English Horse

by Bonnie Bryant

  “Oh, there are plenty to choose from,” Tessa insisted. “There’s Lottery for one. He was the first to win the Grand National. Then you have Red Rum, Golden Miller, Desert Orchid, and all sorts of others.” She grinned. “I even know of at least one rather well-known American ’chaser—Flatterer. That might be a good one to start with.” She shrugged. “In fact, maybe I’ll make the suggestion to Max myself when I see him. Where is he, anyway? I can’t believe we’ve been here nearly an hour and he hasn’t turned up.”

  “Oh, I’m sure he’s around somewhere,” Stevie said vaguely. She was glad they hadn’t run into Max yet. She was in no hurry to come within range of his glare again.

  Luckily, just then they arrived at Prancer’s stall, distracting Tessa from any further thoughts about Max. “Oh, she’s gorgeous!” Tessa cried in admiration.

  Prancer was standing at the front of her stall with her ears perked forward curiously. She let out a snort when she saw Lisa, stretching to nuzzle her pockets for treats.

  “Hi there, girl,” Lisa said, giving the horse a hug. “Did you miss me yesterday? I missed you. By the way, this is our friend Tessa.”

  Tessa stroked the mare’s nose. “Hello, Prancer,” she said. “You’re positively gorgeous, did you know that?”

  Carole grinned. “Sure she does,” she replied on the horse’s behalf. “Lisa tells her all the time.”

  “I think she likes you, Tessa,” Stevie remarked. Prancer had turned her attention away from Lisa and was snuffling curiously at Tessa’s shoulder.

  “That’s no surprise, is it?” Tessa said. “You told me last night that she loves everyone under the age of twenty.”

  “Almost everyone,” Stevie muttered, thinking of Veronica.

  The four girls spent a few more minutes with Prancer, then moved on so that Tessa could meet the last few Pine Hollow residents. She also met several of the other young riders, who were starting to arrive for the Horse Wise meeting.

  “The people here are all so lovely,” Tessa remarked as they left yet another stall. “The horses, too. You have such a variety—frisky young things like Belle and Starlight and Romeo and Derby, chubby old darling Patch and grand old Nero, all those adorable ponies, elegant Thoroughbreds like Prancer and Calypso …”

  Lisa nodded. She knew there were at least two Thoroughbreds at Pine Hollow that Tessa hadn’t yet met. One of them was Danny, and Lisa, for one, had no intention of going near his stall. Veronica didn’t usually arrive early for Horse Wise—or anything else—but there was no sense in taking chances.

  “Come on,” she said. “Speaking of Thoroughbreds, you still have one very important horse to meet. And we don’t have much time left before we have to get to the meeting.”

  “Topside, right?” Tessa said eagerly. “You told me so much about him yesterday I feel as though I’ve met him already. I can’t wait to see him in person!”

  “We’re sure you’ll love him,” Carole assured her. “Mostly because we all do—especially Stevie.”

  Stevie nodded. “I used to ride Topside most of the time before I got Belle,” she explained. “He’s fantastic. He used to belong to Dorothy DeSoto, so he’s incredibly well-trained and athletic. Besides, he’s the nicest, most cheerful horse you’d ever want to meet. He really loves to perform well for his rider.”

  Lisa grinned. “But those aren’t the only reasons he’s perfect for you, Tessa,” she said. She winked at her friends. “You see, when we found out you were coming, we wanted to make you feel right at home.”

  Tessa paused in the stable aisle, looking intrigued. “What do you mean?” she asked. “Does he look like Humbug?” That was the name of Tessa’s horse back home.

  Carole shook her head. “Nope,” she said. “But before Max’s new horses arrived, we figured Topside was the closest thing we had to a real English horse.”

  “Now I’m truly confused,” Tessa declared with a smile. “Didn’t you tell me yesterday that Topside is a blue-blooded American Thoroughbred, born and raised right here in Virginia?”

  “Yep,” Stevie confirmed. “Topside is English by marriage, not by birth.”

  Tessa laughed out loud. “Oh, I can’t wait to hear the explanation for this!”

  Stevie grinned. “Like I said, he was once owned by Dorothy DeSoto … and Dorothy is married to Nigel Hawthorne.”

