English Rider

by Bonnie Bryant

  “Max!” she shouted suddenly. “I have to ask you something!”

  Max turned to stare at her in surprise. Lisa felt her cheeks flush as she struggled to figure out what to say next.

  Carole came to her rescue. “Um, Max,” she said. “What Lisa was about to say is, we were just watching Mrs. Pennington driving her phaeton outside.”

  “That’s very interesting,” Veronica said sarcastically. “Now, as I was saying—”

  Lisa didn’t let her finish. “That’s right, Max,” she added hurriedly, shooting Carole a grateful look. “Miles was telling us more about driving, and it was really interesting. We were wondering if you were planning to take Mrs. Pennington up on her offer to come talk to us again sometime after her equipment arrived.”

  “Right,” Carole added cheerfully. “Because now it’s here!”

  Max nodded thoughtfully. “That’s right, she did offer to speak to Horse Wise again.” Horse Wise was the name of Pine Hollow’s branch of the United States Pony Club. It met every Saturday morning, and Max often invited speakers to teach the group about different aspects of horses and horse care. Mrs. Pennington had spoken about driving the week before.

  “Whatever,” Veronica broke in. “So anyway, Max, I wanted to tell you—”

  “When do you think she could come?” Stevie interrupted, catching on to what her friends were doing. She surreptitiously set the remains of the sandwich on the bench and shoved it out of sight behind her.

  Max didn’t notice. “Well, the sooner the better, I suppose,” he said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “It would certainly be more convenient for her to do it before her stable is finished and Hodge and Podge move out of Pine Hollow. Obviously Saturday is out because of the point-to-point, though.” The Horse Wise meeting was canceled because most of the members would be riding in or at least attending the point-to-point.

  “How about tomorrow’s lessons?” Carole spoke up.

  Max looked surprised. “Tomorrow?” he said slowly. “Well, that’s not much notice. But it would be nice to give you a little bit of a break from all the jumping we’ve been doing lately. Besides—”

  “The sooner the better, right?” Lisa finished for him. She glanced at her watch. “Uh-oh. The Penningtons were just finishing up when we left them a little while ago. If you want to catch them before they leave—”

  Max nodded briskly. “Right,” he agreed. “I’d better go now.” With that, he hurried out of the room.

  When he was gone, Veronica gave Stevie, Carole, and Lisa a sour look. “You three are just full of clever ideas, aren’t you?” she said cryptically. Then she turned to smile at Tessa. “Listen, Tessa,” she said in a friendlier voice. “I was just thinking. I’d really like for you to see the rest of my riding clothes. Maybe you could find more stuff to borrow. Do you want to come over this afternoon after we’re finished here? We could have tea again. I asked the maid to make some real English-style scones.”

  “Smashing,” Tessa began agreeably. “That sounds like—” Then she glanced at Lisa and stopped herself. “Oh, but I can’t this afternoon,” she corrected. “Lisa’s mum is taking us to the mall. Perhaps another time.”

  “Sure.” Veronica gave Lisa an irritated glance. Then she smiled at Tessa and shrugged. “Far be it from me to stand in the way of shopping.” She said good-bye to Tessa, mumbled something relatively polite to the rest of The Saddle Club, then left.

  “Wow,” Stevie said when she was gone. “That was close.”

  “What was that all about?” Tessa asked. She set down the silky white shirt she was holding and sat beside Stevie. “Veronica and I were chatting in the tack room, and suddenly she insisted on rushing in here with Max in tow.”

  “Oh, nothing much.” Carole rolled her eyes. “Just another one of Veronica’s nasty little tricks.” She told Tessa the whole story.

  At the end, Tessa looked unconvinced. “Are you sure she set it up?” she said skeptically. “It sounds a bit farfetched.”

  “Not for Veronica.” Stevie wiped a glob of peanut butter off her fingers onto her jeans. “She’ll do anything to make us look bad. Especially now, when she knows Max is on our case.”

  “Oh, well,” Tessa said with a shrug. “In any case, no harm done.” She winked and grinned. “Perhaps one of us will come up with a sneaky way to get back at her sometime soon.”

  Carole looked surprised. “I thought you wanted to keep things friendly,” she said. “I thought that’s why you’ve been putting up with her boring conversation for the past two days.”

