Stray Horse (13 page)

That was odd. Since Stevie’s boyfriend, Phil Marsten, lived in Cross County, Mrs. Lake drove there frequently, and she certainly didn’t need directions for that.

Then Carole remembered and knew that Lisa had never heard it so she wouldn’t know.

“Really?” Carole asked. Stevie nodded excitedly, knowing her friend had figured it out. “How did you—”

“Mom called and asked,” said Stevie. “He thought it was a great idea.”

“You guys going to let me in on this little secret?” Lisa asked.

“I don’t know,” said Stevie, prolonging the fun. “It’s not a long drive, but I brought a snack for you anyway.” She handed her a brown paper lunch bag.

“After all those pancakes, I couldn’t eat another thing!” Lisa protested.

“Well, it’s not really for you,” said Stevie. “Why don’t you go ahead and see what it is.”

Lisa peered into the crumpled bag. There was a sandwich inside, and she pulled it out. It was peanut butter and jelly. Then she understood.

“Really?” she asked.

“Really,” said Stevie.

Lisa tried to keep the tears from her eyes, but it didn’t work. Fortunately there was a napkin in the lunch bag as well.

It wasn’t a long drive to Mr. Crawford’s farm, and on their way Mrs. Lake told the girls how pleased Mr. Crawford was that they wanted to visit their late charge. He’d told her that Protocol was doing just fine and he’d surely be happy to see his friends.

Lisa listened, mostly pleased at the surprise Stevie and Mrs. Lake had planned for her. But she was also sad and a little bit worried at the same time. She knew she was still sad that PJ wasn’t ever going to be hers. She was worried because she’d convinced herself that PJ’s owner had mistreated him or he never would have run away, and she was afraid she might cry in front of Mr. Crawford. She blew her nose again and tried to collect herself. She was a mass of confused feelings, but she didn’t have to let the whole world know it.

Mrs. Lake consulted the directions several more times before she finally turned into a long, tree-lined driveway. It was a real horse farm with wide-plank white board fences surrounding paddocks on either side of the drive. The fences had bordered the roadway for a good half mile before the house. Lisa remembered the story about the drunk driver hitting the fence. Maybe it wasn’t such a crazy notion that Mr. Crawford might not have known for a couple of hours. They were big paddocks, and the road was far from the house.

PJ wasn’t in either of those paddocks. Mrs. Lake continued up the drive to the house and stable. There were several cars parked in front of the house, plus the van that had been at Pine Hollow just over a week before. Mr. Crawford came out of the house and waved toward the Lakes’ car even before it reached the house.

Lisa noticed for the first time that he had a nice smile.

“Welcome, caretakers!” he said as the girls climbed out of the car. “Now, you’re Lisa, right?”

Lisa nodded. She couldn’t help smiling back at him.

“And you’re Stevie and Carole.”

They shook his hand.

“And you must be Catherine Lake,” he said, offering his hand to Stevie’s mother. She shook it. “But of course, I’m not the reason you all came here, am I? Follow me.” He led them to an exercise ring behind the barn.

Carole and Stevie let Lisa go first, and Mrs. Lake brought up the rear. Mr. Crawford chatted with Lisa as they walked together.

“He’s doing just fine now. He was loose for a long time, almost six weeks, and those must have been tough times for him.”

“We thought he got into a fight with a bobcat,” Lisa said.

“Seems likely to me. Those are nasty scratches he has. He’s going to have scars for the rest of his life.”

“We did what we could to keep it from scarring,” Lisa told him.

“Oh, I know you did everything. And from what I hear, you personally did most of it.”

“I don’t know about that,” said Lisa. “Though I did try to help him. I got really worried when the scratches got so swollen and hot. Judy checked on him a lot, you know.”

“I know,” said Mr. Crawford. “He’s right around this side of the barn,” he said, pointing.

Lisa hesitated. PJ, her beloved PJ, was just around the corner. The problem was that the horse she was about to see wasn’t actually named PJ, and he wasn’t hers. She’d already forgotten about worrying that Mr. Crawford had abused him. It was clear that he really cared about his horse. Now the only thing Lisa worried about was how much it was going to hurt her to see him again.

She rounded the corner. It was a nice little exercise ring, about the size of Pine Hollow’s jumping ring. PJ was there. He’d found a shady spot and was nibbling at some sweet sprouts of grass.

“PJ!” she called. He kept on nibbling. “I’ve got something for you!” His ears flicked. His jaw chomped. He stayed where he was.

Lisa climbed up one rung of the fence. “Here, boy!” she called. She reached into the brown paper bag and took out the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The horse lifted his head and sniffed the air.

Mr. Crawford stood nearby. He whistled. The horse snorted, then trotted over to the fence.

“I guess Protocol’s just used to me,” the man said.

“Thanks,” Lisa told him. “Do I have to call him Protocol?”

“You can call him whatever you’re comfortable with,” said Mr. Crawford. “And if you are planning on sharing that sandwich with him, I think he’ll be calling you sweetheart. You know, he’s just bonkers about peanut butter. My wife gave him some one time and he’s never lost his taste for it.”

“You’re kidding,” said Lisa.

