“But what about Kim? I thought she was your best friend?”
Rose shook her head. “Not this year. She started hanging out with these girls in the fashion club, and they wear nicer clothes than I do and shop together. I don’t fit in at all.”
Juniper sucked in a breath. That was why Rose had started caring about her outfits more than being with Juniper.
Rose stared at Juniper with sorrowful eyes. “I encouraged you to do that big stunt so those girls would be impressed. But I should’ve been thinking of you. I’m really sorry.”
“I guess we both had our priorities in the wrong place. I wasn’t a good friend to Able, either. But we can do better now, right?”
Rose nodded. “Absolutely.”
Juniper pulled her sister into a hug with Able.
Chapter 10
A Bigger Stunt
“Surprise!”
Juniper jumped when she rounded the wall of the studio. The stunt cast, Ben, Sadie, and much of the crew and actors were waiting for her and Able at the stables. They’d strung a big “Welcome Back!” banner across the top of the entrance. A table was set out with a cake and cups of punch for the humans, and a bowl of apple slices and carrots for the horses.
Juniper grinned. She had been afraid she’d never be allowed back on the set, and was excited when, after much begging, her father had said she could go with Able on his first day back.
Marcus brought her a piece of cake that had the G in “Get Well Soon” on the top. “If sugar can heal, your arm should be better in no time with this.” He laughed.
“Thanks.” Juniper took the cake. “I didn’t think you’d want me here since I can’t do stunts.”
“Of course we do,” Marcus said. “You’re part of the team.”
“They made me promise to text them when you’d be able to come to the set so they could have this party,” Juniper’s dad said.
“But you made me beg to come back.” Juniper pursed her lips at her dad.
“Can’t let you get too much of a big head, TV star.” Her dad winked. “Of course, the promise you made before I said yes still stands. Nothing . . .”
“Dangerous,” Juniper finished. “Believe me, I know!” She pointed to her broken arm.
“All right, I’ve got to get over to Paramount to help with Lucky. I’ll pick you guys up tonight.” Juniper’s dad patted Able’s neck, kissed Juniper on the forehead, then headed back to his truck.
“I’m so glad you’re okay—other than your arm, of course,” Leigh told Juniper, bringing an apple slice for Able. “I’m sorry you can’t do the stunt now. I know it meant a lot to you.”
“It did, but . . .” Juniper thought about Able. “I’d be happy to do any stunts, even small ones now. What are they doing for the big stunt?”
“Oh, they’re still doing your idea.”
“They are?” Juniper was surprised. She had thought that since she wasn’t able to do it anymore, they’d try something else. “Who’s doing it?”
“Me.” Leigh didn’t look happy at all, but Juniper couldn’t understand why.
“That’s great,” she said. “Everyone will see even more that you’re the best.” Juniper meant every word in the best way possible, but she still felt a touch of envy. Even though she couldn’t do the stunt and knew the production couldn’t wait for her to heal, she still wished she had done it right so that everyone would be impressed.
“I don’t care about that,” Leigh said. “This was your idea, and you should be doing it. Besides . . .” She leaned in closer to whisper in Juniper’s ear. “It’s hard for me. And I don’t want to break my arm, or worse.”
“Okay, everyone!” Sadie shouted over the hum of conversation at the party. “Juniper and Able, we’re excited you’re back. Juniper, we hope your arm is better really soon. And now, we’ve got an episode to finish. Leigh, get into your costume. We’ll begin shooting as soon as Able’s ready on the set.”
Leigh nodded. “Will do,” she said cheerily, then turned back to Juniper and breathed in deeply. “Cross your fingers for me.”
“You can do it,” Juniper said, hoping she was right.
The horses, props, and stunt team were assembled on the set within an hour. Juniper sat quietly next to Sadie’s director chair. She had to keep telling herself to breathe. She was even more nervous than when she had been the one doing the stunt.
All that kept running through her mind was, this stunt was her idea, and if something happened to Leigh, it would be Juniper’s fault. When Juniper had suggested it, she had been putting herself in danger, not realizing how it would affect Able. Now Leigh had been pulled into it, too, and the herd in Juniper’s tummy was not happy.
“Action!” Sadie shouted, and the stunt began.
This time, though, it didn’t look good from the beginning. Leigh almost missed her jump onto Able, and she was having problems with the crawl under his belly. Able was nervous as well, making him more skittish than usual.
“Hold it!” Ben shouted.
Leigh jumped down from Able, looking relieved. She patted Able reassuringly, but her face still carried a frown.
Juniper hurried over to Able. “You’ve got this, Able. Leigh is even better than me. She’ll do this stunt so well and won’t hurt you like I did.” Juniper put her forehead on his shoulder. “I’m sorry I got you into this. I’m so sorry. I wish I’d never suggested this stunt now.”
