The Mystery of the Masked Rider

by Carolyn Keene

  The two girls fell silent as the buzzer rang once again. Colleen steered Nightingale over the first jump, then made an abrupt U-turn toward a triple oxer—the highest fence, worth the most points.

  “I’m not going to look,” Bess said, covering her eyes.

  Nancy held her breath. Suddenly Colleen and the saddle slipped sideways. There was an audible gasp from the audience. Colleen grabbed Nightingale’s braided mane, trying to keep herself upright. At the same time Nightingale, sensing something was wrong, slid to an abrupt stop.

  Like a launched missile, Colleen flew headfirst over Nightingale’s head and crashed into the jump, scattering the heavy poles as if they were twigs.

  12

  A Sudden Realization

  “Colleen’s hurt!” Bess cried.

  Without a second’s hesitation Nancy rushed down the steps, vaulted the arena wall, and ran through the tanbark to where Colleen was lying. Her friend’s eyes were shut and her body was very still. Nancy moved a pole that had fallen on Colleen’s leg, then took her friend’s wrist in her hand. Colleen’s pulse was normal.

  “Colleen!” Phil knelt next to Nancy. “Is she alive?” he asked in a voice choking with pain.

  Nancy nodded. An official ran over just as the rescue vehicle roared through the gate. “Don’t move her,” the official said in a tense voice.

  Looking up briefly, Nancy scanned the arena for Nightingale. The mare had jogged to the other end of the ring, reins dragging in the tanbark. The saddle had slipped halfway down her side. Nancy could see Gloria Donner, lead line in hand, approaching the frightened horse. The spectators were all standing to get a better look and murmuring among themselves.

  Two medics pushed past Phil and stopped on either side of Colleen. Nancy stood up and stepped back. Phil stayed by Colleen’s head, his hand gripping hers.

  “It’s good she was wearing a hard hat,” one of the medics muttered. “Blood pressure’s low. Nothing seems to be broken, but you never know.”

  Carefully they unsnapped Colleen’s hunt cap and pulled it off her head. “No visible contusions or cuts,” the other medic said. “Let’s strap her on the stretcher and take her to the hospital.”

  “I’m going with her,” Phil said in a firm voice.

  Nancy nodded. “We’ll take care of Nightingale. I’ll call as soon as I can.”

  Bess came up as the medics slid Colleen into the back of the rescue vehicle. Phil climbed in after her. Sitting down, he took Colleen’s hand and pressed it to his lips. There were tears in his eyes.

  The medics closed the double doors, and Nancy and Bess silently watched the rescue vehicle leave. Then Nancy turned toward Gloria Donner, who was leading Nightingale toward them. She’d taken the saddle off so it wasn’t hanging under the still-nervous mare.

  “I’m really sorry,” Gloria said in a hushed voice. Her face was pale and her mouth drawn. “Do they think Colleen will be okay?”

  Nancy took Nightingale’s reins and slowly started to lead the mare to the gate. “There don’t seem to be any broken bones, but it’s hard to tell at this point.”

  Gloria shook her head as she walked along beside them. “This brings back bad memories. At least Nightingale’s okay. And she had sense enough to stop before the jump. Otherwise, it could have been a real mess.”

  A real mess is right, Nancy thought. I should have known something like this was going to happen. And I should have been able to prevent it somehow. Nancy sighed in frustration.

  “So what do you think happened?” Bess asked.

  “I’d say that, in all the confusion before the jump-off, Colleen forgot to check her girth,” Gloria answered. “As a horse exercises, you usually need to raise the strap a notch. A simple fact, but if you don’t, the saddle could easily slip, and . . .” Her voice trailed off as they went through the gate.

  “Is Colleen all right?” Scott jogged up on Wintergreen, his eyes wide with concern.

  “We don’t know,” Bess said solemnly.

  The loudspeaker blasted something about Colleen, then Scott’s name. He flushed. “What a way to win the class,” he muttered. With an apologetic smile he trotted Wintergreen into the ring to receive his trophy.

  “Hey, you guys.” Gloria turned to Nancy and Bess. “My three girls aren’t riding until tomorrow morning. I’d be happy to help with Nightingale.”

  “That’s okay,” Nancy replied. “I think we can handle it.”

