Silver Stirrups (13 page)

“I have one thing to say and one thing only,” he said. “I
love
going to horse shows with you guys!”

* * *

B
ACK AT THE VAN
, everybody pitched in to help rub down the horses and get them ready to ship home. Lisa took out the horses’ braids. Stevie went around with a bottle of liniment, cotton, and bandages, rubbing forelegs and wrapping them for shipping. Carole groomed and buckled on light blankets, or “sheets.” While Max and Red cleaned up around the van area, Red filled his boss in on his decision to ride in the show. “Once Carole said I could take Starlight, I couldn’t wait to compete. A horse like that …”

Carole, glowing with pride, threw her arms around Starlight’s neck.

Even Mr. and Mrs. Murphy appeared. They had apples and carrots for the horses and cookies for the riders. Mrs. Reg took all the ribbons won by Pine Hollow students and strung them up in the cab of the van. Finally, every horse and every rider was ready to go. Except for Andrea and Doc. Andrea was still dressed in her riding clothes. Doc was still tacked up. Seeing them standing alone, waiting, Carole’s heart went out to Andrea. This was the most excruciating part of a show—even worse than getting nervous before jumping. Andrea knew she’d done well enough to be up for the Silver Stirrups Trophy. She knew the judges were making their decision right then. If she won, she
would ride over to the ring and collect her trophy. If she lost, she would have stayed tacked up and ready for nothing. Her father was up in the stands, also waiting. Carole had been in the same position many times. She went over to try to distract Andrea.

“Hey, what’s a trophy, anyway?” she joked. “A big hunk of silver that you have to keep polished, right?”

Andrea smiled. “Thanks, Carole,” she said softly. “You’re a great instructor.”

Carole tried to brush off the praise.

“No, I mean it. You understand because you’ve been there,” Andrea said. “I never could have done it without you.”

Embarrassed, Carole looked away. To think she’d wanted to ride Andrea into the ground a couple of days ago! To her right, Carole saw another horse and rider pair, tacked up and waiting. It was the girl, Paula, on her bay. Beside the pony was the instructor. Carole waved, and the woman waved back.

“Whatever happens, great job, you guys!” the woman called.

“You too!” Carole called.

She and Andrea heard it at the same time: the crackle of the loudspeaker as the PA system came to life. Carole crossed her fingers. She saw Andrea swallow
hard. After a horse show, Carole knew, you could remind yourself that winning wasn’t the point, that you had learned a lot and had fun. But right before the judges announced their choice for the best junior rider of the day, it was pretty darn hard to remember.

And, of course, they always droned on and on. “We’d also like to thank our chief judge, Mrs. Hayes, the local foxhunt, the Pony Clubs …”

Carole crossed and uncrossed her fingers. Was crossing two hands bad luck? She couldn’t remember. Her palms were sweating. It was as if she herself were up for the trophy. Doc jiggled his bit. Andrea swallowed again.

“… and finally, we would like to announce the winner of the Silver Stirrups Trophy. As you may know, this is the first year this award has been given. The silver cup was donated by Mrs. Eugene Lyman of Meadowland Farms, in honor of …”

“Gosh, will they
ever
get to the point!” Stevie wailed behind them. Her comment did it—it broke the tension. The whole Pine Hollow crowd began to laugh, even Andrea and Carole. They laughed until tears were streaming down their faces. They laughed so hard they almost missed the point, when it came.

“… Barry, of Pine Hollow Stables.”

The loudspeaker was temporarily drowned out by cheering. Her reins loose, her stirrups barely on her feet, Andrea set off at a trot, grinning madly.

“Come on, you guys!” Stevie called.

“… newcomer to the area, on her chestnut Country Doctor, winner of three firsts …”

Carole looked to her right. The other girl had dismounted. She was fighting back tears. Her instructor put an arm around her shoulders. Over the girl’s head, the woman gave Carole the thumbs-up sign.

“Better luck next time!” Carole mouthed. Then she set off at top speed after the rest of the Pine Hollow contingent. There was celebrating to be done—Silver Stirrups style!

