WHY IS CAROLE PICKING ON HER GUEST?
“Oops,” Marie said quietly. Again she adjusted her position in the saddle.
“Okay, that’s a little better,” Carole said crisply. “Now let’s work on the way you’re holding the reins. Don’t curl your wrists, and keep your thumbs pointing up and your elbows in. And stop twisting around to look at me! You’re going to confuse your horse. You’ve got to keep your eyes looking in the direction you want to go.”
Stevie broke that particular rule for a second by twisting around to catch a glimpse of Marie’s face. Marie looked harried, and no wonder. Carole barely seemed to pause for breath as she continued to bark out instuctions. The advice she was giving Marie sounded more like plain old criticism, and that wasn’t like Carole at all.…
RL 5, 009-012
RIDING LESSON
A Bantam Skylark Book / September 1994
Skylark Books is a registered trademark of Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and elsewhere.
“The Saddle Club” is a registered trademark of Bonnie Bryant Hiller. The Saddle Club design/logo, which consists of a riding crop and a riding hat, is a trademark of Bantam Books.
“USPC” and “Pony Club” are registered trademarks of The United States Pony Clubs, Inc., at The Kentucky Horse Park, 4071 Iron Works Pike, Lexington, KY 40511-8462.
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1994 by Bonnie Bryant Hiller.
Cover art copyright © 1994 by Garin Baker.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information address: Bantam Books.
eISBN: 978-0-307-82518-6
Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada
Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words “Bantam Books” and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036.
v3.1
I would like to express my
special thanks to Catherine Hapka
for her help in the writing
of this book.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
About the Author
“NOW THAT WAS what I call disgusting,” Carole Hanson declared.
“Oh, come on,” her father teased. “Didn’t you think it was at least a little bit interesting?”
“Yeah, Carole,” added Marie Dana. “I thought you were interested in all creatures, great and small.”
Carole shot her a dirty look as Colonel Hanson and Marie’s mother laughed. “That’s the problem,” Carole said. “Some of those creatures weren’t so small!”
The creatures to which Carole was referring were the creepy and crawly inhabitants of the insect zoo, an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of Natural History. The insect zoo featured many varieties of live insects from all over the world. Carole wasn’t normally squeamish about such things. But somehow, seeing thousands of insects—some the size of her hand—gathered together in one spot had given her the willies.
“I have to admit, some of those tropical cockroaches did bring back unpleasant memories of places I was stationed before Carole was born,” Colonel Hanson said. In his eighteen-year career in the Marine Corps, he had spent time in all kinds of places all over the world. When Carole was younger, her family had moved a lot, but since her mother’s death from cancer a couple of years earlier they had lived in Willow Creek, Virginia, a small town about thirty miles outside Washington, D.C.
“Well, if they want some more bees for their collection, they can have the ones that have set up house in my garage,” Mrs. Dana said as the foursome strolled through a hallway featuring glass cases filled with skeletons of animals and birds.
“Funny, Mom,” Marie said. “Can they have the spiders who’ve been spinning cobwebs in my bedroom since the last time you vacuumed, too?”
“Ha-ha,” said Mrs. Dana dryly in return. “There’s no law against daughters vacuuming their own rooms, as far as I know.”
“Can’t,” Marie replied promptly. “I’m still recovering from my injuries. No hard physical labor for me.”
Her mother rolled her eyes. Carole couldn’t help shaking her head. Sometimes she found Marie’s sense of humor a little bizarre. Marie had been in a serious car accident a while ago. The accident had left her in critical condition and had claimed her father’s life. Carole had first met Marie when she was still in the hospital, confined to a gurney with a fractured pelvis and two broken legs. Having lost her own mother, Carole could empathize. In fact, she had tried her best to help Marie through the difficult time following Mr. Dana’s death.
Colonel Hanson had played a similar role in Mrs. Dana’s recovery. He had begun as an understanding friend, and things had slowly developed into something more than friendship. Carole had noticed that her father and Mrs. Dana had been seeing a lot of each other lately.
As if reading Carole’s thoughts, Colonel Hanson reached out and took Mrs. Dana’s hand in his own. “Don’t worry, Olivia,” he said with mock seriousness. “If there are any bugs terrorizing you, just let me know. I’ll send Carole right over to take care of them.”
Now it was Marie’s turn to roll her eyes. “Yeah, right,” she told Colonel Hanson. “I think the only insect Carole might be interested in seeing would be a fly.” She waited for the others’ puzzled looks, then grinned. “A horsefly, that is.”
Colonel Hanson and Mrs. Dana laughed appreciatively at the joke.
Carole spent just about all her free time at Pine Hollow Stables, where she took riding lessons and boarded her horse, Starlight. She had already decided that she would continue to work with horses when she grew up—though whether she would do so as a trainer, breeder, competitive rider, or veterinarian she hadn’t yet decided. She had even started a group called The Saddle Club with her best friends, Stevie Lake and Lisa Atwood, who also rode at Pine Hollow. The Saddle Club had only two rules—members had to be horse crazy, and they had to be willing to help each other out.
