English Rider

by Bonnie Bryant

  “I think we should use ponies,” Lisa said. Besides the horses ridden by the older riders, Max kept some ponies for younger children to ride during lessons. “Most of them are trained to pull a cart. We’ve seen them do it lots of times. And remember, Mrs. Pennington said it was okay to enter ponies so long as you have a pair.”

  “Perfect!” Stevie grinned. “Besides, smaller horses will be an advantage. They’ll be able to turn quicker and be less likely to run into the cones.”

  The girls continued to discuss their scurry team as they finished working on Topside’s stall. When they were finished, they headed toward the office to find Max.

  “Just pray he says yes,” Lisa said, crossing her fingers. “After all, we’re still on probation.”

  But instead of Max, they found his mother, known to one and all as Mrs. Reg. She was seated behind the desk working on some papers.

  “Hello, girls,” she said as they knocked and entered. She listened quietly to their request. Then she smiled. “I can’t say this is a complete surprise,” she said. “Max warned me you might come along and ask something like this.”

  “And?” Carole held her breath.

  Mrs. Reg chuckled. “And it’s fine,” she said. “Consider yourselves the official Pine Hollow scurry team.”

  “WHOA, NICKEL!” STEVIE called in frustration forty-five minutes later. “Can’t you tell your left from your right?”

  Carole giggled as the sweet-faced gray pony turned to give Stevie a look of reproachful surprise. “I think he’s saying he knows left from right very well,” she joked from her seat beside Stevie. “He just can’t tell which you want when you have his reins and Dime’s all twisted up like that.”

  Stevie had to laugh, too, as she glanced down at the four reins she was trying to keep straight in her hands. “This driving stuff isn’t as easy as it looks,” she admitted ruefully.

  “No,” Lisa said, leaning forward from the backseat of the pony cart. “But it’s fun, isn’t it?”

  Both her friends had to agree with that. Scurry driving definitely wasn’t easy, but it was fun. Best of all, it was actually taking their minds off their other problems.

  Lisa shaded her eyes with one hand and peered over the fence of the outdoor ring to the fields beyond. “Look,” she said. “I think Tessa and Veronica are finally coming back from their trail ride.”

  “Hmmm,” Carole responded. She glanced at her friends. “Am I the only one who’s thinking maybe we were a little too hard on her before?”

  “Yes,” Stevie said quickly. But she immediately looked guilty. “Well, no,” she admitted. “I was sort of wondering the same thing. After all, the law is still ‘innocent until proven guilty.’ ” Both of Stevie’s parents were lawyers, so they were always saying things like that. This time, Stevie thought they might be right. They couldn’t write off Tessa completely until they found out for sure what was going on, no matter how suspicious things looked.

  Lisa nodded. “I guess you’re right.” She took a deep breath of the fresh summer air and glanced at the approaching riders. “Come on, I think the ponies have had enough for today. Let’s take them in and then see if Tessa needs any help with Topside.”

  “THERE YOU GO, boy,” Tessa said cheerfully, snapping the hook shut on the handle of Topside’s plastic water bucket. She patted the horse fondly on his well-groomed flank, then left the stall to join Carole in the aisle.

  Carole smiled. She had watched Tessa’s every move carefully, and she had to admit that Tessa had taken perfect care of the horse ever since arriving back at the stable after her trail ride. In fact, things almost seemed to be back to normal, except for the minor unpleasant fact that Tessa had agreed to have dinner at Veronica’s house that evening. Still, Carole supposed, that could have been written off to good manners.

  “Stevie and Lisa should be finished grooming the ponies by now,” she said. “But we still have to clean their tack. Want to join us?”

  “Absolutely,” Tessa replied with a grin, hoisting Topside’s saddle onto one shoulder. “Topside really worked up a sweat out on the trail—Veronica and I did some jumping so that she could practice for the junior hurdle. This tack will need a right good scrubbing today.”

  Carole smiled again. This was more like it. Whatever had happened the day before, the real Tessa seemed to be back.

  The two girls found Lisa and Stevie already at work in the tack room. Soon all four of them were busy cleaning tack, chatting as they worked. Tessa told them about the meeting with Mrs. Pennington the day before.

