Mary and Jody in the Movies

by JoAnn S. Dawson

  “Nice meeting you, Mary and Jody,” he said with a lopsided grin. “Your ponies are beautiful.”

  “Thank you. So are you,” Mary blurted, then clapped her hand over her mouth and closed her eyes in complete and utter mortification.

  Jimmy Mooney shook his head and snorted loudly, and the rest of the group chuckled as Mary turned Gypsy quickly from where she stood, hoping to hide her reddened face. She started to put her foot in the stirrup when she felt a hand take the reins from her grasp.

  “What are you doin’?” Willie asked quietly, mindful of Mary’s embarrassment. “You can’t mount up and just take them into a ring where they’ve never been before. Now just lead her in and walk her around a couple of times so she can look around and get used to the situation. Jody can follow you in.”

  Mary nodded silently and gathered up Gypsy’s reins, leading her smoothly through the open gate with Jody and Lady following. As they began their walk side-by-side along the rail, Mr. Crowley waved and called out to them as he turned away with the group of actors.

  Stopping in front of Lady and Jody,

  he cocked his head and grinned, reaching

  out to rub his hand up and down Lady’s face.

  “Will and Twister will be taking over from here. We’ve got to get these people back to work. Good luck, girls. I’m sure we’ll see you in the next few days.”

  “Oh, thank goodness, they’re not going to watch us,” Jody breathed.

  “I can’t believe I said that, I can’t believe I said that,” Mary said miserably, shaking her head. “I just can’t believe I said that!”

  “Oh, don’t worry about it, Mare,” Jody said, secretly glad she hadn’t been the one to say it. “He probably gets people saying stuff like that to him all the time. Anyway, can you believe it’s really him? I almost fell over when I saw him! He looks just the same as he does on TV!”

  “I know, doesn’t he?” Mary exclaimed, forgetting her embarrassment in the excitement of the moment. “And he actually talked to us! Do you think we’ll see him again?”

  “Probably, if we get to ride in the movie. That’s what we have to concentrate on now, riding well enough and showing off the ponies so we all get the part.”

  “All right, girls, I think the ponies are OK with the ring.” Twister called out as if on cue as they neared the gate for the second time. “Why don’t you go ahead and mount up, and we’ll see how it goes.”

  Mary and Jody glanced ringside and were relieved to see that everyone including Jimmy and Mr. Mooney had disappeared, leaving only Willie and Twister. They lowered their stirrups on the left side of the saddles and almost in unison placed their left feet in the irons, swinging themselves neatly onto the ponies’ backs. All of the years practicing their circus act together in the big pasture were finally paying off. And now that Jody was seated comfortably on Lady’s back, she smiled and sat up proudly, her nervousness gone.

  Willie and Twister entered the ring, and Willie closed the gate behind them. Lady and Gypsy stood perfectly still, waiting, as always, for their cue to move forward.

  “Just get them on the rail, and let’s pick up a trot,” Twister commanded.

  The girls turned the ponies easily toward the rail and trotted off smoothly, with Lady following Gypsy in the easy rhythm that they were both accustomed to. Mary and Jody started off in a sitting trot and then began rising and sitting to the cadence of the ponies’ movements as Willie had shown them on the few occasions he had taken time out from farm work. They trotted on the rail several times around and then changed direction at Twister’s request.

  “This ring is so nice!” Mary exclaimed over her shoulder to Jody. “I feel like we’re floating on this sand and rubber!”

  “I know! Do you think we’ll get to keep the ring when the movie’s finished?”

  “Well, I don’t think they’ll go to the trouble to rip it up!” Mary laughed.

  “OK, girls, less talkin’, more ridin’,” Twister said, trying to sound stern. “Now let’s come down to a walk, and we’ll try a canter.”

  “Oh, this is the fun part,” Mary said under her breath.

  “OK, now, canter!” Twister called out, and the girls only had to nudge gently with their heels to encourage Lady and Gypsy into a nice slow canter, twice around the ring, changing direction once.

