A BAD CASE OF SPRING FEVER
Starlight chewed the bit and tossed his head. Then he began to dance in a little circle. Finally Carole gave up. She rode him to the gate and briskly dismounted. “Starlight, I don’t know what’s going on with you today, but I think we both need to take a time-out!” Starlight snorted in reply but followed Carole back toward the barn.
“How did it go?” Mrs. Reg asked, looking up from her desk as Carole and Starlight clomped by.
“Oh, okay,” said Carole, not bothering to hide the frustration in her voice. “Getting Starlight to behave is just going to take more riding than I thought.”
“Well, you know your horse better than anyone,” Mrs. Reg said.
Carole buckled Starlight to the cross-ties and removed his saddle and bridle. He fidgeted the whole time, shifting his weight from side to side.
“I hope you get over your spring fever before the Fourth of July, Starlight,” Carole said as she quickly brushed the dried sweat from his coat. “Otherwise we’ll have to invent a whole new name for whatever it is you’ve got!”
Other Skylark Books you will enjoy
Ask your bookseller for the books you have missed
THE WINNING STROKE (American Gold Swimmers #1) by Sharon Dennis Wyeth
COMPETITION FEVER (American Gold Gymnasts #1) by Gabrielle Charbonnet
THE GREAT DAD DISASTER by Betsy Haynes
THE GREAT MOM SWAP by Betsy Haynes
BREAKING THE ICE (Silver Blades #1) by Melissa Lowell
SAVE THE UNICORNS (Unicorn Club #1) by Francine Pascal
RL 5, 009–012
HORSEFLIES
A Bantam Skylark Book / June 1998
Skylark Books is a registered trademark of Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and elsewhere.
“The Saddle Club” is a registered trademark of Bonnie Bryant Hiller.
The Saddle Club design/logo, which consists of a riding crop and a riding hat, is a trademark of Bantam Books.
“USPC” and “Pony Club” are registered trademarks of The United States Pony Clubs, Inc., at The Kentucky Horse Park, 4071 Iron Works Pike, Lexington, KY 40511-8462.
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1998 by Bonnie Bryant Hiller.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information address: Bantam Books.
eISBN: 978-0-307-82579-7
Published simultaneously in the United States and Canada.
Bantam Books are published by Bantam Books, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Its trademark, consisting of the words “Bantam Books” and the portrayal of a rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Registrada. Bantam Books, 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036.
v3.1
I would like to express my special thanks
to Sallie Bissell for her help
in the writing of this book.
Contents
Cover
Other Skylark Books
Title Page
Copyright
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Excerpt from Pine Hollow #1: The Long Ride
About the Author
“ARE WE GOING to meet your crazy friends here?” the little boy asked. He held Lisa Atwood’s hand tightly as they walked down the lane toward Pine Hollow Stables.
Lisa laughed. “Well, we’re going to meet my friends, Jamie. But they’re horse-crazy. Not crazy crazy.”
“Oh, I see,” Jamie said.
Lisa squeezed Jamie’s hand. It was the first day of summer vacation and she’d already gotten a baby-sitting job. She’d promised her parents that she would contribute fifty dollars each month of her own money toward her riding lessons this summer, so she was thrilled when Mrs. Bacon asked her to baby-sit Jamie for the whole week. She needed every penny she could scrape together to continue her lessons, and a weeklong baby-sitting job would go a long way toward her goal.
“Look,” Lisa said as they rounded the last curve to the stable. “There they are, waiting for us.”
Stevie Lake was sprawled on a hay bale, wearing her usual riding outfit of shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots. Carole Hanson sat next to her in faded breeches and field boots. Lisa blinked and almost stopped. From this distance it looked as if Carole, who was probably the most horse-crazy of the trio, was sitting at the stable reading a book.
“Hi, everybody!” Lisa called. “Sorry I’m late.”
“Hi, Lisa.” Carole looked up and smiled.
“Who’s your friend?” asked Stevie, sitting up.