  “Well, I do want to keep things calm,” Tessa admitted. “Besides, she’s really not as dull as you all seem to think. I’ve found some of the things she says very, very interesting.”

  Lisa shrugged. She didn’t feel like arguing about it right then—especially since it was almost time for her mother to pick them up for their trip to the mall.

  She grabbed the peanut butter sandwich from behind Stevie and tossed it into the trash can with a shudder. “Well, I just have one more thing to say about all this,” she told Stevie.

  “What’s that?” Stevie asked.

  Lisa grinned weakly. “After watching you eat that horrible sandwich, I think it’s a good thing you’re going to the doctor today anyway.”

  “OH, LOOK AT this lovely silk shirt, dear!” Mrs. Atwood exclaimed, holding up a bright turquoise-and-magenta-checked blouse for Lisa’s inspection. “Isn’t it stylish? And it looks just like those outfits professional jockeys wear. Wouldn’t it be fun for you to wear it in your race on Saturday?”

  Lisa sighed. It was a couple of hours later. Mrs. Atwood had arrived right on schedule to pick up Lisa and Tessa, and ever since they had arrived at the mall she had been doing her usual thing—namely, trying to interest Lisa in all sorts of clothes and accessories she didn’t want or need.

  “I’m not certain, Mrs. Atwood,” Tessa said politely, “but that may not be appropriate for this sort of event. I think most of the riders will be dressed in traditional hunting-style clothing rather than jockey’s silks.”

  Lisa shot her a grateful look. She had Tessa to thank for the fact that she was only half miserable rather than completely miserable. Tessa had managed to distract Mrs. Atwood just enough to keep her from driving Lisa totally crazy. Lisa knew that her mother was terribly impressed by Tessa’s title, her manners, and her upper-class British accent. Because of all that, Mrs. Atwood was actually paying much more attention to Tessa than she was to Lisa, and for that Lisa was thankful.

  Mrs. Atwood reluctantly hung the silk blouse back on its rack. “Well, if you say so, dear,” she told Tessa. “You’re much more of an expert on these matters than I am, of course.” She headed for the next rack. “Oh, but what about these wonderful tweed jackets …,” she began eagerly.

  “Well, hello!” a familiar voice called cheerfully. “Fancy meeting you here!”

  “Veronica?” Lisa muttered. She turned, and sure enough, Veronica was hurrying toward them across the wide center aisle of the department store.

  “Hello, Veronica,” Mrs. Atwood said. “What a pleasant surprise! Are you doing some shopping for the point-to-point? Your mother tells me you’re entered in the junior hurdle race.”

  “That’s right,” Veronica said pleasantly. “Actually, I was just trying to figure out what I should wear.” She sighed. “Unfortunately, I’m having some trouble. That’s why I was so excited when I saw Tessa over here. She knows so much about riding clothes.”

  Tessa looked a little surprised. Lisa thought she knew why. Tessa actually did know quite a bit about riding attire—all the girls did—but unlike Veronica, she wasn’t really very interested in the subject. As long as her clothes were comfortable and safe for riding, she was content.

  But Mrs. Atwood was nodding agreeably. “Oh, yes,” she told Veronica. “Dear Tessa has been such a help to us today.”

  “I’m sure she has,” Veronica said smoothly. Then she smiled beseechingly at Tessa and Mrs. Atwood, c
ompletely ignoring Lisa. “It’s such a nice coincidence that I ran into you. I wonder if I could steal Tessa away for a little while? There’s a pair of breeches in another store that I’d just love to show her.”

  “Certainly,” Mrs. Atwood said. She patted Tessa on the arm. “Lisa and I can make do by ourselves if you’d like to run along and help Veronica. We could meet you by the entrance when it’s time to go.”

  “Oh, don’t worry about that,” Veronica said quickly. “I can drop Tessa off at your house when we’re finished. Is that okay?”

  “It’s fine with me,” Mrs. Atwood said. “Tessa?”

  Tessa hesitated, glancing at Lisa. Lisa forced herself to keep her expression neutral, since her mother was looking at her. If Mrs. Atwood knew that she absolutely hated the thought of Tessa and Veronica spending any more time together, Lisa would never hear the end of it. Besides, Lisa was sure Tessa would manage to back out of Veronica’s invitation gracefully all on her own.

