“Speaking of that stable witch,” said Stevie, “I think it’s high time you clued us in on what you were doing with the crop on Tuesday, Lisa. We can’t figure it out, and people are starting to say that you were planning to beat Veronica with it unless she confessed!”
With all the hype over the show, Lisa at first hadn’t time to explain herself to Carole and Stevie. Then she had decided it would be more fun to make them try to guess at her sleuthing.
“I might have been tempted to give her a whack or two,” Lisa admitted, “but actually, I was looking for something that Veronica had dropped in the room. Once we figured out that she had cut her own leather, I knew she had to have used a tool. That’s when I remembered the mysterious gray object.” Lisa recounted her previous locker room encounter with Veronica, when Veronica had kicked the object under the lockers to hide it.
“All of a sudden, I realized what it had to be. I went back Sunday to fetch it. Sure enough, it was there,” Lisa said, her voice barely a whisper, “a small, gray, single-blade razor knife!”
Carole and Stevie recoiled at the name of the weapon. The image of Veronica procuring a knife, then sneaking in early to do the slashing was an ugly one. It still seemed unbelievable that someone from Pony Club could be capable of such villainy. But, then again, Veronica wasn’t your average Pony Clubber.
“Anyway,” Lisa continued, “I had to decide how to expose the slasher now that I had the evidence. And I knew that Veronica is obsessed with what other people think of her. That’s why I finally decided to threaten her in public instead of confronting her privately.”
“I always knew you were smart,” Carole said, “but this is downright sneaky.”
“Incredible, Lisa,” Stevie agreed admiringly.
Lisa grinned. “Incredible? No. In fact, I’d call it … elementary, my dear Watson,” she said. That was all the prompting Stevie and Carole needed to start whacking her with pillows.
When the fight ended a few minutes later, Stevie was lying on the floor, Carole was sitting on top of her desk, and Lisa, the victor, had retained her claim on the bed.
“No matter what you guys say,” Stevie announced, sitting up, “I think the outcome of this episode proves my theory that Veronica was the stable witch. Who but a witch could almost knock two members of The Saddle Club out of competition? And for all we know, she had a curse ready for Carole, too.”
“I don’t know,” Lisa replied. “I don’t believe in black magic and spells, anymore. I wish I could blame Veronica for the trouble I had jumping, but what Carole said was true: I had convinced myself that I couldn’t do it. What was haunting me was my own insecurity. When you guys tricked me into regaining my confidence, I was fine.
“That’s when it occurred to me to get Veronica to figure out that she was jinxing herself as well.” She glanced over at Stevie. “I guess you are right then, Stevie: Veronica is a witch, but the person she cast the worst spell on was herself.”
Carole and Stevie nodded in agreement.
“Now that we’ve solved the mystery of the stable witch,” Stevie began, “and cracked the case of the slashing sabotage, do you think we might be able to rustle up anything for a really good sundae?”
Carole eyed her narrowly. “We might, and we might not,” she said, knowing Stevie’s idea of a good sundae. “What did you have in mind?”
“We—ell … I hate to remind you two, but I didn’t get a chance to eat a perfectly good ice-cream treat last week at T.D.’s when you thought I was guilty of cutting Veronica’s stirrup leather. So, now you owe me a sundae,” Stevie said.
Carole and Lisa looked at one another. Neither of them would have described the melting glop at T.D.’s as a “perfectly good ice-cream treat.”
“Hmm … let’s see … I think we may have some coconut fudge ice cream in the freezer and some homemade mint sauce, and then, of course, peanut butter and walnuts in the cupboard. How does that sound?” Carole asked.
“Mouth-watering,” Stevie assured her.
“So will it take care of our debt?” Lisa inquired.
“Definitely,” Stevie replied.
They got up to go downstairs. “Actually—not quite,” Carole corrected her. “Don’t forget we still owe you breakfast. I was thinking we’d have pancakes.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bonnie Bryant is the author of more than sixty books for young readers, including novelizations of movie hits such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Honey, I Blew Up the Kid, written under her married name, B. B. Hiller.
Bonnie Bryant began writing The Saddle Club in 1986. Although she had done some riding before that, she intensified her studies then, and found herself learning right along with her characters, Stevie, Carole, and Lisa. She claims that they are all much better riders than she is.
Bonnie Bryant was born and raised in New York City. She lives in Greenwich Village with her two sons.
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