  Tessa gasped. “Of course! I’d forgotten about that. And Nigel is a member of the British Equestrian Team!” She clapped her hands and laughed again. “So Topside has British in-laws. I get it!” She shook her head good-naturedly. “Now I really can’t wait to meet him. He and I will have so much to chat about!”

  The four girls hurried to Topside’s stall. After the arrival of Derby and the other newcomers, Max had moved Topside to a stall just down the aisle from Danny’s. Carole gave Danny’s stall an anxious glance as the girls passed, but there was no sign of Veronica. That was no real surprise. Today’s Horse Wise meeting was unmounted, as every second meeting was, and it wasn’t like Veronica to show up early and risk being made to do stable chores.

  Tessa loved Topside just as much as her friends had expected. “Oh, he’s so sweet!” she cried as the big bay gelding nuzzled her cheek. “I can’t wait to ride him.”

  “You’ll get your chance soon enough.” Lisa glanced at her watch. “We have a jump class right after lunch. But now we’d better get over to the indoor ring—the Horse Wise meeting will be starting soon.”

  Tessa reluctantly said good-bye to Topside, then all four girls strolled down the aisle toward the indoor ring. As they rounded the corner, they almost ran smack into Veronica.

  “Watch where you’re going,” Veronica snapped automatically. Then she noticed Tessa behind Stevie, and her usual unpleasant frown deepened. “Oh. It’s you,” she said flatly, staring at the British visitor.

  Tessa returned Veronica’s surly comment with a sunny smile. “Hello, Veronica,” she said politely. “It’s marvelous to see you again. I trust you’ve been well?”

  Veronica opened her mouth, then closed it again. “Um, sure,” she muttered, shooting a suspicious glance at the other girls.

  “Wonderful,” Tessa said, still smiling.

  Lisa couldn’t help smiling, too. She was relieved that Tessa was being so polite despite Veronica’s rudeness. That meant Veronica didn’t have any cause for complaint, which meant Veronica had no excuse to get The Saddle Club in any more trouble with Max.

  “I don’t know what’s so wonderful about it,” Veronica said, tossing her dark hair over her shoulder and scowling at Tessa. “In fact, I think things are getting worse around here. I mean, Max is just letting anyone ride here now.”

  Lisa’s jaw dropped in astonishment. She exchanged glances with Carole and Stevie, who also looked stunned.

  Tessa wasn’t thrown. She chuckled. “Oh, Veronica,” she said. “You have such an interesting sense of humor!”

  Veronica snorted. “Well, you have an interesting taste in friends,” she said sarcastically in a bad imitation of Tessa’s accent.

  That was enough for Stevie. “Listen, Veronica,” she said heatedly, stepping forward with her fists clenched at her sides, “that’s enough. How dare you talk to our friend like—”

  “Is there a problem here?” said a familiar voice.

  Lisa whirled and saw Max standing in the doorway to the indoor ring with his arms folded over his chest. Mrs. Pennington was standing beside him. The old woman had a slightly bemused expression on her face. Max just looked suspicious.

  Lisa gulped. “No, no problem at all, Max,” she assured him hastily.

  Stevie had clamped her mouth shut as soon as she realized Max was nearby. She nodded. “We’re fine,” she said. “We were just—uh—asking Veronica if she knew what today’s meeting was about.”

  Veronica smirked, but she didn’t say anything.

  Max still looked suspicious. “Come outside and you’ll find out,” he said dryly. “We’re meeting in the outdoor ring today.” Then
he saw Tessa. “Oh, hello there!” he greeted her, smiling for the first time. “Welcome to Pine Hollow.”

  As he introduced Tessa to Mrs. Pennington, Lisa leaned toward Carole and Stevie. “That was a close one,” she murmured.

  Stevie nodded and cast a glance at Veronica, who was heading outside. “She’s going to be trouble,” she said grimly. “I can smell it.”

  IT TURNED OUT that Mrs. Pennington was the guest speaker at the Horse Wise meeting. She was there to talk about her current sport, carriage driving.

  “Like so many equine sports, driving began as a very practical pursuit,” the elderly woman explained to the crowd of Pony Clubbers gathered around Pine Hollow’s large outdoor ring. “After all, before the invention of the motor, all transportation depended on animals, especially the horse. Horses pulled fire engines, public carriages, carts that carried coal and wood and other goods, even funeral hearses. They helped with plowing and other farmwork, towed barges and trams, and carried the mail.”

