Jasmine and Corey giggled. It was just like May to act so dramatic!
A few minutes later Mr. Grover pulled the van into the Pine Hollow driveway. There were three other vans there, too. A lot of young riders were going on the Starlight Ride this year.
The Pony Tails climbed out of the van and unloaded their ponies. All around them was confusion.
Adam Levine was looking for his stirrups. Jackie Rogers wanted to know if she could ride in front of Amie Connor. Three people were asking where Max was. And Max was asking where Stevie Lake was.
May looked around.
Stevie Lake was one of the Pony Tails’ favorite older riders in Horse Wise. She had amazing ways of getting into trouble and even more amazing ways of getting out of it. May sometimes thought she ought to take lessons from Stevie. Tonight, however, it was hard to imagine how Stevie would get out of trouble. She was supposed to be here to lead the ride, and Max was really annoyed.
“Where is that girl?” he asked everybody he saw.
Nobody had seen her. May wondered if Stevie might be in the stable. She stood on tiptoes to look inside. She could see Stevie’s horse, Belle. Belle was still in her stall. Belle didn’t know where Stevie was, either—or if she did, she wasn’t telling.
“Did you bring warm gloves?” Mrs. Reg asked the Pony Tails.
“Yes, two pairs,” Jasmine said. “Mom made me bring a backup.”
“Good,” said Mrs. Reg. “Because Jackie’s mother forgot to make her bring any. Can she borrow a pair?”
Jasmine gladly handed them over. Her mother would be happy they’d come in handy.
The Pony Tails tied their ponies up at the fence where the line of riders would assemble to start the procession. They stood and watched the confusion around them.
“Are we missing something?” May asked.
“I don’t think so; what do you mean?” Corey said.
“I mean everybody but us seems to have forgotten or lost something and here we are, ready to go.”
Jasmine and Corey laughed. Only May would think they might have done something wrong because they hadn’t done anything wrong!
Max stomped over to the fence. “Did I already ask you if you’ve seen Stevie?”
“Three times,” Corey replied.
“And we haven’t,” said Jasmine.
“Oh no,” said Max.
“I can call her if you want,” said May.
“Good idea,” said Max. “Use the phone in Mrs. Reg’s office. I’d do it myself, but I have to see if I can fix a loose shoe on Barq.”
May left Macaroni with her friends and ran over to Mrs. Reg’s office. She knew Stevie’s phone number because they’d worked on a project together. May was worried about Stevie. She could be a little wild, and she could get into a lot of trouble. But she wasn’t irresponsible. Being late to lead the Starlight Ride was irresponsible. May hoped Stevie was all right.
On the third ring Mrs. Lake answered the phone. May told her who she was and asked for Stevie.
“Oh, Stevie’s not here,” said Mrs. Lake. “She’s at the dude ranch with her friends.”
“But aren’t they coming back today?” May asked.
“Well, they were supposed to,” Mrs. Lake began, “but Mother Nature had another idea. There was a big snowstorm in the mountains out there. Their plane couldn’t take off. Didn’t Max get the message? I called earlier and left a message on his machine.”
May could see the blinking red light on Mrs. Reg’s answering machine. “You mean Stevie won’t be here for the Starlight Ride?” May asked.
“I’m afraid not,” said Mrs. Lake. “We don’t expect her home for at least a couple of days.”
May thanked Mrs. Lake and hung up. She stood with her hand on the phone for a few minutes, thinking. A couple of days? The Starlight Ride couldn’t wait that long! There were horses and ponies to ride, songs to sing, food to eat, and best of all a tree to admire. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of people would be waiting for the riders by the tree and the creche. It was the best, most important, trail ride of the year—and the Starlight Ride didn’t have a leader!
May’s mind raced. She had an idea. It was a good one. Now all she had to do was convince Max. First she had to find him.
He wasn’t in his office or the tack room. He wasn’t in the locker area. He wasn’t by the driveway.
