Pepper didn’t understand the words, but certainly he knew the urgency in Lisa’s commands. He lengthened his stride and moved farther down the hill, nearing the runaway champion.
Even as Lisa and Pepper caught up to the horse and pulled in front of it, even as Lisa reached for the reins, which flapped wildly around the horse’s neck, the only thing Lisa could see in her mind’s eye was Trudy’s foot dangling dangerously through the stirrup.
Lisa reached down and grabbed Topside’s reins with her right hand, holding her own in her left. As soon as Topside felt the first pressure from his reins, he slowed.
“Whoa there, boy,” Lisa said in a low voice. His ears flicked toward her. “Ho up, there now,” she told him. He came to an abrupt halt.
The stop was so abrupt that Trudy lost whatever semblance of balance she still had and nearly fell out of the saddle. Her grip on the horse’s mane saved her.
“Is it over?” she asked in a shaky voice.
“It’s over,” Lisa told her. She took a deep breath, trying to be matter-of-fact. “Now get your feet in the stirrups, hold on to the reins, and let’s get back to the stable.”
“Do I have to ride?” Trudy asked. “Can I walk?”
“Did you ever hear the one about getting right back on the horse?” Lisa responded.
“Sure, but I never fell off.” Trudy grinned impishly. “And besides that, I don’t have to prove anything to myself. I know already that riding’s not for me.”
Lisa smiled. “You did fine, Trudy, you really did. An awful lot of riders wouldn’t have handled that anywhere near as well as you did.”
“I did?”
“Yeah, you did. Now let’s go back. We can talk as we ride. I have some things to say to you.”
Trudy took the horse’s reins, adjusted her feet in the stirrups, and gave Topside a little nudge to get him going. He looked around at her, then obediently he followed her instructions.
“He’s a little ashamed of himself,” Lisa explained. “He knows he was naughty. He probably even knows he put you in danger. He’ll be good now. He’s trying to say he’s sorry.” She paused. “I wish I could do it as easily because I owe you as much of an apology as Topside does.”
Trudy didn’t say anything then and Lisa was glad. She had a lot to say, and although she wasn’t sure exactly how to proceed, she knew the words would come to her. She just hoped she’d be able to say what she wanted better than she’d been able to write it.
“I think I owe you at least two apologies. First of all, when you said all those things to me about neighbors and friends, I didn’t understand what you were really saying. Now that I’ve hurt you by making my second mistake, I do understand it. Gossip isn’t news. Just because somebody says something doesn’t mean somebody should print it. I made a lot of people unhappy with those articles about the thefts. I really messed up, I know. I had no right to use my friends just to get a good angle for a newspaper story.”
Trudy still didn’t say anything, but she was listening and that was all Lisa could really ask for.
“That’s the first part of the apology. The second is more complicated. I know you heard Veronica reading the stupid story I wrote about you. I couldn’t believe how insulting it sounded when I heard her read it. I didn’t mean it that way! I really didn’t. What I wanted people to know is that you’re a neat person. You’re not like anybody I’ve ever known before—and that’s okay, but I guess that wasn’t what I wrote because when Veronica read it out loud, it sounded awful. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I don’t know what I can do to make it up to you.”
“There’s only one thing,” Trudy said. “Only one way you can make it up to me.”
“Yeah, what is it? I’ll do it,” Lisa promised.
“You did it already. You saved my life.”
Trudy put her hand up for a high five. Lisa gratefully clapped her hand against Trudy’s.
“Friends?” Lisa asked.
“Sure,” Trudy agreed. “Unless being your friend means I have to ride horses.”
Obviously, her recent experience had not made Trudy horse crazy.
“I think being friends means letting each other be themselves. I won’t try to make you into a preppy country girl who rides if you won’t make me into a funky punky city slicker.”
“No way,” Trudy said. “Day-Glo orange isn’t your color!”
Lisa laughed. It was the first time she’d laughed in a while. It felt very good.
“DO MY EYES deceive me?” Stevie asked Carole. The two of them were standing in Samson’s paddock. They were trying not to move because they didn’t want to encourage the colt to run.
