Horse Thief

“I have a very disturbing announcement to make,” began Max. “Someone has just taken a large sum of money out of my office.”

The crowd began to murmur. Max held up his hand for silence. “It was my fault for being so careless as to leave it there, but I’ve always encouraged an open atmosphere at this stable and I didn’t think it would be a problem. Now the money is gone, and if anyone knows anything about the disappearance, please come and talk to me. If you know where the money is, you can just leave it in my office when I’m not there—no questions asked.”

The riders from visiting Pony Clubs shuffled uneasily, and several people darted glances at each other. Then Veronica diAngelo stepped forward.

“I know something. I know who took the money,” she announced. “Phil Marsten is the thief. I saw him sneaking out of your office ten minutes ago!”

S
TEVIE
L
AKE SHIFTED
uncomfortably. The floor in Max’s office seemed to be getting harder, and she was squeezed next to one of her best friends, Carole Hanson. She dug her elbow into Carole’s side and whispered, “Move over. My foot is falling asleep.”

Without budging an inch, Carole absently whispered back, “Shhh. I can’t hear what Doc Tock is saying.”

Stevie grinned. Normally Carole couldn’t think about anything but horses. Her head swam with bits of advice about riding, grooming, and anything else to do with horse care. Stevie’s other best friend, Lisa Atwood, was sitting on the other side of Carole and looked just as absorbed as Carole did. The three girls were not only best friends, but they also shared a love of horses, which had
led them to form The Saddle Club. The only requirements for joining were that members had to be crazy about horses and had to be willing to help one another out.

But at today’s unmounted meeting of Horse Wise, the Pony Club all three girls belonged to, the topic for discussion had nothing to do with horses. Usually Max Regnery, the leader of Horse Wise and the owner of Pine Hollow Stables, where Horse Wise members rode, used these unmounted meetings to discuss some aspect of stable management. For this meeting, however, Max had invited Doc Tock—everybody’s nickname for Dr. Takamura—to update Horse Wise about the latest efforts of the County Animal Rescue League, or CARL. Almost everyone in Horse Wise knew about CARL’s work saving abused or injured animals and finding them new homes or, in the case of wild animals, returning them safely to the wild. Doc Tock was a veterinarian who donated medical care to animals rescued by CARL, and her daughter, Corey, was a member of Horse Wise.

Carole, Lisa, and Stevie had participated in Horse Wise riding exhibitions to raise money for CARL’s work. They loved hearing about the animals rescued by CARL, even when it meant sitting on the hard floor in Max’s office for half an hour, and
even
if it meant that the topic for discussion wasn’t horses.

Stevie decided to ignore the pins and needles in her
foot and concentrate on what Doc Tock was saying. “… and the building was scheduled to be demolished, so volunteers from CARL went in as soon as we could get permission and managed to capture her.”

Stevie nudged Phil Marsten, her boyfriend, who was her guest for the meeting. “ ‘Her’?” she whispered.

“Pregnant fox … abandoned building … needed rescuing,” Phil whispered back.

A pregnant fox! Stevie had seen a few foxes around Willow Creek, the town where they lived, and she knew that they were common in the Virginia countryside. She remembered once seeing a fox’s bushy tail disappear into a thicket while she and Lisa and Carole were on a trail ride. She had even played one once, when she had been chosen to be the fox in a mock foxhunt. Although she had received a lot of ribbing about playing a fox, she was glad they hadn’t chased a
real
one.

“I bet fox babies are cute,” Stevie whispered to Phil. Then she caught Max’s stern glance and immediately looked contrite. Max hated it when riders talked during meetings and lessons.

“The most important thing about wild animal rescues,” continued Doc Tock, “is that we don’t treat the animals like pets. We don’t try to build their trust in us, because we want them to return to their natural environment, so they can’t become too familiar with humans. Sometimes an animal’s fear of humans is what saves its
life. So we rescued the fox, fed her well to build up her strength and prepare her for giving birth, then released her in the state park—far away from any more abandoned buildings. Unfortunately, wild animals do sometimes find their way into human areas, which is a sign that civilization is crowding out their natural habitats. A good example of this is raccoons, which can sometimes be found rummaging through people’s garbage cans. Raccoons will eat anything, and they can make quite a mess.”

