“Besides, we can pick apples for dessert,” added Dr. Dutton.
May felt a rumble in her stomach. After all, she had skipped lunch because she had fallen asleep during her punishment. If she knew Dr. Dutton and Joey, they had packed something yummy.
“How about there?” she said, pointing to a grove of trees near the back of the barn.
“Great,” agreed Joey and Dr. Dutton. They tethered Ziggy, Crazy, and Macaroni to the trees, then sat down on a blanket that Dr. Dutton had brought.
May was glad they had stopped to eat, especially when Dr. Dutton produced hero sandwiches, potato chips, and apple juice from his saddlebag. May ate her sandwich in record time.
“Save room for dessert, May!” warned Joey. “Apples, remember?”
“How could I forget?” answered May. She looked longingly at the apple trees, then jumped up and walked over to Macaroni. She patted his nose and said, “Just you wait, Mac. Soon you’ll be eating all the apples you want.”
“An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” said Dr. Dutton.
“What about dentists?” asked Joey. They all laughed.
“I can’t believe Silver already found a new home!” said Corey happily.
Doc Tock smiled at Corey as they pulled up to the house. They had just gotten home from CARL. Doc Tock had examined all the animals at the shelter, and Corey had helped her mother and played with some of the animals, too.
Best of all, Silver had been spotted by a family immediately and picked for adoption. Both Doc Tock and Corey had chatted with Silver’s new family and had liked them very much.
As soon as she got home, Corey scrambled out of the car. She wanted to call May and tell her about it. Maybe the news would cheer her up.
When she dialed the Grovers’ number, there was no answer. Corey wondered where May was, and thought she might be with Jasmine. She called Jasmine’s number.
Jasmine answered the phone. “Hello?” she said. Her voice sounded funny.
Corey frowned. “Jasmine, what’s wrong? You sound weird.”
Jasmine was silent for a second, then blurted out, “Oh, Corey, I’m so scared. I think May’s in trouble.”
Corey was surprised. “What do you mean, in trouble? Like this morning?”
“No,” answered Jasmine. “We just got home from Granny’s, and there was a message from May. The message sounded really strange, Corey. There was a lot of crackling and static. We couldn’t understand what May was saying at first. Then we heard her say, ‘This is terrible! This isn’t working—I give up!’ ”
Corey tried to think. What could May have been talking about? “Do you think May is still upset about what happened this morning?” she asked Jasmine.
“That’s what I’m so worried about,” said Jasmine. “After all, she had a terrible morning. I know that I would be really upset if I were in her place. I just called her, but there was no answer.”
“I just tried, too,” Corey told her. “May should be home, though—I thought she was grounded, remember? Let’s go over and see if she’s there.”
“Meet you outside,” answered Jasmine.
When the two girls met outside, Corey tried to reassure Jasmine. “I’m sure May just fell asleep or something,” she told her. “Otherwise, she definitely would pick up the phone. She was probably still upset when she called you.”
Jasmine nodded but didn’t say anything. She looked worried.
When they got to the Grovers’, the two girls went around to the back. In their neighborhood, people rarely locked their back doors when they went away for short periods.
The Grovers’ door was unlocked, and they walked into the kitchen.
“May?” called Jasmine.
“Mrs. Grover? Mr. Grover?” called Corey.
No one answered. “What about the bulletin board?” suggested Corey. They knew that the Grovers left messages for one another there.
“Look, here’s one about Ellie and Dottie,” said Jasmine.
“And one from May’s parents,” added Corey.
The two girls looked at each other. “Where’s May?” they said at the same time.
Usually when the Pony Tails said the same thing at the same time, they would give each other a high five, then a low five, and then say, “Jake!” Now they were too concerned about May to do it.
Jasmine started toward the staircase. “I’m going to check her room,” she said determinedly. “Maybe she’s asleep, but I want to find out if she’s okay.”
“I’m coming, too,” said Corey, following her.
When they got to May’s room, the two girls found it empty. The room looked much the same as always—posters of ponies on the walls, messy bed—except no May. Then Corey noticed something.
