Secret of the Stallion

by Bonnie Bryant

  “That’s spectacular!” Carole chimed in.

  “We’re going to look so plain next to you!” Lisa said.

  “But that’s the idea, isn’t it?” Tessa asked. “We’ve got the excesses of the Cavaliers next to the proper modesty of the Roundheads. Remember, in the end, it was the Roundheads who won the war.”

  “So then why are you going as a Cavalier?” Stevie asked.

  “For one thing, I have the dress. It’s my mother’s. She had it made for another Civil War ball and I just thought it would be fun to wear it. For another, I have to confess that my family was on the side of the king in this little dispute. I wouldn’t want to deceive anyone about that.”

  “You won’t,” Lisa assured her. “It will be clear to everyone. Breeding tells, don’t you know?”

  All four girls burst into laughter. It was always fun to laugh at Veronica’s expense.

  Lisa picked up her comb, made a small ponytail at the nape of her neck, and started applying mousse to make her hair lie flat on her head.

  “I’ll take the gel,” Stevie said, joining Lisa at the mirror.

  “I’ll take both,” said Carole.

  Fifteen minutes later, the girls were ready. The Americans looked properly somber in their riding breeches, boots, and white blouses, but festively adorned with their orange sashes. Tessa looked wonderful. She’d piled her curls up on the top of her head and they tumbled softly down, framing her delicate face.

  Lisa looked at her and then crumpled her brow in thought. After a while she spoke. “You look just like the pictures I’ve seen of Charles the First,” she declared.

  Tessa glanced in the mirror. “Before he was beheaded, right?” she asked.

  Lisa laughed. “Definitely,” she assured Tessa.

  “Then let’s go,” Carole said. She looked at her watch. “We’re meeting Max, Mrs. Reg, and Veronica in the lobby in three minutes.”

  Stevie handed each of the girls her mask, cut from the room service menu and attached at one end to a pencil so that the girls could hold them up in front of their faces—as if they’d fool anyone. Tessa had a mask that matched the green silk fabric of her dress, but she thought the room service menu masks were much nicer and asked Stevie to make her one, too. It took Stevie exactly two minutes.

  They each took one last look in the mirror, and then they were off.

  Max and Mrs. Reg were modestly dressed in good party clothes, neither Roundhead nor Cavalier. Veronica looked more like an American Civil War belle than a Cavalier, but she did look fancy.

  “Very nice,” Tessa said graciously.

  “Daddy sent it over to me,” Veronica explained. “It arrived this afternoon by courier. Daddy sent the jewels, too,” she added unnecessarily.

  “I think it’s time to go,” Stevie said pointedly. She was a bit afraid that Veronica would be inspired to tell Tessa exactly where her family had bought all the parts of her outfit—and how much they cost. “Time to hide!” Stevie declared. All four girls held their room service menu masks to their faces. Max and Mrs. Reg burst into laughter. Veronica laughed, too, but her laugh was more one of disdain than pleasure. That was just the reaction Stevie had expected.

  The group walked over to the castle.

  This was the first time the girls had actually been inside the duke’s home. They entered the gates of the castle, crossing the moat. That brought them into the castle courtyard. The main castle was straight ahead.

  “His servants and soldiers would have been housed in the buildings to the right and left here,” Tessa explained. The duke and Lady Elizabeth had the main part of the castle to themselves. Wait until you see it. It’s got—oh, there’s no point in describing it. Let’s just go inside.” So they did.

  There was a festive crowd gathering. The girls looked around at the others and were pleased to see that the costumes were about half Roundheads—looking very much like The Saddle Club, except, of course, they didn’t have the nice room service menu masks—and half Cavaliers. The Cavaliers were all as glamorous as Tessa. Almost all of them had made an effort to assemble a costume in the style of the duke’s time. Although Veronica, as usual, looked quite lovely, her outfit made her stand out in the crowd in a way she probably didn’t like. That made Stevie very happy.

