This time Meg barely suppressed her groan. “Uh, sure, Max,” she mumbled. “Sorry if we bothered you, May.” They quieted down, but a few minutes later Stevie saw them giggling again.
“I wonder what’s so funny,” she whispered to Lisa.
“I don’t know, but I wish I knew,” Lisa answered. “It doesn’t seem right that Karenna is spending so much time with Meg and Betsy, does it?”
Stevie shook her head. “If she’s Carole’s friend, she ought to be sitting with us. If she’s got a good joke to tell, she should be telling it to us.”
Lisa agreed, but figured they could ask Karenna about it after the Pony Club meeting, when they all met for Prancer’s birthday party.
When the meeting was over, however, she couldn’t find Karenna anywhere. Lisa had stepped into the locker room for a moment and when she came out Karenna was gone. Exasperated, she gave up and went to meet Stevie outside Prancer’s stall.
They had not managed to come up with a very interesting plan for the birthday party—even Stevie’s famous brain had had to admit defeat. The carrot cake idea had failed, because neither of their mothers would let them attempt to make one, and the cakes in the bakery cost too much. Instead, they had just brought a lot of apples, carrots, and other treats to give to the Thoroughbreds.
“That’s an awful lot of carrots,” Lisa said as she sat down on a hay bale next to Stevie. “Do you think Prancer can eat that many?”
Stevie grinned. “The ten-pound bags were on sale. Besides, I think Prancer would say that there’s no such thing as too many carrots.”
Lisa agreed. “I couldn’t find Karenna. We’ll just have to wait for her.”
They waited and waited. Finally Karenna ran up to them breathless, with Meg and Betsy in tow. “We’re going on a trail ride; Max said we could,” she said. “Do you two want to come?”
“I don’t think so,” Lisa said indignantly. “We’ve got Prancer’s—”
“No, thank you,” Stevie cut in. She gave Lisa a warning look and Lisa understood and was quiet. If Karenna had forgotten about the party, they weren’t going to remind her.
Karenna shrugged. “Okay. Guess I’ll see you later. Anyway, it was nice meeting you guys. Tell Carole I said hi, okay? Tell her I’m sorry she wasn’t here.”
“We will,” Lisa promised. “I know she was sorry not to see you.” She watched as Karenna followed Meg and Betsy into the tack room. “She did forget about the party,” Lisa said.
“Then we’ll do just as well without her,” said Stevie. “No use trying to make her stay.” As she spoke, Karenna came out of the tack room carrying Carole’s saddle and bridle. She disappeared into Starlight’s stall.
Lisa stared. “She’s not riding Starlight, is she?” She couldn’t believe that Karenna would do such a thing without telling them!
“Max must have said she could.” Stevie sounded doubtful. “He said they could go on the trail ride, and he would have told them which horses to take. Besides, Karenna’s not foolish. She wouldn’t take Starlight out without Max’s permission.”
“I don’t know if we should let her,” Lisa argued. “We’re supposed to be taking care of Starlight. If anything happens to him it’ll be our fault.”
“On the other hand,” Stevie argued back, “she is Carole’s friend, and we know she’s a good rider. I agree with what you think, but Max must have said it was okay.”
“Yeah.” Lisa paused. “I still don’t like it.”
“Me either,” Stevie sighed. “I guess it’s time to start the party, not that it feels like much of a party. The problem is, since Karenna is Carole’s friend, we’ve been hoping she would be like Carole, and she’s not. What we need, really, is Carole herself.”
Lisa nodded. There was nothing she could say to that. They opened Prancer’s stall door, and the beautiful mare came toward them, her ears pricked forward. She always seemed glad to see the girls.
“Happy Birthday to you,” they began to sing.
When they were finished, Lisa offered the Thoroughbred a carrot, and Stevie gave her an enthusiastic hug. Prancer ate the carrot delicately. Then Stevie gave her an apple, which she ate in several bites, and Lisa put her arms around the mare’s neck.
