Stable Farewell (9 page)

L
ISA AND
S
TEVIE
had planned to talk to Carole more after the lesson. They wanted to find out the details of Cam’s
move. But as soon as they had put their horses away, it was time to get Garnet out again: The new prospective owner had arrived. Luckily Carole seemed to be in better spirits. In the lesson Max had said that Starlight was listening to Carole better and that had helped.

To the delight of The Saddle Club, the new buyer was dressed in normal clothes for trying out a horse: well-broken-in boots and casual breeches. She was a young woman, about the right height for Garnet, and very talkative. In fact, she seemed more interested in her own qualifications than in Garnet’s. As soon as Carole had finished relating Garnet’s experience, the woman launched into a long description of her own skills. “So, anyway, I’ve showed all over the country in hunters, jumpers, dressage, and equitation, and I also do three-day events when my schedule permits—”

“Wow,” Lisa breathed, “you must be amazing. I can’t imagine doing all of those—”

“—and of course I do combined driving and long-distance trail riding and ride western. I do gymkhanas, vaulting”—here the woman paused for breath and beamed at the three girls—“I guess you could say ‘the works,’ huh?”

Lisa looked completely enthralled by the woman’s list of riding activities. Anyone who did all those things must be decent—or better than decent. “Did you hear that? She
sounds perfect,” she whispered to Stevie and Carole as the woman leaned over to run a hand down Garnet’s leg.

Obediently Garnet picked up her hoof, as she had been taught to do when someone squeezed her foreleg. Instead of examining the horse’s hoof, the woman dropped the leg like a hot potato. “Oh, my gosh!” she exclaimed. “She’s trying to kick!”

“Is there something wrong?” Carole asked anxiously. She thought she had heard something about kicking, but Garnet was a good-natured mare, and that was one vice she definitely did not have.

“Wrong? Oh, no. I don’t think so. She seems fine to me.” The woman gave a weak smile. “Did I mention that I also ride sidesaddle?”

“No, you didn’t! Wow, I’ve always wanted to learn,” Lisa said. “Here, why don’t you brush Garnet a little to get to know her.”

The woman stared at the currycomb Lisa handed her as if it would bite. “Oh, right, sure—good idea.”

Stevie and Carole exchanged glances: Something was fishy about the woman. First she’d freaked out when Garnet picked up a hoof, and then she didn’t seem to know what to do with a currycomb. It didn’t mesh with the experience she claimed to have. And anyway, why would anyone as good as she made herself sound be interested in a
nice, normal horse like Garnet? If the woman could do all the things she said she could, why wasn’t she out looking for some wonder horse? And, Carole thought suspiciously, why was she attempting to use the hard rubber currycomb on Garnet’s face?

All during the demonstration ride, Carole tried to figure out what was strange about the woman. Carole didn’t pull any tricks while she warmed Garnet up, although she didn’t try to make Garnet look spectacular. She just went through the normal walk, trot, canter, and a few low jumps before handing over the reins.

As soon as the woman got on, all became clear: She could barely ride. She was either horrible—or a stark beginner. She was completely ham-handed, she leaned on the reins for balance, and her legs flopped everywhere. When she posted to the trot, she rose way too high in the saddle and stayed up forever.

“You can see half of Pine Hollow between her seat and the saddle,” Carole whispered to her friends.

“Yeah, isn’t that what they call hang time?” Stevie joked.

“No, ‘hanging’ is what she’s doing on Garnet’s mouth,” Carole murmured.

Lisa looked from the woman to her friends. Suddenly it was all sinking in. She felt silly for being so trusting, but
she couldn’t have imagined that someone would be stupid enough to lie about her riding level. What if Garnet had been truly high-strung and difficult? The woman wouldn’t have stood a chance. “Guess I was a little naive about all her ‘experience,’ huh? Look at poor Garnet.”

Stevie and Carole looked. Garnet was coping, but she was too sensitive a horse to put up with the bad handling for long. Besides, The Saddle Club knew, she shouldn’t have to. They were about to take votes on who should say something when Garnet took matters into her own hands—or hooves—and let out a frustrated buck, unseating the woman, who shrieked at the top of her lungs. As quickly as she could, she slithered back into the saddle. Then, almost as quickly, she jumped to the ground. Or at least she tried to jump, but at the last minute her toe got caught in the stirrup iron and she tumbled backward into the dirt. Stevie, Lisa, and Carole ran over to reassure her.