“This is Jamie Bacon,” Lisa said. “Jamie, these are my friends Stevie and Carole.”
Jamie smiled, revealing one missing front tooth. “Hi,” he said shyly.
Lisa laughed. “These are the other members of The Saddle Club, Jamie. Or at least, most of them.” The three girls had started The Saddle Club some time earlier. The only rules were that members had to be crazy about horses, which they were, and they had to help the other members when they got into trouble, which they did.
“I’m going to be baby-sitting Jamie all week,” Lisa explained. “And since he wanted to learn something about horses, I thought, What better place to learn than here?”
Carole smiled at the serious-looking little boy. “Have you ever ridden a horse before, Jamie?”
“No,” Jamie replied, trying to peek inside the barn. “But it looks pretty neat.”
“I asked his mother if it would be okay to bring him to Pine Hollow, and she thought it was a wonderful idea,” Lisa said.
“That’s great,” agreed Carole. “I can’t imagine a better place to baby-sit than at a stable.”
Lisa spied the paperback book on the hay. “What’s this?” she asked Carole, picking it up and peering at the cover. “Greek mythology? Didn’t they tell you? School’s out. They announced it at assembly last Friday.” Lisa was used to her friends’ good-natured teasing about her own compulsive study habits. Here was a chance to tease Carole back.
“Can you believe it?” Stevie chimed in. “She’s beginning to act just like you! She’s actually spending the first day of summer vacation working on a school project that’s not even due until fall! I’ve got so many plans for the summer I won’t have time for anything like that.” Stevie pulled a piece of straw from her dark blond hair and began to count up all her summer plans. “First, I’m going to ride every day. Then I’m going to swim every day. Then I’m going to dream up a whole bunch of terrific new tricks to play on my brothers. And then I’m going to invent at least fifteen new desserts to eat at TD’s.” TD’s was the ice cream shop where The Saddle Club held many of its meetings. Stevie flopped back on the hay and shook her head incredulously at Carole. “I wouldn’t spend a single moment of summer doing schoolwork.”
Lisa looked at Carole. “You must admit, Carole, it’s not really like you to spend the first day of summer vacation reading a schoolbook.”
“But this isn’t just any school project,” protested Carole. “This is really cool. Everyone in our class had to choose a summer reading assignment for the new English teacher, and I chose Greek mythology, mostly because Kate Summerfield had already chosen horses. I didn’
t really want to read about mythology, but when I thumbed through the book, it looked pretty interesting. It’s about this wonderful pure-white horse with wings named Pegasus and a beautiful youth named Bellerophon.”
“ ‘Beautiful youth’?” Stevie wrinkled her nose and frowned.
“You know, a handsome young Greek guy—big brown eyes, wavy brown hair, broad shoulders.”
“Oh.” Stevie nodded. “I get it.”
“Anyway, Bellerophon captures Pegasus with a golden bridle that the goddess Athena gave him, and they ride up into the clouds and kill this monster called the Chimera that’s got a lion’s head and a goat’s body and a dragon’s tail—”
“Whoa!” Stevie interrupted. “Golden bridles? The goddess Athena? Goat bodies with dragon tails? There goes Carole’s summer!”
Carole laughed at Stevie’s shocked expression. “That’s not all I’m going to do this summer, Stevie. Judy Barker asked me if I’d like to work more hours with her on Tuesdays, to get a better feel for what it’s like to be an equine vet. Besides, I’m going to ride Starlight every day and hang out with you guys.”
“Really? You’re going with Judy every Tuesday?” Lisa’s blue eyes widened.
Carole nodded. “I’m so excited! I’m going to learn a lot.”
“That’s wonderful. I think your book sounds wonderful, too,” said Lisa. “Maybe I’ll read it after you finish.”
“Actually, it doesn’t sound too bad,” admitted Stevie. “At least it’s about horses.”
“But not just any horses,” Carole added dreamily. “Horses with wings.”
“Do any horses here have wings?” Jamie’s high voice broke the silence as each member of The Saddle Club tried to imagine what it might be like to soar through the clouds on a flying horse.
