Sophie the Zillionaire

by Lara Bergen

  Still, that did not mean she couldn’t be a zillionaire. Not if she really, really tried….

  Somehow, Sophie had to turn $69.30 into more than a hundred. And fast!

  “I’m so excited! Aren’t you?” Kate said to Sophie as they walked home from the bus stop. Sophie shrugged. “Not really.”

  She was staring at the sidewalk, hoping to find fifty more dollars. Or twenty. Or ten. Or even five.

  But all she’d found so far was an old, rusty barrette.

  “What do you mean ‘not really’? I thought riding horses was your lifelong dream,” Kate said.

  Sophie stopped. She looked up at Kate. “Oh, that! Of course!” she said.

  She had been thinking so hard about money she’d almost forgotten their big plans. The next day they were going to ride horses!

  “Yes! I am super-excited about that,” Sophie said. She had been waiting for that day for almost a week now.

  Still, Sophie could not help sighing.

  “I just wish I could be Sophie the Zillionaire, too,” she said.

  “Why can’t you?” Kate asked.

  Sophie frowned. “Because Mindy has a hundred whole dollars. And I have less.” That was the truth.

  Kate thought hard. “Why don’t you just ask your grandparents to give you money? Like Mindy’s did,” she suggested.

  Sophie stopped for a second. Her grandparents were great. But they thought eight dollars for her eighth birthday was a lot.

  (If only she were turning thirty. But that was forever away!)

  Sophie shook her head. “Even if my grandparents won the lottery, they would never give me that much,” she said.

  Hang on! Sophie thought. What had she just said?

  She grabbed Kate’s hand. “That’s it! I know what I’ll do! I’ll make money the old-fashioned way!” she said.

  “How?” Kate asked. Her eyes were big.

  Sophie swung her hand high in the air. “I’ll win the lottery!”

  When Sophie got home, she ran to her room. She got down her horse bank and counted her money again. There was still $69.30. She poked her finger around inside, just in case some money was stuck. She even peeked in with a flashlight. But no. There was no extra money. Oh, well.

  Sophie started to put the bank back on her shelf. Then she stopped.

  There was a lot of money in that bank. Not a hundred dollars (yet). But it was all the money she had in the world. And anyone could get it off her shelf. Her family never really messed with her stuff. She wasn’t worried about them. But what about robbers?!

  Sure, they might not know the horse was a bank. It was a good disguise. But it was so pretty they might take it, anyway.

  Sophie needed to find a safer place for her bank. But where?

  Maybe under her bed? Yes! It was perfect! There was so much dust and old junk no robber would ever look there.

  Sophie got down on her knees. She lifted the bed skirt. Then she slid the bank underneath.

  There! Her money already seemed safer. She patted her polka-dot bedspread and grinned.

  Of course, Sophie bet that when she won the lottery, her money would not all fit in her horse bank. It might not all even fit under her bed. She would probably have to take it to a real bank, like Mindy did. She would miss it then.

  Sophie decided to tell her parents about her great lottery idea that night at dinner. She was ready as soon as they sat down. Dinner was always pretty quick, because Max did not stay in his high chair for long.

  “Mmm! This looks good,” her dad said.

  They were having spaghetti with meat sauce. Sophie liked meatballs better, but Max thought all balls were for throwing. They would probably never have meatballs again.

  “Thank you!” Sophie’s mom said. She put a plate in front of Max. Then she sat down quickly and turned to Hayley. “How’s the penny drive coming?” she asked.

  Hayley was sprinkling parmesan cheese all over her plate. “Great! We have six pounds already,” she said.

  Six pounds? Really? Sophie did not know you could count money that way. How many pounds do I have? she wondered.

  She also wondered when Hayley would be done with the cheese.

  “Hey,” Sophie said. “Save some for me.”

  Her mom gave her a look.

  Sophie smiled at her sister. “Please.”

  Hayley slid the cheese over.

  There was not a lot left. But that was okay, Sophie guessed. When she won the lottery, she would buy at least six pounds of it.

  Oh, right. The lottery!