Ben had been giving Leigh pointers. Now he walked back to the edge of the set and called out, “Okay, let’s go again.”
Juniper kissed Able’s nose and walked to her seat, but a new idea was running through her mind. If she could come up with an even better stunt, something more spectacular but also much safer, Leigh and Able wouldn’t have to do this one.
“Action!” Sadie shouted.
Leigh and Able tried again, but there were still problems, and this time, Leigh slipped from Able’s saddle.
“Sorry,” she called. “I was off-balance. Can we try again?”
“Wait!” Juniper stood up, then panic quickly ran through her stomach. She hadn’t thought of a good enough idea to replace the stunt yet, but she wanted to do something.
“What is it?” Ben asked. “You see something Leigh’s doing wrong?”
Juniper shook her head. Her mouth had gone dry, but she had to give them some kind of new idea, something that would be better than this difficult stunt.
“I just . . .” Think! Think! She had to think of something.
Everyone on the set was looking at her, waiting. The production assistant glanced at his watch. Juniper was holding up the schedule.
She thought of the research she and Rose had done to come up with this stunt idea, all the different tricks they’d looked at. The most exciting ones had lots of riders doing tricks at the same time, but Juniper and Rose had discarded those because they’d wanted a stunt that would showcase Juniper alone. But maybe that’s what they needed now.
“I have an idea for another stunt,” Juniper blurted out.
Ben shook his head slowly. “We don’t have time to rehearse a new stunt now.”
“I know.” Juniper had to make them listen. She had gotten Able and Leigh into this, and she had to make it right. “But this stunt will look better and be easier and safer. That’s good, isn’t it?”
Sadie sighed. “We’re not having much luck with this one as it is. Give us your idea, Juniper. We’ll see if it’ll work.”
Juniper gulped. “There are vault competitions with different riders doing tricks over the same horse, and it looks amazing. Instead of Lady Penelope rescuing Sir Gregor on her own, she could get help from some of her ladies-in-waiting. With more people involved in the stunt, viewers will have more things to look at. It’ll make it more exciting.”
“Hmmm.” Sadie narrowed her eyes. “Interesting. Tell me more.”
Juniper bit her lip. The herd in her tummy pounded their hooves. “Well . . . like . . .”
“The ladies-in-waiting could be dressed in disguise, so no one knows who the real rescuer is,” Marcus said, stepping forward. “I’ve seen those vault competition videos, too. It’s a good idea. One lady-in-waiting could catapult onto Able’s back, then onto Zombie’s back, next to Able.”
“Yes,” said Leigh, joining them. “Then another could jump on Zombie then over to Able.”
“I could straddle the two horses,” Pablo said, “and help Leigh as Lady Penelope get into the driver’s seat.”
“I don’t know. This sounds complicated,” Sadie said. “It’s not screaming spectacular to me.”
“Actually, this could really work,” said Anthony, the man who coordinated the camera shots. “With each camera on one of the actors, and a couple overall shots from different angles, it could look really good.”
“What about rehearsal time?” Sadie asked. “Can we fit it into the schedule?”
Ben shrugged. “The moves will look impressive, but the stunts are actually simple, things these guys can do in their sleep. We could probably shoot this afternoon once we can get the blocking in place.”
Juniper sucked in a breath. This sounded hopeful.
She stared at Sadie. All eyes were on the director as they waited for her answer. The seconds seemed to drag out into years, until finally Sadie nodded.
“Okay,” Sadie said. “Let’s break and set up for this.”
“Yes.” Leigh smiled and turned to Juniper. “Thank you for thinking of this. You were so brave trying that other stunt, but I didn’t want to do it one more time.”
“Team stunts are way better than single-person ones, anyway.” Juniper grinned.
“Agreed,” Marcus said.
“Good job, Juniper,” Sadie said, walking over to the group. “You’ve got a talent for spotting good shots. I know you like the stunt work, but have you ever thought about being a director when you’re older? I think you’ll make a good one.”
“Thanks.” Juniper’s herd started to gallop in excitement. A director! Juniper had never even thought of it, but it sounded like something she could really like.
She headed over to Able and rubbed his nose. “You’ll like this stunt a lot better. And the best part is, you’ll still be the star of the show.”
Able neighed.
Just like Ben had said, it didn’t take long for the kids to get the new stunt to work perfectly. Juniper sat next to Sadie, watching the various camera shots on the screen. It looked even more spectacular than she had imagined.
“You guys were awesome,” she said after Sadie had called cut. “I would’ve applauded, but . . . you know.” She pointed to her broken arm, and the stunt kids laughed.
“That’s okay,” Marcus said. “It felt good. And we couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Yeah,” Leigh said.
“Great job,” Ben said, walking up. “Everyone get cleaned up. I need to get these horses to the stables for a rest.”
“I’ll lead Able,” Juniper said.