“Sorry, Jamie.” Lisa laughed. “I’m afraid not.”
“Sometimes it feels like they have wings when they gallop, though,” Carole said.
“Or when they go over a double oxer,” added Stevie.
Jamie frowned. “Aren’t oxers cows?”
This time all the girls laughed. Lisa knelt down in front of Jamie to explain. “Jamie, an oxer’s a kind of jump. Would you like to go inside the stable and see what it’s like in there? We can give you a tour. In fact, we could even ask Max if he would let you ride one of the ponies.”
“Really?” Jamie’s eyes shined with excitement.
“We can ask him,” replied Lisa.
Stevie jumped off the hay bale. “Let’s go! Coming, Carole?” she teased. “Or would you rather stay here and read about Pegasus and the beautiful youth Beetlejuice?”
“Bellerophon, Stevie,” Carole said as she shoved the book into her backpack. “And no way. It’s time to go see some real horses now.”
Lisa took Jamie’s hand again, and The Saddle Club began his tour of Pine Hollow Stables. Though the warm summer sunlight sparkled outside, the inside of the U-shaped stable was cool and dark.
Jamie gave a loud sniff and rubbed his nose. “There’s something in here that tickles,” he said.
“That’s hay,” explained Carole. “Or maybe sawdust. Smells good, doesn’t it?” Carole thought everything inside a barn smelled wonderful—hay, oats, saddles, and especially horses. A gray-and-white cat strutted out from behind a water bucket as they walked toward the stalls.
“That’s Seabiscuit,” Lisa said as the cat curled himself around Jamie’s leg. “He’s one of the barn cats.”
“Really?” Jamie stroked Seabiscuit’s arched back. “How many cats live here?”
“About a thousand,” Stevie said.
“Actually, more like ten,” Lisa said. “Mice like to nibble at the horse feed, and the cats help get rid of the mice.”
As they turned the first corner, Stevie’s bay mare, Belle, thrust her head over the stall door and nickered softly in greeting. Carole’s horse, Starlight, did the same thing.
“This is my horse, Belle, Jamie,” Stevie said as she lifted Jamie up to give Belle a scratch behind the ears. “She knows my voice. In fact, it’s music to her ears.”
“And my voice is music to Starlight’s ears, Jamie,” Carole added. She lifted Jamie up to give Starlight the same kind of scratch.
After Jamie had been properly introduced to Belle and Starlight, Lisa led him down to Prancer’s stall.
“Is this one yours?” Jamie asked, scrunching up his eyes as the big Thoroughbred mare leaned over the stall door to sniff his hair.
“No.” Lisa sighed wistfully, wishing she would someday have enough money to own a horse. “But she’s the one I ride all the time.” She smiled as Prancer nuzzled Jamie’s ear. “Prancer doesn’t like the barn cats, but she loves children.”
“She’s beautiful,” Jamie said, reaching up to stroke Prancer’s velvety nose.
“Let’s show Jamie the tack room, and then go ask Max if we can take him on a ride,” Stevie suggested.
As the four headed to the tack room, various horses stuck their heads out of their stalls, curious to see who was walking by. The group went into a large room filled with saddles, bridles, and all sorts of bits. One wall was dotted with black velvet riding helmets.
“Wow.” Jamie stared at all the equipment. “I guess it takes a lot of stuff to ride a horse.”
“It sure does.” Carole smiled. “You need a saddle so you can sit securely when they gallop.”
“And a bridle so you can steer them in the direction you want them to go,” added Lisa.
“And a helmet so you won’t crack your head open when you fall off.” Stevie laughed.
“That’s right.” Max Regnery, their riding instructor and the owner of Pine Hollow, suddenly appeared in the tack room, carrying a clipboard in his hand. “All those things are very important when you ride.”
“Max, we were just going to look for you,” Lisa said. “This is Jamie Bacon. I’m baby-sitting him, and I was wondering if we could take him for a ride on one of the ponies.”