  “Hey, Dad. I have a question,” Sophie said. “Can you take me to get a lottery ticket? Tonight? Please?”

  Her dad chuckled and shook his head. “Sorry, Sophie. You have to be eighteen to buy a lottery ticket, I’m afraid,” he said.

  “You do?” Sophie said.

  That was no fair! Why were grown-ups the only ones who could get rich easily?

  “Why do you want a lottery ticket, anyway?” Hayley asked, twirling some spaghetti on her fork.

  “I need to make more money. Fast,” Sophie said. She turned back to her dad and shrugged. “I guess you’ll have to buy one for me.”

  Sophie’s mom gave her a look. Again.

  “Please!” Sophie grinned.

  But her mom just shook her head. “We are not buying you a lottery ticket, Sophie,” she said. She sounded very sure. And a little grumpy. “Do you know what your chances of winning are?”

  “No,” Sophie said. She did not.

  “About one in a zillion,” her mom said.

  “You know, a zillion is not a real number,” Hayley chimed in.

  Sophie rolled her eyes. “All I know is that you have to play to win,” she said.

  Sophie’s mom reached over to Max. She pulled a noodle out of his nose. Then she turned back to Sophie. “What gave you that idea?” she asked.

  Sophie shrugged. She pointed to her dad.

  His mouth was full. So he made a “who, me?” face. Then he swallowed.

  “Who, me?” he said.

  “Yes, you. You always say that when we win the lottery, we’ll buy a new TV. Or a new car. And every time Mom says, ‘In your dreams,’ you say, ‘You have to play to win!’” Sophie said.

  “No, I do not,” said her dad.

  Hayley nodded. “Yes, you do,” she told him.

  Now Sophie’s mom rolled her eyes. “That’s just the way Daddy talks. We both know that the lottery is a much better way to lose money than to make it, right?” She looked at him.

  “Um, yes,” he said.

  But he didn’t sound like he meant it. Not to Sophie, anyway.

  Sophie’s mom turned back to her. “Do you know what the best way to get money is?” she asked.

  Sophie could think of only one other way. “Find it?”

  Her mom sighed. “No. Earn it.”

  Earn it? Hmm. That sounded more like the hard way than the best way to Sophie.

  “Maybe it’s time to start giving you an allowance, like Hayley,” Sophie’s mom went on. “That means you have to do chores around the house, of course.”

  “Okay,” Sophie said.

  “You could help do the dishes,” Sophie’s mom continued. “And take out the trash. Or — oh!” She looked down at the pile of noodles under Max’s chair. “You could clean up after Max!”

  Sophie looked down, too. Yuck! “How much would you pay me?” she asked.

  “Let’s see. How about four dollars a week?” her mom said.

  Four dollars? A week?

  “That’s it?” Sophie frowned.

  Just then, Max tossed his dish onto the floor. Sophie’s mom looked down at the mess.

  She turned back to Sophie. “Okay. Five dollars,” she said.

  Sophie nodded. It was better than nothing, she guessed. But five dollars a week was not going to make her a zillionaire fast. She still needed to make more money some other way, too.

  She tried to think of how … but the idea did not come to her r
ight then.

  And it did not come while she was scooping Max’s dinner into a dustpan, either. Gross!

  (What came to her then was this: When Sophie was a zillionaire, the first thing she would do was pay someone else to clean up after Max!)

  But the idea did come to her later, when her mom put out dessert: cupcakes from a bake sale at the high school where Sophie’s dad had fixed computers that day.

  “The seniors were raising money to help pay for a trip to New York City,” her dad said.

  Right away, Sophie was paying attention.

  “How much did they make?” she asked. She tried to sound casual.

  Her dad shrugged. “I don’t know…. A lot.”

  A lot? That was how much Sophie needed. Exactly!

  That was it — she would have a bake sale!

  The next day was Saturday. That was a great day for a bake sale!

  Except that it wasn’t. Because that was the day Sophie and her friends were going to Mrs. Belle’s daughter’s horse farm. Of course!

  Mrs. Belle was Kate’s babysitter. She had her own kids, but they were grown up. And now one of them had a horse farm. With real, live horses. To ride on!

