Stagecoach

by Bonnie Bryant

  HAS LISA BITTEN OFF MORE THAN SHE CAN CHEW?

  Lisa pulled up beside the barn doors and jumped off. She buried her face in Prancer’s neck, sobbing. Seeing her standing there, Red O’Malley put down the bale of hay he was carrying and went to find out what was wrong.

  “I’ll put Prancer away for you. You just try to calm yourself,” he told Lisa, taking the mare’s reins.

  Lisa was too upset to protest. All day—all week—she had been on the brink of bursting into tears. Veronica’s comment had been the last straw. She had been trying her hardest to please everyone, and instead it seemed as if all she got was criticism from every side.

  What could she do now? She was so confused, she couldn’t think straight anymore. She had to get away—from Pine Hollow, Willow Creek Community Theater, everything. Choking back tears, Lisa ran blindly toward the woods behind the barn as fast as she could.…

  RL5 009–012

  STAGE COACH

  A Skylark Book / October 1994

  Skylark Books is a registered trademark of Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and elsewhere.

  “The Saddle Club” is a registered trademark of Bonnie Bryant Hiller. The Saddle Club design / logo, which consists of an inverted U-shaped design, a riding crop and a riding hat, is a trademark of Bantam Books.

  “USPC” and “Pony Club” are registered trademarks of The United States Pony Club, Inc., at the Kentucky Horse Park, 4071 Iron Works Pike, Lexington, KY 40511-8462.

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright © 1994 by Bonnie Bryant Hiller.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  For information address: Bantam Books.

  eISBN: 978-0-307-82520-9

  Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada

  Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words “Bantam Books” and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036.

  v3.1

  I would like to express my special

  thanks to Caitlin C. Macy for her

  help in the writing of this book.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  About the Author

  LISA ATWOOD SWUNG open the doors to Pine Hollow with a flourish. She was always eager to get to the stable where she and her two best friends, Carole Hanson and Stevie Lake, rode, helped out, and generally hung around having fun, but today she was practically bursting with news to share.

  Whenever any member of The Saddle Club had something exciting happen to her—whether good or bad—her first instinct was to tell the others. Stevie, Carole, and Lisa had started The Saddle Club as a group for horse-crazy people like themselves, but that wasn’t the only requirement for joining. They also had to stick together through thick and thin by being willing to help each other out in all kinds of situations.

  Lisa found Carole and Stevie right away. They were removing their tack from the tack room to get ready for the Horse Wise mounted meeting that would begin soon. Horse Wise was the name of the local Pony Club. Luckily for the girls, its home base was Pine Hollow, and so meetings were almost always held there.

  “You’re never going to believe what just happened to me!” Lisa cried.

  Stevie and Carole paused with their bridles and saddles in hand. “You ran into Skye Ransom at the mall and invited him over to Pony Club,” Stevie suggested, grinning.

  “I only wish,” Lisa replied, sighing at the young movie star’s name. Actually, Stevie’s guess wasn’t as far-fetched as it sounded. Once The Saddle Club had run into Skye Ransom, on a trip they took to New York. They had helped him out with his riding for a movie, and he had rewarded them by inviting them to appear in bit parts in the film. “But, no,” Lisa continued, “he wasn’t hanging out at the Willow Creek Mall. Guess again.”

  “You got a call from the United States Equestrian Team headquarters, and they’ve picked you for the Olympic team,” Carole ventured.

  “Yeah, in my dreams, maybe.” Lisa laughed.

  “All right, we give up. So what happened?” Stevie asked.

  Lisa smiled. “Thought you’d never ask. Actually, it has nothing to do with horses at all.”

  Carole and Stevie exchanged glances. What on earth could have excited Lisa so much if horses weren’t involved? Unless maybe a boy—

  “Or boys,” Lisa said, reading her friends’ minds. “Although I do think that Skye Ransom would probably be pleased to hear that I’m going to be performing once again.” She paused to heighten the suspense. Then she blurted out all at once, “I got cast in the lead role in Annie at the Willow Creek Community Theater!”