  The duke’s grand ballroom was spectacular. It was a large room, three stories high, completely surrounded by a balcony at the second story. Every inch of the room was festooned with ribbons and balloons in the duke’s colors, red and white. At one end of the room, a platform held the orchestra. Lisa half expected to hear them play a minuet, but the music was modern—not exactly what the girls might have chosen themselves, but contemporary.

  Stevie, Lisa, Tessa, and Carole began exploring the place. They wanted to know everything, and soon they did. They found a bar for the adults, but they also found a table with soft drinks for the young people. Caterers were setting out an enormous buffet to be served at midnight. The girls tried to figure out whether they’d go for the pasta salad or the dessert first.

  “Dessert,” Stevie said with conviction. To prove her point, she picked up a small cake that she didn’t think anyone would miss.

  Her friends shooed her away. They went back to the soft drink table and each took a glass of soda.

  Stevie looked over at the entrance. “Well, look who’s here!” she said brightly.

  Lisa looked. It was the Italian boys, arriving together with their coach. Like the American girls, they were all dressed as Roundheads. Enrico looked very gallant. It nearly took Lisa’s breath away.

  Then she saw something that did take her breath away. While she and her friends had been exploring the ballroom, checking out the food and the drinks, Veronica had been waiting patiently by the door. The minute Enrico entered the ballroom, Veronica was there.

  With a much practiced gesture, she flipped open a fan and began to agitate it in front of her flirtatiously. Enrico stopped to talk with her.

  “She’s like a spider, inviting the fly into her web, isn’t she?” Lisa asked.

  “Don’t underestimate your friend, Enrico,” Tessa said. “I think he can see right through her.”

  Lisa hoped Tessa was right. But she also knew that if Veronica was a girl who appealed to Enrico, then he definitely wasn’t the right boy for her. She swallowed hard.

  “Vould you like to dance?” a voice asked.

  Lisa looked up, surprised. It was Henrik, the boy from the Dutch team.

  “Well, sure,” Lisa said, pleased and surprised. She found a place to park her cup of soda and followed Henrik out onto the dance floor.

  For once in her life, Lisa was grateful to her mother, who had made Lisa take years of dancing classes—everything from tap to ballet, including ballroom dancing. Henrik’s mother hadn’t done the same. Lisa had to work very hard to keep him from stepping on her feet, but she knew what she was doing and she managed to preserve her toes and teach him something as they proceeded. Since Henrik’s English wasn’t very good, it was nice to be able to communicate as dance partners. When the music came to a stop, Lisa thanked him politely and returned to her friends. Henrik went in search of another partner. A few minutes later, Lisa saw him dancing with Ashley Hanna, who seemed very pleased by his attention.

  “Hullo, fan club!” A voice greeted the girls brightly. It was Nigel.

  They all gave him hugs and told him how pleased they were with his ninth-place finish for the day.

  “I was rather pleased with it myself,” Nigel said. “When Sterling has more experience on courses like that, he’ll be bringing home blues.”

  “That’s what he really needs, isn’t it? More experience,” said Lisa.

  “Definitely,” Nigel said. “He will certainly improve with experience. And, speaking of experience, I spotted an experienced dancer on the floor a few minutes ago.” Nigel turned to Lisa. “Would you care to show me a step or two?” he asked, offering her his arm.

  “My pleasure,” Lisa said.

 
; They walked out onto the dance floor. The music began and Nigel and Lisa started dancing. Within three steps, Lisa knew she was in the hands of a master.

  “You’re a great dancer!” she said happily.

  “It’s all rhythm and balance,” he said. “All good riders are good dancers, too, don’t you know?”

  “I guess I do now,” she said, relaxing to the music and enjoying the dance.

  “Say, where’s Lord Yaxley?” she asked after a while. “I thought a lord like him would want to be at this fancy ball.”

  “I don’t think a lord like that wants to be anywhere near me,” Nigel said. “He stormed off the castle grounds after Sterling and I finished the course. He wouldn’t even talk to me. He just had his chauffeur leave me a message that he’d taken the noon plane back to London.”

  “What a sourpuss,” said Lisa. “It’s a pity he can’t see all the wonderful qualities of his stallion.”

  “The only thing that man sees about Sterling is how much he paid for him.”

