High Horse

by Bonnie Bryant

  They passed a stand of brush that was all shades of purple from dark to lavender. “Those are blackberries,” Phil called back over his shoulder. “They look nice, but look out for the thorns.”

  He led them into the yard of an abandoned farm. The house had vanished, leaving only a stone foundation and a scrolled metal gate. But the barn was still there, and in good condition with a second-story overhang. Phil stood under it and called back to the rest of them. “Come on and take a breather. There’s a steep climb ahead.”

  Betsy scooted in next to him, and Carole and Joe lined up next to them. Stevie stood apart from the others, watching the rain pound the old wrought-iron gate. If the conditions weren’t so bad, she’d be tempted to turn back to camp. But there was another piece of her that didn’t want to be defeated so easily. She’d been waiting to go to this MTO for a whole year—was she really going to let Phil and Betsy ruin it for her?

  As it turned out, Phil hadn’t been kidding about the climb. When they started out again, the path turned stony and rose steeply over slippery rocks. Stevie, being last, walked in a shower of pebbles.

  The campers climbed hard, grasping branches along the incline. Then suddenly the sky was bright. It hadn’t stopped raining, but there was an odd silver light.

  Phil was standing on a lookout carved into a rock. To Stevie’s surprise he gestured for her to join him. As she got close, Stevie couldn’t help but notice how green Phil’s eyes were and how his hair was black with rain.

  “Look at that,” he said, pointing toward the west where Stevie could see the dim shapes of mountains. “There’s good weather over there.”

  “How do you know?”

  “There’s light shining through thin patches in the clouds.”

  “Wow,” Stevie said. “You can read the weather.”

  Phil looked at her. Was he thinking what she was thinking? she wondered. Was he wishing they were alone together?

  “It’s soooo romantic,” said Betsy, popping up between them.

  “Yeah,” Stevie muttered. “It’s totally triste.”

  LISA HAD DECIDED to stay behind at the campsite because she had so much to enter in her journal. She was especially eager to capture the way Stevie had reacted to the game of charades and the way Carole was handling Amie and Jackie.

  Mr. Haegle had told Lisa to write two hundred fifty words a day. But two hundred fifty words weren’t nearly enough, she decided. She was in the middle of her third page when Max stuck his head into the tent.

  Max looked worried. “The horses are getting restless,” he said. “Especially Teddy. It looks like he might spook the others. Can you come and help?”

  Lisa stood up. She knew what Max meant. When horses got panicky, they were almost impossible to control. They could buck and run or even jump a fence and take off. It was a real danger, because a spooked horse could easily injure herself or her rider.

  Anything could happen during weather like this. Max needed her help. Lisa tossed the diary aside and reached for her rain gear.

  CAROLE’S LESSON FOR Amie and Jackie was that horses are herd animals—if they aren’t with their companions, they pine and sometimes even die. Meanwhile, as Carole was going on about this, Jackie and Amie were sneaking looks at the other riders around the campfire, longing to join them. Carole noticed that Jackie and Amie weren’t paying attention, so what did she do? She told them to stop fooling around.

  If Amie and Jackie had been horses, Carole would have noticed immediately that they wanted to be with their friends. Since they were human, she missed it entirely.

  The same thing happened this morning. Carole informed Jackie and Amie that in a way they were lucky it was raining. That way they’d have more time to learn about horses. The only thing that saved them was when Max announced that Red O’Malley was taking the younger riders to town for hot chocolate.

  Stevie chuckled. No question but that Lisa had Carole’s number.

  When Stevie had come into the tent a few minutes earlier, looking for a dry sweater, she had happened to notice the journal lying open on Lisa’s bedroll. Stevie had also happened to see Carole’s name, so of course she had to look. Now Stevie knew she should stop reading, but somehow she couldn’t bring herself to put the small notebook down where it belonged.

  Why is Carole so much more interested in animals than humans? I think it has something to do with the fact that she grew up on army bases and has always been moving around, having to make new friends. Horses have become something she can count on. And, when Carole’s mother died of cancer, horses became even more important to her. They’re like her refuge. Sometimes I think Carole needs to pay a little more attention to humans. The Saddle Club understands her, but not everyone else does!