  Kate was allowed to bring her five best friends: Sophie and Eve and Mia and Sydney and Grace. They were going to ride horses. Sophie was sorry they could not sleep over. That had been the plan. But that plan had changed when Kate asked to invite more friends. Still! They were riding horses. And Sophie could hardly wait!

  Sophie’s dad dropped her off at the farm in the morning. Right away, she saw Kate standing with a grown-up outside the barn. Both of them waved as Sophie walked up.

  “This is my friend Sophie,” Kate said.

  “Hey, there! I’m Mrs. Belle’s daughter, Tallulah. Welcome to Blue-Belle Farms,” said the grown-up.

  Sophie stared. Mrs. Belle’s daughter did not look like Mrs. Belle. At all.

  Mrs. Belle had very short, very blond hair. It was also very curly.

  Tallulah had a thick ponytail. Her hair was long and brown and straight.

  Mrs. Belle wore very pink lipstick. And very tight pantsuits. Most times they were very bright.

  Tallulah did not have on lipstick. She had on jeans. They were torn and loose and very light.

  Sophie would never have thought that they were related. She did not say this, though.

  What she did say was “Nice to meet you. I’m Sophie the Z —”

  But she did not get to finish. By then, Tallulah had turned around.

  “Come check out the barn!” Tallulah called over her shoulder.

  “Come on, Sophie the Zillionaire!” said Kate.

  Sophie grinned. Together, they followed Tallulah into the big barn.

  Grace and Sydney were waiting inside. Sophie was not surprised. She was never the first — or the last — to get anywhere. But maybe she would be when she was a zillionaire. Instead of her dad, a chauffeur could drive her. And she could buy a car that was long … and very fast.

  But she would worry about that later. Right now, she had horses to ride!

  She was happy when Eve and Mia walked in.

  “Hey! Everyone’s here. Can we see the horses now?” Sophie asked.

  “Hay is for horses.” Tallulah laughed. “But you bet we can!”

  She led them to a row of stalls. Sophie grinned and held her breath. She grinned because she was excited. She held her breath because of the smell.

  She sure hoped they were going to ride outside. It was kind of stinky in there.

  Then, all of a sudden, Sophie’s heart knocked her breath loose. She forgot about the smell.

  A long black face poked through a stall door. It was looking right at her!

  “This is Prince,” said Tallulah. She reached up and rubbed the horse’s nose.

  Prince! That was perfect. What a great name for a zillionaire’s horse, Sophie thought.

  She waved her hand. “Can I ride him?” she asked.

  Tallulah patted his neck. It looked strong and smooth. “Have you ridden before?” she asked Sophie.

  Sophie shook her head. “But it is my lifelong dream!” she said.

  Tallulah smiled. “Mine, too. But Prince here is a handful. I have some ponies who would be much better for you,” she said.

  Ponies? Sophie was not sure she liked the sound of that. Her dream was to ride big beautiful horses. Not little ponies.

  Then Tallulah turned to the other girls. “Has anyone ridden before?” she asked.

  Sophie looked around. She really hoped not! Sophie the Zillionaire should not be riding a little pony when everyone else had a big horse.

  Luckily, the girls all said no.

  Phew.

  Tallulah led them to another row of stalls. Over the doors, Sophie saw signs with the horses’ names painted on them.

  There were Sinbad … and Ringo … and Joker … and Daisy … and Penny … and Duchess …

  Duchess! That would work! A duchess was kind of like a prince — or a princess. Sophie was pretty sure, anyway.

  She almost said, “I’ll take that one!”

  Only, before she could, Mrs. Belle’s daughter gave Duchess to Grace!

  “Here, Sophie. You take Penny,” Tallulah said. “She’ll be perfect for you.”

  Penny? Perfect? Sophie the Zillionaire did not think so.

  She cleared her throat. “Um, do you think I could have Duchess instead? You might not know this,” she said softly — she did not want the other girls to feel bad — “but I have a fifty-dollar bill at home. I’m almost the richest kid in my class. So a horse named Penny doesn’t seem right.”