  “She’s really eager to help,” she said. “It’s obvious she’s mad for scurry racing and all sorts of driving, and she wants everyone else to love it as much as she does.” She looked up from Topside’s bridle and winked. “Plus, it didn’t hurt that Miles hung around the entire time we were there.” She blushed and giggled. “I know he’s a bit older, but I’m starting to fancy him a bit. He’s rather cute, don’t you think?”

  “Definitely.” Stevie smiled. This was good news. If Tessa had her eye on Miles, that meant the scene with Phil yesterday must have been all a big mistake.

  “Anyway,” Tessa went on, “now that I’ve got to know Miles better, it makes me feel happier about being a fence judge on Saturday.” She grinned and stopped working to gaze steadily at her friends for a moment. “Actually, I can’t wait. The point-to-point is going to be wonderful.” Her eyes danced gleefully. “I can positively guarantee it.”

  “You don’t have to convince us,” Stevie replied happily. She was already wondering if Phil had noticed that she was mad at him the day before. She hoped not. Maybe she would call him that night to make sure. “We’re totally psyched. Especially now that we’re entering the scurry race.”

  “Oh, yes,” Tessa said with a short laugh. “I just know the scurry race is going to be the best of all.”

  Lisa looked up from the breast collar she was cleaning. Something about Tessa’s voice sounded a little strange.

  “Anyway,” Tessa said brightly, “I was just thinking—do you suppose we could have another sleepover on Friday night? You know, so we can talk about the point-to-point and everything.” She shot Lisa a sympathetic glance. “Also, it might help if we were all there to help keep Lisa’s mum as calm as possible.”

  Lisa smiled at her gratefully. “That’s a fantastic idea.” She could hardly believe Tessa would be so thoughtful as to think of that. No, actually she could believe it. What she could hardly believe was that she’d ever doubted Tessa. “Let’s do it.”

  “HI, MRS. MARSTEN,” Stevie said into the phone that evening after dinner. “It’s Stevie. Is Phil there?”

  “Stevie?” Phil’s mother paused. “What do you mean, dear? Phil’s not here.”

  Stevie was disappointed. She still felt a bit guilty about her earlier suspicions. She had hoped to talk to Phil and make sure he hadn’t noticed anything. It would be terrible if the two of them were at odds for any reason right before the point-to-point. “Oh, too bad,” she said to Mrs. Marsten. She leaned back on her bed. “Um, do you know what time he’ll be back?”

  There was another pause. “I’m sorry,” Mrs. Marsten said at last. “Who did you say this was?”

  “It’s me,” Stevie replied, surprised. “Stevie. Stevie Lake.”

  “Now I’m really confused,” Mrs. Marsten said. “Stevie, Phil isn’t here. He left an hour ago—he asked his sister to drive him over to Willow Creek. I naturally assumed he was coming to see you.”

  “Oh.” Stevie thought about that for a second. She didn’t like what it implied. She didn’t like it one bit. “Um, okay. Thanks anyway.”

  “Shall I ask him to call you when he gets in?” Mrs. Marsten asked.

  “No, no,” Stevie said quickly. “That’s okay. Actually, you don’t even have to tell him I called. Bye.”

  She hung up and set the phone back on her bedside table. All her earlier suspicions were back, and then some. What was going on? Why would Phil want to come to Wi
llow Creek unless it was to see her?

  To see someone else. That much was obvious. Unfortunately, there was also one very obvious person he might want to see … “Don’t be stupid,” Stevie muttered to herself. “Lisa would tell me if Phil showed up over there.”

  That made her feel slightly better. But she was still bothered by the situation. She decided to go downstairs and make herself a snack. Maybe that would cheer her up.

  She walked into the kitchen. Her older brother, Chad, and her twin brother, Alex, were seated at the table gobbling down the remains of a chocolate cake.

  “Hey,” Stevie said, snatching the platter away just as Alex was about to spear the last slice with his fork. “Save some for the rest of us, will you?” She grabbed the cake without bothering to get a plate and took a big bite.

