“Carole,” Stevie said. She wasn’t particularly good at hiding her feelings, so she had to make an extra effort not to show Priscilla how annoyed she was at her remarks about her friends. She’s new, Stevie reminded herself, gritting her teeth. She just doesn’t know them very well. And she doesn’t know how interesting horses and riding can be.
“Anyway,” Priscilla said, “I just don’t think I have much in common with them. I can usually tell right away whether I like someone. For instance, I knew as soon as I met you that I liked you.”
“Hmm,” Stevie said noncommittally. She decided to change the subject to something Priscilla might be more interested in: shopping. “After our trail ride Lisa and I are going shopping for a birthday present for Marie. Carole’s going to help her father pick out something for the two of them, so Lisa and I are on our own. We want to find something really great.”
“That’s nice,” Priscilla said. Stevie was beginning to think that was her favorite phrase. “But actually, I was just going to ask if you’d be able to do your trail ride and stuff another time. I was hoping we could get together after school today. Maybe we could go to your house so I could look at those old Fenton Hall yearbooks you were telling me about last week. I think that would really give me a feel for the history of this place and help me feel at home here.”
“Sorry,” Stevie said. “I just can’t do it today. My friends are counting on me to talk to Max. And I told you, it’s Marie’s first ride in a while—I want to be there for that. And I don’t know when Lisa and I will get another chance to go shopping.”
“Okay, okay,” Priscilla said, holding up her hands. “I was just asking.”
The bell rang. Lunch period was over. “I’d better get going,” Stevie said, standing and picking up her tray. “My math teacher doesn’t like us to be late, and I don’t want to get any other teachers mad at me today.”
“Okay,” said Priscilla. “I’ll see you in biology. Save me a seat.”
Stevie nodded. But she couldn’t help thinking that her friendship with Priscilla wasn’t going quite the way she had imagined it.
THERE WERE FIVE minutes left in Carole’s English class when a student she didn’t recognize came into the room and handed a folded piece of paper to the teacher.
Ms. Blackburn read the note. “Carole, could you come up here, please?” she said.
Surprised, Carole went up to the teacher’s desk. “What is it?”
“Your father is on the phone for you,” Ms. Blackburn said. “You’re excused to go to the principal’s office to take the call.”
Carole followed the messenger out of the room and down the hall toward the principal’s office, her head spinning. Why would her father be calling her at school? The last time he’d done that had been when Carole was eleven. He’d been calling then to tell her that they were taking her mother to the hospital again, and that he would be coming to pick up Carole shortly. Mrs. Hanson had died a few days later.
Carole gulped. She tried to put that terrible memory out of her head and think positively. If her father was calling her, nothing too bad could have happened to him. But what if something terrible had happened to someone else? A relative, Stevie or Lisa, Starlight … the possibilities were too frightening to think about.
By the time she reached the office and picked up the phone the secretary handed her, she was so nervous that she could barely squeak out the word, “Hello?”
“Carole? Is that you?” Colonel Hanson said, his voice as cheerful as always.
“It’s me, Dad,” Carole said. “What’s wrong?”
“Listen, honey,” her father said. “I just thought I’d better call to remind you about the juice. I know you were pretty sleepy this morning, and I was afraid you’d forget.”
“The juice?” Carole repeated. She didn’t have the foggiest idea what he was talking about. She had been sleepy that morning—in fact, she still was. Marie had kept the radio on until almost midnight the night before. It had been loud enough to keep Carole awake, but she hadn’t wanted to ask Marie to turn it down. After all, she was a guest.
“That’s what I was afraid of,” Colonel Hanson said reproachfully. “Remember, I told you and Marie that we only had one insulated cooler bag, so I put both your juice boxes in it with your lunch. You’ll need to give Marie her juice box at lunch. I know you two have different lunch periods, so I thought I’d better remind you.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Carole said mechanically. She did remember the conversation now, and in fact she had forgotten all about having Marie’s juice. Still, she couldn’t quite believe that was why her father had had her dragged out of class. “Are you sure that’s all?”