Springing to her feet and brushing herself off, the woman exclaimed, “I don’t need to try her anymore—I love her! How much did you say you wanted?”

The Saddle Club stared in shock. In their few days of showing Garnet, they had realized something for the first time, and it was alarming: People were willing to buy horses for all the wrong reasons. This woman seemed ready to buy Garnet out of embarrassment at her poor performance!
Unbelievably, she had fished in her pocket and come up with a blank check.

“You w-want to
buy
her?” Carole asked. “You mean, like, to
ride
?”

“No, I want to buy her to put in the garden and grow,” the woman snapped. Having made a fool of herself, she had now turned rude. “Of course to ride. What did you think?”

“I—I—,” Carole sputtered, unable to come up with a response.

“We just thought that with all the high-level, different kinds of riding you do, you might need a more advanced horse than Garnet. She’s just a good, low-key Pony Club mount,” Stevie said, coming to Carole’s aide. It never hurt to try reverse psychology.

“Nope. I’m sure she’ll do fine.” There was a pause as the woman gave The Saddle Club a fake smile—and The Saddle Club continued to stare back in utter shock.

“So, you’re saying you want to pay for her now?” Lisa questioned.

“That’s usually what a check is for, isn’t it?”

“Yes—oh, yes,” Lisa replied. Then, trying to sound as innocent as possible, she added, “I guess you don’t, ah, know about vet checks, then?”

The woman frowned at her. “Vet checks?” she said.

“Oh, it’s nothing—just a silly little habit some people have of making their veterinarian check a horse before they buy it,” Lisa said hurriedly.

“Oh yeah?” the woman said. “Maybe I’d like to hear more about this silly little habit.”

“It’s nothing—really. Garnet is fine, absolutely fine,” Lisa said, looking up at the ceiling and then down at her feet.

“Fine? You’re sure?” the woman demanded.

Lisa nodded. “Definitely. One hundred percent fine. No problems at all. No medical problems.”

The woman stepped back and narrowed her eyes at Lisa. “Maybe I should have a vet check if—”

“It’s really not necessary. Forget I even mentioned it. Look, why don’t you just write that check out, and Garnet will be yours before you can say—”

The woman put her hands on her hips. “Wait just a minute here, young lady. I’m not an idiot, you know. I see perfectly well what’s going on.”

“You do?” Lisa asked nervously.

“Of course. You’re trying to pull the wool over my eyes. You know, you may feel that just because you and your little friends ride in the Pony Club that you can take advantage of people. Think that’s pretty funny, huh? Well, let me tell you something, I never even
wanted
to be in the
Pony Club! I despise the Pony Club! For all I care, the Pony Club could drop off the face of the earth, okay?”

“Okay,” Lisa said meekly.

“So, you can just keep your Pony Club and your vet checks and your stupid horse, too, okay? Okay? I know when I’m being duped!”

Lisa nodded. She, Carole, and Stevie watched the now red-faced woman stalk out of the ring. At the gate, the woman turned. “Did I mention I go foxhunting in Ireland every year?” she yelled.

S
EVERAL MINUTES AFTER
she had gone, The Saddle Club was still standing silently, staring at one another in disbelief. “What exactly went on here?” Carole finally asked.

“I can’t say that I know,” Lisa replied.

“Basically, another one just bit the dust,” said Stevie. “And it’s back to the drawing board.”

“Right,” said Carole. “Thank goodness Garnet survived.”

“Well, naturally: She is one hundred percent fine. No medical problems at all,” Lisa joked, raising her hands to high-five Carole and Stevie.

E
VEN THOUGH
L
ISA
had saved the day at the last minute, the girls were frustrated. It didn’t help that while they untacked
Garnet and put her away, they could hear Veronica driving the farrier nuts with her overly detailed instructions about Danny.

