“Gone?” Stevie repeated. “Why would she leave right in the middle of camp without telling anyone?”
“I don’t know.” Lisa’s face was pale and worried. “Maybe she ran away. Maybe she was kidnapped! I think her parents have a lot of money—maybe she’s being held for ransom!”
“Hold on a minute,” Carole said, holding up one hand. Normally Lisa was the sensible one of the three, but it seemed that someone else was going to have to step in this time and think logically. “What kind of kidnapper would pack up someone’s suitcase and take it along? Anyway, someone would notice if a stranger drove up and grabbed a camper in broad daylight.”
“It’s dark out now,” Lisa pointed out. “Besides, we’ve seen strange cars around all week. Remember that black gangster-type car that was parked along the driveway?” But she seemed to realize that the kidnapping theory was pretty unlikely. “Anyway, even if she just ran away, she’s all alone. If she’s wandering around in the woods somewhere, she could get hurt.”
“Why would she run away?” Stevie asked.
But Carole was already shaking her head. “I don’t know Piper as well as you do, Lisa,” she said, “but I do know one thing about her. She’s crazy about her horse. If Tap is still in the stable, I can guarantee that Piper didn’t run away. She must have had to leave suddenly for some kind of emergency.”
“But why?” Lisa asked. “Why would she have to leave? She didn’t say anything to me about it when I saw her after class this afternoon.”
Carole was trying to remember the last time she’d seen Piper. “Come to think of it, I don’t think she was at dinner,” she said.
Lisa shrugged. “That’s no big deal,” she said. “I just assumed she was jogging or riding or something.” She looked up at her friends. “So what should we do?”
“I guess we could go ask Barry about it,” Stevie said. “If Piper had to rush away for a family emergency or something, I’m sure he’d tell us.”
Carole offered Lisa a candy bar, but Lisa waved it away. “Not now,” she said. “I just want to find Piper. Let’s go talk to Barry.”
The girls hurried to Barry’s office, but he wasn’t there. “He had to go into town. He won’t be back until late. Is there anything I can help you with?” asked his assistant, a young man with a limp brown ponytail.
“We wanted to ask him about my cabin mate, Piper,” Lisa said. “Piper Sullivan. She seems to have disappeared, and I’m worried about her.”
The assistant’s pleasant smile turned to a frown. “Oh, her,” he said. “She’s gone. And don’t bother to ask why, because Barry wouldn’t tell me.” He shrugged. “All I know is, she’s not coming back.”
“Is she sick?” Lisa cried. “Is she hurt? You have to tell me!”
The assistant shrugged again. “I told you, I don’t know,” he said. “Barry just said something about personal reasons. If you want to know any more, you’ll have to take it up with him tomorrow.”
“Don’t worry,” Lisa said, as Carole and Stevie led her away. “I will.”
THE NEXT DAY in equitation class, Carole and Stevie had a chance to talk while the instructor was working with another student.
“Hey, Carole,” Stevie said. “You still haven’t given me a yes or no on my idea for the ending of our play.”
“Yes I did,” Carole replied, rolling her eyes. “I already said no. You just refuse to accept it.” After returning from Barry’s office the evening before, Stevie had finally had a chance to tell Carole and the other girls in their cabin about her idea.
“Oh, come on. The others loved the idea,” Stevie said. She gave Carole her most charming smile. “Just say you’ll do it. Please? Pretty please with sugar on top?”
Finally Carole laughed and gave in. “All right, I’ll try,” she said. “For the sake of the play. But don’t blame me if—”
“Hi,” Phil said, riding up and interrupting Carole’s comment. “What’s up?”
Stevie moved Belle a few steps away. “Anyway, Carole,” she said, her voice icy. “I don’t think we should rehearse the ending. It will be better if we just let it happen sort of spontaneously, you know?”
Carole glanced from Stevie to Phil and back again. She sighed. “All right,” she said weakly. She hated being caught in the middle of Stevie and Phil’s fight—even though she wondered if Phil had even realized that they were fighting. “No rehearsing.”
