English Horse

by Bonnie Bryant

  Carole could hardly believe it. She couldn’t even imagine how disappointed she would be in Tessa’s place. “I’m so sorry, Tessa,” she said. “This is awful.”

  “Oh, it’s not so bad,” Tessa replied, obviously trying to sound like her usual chipper self and failing miserably. “Being a judge will be fun, too.”

  Suddenly Stevie jumped to her feet. “Enough is enough,” she snapped. Before the others could stop her, she stormed out of the room.

  “Uh-oh,” Carole said.

  Lisa was already heading after Stevie. “Double uh-oh,” she said. “Let’s go!”

  They caught up to Stevie in the tack room. Veronica was there, too, backed up against a wall beside the sink.

  “You can’t do this to our friend and get away with it!” Stevie was yelling. She was holding a large bucket full of soapy, dirty water above her head.

  “Stevie!” Lisa hissed, glancing anxiously at the door that led from the tack room to Mrs. Reg’s office. “No!”

  Stevie didn’t even bother to look at her friends. “I hope you brought a change of clothes, Veronica,” she snapped.

  “You wouldn’t dare,” Veronica replied haughtily, crossing her arms across her chest.

  “Oh, wouldn’t I?” Stevie lowered the bucket a little and heaved it back, preparing to splatter its contents all over Veronica.

  At that very second Max rushed in from the office. “What’s all the shouting in here?” he demanded. He quickly took in the scene, including Stevie and the bucket. “Stevie, what are you doing?”

  Stevie shifted her aim just in time. The soapy water splashed harmlessly into the sink. “What do you mean, Max?” she asked innocently. “I was just dumping this out so that I could clean the bucket.”

  Veronica scowled. “Yeah, right,” she muttered. She shoved past the other girls and hurried out of the room.

  Max looked suspicious. “Well, keep it down,” he said grumpily. Then he left, too.

  “Whew,” Carole said a little shakily, leaning against a nearby trunk. “That was a close one. We’re just lucky Veronica didn’t stick around and tattle to Max that—” Suddenly she realized what she had just said. “Oops,” she added, glancing at Tessa.

  Carole looked at Lisa, then at Stevie. “Listen,” she began hesitantly. “Um, I know we haven’t talked about this, but …”

  Lisa was already nodding, looking relieved. “But maybe we should tell Tessa the truth,” she finished.

  “Tell Tessa the truth about what?” Tessa asked.

  “Stevie?” Carole said. “What do you think?”

  “I think we should have told her days ago,” Stevie admitted with a sigh. She turned to Tessa. “Something happened right before you got here,” she began. Then, with some help from Carole and Lisa, she explained everything—the school assembly, the water balloon prank, the incident with the Penningtons, Max’s probation, everything.

  By the time the whole story was out, Tessa was grinning. “Wow,” she said. “That explains a lot.”

  “We know,” Lisa said wryly. “You were probably wondering why we were letting Veronica get away with all that stuff she’s been pulling.”

  “I sure was,” Tessa agreed. “I suppose I should have suspected something was up when you kept refusing to play tricks on her or even raise your voices to her. I should’ve known you couldn’t have changed that much since you came to England!”

  The other girls laughed, relieved that Tessa wasn’t angry with them for keeping secrets.

  “So what do we do now?” Carole asked, glancing at the empty water bucket, which Stevie was still holding.

  Stevie set the bucket down under the sink. “What can we do?” she said. “Veronica has us just where she wants us. She can do anything she wants, and we can’t stop her, because if we try anything she’ll tell Max.”

  “Would Max really revoke your riding privileges?” Tessa asked.

  Lisa shrugged. She had been wondering the same thing. After all, she and her friends were normally well-behaved and helpful around the stable. They took good care of the horses they rode, and they were always willing to pitch in and help with the stable chores. In fact, Lisa would have been willing to bet that she, Carole, and Stevie were among Max’s favorite people.

  Still, she knew that Max had gotten genuinely annoyed by some of Stevie’s wilder pranks. He might actually decide to put his foot down to teach them a lesson.

  “I don’t know,” Lisa said. “He might not go through with it. Then again, he might.”

  “And you can’t take that chance.” Tessa nodded. “I understand.”