  Carole nodded. She had read quite a bit about the hard work horses had done in the service of humankind. While she could hardly imagine a life that didn’t center around horses, she knew that to many other people in the modern world, the noble animals were a novelty. But it wasn’t so long ago that nearly everyone had had daily contact with working horses.

  Mrs. Pennington went on to talk more about public and private coaching in the old days, as well as modern driving sports such as international driving trials, driven dressage tests, marathons, and obstacle competitions. It was very interesting, especially since so much of the information was new to most of the riders. Carole sometimes thought it was amazing that she could learn so much about horses and still find out there were all sorts of things she didn’t know.

  When Mrs. Pennington had finished speaking, Max stepped forward. “And now we have a very special treat,” he said with a smile. “As some of you may already know, Mrs. Pennington will be boarding one of her driving teams here with us while her own stable is being renovated. They just arrived this morning, and Mrs. Pennington has graciously agreed to give us a demonstration.”

  “Cool!” Carole whispered.

  Lisa nodded, glancing at Tessa to make sure she wasn’t listening to her. “I guess this means we didn’t scare her off from boarding here.”

  “Great!” Stevie added. “That means Max has no reason to be mad at us.”

  Lisa snorted. “Oh yeah?” she whispered. “Tell that to Max!”

  Their conversation ceased when Miles Pennington appeared around the corner of the building. He was leading a pair of burly, glistening, perfectly matched bay horses. They were wearing a plain black leather harness, which was hitched to Max’s pony cart. The cart looked even smaller than it really was behind the powerful hindquarters of the huge bays.

  “I only wish my own carts and buggies had arrived in time for this demonstration,” Mrs. Pennington told the group apologetically. “But I’m afraid they aren’t being shipped down from Pennsylvania for another week or so. We’ll just have to make do.”

  Miles led the horses forward into the ring, then helped his grandmother into the cart. She picked up the reins, holding both pairs expertly in her left hand. In her right hand she held a long, slender whip, which she flicked lightly to guide her horses as they broke into a brisk trot.

  “I’d like to introduce my team,” the woman announced, raising her voice to be heard over the sound of the cart wheels. The horses trotted around the ring in perfect harmony. “That’s Hodge on the left, and his brother Podge on the right.”

  Max spoke up with a smile. “Can anyone guess what breed Hodge and Podge are?”

  Carole studied the two big geldings for a moment. Hodge and Podge were both a little over sixteen hands tall, solid and muscular. Each horse had a large, handsome head with a hawklike profile. They were a deep, solid bay color, with black legs, thick black manes and tails and not a speck of white to be seen on them anywhere.

  Carole raised her hand.

  “Yes, Carole?” Max nodded at her.

  “They look like Cleveland Bays,” Carole said.

  Mrs. Pennington pulled her team to a stop. She glanced at Carole, looking pleased. “That’s right, young lady,” she confirmed. “Now I’ve got another question for the group. Does anyone know where the Cleveland Bay breed originated?”

  Tessa raised her hand quickly. “I know!” she exclaimed. “They’re British.”

  Veronica let out a loud snort. “Do you think everything comes from England?” she said sarcastically. “Come on. Everybody knows that Cleveland is in Ohio. That means Cleveland Bays must be American.”

  Carole did her best to keep from laughing out loud. “No, Tessa is right,” she said. “The Cleveland Bay is the oldest native horse breed in Britain.”

  “Right,” Tessa said. “Clevelands and Cleveland crosses have been kept as carriage horses in the Royal Mews in London since the nineteen twenties.”

  Mrs. Pennington looked impressed. “Right again,” she said with a smile. “I must admit, it was a bit of a trick question.” She nodded to Veronica. “So don’t feel too bad, young lady. You aren’t the first person I’ve talked to who thought my boys came from Ohio.”

  Lisa was used to Carole’s encyclopedic knowledge of all things equine. Still, it was impressive that she knew about the Cleveland Bay breed—Tessa, too. And if Lisa was impressed, she knew that Veronica had to be positively irate. “See?” she whispered to Stevie. “We don’t have to play pranks to make Veronica look bad. She does it all by herself!”

