“Okay,” Stevie said. “If you’re absolutely, positively sure we can’t do any more work today.”
Red looked at her hands and shook his head. “We’re done for the day. And tomorrow, too.”
Stevie reluctantly climbed off the wagon. As much as she wanted to work longer, she knew Red was right. Her hands needed to be in great shape for next weekend, and that meant taking care of them now. She hurried in and washed them, then applied the ointment and bandages that Red had suggested. She was on her way back to the indoor ring when she passed the locker room.
“Maybe I’ll stop in and see if Veronica really did get her gift,” she said softly to herself. “Maybe Red was mistaken.”
She tiptoed into the empty locker room and headed straight for Veronica’s cubby. Slowly she opened the door. Veronica’s good riding clothes were gone, but stuffed carelessly back in the top shelf of the cubby was the package Stevie had been so proud of. The beautiful wrapping paper was crumpled up in a ball, and the pretty little china dog lay half out of the box. Veronica hadn’t even bothered to open the card that Stevie had spent so much time selecting.
“Oh, no!” Stevie found it hard to believe what she was seeing. “The china dog was a terrible mistake. It must have upset her even more than I could have possibly imagined!”
Quickly she closed the door of Veronica’s cubby. This was awful. The gift that she and Carole and Lisa had spent so much money on had only made everything worse. How could she have been so insensitive?
She hurried back to the indoor ring. Once again she felt as if she had done exactly the wrong thing. Now all she could do to make things better for Veronica was give absolutely the best, most perfect riding demonstration that it was in her power to give.
“Does that feel better?” Red asked, looking at her bandaged hands.
Stevie nodded, having forgotten all about her blistered fingers. “Do you think they’ll be okay for the demonstration Saturday?”
“They will if you take care of them,” said Red, helping her unhitch first Danny, then Belle. “I’ve had lots of blisters, and the trick is to just go easy on them until they heal.” He looked at her and smiled. “Anyway, even with bum hands, you’re more than ready to give a demonstration.”
“You really think so?” It was hard for Stevie to unbuckle all the tiny harness straps with her bandaged fingers, so Red did that while she held the horses.
“Well, you might not be up to competition driving yet, but I don’t think this joint meeting of Horse Wise and Cross County will present any problems for you.”
“And Veronica will be there to help me,” Stevie said as Red unbuckled Danny’s halter.
Red laughed. “Absolutely,” he agreed. “Just as much as she always is.”
Stevie sighed. She and Red clipped the lead ropes to Belle and Danny, then led them back to their stalls. She wished Red had as much confidence in Veronica as she did, but maybe he was one of those people who had to see things before they would believe them. Well, he’d be surprised when Veronica showed up Saturday, ready and willing to help.
“Thanks again for all your coaching, Red,” Stevie said as she put Belle in her stall. “You’ve been super.”
“I’ve enjoyed it, Stevie.” He turned to her and grinned. “I think you could turn into a real whip.”
“Huh?” Stevie frowned.
Red said, “That’s what they call someone who drives a carriage.”
“Thanks!”
Stevie gave Belle a farewell carrot, then hurried out into the frosty afternoon air. She had a lot to do when she got home. She was going to e-mail Veronica the minute she got there and tell her not to worry about the driving demonstration. “We are going to be ready for next Saturday,” she said, composing her letter out loud. “We are going to be great.” She flexed her sore hands and felt her blisters. “Oh,” she added. “Don’t forget your driving gloves!”
“WELL, THIS IS it,” said Lisa as she and Carole hurried up the steps to the library. “It’s Sunday afternoon and our last chance to do any research before next Saturday.”
“I know,” Carole said glumly. “I just wonder how much we can get done. There are still forty-two books in there that we’ve barely glanced at.”
“Can I make a suggestion this time?” Lisa turned to Carole, her blue eyes serious.
“Sure.” Carole replied.
“Let’s see if Cynthia’s there before we get started. Then we can tell her right up front that we won’t be reading any more of Misty to her.”
“Good idea,” agreed Carole. “Can you believe she was actually trying to get Veronica to read to her yesterday?”