  “At least let me walk her for a while,” Gloria insisted, “to make sure she’s not hurt.”

  “That’s a good idea, Nancy,” Bess said. “Especially since we don’t know much about horse injuries.”

  “All right,” Nancy finally agreed. Gloria seemed sincere. But right now she didn’t want anyone handling Nightingale except her and Bess. Too much had happened already. Even though it might have been an accident—in all the excitement and confusion, Colleen might have forgotten to tighten Nightingale’s girth—Nancy wanted to be extra cautious.

  In silence Nancy, Bess, and Gloria walked to the stable area. Nancy held tightly to Nightingale’s lead. Even the mare seemed quiet, as if she knew something was wrong.

  “I’ll put the saddle away,” Gloria offered.

  “There’s a saddle rack in the extra stall,” Bess said.

  When Gloria went in, Bess reached out and ran her hand down Nightingale’s white blaze. “I sure hope Colleen’s okay,” she said to Nancy in a low voice. “When I signed up for bodyguard duty, I thought I was going to protect a horse. I wasn’t figuring on Colleen getting hurt.”

  Nancy frowned. “I know how you feel. Here, hold Nightingale while I get her halter, okay?”

  She handed the reins to Bess, then walked into the extra stall. Gloria had set the saddle down on the rack and was standing on the far side of it. She’d lifted the flap of leather the rider’s leg rested against and was peering underneath.

  When she saw Nancy, Gloria’s face flushed as if she’d been caught with her hand in a cookie jar. “Uh, just running up the stirrups,” she said quickly.

  “Thanks,” Nancy murmured, keeping her eyes on the older woman. With a strained smile Gloria dropped the leather panel and stepped around the rack.

  “I’ll check Nightingale’s legs now,” she said, and strode from the stall without looking at Nancy.

  Now what was all that about? Nancy wondered. She knew Gloria wasn’t running up the stirrups on the stirrup straps. They’d already been secured before they’d left the ring. It was very unlikely that a stirrup had slipped down again.

  Curious, Nancy walked around to the other side of the saddle. She lifted the panel and checked underneath. There were two straps that were fastened under the horse’s belly. Each strap had a buckle on either side. One set of buckles was unfastened each time the saddle was removed. The other set of buckles remained fastened at the same place, and these holes had become worn with use. Studying the girth, Nancy immediately noticed that it had been lowered one notch below the two worn holes where Colleen normally buckled the straps. Nancy remembered, because she’d been careful to rebuckle the girth at the two worn holes when she’d cleaned it earlier. Then she’d double-checked the tightness with Colleen.

  A chill ran over Nancy as she dropped the leather flap. So Colleen’s fall definitely wasn’t an accident. Grabbing the halter, she darted back into the aisle. She had some questions to ask Gloria Donner.

  But the older woman wasn’t there.

  “Where’s Gloria?” Nancy asked Bess.

  “She left,” Bess replied, startled. “What’s going on?”

  Nancy threw her friend the halter. “No time to explain,” she said as she took off toward the stalls where she’d first met Gloria. But the trainer wasn’t there, either.

  Nancy approached a young girl brushing a bay horse. “Have you seen Gloria Donner?” Nancy asked her.

  “She just left a minute ago,” the girl replied. “I think she yelled something about a late dinner.”

  “Where’s
she staying? What motel?” Nancy insisted.

  The girl stopped brushing and gave her a strange look.

  “Please, it’s important.”

  “Holiday House.”

  Nancy dashed for the parking lot. She still had the truck keys in her pocket. But once outside, she changed her mind. Gloria Donner obviously knew something. She’d acted too suspicious when Nancy had caught her looking at the girth. But leaving Bess alone with Nightingale was too risky.

  As Nancy walked back into the stable area, she recalled seeing Gloria on Nightingale’s right side before Colleen had gone in for the jump-off. And Gloria had been holding Nightingale right before the class. That meant the trainer had had ample opportunity to lower the girth when no one was looking. But why would Gloria Donner have done such a thing?

  Was she working with Diego San Marcos? Had he offered her money or a job in return for sabotaging Colleen’s ride?

  Nancy broke into a jog, quickly reaching Nightingale’s stall. Bess had untacked the mare and was buckling on the halter.

