Horse Tale (4 page)

A few minutes later they arrived in town. Two Mile Creek looked something like a town in an old Western movie and something like a regular modern town. The streets were paved, and most of the stores were the ordinary kind that might be found anywhere in the country. But the wooden sidewalks in front of the stores were covered like porches, and some of the buildings on the main street, including the sheriff’s office and the bank, had hitching posts in front of them and old-West-style lettering on their signs. The girls knew that those things were mostly for the benefit of tourists—and they couldn’t see a thing in the world wrong with that!

“Okay, where to?” Stevie asked, pulling Stewball to a halt in front of an ice-cream parlor.

Kate shaded her eyes with her hand and looked around. “Chuck Pierce, the guy who runs the show, said he’d meet us right here,” she said. “I don’t see him, though.”

The others looked around, too. Suddenly Stevie pointed to a man coming out of the sheriff’s office. “Could that be him?”

Kate turned to see. “That’s him all right.”

The man Stevie had pointed at waved to Kate and crossed the street toward them. He was wearing ornately embroidered but well-worn black cowboy boots, black pants, a black vest and shirt, and to top it all off, a black cowboy hat. He looked a little younger than Kate’s father, and he had a large, bushy mustache and a heavy five o’clock shadow. The silver spurs on his boots jingled as he walked.

“Chuck not only directs the show, he also stars in it as Outlaw Buck McClanahan, head varmint,” Kate explained to her friends as the man approached them.

“Howdy, Miss Kate,” Chuck Pierce said in a thick Western drawl, removing his hat. “Howdy, ladies.”

“Howdy,” all five girls replied in one voice.

“I’m glad to see you’re all in the Wild West spirit,” Chuck said in a more normal voice.

“We sure are, pardner,” Stevie replied enthusiastically. “When do we start?”

“Right now,” Chuck told her. He put his hat back on and glanced at the horses. “Why don’t you tie those critters over there.” He pointed toward the hitching post in front of the sheriff’s office.

“Really?” Lisa asked, glancing at Kate with raised eyebrows.

Kate nodded. “It’s okay,” she told them, leading her horse, Spot, across the street. The others followed. “They like to have some horses around during the show to give the place an authentic old-West look. Right, Chuck?”

“Right you are,” Chuck replied as he strolled along beside them. “There’s a big trough of water and plenty of shade from those trees out front, so they’ll be fine there for a couple of hours while we head over to the high school for rehearsal. There’s time for a quick tour of the locations you’ll need to know here first, though.”

After the girls had gotten their horses settled outside the sheriff’s office and had loosened their girths for comfort, Chuck began the tour. He showed The Saddle Club around the area near the bank, which was two doors down from the sheriff’s office. Most of the action would take place in that area. He explained that the girls would be in the first part of the show, which would take place right in front of the bank. When they were finished, the sheriff’s deputy would begin shooting at the bad guys from the roof of a building across the street.

“I remember that from the last time we saw the show,” Lisa remarked. “He falls off the roof, right? Kate showed us the pile of mattresses he falls onto.”

“I missed that the last time,” Stevie said. “Can I see?”

“Sure thing, missy,” Chuck said. They followed him across the street. The shaded sidewalk ended a few yards from the street in that spot, and there was a small rest area in between, containing a park bench, a few shrubs, and a tree. Chuck led them around the bench and pointed, and the girls saw a pile of mattresses. The mattresses were hidden from view from both sidewalk and street by the shrubs and the tree.

“Awesome!” Stevie cried. “You wouldn’t even know they were here!”

Kate glanced from the mattresses to the roof. “It must take some aim to hit it every time,” she commented.

Chuck nodded. “We’re lucky. The fellow who plays the deputy trained for a while as a stuntman before he decided he’d rather be a cowboy. He hasn’t missed yet!”

“F
IRST THINGS FIRST
,” Chuck said, leading them into the gym of Two Mile Creek High School a few minutes later. “We have to get you gals properly gussied up.”