“Look, May’s riding boots are gone!” she cried out.
Jasmine turned to look. “Her hard hat is gone, too!” She and Corey looked at each other.
May never went riding by herself. She always rode with her friends or with an adult because it wasn’t safe to ride alone. But if the Grovers were out doing errands, and Corey and Jasmine had just gotten back, what did that mean? Had May gone riding all by herself?
“Let’s check the stable,” Corey said to Jasmine. They ran out of the house.
7 The Mystery of May’s Disappearance
Normally Corey and Jasmine liked visiting the Grovers’ stable. They usually stopped and patted Hank, the oldest horse there. They would stop and chat with Dobbin, Mr. Grover’s bay gelding, who was the most curious horse in the stable. They also liked to see the other horses Mr. Grover kept there for training.
Today, Corey and Jasmine ran straight to Macaroni’s stall. Empty!
“Macaroni’s gone!” exclaimed Jasmine in dismay.
“Oh no!” cried Corey at the same time.
The two of them stared at one another. “Maybe,” said Jasmine very slowly, “May couldn’t get over what happened this morning. Maybe she wanted to get away.”
“What are you saying?” asked Corey. “Do you think May has run away from home?”
Jasmine nodded.
Corey thought about what had happened that morning. May had gotten in trouble before. Most of the time, she would apologize and everything would be okay. Today, May had gotten in trouble three times!
“She must feel like everyone is mad at her,” Corey said.
Jasmine’s eyes were beginning to fill with tears. But then she turned around and headed for the stable door. “Come on, Corey, we have to find her,” she said. “I’m going to go get Outlaw.” Outlaw was Jasmine’s pony, named for the bandit mask on his face. “You tack up Sam,” she added, “and we’ll meet in front of my house and go and look for May.”
Corey began to follow Jasmine, but then she stopped short. “Wait, Jasmine,” she advised. “I’m worried about May, too. But we know we’re not allowed to ride off by ourselves without permission. Our parents told us that was dangerous.”
“You’re right,” said Jasmine. “But then what do we do?”
“We get our parents,” said Corey firmly. “They’ll know what to do. Come on—let’s go to your house first.”
May stretched her arm as far as she could. If she could just reach a little farther …
There! Her fingers touched a round, red, shiny apple. She pulled it off the branch and placed it in one of the bags hooked onto her saddle. The owners of the orchard had provided special pairs of paper bags for horse and pony riders that went over the pony’s back and hung down on each side. They were just like real Western saddlebags.
“I couldn’t do this without your help,” May told Macaroni. She patted his mane. “When I’m riding you, I’m so much taller. I can reach the best apples that way!”
Macaroni reached down and sniffed at an apple on the ground. May, Joey, and Dr. Dutton had already let Ziggy, Crazy, and Macaroni eat their ration of windfalls by removing their bits for a while. Now Macaroni was full of delicious apples, but May wasn’t finished picking.
“You
r bags are getting pretty full, May!” called Joey from under another tree.
“I’m not finished yet!” she called back. She was having a great time. Joey was picking a lot of apples, too, and Dr. Dutton was clowning around, picking apples but pretending to fall off Ziggy.
The afternoon had turned warmer with golden sunshine, and the scent of the apples was everywhere. May was picking only the reddest, ripest apples. She wanted to give her mother, Doc Tock, and Mrs. James the best.
It was impossible to be miserable on this beautiful fall day. The troubles of the morning seemed to have melted away. May knew that she had caused a lot of problems, but she thought that once everyone saw the gifts she had brought them, all would be forgiven.
May also knew that she had been extra-careful about letting her family and friends know where she was and when she was going to be back. She had gotten into trouble in the past by rushing off to do something with the Pony Tails and not letting her parents know where she was. “But this time, I did everything right,” she told herself. “Nobody is getting upset because of me.”
She reached up and picked another apple. The owners of the orchard urged people to try a few apples for themselves before paying for the ones they had picked. There were plenty to go around.