“Stay still,” Carole said.
“I can’t,” said Stevie. “If you’ll turn very slowly, you’ll see Trudy and Lisa riding in from the field trail together. It looks a lot like they’re laughing together, like they’re having fun together.”
“You mean, like they’re speaking to one another?” Carole asked.
“See for yourself.”
Carole turned slowly. It was just as Stevie had said. “I don’t believe it!”
Samson stepped toward Carole. She stood motionless except to open her hand enough for Samson to spot the sweet baby carrot she held in her hand. He sniffed tentatively and stepped closer, much more interested in the carrot than in the halter and lead rope that hung across her wrist. She patted him with her other hand. He stood still, waiting. She offered him the halter. He sniffed that curiously. She broke the carrot in two and gave him half. As he munched, she put the halter on him. He barely seemed to notice. This was his first carrot, and to Samson, that was much more interesting than the halter. Carole gave him the second half of the carrot. He lipped it up eagerly.
Samson was so busy with his newest experience that he simply forgot to notice the halter. He swallowed the final taste and looked at Carole for some more. She patted him.
“More carrot?” Stevie asked.
“No,” Carole said. “This is a one-carrot lesson. See, we want him to learn about the halter more than about the carrots. Give the other carrot to Delilah.”
Stevie offered it to the mare, who chomped on it noisily. Samson stayed near Carole. She suspected that his motive had more to do with carrots than trust, but she knew that trust would come in time.
Samson then realized he had a halter on. He shook his head. It didn’t budge. He shook again.
“I’m going to leave it on a little longer this time,” Carole said to Stevie. “I’d like it to stay on long enough for him to know for sure that it won’t come off and it doesn’t hurt. If we take it off too fast, he may conclude that it comes off when he shakes his head.”
Carole slowly stepped over to the fence where Delilah’s lead was fastened and where Stevie sat. She climbed up on the slatted boards and sat atop the fence next to Stevie. They watched the foal.
Samson continued shaking his head. He didn’t seem angry or frightened, just curious and perhaps a little annoyed. When the halter didn’t come off with shaking, he tried trotting around the paddock. That didn’t work either. He nodded his head vigorously. Then he pranced around some more and came to the fence near Carole. There, he tried scraping it off his head by rubbing against the fence. Of course, that didn’t work either.
Stevie smiled, watching him. “He’s very funny, you know,” she whispered to her friend.
“Yeah, I know,” Carole whispered back, smiling at his antics. They didn’t want to make loud sounds and startle the colt. “And I think I’m in love.”
“I think he may be a little too young for you, Carole,” Stevie quipped.
Samson was now staring at Carole, as if he realized for the first time that she was the one who had placed this mysterious thing on him. And that she was the one who could take it off. Carole didn’t move.
“Isn’t it time?” Stevie asked.
“Give it a minute more,” Carole said, relaxing on the fence top. “I have a hunch it’s time for lunch.”
Delilah shifted her weight. The movement caught Samson’s attention. He looked at his mother, then he looked at her udder. He hesitated a second, shaking his head one more time, but hunger overcame annoyance. He stepped forward, lowered his head, and began to nurse.
“Wonderful!” Carole said. “See, he’s already comfortable enough to nurse with the halter on.”
“Or else he’s so hungry, he doesn’t care.”
“It doesn’t matter which. The fact is he’s doing it.”
Lisa and Trudy joined them at the fence.
“He’s so cute,” Trudy observed.
“I thought you hated horses,” Lisa teased.
“I do. But, he’s not a horse. He’s a foal or a colt—not a pony. He’ll be a horse when he grows up, but for now, he’s just a baby and that means he’s cute.”
“Nice work,” Lisa said, pleased that Trudy actually remembered the things she’d said to her so long ago about Samson.
“Where have you guys been?” Stevie asked. “We missed you at class.”
Lisa and Trudy exchanged glances. “We were on a little trail ride,” Lisa explained. “Trudy wanted to try a few new things.”