“Awesome,” Stevie said. “Do we get spurs and hats like yours?”

“Not quite,” Chuck said with a smile. He pointed to a tall red-haired young woman who was bustling around on the opposite side of the gym. “Go over and see Cassie, there. She’ll get you outfitted.”

The girls did as he said, and in a matter of moments they were dressed in their costumes for the show. Stevie was disappointed to find out that these costumes consisted of long calico dresses and bonnets that might have come straight out of
Little House on the Prairie
.

“Remember, we’re supposed to be the helpless victims, not the cowboys,” Carole reminded her.

But Stevie couldn’t help grumbling a little, especially when she saw Cassie emerge dressed just like Chuck, with her long red hair pinned up and tucked under her black cowboy hat.

“Come on, girls,” Cassie told them. “It’s time to practice. Did Chuck tell you the scenario?”

The girls shook their heads. “All we know is that we’re captured by bank robbers,” Lisa said.

Cassie smiled. “That’s right,” she said. “And we’re a real vicious band of desperadoes, so remember to look scared. You guys are going to be walking along innocently in front of the bank when we come out of it with our guns blazing. When we see you, each of us will grab one of you as a hostage and start dragging you toward our horses. You should all be screaming and crying out the whole time, but not so loud that the audience can’t hear the rest of the dialogue.”

“Then what happens?” Carole asked. When they had seen the bank-robbery show before, there hadn’t been any hostages.

“While you’re being carried toward the horses, one of you faints.” Cassie paused and looked at each of them in turn, then pointed to Carole. “Think you can do that?”

Carole placed one hand over her forehead and pretended to swoon, crumpling dramatically to the floor. Her friends applauded the performance.

“All right, then, you win the part,” Cassie said with a grin. “Another of the victims is supposed to wriggle free and run for cover.” She nodded to Lisa. “That’ll be you, okay?”

“Sounds good,” Lisa replied.

“You”—Cassie pointed to Christine—“will wrestle the
gun away from the robber holding you and march him into the jail.”

“All right!” Christine exclaimed. “I’ll show those no-account varmints who’s boss.”

“What about Kate and me?” Stevie asked eagerly. “What do we get to do? Grab their horses and make a break for it? Knock them out with the handles of their own guns?”

Cassie shook her head. “Afraid not. You two get carried all the way over to the horses. Then they drop you, and you run for cover offstage as the shoot-out with the deputy and the sheriff’s posse begins.”

Carole knew Stevie was disappointed in the part she’d been assigned. But she also knew that once the rehearsal began, all of them were going to have a lot of fun putting on the performance, no matter what parts they were playing.

After the girls and the five “robbers” had practiced their part of the show several times, screams and all, everyone knew exactly what to do and when to do it.

“All right, girls,” Chuck announced. “Why don’t you go on and get yourselves some lunch. Just make sure you’re back here by two-thirty to get back in costume. The early show is at three, and the late show is at four-thirty.”

“We’ll be here,” Stevie assured him. “This is going to be a blast!”

“I
COULDN
’
T EAT
a thing,” Stevie declared. The girls were wandering aimlessly around the town. They had already checked on their horses, who were dozing contentedly in their spot outside the sheriff’s office. As the girls left them, they had noticed some tourists stopping to take pictures of the horses.

“I know what you mean,” Carole said. “I’m much too excited to think about lunch.”

“I’m not hungry, either,” Lisa said, “but I definitely am thirsty. I’ve never had to do so much screaming in my life.”

“Me, neither.” Suddenly Stevie stopped in front of a store. “Let’s go in here a minute.”

“The candy store? I thought you weren’t hungry,” Christine said.

“I’m not.” With that Stevie disappeared through the shop’s door. Her friends shrugged and followed.

The candy store was decorated like an old-fashioned sweet shop, and the glass jars lining the walls seemed to contain every type of candy known to humankind. Stevie had known exactly what she wanted, though. She was already at the counter placing her order.