  “That’s an awful way to think about an animal,” Lisa said. “Yaxley should see the horse as an animal, not an investment. I wish he were here so I could tell him that myself.”

  “Well, I’d love to be there when you tell him that, but it’s too late now. So, instead of talking about that foul man, I think you should just enjoy the evening.”

  “Perhaps,” Lisa agreed. Then, without meaning to, she sighed. She couldn’t help thinking about the terrible job her team had done that day. Even worse, she couldn’t help thinking about Enrico, unable to resist Veronica’s beauty, her fancy dress, and expensive jewels.

  Enrico. How nice it would have been—

  “Excuse me?”

  Lisa was startled out of her thoughts. Nigel had stopped dancing and was turning around to talk to someone.

  It was Enrico.

  “May I dance with your partner?” he asked Nigel.

  “I think she’d like that very much,” Nigel said. He smiled at Lisa and gave her a little bow. “See you later,” he said. Lisa was alone with Enrico on the dance floor.

  “Shall we dance?” he asked.

  THE MUSIC BEGAN. It was a slow song. Lisa felt her heart drop a little bit. When the music was quiet and slow, you were supposed to be able to talk with your dance partner. Lisa didn’t have any idea what to say. Her mind filled with the image of Enrico chatting with Veronica at the stable, and as soon as that unpleasant picture melted, she saw Veronica welcoming him warmly at the door of the ballroom. He probably only wanted to dance with Lisa so he’d have a chance to explain that Veronica was going to be his new friend.

  Enrico didn’t say anything. He just held Lisa nicely as they moved to the music. But she could sense that he wanted to say something. That was what worried Lisa most.

  Finally, he began.

  “Your friend …”

  “Yes?”

  “That girl, Veronica …”

  Here it comes, Lisa thought.

  “Such a pretty girl …”

  Lisa already knew that.

  “Such an ugly heart.”

  “What?” Lisa said, surprised.

  “All she wants to talk about is herself. I don’t understand people like that. And the gaudy jewelry she was wearing …”

  The meaning sank in. Enrico didn’t like Veronica. He really didn’t like Veronica. He hadn’t fallen for any of her flirtations. He saw right through her.

  Lisa felt a pleasant chill. Then she chided herself, wondering why it was she’d ever thought a smart guy like Enrico could be interested in Veronica. After all, the other night, they’d been laughing at Veronica’s expense. Then Lisa told herself there was good reason she’d been nervous. Veronica was devious and unpredictable. She actually had the capacity to behave very nicely when it suited her. A lot of people couldn’t see through the act.

  “All she wanted to do around me was to show me how beautiful she is—and she is—and tell me that she’s rich. She kept talking about jewelry, pearls, and diamonds. She talked about her jewels as if they were some kind of treasure. It was a lot of nonsense, if you ask me.”

  “Well, not exactly,” Lisa said.

  Enrico stopped dancing for a moment and held Lisa at arm’s length as if to get a good look at her while he spoke. “What are you talking about?” he asked.

  “Can you keep a secret?” she asked.

  “With you? Certainly,” he promised.

  “Then let’s start dancing again and I’ll whisper in your ear.”

  Enrico took her back into his arms and once again they began dancing. As Lisa had promised, she whispered the entire conspiracy into his ear. He began laughing as he came to understand what Veronica’s teammates were doing to her.

  “The rhinestone from the button you picked up?” he asked in surprise.

  “She believes it,” Lisa said. “I mean it’s only logical that a stone that had been buried for three hundred and fifty years might be a little damaged.”

  “Now that I think of it, when I told Veronica I was going to ask you to dance, she seemed very irritated. I thought she was angry with me, but then she said she had something important to do and she left the ballroom. Do you think she was going to go treasure-hunting by moonlight?”

  “But of course!” Lisa said. “Moreover, if we’ve played our cards right, she’s going to have a successful hunt.” Then Lisa told him about the pyrite. “Want to go watch?” she asked.

  “I wouldn’t miss it for anything,” he said, taking her hand and leading her out of the ballroom, through the courtyard, and into the open fields.