Carole managed a weak smile in response to Marie’s joke. She was a little distracted, and not just by the memories of the spiders and centipedes she’d just seen. She was wondering if there was something more to this outing than there appeared to be. It was a beautiful September Saturday, and Carole had been planning all week to spend the day at Pine Hollow with Lisa and Stevie and Starlight. Starlight was still young, and Carole liked to spend every spare moment on his training. Lately she had started working with him on the half halt, a dressage move in which she asked him for a momentary hesitation in stride. It was a slightly more advanced exercise than Starlight had learned before, and Carole wanted to make sure he was learning it properly.
But a few days earlier Colonel Hanson had announced that he had volunteered to show the Danas around the museums in Washington, and he wanted Carole to come. Carole had been a little disappointed to miss a day of training with her gelding, but she accepted the new plan as cheerfully as
she could. She loved visiting the Smithsonian, and she had been so busy with riding and the new school year that she hadn’t spent much time with her father lately. By the time she finished her morning riding classes at Pine Hollow, she was actually looking forward to the trip.
Carole was having fun seeing the museums—they had already covered the Air and Space Museum and the National Gallery before heading to the Natural History Museum—but she couldn’t help noticing that both her father and Mrs. Dana had been acting a little bit strangely the whole day. She couldn’t quite put a finger on what it was about their behavior that bothered her—she just had a feeling that there was something a little eager, almost phony, in their manner. It was making her feel a little edgy, and Marie’s sarcastic sense of humor wasn’t really helping her mood. Carole glanced at the other girl as they headed for the stairs to the museum’s ground floor, wondering if Marie had noticed anything strange about their parents’ behavior.
“Anyone for a quick snack?” Colonel Hanson suggested. He patted his belly. “All those bugs made me hungry.”
Marie laughed. “Lead the way,” she said. “I’m dying for a good wormburger—and maybe some french flies on the side.”
“Marie, please!” Mrs. Dana exclaimed. She slipped her arm into Colonel Hanson’s as they started down the wide, echoing stairwell. “I was hungry, until my charming daughter’s comment.”
“Maybe they should market you as a diet aid, Marie,” Colonel Hanson joked.
Marie smiled proudly. Carole found herself thinking, not for the first time that day, how much livelier and more upbeat Marie seemed these days. The girls hadn’t seen each other in several weeks. Marie lived only half a mile from Pine Hollow, and she liked to ride there occasionally. But since school had started, Carole hadn’t seen her at the stable.
“Have you been riding lately, Marie?” she asked.
She was a little startled when all three of her companions burst into laughter again.
“Talk about a one-track mind,” Marie said. “We were talking about food, remember? Not hay, not oats—people food.”
Carole blushed. Sometimes she forgot that everyone else’s mind didn’t revolve almost constantly around the topic of horses. Still, she found herself wishing—not for the first time that day—that Marie was a little less blunt in her comments.
“Come on, honey,” Colonel Hanson said, not seeming to notice Carole’s consternation. “I’ll buy you a slice of pie or something.”
“I’m not really that hungry,” Carole muttered, trailing along behind the others as they walked toward the museum’s cafeteria. They passed the large gift shop, dodging a group of excited children waving their brand-new stuffed dinosaurs. The cafeteria featured a revolving selection of snacks and sandwiches. Carole and the others picked up trays and took their places in front of the slowly circling food.
“Hey, Carole, want to share an order of fries?” Marie said, grabbing a large bag of french fries.
Carole shrugged. “Sure. Sounds good.” She noticed her father glancing at Mrs. Dana and winking. More than ever she had the feeling that there was something going on. What was more, she was beginning to think she might know what it was, and she wasn’t sure she liked her theory. She decided not to think about it.
Soon all four of them had chosen the food and drinks they wanted. Colonel Hanson paid the cashier, and then they managed to find an empty booth in the crowded seating area. As they all ate and chatted about the exhibits they’d seen that day, Carole’s mind kept wandering back to her thoughts about her father and Mrs. Dana. Since not thinking about it wasn’t working, Carole decided to try looking at things logically, the way Lisa—a straight-A student and the most practical and logical member of The Saddle Club—would.
First, Carole considered the facts. Her father and Marie’s mother had been dating for a while now. In the past two weeks they had had dinner together two or three times and had gone to a play and a concert. Now here they were, not only spending more time together, but also making sure that Carole and Marie spent time together. And judging by the looks they kept giving each other, the adults were definitely paying attention to how the girls were getting along.
