Mrs. Reg answered her unspoken question anyway. “I doubt she’ll be upset. The Sunny Valley team is the home team—the host club—and they’ve won dressage rally two years in a row, you know. Veronica’s just lucky that one of their four top riders came down with the chicken pox yesterday, and their district commissioner called me this afternoon. The truth is she has a much better chance of winning on that team,” Mrs. Reg explained.
Stevie put her hands on her hips and eyed Mrs. Reg narrowly. “Them’s fighting words, ma’am,” she said in a Southern drawl.
“Good! A little healthy competition never hurt anyone,” Mrs. Reg replied. She leaned down and put an arm around each of them. Barely whispering, she asked, “Do you want to guess who I’m rooting for?”
Carole and Stevie grinned. They didn’t have to guess; they knew.
“EVERYBODY IN?” Mrs. Reg asked. She was seated in the driver’s seat of the big Pine Hollow horse van. She looked at her watch anxiously. To everyone’s disappointment it was overcast and raining. The foul weather had required dozens of last-minute preparations, and they were running a little late.
“Almost!” Lisa called. She had shown up at Pine Hollow at five A.M. and had been scurrying around ever since. She had grabbed rain sheets, raincoats, boot rubbers, and every spare towel or cloth she could find to fight the mud with. While Veronica loaded Garnet into the diAngelos’ deluxe rig, Lisa had helped Max and Mrs. Reg load the four horses into the Pine Hollow van—including van-shy Barq, who had balked several times. Then she had personally checked over all of the equipment one last time. Now she jumped up into the passenger-side seat of the van, clipboard in hand. “All’s aboard that’s going aboard, Mrs. Reg.”
Mrs. Reg looked at Lisa appreciatively. “I don’t know what we’d do without you, Lisa,” she said. “I honestly don’t.” She started the engine, and the big van lumbered out of the driveway.
Thirty minutes later they pulled into the fairgrounds that Sunny Valley PC called home. The fields were a whirlwind of activity. Pony Clubbers darted from the stable area to the trailers. Parents hovered underneath the refreshment tent, drinking coffee and praying for sun. Carole, Stevie, Polly, and Betsy had ridden over to the rally with Max in Colonel Hanson’s station wagon. They had staked out the Horse Wise stalls and were busy hoisting up the banner. As soon as the Pine Hollow van pulled in, they all dashed out to get their horses. Mrs. Reg helped them unload while Max gave last-minute advice. Colonel Hanson picked up the team packet with numbers, riding times, and maps. Then the three adults had to leave. The rally was beginning, and they could no longer help out, other than in an emergency. Max gathered everyone together for a final pep talk. “You’ve worked hard, and you deserve to be here. Ignore the rain as much as you can. Listen to what Lisa says. She’s in charge. Help out anyone who needs it—on this team or any other. Think about your tests before, during, and after you ride them. Have fun out there. And good luck!”
Lisa leaned against one of the stalls as she watched Max hurry away. Later she realized that it was the only time she stopped moving all day.
THE FIRST CHALLENGE of the rally was taking the written test. Carole felt sure she had done well. “We’re off to a flying start,” she told the others as they handed in their tests.
“Speak for yourself,” Stevie said. “I guessed on about half the questions. The last-minute studying in the car this morning paid off, though. That’s how I got ‘rough-age,’ ‘bone spavin,’ and the short essay on worming.”
Betsy and Polly agreed. The quizzing from Max on the way over had been all the studying they had had time for. Luckily, it seemed to have done the trick. “How about the look on Veronica’s face when they announced they were handing out the tests?” Polly joked. Usually she and Betsy were friendly with Veronica, but even they had gotten upset when she had skipped the stable-management meeting.
“Poor Sunny Valley,” Stevie said ruefully, “how could they have known what they were getting themselves into?” She stole a glance back at Veronica, who was still working on her test—or at least still staring at the questions and her blank paper. As Stevie turned to join the rest of Horse Wise, she bumped smack into another competitor. “Excuse me, I was just—”
“Oh, no, excuse me, Miss Lake!”
Stevie whirled around. Standing in front of her was Phil Marsten. Behind him she glimpsed Cam Nelson chatting with Carole. “I didn’t know you were representing Cross County!” Stevie said accusingly.