  But to her surprise, Tessa’s face broke into an eager grin. “Sure, I’d love to,” she said. She stepped forward and slipped her hand cozily into the crook of Veronica’s arm. “Lead the way.”

  Veronica smiled with satisfaction. “Great,” she said. “Let’s go.”

  Tessa glanced back over her shoulder and winked at Lisa as she hurried off with Veronica. “See you at home,” she called.

  Lisa didn’t bother to reply. Her shoulders slumped as she realized that her mother was already gathering a whole new set of clothes to show her.

  She was doomed.

  “DID YOU ACTUALLY end up buying anything after all that?” Carole asked.

  Lisa sighed and leaned back against the wall of the upstairs hallway. She was on the phone with Carole and Stevie. Stevie’s family had three-way calling, which came in handy for telephone Saddle Club meetings like this one. “Not much,” she said. “Just a few new pairs of socks and a shirt. At least I talked her out of that stock pin. You wouldn’t believe how much it cost.”

  “What I can’t believe is that Tessa isn’t back yet,” Stevie said. “What time did you say she went off with Veronica?”

  “Hours ago,” Lisa replied.

  “Poor Tessa.” Carole sounded sympathetic. “She must be bored stiff.”

  Lisa sighed again and played with the buttons on her shirt. “To be honest, I’m not feeling all that sorry for her right now,” she admitted. “I mean, it wasn’t as though Veronica dragged her off kicking and screaming. She didn’t even have to beg very hard. Tessa practically jumped at the chance to go off with her.”

  “Are you sure she wasn’t just sick of your mom?” Stevie asked. “Uh, no offense or anything.”

  “None taken,” Lisa said. “And I thought of that. Mom was being her usual self, more or less. But still, I wouldn’t have expected Tessa to abandon me. She knew I was counting on her to help me survive the shopping marathon.”

  “Good point,” Carole said. “It was practically her duty as a member of The Saddle Club to stay with you. Besides, getting away from your mom to shop with Veronica would just be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.”

  “A roaring bonfire,” Stevie agreed wholeheartedly. She paused, and Lisa could almost hear the wheels turning in her head. “No, I think there must be something else going on here.”

  “What do you mean?” Carole asked.

  “I mean I think something is going on with Tessa,” Stevie said. “Or Veronica. Or maybe both.”

  “That clears things up,” Lisa said dryly. She switched the phone to her other ear. “But I was thinking about it, and I was wondering if we’re just missing what’s staring us in the face here.”

  “What’s that?” Carole asked.

  Lisa bit her lip. She could hardly bring herself to say the words out loud. “Maybe,” she said, “just maybe, Tessa and Veronica actually … like each other.”

  Carole gasped. “No way,” she said quickly. “Tessa is a member of The Saddle Club. And Veronica is, well …”

  “Pure evil?” Stevie suggested helpfully.

  Carole laughed wryly. “Well, I was going to say Veronica is Veronica,” she said. “But either way you look at it, it just doesn’t make sense.”

  “I guess not,” Lisa said. But she didn’t feel very confident about her own words. “Still, maybe it’s nothing that extreme. We know Tessa was upset because she thought she was going to be responsible for us losing our riding privileges.”

  “But that’s ridiculous,” Stevie protested. “It would be Veronica’s fault if that happened, not hers.”

  “Wait,” Carole said. “I think I see what you’re saying, Lisa. No matter what we’d say, Tessa would still feel guilty if Max kicked us out for fighting back when Veronica was being mean to her.”

  Lisa had to pause to run Carole’s complicated sentence through her head. Then she nodded into the phone. “Right,” she said. “Maybe this is just Tessa’s way of calming the troubled waters. Or whatever.”

  “Maybe,” Carole said eagerly. “That would make sense. Should we just come right out and ask her about it?”

  Lisa hesitated. She couldn’t help remembering how Tessa had acted at the mall. She hadn’t seemed like someone who was reluctantly going along with something to keep the peace. In fact, she had seemed downright thrilled to rush off with Veronica. “I don’t know,” she said at last. “Maybe we should wait a few days and see what happens.”

