A Winning Gift

by Catherine Hapka

  “Oh yeah?” Maddie tried to tamp down her annoyance, but it bubbled up before she could stop it. “Well, if I’m giving up another ride on my pony, I hope at least you’re planning to stay on for more than thirty seconds this time.”

  “What?” Bridget looked startled. Then she frowned. “Well, pardon me for not spending the entire day riding. I didn’t realize there was a time limit. Or, you know, the opposite of that. Whatever.”

  She sounded flustered, the way she always did when she got upset. “Okay, whatever,” Maddie muttered. “Sorry. I was just surprised, okay?”

  Bridget put her hands on her hips. “If you don’t want me to ride in your lesson, just say so!”

  “Hey,” Vic said as she and Val walked up just then, leading their assigned lesson ponies. “Um, is everything okay?”

  “Sure.” Maddie took a deep breath and forced a smile. “Everything’s fine.”

  “Good.” Val looked anxious as she glanced from Maddie to Bridget and back again. “Listen, Ms. Emerson wants us to pick out our ponies’ stalls after the lesson if we have time.”

  “Okay,” Maddie said.

  “You mean pick up their poop?” Bridget wrinkled her nose. “Why?”

  Vic shrugged. “Seth won’t be here today, and she didn’t have time to find someone else yet.”

  “Really?” Bridget’s frown was back. “Well, Maddie will be the one who picks up Cloudy’s poop. Because she obviously cares more about riding her favorite pony than being a good friend, so I might as well just leave.”

  “What?” Maddie wasn’t sure whether to feel astonished, annoyed, or guilty, so she settled on all three. “No. Bridge, wait . . .”

  It was too late. Bridget was already flouncing off down the aisle.

  “What was that all about?” Vic asked, wide-eyed.

  “I don’t know.” Maddie bit her lip. “Be right back.”

  She dashed after her friend. But by the time she reached the entrance, Bridget was nowhere in sight. Shoulders slumping, Maddie headed back inside.

  While she was gone, the twins had clipped their ponies into the crossties on either side of Cloudy. Val looked up from picking her pony’s hooves when Maddie reappeared.

  “Where’d she go?” she asked.

  Maddie sighed. “I guess she left.”

  “But I thought—” Vic began.

  “Can we not talk about it right now, please?” Maddie cut her off. Guilt was already taking over from the other emotions. Maddie knew that Bridget was hurting these days and that she could be sensitive pretty much all the time. How could she have been so mean? Bridget had no way of knowing why it was so important to Maddie to spend time with Cloudy right now. How could she? Maddie hadn’t told her.

  “O-o-okay.” Vic traded a look with her sister, then cleared her throat. “Anyway, we were just talking about Seth. Did you hear?”

  “Hear what?” Maddie was barely paying attention as she picked up a brush and started working on Cloudy’s coat.

  “He quit,” Vic said. “He won’t be working here anymore.”

  That actually got Maddie’s attention. “Really? Why?”

  “I guess it was always supposed to be a temporary job,” Val replied. “At least that’s what Ms. E just told us. He was trying to earn enough quick money to buy his girlfriend a nice birthday gift.”

  Vic nodded. “She must have almost the same birthday as you, Mads.”

  “Yeah, guess so.” Maddie was already losing interest. Sure, this meant Bridget wouldn’t be able to embarrass her from now on by talking her up to Seth. But was that even an issue anymore? What if Bridget never wanted to ride again? That would be the end of Maddie’s plan to turn her into Cloudy’s new person.

  Then another thought occurred to her. What if Bridget didn’t get over their fight before Maddie’s party tomorrow? She couldn’t imagine celebrating what could be her last birthday in California without one of her very best friends.

  Oh well, she thought, trying not to stress about it as she went to work on a manure stain on Cloudy’s side. I’ll have to deal with that later. At least I get to ride my favorite pony today after all. . . .

  Maddie was feeling out of sorts when she arrived home a couple of hours later. She’d barely been able to enjoy riding Cloudy in the lesson, considering what had happened. Ms. Emerson had seemed surprised and a little annoyed by Bridget’s sudden departure, which made Maddie feel worse than ever.