May rubbed the apple clean on her shirt, took a bite, and sighed with pleasure. It was perfect—crisp, juicy, and sweet. “Having a good time, May?” asked Dr. Dutton, riding by on Ziggy.
“The greatest!” answered May. It was true.
8 Back Home
Mr. and Mrs. Grover pulled the grocery bags out of the car. They shut the car doors and walked toward the house.
The errands had taken them a little longer than Mrs. Grover had expected. “I wonder if May’s still asleep?” she said. She had peeked in on May before they’d left.
Then Mrs. Grover suddenly stopped and stared. “What are Doc Tock and Corey doing on our lawn?” she asked.
Mr. Grover stopped, too. “What are the Jameses doing here?” he demanded to know.
When the group on the lawn spotted the Grovers, they all started speaking at once. “It was my fault,” began Mrs. James.
“No, it was mine,” chimed in Doc Tock. Corey and Jasmine started talking at the same time.
“Wait just a minute!” yelled Mr. Grover. He didn’t mean to yell, but he couldn’t understand a word anyone was saying.
“Can someone please tell us what is going on?” asked Mrs. Grover, more quietly.
“May is missing. We think she’s run away,” said Corey bluntly. “We looked for her everywhere, and Macaroni’s missing, too. Last time we saw May, she was really upset. And Jasmine got a strange message from May on their machine.”
“Did you check the bulletin board?” asked Mrs. Grover. Corey and Jasmine nodded.
Quickly the Grovers were filled in on all the details. Mrs. Grover dropped her grocery bag and put a hand to her forehead. Mr. Grover looked worried.
Mrs. James stepped forward. “It’s my fault,” she told the Grovers. “I shouldn’t have gotten so angry at May for slamming the door. I knew it was just an accident. Sophie is fine now. I shouldn’t have lost my temper. I’m the reason May ran away.”
Doc Tock shook her head. “No, it’s my fault,” she said. “May didn’t know Silver could run like that. She didn’t mean to let him out of the pen. She tried to apologize for what she did, but I wouldn’t let her. I shouldn’t have treated her that way.”
“No,” said Mrs. Grover. She looked very upset. “I was the one who punished May. I was angry because they were my favorite dress shoes, but those heels were starting to wobble long before May tried them on. I might have broken that heel off myself if I had worn them again. I can’t believe I yelled at her.”
“We were all wrong,” said Mrs. James.
Doc Tock and Mrs. Grover nodded in agreement.
“We all got tired, and careless, and lost our tempers when we didn’t need to,” said Doc Tock.
“While I was running errands, I bought May a little something to make up for it,” Mrs. Grover told the group.
Mrs. James began to smile. “On the way back from Granny’s, I bought something for May, too.”
They both looked at Doc Tock. She smiled and said, “Guilty—I bought May a little something on the way back from CARL—”
“Here, now,” Mr. Grover broke in. “We can’t just stand around talking. We need to find May. I’m going to try and find her trail, because I’m sure she rode across the field. I’m going to saddle Dobbin right now.”
The mothers began to look worried again. Corey and Jasmine, however, ran to Mr. Grover. “Can we come, too?” they begged. “Please let us help!”
“Okay,” agreed Mr. Grover. “Go tack up your ponies, girls. I’ll wait for you by our stable.”
Mrs. Grover turned to Mrs. James and Doc Tock. “Why don’t we wait in our kitchen until we hear some news?” she suggested. “I’ll make a pot of coffee.” She picked up her bag of groceries again.
Mrs. James and Doc Tock picked up the groceries Mr. Grover had dropped and followed Mrs. Grover into the house.
“I think it’s time to weigh our apples, don’t you?” asked Dr. Dutton.
May’s bags were almost overflowing. In fact, she was afraid they would break. But she was tremendously excited—she had picked more than enough for Mrs. James, Doc Tock, and her mother. She had eaten three of the delicious apples, and each one had tasted better than the last.