  “All right, that’s enough for now,” Twister said, waving the girls to a halt in the center of the ring. Twister stood with Willie in front of Gypsy and rubbed his hand up and down on her muzzle. “Will and me’ll talk it over, and we’ll let you know tomorrow if you passed or not.”

  “Tomorrow! But, Willie, can’t you just tell us now?” Mary pleaded. “We won’t be able to sleep tonight wondering if we made it or not!”

  “You can wait ’til tomorrow,” Willie replied nonchalantly, “and I betcha a dollar you won’t have any trouble sleepin’ tonight.”

  Mary and Jody knew it wouldn’t do any good to argue, so they sighed and led Gypsy and Lady out of the ring and down to Lucky Foot Stable, where they quickly untacked, groomed, and turned them out in the big pasture. They gave Star a carrot they had saved from the food table and made sure he had plenty of hay and water in his paddock. Then they climbed on their bikes and, waving goodbye, pedaled in opposite directions toward their homes.

  And Willie’s prediction turned out to be true. The second their heads hit the pillows that night they were asleep, completely worn out from all the excitement of the day.

  6

  Willie’s Request

  THE SCENE THE next morning at the McMurray dairy farm looked much the same as it had the day before—crew members bustling about, some lined up at the breakfast buffet, others winding up cables, still others unloading more metal boxes from the big white trucks in the machinery yard. Mary and Jody arrived early once more in anticipation of learning whether they passed the previous day’s riding test. After feeding Star in his paddock and promising to come back later and groom him, they made their way up to the farmhouse to find Twister and Willie.

  “Mare, what if we didn’t make it?” Jody said, biting her fingernails. “What will we do if we just have to watch other people ride? And…” she continued, as a terrible thought came to her, “what if the ponies made it, but we didn’t? Then we’ll have to watch other people ride our ponies!”

  “Jody, will you stop it? Of course we made it,” Mary said confidently. “Willie said the girl in the movie teaches lessons for beginners. We’re at least good enough for that. It’s not like we have to jump or anything. And nobody could ride Gypsy and Lady as well as we can. So stop worrying! And stop biting your fingernails!”

  Jody obediently removed her fingers from her mouth, clasped her hands behind her back, and bravely squared her shoulders for the remainder of the walk to the farmhouse. But the second she saw Twister emerging from the corner of the food truck, her anxiety returned, along with her nervous habit.

  “Mornin’, ladies,” Twister said, approaching them nonchalantly with a foil-wrapped sandwich in his hand. “Now what could be makin’ you bite your fingernails like that, Jody?”

  “Nothing, Twister, nothing at all,” Mary replied, grabbing Jody’s hand from her mouth and linking arms with her so that she couldn’t resume the habit. “Jody always bites her fingernails. It’s just something she likes to do.”

  “Oh, I see,” Twister nodded. “Well, I’m fixin’ to sit down and eat my breakfast. Wanna join me? Plenty of food up there.”

  Jody thought she would bust any minute if Twister didn’t tell them if they had passed the riding test, but Mary was not about to let Twister think for a moment that they were the least bit anxious.

  “Sure, we’ll join you, Twister. Go ahead and sit down, and we’ll get our plates.”

  While Mary and Jody made their way to the food line, Twister turned away quickly so they couldn’t see the ornery grin that was spreading across his face. Jody took her place in line behind Mary and grabbed an empty plate from the pile at t
he end of the table before she spoke.

  “How can you be so calm? Why don’t we just ask Twister if we made it?” she whispered fiercely in Mary’s ear.

  “Well, maybe Twister wants to wait until Willie gets here to tell us,” Mary whispered back. “And I think he just might be testing us to see if we can stay calm under pressure. Appearing in the movies puts you under a lot of pressure, you know,” she continued knowingly.

  Jody sighed and silently filled her plate, stopping only to throw Finnegan a scrap of bacon. She picked up a glass of juice and followed Mary to the table where Twister sat joking with other members of the movie crew.

  “Come on and sit down here,Mary,” Twister invited, pulling out the chair next to him. “And Jody, there’s an empty chair across from Mary.”