Just then the instructor clapped his hands for attention. “Okay. We have time for one more exercise,” he called out. “Everyone find a partner.”
Phil pulled Teddy up beside Belle. “How about it, Stevie?” he said with a smile. “Will you be my partner?”
Stevie didn’t reply. She just turned to Carole. “Let’s be partners, Carole,” she said. “Come on, let’s move to the other side of the ring. It’s getting a little crowded over here.” She rode off. With an apologetic glance at Phil, Carole followed.
AFTER CLASS, STEVIE and Carole found Lisa waiting for them outside the stable. As the three girls walked toward the mess hall for lunch, Lisa gave the others the latest update on Piper’s disappearance.
“I’m sure you’ve noticed that Tapestry is gone now, too,” Lisa said.
Carole nodded. She had passed the tall black mare’s stall several times that morning. It was empty and swept clean. “I guess that means Piper really isn’t coming back.”
“There are all sorts of rumors around camp about what happened,” Lisa said. “A lot of people are saying that someone in Piper’s family died. Others think she got food poisoning from the mess hall. Some heard she was suddenly hired as a fashion model and had to rush off to Paris for a shoot. One person even seemed to think that Piper had stolen Tapestry from a major racing stable and was arrested.” She rolled her eyes. “And a few people—including Phil’s friend Todd—are sure she was abducted by aliens.”
“I think we can safely rule out that last one,” Carole said with a laugh.
“And the one about the food,” Stevie added. “We’ve all been eating it, and nobody else got sick. Besides, Piper didn’t even go to dinner the day she disappeared—or most other days, for that matter.”
“Anyway, I tried to call her house this morning from the phone in the rec hall,” Lisa said. “There was no answer. I also tried to talk to Barry about it, but he just said the same thing his assistant told us—that Piper had to leave for personal reasons. Then he claimed to have some important phone call to make and shut himself in his office.” She sighed. “This is terrible. I’m not going to be able to stop worrying until I find out what happened to her.”
“At least you’ll get to move in with us in a few days,” Carole said. One of the girls in Cabin Three was leaving on Saturday, and Carole and Stevie were sure that Barry would let Lisa take her place in their cabin. “Maybe then you won’t miss her so much.”
By this time the girls had arrived at the mess hall. “Come on,” Stevie told Lisa. “Let’s go in. We can talk more about this at lunch.”
“Lunch? Are you kidding?” Lisa said. “I don’t have time. Now that Piper’s gone, I have more to do than ever. For one thing, I want to go try to call her again. Plus it looks like I’m on my own for the talent show. It’s in two days, you know. I’ve got to figure out what to do about costumes, and try to fix the choreography, and arrange the next rehearsal.… Besides, I was so distracted by everything last night that I didn’t even pick up Of Mice and Men. I’ve got to make up for it today.”
“But you’ve got to eat,” Carole said. “You can do some of that stuff after lunch. You’ll have a little time before afternoon classes start. Maybe we can help you.”
Lisa shook her head. “Thanks, but that won’t work,” she said. “I need to use the time before classes to put in a little extra work with Major. If he’s going to be a contender in that show-jumping event, he’s got to be quicker at lengthening his stride after a turn.” Before her friends could protest further, she hurried away toward her cabin.
> Carole and Stevie went into the mess hall. As they sat down at their usual table, Carole let out a heavy sigh.
“Are you worried about Lisa?” Stevie asked.
“Well, yes, a little,” Carole said. “I think this Piper thing is really bothering her a lot. And she doesn’t seem to want to let us help her through it. But that wasn’t what I was just thinking about. I was thinking about what she said about working on lengthening Major’s stride. I’ve practically forgotten what it’s like to have a horse I can work with like that. With Ditto, I’m lucky if he’ll even give me the stride I ask for, let alone lengthening or shortening it.”
“I thought you decided not to think about him anymore,” Stevie said as she helped herself to some applesauce. “Starlight will be here in three days, and then you’ll be home free.”