  It’s been interesting to observe Stevie, too.

  Stevie wiggled down onto the bedroll for extra comfort. This was going to be interesting.

  Last night Stevie was so determined to win Horse Charades that she messed up the clues and turned Joe Novick into a nervous wreck.

  Stevie looked up. This wasn’t true. Their lousy team’s losing had been entirely Joe’s fault.

  Stevie read on.

  And then when Betsy told Phil that his fire was gooooorgeous, Stevie completely flew off the handle and threw all the kindling in the fire.

  Stevie looked up. Lisa’s English teacher was going to think that Stevie was the biggest idiot on earth. Members of The Saddle Club were supposed to stick with each other through thick and thin, not criticize each other. Lisa might have a point or two here, but how could she say these things about someone who was supposed to be her best friend?

  Suddenly it felt as if the journal were burning a hole in Stevie’s lap. She wanted to throw it on the floor. Better yet, she wanted to throw it out in the rain, where it would dissolve and disappear forever.

  But then Lisa would know that she had read it. Stevie figured she might as well know the rest of the bad news, so she picked it up and started reading again.

  It’s fine to be competitive. That’s one of the things that makes Stevie such a great rider. But last night Stevie got carried away. She let her competitiveness cause even more trouble with Phil.

  Stevie felt her face burn. Who did Lisa think she was?

  Just then there was a sound outside the tent. Stevie caught her breath. It must be Lisa. She didn’t want Lisa to know that she had read the journal. Never. No way. She put it where she found it.

  When Carole came in, her hair was stuck to her forehead and her nose was shiny. “It’s bad out there,” she said. “The horses are getting spooky. It’s not that they couldn’t handle the rain at first, but there’s been so much. They feel like it’s never going to end.”

  Stevie yawned. “Rain always makes me sleepy. I thought I’d come in here and take a rest.”

  “Really?” Carole said, looking at her with surprise. “With all that noise?” Carole glanced at the bedroll where Stevie was sitting, noticed that it was Lisa’s, and wondered what was going on.

  “So what is Max going to do?” Stevie said quickly.

  “He’s going to move the horses into the forest,” Carole said. “It’s safer there. The only problem is that it isn’t going to be easy to move them. They’re on the edge of panic.”

  Carole took off her boots and then her socks. Underneath, her feet looked pale and wrinkled. She rubbed them. “The dampness really gets to you.”

  “You can say that again.”

  Carole looked at her. “Are you okay? I mean, is there something wrong? You look a little funny.”

  “No,” Stevie said. “I’m great. No problem. Feeling excellent, as a matter of fact. I’d better go help with the horses.”

  Stevie put on a dry sweater and then pulled her rain jacket over it, tightening the drawstring of the hood. Outside, the oak tree was black with rain, and the grass had disappeared under a sheet of mud.

  Stevie took a deep breath and pushed her way through the rain.

  LISA HAD TRIE
D everything, but nothing had worked. Teddy was getting more and more edgy, and she could feel from the tension in his neck and legs that he was about to take off.

  Suddenly Phil and the other hikers appeared from the edge of the forest.

  “Phil,” Lisa said. “Help! I’m so glad to see you. The horses are getting skittish, and we have to move them under forest cover, but Teddy won’t budge.”

  Phil came over and took Teddy’s halter and put his arm around his neck and whispered something in his ear. Teddy snorted, but listened.

  Stevie, holding Topside a couple of yards away, tried to hear what Phil was saying, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t. Phil leaned close and muttered something else, and Teddy suddenly seemed to relax.

  Walking close to Teddy and still talking, Phil led him out the paddock gate toward the forest.

  All the other horses were watching the scene. Suddenly Stevie felt Topside relax. It was just like her brother Michael’s behavior at bedtime when he was little, Stevie realized, grinning. He would argue and argue, but once he realized that he had to go, he would get kind of floppy and easy, and then go right to bed.