  They stayed close to the castle walls, moving toward the oak tree. When they neared the tree, they could see Veronica scrambling in the dirt, holding her evening dress so that it wouldn’t get too dirty.

  “She’s being so careful of her dress that I think she’s hoping to find jewels she can wear back into the dance!”

  “Shh,” Enrico warned her, putting his finger gently on her lips.

  They sneaked past Veronica and darted over to the stable tent, where they could hide behind the flaps of canvas. Behind them, they could hear the gentle snoring of ’Ank. It made Lisa and Enrico smile to know he was there, ever on the job. The horses seemed a little restless, perhaps from the long hard day they’d had. They were whinnying, snorting, stomping.

  Under the tree, there was a flash of light. Veronica had apparently brought a penlight in her evening bag. The beam of light darted around the ground. Veronica reached out with her other hand. There was a tool in it, but it was too small to be the garden spade she’d used earlier.

  “It’s a spoon,” Enrico told her.

  “Sterling silver, I presume,” Lisa said, giggling to herself. “She has to move a little more to the left—there she goes.…”

  Veronica shifted to the left. Lisa held her breath. Veronica scratched at the earth with the spoon. The light held steadily. Then Veronica dropped the spoon and stood up, holding something in her hand.

  “I think she’s got it!” Lisa said.

  Veronica opened her evening bag, dropped something into it, snapped off the penlight, and departed in such a terrible hurry that she left the spoon on the ground.

  “Congratulations!” Enrico said, giving Lisa’s shoulders a squeeze.

  “What a team we are!” she declared. She offered her hand to Enrico in a high five. Instead of slapping her palm, he enfolded her upraised hand in his and then put his other hand around her back, holding her closely, warmly.

  “Oh, Lisa,” he said, almost sighing as he spoke. “You have so many sides to you that I keep discovering, and I find I like each better than the last.”

  Lisa felt just the same way. Enrico was warm, funny, talented, kind, a good friend, and a good rider. Moreover, he was about to kiss her.

  “Four thousand miles,” she said, uttering the thing both of them knew was true. They lived very far apart.

  “Yes, but when we are together, the miles melt away. They do not matter.
”

  And that was true, too. There, in the star-studded, moonlit darkness, Enrico looked deep into Lisa’s eyes, and he began to reach for her with his lips and his heart.

  Lisa’s heart pounded with anticipation. It was as if all her senses were turned on high. She could feel Enrico holding her, but she could also feel an encroaching warmth. She could hear his breathing, but she could also hear the horses on the other side of the canvas, now more awake than they had been before, neighing and whinnying with excitement.

  She could smell the cool night and the pleasant clean scent of Enrico’s aftershave, but she could also smell the presence of the horses, and there was something else, sharper, more acrid. Lisa couldn’t identify it right then, but it would come to her. For now, there was Enrico.

  She could see him, no longer dimly, in the darkness of the evening. It was as if there were another light, one behind her, a rich, warm, yellow glow, reflecting brightly in his eyes as they neared her own.

  But it wasn’t just a yellow glow. It was something else entirely. Lisa knew now what the smell was and why the horses were so agitated. She opened her mouth to say something—to tell Enrico. It took a moment for the sound to reach her throat.

  “Fire!” she screamed as loudly as she could.

  At just that instant, a bale of hay behind her burst into flames.

  “WHAT WAS THAT?” Carole asked Stevie.

  “What was what?” Stevie asked. “All I heard was the music. And it’s not very good music, either, if you want my opinion. I think they should have gotten a band that could play something someone could really dance to, like—”

  “I heard something. I know I did, and it sounded like Lisa.”

  “She and Enrico went out the door a few minutes ago. They had ‘moonlight walk’ written all over them. I doubt very much there’s any screaming going on,” Stevie said.

  “Well, there is,” said Carole with utter certainty. “Let’s go.”

  The two girls hurried through the door of the ballroom and out into the courtyard. It was deserted. Everybody was inside, dancing and having fun. Music, talk, and laughter came clearly through the doorway. But from the courtyard entrance, Stevie and Carole could hear another sound. It was Lisa and she was yelling for help.