  Stevie sighed and leaned against the edge of the sink. “I just wish Veronica wasn’t being so obnoxious to you during your visit,” she told Tessa. “That’s the hardest thing to put up with!”

  “I know,” Tessa said sympathetically. “But you can’t let her get to you. Don’t worry, I can stand up for myself—especially now that I know the score.” She smiled and winked conspiratorially.

  Carole smiled back at her. “We know you can. I guess that’s why it took us so long to tell you the truth. Boy, were we dumb to think we shouldn’t tell you.”

  “It’s just too bad Veronica was able to ruin your chances of riding in the point-to-point,” Lisa said sadly.

  “Isn’t there any chance of changing the committee’s mind?” Stevie asked.

  Lisa and Tessa both shook their heads. “I doubt it,” Lisa said. “Especially since it sounds as if Mrs. diAngelo is all excited about having Tessa as a judge.” She rolled her eyes. “Naturally, Veronica filled her in on Tessa’s royal connections, too.”

  Tessa shrugged, looking resigned. “Really, don’t fret,” she told her friends. “It’s a disappointment, but there’s nothing to be done. Watching you ride will be fun. And we can cheer on the riders in the adult races together, right? I don’t have to judge those.”

  “Okay,” Lisa said. “You’re right. Besides, the best revenge of all will be to ignore Veronica and have fun in spite of her.”

  Stevie looked doubtful about that, but she nodded. “Maybe you can stick a carrot out in front of Danny’s nose when he goes over your jump, Tessa,” she suggested jokingly. “Then he’ll get distracted and Veronica will lose.”

  They were all still laughing about that when Veronica walked back into the tack room. Miles Pennington was right behind her, looking handsome in a spotless white polo shirt.

  Veronica wrinkled her nose in distaste when she saw the other girls. “Oh,” she said to Miles. “It’s a little crowded in here. Let’s come back later.” She grabbed his arm and started to pull him away.

  But Miles stood his ground. “Hey, aren’t you Tessa?” he said. “I heard you’re going to be a fence judge at the point-to-point. I’m going to be one, too.”

  “Brilliant,” Tessa responded. She smiled warmly and stepped forward to offer her hand. “I’m sure it will be lots of fun. By the way, I’ve been wanting to tell you and your grandmother how interesting that talk about carriage driving was. Your team is gorgeous.”

  “Thanks. I’ll be sure to tell Grandmother that you said so.” Miles looked pleased.

  Veronica definitely did not look pleased. “Come on, Miles,” she whined, still tugging on the teenager’s arm. “I thought you wanted to take a walk.”

  “Just a second,” Miles said without glancing around.

  Stevie hid a smile. Veronica obviously had a huge crush on Miles Pennington. And he was obviously completely oblivious to that fact. Stevie shot a glance at Carole and Lisa, who looked just as amused as she felt.

  Miles didn’t notice that, either. “I know Grandmother had a great time showing off the Bays at your meeting,” he said to all the girls. “She loves to talk about driving. She’s just as enthusiastic about it as she ever was about show jumping.”

  “Oh, that’s right,” Carole said, suddenly looking interested in something other than Veronica’s annoyance. “We heard she used to win a lot of ribbons in the show-jumping ring.�
��

  “She did,” Miles confirmed. “But when her arthritis got too bad for her to ride comfortably, she decided she’d rather sit behind a horse than not be anywhere near them.” He smiled, his voice fond. “Now she has two teams in training, half a dozen vintage carts and buggies, and a mantel full of driving trophies. And the rest is history.”

  “Oh, she has a second driving team?” Carole asked. “Are they Cleveland Bays, too? Are they going to stay at Pine Hollow?”

  “I don’t know if they’ll come here or not,” Miles replied. “They’re boarding temporarily at a friend’s farm up in Pennsylvania. I guess they’ll probably stay there until our barn is finished, unless Grandmother decides she misses them too much. And no, they’re not Bays. They’re—”

  “Miles,” Veronica interrupted. She looked truly annoyed. “I thought you wanted to talk to Max about bringing your friends riding this weekend. We really should go find him.”