Max looked down at Jamie. Max’s normally bright blue eyes looked tired, and lines of fatigue seemed to pull his mouth down. “Have you ever ridden a pony before, Jamie?” he asked.
“No, sir,” Jamie replied in a solemn voice.
“I asked his parents for permission to bring him here, Max. They said it was okay,” Lisa explained.
Max didn’t answer but seemed to stare off at a spot somewhere over Jamie’s head.
“Max?” Lisa said. “Are you all right?”
“Uh-huh,” Max mumbled through a deep yawn. “Sorry. I’m just not with it today. Maxi’s come down with chicken pox and nobody’s been able to get any sleep at our house for the last several nights.”
“Chicken pox? Oh, Max, we’re so sorry!” Carole said with concern. “She’s not horribly sick, is she?”
Max shook his head. “Just uncomfortable, mostly. Babies Maxi’s age have a hard time scratching, and you know how chicken pox itches. Deborah thinks she must have picked it up here, that morning she stayed in her playpen in my office.”
“I don’t know,” said Stevie. “There’s a lot of it going around. My little brother, Michael, spends hours on the phone talking to his friend Shawn Davidson, who came down with it a week ago.” Stevie rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Now I can barely get on the phone to make my own calls.”
“Which are, of course, all to us.” Carole laughed.
“Well, yeah.” Stevie shrugged and grinned.
“So, Max, can we give Jamie a ride?” Lisa asked.
Max rubbed his eyes. “Okay. You can give Jamie a ride if you put a helmet on him and promise not to let go of the lead line.” He looked at Stevie and Carole. “You two can spot him on either side.”
“We promise,” said Lisa.
“Then put him on Nickel. He just got back from a beginner class, but he should be okay for a short ride like this.”
“Thanks, Max!” Lisa said.
“Have fun.” Max yawned again as he returned to his clipboard.
The g
irls took Jamie down to Nickel’s stall. The silver-colored pony looked up from his feed trough when they opened the door. His jaws were still moving and a long wisp of hay dangled from his mouth.
“Uh-oh,” Stevie said. “Looks like Nickel was just having a midmorning snack.”
“Oh, he won’t mind being interrupted.” Carole snapped a lead line to his halter. “He’ll be done with that mouthful by the time we tack him up. Let’s let Lisa and Jamie lead him to the cross-ties while you and I get his tack.”
The girls showed Jamie the proper way to lead a horse, and under Lisa’s watchful eye, the boy led Nickel to the cross-ties. Carole and Stevie scurried for his saddle and bridle. By the time Nickel was tacked up and ready to go, he had finished his hay.
“Here.” Stevie grinned and handed Jamie a riding helmet. “This looks like it might fit.”
Jamie put the helmet on and buckled it under his chin. “Wow,” he breathed. “Cool!”
“Okay,” said Lisa. “Ready?”
They couldn’t see Jamie’s face, but the black helmet nodded up and down. Together the four of them led Nickel to the stable door.
“Don’t forget to touch the horseshoe, Jamie.” Stevie pointed to an upright horseshoe nailed to the entrance of the stable. “It’s a tradition here at Pine Hollow. Everybody touches it before they ride, and no one has ever gotten seriously hurt.”
Stevie lifted Jamie and he touched the horseshoe with one finger; then they led Nickel out into the sunlight. The outdoor ring was empty.
“Okay, Jamie, the first thing to remember is that you always mount a horse from the left side,” Carole began.
“How come?”
“Because in the old days, people wore swords attached on their left sides, so they couldn’t mount their horses from the right.” Of The Saddle Club members, Carole knew the most about horses. “What you do is this. Hold on to the saddle with both hands, put your left foot inside my hands, and I’ll boost you onto Nickel. Lisa will hold him like she promised, and Stevie will spot you from the other side.”
“Okay.” Jamie did as Carole told him, grabbing the saddle and stepping into her intertwined fingers. She gave one heave, and suddenly Jamie was sitting tall in the saddle.
Horseflies Page 1