Quarter Horse

by Bonnie Bryant

  “Howdy,” the woman replied. “I’m San Antonio Sal. Y’all must be here for the rodeo.”

  “We are,” said Lisa. “We’re with Wagons West.”

  “That’s great,” Sal said. “I’m here for the rodeo, too.”

  “Are you a rider?” Carole blinked at the wild colors of Sal’s outfit.

  “Shoot, no.” Sal threw her head back and gave a deep belly laugh. “I gave up rodeoing years ago. Got too hard on my back, and also my backside. Now I’m a clown. Me and my partners, the Texarkana Twins, are supposed to work the junior events here tomorrow.”

  “Really?” Lisa’s eyes grew wide. “Are the Texarkana Twins here, too?”

  “Nope. They’re driving up from Donnersville tonight. My horse Sadie and I came up here early, just to check things out.” She grinned at the girls, whose horses were now saddled up and ready to go. “Are y’all going on a trail ride?”

  “No,” said Stevie. “We’re going to the arena to practice. We’ve got a lot to learn and not a whole lot of time to learn it in.”

  “Well, don’t let me keep you from your labors. Sadie and I may see you out in the ring a little later.”

  The girls led their horses into the arena. Gabriel was gone, so they had the place to themselves. They led each horse to the middle of the big ring and carefully mounted up. Ghost turned in a little circle when Lisa mounted, but Pogo stood quietly while Carole climbed on board. Lisa and Carole waited to see what Tumbleweed and Stevie would do.

  “Here goes nothing,” Stevie said, gathering her reins and planting her left foot in the stirrup.

  “Good luck,” Carole called.

  Stevie hoisted herself up and threw her right leg over Tumbleweed. The horse stood as docilely as any of the horses did at Pine Hollow; then he arched his neck and did a little dance, as if he were eager to tackle anything Stevie might have in mind.

  “I think this horse is terrific,” Stevie said, giving Tumbleweed a pat on the neck. “He sure behaves for me.”

  “Maybe he realizes he’s carrying the Amazon warrior queen of the West,” Lisa said, chuckling.

  “You can laugh now,” said Stevie, “but you’re going to love it when I beat Gabriel in all five events tomorrow!”

  “Well, let’s see what these guys can do,” said Carole, urging Pogo into a trot.

  They warmed up in the arena, practicing their lopes and turns and lead changes. All three of the horses had the surefootedness quarter horses are known for, and all seemed to be willing and responsive mounts.

  “I think we chose pretty well.” Carole pulled up in the center of the ring to give Pogo a breather.

  “Me too,” said Lisa. “Ghost is a super horse!”

  “Hi, everybody!” a voice called from the sideline. “Y’all look pretty good out there!”

  The girls turned. San Antonio Sal loped toward them, riding a beautiful leopard-spotted Appaloosa. “I believe you must have ridden once or twice before,” she said, pulling up beside them.

  “Well, yes, we do ride a lot.” Carole smiled, pleased that Sal could see they weren’t total tenderfeet.

  “Practically every day,” added Stevie.

  Sal pushed her bright orange cowboy hat back on her head. “I can tell. All of you ride wonderfully well. What events are you doing in the rodeo?”

  The girls looked at each other. “Well, Carole and I are just doing two each,” Lisa said. “Stevie’s going to be in all five.”

  “All five?” Sal’s eyebrows shot up in surprise as she looked at Stevie. “Have you ever done all five of these events before?”

  “No,” Stevie admitted sheepishly. “But I believe you can do anything you want to if you want to bad enough.”

  “This boy on our wagon train, our assistant trail boss, thinks men can do everything better than women,” Carole explained. “He sort of dared Stevie to compete in all five events.”

  “I see,” Sal said thoughtfully. She looked at Stevie, then grinned. “Well, good for you, girl. I say go get ’em! You’ll just have to show that boy whose hog ate the cabbage!”

  “You don’t know anything about pole bending, do you?” Stevie asked.

  Sal laughed. “Why, I sure do. Pole bending is just riding in and out around a string of poles stuck in the ground. Riders as good as you won’t have a bit of trouble with pole bending if you remember one thing: Straighten up in the saddle a little bit as you go around the poles. That way you won’t unbalance your horse when he’s doing all those flying lead changes.”

