Show Horse (14 page)

“W
E WERE WONDERFUL
!” Stevie declared. She was sitting in the big easy chair in Carole’s room with her slippered feet propped up on Carole’s bed. The three of them were having a hastily arranged sleepover. It was a celebration of the victories they’d had at the horse show. It was also a Saddle Club meeting, because every time the three of them got together without any other distractions (and sometimes
with
other distractions), they called it a Saddle Club meeting.

“We sure were wonderful,” Lisa said. “Especially Carole.”

“Thanks,” Carole said. “It was a very special day, that’s for sure.”

The three of them were quiet for a few minutes then, each lost in her own thoughts.

“For a while there, all I cared about was winning,” Stevie said. “I kind of assumed that was the only important part of the horse show.”

“And I assumed that just because I had a valuable horse, I would win everything,” Lisa said. “I was such a dope.”

“You weren’t a dope,” Carole said quickly. “You were just acting like one!”

The three girls laughed because they all knew that what Carole had said was true.

“And besides,” she went on, “I did my part in acting like a dope, too. Talking about assuming things, how about the way I assumed Cam was a girl? Boy did I miss the boat on that one!”

“He’s not only a boy, he’s a nice boy,” Lisa said. “He tried to help me when I was messing up with Prancer.”

“He
is
a nice boy,” Carole agreed. “He helped me, too. And now that I know how nice he is, I’m going to listen more carefully to his advice. It was silly of me to assume that I knew more than anybody else on my bulletin board.”

Stevie frowned. “Does that mean you’re always going to take his advice?” she asked. It was hard to imagine Carole relinquishing her position as an expert on horses.

“Heavens no!” Carole said. “I didn’t say he was always right—just that he’s worth listening to.”

That was more like it!

“Then there was another way that I acted like a
dope,” Carole continued in a more serious vein. “I mean, I got frazzled when Starlight gave me such trouble in the Equitation class. I’d assumed that just because he and I had worked so hard, we’d do well. I found that working hard might help in some areas, but in others I’m just going to have to work harder.”

“My dopiness had to do with the fact that I thought determination would win,” Stevie said. “All I wanted to do was to win. I thought I could beat you both and I thought that would make me happy. I was wrong on both counts. I can be so competitive sometimes!”

“Right, and all that did was make you look determined, and that wasn’t what the judges wanted to see in the Pleasure class. Now if there had been a Determination class…,” Lisa teased.

“It all worked out, though, didn’t it?” Stevie asked. “I mean, we all won something.”

“If you mean ribbons, yes,” Lisa agreed. “And we probably got those in the right proportions, too. We’re each pretty good riders, but nobody’s kidding anybody here. Carole’s the best, Stevie, you’re next best, and I’m …” She paused for a moment, trying to think of a flattering way to describe the fact that she wasn’t as good a rider as her friends. Then she had it. “… I’m learning the most!” she declared.

“Lucky you!”

Lisa continued on a more serious note. “Well, there was a lot to learn today. I think we all got something out of the show.”

“You know, that’s what Max said he wanted for us,”
Carole said, recalling their first talk with Max about Briarwood. “He said he wanted students who could learn at the show, and then later he said it again when he was talking about our personal goals.”

“Oh, those,” Stevie said. “I’d forgotten. We’re supposed to meet with Max on Tuesday, and he’ll tell us how we did.”

Carole shook her head. “No, you’ve got it wrong,” she said. “We’re supposed to tell
him
how we did—what ribbon we’re supposed to get. What are you two going to say?”

Stevie scrunched her forehead. “I’m trying to remember what I wrote down. I was afraid that Topside was going to make it all so easy for me that I wouldn’t do the job I was supposed to do. I wanted to stay concentrated on the basics.”

“That’s a good goal,” Carole said. “I wish I’d thought of it that way. So do you think you did it?”

Stevie shrugged. “Most of the time, I guess I did. I certainly didn’t do it in the Pleasure class, but I did okay the rest of the time.”

“You should get a blue ribbon then,” Lisa said.