It all pointed to one thing as far as Carole was concerned. Their parents wanted them to get along because they thought Carole and Marie would be spending a lot of time together soon. Carole scooped up some ketchup on the end of a french fry, ignoring the bug-oriented conversation going on around her. Try as she might, she could think of only one explanation for the adults’ behavior. She glanced at her father, then at Mrs. Dana. Then Carole popped the french fry into her mouth and chewed it slowly and thoughtfully.
CAROLE MANAGED to keep her thoughts to herself until the two families had parted ways and headed to their separate cars for the ride back to Willow Creek.
“All right, what was that all about?” she finally asked as she and her father strolled across the Mall, the large green lawn around which the museums of the Smithsonian were clustered. At one end the tall, thin spire of the Washington Monument stretched toward the sky, while the domed Capitol Building was visible at the other end.
“What was what?” Colonel Hanson asked. He paused briefly to snap a picture of the monument with his instant camera. “The car’s right over there,” he added, hurrying ahead to unlock the doors.
Carole climbed into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut a little harder than strictly necessary. “What were you and Mrs. Dana winking and smiling about all day?” she demanded as her father got in across from her. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“Whoa! I surrender!” Colonel Hanson exclaimed, holding up his hands. “I didn’t realize we were being that obvious.” He started the car and carefully pulled out into the busy late-afternoon traffic.
Carole just crossed her arms and waited.
“Actually, I was going to tell you the news on the way home if things went well today,” Colonel Hanson said. “But Olivia and I wanted to watch you and Marie together first to see how you got along before we broke it to you.”
Carole took a deep breath. “I think I know what’s coming, Dad. And I want you to know that I could probably get used to having Marie as a sister. I mean, I don’t really know her that well yet, but as long as you and Mrs. Dana are happy together, that’s what—”
“Time out!” Colonel Hanson interrupted. “What are you talking about?”
“Well, aren’t you about to tell me you and Mrs. Dana are getting married?”
Colonel Hanson opened his mouth to reply, then turned to stare at her in surprise. When he turned his attention back to the road a second later, he began to laugh. “No, my dear, I’m not!” he said at last. “Oh, honey, I’m sorry to laugh, but you caught me off guard. I can’t believe you’re in such a hurry to marry me and Olivia off! After all, she lost her husband only a few months ago.”
Carole stared at her father. “What were you going to tell me, then?”
“Well, I don’t know, it may seem sort of anticlimactic now,” Colonel Hanson said teasingly. Carole glared at him, and he relented. “All right, sorry. The truth is, Olivia has to go to Europe on business for a couple of weeks. She can’t take Marie with her, obviously, because of school, and she was worried about leaving her alone or with total strangers.” He braked for a red light and turned to smile at Carole. “So I invited Marie to stay with us while her mother is away.”
“Oh,” Carole said, feeling a little relieved. She liked Mrs. Dana a lot, and she definitely wanted her father to be happy, but she didn’t think she was quite ready to welcome someone else into their home—not yet. “So that’s why you wanted to make sure Marie and I were getting along today.”
“Right,” her father replied.
Carole gazed out the window as the light changed and the car continued down the street through the busy city traffic. “It could be fun having Marie stay with us,” she said after a moment. “She’ll be like a temporary sister.”
“T
hat’s right,” Colonel Hanson said. “I’m glad you feel that way. And I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that Marie still needs extra compassion from us. It will be difficult for her to be apart from her mother so soon after the accident, even if it’s only for a couple of weeks.”
“Don’t worry,” Carole assured him. “I’ll be extra nice. Stevie and Lisa will, too.” The more she thought about it, the better the plan sounded. Carole had always wondered what it would be like to have a brother or sister, and this would be the perfect chance to find out. Stevie complained about her three brothers almost constantly, but Carole was sure a sister would be different. A sister would be like a good friend, but better, because she would be there all the time.
“Good,” Colonel Hanson said. “I’m sure she’ll appreciate it. Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you, Marie’s birthday is coming up, too. So that’s just one more thing we’ll have to help her through. Not only will this be her first birthday without her father, but her mother won’t be with her either.”
Carole nodded. “That’ll be tough for her,” she said sympathetically. “We’ll have to plan something really special for her so she won’t miss them both so much.”
Colonel Hanson glanced at her again and smiled proudly. “I knew you’d feel that way,” he told her. “You’ve been such a good friend to Marie. And I’m sure you’ll be an even better temporary sister.”
Carole smiled back. “I’m sure of it, too.”
AS SOON AS she got home, Carole hurried to the phone and dialed Stevie’s number. “Guess what,” she blurted out as soon as Stevie answered.
Stevie laughed. “You sound like me,” she said. Stevie was notorious for launching right into conversations without bothering to identify herself.
“Never mind that,” Carole said. “I have big news. I’m getting a sister. Well, sort of.”
“What?” Stevie yelped. “What do you mean?”
“It’s Marie,” Carole explained. She quickly filled Stevie in on the news.
Riding Lesson Page 1