  “Thanks, Twister,” Mary said nonchalantly as she and Jody took their seats. Jody took a forkful of scrambled eggs in her mouth and glanced up at Twister, hoping to read his face for a clue to their futures, but Twister was concentrating very hard on finishing his own egg and biscuit. No one spoke until one of the crew members stood with his empty plate in hand.

  “So, I hear you girls are going to be riding for us,” he said cheerily. “Congratulations! We’ll see you in the ring.” And he turned and was gone.

  Jody’s mouth was already open, a second forkful of eggs about to enter, when the meaning of the man’s comment sank in. She dropped her fork and looked again at Twister, who sat back and nodded at her with a huge grin on his face.

  “I knew it! I knew it!” Mary shrieked. The other crew members at the table chuckled as they stood with their empty plates, each of them congratulating the girls as they left the table to go back to work in the farmhouse.

  “Twister, why didn’t you tell us yourself?” Mary gasped. “We were dying to know the whole time!”

  “So much for being calm under pressure,” Jody mumbled to herself.

  “Well, I guess I didn’t get the chance, since old loudmouth told you first,” Twister said, pretending to be upset. “But anyhow, now you know. And you need to get done with your breakfast and meet Will down at the stable. He’s got somethin’ to ask you about.”

  Without another word, Mary and Jody grabbed their half-full plates and sprang from the table, heading for the trash can at the end of the buffet. But Finnegan intercepted them and begged so heartily that they gave the rest of their food to him.

  “I swear that dog has gained ten pounds since the movie people got here,” Mary muttered as they trotted toward Lucky Foot Stable. “He doesn’t even go down to the barn to help round up the cows anymore.”

  “I wonder what Willie wants to ask us about,” Jody said warily. “Do you think he’s mad about something?”

  “I don’t know what it would be! But we’ll soon see! Hey, that rhymed,” Mary chuckled.

  When the girls entered the cool stillness of the little white stable, Colonel Sanders was perched on the top board of Lady’s stall. Star hung his head inside the stable from the door to the paddock, nickering to them as if to say, “Hey, what about that grooming you promised me?” But Willie was nowhere to be seen.

  “Well, I guessWillie came and went, or maybe he’s not here yet,” Mary observed. “Maybe he’ll be here by the time we finish taking care of Star.”

  Almost at the same instant the words crossed Mary’s lips, Willie appeared in the doorway of Lucky Foot Stable, tugging on his earlobe as he always did when thinking about something.

  “Willie! You’ll never guess what! We passed the riding test!” Jody blurted even before Willie had a chance to enter the stable.

  “Oh, you did, didja?” Willie smiled. “Who woulda guessed it?”

  “Jody, of course Willie already knew we passed,” Mary said. “He probably had a say in the whole thing.”

  Willie took a hard brush from Jody’s grasp

  and began grooming one side of Star while

  Jody worked on the other side.

  Without a word, Willie walked over to Star and scratched him on the special spot behind his ear. In response, Star rubbed his head up and down, up and down Willie’s arm. The girls waited expectantly for Willie to speak, but still he said nothing. It was Mary who finally broke the silence.

  “Um, Willie, Twister said you wanted to talk to us about something…”

  “…Did we do something wrong?” Jody finished. Still Willie said nothing, and the girls knew they would just have to wait until Willie was ready to say whatever it was he had to say.

  “This colt needs a good brushin’,” Willie finally said, hooking a lead rope to Star’s halter. Willie opened the Dutch door and led Star in from the paddock, putting him on crossties in the aisle. Jody went to her tack trunk and silently gathered up her hoof pick and brushes while Mary sat on a bale of hay, softly whistling a tune to herself.

  Willie took a hard brush from Jody’s grasp and began grooming one side of Star while Jody worked on the other side. Willie didn’t speak until he had almost reached Star’s hindquarters. Then he stopped and rested the brush on Star’s back.

  “We’re goin’ to need a couple of good horses to use for a ridin’ test,” he said.

  Mary stopped whistling, and Jody stopped brushing, waiting for Willie’s next words.