  Stevie and Carole stared at her. “You mean you’re Annie?” Carole asked incredulously.

  “That’s right,” Lisa said. “I thought I was only going to get a chorus part—or maybe one of the orphans—but I kept getting called back for more auditions. Finally it came down to me and one other girl. I was so nervous, I was shaking! I had to sing and dance and read lines with Mr. Ryan—he’s that old guy who’s in all the musicals, and he’s playing Daddy Warbucks—and I messed up twice! It was so embarrassing. I forgot the words to our duet, and he had to mouth them to me, but I kept remembering what my mother told me, keep smiling, no matter what—and after a while they told the other girl to go, and they told me I got the part! The part!” Lisa paused to catch her breath.

  “That’s great, Lisa. Congratulations,” Carole said.

  Stevie stared into space reflectively. “I can see your name up in lights: ‘Lisa Atwood, star of stage and screen—and stable’!” she joked.

  “So when do rehearsals start?” Carole asked.

  Lisa grinned. “This afternoon—I can hardly wait,” she replied, giving herself an excited hug.

  Carole looked slightly taken aback. “Wow, today, huh?” she repeated.

  “I guess the show must go on, right, Lisa?” Stevie asked, trying to sound supportive.

  Lisa looked from one to the other. “You guys don’t sound all that thrilled,” she commented.

  Carole was the first to reply. “It’s not that we’re not excited for you, it’s just that—well, I, for one, had no idea you were even auditioning. I guess I didn’t even know you were really interested in acting. I’m just a little surprised that it’s all happening so fast.”

  Lisa nodded. Part of what Carole said was true. She had been secretive about the auditions—not because she hadn’t wanted to tell Carole and Stevie, but because she felt shy about wanting to be in the play at all. “I know I didn’t tell you,” she said. “I didn’t want to make a big deal of it unless I got in. I figured I’d surprise you with the news.”

  Before she could say anything further, Max Regnery’s voice boomed over the stable intercom. “Horse Wise will meet in the indoor ring in ten minutes. Please be ready to present your mount for a routine tack-and-turnout check. Nothing fancy, I just want to make sure you’ve be
en keeping up with your grooming and tack cleaning.”

  The Saddle Club immediately split up and headed for their horses’ stalls. When the owner of Pine Hollow and the head instructor of Horse Wise said “routine,” everyone knew he meant “extremely picky.”

  As Lisa went about grooming and tacking up, she couldn’t help humming some warm-up scales and a few bars of “Tomorrow.” She could hardly believe she was going to be up onstage, singing solo in front of hundreds of people. The thought of singing made her want to burst out in song. She was bubbling over with excitement. Besides, Ellen Spitz, the musical director, had told her to practice as much as she could to improve her breathing.

  “Mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi-mi,” she sang softly as she placed the saddle on the horse’s back. “Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do!” On the last note she let herself sing out a bit. Guiltily, she glanced down the row of stalls. She knew horses hated loud noises. Sure enough, the ears on every head had gone back. Maybe she didn’t have to practice all the time.

  Stevie and Carole stopped to collect Lisa for the meeting. The three of them liked to meet before Horse Wise, even for a couple of minutes, to try to predict faults Max would find with their turnout—shavings in a tail, a crooked saddle pad, dirty boots. Today Lisa’s oversight was a little easier to spot. Carole and Stevie lost no time in pointing it out.

  “Uh, Lisa, were you planning to ride Prancer today?” Stevie asked, giggling.

  Lisa spun around. In her excitement she had tacked up the Thoroughbred mare instead of Barq, her usual Pony Club mount. She laughed out loud at her empty-headedness. “I guess this Annie thing is getting to me,” she admitted. “On second thought, though, I am just as happy to ride Prancer.” Lisa had been on the ex-racehorse many times before and had even schooled her for a horse show. Lately she had stuck with the more reliable Barq for Pony Club—which usually included jumping—and had ridden Prancer only on the flat. The mare could be a handful around other horses and over fences. Today Lisa felt up to a challenge, though.