  Mrs. Pennington went on. “In the old days, Cleveland Bays were generally used for farmwork or as packhorses, and they were used for hunting and coaching, as they are now. These days, when the breed is crossed with Thoroughbred blood, you can get an outstanding jumper or hunter.” The woman put her team through a few more paces. Then she climbed out of the cart and answered questions from the group.

  By the time the meeting came to an end, The Saddle Club had almost forgotten about Veronica’s mistake about the Cleveland Bays. But Veronica clearly hadn’t forgotten. As Max dismissed the group, Veronica got up and quickly hurried past the four Saddle Club girls, who were still seated on the ground. As she passed, the toe of her polished boot came down squarely on Tessa’s hand.

  “Ow!” Tessa cried, quickly pulling her hand away.

  “Hey!” Stevie exclaimed. “Watch where you’re putting your big feet!”

  Veronica paused and gazed down at the other girls with a nasty smile. Then she turned her head and saw that Max was looking toward them and frowning.

  “I’m sooo sorry, Tessa!” Veronica said loudly in a sugary voice. “I didn’t see your hand there. I do hope you’re okay?”

  Tessa managed a small smile. “I’m fine,” she said, clutching her injured hand to her chest. “It just smarts a bit, that’s all. No real harm done.”

  “Oh, good.” Veronica spun around and continued toward the stable building as Max turned to help the Penningtons with their horses.

  “Did you see that?” Stevie hissed. “She did that on purpose! She only apologized because Max was looking.”

  “Are you all right?” Lisa leaned over to get a look at Tessa’s hand.

  Tessa held it out gingerly for inspection. “I’ll survive,” she assured her friends. “Do you really think Veronica did that intentionally?” The corners of her mouth turned up in a mischievous grin. “If so, you know what that means. This is war!”

  Carole gave Lisa a worried glance. Stevie and her big mouth! If Tessa thought that Veronica had stepped on her on purpose—which of course she had—she would want to get back at her. That meant pulling pranks, and that meant The Saddle Club would be in big trouble. Maybe keeping their probation a secret from their visitor hadn’t been such a good idea after all. “Come on,” she said, hoping to distract Tessa from thoughts of revenge. She stood up. “Let’s go inside and get some ice. That should make your hand feel better.”

  “Good i
dea,” Lisa agreed, guessing what Carole was up to. “Stevie and I will join you in a second.” When Carole and Tessa had disappeared inside, Lisa whirled toward Stevie. “What’s the big idea?” she said. “The last thing we need right now is to start something between Tessa and Veronica. You know what Max will think about that!”

  Stevie shrugged apologetically. “I know, I know,” she muttered. “But Veronica is such a jerk! You know she did that on purpose because she thought Tessa was trying to make her look bad earlier.”

  “I know,” Lisa said, “but we have to be careful.”

  “You’re right.” Stevie sighed with frustration. “But it’s just as I thought. This situation with Veronica means one thing: big trouble.”

  Lisa couldn’t help agreeing with that. “I know,” she said worriedly. “Veronica knows we’re on probation with Max. She knows we can’t retaliate no matter what she does.”

  Stevie nodded grimly. “Who knows what else she’ll come up with to torture us?”

  “GOSH, I JUST LOVE your accent, Theresa!” Simon Atherton gushed.

  Stevie almost laughed out loud. She quickly took a big bite of her peanut butter and banana sandwich to stop herself. Simon, a member of Horse Wise, was one of the best-looking boys Stevie knew. He was also one of the nerdiest. He was just about the only person who called Stevie by her full name, Stephanie. And now he was doing the same thing to Tessa.

  Another Horse Wise member, Betsy Cavanaugh, spoke up. “I heard you’re going to be riding in the point-to-point, Tessa,” she said breathlessly. “Do you go steeplechasing all the time in England?”

  Tessa and her friends had come to The Saddle Club’s favorite lunch spot, the shady hillside above the back paddock, to eat their lunches. At first it had just been the four of them, except for the mare and foal grazing on the lush summer grass below. But before long, various other members of Horse Wise had turned up to join them. Many of the young riders at Pine Hollow were curious about the British visitor, especially after hearing her smart answers in the meeting. By now there were almost a dozen people gathered on the hillside.