Lisa giggled. “Poor kid must really be desperate!”
They hurried inside the main reading room and put their backpacks down at their regular table. “Let’s get this over with now,” said Lisa. “Then we can get to work.”
Carole nodded. Together they walked quietly back to the corner where Cynthia usually hung out. There was nothing there but books and the little chair she’d always sat on.
Carole frowned. “That’s weird. Where do you think she is?”
“I don’t know,” said Lisa. “But let’s look around some more before we get involved in driving history.”
They walked up and down the shadowy stacks, but Cynthia was nowhere to be found. Even the tiny desks in the children’s section were empty.
“Do you think her mother kept her home today?” Lisa asked as they started to walk back over to their table. “Or maybe Mrs. Davidson threw her out of the library for good.”
“She could have, I guess.” Suddenly Carole stopped and pointed at another long study table. “Wait. Look over there. Isn’t that a little blond five-year-old head bent over that book?”
Lisa nodded. “Sure looks like one to me.”
The girls walked over to the table. Sure enough, Cynthia sat there, quietly looking at the pictures in Misty.
“Ahem.” Carole cleared her throat sharply. Cynthia looked up with a start.
“Oh, hi, Carole. Hi, Lisa,” she said, her voice barely above a squeak.
“Hi, Cynthia,” replied Carole. “How come you’re sitting out here in the open and not hiding in the stacks?”
Cynthia’s face grew red. “My mom wants me to sit here so she can keep an eye on me.”
“An eye on you?” Lisa frowned and sat down in the chair across from Cynthia. “How can she keep an eye on you if she’s shopping at the mall?”
“Uh, she’s not at the mall today,” Cynthia explained quickly.
“Oh?” said Carole. “Is she here?”
Cynthia nodded.
“Where?”
Cynthia gave a big sigh. “Right over there,” she said softly, pointing to the checkout desk.
Carole and Lisa turned and looked. Only Mrs. Davidson stood there, rummaging through a large red pocketbook that sat on the counter in front of her.
Both girls turned back to Cynthia. “You mean your mother is Mrs. Davidson?” Lisa cried.
Cynthia lowered her eyes and nodded again.
“So she wasn’t abandoning you to go shopping at all.” Carole quickly pieced together the parts of the puzzle. “She was right here the whole time.”
“I didn’t want to stay at home with a baby-sitter,” Cynthia explained in a small voice. “My dad is out of town on a business trip.”
“But why were you hiding from your own mother?” asked Lisa.
“Because I like to talk to people and kind of make up stories.” Cynthia’s cheeks were bright red now. “But what I really like is to get people to read to me.”
“Yeah, just like we did,” said Lisa.
“You guys were the best readers ever.” Cynthia’s eyes brightened. “Misty and you are my all-time favorites!”
“Cynthia, do you know how that makes us feel?” Carole frowned.
“Yes,” Cynthia replied in a small voice. “You’re mad, Lisa’s mad, my mom’s really mad. I can’t hang out in the stacks anymor
e, ever!”
Lisa looked at the little girl. “But do you understand why we’re mad?”
“Because you didn’t really want to read to me?” asked Cynthia.
“No,” Lisa explained. “Because you made us think your mother was mistreating you. We were very worried about you. We even tried to find your mother that afternoon we went to the mall.”
“Yes,” added Carole. “Lisa and I and another friend of ours made idiots of ourselves, charging up to women with big red purses on their shoulders. They thought we were crazy.”
Cynthia cringed. She was clearly embarrassed at the trouble she had caused.
“The worst thing, though, is that you lied to us,” explained Lisa. “That’s a very bad thing to do. People don’t believe people who don’t tell the truth.”
“Yeah,” said Carole. “Now Lisa and I won’t ever believe anything you say.”
Cynthia looked down at her book. Big tears began to roll down her cheeks. “But I didn’t mean anything bad.” She sniffed. “I was just having fun.” She looked up. “And you guys got to read Misty again!”
