Quickly, Lisa did her work, rendering Stevie’s shoelaces useless for hours, unless she’d been a scout, too. As soon as she was done, Lisa grabbed seven sodas from the well-stocked refrigerator and delivered them to the riders who were untacking the horses. She was far away from the tack room when she heard Stevie’s first yelp.
CAROLE WAS CLOSEST to the tack room when Stevie began screaming. She ran to find out what had happened. She found her friend standing in her socks with a pair of sneakers in her hand. The laces of the sneakers were all tied in an incredible set of knots, impossible to untie—and making it impossible even to separate the sneakers from each other.
“I don’t believe this! And when I’m in such a hurry!” she wailed when she saw Carole. “Look at this mess! I can’t go anywhere! And I can’t wear my boots when I’m doing my job!”
Carole was used to Stevie’s mood swings. She could be all sunshine one instant and thunderclouds the next. But the thunderclouds usually disappeared as quickly as they came. This time, they didn’t. Stevie had told Carole about the job she was going to do. Carole had rarely seen her so eager to work. And now, at the very least, she was going to be late. This thundercloud wasn’t going to disappear quickly.
Stevie went on howling about the knots. Within a few seconds, all of the riders were in the tack room, watching Stevie’s temper display. Carole glanced at the girls. Most looked embarrassed at Stevie’s outburst. A few looked sympathetic. Veronica stood by one door, masking a smile. Carole would have expected that.
Then Lisa appeared at the door. One look at her face and Carole knew she’d done it. Stevie, glaring at the onlookers, spotted Lisa at the same time. Her face had “guilty” written all over it.
Carole knew that Stevie could dish it out, but she didn’t like to take it. It wouldn’t occur to Stevie that Lisa hadn’t liked the stirrup trick any more than Stevie was enjoying the shoelace trick. All Stevie would think of was that she had something important to do and she was going to be late because of this dumb joke. She began yelling at Lisa.
Lisa would have been perfectly happy to disappear into the ground. She hated being yelled at—almost as much as she’d hated being made a fool of without her stirrups. If she could have taken back the knotted laces, she would have—if Stevie also could have taken back the slammed door and the stirrup trick. While Stevie ranted, Lisa stood still. Then, when Stevie turned her attention to unknotting, Lisa turned on her heel and walked to the office, where her mother was waiting to drive her home.
Lisa slumped in the far corner of the front seat of the car. “I’m not going back there again, Mom. I don’t want to learn to ride. I don’t want to see those girls ever again. I don’t want to ride another horse. I don’t want to tighten saddle girths, slip bits into mouths, relax my calf muscles, look straight ahead, heels down, toes pointed in, shoulders back, forward in the saddle. Ever.”
“Oh, darling, isn’t it exciting?” Mrs. Atwood asked, almost breathlessly. “Max is such a dear and the horses are so nice. I’m just certain you’ll be a wonderful rider, Lisa. Your father and I will be so proud of you. And, imagine—Veronica diAngelo is in your riding class. You will be her friend, won’t you, dear?”
Had her mother heard her? Lisa wondered. Or, had she once again only spoken her doubts and her unhappiness to herself?
“You’re so quiet, Lisa,” her mother said, answering that question for Lisa. “You did have a good time, didn’t you, honey?”
Lisa knew that once again, she would just do what her parents wanted her to do. Once again, she’d be their good little girl, no matter what she wanted to do. Besides, her mother had made an interesting point. Veronica diAngelo did seem to want to be her friend. So, perhaps she could be Veronica’s friend and ignore Carole and Stevie altogether.
For a moment, Lisa forgot about Carole and Stevie and thought about her gentle horse, Patch. All during class, Patch had been very sweet-natured, as if he understood her ignorance. In spite of herself, she had to admit that being on a horse was nice. It made her feel tall and powerful. And, much as she disliked Max telling her eight things to do at once, she’d loved it when he’d complimented her.
All right, she sighed to herself. She’d go again on Tuesday to the next class—and then she’d see.…
“CAROLE, CAN I borrow money for a phone call?” Stevie asked, hopping over to Carole on her one sneakered foot. She held the other sneaker, still hopelessly knotted, in her left hand.