This sounded very hopeful to Stevie, who had encouraged Trudy to try a faster gait than a walk on horseback. “Oh, did you try trotting?” she asked.
Trudy looked to Lisa for the answer. She didn’t know one gait from another. “Did I trot?” she asked.
Lisa grinned at her. “Nope, you skipped that one,” she said. “You went straight to the gallop.”
Stevie and Carole stared at them wide-eyed. “Gallop?” Carole asked.
Lisa and Trudy nodded.
“I think you’ve got some explaining to do,” Stevie said to Lisa.
“Okay,” Lisa agreed. “We’ll tell you the story at your pool later this afternoon.”
It was going to be a tough afternoon for Lisa. Not only would she and Trudy have to tell their tale of Trudy’s nightmarish ride on Topside, but Lisa would have the opportunity to apologize to both of her best friends. She hoped she wouldn’t have to save their lives, too!
For the next few minutes, the girls turned their attention to Samson, who finished his snack and then began rubbing his halter up against the fence again.
“Enough,” Carole announced, dropping down into the paddock softly. “Here, boy,” she said, holding her hands low. Samson stepped over to her and stood still while she removed the halter. “Good boy,” she said, patting him. Grateful for his freedom, he once again pranced around the paddock. Carole climbed the fence while Stevie released Delilah’s lead rope.
“Now can we play games with him?” Stevie asked hopefully.
“Not yet,” Carole said. “I think we can begin doing it next week, though. The first game we’ll teach him will be follow-the-leader—on a lead rope.”
“Okay, all right,” Stevie conceded. “You were right, and I’m sorry I caused so much trouble.”
“That’s okay,” Carole said. “After all, that’s what friends are for!”
All four girls started laughing, and they were still laughing together as they headed for the locker area.
When they had all finished changing shoes, Lisa realized that she’d never spoken to Mrs. Reg about observing the adult class. Mrs. Reg was in her office. Lisa didn’t want to miss the chance.
“You all go on ahead,” she said. “I’ll follow in a few minutes. There’s something I have to speak to Mrs. Reg about. And I’ll also have to talk to Max. Save some water for me, okay?”
It was a hot, humid day—too hot to stand on ceremony about getting to a swimming pool. Stevie, Carole, and Trudy agreed to proceed.
THIS WASN’T AN easy day for Lisa. She’d be glad when it was over, but until it was over, there was a lot of work to do. Not only did she have to talk to Mrs. Reg about the adult class, but she also had to thank her for helping her, and apologize for all the things she’d written about Pine Hollow. In fact, it seemed to Lisa that the list of people she had to apologize to was very long. It included Max and everybody in her riding classes—even Veronica diAngelo. She took a deep breath. It was time.
Max was in Mrs. Reg’s office when she knocked on the doorjamb, and both mother and son invited her in.
“I owe you both gigantic apologies,” Lisa began in a rush. “I was trying to do something good for me that would be good for you, too, but I just didn’t think about what I was doing. I made it sound as if nothing and nobody was safe here. I’m sorry and I won’t do it again.” Lisa looked down at the floor. She couldn’t bring herself to meet Max’s gaze.
“We knew you were just trying to help,” Max said.
“But it didn’t work at all,” Lisa said. “It didn’t help Stevie or Carole and it didn’t help you. It didn’t even help me!” She smiled, in spite of herself. “The first thing that did help me was your story today, Mrs. Reg. I knew you were telling me I had to make amends. I’m doing that now. I’m also planning a story for my next column, comparing young riders’ classes with the adults’. Can I do that, Max? Will you let me observe?”
“Sure,” he said, smiling wryly. “As long as you don’t write about individuals in the classes.”
“You mean you don’t think I should include any unkind descriptions of particularly bad riders and tell the whole world who they are?”
“Something like that,” Max said, now genuinely laughing.
“I think I’ve learned my lesson,” Lisa assured the Regnerys.
Mrs. Reg checked the calendar and class schedule. There was a class the next day that would do well for both of them.