B
ACK AT
P
INE
H
OLLOW
, the horses were in bed in no time. After giving Starlight his umpteenth hug of the evening, Carole looked around for Andrea, to say good-bye. She thought she might find her in the tack room, but Mrs. Reg was alone, hanging up a few last pieces of equipment.

“I think Andrea left already, dear,” said Mrs. Reg. “She and her father had a lot to talk about.”

Carole nodded. She understood. After the show, Mr. Barry had had a long talk with Max about keeping Country Doctor at Pine Hollow.

“Do you think they’ll work something out?” Carole
asked anxiously. After today, she realized, she would be truly upset if Andrea had to leave.

“Oh, yes,” Mrs. Reg replied. “She’s too good to quit now.”

At Mrs. Reg’s comment, Carole felt a twinge of jealousy. She looked up at the Silver Stirrup Trophy. Andrea had left it on the windowsill so that everybody at Pine Hollow could share it. In a way, Carole wished it were hers, all hers. She certainly wasn’t done with competing. But she also knew that today she had learned more than she ever would have had she battled it out with Andrea. There would be time for her to ride against Andrea in the future. Maybe she would win, and maybe she wouldn’t. Either way, it wouldn’t affect how she felt about herself. Thinking of herself as the best junior rider at Pine Hollow had been pointless anyway, not to mention vain. If she should strive for anything, Carole realized, she should strive to become the most accomplished horseperson she could be. Instructing for a day had certainly helped her toward that goal.

“So, Carole, you’re the big winner today, hmm?” said Mrs. Reg.

Carole looked up, not sure she’d heard right. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“Both of your students performed extremely
well—Andrea and Starlight,” said Mrs. Reg. “I’d say that makes you a winner twice over.”

Carole flushed at the praise. She smoothed her fingers over the ribbon in her pocket. Red had given it to her and insisted she keep it. It was funny, Carole thought: A week ago, a second place had seemed like the end of the world. Today it seemed like a wonderful beginning.

“I guess Briarwood is cursed for me!” Lisa declared. She and Stevie burst into the tack room, laughing and talking. “Last year I took Prancer before we were ready. This year we were
too
ready! I just can’t win.”

“Well, then it’s blessed for Carole,” Stevie said. “Last year she met Cam, and this year she made her debut as a top instructor.” Cam was a boy whom Carole had dated, off and on, until he moved away.

Carole missed him, but right now she didn’t feel like thinking about anything at all sad. “Hey, did I mention that I even tried to drink black coffee?” she asked.

“And did you swear?” Lisa asked.

“And chain-smoke cigarettes?” Stevie prompted.

Mrs. Reg looked appalled. “My Max doesn’t do any of that,” she said in a shocked voice.

“Oh yes I do, Mother,” said Max, joining them.

“Max!”

Max grinned. “I drink black coffee,” he said.

“How do you do it, Max?” Carole asked. “I thought it was disgusting!”

Max leaned toward her confidentially. “Trade secret. I guess that means you’d better stick to riding for a while, Carole, despite your early success as an instructor.”

“Enough of this chitchat,” said Mrs. Reg. “I’ve got spaghetti and meatballs on the stove. Max, your wife is making garlic bread, and Red just went to buy a case of soda. We have enough food to feed an army. You girls are invited for dinner.”

Stevie whooped louder than if she’d just won a blue ribbon. Carole and Lisa were more reserved but incredibly pleased all the same. It was a rare, rare treat for the Regnerys to invite them to stay for dinner, and they’d get to see Maxine, Deborah and Max’s new baby.

Putting their arms around one another, The Saddle Club followed Mrs. Reg and Max out of the tack room. On the way in, Stevie started to make up a song, and Lisa tried to stop her. Stevie had a terrible voice, but now that she had something to sing about, nothing was going to stop her. Carole just laughed. It was a perfect ending to a perfect day. She hoped that someday Andrea Barry would be as lucky as she was.

B
ONNIE
B
RYANT
is the author of more than a hundred books about horses, including The Saddle Club series, Saddle Club Super Editions, the Pony Tails series, and Pine Hollow, which follows the Saddle Club girls into their teens. She has also written novels and movie novelizations 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 still lives there, in Greenwich Village, with her two sons.