“Sure,” Carole said, reaching into her pocket for change. “What’s up?”
“Well, I’m going to be late for my job. I’m supposed to vacuum the O’Mearas’ pool. I thought I’d ask my brother Chad to do it for me. They’ve got a daughter I think Chad has a crush on. He’ll like that. Then, I can go over to the shopping center and put a notice on that bulletin board. Good idea?”
“Sure,” Carole said, though it seemed to her that Stevie would make more money by doing a job than by advertising for one. “Then I’ll walk over there with you. I can get the bus from there.”
“Great,” Stevie said. “We can hang out for a while.”
“Well, okay, but how’s that going to earn you any money?” Carole teased. Stevie just shrugged.
After Stevie made her phone call and finished unknotting her lace, the girls walked the half-mile to Willow Creek’s modest shopping center. Willow Creek was a small town about a half-hour drive from Washington, where most of the people, Stevie’s parents included, worked. Since they were so close to the big city, they didn’t have much of a shopping center. It had a variety store, a supermarket, two pharmacies, a jewelry store, an electronics store, a sporting goods store, a Tastee Delight ice cream parlor (TD’s, as it was called by the junior high school kids who hung out there), and three shoe stores. It wasn’t exactly a major shopping mall, but it was within walking distance of the stable and Stevie’s house. Carole and Stevie had both spent a lot of time hanging out there after riding classes, especially since Carole’s bus stopped there.
“I can’t believe what that new girl, Lisa, did to me,” Stevie said as they walked together to the shopping center.
“And what about what you did to her?” Carole asked.
“What I did to her was funny,” Stevie said defensively.
“Funny to you, maybe, but not to her.”
“Well, maybe, but playing a joke on a new kid is sort of a Pine Hollow tradition—”
“One I think we could do without,” Carole interrupted. “Besides, didn’t you hear what happened to her when Max was testing her?”
“No, what? Did she get some dirt on that fashion-model outfit she was wearing?”
“No, but she could have—or worse. She was on Patch and somebody slammed the door and—”
Stevie knew what happened when a door was slammed near Patch. “Oh, no! Patch took off? Who would do such a stupid thing? Did she fall hard?” Stevie asked.
“No. It was amazing. She stayed on!”
“No wonder Max let her into our class,” Stevie said. For a moment she felt badly about her stirrup joke—until she remembered how angry she’d been about her shoelaces. And then they got to the shopping center and everything else was forgotten. Carole trailed Stevie into the supermarket and waited while she filled out a card for the bulletin board announcing she would do “odd jobs.” She posted it with a pushpin. “Now, let’s go to TD’s,” she said.
“First I want to stop at Sights ’n’ Sounds. I think it’ll be fun if I can get Dad a golden oldies CD—you know, stuff from the sixties when he and Mom were dating. I was teasing him about that stuff the other day. It turns out when he was in high school, he really wanted to be a rock star. He sang for me. I think it’s a good thing he went into the Marine Corps instead!”
Giggling, the girls went into the electronics store together. Carole took a long time choosing a CD, trying to find one with the songs her father had been singing. While she riffled through the selection, Stevie hung out near the counter, reading promotion
al material on televisions and stereos. The she found a contest she could enter. First prize was a trip for two to Hawaii. She thought that would be fun. She was quickly lost in a dreamy image of herself riding bareback along the beaches of Hawaii at sunset, a handsome boy on the horse next to her. She wore exotic flowers in her hair. By the time she’d filled out the contest blank, she had put an imaginary lei around her neck and she could practically smell the sweet tropical blossoms.
“I’ll take this one, please,” Carole said, handing a CD to the check-out woman. It brought Stevie right back to Willow Creek. A little disappointed to find herself so far from her tropical paradise, she shoved the contest entry slip into the cardboard box by the cash register and then waited by the door for Carole. A chocolate-dipped ice-cream cone would taste good—since she couldn’t go to the luau she’d just daydreamed about.