Doc Tock concluded, “Now we’re hoping that the fox safely gave birth to her kits in the park. She’s probably wishing she had a baby-sitter right about now!”

“What’s her hourly rate?” Stevie asked.

Everyone laughed. Then Max stepped forward, holding a glass jar. “I’m leaving this jar in the locker room,” he announced. “If you have any spare change rattling around in your pockets, you may want to drop it in the jar. When the jar is full, we’ll give it to CARL to help support their work.”

Spare change was something Stevie rarely had. Although her parents were fairly well off, they were also pretty firm about Stevie’s allowance. Stevie had three brothers, and four children meant that the Lake household had a lot of expenses. Stevie was expected to help around the house to earn her allowance—and she had to help with the cost of keeping her horse at Pine Hollow. Unless it was for a really special occasion, her parents
didn’t give her extra spending money. They were all too familiar with their daughter’s crazy spending habits—and crazy ideas. Money just didn’t seem to stay in Stevie’s pockets for long, but she hoped she could manage to save some for the CARL jar.

The meeting was over, and everyone started filing out. Stevie stood up and stretched. She tapped the rag rug with her foot. “I think Max needs a nice thick plush carpet in his office,” she complained. “This little rug didn’t help my backside one bit!”

Phil laughed. “Yeah, that would be practical,” he teased. “With riders tramping through here all day, tracking in dirt from the ring.”

Carole and Lisa laughed, too. They couldn’t imagine Max’s no-nonsense, no-frills office with a fancy rug, either. The only decorations in the office were a few photographs of champion horses and riders that Max had ridden or helped train and a photograph on his desk of his wife, Deborah, and their daughter, Maxi.

Stevie put on a fake mad expression and punched Phil lightly in the arm. “Just remember, Phil, that you’re my guest here today,” she told him. “That means you have to be extra nice to me.”

“No, I’m the guest, remember?” Phil answered. “
You’ve
got to be nice to
me
.”

“Why don’t you two just be nice to each other?” Carole broke in impatiently. She and Lisa had spent a lot of
time with Stevie and Phil and knew that they were prone to playful, competitive bickering. Unfortunately, once they got started, they kept on going. Carole tugged on Stevie’s arm and said, “C’mon, you two. We have a lot to do this afternoon.”

The group planned to spend the afternoon practicing for a Pony Club dressage rally that was going to be held at Pine Hollow the following Saturday. The rally was to be staged just like a real dressage competition, with tests on different types of dressage steps. Max had invited a well-known rider from the United States Dressage Federation to come and judge the event.

Phil’s Pony Club, Cross County, was also going to participate in the rally. Phil had had his horse, Teddy, brought over to Pine Hollow that day so that he could practice with Stevie.

Everyone in Horse Wise was excited about the rally, but Stevie was especially looking forward to the event. Dressage, which involved very technical but balletic riding without jumping, was one of her favorite events. It always amazed people who knew Stevie and her flamboyant tendencies to see how she excelled at this precise and demanding form of horsemanship. She practiced dressage movements with her part-Arabian horse, Belle, whenever she could, and she really wanted to win a ribbon in the competition.

* * *

A
FEW MINUTES
later, Stevie finished tacking up and headed to the indoor ring. On the way out she passed by Prancer’s stall, where she saw Lisa standing by the mare, looking puzzled.

Unlike Carole and Stevie, Lisa didn’t own a horse, but she almost always rode the same Pine Hollow horse, Prancer, an ex-racehorse and a Thoroughbred. Although the mare was sometimes flighty and high-strung, Lisa loved her long, graceful lines and smooth gaits. Right now, however, she had a discouraged expression on her face and was shaking her head.