  Chad rolled his eyes. “Really, Stevie,” he said, swallowing his mouthful of cake. “Haven’t any of Tessa’s manners rubbed off on you?”

  Alex laughed. “Yeah, really,” he added teasingly. “How can you hang out with someone like her and still act the way you do? I mean, she’s a real lady. And you’re more of a …” He paused, obviously searching for just the right comparison.

  “A horse?” Chad suggested helpfully.

  Alex shook his head. “No, I was thinking more along the lines of a gorilla.”

  Stevie rolled her eyes as her brothers snorted with laughter. “Ha, ha,” she said heavily. The last thing she felt like doing right then was getting into a discussion about how wonderful Tessa was. “So is there any milk left, or did you warthogs down all of that, too?” She walked over to the refrigerator to check.

  Her brothers weren’t finished. “You know, Stevie,” Chad said, sounding just a little too casual, “I have another intramural baseball game on Friday night. Maybe Tessa would like to come and watch like she did last week.”

  Stevie froze in her tracks. This was too much. She recognized the tone in her brother’s voice. It was the tone that meant he had yet another crush on yet another girl. And this time, it seemed, the girl was Tessa. She gritted her teeth. “I don’t think so,” she replied evenly. “We’re having a sleepover on Friday night.”

  “Too bad,” Alex said gleefully. “Hey, Stevie, how much longer is Tessa going to be here, anyway? Maybe if we asked nicely, Mom and Dad would take us all to King’s Dominion or Busch Gardens. Tessa, too,” he added quickly.

  “Hey, that would be a blast,” Chad agreed eagerly. “Tessa seems like the kind of girl who’d have fun riding roller coasters and stuff.”

  Alex nodded. “Yeah. She seems pretty cool. You know, for a horse freak.”

  Stevie groaned and set the remains of her cake down on the counter. Suddenly her appetite had vanished. Obviously Tessa’s friendly personality and exotic accent had completely won over her brothers. Just the way it had won over Phil …

  “Give it up,” Stevie told her brothers sourly. “You don’t know anything about Tessa.” I’m beginning to wonder how well any of us really knows her, she thought grimly. For instance, who could have predicted that she’d suddenly want to become best friends with Veronica diAngelo?

  Suddenly Stevie gasped. She had just remembered something—something that made her forget all about her annoying brothers. Tessa wasn’t at Lisa’s house this evening. She was having dinner with Veronica!

  Or maybe Veronica is just covering for her, Stevie thought as a cold, tight fist seemed to clutch at her heart. Maybe she’s really spending this evening with Phil!

  A TROUBLED FROWN creased Carole’s brow as she paged through a well-worn reference book about equine health. She had already checked all the entries having to do with manure about a dozen times, but she still couldn’t stop thinking about Topside. What if there really was something wrong with him?

  She tried to reassure herself. Aside from the slightly odd-looking extra-large load of manure she had noticed that day, there didn’t seem to be a single thing different about the gelding’s appearance or behavior. If there had been, Max or Red would have noticed and called the vet. Still, the question about the odd-looking droppings had been nagging at her all evening.

  Max counts on the riders to check their horses carefully, Carole fretted. And he thinks Tessa is a totally responsible rider …

  She sighed and closed the book. Staring at the surface of her desk, she ran back over the last few days in her mind. Tessa had been awfully busy with Veronica lately. Could that have distracted her enough to make her make all those mistakes—the tack, the water bucket, the dirty stall?

  Worse yet, Carole thought, could it be that they were only now seeing Tessa’s true personality emerging? Maybe she wasn’t as nice and smart and responsible as they had thought. Maybe she had just been on her best behavior before—and now that she had found a more compatible friend in Veronica, she was finally letting her true colors shine through. How well did they really know her, after all?

  Carole sighed and opened the book to the index again. Would they ever figure out the truth?

  LISA CLICKED ON the Save icon with the mouse on her family’s computer and sat back in her chair while the machine hummed away. She rubbed her eyes, which were tired from staring at the screen for the past two hours. She had just put the finishing touches on the program for the point-to-point. Now all she had to do was save it onto a separate disk so that her mother could take it to the printer’s office the next day.