  Miles nodded agreeably. “Okay,” he told Veronica. But he paused to explain to the other girls. “A bunch of guys are coming down—friends of mine from the stable where I rode back home in Pennsylvania. They’re staying for the weekend, and I thought I’d bring them here for a trail ride if it’s okay with Max.”

  “That sounds nice,” Lisa said. “I’m sure Max won’t mind a bit.” She was glad Miles was being so friendly and not just because it was driving Veronica crazy. She hoped it also meant that he and his grandmother really weren’t still mad about the water balloon attack.

  Tessa nodded. “There’s just one problem,” she joked brightly. “Once your friends ride here, they’ll probably never want to go home.”

  “Oh, really?” Veronica said in a nasty tone. “I hope that’s not the case with you, Tessa. By the way, your shirt’s missing a button.” With that, she flounced out of the room.

  Tessa glanced down at the front of her shirt. Meanwhile Miles looked a little surprised, but he didn’t say anything about Veronica’s rude comments. “Well, good-bye, all,” he said lamely, backing out of the room. He grinned weakly. “Cheerio, as they say in England.”

  “Do they really say that in England?” Lisa asked once Miles had disappeared.

  Tessa didn’t answer. She was fingering the empty buttonhole near the bottom of her shirt and staring into space with narrowed eyes. “That girl really gets my goat,” she muttered.

  “No kidding,” Stevie said wholeheartedly. “It’s bad enough when she insults us. How dare she be so obnoxious to you? We’ve got to put a stop to it.”

  Just then Max walked past the open doorway. When he noticed The Saddle Club, he paused. “If you girls are bored, there are some stalls that could use a good cleaning,” he said warningly. “And the grain has to be mixed for next week, and the pony harness hasn’t been oiled in a while …”

  “Oh, we’re not bored, Max,” Stevie said. Max hated seeing his riders standing around doing nothing when there was always so much to be done around the stable. If they didn’t act fast, he would set them to work on an endless string of stable chores—guest or no guest. She quickly grabbed Belle’s bridle off the wall behind her. “We were just on our way out to practice for the point-to-point.” Even though Tessa can’t even ride in it now, she added in her head. She gave Max her most winning smile.

  “Well, all right then,” Max said, watching as the other girls also began gathering their tack. “As long as you’re keeping busy.” He continued on his way.

  Lisa let out a sigh of relief. “That was close,” she said, rubbing a spot of lint off Derby’s browband. She glanced at Stevie. “And by the way, in case you’ve forgotten, that’s why we can’t put a stop to Veronica’s reign of terror. If we do anything to get back at her, she’ll tattle.”

  “And then we can all kiss the point-to-point good-bye,” Carole added, hoisting Starlight’s saddle off its rack.

  Stevie sighed. “I guess you’re right,” she muttered, looking unhappy. “If we get banned, Veronica wins—no matter what we do.”

  “You know,” Tessa said slowly, “if you think about it, you three are the only ones in danger here. I’m not on probation, am I?”

  Carole pretended to be insulted. “Hey, what happened to The Saddle Club motto—all for one and one for all?”

  “I thought that was the motto of the Three Musketeers,” Lisa put in.

  Tessa grinned. “Don’t worry, I’m not abandoning you,” she said. “Quite the contrary. It just occurred to me—there’s nothing to say that I couldn’t do something myself to get back at Veronica. It just can’t be anything that could be blamed on the three of you. Right?”

  “Right,” Stevie said, looking intrigued. “What do you have in mind?”

  “I don’t know yet,” Tessa admitted. She grinned and tapped her forehead with one finger. “But from this moment on, the British branch of The Saddle Club is on the case.”

  THE NEXT MORNING Stevie looked up from Belle’s water bucket, listening to footsteps coming down the aisle. A moment later Lisa and Tessa poked their heads into the stall.

  “Did you think of anything?” Stevie demanded eagerly. Tessa laughed. “Is that how you greet all your friends?” she asked.

  Stevie grinned. “Nope,” she replied, hanging the bucket carefully in its spot on the side wall of Belle’s stall. “Just the ones who are going to save us from you-know-who.” She winked and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Veronica’s in Danny’s stall.”

  Lisa glanced down the aisle and rolled her eyes. “Ugh. You mean we might actually run into her?”