  “Hey, you’re getting good at this.” Nancy grinned at her friend, relieved to see that both Bess and Nightingale were all right.

  Bess patted Nightingale on the neck. “That’s because I have a horse who knows I need a lot of cooperation.” Then her expression turned serious. “So are you going to tell me what that was all about?”

  “I’m pretty sure someone loosened Nightingale’s girth before Colleen went in for the jump-off.”

  “What?” Bess’s mouth dropped open. “You mean it wasn’t an accident?”

  “I don’t think so,” Nancy answered. “And I have a feeling Gloria Donner’s in on it.”

  “Gloria? You wondered about her before—the night Nightingale got out.” Bess frowned, puzzled. “But why would she want to hurt Colleen and Nightingale’s chances to win? Doesn’t she want to be their trainer?”

  Nancy sighed. “Good questions. Maybe the woman’s just really ambitious. Colleen told us that Gloria was obsessed with winning before her accident.”

  Bess shook her head. “But she also said she thought Gloria had changed.”

  “Maybe that’s what Gloria wants everyone to think,” Nancy replied. “Maybe somebody’s offering her something in exchange for her help.”

  “Like what? And who?”

  Brows furrowed in thought, Nancy walked to Nightingale’s side. She wished she had a definite answer or more evidence. Then maybe she could alert the arena’s security force.

  “Nightingale’s kind of sweaty,” Nancy said, patting the mare’s wet neck. “I’d better wash her off and walk her awhile. Why don’t you call the hospital and see if there’s any news?”

  “Okay,” Bess agreed. “Are you sure you’ll be all right?”

  Nancy smiled confidently. “Oh, sure. Just let someone try and get to Nightingale. They’ll never get past me.”

  “Go get ‘em.” Bess gave Nancy the thumbs-up sign, then grabbed her purse and went to find a pay phone.

  After her friend had left, Nancy picked up a bucket and led Nightingale outside to the water spigots. A half-dozen other grooms and riders were washing their horses. Nancy recognized several riders from the Gambler’s Choice. All of them asked about Colleen.

  Nancy told them she didn’t have any news yet. Then she filled up the bucket with soapy water. As she scrubbed Nightingale’s back, Nancy was lost in thought. How could Gloria Donner be involved? she wondered. All of the physical evidence so far, as well as a possible motive, pointed to the San Marcoses.

  Suddenly Nancy stopped scrubbing. Marisa had also been on Nightingale’s right side before Colleen had gone into the jump-off. Had she lowered the girth? Had Gloria seen her? Maybe the trainer wasn’t guilty after all. Maybe she’d just been checking the saddle to see for herself if someone had tampered with the girth.

  Maybe. But then why had Gloria acted so guilty? At least the girth incident had pushed Phil into the background, Nancy thought. Or had it?

  Phil could have lowered the girth much earlier, thinking that the saddle would slip just enough to throw horse and rider off-balance. Only then his plan had backfired, and Colleen had fallen. Nancy knew Phil Ackerman wanted his girlfriend to quit riding, but she didn’t think he’d deliberately hurt Colleen.

  Deliberately hurt Colleen. Nancy repeated the words to herself. Suddenly her hand holding the sponge froze in midair once again. That’s what she’d been missing. Until tonight, all the attempts had been on Nightingale. Nancy had always assumed it was the horse the culprits were after.

  But now that she knew the loosened girth had been no accident, Nancy had to rethink everything. She thought back to all the things done to Nightingale—the blister, the poisoned hay, letting the mare loose.

  None of those things had really hurt Nightingale, of course. Even the bouncing bet thrown in the hay had been just toxic enough to give the mare a stomachache. But Colleen’s fall was serious—deadly serious. Whoever was behind all of this wasn’t out to harm Nightingale. Someone was now after Colleen.

  13

  True Confessions

  “Nancy, I got through to the hospital.” Bess came rushing up, a big grin on her face.

  “How’s Colleen feeling?” Nancy asked, her earlier thoughts pushed aside for now.

  “She regained consciousness on the way to the hospital,” Bess said. “They’re taking X rays, but Phil says the doctors don’t think she has any broken bones.”