  Stevie and Topside walked through the gate after Phil and Teddy, with the other riders and horses following. Phil led them into the hemlock forest, where it was dark and cool.

  “Thanks, Phil,” Max said, leading Garnet into the group of horses. “We’re lucky to have you on the overnight.”

  “I’m enjoying it,” Phil said. “I’m learning a lot.” He looked pointedly at Stevie.

  What does he mean by that? she wondered.

  “The last thing you want to do is let horses panic in a storm,” Max said to the riders. “When they run in fear, they can hurt themselves, especially when it’s slippery.”

  There was a quiet moment while everyone thought of what would have happened if the horses had bolted from the paddock.

  “Look,” Phil said.

  There was a glint of sun overhead, one sunbeam, as clear and sharp as an icicle.

  “Oh,” Amie said.

  The sunbeam shivered and split until it was a cluster of rays reaching through the trees.

  “It’s like being inside a Christmas tree,” Amie said.

  What a perfect image, Lisa thought, as everyone stood watching the sunlight spread over them.

  “Back to the meadow,” Max said. “The horses will be glad to see the sunlight, too.”

  They had a reverse parade then, walking out of the woods, into the wet grass at the edge of the meadow. Because of the rain, the grass was full of colors: purple stems, rusty leaves, bristly white seeds.

  As soon as they reached the meadow, Topside and Garnet began to grab the grass with their teeth.

  “Pull the horses’ heads up,” Max reminded the riders. “They can get colic from eating wet grass.”

  Stevie knew this was true. She’d once seen a horse with colic. The horse’s stomach was as tight as a drum, and its muscles were swollen. If a horse wasn’t treated promptly for colic, it could die.

  “Keep them moving,” Max said. They walked the horses to the high point of the meadow, a knoll with a stand of rust and yellow flowers called Indian paintbrush.

  “Look,” Phil said.

  Stevie reflected, with irritation, that Phil was always telling people to look. But then, when she saw what he was referring to, her annoyance melted away. On the other side of the valley was the beginning of a rainbow. It traveled to the center of the sky.

  “Where does it end?” Jackie asked.

  Phil winked. “Look for where it ends,” he said. “Remember, there’s a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow.”

  Amie and Jackie traced the rainbow’s path with their eyes. Miraculously it seemed to end at the cluster of Indian paintbrush.

  The two girls immediately charged over, but when they arrived, the end of the arc was gone. Laughing, they darted from spot to spot. The other riders looked on, amused.

  Lisa came over to Stevie and said, “We’d better go back to camp and get the grooming kit to dry the horses.”

  “Says who?” Stevie demanded. Why was Lisa telling her what to do? How come she always knew best? “Get it yourself.”

  Lisa’s jaw dropped. “The horses shouldn’t stand around when they’re wet,” she said. “You know that; they’ll cramp.”

  Stevie glared at Lisa. This was great. First Lisa had criticized her personality, and now she was questioning Stevie’s horse knowledge. Lisa was saying that Stevie didn’t even know how to take care of her horse.

  “I think I can take care of Topside myself,” Stevie said. “Thank you very much.”

  Lisa wondered what in the world could be wrong with Stevie. Why was she suddenly on her high horse? Lisa noticed that Phil, who had heard what Stevie said, was looking at Stevie with confusion, too.

  “Forget it,” Lisa said. “I’ll get the grooming kit myself.”

  “You just do that,” Stevie snapped.

  Lisa turned away. If Stevie didn’t want to go with her, maybe Carole would. Carole was climbing the hill toward the paddock, looking thoughtful. It was odd that it had taken Carole so long to get dry socks—she’d left the paddock twenty minutes ago, knowing that Max needed her help with Starlight and the other horses. Carole was spacey sometimes—but not when it came to a horse in need. Something must be up.

  “Stay right there,” Lisa called down the hill to Carole. “We’ll go back to camp and get the grooming kit.”

  But Carole didn’t seem to hear her. She continued up the hill, her eyes cloudy.

  Jackie and Amie saw Carole and ran toward her. “We saw a rainbow,” Jackie said. “We didn’t find the pot of gold, but we’re still looking. Want to help us?”