  At least she can manage to do that, Lisa thought grumpily. But she immediately felt bad. It really wasn’t her mother’s fault that she couldn’t work the computer very well. And Lisa had volunteered to take care of the program—mostly because she was sick to death of painting Parking and No Parking signs, which was the other big job that remained. Lisa had also felt responsible for the changes that had to be made in the program because of the addition of the scurry race. After all, it had been her friend’s idea to add the new event.

  Of course, it would be nice if Tessa were here to help out, Lisa thought. And this time she didn’t feel the least bit bad about the thought. She glanced at her watch. Tessa had been with Veronica all day. Lisa couldn’t imagine what they were doing.

  But she knew what Tessa wasn’t doing: helping. And wasn’t that what The Saddle Club was supposed to be about? Maybe they had been premature, asking Tessa to join when they really didn’t know her very well. Lisa knew that if she had called Stevie or Carole anytime this afternoon and asked them to come over and help out, they would have done it if they could. In fact, she had thought about doing just that more than once. But she had held back. She told herself it was because they had other things on their minds. But deep down, she knew the real reason: She felt too guilty. After all, she was the one who had first introduced them to Tessa …

  “OOH, VERONICA, YOU were right!” Tessa called across the outdoor ring. “Danny’s trot is heavenly!”

  “I told you.” Veronica looked smug. “He’s a dream, isn’t he? Oh, but of course Topside has his good points, too.”

  “Gag,” Lisa whispered as she watched the scene. It was the next day, and since Friday would be spent getting ready for the point-to-point, they were having their riding lesson a day early. “I can’t believe Max actually agreed to let them switch horses today.”

  Carole shrugged. “I can,” she said, loosening Starlight’s reins slightly as he stretched his head to sniff at a clod of dirt. “He’s always saying it’s good practice to ride different horses sometimes. I’m just surprised he didn’t die of shock when Veronica suggested it. Usually she won’t let anyone come within five feet of Danny without pitching a fit.”

  “Not true,” Stevie corrected quickly. “She’s happy to let Red near him—as long as he’s grooming him or cleaning his stall or feeding him—”

  “Okay, okay,” Carole said with a rueful smile. “We get the picture!”

  Stevie glanced at Tessa and Veronica again, who were now riding side by side at the other end of the ring. The two girls had their heads tilted close together and seemed
to be whispering. As Stevie watched, Tessa let out a loud, delighted giggle. Veronica joined in.

  “Did you hear that?” Stevie involuntarily tightened her grip on the reins, causing Belle to toss her head. Forcing her hands to relax, Stevie looked at her friends. “I don’t trust that giggle. It sounds like a boy-crazy giggle to me. And I think I know which boy they’re giggling about.” She had already told her friends about her conversation with Phil’s mother.

  “Just ignore them,” Carole suggested lamely. She didn’t know what else to say.

  A LITTLE LATER THAT day Lisa was in Prancer’s stall feeding carrot cubes to the sweet Thoroughbred mare. She had ridden Derby in lessons that day, since the point-to-point was only two days away, and he had performed very well as always. But she was really starting to miss riding Prancer. “Don’t worry, girl,” she murmured as the mare’s soft lips carefully plucked another carrot from her outstretched palm. “We’ll go for a nice long trail ride together after the point-to-point is over. I promise.”

  “Talking to yourself again?” a snotty voice asked from just outside the stall.

  Lisa turned and saw Veronica smirking at her. “What do you want?” she asked, in no mood to be polite.

  “Just an update for you,” Veronica said casually. “I thought I’d let you know so you could call your mother. There’s been a slight change in the program.”

  Lisa gasped. “But there can’t be!” she exclaimed. “Mom is supposed to be getting the programs printed up today. It’s too late to change it now!”

  Veronica shrugged. “Sorry,” she said, not sounding sorry at all. “But Tessa had a great idea. She wants to move the scurry race to last on the program instead of having it in the middle of the day. I just called my mother to suggest it to her, and she thinks that will be perfect.” She shrugged again. “And she is the head of the fund-raising committee …”