  “So we want to ask you if we can use Lady and Gypsy on Saturday for some other girls and boys to come in and ride. We need a few more riders for the ridin’ lesson scene in the movie, so the casting director put out a call for young actors who can ride. Now, lots of times they say they can ride, and they really can’t, so we have to watch them just like we did you to see if they’re tellin’ the truth. We’d like to use Lady and Gypsy because they’re nice, quiet ponies, and we don’t want anybody gettin’ hurt in the test.”

  Willie resumed brushing. Mary and Jody looked at each other, perplexed.

  “So, other kids will be riding our ponies?” Jody squeaked.

  “That’s the general idea,” Willie replied. “Now, it’ll just be once or twice around the ring. By that time, we can tell if they can ride or not. We’re not lookin’ for expert riders, but they have to have a decent seat and be able to steer the ponies around the ring without fallin’ off.”

  Willie picked up a tail comb and gently worked the tangles out of Star’s black-and-white tail until it hung straight and shining. Still Mary and Jody didn’t know what to say. The idea of other people riding Lady and Gypsy! It was almost beyond their imagination!

  “Well, why don’t you think about it and tell me or Twister what you decide,” Willie said, carefully laying the comb in the top shelf of Jody’s tack trunk. He patted Star on the rump and headed for the back doors of Lucky Foot Stable. Just before setting foot outside, he turned.

  “The producers said they’d be willin’ to pay you somethin’ for the use of the ponies,” he said. Then he was gone.

  7

  Test Part Two

  THE RIDE TO Lucky Foot Stable on Saturday morning was filled with apprehension for Mary and Jody. Even though they were in separate cars, coming from opposite ends of the road, their thoughts were the same, both wondering if they were doing the right thing.

  After Willie had asked their permission to use the ponies for the riding test, Mary and Jody had talked it over. First they had adamantly decided against it. Then they thought that maybe they should do it because Willie asked them to (and he never asked for favors). Finally they reasoned that the money they would earn would help pay for the breeding fee to save Star,meaning Willie wouldn’t have to pay for all of it himself. Still, they couldn’t fully make up their minds until they went home and talked it over with their parents.

  Jody spoke to her father and Mary to her mother, and then the two adults spoke on the phone, and eventually they all came to the same conclusion: Willie needed help, and the girls should do anything they could to help him!

  Jody’s father and Mary’s mother offered to be there for the day since it was a Saturday and neither had to work. They agreed to meet at L
ucky Foot Stable at eight o’clock in the morning, an hour before the riding test was to begin. As so often happened when Mary and Jody rode their bikes to the farm, the two cars pulled into the farm lane at almost the same time and then parked side by side outside the back doors of the stable.

  Mary and Jody somberly stepped out of their respective cars and then silently walked together into the little barn.

  “Good morning, Frank,” Mary’s mother said, emerging from the car with a smile for Jody’s father. “Looks like we have two nervous girls here today.”

  “Mornin’, Katherine. You’re right about that. Jody could hardly sleep last night worrying about it. I tried to convince her that everything will be fine. Willie’s here to run the test, and he obviously knows what he’s doing.”

  A moment later Mary and Jody appeared from the stable, lead ropes in hand, and turned toward the big pasture where Lady and Gypsy grazed peacefully, unsuspecting of the momentous day ahead.

  “May we come along?” Mary’s mother asked quietly.

  “Sure,” Mary shrugged. The two adults shared a glance and fell in step behind the despondent girls. Finally, Jody’s father broke the silence.

  “Now, look, guys, there’s no use moping around,” he said. “You’ve made up your minds, and you’re doing the right thing. Willie asked just this one favor, and he’s certainly done plenty for you. He’ll make sure the ponies are fine. Just think, it might be fun watching the others ride.”

  “Fun? Dad, please,” Jody said grumpily. “Lady and Gypsy won’t know what to do with other people riding them. They’re only used to us.”

  “Oh, is that so? Do you think that no one ever rode them before you did? Now I know that you two ride them the very best, but I think they’ll be OK for the others. After all, you’ve trained them to accept any challenge, right?”

  “And don’t forget how well Lady did at her very first horse show,” Mary’s mother added. “Nothing seems to bother her. And Gypsy will do just as well, I’m sure.”