CAROLE TOOK THE CD and stuffed her change into her pocket, following Stevie to TD’s. Stevie paid for her cone and headed toward the outside tables behind the shop. Carole had to wait for her sundae and then dropped most of her change on the ground. Then she nearly dropped her ice cream while she picked up her money.
Stevie reappeared at the front of the shop in time to help Carole collect all her belongings.
“Sometimes I don’t know how you make it through a day without me,” Stevie teased.
“I wonder the same thing myself,” Carole said, laughing at her own disorganization. “And I’ll never make it through the MTO without you, so you’d better tell me more about this new business venture of yours.”
As if on cue, Stevie was off and running—way off, as far as Carole could tell. Stevie was a great friend and all that, but her attention span was notably short. Carole didn’t see how in the world Stevie could focus on earning money long enough to make the fifty dollars she’d need for this trip—particularly if she expected to do pool cleaning and garden work like hedge clipping! Stevie didn’t know the first thing about hard work.
“Stevie!” Carole said when she’d finished. “Are you for real?”
“Sure am,” Stevie said positively. “This is a new me, Carole.”
“I don’t want a new you. I liked the old one just fine. But wouldn’t it be easier if you just got the old you to do a math project?”
“You know what kind of grade you get for counting guppies?” Stevie challenged. Carole had no idea what she was talking about. She stared blankly at Stevie. “C. That’s what you get for guppies. And a C won’t do me any good. I need at least a B-plus, preferably an A. So that’s why I’m earning money.”
“But what if you don’t make enough to go on the MTO?” Carole asked. “You’d miss three wonderful days and nights of riding on a gorgeous mountain trail. We’ve been planning them for—”
“You don’t think I can do it, do you?” Stevie was genuinely hurt.
“Well, it’s not that,” Carole protested. “It’s just that …” Carole didn’t know what to say. She didn’t really believe Stevie could make fifty dollars cleaning pools and clipping hedges in three weeks. And, if she spent all of her time trying to earn the fifty dollars, she’d never have time to do a math project; and if she didn’t do a math project and didn’t make fifty dollars, she definitely wouldn’t go on the trip.
Carole and Stevie had been talking about that weekend trip for months. It was the most important event of the year. It was what riding was really about. They had practically had their clothes packed for weeks! Now it seemed that their plans were falling apart and there was absolutely nothing Carole could do about it.
Carole took a bite of her sundae, but its gooey sweetness didn’t make her feel any better. Stevie didn’t seem to notice anything was wrong. She just began listing all the wonderful things she could do for people—for money.
“… walk dogs, water plants, deliver newspapers, put up wallpaper, paint …”
Paint and wallpaper? Carole thought to herself. At this rate, Stevie would never make it to the MTO!
LISA STARED UNCOMFORTABLY at Pepper, the horse she was to ride in class that day, her second riding lesson. She held his bridle in her right hand, but she really had no idea how to put it on him, and while she looked at it and tried to figure out how it went, she only seemed to manage to get the straps more tangled.
“Hi, Lisa,” Veronica greeted her over the stall door, walking toward her own horse’s stall. Maybe Veronica could remind her what to do.
“Can you help me with this thing?” Lisa began. “I mean Carole showed me all about it on Saturday, but it’s so complicated—”
“Sure,” Veronica said agreeably. But instead of coming into the stall to help Lisa herself, she called down the stable’s hallway, “Oh, Red! The new girl here, Lisa, needs some help. Can you saddle Pepper for her?”
A man, perhaps twenty, emerged from a stall at the end of the hall. He had a pitchfork in his hand. He’d obviously been cleaning out one of the stalls. He didn’t say anything to Veronica—he just glared at her. But he also nodded and put down his pitchfork. As soon as he began walking toward Lisa, Veronica continued into Cobalt’s stall.
Lisa watched carefully as the guy—who introduced himself as Red O’Malley—put the tack on Pepper. It seemed so easy when he did it.
“If I’d have had to do this myself, class would be over by the time I’d be done,” Lisa joked.
Red glanced at her. “You want to learn?” he asked, almost surprised.