“Happy Birthday, you beautiful darling,” Lisa murmured into Prancer’s ear. She had always loved Prancer, and she hoped to ride her well—and in horse shows—someday. Lisa knew that both she and Prancer needed a little more training before that would be possible. Green horses and green riders were always a bad combination. Prancer had been a racehorse only a short time ago, and Lisa, though she rode a great deal now, had not been doing it very long and her relative inexperience sometimes showed. Still, Lisa felt they would make a good team when they were both ready. “In a year or two, darling,” she promised Prancer, and hugged her again.
They moved down the aisle to Topside, the champion Thoroughbred that Stevie had always ridden until she got No-Name a few weeks ago. They sang “Happy Birthday” to Topside, and offered him treats and hugs.
“Do you think he misses me?” Stevie asked. She rubbed his neck affectionately. “He’s a great horse, and he taught me a lot about riding. I do miss him, but I’d rather be riding my own horse than any other horse in the world.”
Lisa nodded. Though she didn’t have her own horse, she could imagine how it must feel. “I’m sure he’s fine,” she said to Stevie. “He might miss you, but other people have always ridden him, too, and soon Max will find someone like you to ride him most of the time. He didn’t seem to miss Dorothy too much when he first got here, did he?” Dorothy DeSoto, a former championship rider, had owned and ridden Topside until an accident had ended her competitive career. Dorothy was a great friend to all the girls.
“He didn’t seem unhappy. He’s always seemed to like Pine Hollow.”
“He’s still at Pine Hollow, so he should still be happy. Don’t worry, Stevie. I’m sure Dorothy didn’t worry when she sold Topside to Max. Besides, you can come visit him whenever you want. All you have to do is walk down the aisle.”
“True,” Stevie said, brightening. “Good boy, Topside.” With another pat to his sleek brown neck, she closed his stall and they went on to the next Thoroughbred.
They were singing to their sixth Thoroughbred, a leggy mare named Calypso, when they noticed that they had attracted the attention of all the other horses in the barn. The smell of fresh-chewed carrots and apples had every single horse in Pine Hollow hanging its head over the open part of its stall door, and when Lisa and Stevie looked around, the horses, from the tiny pony Penny to the giant half-Percheron Cocoa, started whickering in chorus.
Lisa and Stevie looked down each aisle, then at each other, and laughed.
“We’ve started something,” Lisa said. “They all think that they’re going to get carrots. They don’t realize that it’s only the Thoroughbreds’ birthday.”
“Well, there’s only one logical solution,” Stevie said cheerfully.
“After all,” Lisa agreed, “it’s not really fair to leave out the rest of the horses just because they aren’t Thoroughbreds.”
“Therefore,” Stevie concluded, “as two thirds of the members of The Saddle Club, we henceforth declare today to be the official birthday of all the horses in Pine Hollow. Saddle Club birthday treatment for all!”
“Hear, hear!” Lisa waved a carrot in the air in confirmation. “Good thing you brought too many carrots, Stevie.”
“Too many? I brought enough.”
It took a long time to sing “Happy Birthday” to every single horse at Pine Hollow, but the girls made sure that they did a thorough job and gave every horse lots of attention. They all were good horses and they all deserved to be fussed over.
“Why didn’t we think of this before?” asked Stevie. She wiped carrot slobber off the sleeve of her jacket. Cocoa had thanked her with a messy nudge.
“I don’t know, but we’ll definitely have to think of it again. I declare this to be a new Pine Hollow tr
adition—New Year’s birthday celebrations!”
“A new Saddle Club tradition,” Stevie corrected her.
Lisa grinned. “A new Saddle Club tradition at Pine Hollow,” she said.
They had just finished the last horse when Lisa’s mom arrived to take them home. Stevie was spending the night at Lisa’s house, and since it was New Year’s Eve they had decided to stay up as late as they could. Lisa’s mom and dad were going to a party, so Lisa and Stevie had the VCR all to themselves. They’d rented National Velvet, International Velvet, Phar Lap, and The Black Stallion.
“Horses and popcorn until dawn,” Stevie said enthusiastically.
“Maybe brownies too,” said Lisa. “Horses and popcorn and brownies—perfect.”
As they were getting into the car, Stevie pointed toward the woods. “Look.” Meg, Betsy, and Karenna were just returning to Pine Hollow. “They sure took a long enough ride.”
