“Let me get rid of the grooming carrier,” she said. She trudged to the tack room and put down the carrier.
She walked back. Zeus, hearing her, nickered and poked his head over his stall door. What was he feeling so good about?
Corey and Jasmine’s grins were bigger than ever.
“We want you to have this,” said Jasmine. From behind her back she pulled a pony pillow. It had purple button eyes and a purple yarn mane and tail. But there was something familiar about it.
“It’s beautiful,” May said as she reached for it. “You two are really good.”
Jasmine and Corey beamed.
Suddenly May knew what was familiar about that pillow. “Your dress,” she gasped. “Your favorite dress.” She looked at the checked fabric with pony appliqués. “I remember when your mother made it for you.” She hugged the pony to her chest. “It’s perfect. Every time I look at it I’ll think of you guys.”
“I stuffed his legs. That’s why they’re crooked,” Corey said with a grin.
“His legs look great,” May said. “They’re the best legs I ever saw.”
The three Pony Tails giggled. May was happy that they were laughing.
“We’re Pony Tails again,” said Corey. “What a relief.” She hugged May. “I’m sorry we left you out of things.”
“I wasn’t much of a treat myself,” May said. “Thinking I could lecture you two on pony training.” She shook her head. “The only reason I’m a pony trainer is by accident. Zeus’s owner neglected to tell Dad that Zeus was a pony.”
“I was so impressed,” Corey said.
“Me too,” Jasmine said. “I thought you’d never want to ride with us again.”
“It’s just me and my big mouth,” May said. “I talked Dad into giving me a chance. And he was desperate, so he let me.”
“Are you coming to the craft fair tonight?” asked Jasmine eagerly.
“You couldn’t stop me,” May said. Actually she was not enthusiastic about going to the fair. A gym full of crafts wasn’t her idea of excitement. But it would be fun to be with Corey and Jasmine.
“Can you be ready at four?” Jasmine said. “We’ve got to set up. We’re going to make the booth look neat.”
“As in neat and tidy?” May asked gloomily.
“You don’t have to do anything,” Corey said. “You can supervise.”
Suddenly May burst out laughing.
“What?” Corey and Jasmine asked at the same time.
“I’ve been thinking I had a terrible problem,” May said, “but now I realize it’s not a problem. I got so excited about Zeus that I began to think Macaroni wasn’t for me. Macaroni is sensible and levelheaded. You might say he’s my exact opposite.”
“So?” said Jasmine and Corey.
May took a deep breath. She knew she had to tell them about the list she’d made in her diary. She felt terrible about the list, but she had to be honest. “I made this comparison of Zeus and Macaroni in my diary, and Macaroni came out looking like a total creep.”
“He’s not!” Corey said. “He’s the greatest.”
“Of course he is,” May said. “He’s just different. And that’s the whole point. One of the things that Mac and I love about each other is that we’re different.”
“Like me and Sam,” said Corey.
“And me and Outlaw,” said Jasmine.
“And like the Pony Tails,” May said. “One of the things that makes us crazy about each other is that we’re totally different.”
“Except for being pony-crazy,” Corey said.
“Anyway, I’ll treasure this pillow all my life,” May said, hugging it.
“Which reminds me,” Jasmine said.
“What?” asked May.
“We have a dozen pony pillows to finish in the next six hours.”
“A dozen?” said May, her face filling with horror.
“We can do it if we work together,” Jasmine said.
“I’ll help,” May said. “Even if I sew the eyes on backward and the tails on upside down. But first I have an important mission. I have to see my best friend.”
“I thought we were your best friends,” Corey said.
“My best pony friend,” May said. “Macaroni.”
“Take your time,” said Jasmine as she and Corey headed back to the house.
May went into the feed room. She got the cardboard box that was filled with carrots and looked for exactly the right one. It couldn’t be yellow and woody. It couldn’t be too big because Macaroni was a pony. Finally she found one that was small and orange and crisp.
When she entered Macaroni’s stall, he looked at her with sad brown eyes.
May felt terrible. Until this moment she hadn’t really understood how upset Macaroni was.
“I have to tell you something,” May said. “I’m a complete jerk.”
Macaroni nuzzled her elbow. It was nice to see that he didn’t agree.
“I am, though,” May said. “It’s just that there was so much going on: your corn, the new pony, and the craft fair. I almost forgot about you. I never will again.”
May held out the carrot. Macaroni sniffed it and looked it over. It wasn’t his way to be greedy. He nibbled the end and then bit off a chunk.
“We may be opposites, but that doesn’t mean we can’t love each other,” May said.
Macaroni nickered. For a second May thought he was agreeing with her, but then she realized he wanted the other half of the carrot.
Macaroni finished chewing the carrot and swallowed it. His head was up now. His eyes were shiny.
May headed for the stall door. “Hold on, Mac,” May said. “You are about to get the superdeluxe grooming of your life.”
9 At the Craft Fair
At four o’clock that afternoon the Pony Tails and Mrs. James piled into the Jameses’ car.
“How are you feeling, Mrs. J.?” asked May.