“That’s it, sweetie,” he said. “Now, don’t forget, okay?”
“I won’t. I promise,” she said. “ ’Bye.”
She hung up the phone. The school secretary stopped typing and looked up. “Everything all right, hon?” she asked. “I hope there’s nothing wrong at home.”
“No, no, everything’s fine,” Carole assured her. “It’s under control.” She left the office, still feeling a little confused. When her head began to clear, her confusion turned to relief, then annoyance, then anger. The relief was because there really was no emergency. The annoyance was with her father for frightening her. And the anger was for Marie.
Having Marie as a guest should have been fun. And in some ways, Carole had to admit, it was fun. But it was also turning out to be more difficult than Carole had expected. Last night her father had gotten carried away about Marie’s having enough rice, and today he’d dragged Carole out of class just to make sure Marie had her juice. When was the last time the Colonel had been that worried about what Carole had for lunch? He certainly hadn’t seemed concerned last night when Carole had had to stay up late finishing her English essay after Marie stopped working on the computer. And did he even know that when the essay was finally finished, Carole hadn’t been able to sleep because Marie was playing the radio too loud?
In fact, the more Carole thought about it, the more she realized that Marie’s visit was totally upsetting the Hansons’ life—and she hadn’t even been there twenty-four hours yet! Carole even found herself missing her father’s fifties and sixties music. She hadn’t heard anything but current rock hits since Marie had come to stay.
By this time the late bell had rung and students were hurrying to get to first lunch period. That was when Marie ate lunch. There was no way Carole would be able to make it to her next class on time, especially since she still had to find Marie and give her the juice box. That would be just one more thing for someone to chew her out for, she thought peevishly. Feeling very sorry for herself, she headed toward her locker to get Marie’s juice.
ACROSS TOWN AT Fenton Hall, Stevie was sitting in math class pretending to pay attention to the long, complicated problem that Bobby Effingwell was solving at the board. But actually she was thinking about Priscilla. Stevie didn’t have anything against art or fashion, but they weren’t topics she enjoyed discussing very often. And she had a sneaking suspicion that Priscilla felt the same way about horses.
It was finally dawning on Stevie that she and Priscilla just didn’t have much in common aside from attending the same school. And the worst part was that Priscilla didn’t like Stevie’s two best friends in the world. As much as she would have liked a new friend at Fenton Hall, Stevie realized that Priscilla might not be the person for the job.
When math class finally ended, Stevie hurried to biology class. She saved a seat for Priscilla, who arrived a moment later.
“Stevie, I just had a great idea,” Priscilla said breathlessly as she sat down. “Since we can’t get together today, why don’t you come to my house for a sleepover on Saturday night? You could bring those yearbooks, and we could rent some movies or something.”
Stevie stared at her. “Priscilla, you know I have that sleepover with my friends on Saturday,” she said. “I mean, come on, it’s all I’ve been talking about for day
s!”
Priscilla shrugged. “Well, I know, but you don’t really have to do that, do you?” she said. “I thought you’d be excited to have another offer. I mean, who really wants to sleep in a stinky old barn anyway?”
“That’s it,” Stevie exclaimed. Now she knew for sure that she was right about Priscilla. She took a deep breath, trying to think of the best way to say what she had to say. “Priscilla, this isn’t working out.”
“What isn’t?”
“Our being friends and hanging out together,” Stevie said. “I’m sorry. It’s not that you’re not a nice person. I just don’t think we have much in common. I mean, I like horses, you like clothes, I like my riding friends, you don’t—I just don’t think it’s going to work. I’m really sorry.”
Stevie was afraid Priscilla would be hurt, even though she’d tried to be as tactful as possible. But instead the other girl just shrugged. “Well, all right, if that’s the way you feel,” she said. “Thanks for showing me around.” Without another word Priscilla turned to the student sitting behind her, Coreen Maloney. “Hi there, I’m Priscilla Tyler. Aren’t we in the same art class? It’s Coreen, right?”