“Yeah, well, you didn’t exactly tell me that you were on the Horse Wise team, either,” Phil pointed out.
“We didn’t even know that we were the Horse Wise team until two weeks ago,” Stevie protested. “And what are you doing here?” she asked Cam. He had draped an arm casually over Carole’s shoulders, and she was practically glowing.
Cam and Carole laughed at Stevie’s accusatory tone.
“I’m competing as an individual,” Cam explained. “Or I should say, Duffy and I are competing as two individuals. My home club didn’t have anyone else who wanted to go.”
“Naturally we met up when I decided to copy every answer off of Cam’s written test,” Phil joked.
Carole smiled. She was pleased that Phil had obviously remembered how well Cam had done at the Pine Hollow Know-Down.
“So why didn’t Max tell you about this earlier?” Cam asked. Carole and Stevie started to explain at the same time.
Lisa took one look at the happy group and decided to put an end to the discussion right away. With Stevie and Carole’s boyfriends involved, there was no telling how much time this group would spend kidding around. “It’s a long story,” she said, trying to sound both pleasant and authoritative, “and unfortunately we don’t have time to tell it.”
“Let me guess, you’re the stable manager, right?” Cam said.
“You got it,” Lisa said. “And I’ve got a brown gelding with four white socks first up for inspection. With all this mud he’ll have four black socks!”
“Hey! Don’t forget A.J.’s horse is gray—all over,” Phil pointed out, referring to their team member’s Connemara mare. “We practically had to throw her in the washing machine and bleach out the grass stains—and all for nothing! If there was any justice in this world, they’d call this place Rainy and Muddy Valley Pony Club!”
Everyone laughed. Then Horse Wise and Cross County teams introduced their team members who didn’t know each other and agreed to meet after the closing ceremony, which would take place late that afternoon.
“All right, until then—and may the best club win,” Phil pronounced. He and Stevie exchanged looks. The two were known for their competitive spirits.
“Humph, we all know who that is,” she said, sticking her nose in the air.
AS SOON AS the girls got back to the stable area, Lisa posted the day’s schedule, with the Horse Wise inspection and riding times highlighted. All of the inspections were about twenty minutes apart, and the dressage tests started right afterward. It was time to pick up the pace.
Lisa began delegating tasks right and left. If she didn’t get everyone going, they would stay where they were—sitting on hay bales and complaining about the rain. “All right, Polly, you’re first. Go and get dressed. Stevie and I will get Romeo out and go to work. Carole, you and Betsy start grooming Barq. Then, when Polly’s gone, Stevie will start on Starlight. I’ll final-check everyone before you go, so don’t leave before I see you.”
As Lisa spoke, two women in tweeds and mackintosh rain jackets stood by, listening intently. They made a couple of marks on their clipboards, nodded to the team, and went away. Lisa gulped. Judges, she thought, and she knew they’d be back when she least expected it.
The inspections flew by in a haze of activity. Betsy forgot her Pony Club pin, and Lisa had to chase her down. Then Carole couldn’t find her stock tie. It had somehow gotten lost between Pine Hollow and Sunny Valley. Lisa ran and caught Polly just finishing her inspection, practically ripped her tie off her neck, and c
harged back to tie it onto Carole’s. Meanwhile she kept a running total of the Horse Wise deductions. At the end of tack and turnout, they’d been deducted for Polly and Betsy’s dry stirrup leathers—all the cleaning in the world didn’t take the place of regular oiling and care; Prancer’s knobby chestnuts—Stevie was squeamish about picking them off; a stone in Starlight’s hoof—unknown to Carole, he must have picked it up on the way over; and the boot polish on the inside of Carole’s boots—it could rub off on her saddle and make black marks.
Carole felt a little bad that she and Starlight had messed up two things until she found out that she, Lisa (without any last-minute quizzing in the car), and Cam had received the only three perfect written test scores. It also cheered her up to see Veronica’s name on the “50% or More Wrong” list. She passed Cam on the way back from the scoreboards and gave him the thumbs-up sign.