  “Maybe,” Carole said without much interest.

  “It’s the biggest rainbow ever,” Jackie said. “So the pot of gold is bound to be the biggest ever.”

  “We’ll be millionaires,” Amie said.

  “Actually, gazillionaires,” Jackie said.

  “Trillionaires,” Amie said.

  “That’s stupid,” Jackie said. “Everyone knows that a gazillion is more than a trillion.”

  Amie slipped her arm around Carole’s waist, and Jackie held on to her left arm. “How come horses get scared from rain?” Jackie asked.

  Carole was about to explain that lightning and falling branches were dangerous to horses, so they were right to be scared. But then she remembered Lisa’s journal. The last thing that Amie and Jackie wanted was another boring horse lecture.

  “I guess they’re afraid their coats will shrink,” she joked.

  Amie’s face fell. “Horses’ coats don’t shrink, Carole. That’s not true.”

  Lisa was surprised. She’d never heard Carole answer a question about horses in this manner. “What happened to our professor of horse-ology?” she asked. “The answer should take you at least a week.”

  Carole gave her a grumpy look. “You think so? Would a week be enough for me and my big mouth?”

  Lisa drew back, wondering what had gotten into Carole. Maybe the storm had spooked her, too. Or maybe it was the fact that they’d spent the whole morning not riding. That was it: Carole loved horses so much she got grumpy when she couldn’t ride.

  Just then Phil walked over to them. “What’s going on here, guys? The horses need to be rubbed down.”

  “I’m on my way to get the grooming kit,” Lisa responded. She looked at Carole again. “Want to come with me?”

  But Carole just turned away. “Why don’t you get it yourself?” she muttered.

  Phil and Lisa looked at each other. It seemed as if half of The Saddle Club had gone crazy.

  “TOPSIDE DOESN’T SMELL like a wet horse anymore,” Stevie said. “I smell like a wet horse.” The riders were in the paddock rubbing down the horses. The horses had been blanketed and covered with rain sheets during the storm, but their heads and necks and legs were wet.

  Carole took a sniff of Stevie, and it was true.
Stevie had the ripe, steamy smell of a soaked horse. “Phew,” Carole said. “Don’t go to a dance smelling like that.”

  “No problem there,” Stevie said, grimly thinking of Phil and Betsy. “No one will ever ask me.”

  Max came over to see how they were doing, and Stevie noticed that he was pretty grubby himself. It seemed as if the dirt and damp had moved from the horses directly to the riders.

  “Horses dry?” Max said.

  “They are, but we aren’t,” said Carole.

  Max grinned. “Now that the horses are clean, it’s time to clean the riders. Go back to your tents and change clothes and come back. I’ve got a surprise for you.”

  With relief Carole and Stevie went back to the tent to put on clean clothes.

  When they returned to the meadow, the other riders were dressed in dry clothes, too.

  “The trails are too wet to ride,” Max said, “but the meadow isn’t. I’ve tested it myself and the footing is fine. So saddle up for horse games.”

  A cheer went up from the riders because horse games were almost as much fun as a trail ride.

  “We’ll start with Maximillian Mandates,” Max said. “Here are the rules. When I give an order, follow it if I say ‘Maximillian mandates,’ but ignore it if I don’t.” He looked at the younger riders. “Do you understand?”

  “Sure,” Amie said.

  “It’s just like Simon Says, only on horseback!” Jackie exclaimed.

  “Exactly.” Max beamed at her. “First we’ll play a practice round. All riders circle left.”

  “That’s easy,” Amie said, putting a gentle pressure on her horse’s left rein and pressing him with her right knee. Her horse moved in a tight circle.

  “Hoooooo,” Jackie said. “Maximillian didn’t mandate.”

  Under her hat Amie’s face turned red. “I knew that,” she said. “I was just fooling.”

  “Oh, sure,” Jackie said, and Amie’s face turned even redder.

  “That was only a practice round,” Max reminded them. “Now Maximillian Mandates begins in earnest. Maximillian mandates all horses move sideways to the left.”