Stray Horse

by Bonnie Bryant

  Lisa climbed up one rung of the fence. “Here, boy!” she called. She reached into the brown paper bag and took out the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The horse lifted his head and sniffed the air.

  Mr. Crawford stood nearby. He whistled. The horse snorted, then trotted over to the fence.

  “I guess Protocol’s just used to me,” the man said.

  “Thanks,” Lisa told him. “Do I have to call him Protocol?”

  “You can call him whatever you’re comfortable with,” said Mr. Crawford. “And if you are planning on sharing that sandwich with him, I think he’ll be calling you sweetheart. You know, he’s just bonkers about peanut butter. My wife gave him some one time and he’s never lost his taste for it.”

  “You’re kidding,” said Lisa.

  “He loves the stuff. Go ahead, you’ll see.”

  “I already did,” Lisa said. “That’s why I call him PJ.”

  Mr. Crawford laughed. “Nobody told me you’d discovered his secret passion. No wonder he behaved for you! He can be pretty naughty, you know.”

  “Unless you’re grooming him or feeding him,” said Lisa, smiling at their shared knowledge.

  “It’s like you read his mind,” said Mr. Crawford.

  By then PJ had arrived, demanding his treat and tolerating the affection that Lisa showered on him. He was obliging as long as the sandwich lasted.

  Half an hour later, The Saddle Club and Mrs. Lake were back in the car, heading to Pine Hollow in time for their jump class. At first nobody spoke, because everyone was waiting for Lisa to say something, and she was still busy sorting out her emotions.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Lake and Stevie,” she said.

  “You’re welcome, Lisa,” Mrs. Lake responded. “It was Stevie’s idea.”

  “Of course,” said Lisa. Stevie was always the one to come up with the finest (though sometimes weirdest) plans.

  “I thought you were upset,” Stevie said. “But it worked out okay, didn’t it?”

  “I was and it did,” Lisa said. “You know, it was a little bit the way it was with my dad yesterday. I was nervous about seeing him, but it was fine.”

  “Fine?” Carole asked.

  “More than fine,” Lisa said. “Great.”

  “Mr. Crawford said you could come ride PJ sometime when his leg is all better,” said Stevie. “Would you like to do that?”

  “I don’t know,” Lisa said. “When I saw him again today, I realized that he’s not an easy horse to get along with. When I was taking care of him, I felt so sorry for him that I never stopped to realize how much he misbehaved. I’d rather think of him happily chomping on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich than bucking me out of the saddle!”

  “Pine Hollow Station,” Mrs. Lake announced, pulling into the stable driveway.

  The girls thanked her for the sleepover, the visit to Mr. Crawford’s, and the ride. Then they dashed off to saddle up their horses.

  “I CAN’T GO for a trail ride this afternoon,” Lisa said to her friends two weeks later when they were all at the stable again.

  “Aw, come on!” said Stevie.

  “Dad’s picking me up,” she said. “I haven’t seen him for two weeks, and I have so much to tell him.”

  Stevie was immediately embarrassed at her gaffe. Of course an afternoon with Lisa’s father was more important than a trail ride.

  “Sure, I understand,” she said. “You can tell him about seeing PJ.”

  “That, and about a million other things. We talked last night. He’s still staying at that hotel, but he says he’ll have an apartment soon, and when he does, I can stay over with him. Maybe you guys could come, too.”

  Stevie thought that might feel weird. “Really?”

  “Of course,” she said. “He already told me.”

  “Okay,” Stevie said.

  “And you’re going to be away with him every other Saturday?” Carole asked.

  “That’s what they worked out for now—until he gets an apartment. Then it’ll change a little.”

  “But you’re going to miss all kinds of riding,” Stevie said.

  “It’s only every other weekend,” Lisa reminded her. “And he’s going to get an apartment nearby so that I can come to Pine Hollow on Saturdays, too.”

  “What about him moving to California?” Carole asked.

  “I don’t know,” said Lisa. “He may, he may not. But if he does, we’ll figure something out. I’m not going to be able to fly across the country every other weekend! Come on, I’ve got to change.”

  The girls followed her into the locker area. It felt like a lot longer than two weeks ago that the three of them had been there waiting for Lisa to talk to her dad the last time. Lisa was more relaxed and even eager to see her father. She wasn’t nervous, angry, or sick to her stomach.

  “Too bad we can’t visit PJ this weekend,” Stevie said.

  “Oh, he’s doing fine, I’m sure,” said Lisa, picking up a towel. “I called Mr. Crawford on Wednesday. He said the leg has healed and he’s even ridden him a couple of times. That horse doesn’t need us anymore.” She picked up a bar of soap and headed to the bathroom to wash up.

  “That was interesting,” said Stevie.

  “Definitely,” Carole agreed. “I guess that story Mrs. Reg told us about the pony was right. PJ is totally readjusted and doing fine. He’s where he belongs.”

  “That’s not what Mrs. Reg’s story was about,” Stevie said, looking curiously at her friend.

  “Sure sounded like it to me,” said Carole.

  “No,” Stevie said. “I don’t think so. I think she was telling us that Lisa was going to get better once she got used to her new family arrangement. The changes she’s been going through have been just as upsetting as the horse’s, and now she’s doing pretty well.”

  “Yeah, she is,” said Carole. “She was pretty weird there for a while.”

  Lisa emerged from the bathroom then, stopping that particular conversation. They chatted while she dressed, and when her dad called into the locker area to say he was there to pick her up, she was ready.

  “Be right there, Dad,” she said. She slid her backpack onto her shoulder.

  “Have fun with your father,” Carole said.

  “Of course I will,” Lisa said. Then she added, “He’s my dad!”

  When she left the room, Stevie and Carole looked at each other and smiled.

  “Another successful Saddle Club project,” Stevie declared.

  They shared a high five.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  BONNIE BRYANT is the author of more than a hundred books about horses, including The Saddle Club series, The Saddle Club Super Editions, the Pony Tails series, and Pine Hollow, which follows the Saddle Club girls into their teens. She has also written novels and movie novelizations under her married name, B. B. Hiller.

  Ms. 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.

  Ms. Bryant was born and raised in New York City. She still lives there, in Greenwich Village, with her two sons.