“Much better,” Mrs. James said, “especially since you girls made all those pillows.”
As Mrs. James started the car, May said, “Do you think the new baby will like ponies?”
Mrs. James smiled. “It’s hard to tell.”
“My mother loves horses, my father loves horses, but my two sisters couldn’t care less,” May said. “It’s really strange. Why does it turn out that way?”
“I don’t think anybody knows,” Mrs. James said.
“We could hang pictures of ponies near the baby’s crib so she’ll be pony-conscious right from the start,” said Corey.
“It couldn’t hurt,” Mrs. James said.
“And we could get pony baby books,” said May.
“That’s definitely a good idea,” Mrs. James said. “I can tell this baby is going to have a good time.”
The craft fair was being held in the gym of Willow Creek Elementary School, so the Pony Tails knew their way around.
Jasmine carried the bag of pony pillows, while Corey and May helped Mrs. James carry the tea cozies, place mats, and clothespin dolls she had made.
With the booths set up, the gym looked entirely different.
“Just think, a month from now we’ll be back here,” May said glumly.
“So let’s enjoy ourselves while we can,” Corey said.
Mrs. James’s booth was under the basketball hoop at the far end of the gym. The fair organizers had supplied her with a table and a bookcase.
“Hmmm,” May said, standing back. “The way you display items is very important.” May hadn’t been interested in making the pony pillows, but selling them was something else.
May eyed the table and bookcase. “I would suggest an exciting row of pony pillows marching across the center of the table.”
“Good idea,” said Mrs. James.
Jasmine emptied the bag of pony pillows onto the table, and she and Corey arranged them into a long row.
“You shouldn’t put everything out at once,” May said. “It’s too crowded.” She arranged ten ponies in a circle as if they were cha
sing each other. “I think the tea cozies would look nice along the back,” she said.
Mrs. James arranged the cozies in a row. They looked like small, colorful hills behind the ponies.
“And I think the clothespin dolls would look nice on both sides,” May said. Mrs. James made the world’s greatest clothespin dolls. May had a whole family of them at home. They lived in her dollhouse.
May stood back. “It’s getting better.”
Jasmine and Corey nodded. The table looked colorful and interesting.
“We could put the place mat sets on the shelves,” May said. She looked at Jasmine. “You could arrange them artistically.”
Jasmine arranged the place mats in a fan shape.
“Great,” May said. “We’re going to make a million, and the fair is going to make a zillion.”
“I think we’re all set,” Mrs. James said. “Why don’t you girls have a look around before the public is admitted?”
It was a large fair. May had to admit that some of the crafts were interesting. There was a booth full of macramé jewelry made of string.
“How do you do that?” Jasmine said, peering at a necklace that was as fine as a spider’s web.
“Very slowly,” said the woman behind the table with a smile and a wink.
“I bet,” Corey said.
The next booth was filled with ceramic jewelry.
“We could do that,” Jasmine said. “My mother has a kiln.”
“Er …,” May said.
Jasmine clapped her hand to her forehead. “Sorry, no more craft projects for a while.”
“Thank you,” May said.
The next table was filled with cornhusk dolls. May knew that long ago, when people couldn’t afford to buy regular dolls, they made cornhusk dolls for their children. The dolls were nice, May thought, but if she were a little kid, she would prefer one with hair.
The next booth had a horse theme. There were horse neckties, horse belts, and horse scarves. May looked at a red necktie with horses’ heads printed on it. “I could get this for my father for Christmas,” she said. “It’s Christmassy.”
“And horsey,” Corey said.
May turned it over to look for the price. A small white tag read $20.
“Twenty dollars!” May said.
“It’s real silk,” said the man at the booth.
“It’s really nice,” May said, “but I don’t think I can afford it.”
“We have a horse key chain that costs less,” the man said.
May thought of her father’s keys. With the barn, the feed room, the tack room, the house, the horse trailer, and the station wagon, Mr. Grover had about a hundred keys.
“He’s got so many keys he has to keep them on a metal ring,” May said.
“Oh well,” said the man with a smile.
“Will you look at that!” Corey said.
The next booth was filled with things for horses. There were beautiful handwoven saddle blankets, and rosettes for decorating bridles. On the left was a rack with spools and spools of ribbon to braid into a horse’s mane and tail.
“Not bad,” May said, stepping close. There was something about the shininess of the ribbons that made her think of Macaroni.
“Which color is best for Mac?” she asked Corey and Jasmine.
“Brown would go well with his yellow coat,” Corey said.
May shook her head. “Brown is good. But I want something more exciting.”
“How about red?” asked Jasmine. She knew that red was one of May’s favorite colors.
May thought a minute. “Too hot.”
“Plaid?” asked Corey.
“Too fussy,” said May.
“Stripes?” asked Jasmine.
“Too stripey.”
Corey looked at Jasmine. “I think May has something in mind.”
“Green,” said May. She lifted the end of the green ribbon and let it slip through her fingers. Right away Jasmine could see that May was right. The green would look perfect braided into Macaroni’s mane.
“I want to decorate a pony’s mane,” May said to the woman who was minding the booth. “How much ribbon do I need?”
