she said. “Speaking of asking Britt things, has any of us asked her to be on our team for the gymkhana yet?”

Both her friends shook their heads. “I forgot,” Carole said.

“Me too,” Lisa added. “Poor Britt. I hope she doesn’t think she’s going to be without a team on Saturday.”

Stevie capped the black marker she was using and tossed it on the pile. “I keep forgetting to mention it, too,” she said. “I guess I’ve been distracted by all the excitement of Grandma’s visit.” She sighed. “Or maybe I should say all the
non-excitement
.”

Carole grinned. “Does this mean your temporary truce with your brothers is still holding?”

“You bet,” Stevie said. “My house has never been so quiet and sedate. Mom and Dad can’t figure out what happened, but they’re not complaining.” She snorted. “Although I find it hard to believe that anyone could actually
prefer
things so boring.”

Lisa looked up from the sign she was making and laughed. “Oh, I don’t know,” she said. “I’ll bet my mom would prefer it, too.” Lisa’s mother was famous for liking things quiet, orderly, and genteel.

Quiet
,
orderly
, and
genteel
were usually the last three words anyone would use to describe Stevie’s house. But these days they actually fit. “I’m just glad we only have to keep it up for another week,” Stevie said. “It’s nice to know we have enough self-control and restraint to make it work. But if Grandma were staying any longer than two weeks, I just might explode!”

At that moment Veronica came stomping into the room. “There you are!” she exclaimed when she saw The Saddle Club. “I was looking all over for you.”

“We told you we’d be here,” Carole said. “Did you bring the bags?”

Veronica stared at her blankly for a second. “What?” she snapped. Then she realized what Carole was talking about. “Oh, those. They’re in my cubby.” She waved her hand vaguely toward the wall of cubbyholes where students stored their things while they were riding. “But never mind that right now. You’ve got to do something about that stupid horse. He’s out of control.”

Carole had already started toward Veronica’s cubby to retrieve the shopping bags, but she stopped short and turned around. “What horse?” she asked. “Do you mean Magoo?”

“Of course I do.” Veronica tossed her head. “He’s making such a fuss that it’s starting to upset Danny. I don’t want him to get all excited and worn out before the gymkhana, or he won’t be at his peak.”

Carole, Lisa, and Stevie exchanged anxious glances. None of them was the least bit concerned about Danny. They all knew that nothing short of an explosion in his stall would disturb the imperturbable gelding. But they were all worried about Magoo. What was he up to now?

They hurried out of the room after Veronica to find out. When they reached Magoo’s stall, they found the chestnut gelding standing with his head hanging out over the half door, snorting loudly and swinging his neck from side to side. As they watched, he backed into his stall. A moment later they heard the sound of his hoofs against the side wall.

“See what I mean?” Veronica demanded. “Poor Danny!” She rushed over to her horse’s stall and let herself in.

Carole glanced in at Danny. As expected, he was standing impassively near the front, munching on a mouthful of hay. She turned her attention to Magoo.

Lisa was already at the gelding’s head, soothing him while Stevie examined him. “He ripped off a few more bandages,” Stevie reported.

Carole could see that for herself. “It looks like the hot sauce is still making him nuts,” she said. “We’ll have to stop using it.”

“Maybe we should try one of those suggestions Britt gave us yesterday,” Lisa said.

Carole nodded. “I guess so,” she said, “but we should probably talk to Max before we try anything too drastic.”

“Let’s go find him,” Stevie said, heading out of the stall.

Veronica stuck her head out as the other girls walked past. “Aren’t you going to do anything about that crazy horse?” she snapped. “He’s a menace.”