“I know.” Carole paused and frowned a little. “I guess it’s still bugging me, though. Before I got Starlight I used to ride all sorts of horses—difficult ones, stubborn ones, even poorly trained ones—and I never had this much trouble.”
“There’s a first time for everything,” Stevie said.
“I know,” Carole said again. She let out another long sigh. “But this isn’t what riding camp was supposed to be like.”
FRIDAY, ANOTHER PERFECT summer day, was the day of the talent show. Afternoon classes were cut short in honor of the occasion, so right after an early dinner all the campers scurried back to their cabins to put on their costumes and make other last-minute preparations. Soon campers and staff were gathered in the meadow in front of the makeshift stage—actually just a patch of the meadow that had been mowed extra close to the ground. Several of the counselors had dragged hay bales out to serve as seating for the audience. Everyone sat down and waited. The only one missing was Barry, who was supposed to act as emcee for the show.
“Just hang in there, kids,” Betty called, stepping to the front of the stage. “I’m sure he’ll be here soon.”
But five minutes passed, and Barry still hadn’t arrived. “I’ll go look for him,” offered his assistant. He ran off toward the rec hall, his ponytail flopping behind him.
Stevie was sitting cross-legged on a bale with Carole and Lisa, trying not to look at Phil, who was nearby, trying to catch her eye. “Carole, is everything ready to go? I mean, your special prop?”
Carole nodded, nearly dislodging her tall, conical princess hat, which she and Stevie had made the evening before in the arts and crafts room. “Ready and waiting, just like the rest of us.”
Ten minutes later, just as Betty was about to give in and take over as emcee, Barry’s assistant reappeared. “He’s on his way,” the young man announced. Sure enough, Barry himself arrived soon after that.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said. “I, uh, got caught up in something at the office.” He smiled, though Lisa thought it looked a little forced. She wondered if his tardiness had something to do with Piper. She still hadn’t managed to find out anything about her cabin mate’s disappearance. Barry refused to tell her a thing, and every time Lisa tried to call Piper’s house, the line was busy or there was no answer.
But Barry didn’t give any further explanation. “Okay, let’s get started,” he said. “For the very first act of the first annual Moose Hill talent show, let’s have a warm welcome for the talented girls of Cabin Two!”
With that, the talent show began. After Cabin Two, Barry called Phil’s cabin to the stage. Unlike many of the other performers, the boys were wearing ordinary clothes.
“Do you know what they’re doing for their act?” Carole asked. Then she remembered that Stevie was still mad at Phil. “Oh, sorry. Never mind.”
“I can guess what they’re doing,” Stevie said. She frowned and crossed her arms across her chest. “It probably has something to do with skateboarding.”
But she was wrong. There wasn’t a skateboard in sight as the boys began their act. Phil stepped to the front of the stage. After tipping an imaginary hat, he announced, “The gentlemen of Cabin Eight proudly present, for your viewing pleasure, a vaudeville extravaganza. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll throw money—at least we hope so.” He stepped back, and two of the other boys came forward. One was carrying a small wooden flute, which he began to play as the other boy did a silly dance.
Stevie was surprised. She would never have guessed it, but the boys really did seem to be trying to re-create an old-fashioned vaudeville variety show. It was exactly the kind of idea she might have come up with herself.
The flute player continued to play quietly in the background as the other boy stopped dancing and stepped forward. “This camp is great,” he said to the audience.
“There’s so much to do. For instance, just yesterday I spent the whole evening playing backgammon with my horse.”
The boy with the flute stopped playing and pretended to be amazed. “Really? Your horse can play backgammon? He must be really smart!”
The other boy shrugged. “Not really,” he replied. “I won almost every game.” He grinned while the audience groaned, then went on. “By the way, that reminds me of a riddle. What did the pony say when he got a sore throat?”
“What?” called out several campers from the audience.
“Nothing,” the boy replied. “He was a little hoarse.”
Everyone laughed at that one, including Stevie. Even though she was still mad at Phil, she had to admit that his cabin had come up with a great idea for the talent show. And she strongly suspected that Phil himself might have had something to do with that idea.