  After the lesson, she’d been tempted to ride her bike over to Bridget’s house and apologize. But she hadn’t quite dared. For one thing, she probably needed to give her a little more time to cool off. For another thing, Maddie still wasn’t quite ready to tell her about the move.

  Maybe after my party, she thought as she dropped her bike in the garage. If she still wants to come, that is . . .

  When she walked into the kitchen, her brothers were at the table munching on peanut butter and banana sandwiches. “Where’s Mom?” Maddie asked them.

  “Grocery store,” Tyler said. “Dad didn’t have time to go before he left for work.”

  Ryan nodded. “Tillie’s watching us.”

  “Yeah.” Tyler rolled his eyes. “But she made us make our own lunch.”

  “I can tell.” Maddie glanced at the counter, which was smeared with stray blobs of peanut butter. A sticky knife was congealing to the edge of the sink, and a banana peel hung over the edge of the wastebasket.

  Just then Tillie rushed into the room. “You’re finally back,” she said accusingly. “You need to watch the boys while I go out.” She glanced around, wrinkling her nose in distaste. “And clean up this mess while you’re at it.”

  “Whatever.” Maddie wandered to the refrigerator to grab something to eat.

  By the time she finished her lunch, Tillie was long gone and the boys were in the den playing video games. Maddie dumped her dishes in the sink.

  “Ugh,” she muttered, surveying the mess her brothers had left. “I guess I’d better get this cleaned up before Mom gets home.”

  She was tempted to drag the boys back in to do it. After all, it was their mess. And why should Maddie have to clean up after them—especially the day before her birthday?

  Still, she knew it would be quicker and easier just to do it herself, so she did. Scrubbing icky, crusty peanut butter off the counter actually made her feel a tiny bit better—as if she were scrubbing away all the icky stuff that had happened that morning.

  Finally the kitchen was sparkling clean, or at least close enough for Maddie’s taste. She wiped her hands on a dishrag and headed for the stairs.

  A few minutes later she was logged into the Pony Post. She’d been in such a rush that morning that it was her first chance today to check in, and she wanted to see if her friends had responded to last night’s posting.

  They had.

  [BROOKE] Hi, Maddie. Sorry you didn’t get to ride Cloudy again. As you know, I know how you feel! But I’m determined to ride my own pony today if it’s the last thing I do, lol. Just hoping the rain holds off. At least it’s not cold enough to snow here yet! Did you get the snowstorm you were expecting, Haley?

  [HALEY] Hi, B! Nope, no snow—it was a false alarm. Which is awesome, since it means Wings and I can have a nice, long schooling session out on my cross-country field. We’ve been working on a more balanced approach to combination jumps lately, which is tricky, since Wings and I both just want to ride fast and leap over everything, lol! But we’re starting to get it. Hoping to do a little more schooling before the snow comes for real and the ground gets too hard & frozen for jumping . . . But enough about me! Maddie, it sounds like u are having a hard time w/ Bridget. I still think u should just tell her what’s going on. Then she will understand, right? Just my two cents, lol! Hope you have a good lesson on Cloudy today. Let us know how it goes!

  [NINA] Mads! Oh no, can’t believe Bridget bogarted yr pony AGAIN!! H is right. U have to tell her!! But u can also tell her that the PP is going to figure out a way to keep u wi
th Cloudy where u belong!!! Will check in later—off to the barn now myself. Happy riding this weekend, everyone!

  [HALEY] Me again—just came back in from the barn. Brrr! It’s getting cold out there. . . . Anyway, Maddie, I was thinking about you while I was getting Wings ready. And I remembered what you wrote about the way Bridget acted at the barn yesterday. I think I MIGHT have an idea about what’s going on w/ her. . . . It’s just a thought, but it might help u understand her pov. . . . Anyway, no time to type it out right now. My aunt is calling me—we’re going into town to start some early holiday shopping. She loves having everything done early so she can sit back and enjoy the actual holidays, lol. Will write more later . . .

  Maddie blinked, reading over Haley’s last post again. Checking the time stamp, she saw that it had been posted about twenty minutes earlier, so Maddie had just missed her.

  I wish she’d just typed out what she’d been thinking about Bridget, even if it was a quickie version. Maddie thought with a flash of curiosity. She probably would’ve had time if she’d skipped the stuff about her aunt’s shopping habits!