  “Only if we’re unlucky,” Stevie said. She returned her voice to its normal level. “So when is your mom expecting us?”

  “An hour ago,” Lisa replied. “But that’s okay. I told her we’d be there as soon as we finished up here.” The four girls had agreed to spend the day helping Mrs. Atwood with her plans for the point-to-point. After her error regarding the course map, she was more nervous than ever about her duties—especially the ones that had anything to do with horses.

  “Where’s Carole?” Tessa asked, glancing into Starlight’s stall, which was right next to Belle’s. The friendly bay was watching them curiously, munching on a mouthful of fresh hay. There was no sign of his owner.

  “Out in the grain shed, I think,” Stevie said, letting herself out of the stall. “Belle’s all set. I’ll go see if Carole’s almost ready while you guys check on Prancer and Topside.”

  “And Derby,” Lisa added. She chuckled. “Until after the point-to-point, I’m on double duty.”

  Stevie nodded and headed down the aisle. After a few steps, she stopped. “Oh, I almost forgot,” she called to the others. “I talked to Phil last night. He wants to get together tomorrow. I thought we could all meet at that new pizza place, Papa’s, after lessons. What do you think?”

  “Sounds good to me,” Lisa called back.

  Tessa gave a thumbs-up sign. “I can’t wait to meet him,” she added.

  Stevie smiled as she turned to continue on her way. Her gaze fell on Danny’s stall. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw Veronica ducking out of sight behind the stall door.

  Stevie rolled her eyes. Whatever Veronica was up to, she couldn’t care less. Tessa would deal with her soon enough. Whistling off-key, Stevie went to find Carole.

  “WOW,” CAROLE SAID several hours later. She leaned back in her seat at the Atwoods’ dining room table and wearily pushed her hair out of her eyes. “Who knew being a member of the country club was so much work?”

  Stevie looked up from the Parking sign she was lettering. “What do you mean?” she said. “We’re the ones doing all the work here. And none of us are members.”

  Tessa laughed. “Come now, Stevie,” she chided. “You know very well that Mrs. Atwood has been working like a demon. At least she has since I’ve been here. I’ve barely seen her.”

  Lisa nodded. Tessa was right. Now that she thought about it, it was probably lucky for The Saddle Club that the point-to-point fell at the end of Tessa’
s visit. Otherwise they probably would have had to endure a lot more tea parties with her mother.

  She pushed her chair back. She had rolled the desk with the family’s computer on it into the dining room to be able to work with her friends. Her mother had asked her to update and alphabetize some of the lists and charts for the point-to-point. There were the entrants, the prize sponsors, the presenters, the fence judges … Lisa couldn’t believe how much information went into a seemingly simple day of races.

  “It’s hard to believe Max plans events at Pine Hollow all the time,” she mused, stretching her arms above her head to rest her back. “Gymkhanas, Pony Club rallies, all those sorts of things.”

  Carole looked up. “He doesn’t do it all alone,” she pointed out. “He has lots of help. Mrs. Reg, Red, Deborah …” Deborah was Max’s wife.

  “And us,” Stevie added, capping the pen she was using. “We always help him. Just like we’re helping your mom now.”

  At that moment the doorbell rang. “I’d better get that,” Lisa said. “I think Mom’s on the phone.”

  She got up and headed for the front door. When she swung it open, she saw a short, stocky man in a dark uniform standing on the front steps. He looked vaguely familiar, but for a moment Lisa couldn’t place him. “Can I help you?” she asked politely.

  The man gave a little bow. He was holding an ivory-colored envelope in one hand. “Good day, miss,” he said in a formal tone. “I have a message for a Miss Theresa from Mrs. diAngelo.”

  Suddenly Lisa remembered where she had seen the little man before—behind the wheel of the diAngelos’ shiny black Mercedes. He was their chauffeur. She glanced out over the front yard and saw the big car parked at the curb. “A message for Tessa?” she repeated. “Okay, thanks. I’ll give it to her.”

  The chauffeur handed the envelope over with a flourish, bowed once more, and turned to go.

  As Lisa closed the door behind him, she cast a curious look at the envelope. Tessa’s name was written on the front in curly script.

  “Who was that, dear?” Mrs. Atwood’s voice came from nearby.