Macaroni seemed to think so, too. He was practically acting drunk from eating so many windfalls! As for Ziggy and Crazy, both of them were prancing like little foals again.
May and the Duttons took their apples to the main barn, where scales were set up for weighing them. Dr. Dutton took out his wallet to pay for the apples, but May stopped him. “I can pay for mine, Dr. Dutton,” she told him, digging into her pocket. “I brought my allowance savings.”
“Are you sure, May?” Dr. Dutton asked. “After all, you picked a lot of apples!”
“Yeah, did you leave any apples in the orchard for other people?” joked Joey.
May made a face at Joey. “There are more than enough apples for everyone,” she declared. “And I am sure—I want to pay for these apples all by myself, because I’m giving most of them away as presents. I need,” she added, “to make up for something I did.”
Dr. Dutton ruffled May’s hair approvingly. May’s bags were set on the scale. She had the heaviest harvest of the three of them!
May felt proud. For a day that had started out so badly, this one was turning out to be just about perfect.
Dr. Dutton started slinging the bags over the saddles. “Keep on checking yours, May,” he warned. “You have so many, I’m afraid the bags will break.”
May promised to be careful. The three riders started for home. The ride there had taken about a half hour. May had promised to be home by five P.M. The sun slanted across the fields—it was getting lower in the sky.
May sighed with happiness. “What a beautiful day,” she said.
Dr. Dutton and Joey agreed wholeheartedly. All three of them were starting to feel tired, but the afternoon had been worth it.
9 The Search Continues
Mr. Grover led the way, riding his bay gelding, Dobbin. Corey and Jasmine followed him, heading toward the field behind the Grovers’ stable.
Outlaw and Samurai were behaving unusually well. Sometimes Outlaw could be frisky and temperamental. Samurai, too, was known for occasionally being disobedient. But today Outlaw and Samurai were behaving perfectly. It was as if they knew that Corey and Jasmine needed their cooperation.
It was impossible to tell, from the field behind the Grovers’ stable, where May and Macaroni had gone. The field was full of horse and pony tracks. Mr. Grover shook his head in frustration.
“Maybe May headed over to Pine Hollow,” suggested Corey. They rode in that direction.
Mr. Grover suddenly stopped Dobbin and dismounted. He peered at the ground.
“There are tracks here, but they seem to have been made by one horse and two ponies. See, you can tell which ones are the horse’s tracks. They’re larger and deeper.”
Corey and Jasmine bent down for a closer look. “These look like they were made by three horses,” suggested Corey, pointing at another spot.
“And these look like they were made by three ponies,” said Jasmine, pointing to another set of tracks. “I think those were the tracks we made when we went riding yesterday.”
Mr. Grover looked even more frustrated. “Two ponies, one horse, three ponies—but no tracks made by one pony with one girl! Where can May have gone?”
“We have to keep on searching,” urged Corey. Mr. Grover got back on Dobbin, and the three of them continued riding toward Pine Hollow.
Jasmine and Corey rode a little way behind Mr. Grover. They could tell he was worried. So were they.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Jasmine asked Corey softly.
“I’m thinking about where May could be,” answered Corey.
“Me too,” sighed Jasmine. “I’m scared that we won’t find her,” she added.
“Of course we’ll find her,” said Corey. But her voice didn’t sound as firm and reasonable as it usually did.
Jasmine continued talking. “I keep on thinking that maybe we could have stopped this from happening,” she said to Corey.
“How?” asked Corey. “We didn’t break the heel off Mrs. Grover’s shoe. We didn’t slam the door. We didn’t let Silver out of his pen.”
“Yes, but we know May,” explained Jasmine. “We’re her best friends. We know that she sometimes doesn’t think before she acts. We know that she makes mistakes. So do we! Isn’t that part of being someone’s friend? That you can help your friend not make a mistake?”
Corey nodded solemnly. “I didn’t think of that, Jasmine, but you’re right,” she said. “We love May because she has such great ideas and is ready for anything. But we could also help her think ahead.”
May's Runaway Ride (Pony Tails Book 14) Page 3