“Uh, thanks,” Lisa said before she left. “Thanks a lot.”
“I think we owe you some thanks,” Max said. “Somehow Trudy Sanders convinced Red she had an okay to ride by herself. I’m grateful to you for going out and fetching her back. She wasn’t in any trouble, was she?”
Lisa thought for an instant before she answered. If she told Max what had really happened, she’d get Red in trouble, plus Stevie probably because Trudy was her guest, and definitely Trudy. Everything had worked out all right in the end, so what difference did it make?
“No, everything was fine,” Lisa said. “I caught her before she made a wrong turn and got lost or she might have been in trouble.”
“Well, thanks,” Max said.
Lisa had the feeling she’d just exercised some of her newfound knowledge about journalism as well as friendship. You had to sort through facts before you reported them. Not all facts are news. She felt good about herself, really good, for the first time all day.
Rummaging around in her purse, Lisa couldn’t find her pad and paper to make a note of the adult class she’d visit tomorrow. She had to make a note to herself or she’d forget it for sure. If she couldn’t write it, she could record it. She felt in the bottom of her backpack for the dictating machine, but it wasn’t there either. Lisa felt an empty feeling in her stomach. That was a valuable machine that her father had loaned her. He’d be furious if she’d lost it, and she’d be paying for it with her allowance until she had gray hair!
Hurriedly, she dumped out everything in her backpack. She found some old pencils and a stale pack of chewing gum, but there was no sign of the dictating machine.
When had she used it last? she asked herself. She recalled sitting on the bench in the locker area, right before Trudy had come in, dictating Trudy’s name to herself so she would remember to write the ill-fated column that had appeared in today’s paper. She hadn’t seen it since then, she was sure. She’d put it away in her cubby that day, but where was it now?
For a few nightmarish moments, Lisa considered the possibility that there was a crime wave at Pine Hollow. The same person who had stolen Stevie’s wallet had come back for her dictating machine—or maybe the theft of the machine was purely for revenge!
Now frantic, Lisa got down on the floor to reexamine the inside of her cubby on the bottom row. The deep cubby appeared to be completely empty. She reached in a
s far as she could. All she could feel was bare wood and then the wall at the back. She scrunched down lower and extended her arm farther. Then she felt something. She felt the edge of a small metal case. It took all the stretching and reaching she could manage to grab hold of it. With a sigh of relief she pulled out the dictating machine. Somehow, it had gotten so far back in the cubby that it had gone off the back end of it and was wedged between the bottom shelf and the wall.
Grateful to have solved the problem, she dropped the machine into her backpack and headed for Stevie’s. She’d had enough problems for one day!
“YOU DON’T HAVE to say anything,” Carole told the weary Lisa when she arrived at Stevie’s. “Trudy has told us the whole story. And don’t worry, nobody’s mad at you. You did a fabulous job rescuing Trudy, and anyway, we knew you’d eventually see what was happening with Hoof Beat. After all, you’re our friend so you’ve got to be pretty terrific, right?”
Lisa smiled gratefully. “Thanks. It’s a good thing I’ve got friends like you because when you mess up the way I have, you really need them!”
Stevie tossed a half-inflated beach ball at Lisa. “Come on! Go put on your bathing suit. We’ve been waiting for you so we could have chicken fights!”
“I’ll be right back,” Lisa promised, grinning over at Carole and Trudy. She headed for Stevie’s room where she could change.
Stevie, who had been lying on her stomach on her towel, abruptly sat up. Although she was relieved to see the end of Lisa’s weird behavior, she realized that all her troubles were not solved. She put her elbows on her knees and cupped her chin in her hands with a sigh.
“There’s still one really big problem left,” she said to Carole, “and that’s your dad’s birthday money.”
“Something will work out,” Carole said.
“Nothing’s going to work. I’ve tried everything!” Stevie said.
“You’re such a pessimist,” Carole teased.
“Since when are you such an optimist!” Stevie retorted.
“I’m a realist,” Trudy interrupted. “A realist knows that if you work smart instead of hard, problems get solved.”
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