  “I see,” said Tallulah. She turned to Penny’s stall. A reddish brown face was peeking out. It nodded two times. Then it blew and made a soft, shivery horse sound.

  “Too bad,” Tallulah went on. “I think Penny really likes you.”

  Really? Penny liked her?

  The pony nodded again.

  “Do you still want to switch?” Tallulah asked her.

  “No, that’s okay.” Sophie shook her head. Tallulah was right. Penny did like her. And she liked Penny, too, now.

  Plus Penny was not a small pony at all. She was big. Much bigger than Sophie. So big, Sophie wondered how she would ever get up on her back.

  “Is there a ladder?” she asked Tallulah. “I’m ready to go!”

  “Yeah!” cheered the other girls. They were ready, too!

  But they learned that this was not how it worked.

  They learned that before you rode a horse or a pony, you had to groom it. And that meant lots of brushing — which was fun.

  It also meant cleaning the pony’s feet — which was hard if he didn’t want to pick them up (like Kate’s pony, Joker).

  Joker whinnied as Kate kept trying.

  “He’s laughing at me,” Kate groaned.

  They also learned that before you rode, you and your pony both had to dress up. The pony had to put on a bridle and a blanket. Oh, and a saddle. Of course. The riders had to put on hard hats. They were a lot like helmets, but very plain. (Sophie decided when she was a zillionaire, she would buy a fancy one.)

  Then the riding part came. Finally! That was when the girls learned other things.

  Things like:

  You didn’t use a ladder to get on the pony. You used a big box called a mounting block, instead. And you always got on from the pony’s left side. And you had to be fast, or he would walk off.

  Also, the ground looked really far away from the top of a pony! Sophie was glad to be wearing her hard hat then. She did not care at all that it was plain.

  Once the girls were on their ponies, they rode around a ring. Kate got to be first. Sophie was in the middle, as usual. But that was fine with her. Steering a pony was not easy.

  “Just follow Ringo,” Sophie whispered in Penny’s tall ear.

  And she did. The whole time. Penny was such a smart pony!

  Then they learned that an hour of riding went fast. Even when you w
ere just riding around … and around … and around.

  And all that grooming you did before you rode? You had to do it all over again after.

  And they also learned that there were pony treats — like dog treats, but much bigger. And that pony teeth were big, too. And that pony drool was not too bad. (Pony poop, though, kind of was.)

  And Sophie learned one more thing. This was probably the most important: A horse’s name did not matter. They were all great, no matter what!

  In fact, Sophie knew what she would buy before a fancy hard hat or a fast car when she was a real zillionaire: a horse farm and lots of ponies just like Penny.

  And lots of air freshener, too!

  Sophie had more reasons than ever to be a zillionaire now. She had to buy all those things. And pay someone to do her chores. And she had to have more money than Mindy VonBoffmann, of course.

  Sophie did not think the first thing could happen before Monday. Pony farms were pricey, she bet.

  But the next two things might happen fast — if her bake sale went well.

  Sophie told Kate about her amazing bake sale idea as Kate’s mom drove them home from the farm.

  Kate wanted to help. “But if I help, do I get to make some money, too?” Kate asked.

  Sophie thought about this for a second. Kate had a good point.

  Plus if Kate made her own money, Sophie would not have to buy her gum. Kate could buy it herself.

  Sophie grinned and shook Kate’s hand. “We are now business partners!” she said.

  On Sunday afternoon, Kate came over.

  “So, what are we baking?” she asked.

  Sophie smiled. What else? “What is the alltime best-ever bake sale treat?” she said.

  Kate rubbed her hands together. Her eyes got very big. She licked her lips and smiled back at Sophie. “Rice Krispies Treats!”

  Huh? No. Sophie shook her head.

  “Chocolate chip cookies!” she said.

  Kate’s eyes got normal again. “Oh. Are you sure?” she asked.

  “Sure I’m sure. Besides, I already made a sign,” Sophie said.

  She held up a big piece of cardboard she’d found in the garage. She had written big words on it in Magic Marker.