Then she remembered. He was trying to fix a nail in Barq’s shoe. She went to Barq’s stall. Max was finishing the emergency shoe repair.
“Stevie’s not coming, Max,” May told him.
“Not coming! How could she—” Max’s face turned red.
May explained the situation before Max could explode. “She and her friends are stuck out West because of a snowstorm. Her mother called and left a message on your machine, but I guess everybody’s been too busy to listen to messages.”
Max nodded. Then he scratched his head thoughtfully.
“Mrs. Lake said they wouldn’t be back for a couple of days,” May went on. “We won’t postpone the Starlight Ride, will we?”
“No, of course not,” he said. He patted Barq and then handed the horse’s lead rope to a rider. He stepped out of Barq’s stall.
Three riders were waiting to ask Max questions. May didn’t think any of the questions were as important as the one she wanted to ask him, but she knew she had to wait.
He answered the riders’ questions. “Take a hat from the hat wall; tell your parents to meet us at the town center; no, you can’t change horses.”
Those were easy questions. May’s question was going to be harder. She wasn’t sure exactly how to ask it.
Amie came up then and said, “Max, Mrs. Reg is looking for you.”
He nodded and turned to go to his mother’s office.
“Max, I wonder if—” May began.
Amie interrupted her. “Mrs. Reg says it’s important.”
Max started walking faster. May followed him. She tried again. “Do you think—”
“May, would you go tell all the riders to line up in order now?” Max said. “It’s almost time to go. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Okay, but—”
“Thanks, May,” he said. Then he dashed off.
May stamped her foot. She knew Max had important things to do, but why couldn’t he have waited to hear what she had to say?
When she returned to the paddock, she found that almost all the riders were ready. She climbed up onto a fence so that people could see her, and she told them he’d be there in just a minute. For now he wanted them to mount up and get in line.
Everyone was mounted and in order by the time Max and his mother came out of her office.
“I’ve just gotten some news,” he said to the group. “Stevie Lake can’t be here tonight. She and Carole Hanson and Lisa Atwood are stuck out West in a snowstorm. That means our lead rider isn’t here and we need a new one.”
The riders looked around at one another. Leading the Starlight Ride was an important job—and an honor. Who was Max going to choose?
“I need some very special qualities in a lead rider,” he told them.
May knew that. She had to bite her lip to keep from yelling out a name.
“It has to be someone we can all count on,” Max explained. “It has to be someone who has good sense and can ride well. It also has to be someone who can set an even pace and stick to it so that we can all follow.”
Several horses in the procession pawed the ground nervously. May held her breath as Max continued. “So, this year, I would like our leader to be … Jasmine James!”
Jasmine gasped with surprise. Max had chosen her to be the leader? She couldn’t believe it.
Corey and May clapped their friend on the back proudly. Several other riders congratulated her.
“Now, May, was there something you wanted to say to me?” Max asked.
“Uh …,” May began, then grinned. “I just wanted to tell you that you can read minds as well as you can ride horses!”
>
11 In the Lead
Jasmine looked around, afraid that if she blinked, everything would disappear. Could this be coming true? Was it real? Was she actually about to lead the Starlight Ride?
It was a crystal-clear, dark night, cool and fresh. All around her, riders and horses waited. It seemed that the world was a sea of red, green, silver, and gold holiday decorations. The Pine Hollow stable was red. Mrs. Reg had put miles of tinsel garland around each of the doors and lit them with green and gold lights. Ahead of her there was a path made by lanterns to show the way to all the riders. Most of all, it was supposed to guide Jasmine. She was in the lead.
Around her there was a hubbub of noise. Everyone was excited. Everyone was ready to go. Even Max. He walked toward her, carrying a flaming torch. It was for her.
“Here you go,” he said. Jasmine took the torch from him. “Is it okay? Can you ride with it?” he asked.
Tonight, she thought, I could ride anywhere, carrying anything.