“He loves the stuff. Go ahead, you’ll see.”

“I already did,” Lisa said. “That’s why I call him PJ.”

Mr. Crawford laughed. “Nobody told me you’d discovered his secret passion. No wonder he behaved for you! He can be pretty naughty, you know.”

“Unless you’re grooming him or feeding him,” said Lisa, smiling at their shared knowledge.

“It’s like you read his mind,” said Mr. Crawford.

By then PJ had arrived, demanding his treat and tolerating the affection that Lisa showered on him. He was obliging as long as the sandwich lasted.

Half an hour later, The Saddle Club and Mrs. Lake were back in the car, heading to Pine Hollow in time for their jump class. At first nobody spoke, because everyone was waiting for Lisa to say something, and she was still busy sorting out her emotions.

“Thank you, Mrs. Lake and Stevie,” she said.

“You’re welcome, Lisa,” Mrs. Lake responded. “It was Stevie’s idea.”

“Of course,” said Lisa. Stevie was always the one to come up with the finest (though sometimes weirdest) plans.

“I thought you were upset,” Stevie said. “But it worked out okay, didn’t it?”

“I was and it did,” Lisa said. “You know, it was a little bit the way it was with my dad yesterday. I was nervous about seeing him, but it was fine.”

“Fine?” Carole asked.

“More than fine,” Lisa said. “Great.”

“Mr. Crawford said you could come ride PJ sometime when his leg is all better,” said Stevie. “Would you like to do that?”

“I don’t know,” Lisa said. “When I saw him again today, I realized that he’s not an easy horse to get along with. When I was taking care of him, I felt so sorry for him that I never stopped to realize how much he misbehaved. I’d rather think of him happily chomping on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich than bucking me out of the saddle!”

“Pine Hollow Station,” Mrs. Lake announced, pulling into the stable driveway.

The girls thanked her for the sleepover, the visit to Mr. Crawford’s, and the ride. Then they dashed off to saddle up their horses.

“I
CAN
’
T GO
for a trail ride this afternoon,” Lisa said to her friends two weeks later when they were all at the stable again.

“Aw, come on!” said Stevie.

“Dad’s picking me up,” she said. “I haven’t seen him for two weeks, and I have so much to tell him.”

Stevie was immediately embarrassed at her gaffe. Of course an afternoon with Lisa’s father was more important than a trail ride.

“Sure, I understand,” she said. “You can tell him about seeing PJ.”

“That, and about a million other things. We talked last night. He’s still staying at that hotel, but he says he’ll have
an apartment soon, and when he does, I can stay over with him. Maybe you guys could come, too.”

Stevie thought that might feel weird. “Really?”

“Of course,” she said. “He already told me.”

“Okay,” Stevie said.

“And you’re going to be away with him every other Saturday?” Carole asked.

“That’s what they worked out for now—until he gets an apartment. Then it’ll change a little.”

“But you’re going to miss all kinds of riding,” Stevie said.

“It’s only every other weekend,” Lisa reminded her. “And he’s going to get an apartment nearby so that I can come to Pine Hollow on Saturdays, too.”

“What about him moving to California?” Carole asked.

“I don’t know,” said Lisa. “He may, he may not. But if he does, we’ll figure something out. I’m not going to be able to fly across the country every other weekend! Come on, I’ve got to change.”

The girls followed her into the locker area. It felt like a lot longer than two weeks ago that the three of them had been there waiting for Lisa to talk to her dad the last time. Lisa was more relaxed and even eager to see her father. She wasn’t nervous, angry, or sick to her stomach.

“Too bad we can’t visit PJ this weekend,” Stevie said.

“Oh, he’s doing fine, I’m sure,” said Lisa, picking up a towel. “I called Mr. Crawford on Wednesday. He said the leg has healed and he’s even ridden him a couple of times. That horse doesn’t need us anymore.” She picked up a bar of soap and headed to the bathroom to wash up.

“That was interesting,” said Stevie.

“Definitely,” Carole agreed. “I guess that story Mrs. Reg told us about the pony was right. PJ is totally readjusted and doing fine. He’s where he belongs.”

“
That
’s not what Mrs. Reg’s story was about,” Stevie said, looking curiously at her friend.

“Sure sounded like it to me,” said Carole.

“No,” Stevie said. “I don’t think so. I think she was telling us that Lisa was going to get better once she got used to her new family arrangement. The changes she’s been going through have been just as upsetting as the horse’s, and now she’s doing pretty well.”

“Yeah, she is,” said Carole. “She was pretty weird there for a while.”

Lisa emerged from the bathroom then, stopping that particular conversation. They chatted while she dressed, and when her dad called into the locker area to say he was there to pick her up, she was ready.

“Be right there, Dad,” she said. She slid her backpack onto her shoulder.

“Have fun with your father,” Carole said.

“Of course I will,” Lisa said. Then she added, “He’s my dad!”

When she left the room, Stevie and Carole looked at each other and smiled.

“Another successful Saddle Club project,” Stevie declared.

They shared a high five.

B
ONNIE
B
RYANT
is the author of more than a hundred books about horses, including The Saddle Club series, The 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.