“No, I don’t agree,” Stevie told her earnestly. “Red is good enough for me this time.” Then she turned to Carole. “What about you? What were your goals?”

“I don’t remember all of them, although I thought about them a lot when I wrote them down. Most of them had to do with making Starlight do his best because we’d worked so hard on his training for so long.”

“And what are you going to say to Max?” Lisa asked.

Carole thought for a while before she answered the question. “This may sound odd, or it may sound conceited. I don’t know which you might think, but the fact is that Starlight
did
do his best all through the show. Sometimes it wasn’t as good as I had hoped it would be, but I know Starlight’s limitations, and I’m very sure I got the best he had to give me. I’m going to tell Max I earned a blue.”

Stevie and Lisa both had the same thought. From almost anybody else in the world, that would have sounded like a boast. From Carole it was the honest truth, and they couldn’t fault her. She’d done so well that she clearly deserved at least one more blue ribbon. They told her so. She thanked them.

Then both Stevie and Carole turned to Lisa. “What were your goals?” Carole asked.

Lisa shifted uneasily and made a face. She remembered exactly what she’d written on each of those five pieces of paper. The recollection was embarrassing to her because it had been so foolish to think she could win blue ribbons with a horse who needed so much more training than Prancer had. But she wasn’t quite ready to explain it all to her friends.

She took a deep breath and tried, in the best way she could. “Well, with my envelope it seems that there was some kind of mistake,” she began. “The ‘goals’ that got written down for this year are actually ‘goals’ that were meant for next year—or, maybe
about fifteen years from now, when I’m a lot older and wiser.”

Stevie and Carole didn’t ask for any details. They understood, and that was what friends were for.

“And speaking of goals,” Stevie said. “Tell us about your conversation with Cam after you left us. You were gone an awfully long time when you went to get those drinks for us. Just what kind of questions did Cam ask you about The Saddle Club?”

“Oh, we didn’t talk about The Saddle Club at all,” Carole said.

“Well, did he ask you anything?” said Lisa.

“Sure,” Carole said. Her friends thought there was a possibility that she was blushing as she answered the question. “He did ask me one question.”

“Yes?”

“He asked me my phone number.” Carole smiled shyly. “And I gave it to him.”

“Wow!” Stevie said. This was great news. Cam Nelson seemed like such a nice boy. “He’s so handsome, and such a good rider! You guys are perfect for one another! When are you going to see him?”

“Oh, I don’t know—” Carole began.

Then there was a knock at her door. It was Carole’s father. Colonel Hanson had a big tray of cookies and milk for the three girls.

“I thought all you ribbon winners deserved to be waited on just a little tiny bit,” he said. “So here are some homemade chocolate-chip cookies.” He put the tray on Carole’s bedside table and began handing out
the milk. “Of course, in return I am going to expect breakfast in bed from you three tomorrow morning. I like my eggs boiled for three and a half minutes—no, actually three minutes forty-five seconds.…”

Lisa began giggling. Colonel Hanson was a wonderful man, and he could be very funny. He often made the girls laugh. Stevie didn’t giggle. She just tossed a pillow at him—when he wasn’t holding a glass of milk in his hand.

“All right, all right. Just burn me some toast, okay?”

“It’s a deal,” Carole said.

“Well, now, I have a question for you, daughter dear. Now that you’ve won a reserve championship, two blue ribbons, and countless lesser ones, what are you going to do next?”

Carole got a little twinkle in her eye. She shrugged casually. “I’m going to go to Disney World!”

Colonel Hanson’s jaw dropped. “How did you know?” he asked.

There was a
lot
to talk about!

B
ONNIE
B
RYANT
is the author of more than fifty books for young readers, including novelizations of movie hits such as
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
and
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
, written under her married name, B. B. Hiller.

Ms. Bryant began writing The Saddle Club in 1986. Although she had done some riding before that, she intensified her studies then and found herself learning right along with her characters Stevie, Carole, and Lisa. She claims that they are all much better riders than she is.

Ms. Bryant was born and raised in New York City. She lives in Greenwich Village with her two sons.