That wasn’t what she said to Max, though. What she said was, “Yes. I’ll be fine.”
“Good luck,” he told her.
But Jasmine was sure she already had it.
“Riders forward!” she cried as loudly as she could. It was her first official act as leader of the Starlight Ride. An instant later, the ride began.
She held the torch high so that everybody could see where she was going and follow her. Jasmine and Outlaw had ridden on this trail many times before. But tonight was very different, and both she and Outlaw knew it.
Outlaw’s gait was a walk, but it felt more like a march. He held his head proudly and lifted each foot carefully. It was as if he knew he was in front and he wanted to show all the other ponies and horses how good he was.
For her part, Jasmine felt very special. She was doing something fun and something she was good at. She took in a deep breath of fresh night air and sighed happily. If she’d had a free hand, she might have pinched herself to be sure she wasn’t dreaming!
It didn’t take long for the ponies and horses to cross the fields behind Pine Hollow and reach the woods. There were a lot of trails in the woods. If it had been a dark night, even Jasmine might have gotten lost. But tonight sparkling lights lit the way. The forest seemed to shimmer with the decorations. And the sky glowed with stars. No wonder it was called the Starlight Ride, Jasmine thought. On Christmas Eve, the sky seemed almost part of the trail.
When the path widened, Corey and May joined Jasmine in the lead.
Corey looked at Jasmine and smiled. “Max picked exactly the right person to lead us. You’re doing a great job.”
“Thank you.” Jasmine smiled back at her friend. “Just like he picked the right person for the small drill team. He really knows what he’s doing.”
“Although sometimes it doesn’t seem like it at first,” May said. She was thinking about how she’d had to chase Max all around Pine Hollow while he made up his mind to do exactly what she thought he should.
“You guys told me this ride was fun, but you never told me it was this much fun,” said Corey.
“And we haven’t even gotten to the best part yet,” said May.
“But we will soon,” said Jasmine. “So you’d better drop back to single file.”
“See? I told you she’d be a good leader,” May said to Corey. “She knows how to boss us around politely.”
Jasmine laughed at her friends, but she never took her eyes off the path. They were coming to a very important part of the trip. Right ahead, the woods opened up into a small meadow. It was wide and flat. Max had told Jasmine that if she thought it was safe, they could trot across the meadow.
Outlaw marched between two pines, and there was the meadow. The stars and moon lit the field more brightly than the string of lights. It was clear and it was smooth. Jasmine decided it would be safe to trot across the well-worn path.
“Prepare to trot!” she called out, then gave her pony the signal. Outlaw immediately began trotting. Jasmine posted, rising ever so slightly in the saddle and then sitting again with every other beat of the trotting gait. She loved to trot on Outlaw. He loved it, too. He moved as if he felt free. She held her lantern high as the others followed.
Jasmine slowed to a walk the instant she reached the woods again. It would be very dangerous to trot under the dark cover of the trees. Even with the lights along the trail, it wouldn’t be safe.
“That was great!” she heard riders behind her call. She was glad she’d decided to let everyone trot.
All too soon Jasmine could hear music coming from the center of town. That meant the Starlight Ride was almost over!
On the town green all the people had gathered. The town had decorated the little park with a créche for Christmas, a menorah for Hanukkah, and a kinara for Kwanza. Jasmine had been looking at the decorations ever since they had been put up three weeks earlier. But she didn’t think they’d ever looked more beautiful than they did right then. The big Christmas tree in the center of the town glowed brightly.
“Look! Here come the horses!” a little boy called out. Everybody in the crowd turned to watch.
Jasmine lifted her torch a little higher. Outlaw’s walk became a bit more of a prance. The riders were about to make their dramatic entrance!
A policeman stood in the street to stop all traffic while the riders crossed to the town green. Hundreds of people—parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, and anyone else who wanted to be there—greeted the riders. Jasmine’s parents stood on the lawn, looking shocked as their daughter led the horses into town. Jasmine grinned at them while her father snapped a picture.