  Stevie echoed her thoughts. “Max will be glad you’re challenging yourself, and anyway, I heard him say we’re not going to jump this afternoon.”

  “Boy, I don’t know what’s going on at all,” Lisa said. “I wonder why we’re not jumping. I’ve been so caught up in the play.…” She let her voice trail off, thinking about the frenzied past week of auditions and callbacks.

  “Lisa, you look so worried, you could be an orphan in an orphanage,” Stevie kidded, breaking through her thoughts.

  Lisa smiled. The nerve-racking, nail-biting week was over. She had gotten the lead role, and she was here at Pine Hollow with her two best friends about to ride one of her favorite horses. “I was just thinking about how worried I’ve been about tryouts and everything,” she admitted.

  “Hey, you’re serious about acting, aren’t you?” Carole asked with admiration.

  “Look,” Lisa said, seizing the chance to explain, “I’m not saying I want to run away to Broadway, but I’m flattered I got the part, and I’m going to give it a shot. And I forgot to tell you, there are still a few chorus roles left—why don’t you guys join the troupe? It would be so much fun if we were all in it.”

  Carole and Stevie burst out laughing at the thought of themselves in a play.

  “Yeah, right,” Stevie said. “Imagine me trying to sing! My brothers yell at me when I hum in the shower!”

  “I know. And think of me trying to get up in front of an audience. I’d forget my lines so fast, they’d think I had laryngitis,” Carole said.

  When Lisa started to think about it, she had to laugh, too. Stevie wasn’t exactly known for her sweet soprano, and Carole could be totally disorganized and shy when it came to anything but horses. Lisa had seen her walking around school with an overstuffed notebook, bumping into people and leaving a trail of paper behind her.

  “Even though we couldn’t be in the play to save our lives, we’ll definitely come watch,” Carole assured her.

  “Absolutely—front-row seats,” Stevie said.

  “Oh, don’t worry, I already bought tickets for you guys,” Lisa said.

  “When is the performance, anyway? Do you have months and months of rehearsals?” Stevie asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Lisa said. “But I do know that Mrs. Spitz’s philosophy is to rehearse very intensely so that the cast really gets to know one another. I’ll probably have to spend a lot of time there.”

  “So this might be your last Horse Wise meeting for a while?” Carole asked.

  “Last Horse Wise!” Lisa looked at her with surprise. “Are you kidding? There’s no way I would ever give up riding for the play.”

  “But how are you going to do both?” Carole asked.

  “And keep up your grades?” Stevie added. They all knew that keeping up her straight-A average was important to Lisa.

  Lisa relaxed. She had been anticipating both questions and had answers ready. In the car on the way over, she had mapped out a daily schedule of school, homework, chores, riding, and rehearsing. She eagerly produced the piece of paper from her pocket. “Look, you guys, it’s perfect,” she said.

  Stevie and Carole looked. It was perfect—in a Lisa Atwood kind of way. It was a typical Lisa masterpiece. She had fine-tuned her day down to the minute.

  “Eight minutes for dinner, huh?” Stevie commented.

  Lisa nodded brightly. “Exactly eight minutes. That ought to be perfect. And then I can help Mom with the dishes for two minutes, see—right there.” Lisa pointed to the tiny boxed-in square between “Dinner” and “Math Homework.” “And notice that I’ll be here for every Horse Wise Saturday meeting and our riding lesson every Tuesday.”

  Stevie and Carole pored over the schedule, ignoring Topside and Starlight, who were moving around restlessly. Both of them had noticed that Lisa hadn’t mentioned Saddle Club time, or time for going to TD’s, the ice-cream parlor that was their favorite hangout—let alone chore time at Pine Hollow.