“Rock candy!” Lisa said as the proprietor handed Stevie a bulging paper bag. “I should have known.”

“It’s one of her favorite treats in the world,” Carole explained to Kate and Christine.

“I don’t blame her,” Christine said. “It’s one of mine, too. I hope you’re planning to share, Stevie.”

The girls left the candy shop and strolled down the covered sidewalk. “Don’t worry, I’ll share,” Stevie said. “But this candy is mostly for medicinal purposes. I’ve got a little bit of a sore throat from all that screaming, and I wouldn’t want to lose my voice just before our big debut.” She covered her mouth with her hand and gave a weak-sounding cough.

Carole raised an eyebrow suspiciously. “You don’t sound very sick to me,” she said. “But as long as you stick to that promise to share, I won’t say a word.”

“Just don’t let it spoil your appetites,” Stevie warned jokingly as she held out the bag so her friends could help themselves.

“Speaking of appetites, I think we really should try to eat something before the show,” Lisa said sensibly. “We probably
won’t have much time between the early and late shows, and we’ll definitely be starving by then if all we’ve eaten since breakfast is rock candy.”

“Lisa’s right,” Kate said. “Why don’t we go to the hamburger place next to the ice-cream parlor? That way if anyone feels like dessert—”

“Say no more,” Carole said. “Just lead the way.”

T
HE FIVE GIRLS
stepped through the doors of the high-school gym at two-thirty on the dot. Despite their excitement, each of them had managed to polish off a double-decker cheeseburger with all the trimmings and an ice-cream cone.

“I hope we still fit into our costumes,” Carole commented, patting her stomach.

“I kind of hope we don’t,” Stevie admitted. “I’m not crazy about that silly calico dress I have to wear. I wish we had more interesting roles.”

The others laughed. “Still, you have to admit this is pretty exciting,” Lisa said.

“You’re right,” Stevie admitted without hesitation. “It is.”

Chuck hurried out to meet them. “Go right on back to the locker room,” he instructed them. “Cassie’s waiting for you with your costumes.”

The girls did as he said. They changed quickly, then gathered at the full-length mirror near the door to make last-minute adjustments.

“Is my bonnet straight?” Lisa asked anxiously, fiddling with the ribbon tied under her chin.

Carole gave the item in question a critical look, then nodded. “It’s straight. Does my hair look okay?” She patted her head experimentally. She had tucked most of her curly shoulder-length hair under her bonnet, but springy little pieces kept escaping around her face.

“You look cute as a button,” Kate declared. She looked around. “All of us do! Stevie, what are you doing?”

Stevie turned, looking rather guilty. She had her dress hitched up above her waist and was shoving the bag of rock candy deep into one of the pockets of her jeans, which she had left on underneath the long dress. “Oh, well, I’m kind of worried about my throat—it’s sore, remember? And I’m going to have to do a lot of screaming out there, and like I said before, I wouldn’t want to lose my voice at a critical moment.” She held up the bag of rock candy to show them. “I thought I’d bring it along, just in case.”

The others laughed. “Stevie, I’ll bet you’ve never lost your voice in your life,” Christine said. “But we might just forget you tried to use that lame excuse if you give us some more candy, right, girls?”

The others nodded. Stevie grinned and passed the bag around again. Then the five girls hurried out to join the other performers in the gym.

“Hey, where’d you get the candy?” asked one of them, a young man named Sam, when he saw what the girls were eating.

Stevie fished the bag out of her pocket once again. “Help yourself,” she told the “bad guys” generously. They did. Luckily she had bought enough so that there was still some left.

“This is great,” Sam declared happily as he sucked on his piece of candy. “Rock candy is my favorite.”

“Mine, too,” Stevie told him. “I guess that must be why we’re paired up together, huh?” Sam was the one who was supposed to kidnap Stevie during the show.

“Must be,” he told her with a wink. He grabbed another piece out of the bag and pocketed it. “I’ll just save this for later.”