“Yes, but we needed to be doing other things!” Lisa cried. “We’ve got a report due next Saturday, and we haven’t gotten anything done on it.”
“What’s your report about?” Cynthia asked.
“The history of driving horses,” replied Carole. “We have to stand up and give a ten-minute presentation next Saturday at our Pony Club meeting.”
“Just ten minutes?” asked Cynthia.
Lisa and Carole nodded.
“I don’t think you have to worry,” she said sweetly.
“What do you mean?” Carole asked.
“I mean, if you read all those books my mom got you, you’d be talking for ten million minutes! You guys could give a ten-minute presentation on anything to do with horses, right now!”
Lisa and Carole looked at each other. “You know,” Lisa said, “she may have a point.”
“I know,” agreed Carole. “Maybe what we need to do is just sit and organize what we already know.”
Lisa smiled. “If we did that and added some pictures, then we’d be in good shape for Saturday.”
“I’ve got lots of horse pictures at home,” said Carole. “We could go over to my house, go through them, and pick the best ones that illustrate driving.”
“So we’re finished here?” Lisa asked.
“I think we are,” said Carole with a grin.
“But—” cried Cynthia.
The older girls looked at her.
“We only have two more chapters of Misty left. Don’t you want to find out what happens?”
“Only if you promise never to lie to get people to read to you again,” said Carole.
“Never again,” Cynthia said solemnly. “I promise.”
“Okay, then.” Carole pulled a chair up on one side of Cynthia while Lisa pulled one up on the other. “Let’s see where we left off.…”
“LOOK,” WHISPERED LISA. “The indoor ring is filling up fast. Everybody’s here today!”
Stevie, Carole, and Lisa were looking through the doorway at the crowd of riders. All their friends from Horse Wise were there, and even more riders from Cross County were piling into the arena.
“There’s Joey Dutton,” said Stevie. “And Angela Ashbury, and look—there’s Phil!”
“Why don’t you go over and say hello?” Carole suggested. “We’ve got a few minutes before the meeting starts.”
“Okay.” Stevie started through the door, then turned back to her friends.
“How do I look?” She held out her arms. She was wearing her best pair of breeches and a freshly washed and ironed white blouse. For once her blond hair was neatly combed, and her tall black boots gleamed.
“You look terrific.” Lisa smiled. “Only tuck your shirttail in a little bit. It’s coming out in the back.”
“Thanks.” Stevie pushed her shirttail back into the waistband of her breeches and hurried over to greet Phil. He was sitting in the front row, right beside his friend A.J.
“Hi, Stevie.” Phil grinned. “It’s great to see you!”
“Thanks.” Stevie smiled back. “I’m so glad you guys got a good seat.”
“What is it you’re going to be doing?” teased A.J. “Driving some nags around the paddock?”
“Nags named Belle and Danny,” Stevie said proudly. “Veronica diAngelo and I are giving a driving demonstration.” Stevie looked up and searched the crowd for Veronica. So far, nobody had seen a trace of her.
“I’m really looking forward to this, Stevie,” said Phil, glancing at the white gauze that was still taped to three of her fingers. “I know how hard you’ve worked.”
“It’s going to be wonderful,” Stevie said, although she wondered how wonderful it was going to be if Veronica didn’t show up. Well, if she had to do it all by herself, she would. She just couldn’t look like a nitwit in front of Phil. He was really excited about this. She looked at him and smiled.
“I guess I’d better go get the horses hitched up. Will you meet me after everything’s over?”
“I’ll be right here.” Phil patted a cooler beneath his chair. “I’ve brought lunch for everybody,” he said with a grin.
“Great. See you later!”
“Hey, Stevie,” Phil called as she began to hurry off. He gave her a thumbs-up. “Break a leg!”
“Right.” Stevie laughed and hurried over to Belle’s stall.
When she got there, Red was waiting.
“Any sign of Veronica?” he asked, raising one eyebrow.
“No.” Stevie hated to admit that her partner wasn’t there. “I guess she got held up.”
“What a surprise,” said Red. He looked down at Stevie’s fingers. “How are your hands?”