After telling a whole string of equally silly jokes and riddles, the boy onstage held up his hands. “You’ve been very kind, ladies and gentlemen,” he said. “Now for my final riddle. How did the raisin know he was being fired from his job?” The boy paused, then gave the answer. “He heard it through the grapevine.” He raised one eyebrow. “And boy, was he surprised—he was expecting a grape raisin his salary!”
Stevie smiled as the rest of the audience groaned. She recognized that one—she had told it to Phil not long ago. She almost laughed out loud before remembering that she was mad at him. No matter how clever he was, he had been a jerk, and she wasn’t going to forget it.
“Thank you, thank you!” the boy onstage cried as he and the flute player took their bows and the audience applauded enthusiastically. “I don’t know what to say. We’re so grapeful for your kindness!”
The audience laughed and clapped harder than ever, and the two boys took a final bow and backed away.
Then Phil and Todd came forward. “I heard there was a horse called Belle at this camp,” Phil began.
Todd pretended to look surprised. “You can call a horse with a bell?” he asked. “I never heard of such a thing.”
“No, no,” Phil said. “You don’t call this horse with a bell. You call her Belle.”
“Why would you call a bell a horse?” Todd replied with an exaggerated shrug. By this time the audience was giggling. “That’s just plain ridiculous.”
“I’m not calling a bell a horse, you idiot.” Phil pretended to smack the other boy. “I’m calling a horse a bell. I mean, I’m calling the horse Belle.”
“Why call a horse a bell?” said Todd, scratching his head. “Why not just call a horse a horse?”
Phil let out a loud sigh and raised his hands to the heavens. “I can see I’m going to need a little help with this one.” He shaded his eyes with one hand and peered out into the audience, pretending to search for someone. Finally he said, “Aha!” and pointed at Stevie. “I think I see just the young lady who can help me. Miss Stephanie Lake, will you come up here, please?”
Carole and Lisa glanced at Stevie, wondering what she would do. It was obvious that Phil was up to something, and it had nothing to do with Belle. Stevie sat still for a moment, and her friends were afraid she was going to ignore Phil’s call.
Finally she stood up and walked forward. No matter how mad she was at Phil, she didn’t have the heart to make him look stupid
in front of the whole camp. But that didn’t mean he was off the hook. She glared at him. “What do you want?”
He took her hand and pulled her onto the stage, turning her to face the audience. “I want you to help me clear something up,” he said. “What’s your horse’s name?”
“Belle,” Stevie said.
Todd poked her in the shoulder. “Didn’t you hear him?” he demanded. “Now, stop talking about bells and tell us your horse’s name, will you?”
“I just did,” Stevie said. “Her name is Belle.”
Todd put his hands on his hips. “Well, I certainly hope her name rings a bell,” he said disapprovingly. “After all, she’s your horse. Now what’s her name?”
“Belle,” Stevie said. “That’s her name.”
“Where?” Todd asked, pretending to look around.
By this time, Stevie was working hard to keep from smiling. She was having fun in spite of herself. “What’s his name?” she asked Todd, pointing at Phil.
Todd looked a little confused, but he shrugged good-naturedly and answered, “Phil.”
“That’s right,” Stevie said. “And I’m going to fill your shorts with grasshoppers if you don’t shut up and listen. My horse’s name is Belle.”
“Oh!” Todd said. He shrugged and gave the audience a big grin. “Well, why didn’t you say so in the first place?”
The performers, including Stevie, joined hands and took a bow. As the audience applauded, Phil squeezed Stevie’s hand a little tighter and leaned toward her. “We need to talk,” he whispered. “I want to apologize for the way I acted before. Will you go for a walk with me after the show? Please?”
Stevie couldn’t resist him when he was being so humble. She smiled and nodded, and Phil looked relieved.
“Let’s have an extra round of applause for our lovely volunteer from the audience, Stevie Lake!” he announced, raising her arm over her head. The audience cheered loudly as Stevie returned to her seat.
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