“Is it a big pony or a small pony?” the woman asked.
May thought a minute. “Medium.”
“Then I would advise three yards.”
May reached into her pocket and got her wallet. Her dad had given her money to spend at the fair. “I’ll take it.”
The woman measured the ribbon against a yardstick that had been taped to the back of the table. She cut off three yards.
“Your pony will enjoy that,” she said with a smile.
“He deserves it,” May said. “He’s been having a hard time.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” the woman said politely.
All at once there was a rush of fresh air and the sound of many voices talking at the same time.
“The fair has opened,” Jasmine said. “Back to the booth.”
The girls dashed back.
“There are hundreds of people here,” May said as she watched the aisles grow crowded. “We’re bound to sell out in a matter of minutes.”
A woman stopped to look at the pony pillows. “Those are very nice,” she said.
“Thanks,” said Corey, Jasmine, and May together.
“Did you make them yourselves?” the woman asked.
“Totally,” Jasmine said.
“They’re very neatly done,” the woman said. She smiled and walked away.
“And I thought for sure we had a sale,” May said.
A man came up and said, “Those are interesting pillows.”
“Thanks,” Corey said. “We made them ourselves.”
“Nice work,” he said. “You should be proud of yourselves.”
He walked away.
A woman came up and bought two of Mrs. James’s tea cozies. “These will make wonderful Christmas presents,” she said. The Pony Tails watched jealously as Mrs. James wrapped the two cozies and took the woman’s money.
“I bet we don’t sell a single pillow,” said Corey miserably. “All that work for nothing.”
“I guess the pillows are sloppy,” Jasmine said.
“Not at all,” said Mrs. James.
“Then how come no one is buying them?” Jasmine asked.
“They’re lovely pillows. That’s what counts,” Mrs. James said.
Ha! thought May. What counts is how many pillows we sell.
A woman in a blue blouse drifted past the booth.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” May said. “But I can’t help noticing your beautiful blue blouse.”
“Why, thank you,” the woman said, looking down at it. “It’s my favorite color.”
“I must say it flatters you,” May said.
“It does?” The woman smiled with pleasure.
“Blue is a color you can never afford to do without,” May said. “For that reason you can’t afford to pass up this one-of-a-kind blue pony pillow.” She held up a blue pony with a blue mane and a blue tail. “Note his stunning tail. Have you ever seen such a fabulous shade of blue? Note his sparkling blue eyes. If I might say so”—May took a deep breath—“this is the pony pillow of a lifetime. If you pass it up, you’ll never find another half so good.”
May thrust the pillow into the woman’s hands.
The woman examined the pillow. “It is cute,” she said.
“Cute hardly describes it,” May said. “It’s dazzling, it’s dynamic, it’s dashing.” She pointed to the pillow. “This pillow says something about you.”
“I have a granddaughter who loves horses,” the woman said.
“What more can I say?” May said. “I bet she loves blue just like you.”
“As a matter of fact, she does,” said the woman with a smile.
“Congratulations, you’ve just made the best decision of your life,” said May.
Before the woman knew what was happening, she had paid for the pillow and carried it away.
“Do tea cozies really work?” said a man with a gray mustache to Mrs. James. “I’ve always wondered.”
“Work?” May said. “These cozies work so well they’re positively dangerous. Your tea won’t be hot. It will be scorching.”
“I hate lukewarm tea,” the man said.
“Okay, picture this,” May said. “You’re getting ready to watch your favorite TV show.”
The man nodded.
“You want tea,” May said. “But what do you fear and dread? Lukewarm tea. So what do you do? You take the teapot into your TV room. You cover the pot with the cozy. Throughout the show you will have piping-hot tea.”
“Who could resist?” the man said. He looked along the line of cozies, trying to select one.
“For a man of your distinction I suggest this one,” said May, pointing to a black, white, and red cozy. And to go with it I suggest this tasteful pony pillow.” She held up a pillow that was black, white, and red.
“Er, what would I do with that?” the man said.
“Put it in the chair next to you,” May said. “That way you will never be lonely.”
The man smiled. “I see what you mean. Those long winter nights can be lonesome.”
“Your life will never lack companionship again,” May said. Before the man was quite sure what had happened, he had paid for the cozy and the pillow.
As he walked away, Mrs. James said, “May, you’re amazing.”
“That’s her,” said Jasmine proudly. “May the Amazing.”
“You could sell anything,” said Corey.
“Excuse me,” said a girl about their age. “Is this where I can buy those pony pillows?”
“The very place itself,” May said, “but they’re going fast. If I were you, I’d make my selection right away.”
Carefully the girl examined each pony pillow, She was obviously having trouble making up her mind.
“These pillows make ideal presents,” May said. “If you have friends who like ponies, these pillows will make them eternally happy.”
“Do you think so?” the girl asked.
“I know so,” May said. “I just got a pony pillow and it was the best gift I ever received.”
Corey and Jasmine beamed.
The girl picked out three pillows and said, “Can you hold them for me while I get my mother?”
Pony Tails 08- May Rides a New Pony Page 4