“Well, sure,” she said. “Isn’t that what we’re here to do?”
“I guess so,” he said. He began to explain the parts of the bridle and the saddle to her, showing her how to put them on and fasten them securely. She’d heard it before, but she knew she’d have to hear it all several times more before she could do it herself.
“Thanks,” she said, honestly grateful to him, as he helped her bring Pepper to the ring.
“Good luck,” he told her as he left for the stalls.
Lisa brushed the good-luck horseshoe with her hand and mounted Pepper.
“Well done,” Max said, handing her a riding crop. She glowed a little bit at Max’s compliment, but tried not to show it. Sedately, she began walking Pepper around the ring while the other girls finished tacking up and mounting.
Riding Pepper felt both strange and familiar, but not unpleasant. Lisa felt secure at a walk. It was a comfortable pace. She’d learned how to make her horse turn to the right or left; by moving the right or left rein away from the horse’s neck you could turn his head in the direction you wanted to go. It surprised her a little when the horse, who, after all, had so much experience, followed her directions; she was so new at riding. But he did. If she held her hands still and sat down in the saddle with her back straight, he stopped. If she applied gentle pressure with her calves, he started again. Pepper did what she told him to do. It really worked! The horse was actually following her instructions. Lisa smiled to herself. She was riding.
CAROLE TIGHTENED DELILAH’S girth and led her to the mounting area. “I’ve got a job!” Stevie called to her, her eyes dancing with excitement. She was already in the ring, circling at a walk on Comanche.
Carole breathed a sigh of relief. If Stevie had a job, that meant she really might be able to earn the money to go on the trip. Maybe, just maybe, it would work out.
“What’s the job?” Carole asked while she slipped her foot into the stirrup and lifted herself up.
“It’s for one of my neighbors,” Stevie said. “He’s had a drainage problem with his gutters. He’s asked me to clean them for him.”
Stevie cleaning gutters?
Carole swung her right leg over the saddle and sat down on Delilah. She checked her stirrup length, and when she was satisfied it was correct, she pressed on the horse’s sides with her legs and Delilah moved forward.
As soon as she could feel the horse’s movement under her, Carole was transported. She was doing something she loved doing, but it wasn’t just that. When she was on a horse, she was in a world where she was in
control. Carole couldn’t control Stevie any more than she could control her father—or than she could have controlled her mother’s illness—but she could control Delilah. It was something they enjoyed together. And while she was riding, she didn’t have to think of the funny picture of her friend Stevie cleaning gutters. Stevie probably didn’t even know where the gutters were on a house!
Then class began.
“OKAY NOW, PAIR up!” Max called for the girls to ride in twos for their final rounds in the ring that day. Lisa had been concentrating so hard in class that she was nearly exhausted, but there was something wonderful about it.
“Oh, good!” Veronica said with delight in her voice. “I’m your partner.” She urged her horse up toward Lisa’s and their horses trotted together. Lisa was having trouble keeping her horse at a steady trot. Pepper kept wanting to walk.
“Here’s how you do it,” Veronica said. “You tap him just behind your leg with your whip. It’s what I do with Cobalt. It makes him keep going.”
Lisa didn’t like the idea of using a whip on Pepper, but Max had assured her that it didn’t hurt the horse. He told her that a whip should be used to reinforce an instruction the horse already knew he was supposed to follow. Lisa tapped Pepper with the whip. He began trotting at the same pace as Cobalt.
Veronica leaned over toward Lisa while they trotted together. “Isn’t some of this stuff just so boring?” Veronica asked.
To Lisa the class was hard, confusing, uncomfortable, difficult, and a little frightening. It wasn’t boring at all. But it was lonely. She wanted to make friends at the stable. She liked Carole; she’d like to be her friend, but then she’d have to be Stevie’s friend, too, and it wasn’t likely Stevie would ever want to be hers. It seemed that the only person at the whole stable who wanted to talk to her was Veronica, the very girl her mother wanted her to become friends with. It was very tempting just to agree with Veronica. She was about to when Max spoke sharply to them.
Horse Crazy Page 3