When it was time for the first set of dressage tests, it had started to rain so hard that keeping neat was practically impossible. Lisa shined everyone’s boots, nevertheless, and sent them off as spotless as she could manage. She stayed behind to make sure the stable area ran smoothly. One by one they came back, soaked, bedraggled, and totally unsure of how they had done.
“I’m not even sure the judge could see my test, let alone be able to grade it,” Stevie said. “Poor Prancer slid right both halts. I guess she held up pretty well, though, considering that we’ve never been out in a tidal wave before. I think in her past life she must have been a ‘mudder’—you know, those racehorses who like a wet, slippery track.”
“I can’t say the same for Starlight,” Carole said. They had all stripped off their wet clothes, hayed the horses, and sat down underneath the gray-and-green Horse Wise banner to wolf down Mrs. Reg’s ham-and-cheese sandwiches. “He kept his ears pinned back the entire time. Actually, he looked so mad to be out in this weather that it made me crack up, and then I was totally relaxed.”
“Barq couldn’t believe we were out there, either,” Betsy said. “The poor guy wishes he were back on the desert sands with his Arabian ancestors.”
Polly was the only one who actually felt good about her ride. Perky, steady Romeo had proved himself a real trouper and hadn’t seemed to mind the rain at all. “You’re the best, aren’t you?” Polly said, getting up to give him a hug.
Lisa refused to let the others check the scores after lunch. Instead, she told them to talk each other through their second dressage tests, which, judging from the clearing skies, would matter a whole lot more. By herself she darted up to the fence where they were posted. She could barely read the numbers through the rain-coated plastic covering, but one thing was clear: The bad weather had kept everyone very close. Sunny Valley was in the lead, as Mrs. Reg had predicted, but a group of four teams, including Horse Wise and Cross County, were hot on the trail and well within striking distance. None of the stable-management scores had been added up yet. Individually, Polly and Romeo were in the top ten, as were Cam on Duffy, and Phil on Teddy. Stevie, Betsy, and Carole had all scored in the top half. Lisa took a few quick notes in case it came down to the wire. Then she went to get the crew ready. Running back through the drizzle, she saw Mrs. Reg, Max, and Colonel Hanson going up to check the scores themselves.
“Keep up the good work, Lisa!” Max yelled. Lisa vowed silently that she would.
In the afternoon there was a little bit more time between Horse Wise rides, so the stable managers could sneak out and watch after getting their next riders ready. Polly and Romeo put in another good, solid ride. They weren’t spectacular, but they got the job done. Betsy had more trouble on Barq. The Arabian still seemed annoyed about the footing, and he went around looking stiff and unbalanced. One of the nicest tests Lisa saw was Cam’s. He sat quietly and let Duffy strut his stuff. They had obviously been working hard. As Lisa gave Carole’s stirrup irons a final swipe, she crossed her fingers that Starlight would look equally polished.
“ONE-TWO, ONE-TWO, LIKE a metronome. One-two,” Carole repeated to herself as she circled the ring. The rain had finally stopped entirely, and she could feel her hands sweating. Swallowing hard, she made herself sit up straighter and think about everything Max and Stevie and Starlight had been telling her—not only for the past two weeks but for the past year. She took a deep breath. She patted Starlight’s neck, entered at a working trot, and saluted.
From her vantage point on the slope beside the ring, Lisa watched as the two put in their best test ever. Starlight wasn’t transformed into a perfect dressage horse—he still didn’t bend around the corners—but he paid attention to Carole.
“Accurate, steady, rhythmical—all the fundamentals are there,” Lisa said to herself happily. Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed Cam holding Duffy. He gave Lisa a grin that told her he was thinking the same thing.
Stevie was the last Horse Wise rider to go and one of the last riders of the day. The whole team came out to watch. A few minutes before she started, Phil and Cam appeared, along with their friend A.J. If Stevie noticed her fan club, she didn’t show it. She rode her test calmly and methodically. When Prancer got silly, Stevie corrected her right away. When she wanted to go too fast, Stevie steadied her with her hands and seat. As they came down the center line for the second time, Horse Wise let out a collective sigh of relief. They had done it: The Thoroughbred mare off the track and the determined junior rider had competed successfully at a Pony Club event. Before she could dismount, Horse Wise, Cross County, and both teams’ parents and coaches had surrounded Stevie in a cheering crowd.