  She couldn’t imagine what Haley could have come up with to explain Bridget’s behavior. Scrolling back up to her own posting from the night before, she read through it and shook her head, still mystified.

  Oh well. She would just have to wait until Haley signed on again. In the meantime, she opened a new text box.

  [MADDIE] Sorry so late checking in! I slept late and had to book it to get to the barn in time. And guess what? When I got there, Bridget was already tacking up Cloudy to ride her in our lesson!!! I didn’t even know she was thinking about coming today. And I guess maybe I was a little obvious about wanting to ride C myself, b/c Bridget got mad and ended up rushing off w/o riding at all. Oops. I feel really bad; need to make up w/ her before the party tomorrow . . . Gah! Why is my life so complicated right now? If this is what being 12 is going to be like, maybe I should stick with 11! LOL! Srsly tho, wish me luck. . . . And, Haley, I’m dying to hear yr theory about Bridget, whatever it is! Don’t keep me in suspense!!

  She signed off, then grabbed her cell phone and sent Bridget a text:

  Sorry about this morning! Pls forgive me? You’re still coming to my party tomorrow, right? B/c it wouldn’t be the same without you. Text me back and tell me we’re OK!!!

  ♦ CHAPTER ♦

  10

  “TURN OFF THE LIGHT ALREADY,” Tillie grumbled from her bed.

  Maddie ignored her, scrolling up and down through the last few postings on the Pony Post, hoping she’d somehow missed Haley’s. But no—there was nothing new from her since the post Maddie had seen after lunch.

  Glancing at the alarm clock, Maddie sighed. It was almost ten thirty p.m. Pacific time, which meant Haley was surely sound asleep by now. Why hadn’t she posted again?

  Oh well. As she logged off, Maddie told herself that Haley probably had a good reason for not being able to post yet. She just had to be patient, and she would hear from Haley sooner or later.

  She wasn’t so sure about Bridget. Maddie had been checking her phone all day, but Bridget had never responded to her text. Setting her laptop aside, Maddie grabbed the phone off her bedside table and checked again. Still nothing.

  “Light?” Tillie’s tone was icy.

  “Okay, okay.” Maddie set the phone down, then reached over and switched off the lamp on her bedside table. Whatever Bridget’s problem was, Maddie would have to deal with it in the morning.

  When Maddie opened her eyes on Sunday morning, the room was bright and filled with sun. She glanced over at Tillie’s bed, but it was empty.

  “So this is what being twelve feels like,” Maddie said aloud as she sat up and stretched.

  Reaching for her phone, she found a few texts from friends wishing her a happy birthday. Most of them also mentioned that they were looking forward to the party later. But there was still nothing from Bridget.

  Maddie bit her lip, wondering what to do. Noticing her laptop lying where she’d set it the night before, she grabbed it and logged on to the Pony Post. All three of her friends had already checked in to say happy birthday; Nina had even included a GIF of a dancing horse that looked almost like Cloudy, which made Maddie smile.

  Then she spotted Haley’s second posting:

  [HALEY] Btw, sorry I never got back here last night. Hope u weren’t in too much suspense, Maddie! We ended up running into some friends of the family in town and went back to their place for dinner, then had to rush to do chores before it got too dark and cold. By the time that was finished, all I could think about was falling into bed, lol!

  Maddie nodded as she read. Haley’s life seemed so different from hers sometimes! It was easy to forget that not everyone was the same, living in a regular suburban house, playing soccer after school, and visiting her pony at the boarding barn. That was Maddie’s life, but it wasn’t anything like Haley’s, who lived on her family’s farm and did all the daily care for Wings herself. Her chores weren’t anything like Maddie’s, either—instead of loading the dishwasher and vacuuming the living room, Haley had to help feed animals, load hay into the loft, and who knew what other farm-type activities. And most of it happened every day, all year round, even in the frosty, snowy Wisconsin winters.

  I wonder if my new life in London will seem as foreign to me as Haley’s life does now, Maddie thought.

  But she quickly shrugged that off, continuing to read.