  Stevie looked puzzled.

  “Look.” Sal pointed to the middle of the arena. “Just pretend there are about six poles lined up over there and watch what I do.”

  The girls watched as Sal turned Sadie straight down the middle of the arena. “Okay,” she called. “Somebody say go and I’ll pretend I’m pole bending.”

  “Go!” said Carole.

  Suddenly Sadie leaped forward at a full gallop. Twenty feet later she made a quick curve to the right; twenty feet after that, a quick curve to the left. San Antonio Sal was weaving through a pole bending course without a pole in sight. At the end of the arena, Sadie made a sharp half turn and they zigzagged back up to the girls.

  “Wheee!” Sal let go of her reins and lifted her arms high above her head as she and Sadie roared past them. “I won!”

  “Wow!” said Lisa. “That was incredible!”

  “Oh, well, it wasn’t much.” Sal rode back around and looked at Stevie. “Did you see what I meant, though, about leaning back when your horse makes his turn? They’re twisting and lead changing so hard and fast they appreciate anything you can do to keep them balanced.”

  “Gosh,” Stevie said. “Thanks. Now at least I’ll know what I’m supposed to do.”

  “Hey, I was going to ask you girls if you wanted to ride out in the country with me and Sadie. I haven’t been up here in years, and I’d kind of like to see how the landscape’s changed.”

  “Sure,” said Carole. “I’d love to go.”

  “Me too.” Lisa gave Ghost a pat. “Stevie? How about you?”

  “Oh, I think I’ll stay here and work on my pole bending. If Gabriel was out here practicing, then I feel like that’s what I’d better be doing, too. You guys go on ahead. I’ll do a trail ride later.”

  “Are you sure?” Carole frowned. Normally Stevie was the first one to suggest a trail ride.

  “Sure I’m sure. Tumbleweed and I will stay here and practice our flying lead changes.”

  “Okay.” Carole and Pogo trotted after the others. “See you later.”

  Stevie watched as her friends rode out of the arena. As much as she wanted to go with them, the only thing she could think about right then was Gabriel, and the whole idea of him made her mad. How could someone so obnoxious and annoying grab so much of my attention? she asked herself. Maybe it was because they’d lived so close together these past few days. Maybe whoever you live close to could just take over your brain, and I just had the bad luck to get stuck with Gabriel. She pulled a knot out of Tumbleweed’s mane and frowned. But if obnoxious Gabriel’s taken over my mind, then who’s taken over Phil’s? What if there’s a girl he’s living close to who’s smart and funny and likes the outdoors? Somebody like that could really take over someone’s brain! Stevie shook her head. She couldn’t allow herself to think about that right then. She had twenty-four hours to get ready for five different rodeo events.

  “Come on, Tumbleweed,” she said. She clucked to the horse and headed toward the spot where Sal had given her demonstration. “We need to bend some imaginary poles, and we need to bend them fast!”

  BY THE TIME Shelly Bean clanged the triangle for lunch, Stevie had finished her first practice with Tumbleweed. She cooled him down and returned him to his stall, then hurried back to the wagon train to eat with her friends. She found Lisa and Carole sitting under a tree, just finishing their lunch of stewed apples and potato pancakes.

  “Grab a plate, Stevie, and join us,” Lisa called, lo
oking up from the notebook she was writing in.

  Stevie hurried through the chow line and sat down just as her friends were filling in some details of the journal they were keeping for Deborah.

  “You and Tumbleweed must have had quite a practice,” said Carole, noticing Stevie’s sweaty face.

  “We did,” replied Stevie as she took her first bite of pancake. “He’s a great little horse.” She grinned. “And I just know he’s a whole lot faster than Napoleon.”

  Carole and Lisa glanced at each other. They were growing tired of Stevie’s obsession with Gabriel, and neither wanted to spoil their lunch break by discussing it. “You know, we need to write some things about San Antonio Sal in here,” Lisa said. “She’s the first rodeo clown I’ve ever met.”

  “Me too,” said Carole. “Write down all that stuff she told us about clowning—about how each clown has her own clown personality and each of them can do special tricks.”

  Lisa nodded as she made notes. “And all of them have to entertain the audience as well as help the riders get out of the ring safely. It must be hard work.