IN THE STATION wagon on the way home, the girls ate two boxes of leftover cookies and rehashed the entire day, from waking up and seeing black skies to riding en masse to collect their third-place-team ribbons.
“I think the best part for me was watching Cam get second overall,” Carole said dreamily.
“That’s the difference between you two and us two,” Stevie said. “For me it was bad enough seeing Cross County win the whole darn thing, but if Phil had gotten an individual ribbon today, I probably would have had to go on a hunger strike.”
“Better Cross County than Sunny Valley,” Polly pointed out. She was stretched out way in the back of the wagon, gazing at her fifth-place-overall ribbon.
“Amen to that!” Stevie agreed. “Too bad Veronica’s written test and messy stall dropped them down to second place.”
“I can’t wait to tell Lisa that they lost on stable management,” Carole said. As soon as Stevie had finished her test, Lisa had run off to meet her mother’s waiting car. Dress rehearsal began at seven, and she had to be completely costumed and made up by six-fifteen.
“And I can’t wait even more to tell her about the special stable-management award we got,” Stevie added.
Carole thought for a minute. “You know what I can’t wait for the most? To see Lisa onstage.”
“Me, too,” Stevie agreed. “And we only have two hours to go.”
LATER THAT EVENING Stevie and Carole took their seats in the small family-and-friends-only WCCT dress-rehearsal audience. They didn’t quite know what to expect, but they hoped Lisa would do well. Far from being disappointed, they were quite blown away by the whole play, and most especially by Lisa’s performance. She acted, sang, and danced her way through the musical as if she’d played Annie a hundred times. Stevie and Carole literally sat on the edges of their seats, trying to catch every word and clapping like crazy after every one of Lisa’s solos.
After the rehearsal they went backstage to congratulate her. Lisa was surrounded by the rest of the cast. Stevie and Carole had never felt as proud as they did right then to be Lisa’s best friends. Lisa looked up from the theater group and saw them standing there.
“You were an incredible Annie, and we got a special stable-management award, and Sunny Valley PC lost because of Veronica!” Stevie cried, unable to contain herself any longer.
All of a sudden it got quiet. The cast stared at Stevie’s strange announcement. Then Lisa’s joyful
shout broke the silence. “Yippee!” she yelled. “We did it!” She broke through the crowd to embrace her two friends.
“You must be Stevie and Carole,” Hollie said, coming up to introduce herself.
Carole smiled at the warm face and pretty brown curls. “And you must be Hollie—it’s great to meet you.”
“Want to go to TD’s, Little Orphan Annie?” Stevie asked.
Lisa nodded happily. She was exhausted, but she wouldn’t miss going for anything.
“Hollie, will you come, too?” Stevie asked.
Hollie declined politely. “Actually, I do have to get home tonight,” she said. “I’d love to come another time, but I have to say I’m a little nervous about watching you eat your famous sundae concoctions.”
“You should be,” Carole told her. “Going up onstage in front of hundreds of strangers can’t be half as terrifying as watching what goes down her throat.”
* * *
IT DIDN’T TAKE long for The Saddle Club to get from the high school to TD’s, and it took even less time for them to slide into their favorite booth.
“Well, I’ll be darned. She looks like your old friend—sort of,” the waitress said, looking Lisa up and down.
In their hurry to have a true Saddle Club reunion, Carole and Stevie had talked Lisa into leaving on all of her makeup and most of her costume. In the dimmer lighting she looked like a painted doll. Comments from the waitress weren’t going to get to them tonight, though.
“This is her evil twin,” Stevie shot back. “By the way, would you mind getting out a pencil to take my order? It’s going to be extremely complex, as I finally have my appetite back.”
The waitress smiled and grabbed the pencil from behind her ear. “Okay, shoot,” she said. “I’m actually kind of looking forward to this.”
Stevie grinned wickedly. “All right. Make mine one scoop each of peaches ’n’ cream, peppermint bonbon, and orange sherbet, drenched in chocolate, butterscotch, blueberry, and cherry syrups, topped with whipped cream, Butterfinger crunch, Oreo cookie sprinkles, chocolate sprinkles, shredded coconut, a sliced banana, six sliced strawberries, and, of course, a maraschino cherry.”
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