“Are you sure you’re not using the rasp too much?” Veronica asked, anxiously examining Danny’s off-fore foot.

The farrier took a deep breath. It was obvious that he was trying to keep his temper in check. “Yes, I’m sure,” he said testily.

“Remember he needs pads on all four feet, not just the front,” Veronica whined.

“You’ve told me that three times already,” the farrier said.

Veronica shrugged. “Just watching out for my baby,” she said. She turned to stroke Danny, cooing baby talk at him. “My wittle bumpkin, my wittle sweetheart needs his tootsies to be perfect, don’t you, Danny?”

“Is it me, or is the air in here
nauseating
?” Stevie asked.

“Danny doesn’t seem thrilled, either,” Lisa pointed out. It was true: Once again, the beautiful horse was more or less ignoring Veronica. He had a bored expression on his face, and his ears flopped back lazily.

“I guess he’s not the touchy-feely type,” Carole mused.

“Hello, girls, how’s it going?” The Saddle Club turned to greet Mrs. Reg, who had emerged from the office. Max Regnery’s mother was one of their favorite people at Pine
Hollow, even if she did tell long, sometimes cryptic stories. Today she didn’t pause to chat, but went directly to speak to Veronica.

“A message for you, dear: I just returned a call to the Kingsleys’ vet in Kentucky. He’s going to fly in tomorrow to check Garnet.”

Stevie, Lisa, and Carole looked at one another in horror. “We’ve got to do something,” Carole whispered.

Stevie’s mouth tightened into a determined line. “We will.” Before they could guess what she had in mind, Stevie motioned Carole and Lisa into the empty office. She searched the desk, but it was bare: There wasn’t a phone number to be found. Then, all at once, she looked at her friends, grinned, picked up the receiver, and hit Redial.

“B
UT WHAT IF
the whole plan doesn’t work?” Lisa asked. She, Stevie, and Carole were gathered in the locker room on the following afternoon. Although they had gone over the plan a hundred times, it was hard to believe it would really go off as planned.

“Trust me,” Stevie said confidently, yanking on her breeches, “we’ve already done the hard part. Besides, remember who thought this up: yours truly. And don’t my schemes always work?”

“No,” Carole said, grinning. “A lot of times your schemes completely backfire, and we get into trouble and you have to get us out.”

“And if we don’t pull this off, Veronica will have a cow,” Lisa said.

Now it was Stevie’s turn to grin. “Right, but if we do pull it off, then she
won’t
have a horse! Or, at least, she won’t have two horses! Ha ha, two horses, get it?”

Carole and Lisa rolled their eyes and went back to pulling on their boots. It was nice that Stevie was so confident about her plan. They just wished they felt the same. Instead their stomachs were churning the way they did the night before horse shows. But it was too late to back out now.

“Ready, crew?” Stevie asked.

“Ready, captain,” Carole replied, saluting smartly. Now that they were committed, they might as well do their best to follow Stevie’s plan.

“Ready,” said Lisa. The three of them clicked their heels together and marched to Garnet’s stall.

While Lisa took Garnet out and cross tied her, Carole and Stevie got a grooming kit and a pair of clippers from the tack room. “All right, troops: Attack,” Stevie commanded. And all three of them attacked, giving Garnet the grooming of her life.

First Carole went at the chestnut coat with a rubber currycomb, digging up big clouds of dried sweat and dirt. She brushed the dirt away with a body brush, then set
about detangling every hair in Garnet’s tail. It actually felt good for her to have something to throw herself into so that she wouldn’t think about Cam too much. The night before at dinner, she had told her father the news. Colonel Hanson’s advice had been to keep as busy as she could.

While Carole curried and brushed, Lisa combed Garnet’s mane and forelock. Then she pulled the mane until it was the proper length, wrapping the long hairs around her fingers and tearing them, a few strands at a time. As Lisa knew, the pulling didn’t hurt because horses have so few nerves at the base of their manes. Stevie picked out the mare’s hooves, following up with a coat of polish. All three of them shined her with rub rags until they were panting. A determined air had settled over them, and they worked in silence. Finally Carole plugged in the clippers and trimmed Garnet’s muzzle, bridle path, and ears.