“And poor Starlight didn’t get his birthday treats,” said Lisa. She waved at the girls, but they were too far away to notice her. “At least Starlight looks okay. Nothing happened to him.”
“If we had really thought something would happen to him we wouldn’t have let Karenna ride him. We’ll give Starlight his treats tomorrow,” said Stevie. “I’m glad Carole is coming home soon.”
“So am I,” said Lisa. “The Saddle Club isn’t The Saddle Club without her.”
THAT NIGHT THE Foleys went to the New Year’s Eve party at Christina’s house. The party had been a neighborhood tradition for many years, and since traditions were an important part of family history, Carole brought her notebook with her to take notes.
Christina’s parents, the Johnsons, were the Foleys’ nearest neighbors, but they lived nearly four miles away. The night was bitterly cold—even Carole, who had thought that every night in Minnesota was bitterly cold, could recognize an extra piercing quality to the air—and the sky was crystal clear. More stars were shining than Carole had ever seen. Uncle John explained to her that clouds acted like a blanket to keep the earth warm. Clear nights were always the coldest.
The cold didn’t keep anyone home, however. Even Grand Alice bundled up and came along, and from the number of four-wheel drives and snowmobiles parked in the driveway, Carole guessed that most of the town of Nyberg was celebrating with them.
They entered the house by a lean-to off the kitchen. The large country kitchen was bright and warm, and full of good smells.
Christina came running to greet them. “We’ll put your coats upstairs,” she said, gathering them as the Foleys took them off. “Most of the guests are in the living room right now. Food is on the buffet in the dining room, drinks are here in the kitchen, and dancing starts soon in the family room. If you need anything, just ask. And Louise, Emile’s coming!” Christina dashed upstairs with her arms full of coats.
“Who’s Emile?” asked Carole.
“Her boyfriend,” said Louise. “He’s French-Canadian. He plays hockey for the high school.”
While Uncle John and Aunt Lily greeted friends and introduced Colonel Hanson to them, Carole took out her notebook and made a few notes.
There’s lots of food. Everyone pitched in and brought something to share. Aunt Lily brought two pumpkin pies made from pumpkins she grew herself. Grand Alice made cookies, the same kind she gave me with tea. The house is warm and crowded, and everyone seems happy. There are about twenty people here so far—whoops, twenty-three, three more just came in—and they are laughing and shouting hello. Christina’s dad just put some great jazz on the stereo. It’s a nice party, and it’s good to know that my family has so many friends.
Carole closed her notebook. She was finished writing; it was time to have fun.
The door opened. Aunt Jessie blew in with a whirl of frigid air. She had driven over separately because she had said she wanted to finish developing some pictures first, but she had finished pretty quickly. Carole watched her aunt take off her coat, greet a few friends, and help herself to some food. Then, to her surprise, Jessie walked over to her and smiled. “Happy New Year, Carole,” she said. “Are you having fun?”
“Sure,” Carole replied. “Everyone here has been super nice.” She meant it; she felt very comfortable in Christina’s home.
Aunt Jessie smiled again, a small but not unfriendly smile. “Everyone’s been nice to you except maybe me. I thought I should make a small apology. I know that I haven’t been as friendly as I should have been. After all, you are my niece, and I do want to get to know you better. Also, I want to say that I didn’t mean to belittle your horse or your knowledge of horses. Sometimes I’ve got a real attitude. I’m sorry, okay?” Aunt Jessie held out her hand to Carole.
“Okay.” Carole shook hands gladly. She still felt a bit strange toward Jessie—it seemed like every time she talked to her, Jessie was angry about something—but she was happy to be on better terms with her. “People can tease me about almost anything, you know—except horses,” she added. “I can be a little sensitive sometimes.”
Aunt Jessie smiled. “I feel the same way about my photography. You and I have something in common.” She offered Carole one of the chocolate chip cookies from her plate.
Christina brought over Emile—a short, good-looking boy with black hair and uneven eyebrows—and introduced him to Carole.
“Yo,” Emile said, nodding at Carole and hooking his thumbs into the belt loops of his jeans.
“Yo,” Carole said back, imitating his nod and hooking her own thumbs into her jeans. Aunt Jessie laughed out loud, winked at Carole, and sauntered off toward the rest of the party.