As she listened to Priscilla chatting with Coreen, Stevie shook her head in disbelief. People were certainly full of surprises. She would have thought Priscilla would be crushed to hear that her new best friend didn’t want to hang out with her anymore—especially after she’d been telling Stevie all week how much she liked her. But from the sound of things, Coreen had already been auditioned and accepted as Stevie’s replacement.
It’s just as well, Stevie decided as the teacher called the class to order. Now she could really concentrate on Marie and the sleepover. To begin with, she vowed to spend this class period figuring out the best way to ask Max for his permission to use the hayloft.
“BINGO!” STEVIE CRIED triumphantly as she emerged from Max’s office that afternoon.
“He okayed it?” Marie asked.
“He sure did,” Stevie replied, throwing an arm around Marie’s shoulders and grinning at her.
“Was it hard to convince him?” Lisa asked.
“Not at all, thanks to my superb negotiating skills,” Stevie said. “Well, actually, that was only part of it. He was in a good mood because he and Deborah have finally zeroed in on the perfect china pattern. And he said he’d been looking for something special to do for our guest of honor while her mom is away.” She winked at Marie.
“I guess that makes it just about unanimous, then, doesn’t it?” Carole muttered. She’d been stewing all afternoon long about the juice-box incident, and she wasn’t feeling particularly friendly toward Marie right then.
Stevie turned to stare at Carole in surprise, her arm dropping from Marie’s shoulder. Carole’s comment had sounded almost nasty. Stevie caught Lisa’s eye and shrugged. Lisa shrugged back. Neither of them knew what was bugging their friend, but they figured they’d find out sooner or later.
“Come on, let’s hit the trail,” Lisa said. “I’ll help you find Chip’s tack if you want, Marie.” Max had suggested that Marie ride Chippewa, an even-tempered Appaloosa gelding, on the trail ride that day.
“Thanks,” Marie said gratefully. “I can never find what I’m looking for in that tack room. It’s a worse mess than my bedroom.”
Lisa and Stevie laughed, but Carole frowned, annoyed at Marie’s criticism. It was true that the Pine Hollow tack room looked like a disaster area, with bridles, saddles, and other equipment covering every square inch of space. But in reality it was all very organized, with a specific place for everything. You just had to learn the system. Carole opened her mouth to tell Marie so, but then she noticed the grin on the other girl’s face and realized she had been joking. Carole watched Marie and Lisa walk off toward the tack room, chattering and laughing together like old friends, and bit her lip. Was she really the only one who found Marie’s sense of humor irritating? She shook her head and headed for Starlight’s stall.
A few minutes later all four girls’ horses were tacked up and ready to go. The girls mounted, brushed the good-luck horseshoe on the wall, and set off at a leisurely walk. Stevie was riding first on Topside, with Lisa behind her on Prancer, then Marie on Chip. Carole and Starlight brought up the rear.
“Don’t forget, you guys, I’m a little rusty,” Marie commented as they crossed a field toward the woods. “I don’t spend every waking moment on horseback like you do, so I might need a refresher lesson.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll help you,” Carole said. “From back here I’ll be able to see what you’re doing wrong. For instance, right now your heels should be down more, and your arms look a little stiff.”
Marie obediently adjusted her position. “Better?”
“A little, but now you’re leaning back too much, and your legs are too far forward. You look like you’re sitting in a chair.”
“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 instructions. Lisa looked as surprised as Stevie felt at Carole’s behavior. Carole never hesitated to give advice to anyone who asked for it and a lot of people who didn’t. But usually that advice was helpful and constructive. The advice she was giving Marie sounded more like plain old criticism, and that wasn’t like Carole at all.