  “Are you sure?” Stevie sounded worried. “Don’t forget, last time we tried to keep a secret from Tessa—”

  “I know.” Lisa cut her off. When the girls had tried to hide their probation from Tessa, it had made them all miserable. “But this is different. We’re not really hiding anything from her.” She shrugged, though she knew her friends couldn’t see her. “If anything, she’s the one hiding something from us.”

  There was a long moment of silence as they all thought that over.

  Suddenly Carole spoke up. “Oops,” she said worriedly. “I hear Dad calling me. I just remembered I was supposed to set the table. I’d better go.”

  “Me too,” Stevie said. “I just saw my brother Michael walk by with his aquarium of pet frogs. That can’t be good news.”

  Lisa grinned briefly at that in spite of her worries about Tessa. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll keep you posted. We’re all meeting before lessons tomorrow, right?”

  “Right,” Carole replied.

  “Definitely,” Stevie said at the same time. “And don’t forget—Max said it was okay for Phil to come to lessons and watch the carriage demonstration.” Thanks to The Saddle Club’s idea, Mrs. Pennington had agreed to bring over one of her fancy horse-drawn vehicles the next day and give another demonstration for the intermediate riding class. Stevie had decided to find out if her boyfriend could attend, since she knew he was always interested in any new horse-related topic.

  “And we’re all going to TD’s for ice cream afterward, right?” Lisa said.

  “Yep,” Stevie confirmed. “It should be fun. And it will give Phil and Tessa a chance to get to know each other better. They only met that one time last week.”

  After that the three girls said good-bye and hung up. Lisa returned the phone to its spot on the table, then wandered downstairs.

  “Are you finished with the phone, Lisa?” Mrs. Atwood called from the kitchen. “I need to make a few calls.”

  “I’m finished, Mom.” Lisa was relieved. As long as her mother was on the phone, she couldn’t put Lisa to work on more projects for the point-to-point.

  Lisa wasn’t sure she could concentrate on equipment lists or menus or sponsor addresses right then. She was too worried about Tessa. The incident at the mall had disturbed her more than she’d been willing to admit to the others. It wasn’t just that Tessa had gone with Veronica. That was bad enough. But why had she seemed so excited about it? Could her earlier, horrible theory be right? Could Tessa actually like spending time with the snobby girl? Could she—Could she possibly like Veronica bett
er than she liked The Saddle Club?

  Lisa’s head had been throbbing with these thoughts since she’d gotten home from the mall. Putting a hand to her forehead, she decided she had to distract herself somehow. She was on her way into the living room to see what was on TV when the front door flew open and Tessa hurried in, smiling and breathless. “Oh, hi, Lisa!” she said, waving a bulging shopping bag. “I finally made it home!”

  “Hi,” Lisa said dully.

  Tessa didn’t seem to notice Lisa’s gloomy tone. “Whew, I have got to sit down right now,” she declared with a laugh. “My feet are killing me!”

  Lisa didn’t answer. She just followed Tessa into the living room, amazed at her cheerful mood. If Lisa had just spent several hours shopping with Veronica diAngelo, she’d have been ready to strangle someone by now. So would Stevie and Carole—Phil, too, for that matter, along with just about every other out-of-town member of The Saddle Club. But not Tessa. She looked as happy as ever.

  Tessa flopped down on the living room couch, still clutching her shopping bag. “I’m exhausted!” she declared happily. “We must have walked ten kilometers today going up and down that mall.”

  “I can imagine,” Lisa said dryly. “Shopping with Veronica must be a tiring experience. Buying things is probably her greatest talent. I’m surprised you only came back with one bag.”

  Her sarcasm was lost on Tessa, who sat up and smiled. “That reminds me,” she said. “I got you something.” She reached into her shopping bag and pulled out a small rose-colored box.

  Lisa was surprised. She took the box and stared at it blankly. “What is it?” she asked.

  Tessa giggled. “Open it, silly,” she urged. “That’s the best way to find out, isn’t it?”

  Lisa lifted the lid of the box. Inside, nestled on a bed of cotton, was a slender silver pin. She gasped. “A stock pin!”