  [HALEY] Anyway, here’s my theory about Bridget. I don’t know her, of course, so I could be totally off base. But when you wrote that stuff about her teasing you about the cute boy, it reminded me of my friends Tracey and Emma. Remember? I’ve told you guys about them—they suddenly went boy crazy last summer and practically turned into different people. At least, it seems that way sometimes! Anyway, they’re always acting the way Bridget is now about the cute stall cleaner guy, teasing each other & stuff. It made me wonder if maybe she has a crush on him herself. That could be why she’s hanging around the barn so much lately even tho she doesn’t seem that interested in riding. (Actually, it kinda sounds like she might be a little bit afraid of horses??) And that could be why she’s teasing you about him. She doesn’t want to admit SHE is the one w/ the crush! I know that doesn’t make much sense, lol, but like I said, I’ve seen it myself w/ my friends! Anyway, just a theory, u know? But think about it. . . .

  This time Maddie was shaking her head as she finished reading. Haley was way off base. Bridget didn’t have a crush on Seth—she thought Maddie did. Right?

  She thought back over the past week. About how Bridget couldn’t seem to stop teasing her about Seth—how cute he was, how he was such a good athlete, and all the rest.

  But suddenly, that wasn’t all she remembered about the way Bridget had been acting. She also remembered how her friend suddenly wanted to be at the barn all the time—ever since that first visit when she’d met Seth. Coincidence? Maybe not. There was also the way Bridget had started noticing and talking about pony poop much more than Maddie might have expected. And also how she’d ignored most of Maddie’s grooming and tacking lesson to chitchat with Seth about football.

  “Oh wow,” Maddie said aloud as everything suddenly started to make sense. Could Haley be right? Was Bridget really hiding her own interest in Seth by acting like she thought Maddie was crushing on him? Come to think of it, that did sort of sound like something she might do. . . .

  Then there was yesterday. Yeah, Maddie had started their fight with her snide comment. But normally something like that wouldn’t be enough to send Bridget rushing off in a snit. That hadn’t happened until they’d heard from Vic and Val that Seth wouldn’t be coming to the barn that day.

  “Bingo,” Maddie murmured with a half smile. How had she missed it before?

  When Maddie coasted down the driveway to Solano Stables a short while later, Vic and Val were waiting for her outside the main doors.

  “Happy birthday!” they sang out in unison as Maddie leaned
her bike against the wall.

  “Thanks.” Maddie smiled and hugged them both, then peered past them into the barn. “Is Bridget here?”

  “Haven’t seen her,” Val said.

  Vic shoved a small wrapped gift at Maddie. “Here,” she said. “You need to open this now.”

  “Are you sure?” Maddie turned the package over in her hands. “Shouldn’t I wait until the party?”

  “No, now,” Vic said with a grin. “You’ll see why.”

  Maddie wasn’t going to argue any further. She loved opening gifts!

  She ripped the tidy bow off first, guessing that Val had tied it—Vic could barely tie the laces of her paddock boots without ending up with tangles. Next came the pretty floral paper. Inside was a small, brightly colored bottle. As she looked at it, Maddie was confused for a second—but then she laughed as she realized what it was.

  “Pink Twinkle!” she exclaimed.

  Vic grinned. “Not quite—we weren’t about to spend that much on nail polish. Not even for your birthday.”

  “But it was the closest we could find to the same color,” Val said. “We figured we could touch up Cloudy’s hooves before the party.”

  “It’s perfect! Thank you.” Maddie hugged each of them again. Most of the nail polish had worn off the pony’s hooves by then, though there were still a few streaks of sparkly pink. Now she would look party perfect! “But don’t tell Tillie, okay?” Maddie added with a grin.

  Vic and Val laughed. “Promise!” Val said.

  “Now, come on.” Vic grabbed Maddie’s hand. “Let’s go put it on her so it has time to dry.”

  Maddie allowed them to drag her off to Cloudy’s stall, though she couldn’t help glancing at the entrance over her shoulder. Bridget had been planning to be here by now to help with the party setup. But that was before . . . Was she still going to show?

  An hour later, Cloudy had been groomed within an inch of her life and all four hooves painted with sparkly pink polish. Val was braiding matching pink ribbons into her mane when Bridget finally appeared.