“Thanks, Juniper. Just be careful of your arm. If you hurt yourself again, your dad will kill me.” Ben laughed.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.” Juniper walked over to Able and gave him a big hug. “You were amazing, boy. The best horse in the whole show.”
Chapter 11
Ready to Ride
It was six weeks before Juniper could get her cast off her arm, and by that time, the rest of the episodes of Castle McAvoy had wrapped. She was sad that she hadn’t been able to perform any more stunts for the show, but she’d had little time to think about it. Inspired by Juniper, Rose had stopped trying to be friends with the popular kids in her class and had gone back to her dream of competing in the trick riding championships, and Juniper was her coach.
“That was a great session,” Juniper told Rose as they headed back to the stable. Juniper was riding Able and Rose was on Lucky, fresh off her movie role with Paramount. “Just remember to hold your reins higher.”
Rose nodded. “I keep forgetting that. Thanks, coach.” She slid off Lucky, then glanced up at Juniper, still on Able’s back. “You coming?”
Juniper looked out at the pasture, eyeing the giant elm. That dragon needed some taming.
Juniper shook her head. “Not yet. I want to have some fun with Able for a bit.”
The Castle McAvoy theme song started playing from within the stables. “That’s my phone! Hold on, Able. I’ll be right back.” Juniper jumped to the ground and raced inside. When she picked up her phone, she saw Leigh’s grinning picture. Juniper quickly clicked accept.
“Leigh!”
“Hey, Juniper.” Leigh’s voice sounded bright and made Juniper miss their days together on the set. “How are you and Able?”
“Great. My arm’s all better. We’re just about to go out and slay some dragons.” She giggled.
Leigh laughed. “I won’t keep you, but I just got the start date for practices for the next season of the show. I wanted to see if you’d heard anything yet. Are you coming back?”
Juniper felt a small bit of sadness and envy in her tummy, but she pushed it away. She had enjoyed her time on Castle McAvoy, but she really loved her time in the pasture with Able.
“No, I haven’t heard anything,” she told Leigh. “But it’s okay. You and Marcus and Pablo are the best stunt kids I’ve ever seen. I learned so much from you.” And she meant it.
“You’re an awesome stunt kid, too,” Leigh said, “and an even better friend. You better call me the second you hear, okay?”
Juniper smiled. “I promise.”
She clicked off the phone, then headed back out to the pasture. Able neighed as if he was telling her to hurry. He was ready to ride.
Juniper grinned as she climbed up onto his back. “Just you and me this time, Able. Let’s go slay some dragons.”
When Juniper was ready, Able took off. They raced around the pasture, and Juniper let out a “WHOOO!” Galloping past the dragon tree, Juniper stood up on one stirrup, arms out wide. The wind rushed past her, and she couldn’t have been happier.
Back in the saddle, she patted Able’s neck. “That was amazing, Able. Want to go again?”
Her horse nodded and they trotted around the end of the pasture, ready for another run. Claudia Rains had been absolutely right. Doing tricks and stunts was fun, but the part Juniper loved most was being with Able.
“Dragons beware,” Juniper cried, a giggle rising up in her throat as Able nickered his own delight.
They got ready to ride, but a shout from the stable stopped them.
“Juniper!” Her dad ran over from their house, waving his phone. “I just got a call from Fay at Castle McAvoy.”
Juniper climbed down off Able’s back. Her tummy roiled. She’d be fine if she didn’t get to be on Castle McAvoy anymore, but if she was honest with herself, she hoped she and Able could do more stunts together for the show.
“What did she say?” Juniper asked, hugging Able around his neck.
“Something about needing to build up a great stunt team for next season and wanting to have people and horses with the best ideas . . .” He glanced at her.
“Dad! Tell me!”
He grinned. “They want you both back for more stunts next season.”
Juniper squealed.
“But you have to promise—”
“Don’t do anything dangerous,” Juniper echoed. “I promise. Truly. Thanks, Dad.”
“You did it all yourself, Junebug,” her father said. “I’m proud of you.”
“Nope. Not by myself.” Juniper kissed Able. “I had the best friend a girl could want with me, right, Able?”
Her horse nodded.
“Okay,” Juniper said, “I think
I see a troll in the pasture. You ready to ride, Able?”
Able snorted, and Juniper climbed onto his back.
Soon, they were going to be on their favorite show again. But right now, it was just the two of them, girl and horse, Juniper and Able, riding together.
And Juniper couldn’t think of anything better.
About the Author
Samantha M. Clark is the award-winning author of The Boy, The Boat, And The Beast and the forthcoming Arrow, both published by Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster. She lives with her husband and two kooky dogs in Austin, Texas. Samantha is the Regional Advisor for the Austin chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators, and explores wardrobes every chance she gets.
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Hollywood: Juniper and Able Page 7