  By their puzzled expressions Lisa knew what they were thinking. “Look, it’s true that I won’t have any extra time to spend at Pine Hollow—riding or doing chores—and I’ll have to see you on Tuesdays and Saturdays instead of all the time. But this play is really important to me. I have to give up something. I had to beg Mrs. Spitz just to skip two Tuesday choreography sessions so that I could be here.” Lisa looked at Stevie and Carole to see how they were taking her explanation.

  “All right, I guess we’ll see you twice a week, then,” Stevie said. Her voice sounded glum, though she made an effort to smile.

  “What about talking? Can’t we even call you?” Carole asked. “It looks like there’s an empty block between ‘Math’ and ‘Social Studies Homework.’ ”

  “Right—that’s fourteen whole minutes. I put it there specifically so that I could talk to both of you. Isn’t that great?”

  “Yeah, great,” Stevie muttered. “Can I get a copy of the schedule so I can make sure to call exactly at nine-twelve?” she asked sarcastically.

  Lisa stared at her blankly. “Sure, Stevie, I’d be happy to give you one,” she said.

  Once again Max’s voice interrupted their conversation. This time, though, it was in person, not over an intercom. He strode down the aisle past the three of them, tapping his crop against his boots. “Horse Wise begins in twenty seconds. Boy, am I glad I’ll be on time,” he murmured to himself, looking straight ahead.

  For the first time the girls could remember, Max’s interruption actually came as a relief.

  IN A MATTER of minutes the Pony Clubbers had passed inspection more or less successfully and were mounted and walking on a loose rein. Except for the fact that Lisa was riding Prancer, it was the usual group. Veronica was on her Arabian, Garnet; Polly Giacomin was riding her new brown gelding, Romeo; Betsy Cavanaugh sat astride Pine Hollow’s Comanche.

  Stevie took the opportunity of Max’s turned back to catch up to Carole and whisper a question. “Do you think she’s serious about this?” she
asked as Topside drew along Starlight.

  Carole didn’t have to ask who “she” or “this” was. At the other end of the ring, Lisa was singing again. This time she had launched into “It’s a Hard-Knock Life” and had already repeated the chorus twice. The other students in the class, as well as Max, were starting to give her funny looks.

  “Yes, I do think she’s serious about it. She’s probably trying to practice singing while she warms up to save time,” Carole pointed out. “I heard her telling Max about the schedule on the way in. He didn’t seem thrilled.”

  “I just hope she doesn’t take things too far,” Stevie said.

  “I think singing at Pony Club might be a little too far already,” Carole said.

  Stevie followed Carole’s glance to the end of the ring. Max, too, was staring intently at Lisa and didn’t looked pleased. He had his arms folded across his chest and was shaking his head. He started to say something and then seemed to think better of it. Instead he burst into song. “Today-ay, today-ay, we’re riding today, Lisa Atwood, you’re miles away!”

  Nobody in the class had ever heard Max sing before. They burst into laughter when they heard him making fun of Lisa in his gravelly baritone.

  At the sound of her name Lisa snapped back to reality. She turned toward Max, grinning sheepishly. “Sorry, Max, I guess I was kind of distracted.”

  Max half smiled. “Just try to forget about ‘Tomorrow’ while it’s today, all right? Class will run a lot more smoothly if we all do one thing at a time,” he said. More quietly he added, “Don’t make me wish I had taken you off Prancer, Lisa.”

  Lisa reprimanded herself inwardly. She knew she had been lucky to escape with only a ribbing from Max. Next time tuning out during Pony Club would mean a lecture after class or some harsh, embarrassing words. Max was a stickler for paying full attention. And he was right to warn her about Prancer—the Thoroughbred was no mount for a beginner or for anyone who was going to get distracted. Max had liked the idea of Lisa’s being back on Prancer. She didn’t want him to regret it. She vowed to work especially hard in the lesson. And she would start by tuning in to the announcement Max had just begun.