“What is this music?” Christina exclaimed with mock horror. “My dad’s lousy jazz. He’s always sneaking this stuff onto the stereo. Let’s put on something we can dance to.” She switched the music to something with a faster beat, grabbed Emile with one hand and Carole with the other, and hauled them both into the family room, where the furniture had been moved to clear space for dancing. Carole was all for it. She loved to dance. Before long, most of the party-goers had joined them on the dance floor.
Three songs later, when she stopped to catch her breath, she saw Aunt Jessie standing across the room. Jessie was staring out the uncurtained window at a full moon with bare black branches silhouetted against it. Something about the way she stood with the moonlight falling against her face reminded Carole suddenly of her own mother, whom she still missed very much. Carole couldn’t forget the bad things she suspected about Aunt Jessie’s past, but she was glad that they’d cleared some of the air between them. Carole’s mother had loved her sister Jessie.
Carole walked over to Aunt Jessie. “Hello,” she said softly.
Aunt Jessie turned to her with an excited smile on her face. “Oh, Carole, this is just the kind of night I need to ride Kismet over to Lover’s Point to take my pictures.”
Carole was sure she didn’t mean it, but she was horrified that Aunt Jessie would even talk about doing something so foolish. “You’d have to be crazy to consider taking your horse out on a night like this,” she said. “You’d endanger her life, riding up there!” Aunt Jessie didn’t reply. “You’d have to be crazy,” Carole repeated, shaking her head.
“Well, that’s what you think anyway, isn’t it?” Aunt Jessie replied, anger seeping back into her tone. “You think I’m crazy, don’t you?”
“No,” Carole answered. “But I think it would be a pretty bad decision to go out.”
“I make my own decisions,” Aunt Jessie snapped. She crossed her arms angrily; her dark eyes were blazing. “I don’t need you to tell me how or when to ride my horse. I don’t need you—or anyone else—to decide what I do.”
Goaded by her aunt’s tone, Carole felt herself growing angry too—more angry than she thought she would be. Every rude word Jessie had said, and everything that Carole suspected, came back to her now, and she spat out, “I don’t think you’ve been making very good decisions with your life so far. This one might be minor compared to some of the
other colossal bloopers you’ve made, but it would be dangerous for Kismet as well as for you. It’s stupid and reckless, and I think you should know better.”
Jessie drew herself up tall. “And I think I don’t care what you think!” she shouted. She stormed out of the room.
Carole, watching her go, was struck again by how much Jessie looked like Carole’s mother. But her mother hadn’t acted like Jessie at all.
Louise came up to Carole and glared at her reproachfully. “What did you say to her?” she demanded. “Why did you get her so upset?”
“I’m sorry she left—I didn’t mean to upset her,” Carole said stiffly. “But I don’t understand what the big deal was. She’s always getting upset. She’s always running off. She was saying what a great night it was to go to Lover’s Point, and she was talking about taking Kismet out there tonight. I told her I thought that would be a really stupid thing to do.”
Louise looked horrified. Carole was pleased to see that her cousin at least seemed to agree with her point of view. “You mean she’s going to the lake without me?” Louise said. “But she promised I could come. She said that she wouldn’t go without me.”
“I’m sure even Aunt Jessie isn’t crazy enough to go tonight,” Carole said. In her mind she heard Aunt Jessie say, “Don’t you think I’m crazy?” Did she think her aunt was crazy? One thing was for sure. Aunt Jessie got upset so easily. But was she really crazy? Had Jackson Foley been crazy?
Carole stared at Louise. “Maybe you can talk some sense into Jessie. She went into the kitchen.”
Louise ran out of the room. Carole shook her head as she watched her go. She was sick of both of them. Let them go off and sulk together!
Carole went off in search of sanity—hopefully in the person of Christina. But Christina was on the dance floor with Emile, smiling and happy, and Carole didn’t want to bother her. She didn’t feel like dancing just now. Instead she found Grand Alice, who was sitting in an easy chair tapping her feet to the music.
“You look flushed, child,” Grand Alice said, catching Carole’s hand. “People keep rushing about. Sit down. Tell me, what’s going on? Why are people upset at a party?”
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