  “Whew. That’s good news. Things might have been worse.” Nancy’s voice was solemn as she rinsed Nightingale with the hose.

  “I know that look you’ve got on your face,” Bess said. “You’ve figured something out. Are you going to let me in on it?”

  “Yup.” Nancy turned and pointed to the bucket. “First, hand me the scraper.”

  Bess reached down and handed Nancy the long, scooped piece of metal used to whisk excess water off the horse’s coat.

  “Well?” Bess prompted.

  Nancy glanced around to make sure no one was listening. “All this time we’ve been protecting Nightingale because we thought she was the target.”

  Bess nodded in agreement.

  “But when you look back at all the things that happened to her, she never really got hurt. Not seriously, anyway.”

  Bess shrugged. “Okay, so maybe our bad guys bungled the job.”

  “Four times?”

  Bess screwed up her face. “Yeah. I see your point. But maybe the culprits got desperate, which is why Colleen got hurt. Her accident today will probably keep both of them from competing in tomorrow’s Worthington Cup, right?”

  As she dried the mare’s face, Nancy thought for a moment. “Could be. But I think our mystery person wants Nightingale safe and sound. In fact, I think the person wants Nightingale so bad, he or she will do anything to get her.”

  “Do you think Marisa would hurt Colleen just to get Nightingale?” Bess asked.

  “Well, think about it. If Colleen had been seriously injured, she’d definitely have to sell Nightingale. Right now her winnings are the only thing that’s paying for feed. And who would exercise Nightingale?” Nancy leaned down to dump out the bucket. “But that doesn’t necessarily narrow it down to Marisa,” she went on. “Phil would be ecstatic if Colleen quit riding.”

  “Nancy!” Bess sounded shocked. “I don’t know how you can accuse him. Phil was in tears when Colleen fell.”

  Nancy snorted. “If he’d been the cause of her fall, he should have been in tears.”

  Bess put her hands on her hips. “Phil really loves Colleen, Nancy, and you know it.”

  Nancy didn’t respond. Picking up the bucket again, she began to lead Nightingale into the stable area. Bess trudged along beside her.

  “Then there’s Gloria’s strange behavior, and Scott . . .” Nancy mused aloud, her voice trailing off.

  “Scott? How did he get dragged into this?” Bess asked. “I swear, Nancy, I think you’re ready to accuse everyone and anyone.”
<
br />   Nancy chuckled at her friend’s indignation, thinking that Bess should know that she had to view everyone as a potential suspect.

  “You may be right,” Nancy conceded as they walked down the aisle. “In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if we have two suspects, with two different motives.”

  “As I said before, this case gets curiouser and curiouser,” Bess said with a sigh.

  • • •

  Twenty minutes later Nightingale was settled in her stall, munching hay. Nancy and Bess had set up their cots and were wearily slumped on them. It was ten o’clock, and both girls were exhausted.

  For a while Nancy tried to think about the case, but then she closed her eyes—just for a minute, she told herself. The next thing she knew, someone was shaking her shoulder.

  “Nancy!” The voice was urgent. “I’ve got to talk to you.” Nancy recognized Phil Ackerman’s voice.

  Instantly her eyes flew open, and she sat up on the cot. It was still dark out. She looked at her watch and noticed she’d been asleep for only a few minutes. “What? What’s wrong? Is Colleen okay?”

  Phil nodded, then motioned to the aisle. “Come on out here. I don’t want to wake up Bess.”

  Nancy swung her legs to the side of the cot and stuck her feet in her sneakers. Then she pulled a sweatshirt over her head and stood up. For a moment she thought about waking Bess. It was late and the barn was quiet. What if Phil was planning to bop her on the head?

  Nancy scoffed at her own idea. Not only was she prepared to defend herself, but she didn’t think Phil would try anything. He probably just had news about Colleen.

  She stepped out into the aisle. Phil was seated on a hay bale, his head propped in his hands. When Nancy approached, he looked up. His smile seemed strained and tired.

  “Is Colleen—?”

  He held up his hand to silence her question. “She’s fine. She’s back at the motel, sleeping like a baby. The doctor released her, saying she needed to take it easy for a few days. I called her parents. They said they’d be here in the morning.” He sighed. “She’s insisting on riding in the Worthington Cup.”