Then, after all the ponies and horses and their riders had joined the crowd, the band began to play holiday music. Everybody joined in to sing.
As she sang the words to “Deck the Halls,” Jasmine thought about all the princess pine trees that had lined the path through the woods. When they sang “Hanukkah, O Hanukkah!” she thought about the pretty lights along the way. The last song they sang was “Silent Night.” The crowd sang the lullaby softly, and while they sang, Jasmine completed her last job as leader. She took her torch up to the crèche and placed it over the stable.
The crowd burst into applause.
When she stepped down, Max brought her a cup of cider. “Merry Christmas, and thank you. You did a wonderful job, Jasmine. I knew you would. You were a good, strong leader. Pine Hollow is lucky to have a rider like you.”
She could hardly believe what she was hearing—this on top of the wonderful time she’d had.
“You’re welcome,” she said softly. “I …”
Jasmine wanted to say more to Max. She wanted to tell him that this had been one of the nicest things that had ever happened to her. She wanted to say she’d had more fun leading the Starlight Ride than she would have had on the small drill team. She wanted to promise him that she was going to work hard on the large drill exercise. She wanted to thank him. But when she looked back at him, he was already making his way through the crowd. Four riders wanted to hand him their reins at the same time.
“Merry Christmas!” Jasmine called after him.
“You too!” he said. He smiled warmly at her.
The rest of the evening was a jumble. Everyone was rushing off to family celebrations. Mr. Grover helped the Pony Tails load their ponies onto the trailer and then unload them back at home. Each girl took her own pony home to groom and feed.
Jasmine gave Outlaw a special treat: two carrots, an apple, and three sugar lumps.
She giggled. “Pretend these are goodies from your Christmas stocking!” she said before she hugged him good night. Outlaw seemed very happy. Then Jasmine went inside to sleep and dream about the Starlight Ride one more time.
12 Christmas in the Stable
“Merry Christmas!” Jasmine called to her friends as she rushed into the Grovers’ stable the next morning.
May and Corey were already inside, sitting in the straw in an empty stall.
“Doesn
’t it seem right to have a Pony Tails meeting in a stable at Christmas?” May said to Corey and Jasmine. “I mean, that’s where baby Jesus was born—in a stable.”
Corey pulled her coat around her and tugged at her hat. “Maybe,” she said, but she didn’t sound so sure. “It’s just so cold outside.”
The Pony Tails didn’t have much time. Corey was going over to her father’s for the afternoon. And there was a lot to talk about before then.
“Last night was the best night of my life!” Jasmine said, sighing happily. “The only thing missing was the snow.”
“There’s always next year,” Corey said. “Although that was so much fun—maybe we should have a Starlight Ride every night.”
“No, one of the best parts about it is that it’s just once a year,” May said.
“You’re probably right about that.” Jasmine said, nodding.
“I just knew Max would choose you,” Corey said. “The minute he started listing all the qualities the leader was supposed to have, I knew it was you.”
“Me too,” May said. “Actually, I even tried to ask him to choose you before he did. But he didn’t need my help.”
“I guess I was the only one who was surprised, then,” Jasmine said. “I thought if I wasn’t good enough to be on the small drill team, I definitely wouldn’t be good enough to lead the ride.”
“Of course you’re good enough,” May said. “We’re all good riders. It’s just that each of us is better at some things than others.”
Corey was nodding. “Like, for instance, I’m better than either of you at one thing.”
“What’s that?” Jasmine asked.
“Well, you’re going to have to open these and see.” Corey reached into the hay and handed each of them a small, brightly wrapped package.
It took only a few seconds for May and Jasmine to unwrap their bracelets.
“It’s just like yours!” May said.
“Yes, except it’s got your name and some macaroni on it!” Corey told her.
“And mine has an outlaw’s mask!” Jasmine exclaimed.
Pony Tails 04- Jasmine's Christmas Ride Page 4