  “San Antonio Sal’s so funny,” Lisa continued. “I can’t wait to meet the Texarkana Twins. They must really be a hoot.”

  “I know.” Carole giggled. “Remember all those jokes she told us about rodeo cowboys?”

  Lisa nodded with a grin. Both girls waited for Stevie, who loved jokes above all else, to ask to hear one, but she remained silent, just picking at her lunch and gazing over at the rodeo arena.

  “Hello?” Carole reached over and tapped Stevie on her knee. “Carole to Stevie. Joke alert! You’re about to miss some good ones!”

  “Huh?” Stevie looked up as if she hadn’t heard a word they’d said.

  “Stevie, you’ve got to get a grip on this!” Lisa cried. “Gabriel is just one know-it-all, arrogant guy. You’re letting this competition with him take over your life!”

  Stevie blinked. “Gabriel?”

  “Yes. Gabriel,” said Carole. “He’s all you’ve thought about since you two made that silly bet.”

  “No, he’s not.” Stevie shook her head. “I wasn’t thinking about him at all just then.”

  “All right, then what were you thinking about?” asked Lisa. “What has got you so deep in thought that you didn’t even hear someone talking about some terrific jokes they just heard?”

  “Oh, it’s not important.” Embarrassed, Stevie looked down at her plate.

  Carole frowned again. “Of course it’s important, Stevie, if it’s zoning you out to Mars. Just tell us what it is. Remember, we’re The Saddle Club. We’re duty bound to help.”

  Stevie blinked at her last bite of apple. “I was just thinking about Phil,” she finally admitted with a sigh.

  “Phil?” Carole and Lisa looked at each other in astonishment. “What about Phil?”

  Stevie sighed. “Oh, just that ever since I’ve been stuck here with that twerp Gabriel, Phil’s probably been rafting down the river with some pretty neat girl. I bet he’s met someone who’s prettier than me and smarter than me and more fun than me,” she said miserably.

  “Oh, Stevie, that’s just not possible,” said Lisa. “Phil likes you more than anybody. You two make a perfect couple.”

  “We did until we took these separate vacations. Now every night he’s probably dreaming about some cute girl on his raft who looks terrific in a swimsuit and paddles like a pro!”

  “Stevie, I don’t think Phil would fall head over heels in love with a totally new person that fast,” reasoned Carole. “After all, his days must be pretty busy, too, if he’s navigating a white-water river and camping in a different place every night. He’s probably too tired to even think about anything romantic!”

  “I don’t know,” Stevie muttered, remembering her own unwelcome dreams about Gabriel. “Phil’s got a lot of energy.”

  “Did I overhear someone talking about energy?”

  The girls looked over their shoulders. Gabriel stood there grinning, his cowboy hat pushed back on his head at a rakish angle.

  “Actually, you were overhearing a private conversation,” Lisa told him stiffly.

  “Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to intrude. I just saw Stevie practicing her pole bending and wondered how Tumbleweed was working out for her.”

  “Fine,” answered Stevie, turning to face him. “He’s a great horse. One of the fastest I’ve ever ridden.”

  Gabriel laughed. “That may be, but he looks like a real nag next to Napoleon.”

  Stevie narrowed her eyes. “You know, a horse is only half the team. You’ve got to be a darn good rider to know how to use one.”

  “Absolutely,” Gabriel agreed. “Particularly in calf roping. I was the junior county champion calf roper in my state last year.”

  “Oh, really?” said Stevie. “I was the junior champion barrel racer of the Bar None riders last year.”

  “That’s pretty good, for a girly sport like barrel racing,” Gabriel said. “Are you any good at goat wrestling?”

  Stevie tossed her head. “Of course I’m good at goat wrestling. I can pin a goat to the ground in eight seconds flat.”

  “Oh?” Gabriel raised one eyebrow. “Would you like to bet on that?”

  “Sure,” Stevie replied. “What’ll it be?”

  Lisa and Carole looked at each other in horror. To their knowledge, Stevie had never touched a goat, let alone wrestled one, in her life.

  Gabriel spoke quickly. “Let’s say that if you pin a goat in eight seconds flat, you get to make me perform any dare of your choice. If you can’t, then I get to make you do any dare of my choice.”

  “Oh, make it more interesting than that,” said Stevie, faking a yawn.