A few minutes later the girls heard the sound of hoof-beats on the trail ahead of them. Carole paused in her barrage of advice as the four of them saw Simon Atherton riding toward them on Patch. Simon wasn’t Stevie’s favorite person at Pine Hollow, but at this moment she was glad to see him. She would have welcomed any interruption to Carole’s drill-sergeant routine.
“Hi, Simon,” she said. “What are you doing out here all by yourself?” One of Max’s strictest rules was that nobody was allowed to ride out on the trails alone. It was important always to have at least one other person nearby just in case something went wrong.
“Oh, gosh, hi, Stephanie,” Simon said, bringing Patch to a stop with some difficulty. “Hi, everyone. I didn’t start out alone. Veronica was riding Garnet out, so I offered to go with her so she could go on the trails. But I think she forgot that I’m kind of new at riding, and she cantered so far ahead that I kind of lost her. I was just heading back. I hope she’s all right.”
“I’m sure she’s fine,” Lisa said dryly. Veronica diAngelo was a spoiled rich girl who boarded her purebred Arabian mare at Pine Hollow. It didn’t surprise any of them that Veronica had planned to ride Garnet out alone despite Max’s rules. Veronica seemed to think that most rules were made for other people to follow and for her to break.
It surprised The Saddle Club even less that Veronica had apparently gone out of her way to lose Simon. Ever since Stevie had schemed to get Veronica and Simon to go out on a date, he had been following Veronica around like a lovesick puppy. No matter how mean she was to him, he never got the hint, and so he ended up driving her crazy. Stevie considered that something of a personal triumph. But she didn’t bother to gloat over that at the moment, because she knew that most of the trail they were on wasn’t safe at a canter. She also knew that Veronica would never bother to think about that, especially when she was trying to get away from Simon. Stevie just hoped that Garnet hadn’t injured herself.
“So who’s your new buddy?” Simon asked, looking at Marie.
Stevie quickly introduced them. “Marie is staying with Carole for two weeks. To celebrate, this is her first trail ride.”
“Are you an experienced rider?” Si
mon asked Marie.
“Well, I used to be an intermediate one, but I’m a little out of practice,” Marie explained.
“Yes,” Lisa said. “Carole has been giving her some—er—pointers.”
“Gosh, that’s great,” Simon said. “Carole really knows her stuff. Well, I’d better get going.”
Marie glanced at Carole, then at Simon. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to ride back with you,” she said. “I’m kind of tired. And I think these guys might have more fun without me—I think I’m even rustier than I realized.”
“Sure, no problem,” said Simon cheerfully. “Let’s hit the old trail.”
“You don’t mind, do you, Carole?” Marie asked as she turned Chip out of the line.
Carole shrugged. “It’s fine with me. You don’t want to wear yourself out.”
“Right,” said Marie. “And this way I’ll be there to meet your father. He should be coming to pick us up pretty soon.” She urged Chip forward after Patch, who had started ambling off toward home without bothering to wait for a signal from Simon. “I’ll see you all in a while.”
As Simon and Marie disappeared from sight, Stevie remarked, “It’s unusual for your father to pick you up on a weekday, isn’t it, Carole?”
“Yeah, well, a lot of unusual things have been going on around here lately,” Carole snapped.
Lisa and Stevie traded glances. They had a feeling that a change of subject would do them all good.
“So, Stevie, did you ever convince your new friend Priscilla to try riding?” Lisa asked.
Stevie touched Topside lightly with her heel, and he obediently moved off down the trail. “Not exactly,” Stevie replied. “In fact, I’ve been meaning to tell you guys what happened.” She quickly related her conversations with Priscilla at lunch and in biology class. “I finally realized that she wanted me as a friend, all right—but only if she could have me all to herself. She didn’t even care that she was asking me to give up all kinds of things that are really important to me, like you guys, for instance. As soon as I realized that, I had to call it quits with her. Nothing is going to split up The Saddle Club, and that’s that.”
Riding Lesson Page 5