“They’re okay. Just three little blisters left.”
“Did you remember your gloves?”
She nodded and pulled a pair of leather riding gloves from her pocket. “I don’t leave home without them anymore.”
“Good. Looks like I’d better help you get these horses hitched up, since your partner isn’t here. You get Belle and I’ll get Danny, and I’ll meet you at the wagon.”
Stevie thanked Red and gave Belle a quick scratch behind the ears, then hurried to get the driving harness fastened on her. By the time she’d gotten all the straps tightened and the buckles buckled, the meeting was about to start. Quickly she led Belle out to the paddock, where Red already had Danny hitched to the wagon.
“Okay,” he said, holding Danny still. “Back her in slowly, and I’ll hitch her to the traces.”
Stevie backed Belle into position, careful not to veer too close to Danny. When Belle was in the proper place, Red hitched the traces to the harness that went around her midsection. Stevie attached the long driving reins, adjusted the checkrein, and the Pine Hollow team was ready to go.
Stevie stepped back and admired the two expertly groomed horses standing in front of the shining Pine Hollow wagon. “Don’t they look awesome?”
“They sure do,” agreed Red. “Just like a real team of horses.” He looked at Stevie. “You’d better go inside before Max starts the meeting. I’ll stay out here with them until it’s time for your demonstration.”
“Thanks, Red,” Stevie said as she hurried back to the indoor ring. “I don’t know what I would have done without you!”
Inside, the stands were almost filled. Lisa and Carole were sitting near the front with Phil; Stevie had to search for a seat in the back row. Just as she was sitting down, she heard Betsy Cavanaugh give a little yell. “Look!” Betsy cried. “Here comes Veronica!”
Stevie turned. There, in the doorway, stood her partner. Stevie felt a warm wave of relief wash over her. Veronica had shown up! Stevie had known all along that Veronica wouldn’t let anything stop her from fulfilling her responsibility. Red had been wrong about her. Veronica was every bit the teammate that Stevie had thought she was.
For the first time in two weeks
, Stevie felt truly relaxed. All the extra work she’d put into this project had been worth it. Everything was going to be okay. She smiled as Max stepped to the center of the ring and began the meeting.
“Welcome, Cross County riders,” he said. “We’ve got an interesting program for you today, all about driving horses as teams. We’ll start out with some informative reports, then we’ll end with a demonstration of two saddle horses pulling our Pine Hollow wagon. First, though, let’s begin with the history of driving.” Max smiled. “Lisa Atwood and Carole Hanson are going to tell us all about that.”
Everyone applauded while Lisa and Carole walked to the front of the ring. Carole showed several posters that illustrated the various ways horses had pulled wagons throughout history, while Lisa read from a stack of note cards. Though Stevie already knew a lot of the information, Carole and Lisa added several things that were new to her. She’d never realized that horses had been used by people for such a long time, she’d never heard that they might have even helped the Egyptians build the pyramids, and she’d never known that sulkies were the lightweight rigs that trotters pulled in races.
“Wow,” Stevie whispered to herself as Carole and Lisa ended their report and received another round of applause. “They really do know a lot about driving.”
Polly and Anna gave their report on driving tack. Next there were reports on wagons and driving costumes. Everything was interesting, and the riders from both Pony Clubs cheered the presentations. Again Stevie felt butterflies in her stomach as Max stood to move the meeting outside.
“Okay. We’ll take a five-minute break now. If everyone will move to the fence around the back paddock, we’ll have a demonstration by our own Pine Hollow driving team.”
Everyone began talking and moving slowly toward the door. Stevie struggled through the crowd, trying to reach Veronica. She had to find out about Robespierre before they got outside with the wagon.
“Veronica!” she called over all the noise. “Veronica!”
“Yes?” Veronica turned. Her eyes were bright and her cheeks were rosy. Her face showed no sign of tears or sorrow. Suddenly Stevie decided that maybe it would be better not to mention the dog right then. Why bring up a painful subject right before the demonstration? It might totally wreck Veronica’s concentration.
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