  “Okay.” Gabriel leaned back and stuck his thumbs in the belt loops of his jeans. “How about, whoever does better in the whole rodeo gets to make the loser perform one super dare of their choice? All five events. No holds barred, no questions asked.”

  “You’re on!” Stevie leaped to her feet and again stuck out her hand. “Shake on it!”

  “So much for trying to get her interested in rodeo clowns!” Lisa whispered to Carole as Gabriel and Stevie shook hands.

  After they had sealed their wager, Gabriel tipped his hat to the girls and strolled whistling toward the arena.

  “Why are you two looking at me like that?” Stevie asked when she turned back to her friends.

  “Stevie, how many goats have you wrestled in your life?” Carole asked.

  “Well, none,” Stevie confessed. “I fudged a little on that one. But how hard can it be? I’ve wrestled my brothers, and they all smell like goats.”

  “And how many calves have you roped and poles have you bent, Miss Champion Barrel Racer of the Bar None Riders?” Lisa questioned her further.

  “Not too many,” admitted Stevie.

  “Almost none,” corrected Carole. “And you weren’t the champion barrel racer of the Bar None Ranch, either. Kate was!”

  “Okay, so I stretched the truth a little.”

  Carole frowned. “Stevie, I’m getting really worried about you.”

  “Why?” Stevie looked puzzled.

  “Because you haven’t been this competitive in a long time, and it seems to be taking over every moment of your life. You’re bragging about things that aren’t true, and you’re not even enjoying our trip anymore because of this competition.” Carole shook her head. “Plus, who knows what a jerk like Gabriel might make you do if he wins the bet?”

  “Yeah,” agreed Lisa. “It might be something really humiliating!”

  “But you two are assuming he’s going to win,” Stevie replied. “He’s not. I am. Don’t worry about what he might make me do. Help me think up some appropriately disgusting thing I can make him do!”

  “I don’t know, Stevie.” Carole frowned. “He’s had a lot more experience at these rodeo events than you.”

  “Yoo-hoo! Girls!” Another voice rang out. “I’ve been looking all over the p
lace for you three!”

  The girls turned again. San Antonio Sal was hurrying up to their spot beneath the tree, clutching a sheet of white paper.

  “I’m so glad I found you!” she said breathlessly. “I’ve got a real emergency on my hands!”

  “What’s wrong?” Lisa asked quickly.

  Sal waved the sheet of paper at the girls. “This is a message the lady down at the rodeo office took for me. The Texarkana Twins just called from Donnersville. They ate a whole mess of bad catfish last night and came down with food poisoning. They’re not going to be able to make the rodeo!”

  “Oh no!” cried Carole. “We really wanted to meet them.”

  “Well, that’s not the worst part. All sanctioned rodeo events must have a team of three clowns. I’ve called every clown within two hundred miles and they’re all booked for bigger rodeos. If I can’t find two replacements by tomorrow, the junior events will have to be canceled!”

  “That’s terrible!” Lisa exclaimed.

  “Well, that’s where I was wondering if maybe you girls could help me out. I’ve seen how well all three of you ride, and you seem to have a lot of good old-fashioned cow sense about you. Would you be willing to take over the Texarkana Twins’ part of the act? I could show you the routines and teach you how to do the makeup. Plus, we’ll be working the junior events, so you won’t be contending with any wild broncs or bulls.” Sal smiled hopefully. “Course, it will mean you won’t be able to compete, since you’ll be working the whole time.”

  “Count me in!” cried Carole. “I can ride in a junior rodeo some other time, but I’ll probably never get the chance to be a rodeo clown again!”

  “Me too,” said Lisa. “Especially if without us, the junior events will be canceled.”

  Everyone looked at Stevie, waiting for her to join them. “I don’t know,” she finally mumbled, frowning.

  “Stevie, how can you not say yes?” Lisa asked. “It’s what The Saddle Club is supposed to do! Help out at all times!”

  “I know,” said Stevie. “And if you and Carole weren’t here I’d certainly do it. But since you two are here and you’re such good riders, you really don’t need me.” She took a deep breath and looked at San Antonio Sal. “I hope you’ll understand, but I’d rather compete in the events this time. I know Carole and Lisa will do a great job helping you out.”