“I don’t know,” Carole worried out loud. “I still wish there was some way we could really find out if our horses were okay.”
“I heard each of them on the guy’s cell phone,” said Deborah.
“Huh?” Max looked at her. “You talked to the horses?”
“I sure did,” replied Deborah. “I told him I wasn’t going to be satisfied until I heard each one snort, whinny, and munch. He took his cell phone to each stall, and I heard good, healthy sounds from each.” She looked at the girls and laughed. “Although, to be honest, I wasn’t absolutely positive I could tell the difference between Danny’s snort and Belle’s nicker.”
The girls looked at each other, then began to laugh. Maxi was laughing right along with them when Max’s cell phone chirped.
“Hold her a minute,” he said, passing Maxi to Deborah as he flipped open the phone.
“Hello?” he said into the tiny receiver. “Oh, hi, Mom!”
The girls could hear the sound of Mrs. Reg’s voice all the way across the table.
“You talked to the driver of the van?” Max winked as Mrs. Reg continued. “And he told you he’d be here tomorrow, and that everything was fine?”
Max nodded as his mother talked on. “And even though he thought you were crazy, you made him take his cell phone around to each stall so that you could hear each individual horse?”
The girls giggled. Mrs. Reg had done exactly the same thing Deborah had!
Grinning, Max kept repeating what Mrs. Reg was saying. “He said, ‘I’ll do it, but you won’t be able to tell the difference between any of them!’ ”
Max listened a moment, than laughed. “Say that again, Mom. I want the girls to hear you.”
He held the phone in the middle of the breakfast table. Mrs. Reg’s voice came through loud and clear. “He didn’t think I would know the difference between Danny and Belle and Prancer and Starlight! Imagine! Of course I know the difference. And all four are absolutely fine!”
“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, our last contestant in today’s final event is Alana White from San Antonio, Texas, riding her horse, Spirit.” The announcer’s voice rang over the arena as a small, trim rider guided her prancing black Arabian into the ring.
“Wow,” Carole breathed. “What a wonderful-looking pair.”
“I know,” said Lisa. “They’re so far ahead in points they could do this course at a walk and still win.”
“I’m hot,” grumbled Stevie, digging in her backpack for a bottle of water. “I’m glad this is the last event.”
Lisa turned and frowned. “Haven’t you enjoyed this, Stevie? I feel like I’ve learned tons of stuff just from watching all the different horses and riders.”
“Oh, sure I have,” answered Stevie, taking a long drink of water. “It’s been great, but I can’t help thinking that if Carole had been able to ride Starlight in these events, we’d be cheering for her instead of that girl from Texas.”
“Well, that’s true,” Lisa agreed sadly.
Suddenly the stadium erupted in shouts. The Texas rider had ridden the course perfectly, her horse bounding over the jumps as lightly as a feather. The Saddle Club stood up and cheered as well. They knew when someone had done an exquisite job of riding and had earned a round of applause. As they watched, the horse and rider from Texas rode to the center of the ring and collected a blue ribbon and silver tray from the judge. Waving to the crowd, the girl rode a victory lap around the arena, a big grin on her face.
“She did a wonderful job!” exclaimed Carole. “I’m going to try a few of her tricks on Starlight the next time I ride him.”
“Wonder when that will be?” said Stevie as they jumped from bleacher to bleacher, heading for the ground.
“Oh, maybe by next Christmas,” Carole sighed. “If I’m lucky.”
They joined the crowd that was slowly moving toward the gate. “Gee,” said Lisa. “It’s only two o’clock in the afternoon, and everything’s over.”
“That’s right.” Stevie shouldered her backpack and sighed, too. “No horses to look after, and no events to practice for. There’s absolutely no point in staying here at Ashford Farms. What shall we do?”
“Knott’s Berry Farm?” suggested Lisa. “Disneyland?”
Carole shook her head. “Since we’ve already been watching horses all day, why don’t we go over and see how things are going for Skye?”
“How will we get there?” asked Stevie.
“I don’t know,” said Carole. “It’s a two-mile walk, which is too long to do in riding boots. I guess we could call a cab.”
“I don’t think we’re going to have to,” said Lisa, peering into the parking lot just beyond the gate. “Isn’t that Stephan, standing beside that big black limo? And isn’t he motioning to us?”
“It sure is!” cried Stevie, waving back. “Looks like Skye had exactly the same idea we did.”
Stephan drove them to the set, where Jess was waiting for them, their guest passes in hand.
“Hi, girls,” he said worriedly. “I’m really glad Stephan found you.”
“Stephan said Skye needed us.” Carole frowned with concern. “What’s going on?”
“You’ve been on a movie set before, haven’t you?” Jess asked as he led them over to the barn.
“Yes,” Stevie replied.
“Then you know that often we shoot out of sequence—sometimes scenes that are at the end of the movie are shot the first day of production.”
“And?” Lisa asked, hurrying along behind Jess.
“And today Skye’s shooting one of the final scenes—where his character, C.G., and Mabel have created a really close bond. The same close bond that will enable them to win the big race, which is being shot tomorrow.”
“Is it a difficult scene?” asked Carole.
“It shouldn’t be,” replied Jess. “All Skye has to do is put her on a lead, take her to a place where he can put on her tack, and then tack her up. With all the stagehands we have handing him stuff off-camera, the whole thing should take about five minutes.”
Jess stopped as they neared the big lights and cameras. “The only problem is Mabel. She’s been nuts all day. Nothing Skye does seems to help, and George, the trainer, just makes it worse.”
“Quiet on the set!” a loud voice called in their direction. They all turned. Shev Bayliss was scowling at them from behind a camera.
“Sorry, Shev,” explained Jess. “These are Skye’s guests. We didn’t know you were ready to shoot.”
“Well, we are,” Shev growled. He stared angrily at the girls for another moment, then spoke again. “Take them over to those seats behind camera two,” he snarled. “And make sure they keep their mouths shut.”
Embarrassed by Shev’s rudeness, Jess shrugged at the girls, then led them over to a row of seats behind one of the huge cameras. From there they could immediately see that everything was going wrong. George Gamble had just slammed Mabel’s stall door shut, and Marcella was leading horse after horse in front of the stall. Mabel’s ears were slapped back, and she was tossing her head in an angry, nervous way. Skye was talking to her and trying to calm her down, but nothing seemed to be doing any good.
“That horse is going to be a basket case by the time they start shooting,” whispered Stevie.
“That horse is a basket case right now,” said Carole. “So is Skye. And they haven’t even begun to roll the film!”
Shev turned toward them and held up one finger.
“We’d better be quiet,” whispered Lisa, “or he’s going to throw us off the set.”
“Okay, everybody, are we ready?” called a tall blond man who they assumed was the main director.
“The horse is,” replied George. “I’m not so sure about our star.”
“I’m ready.” Skye looked over and smiled at the girls, but he looked almost as edgy as Mabel did.
“Okay,” the director called. “Scene fifty-six. Take one. Action!”
The cameras rolled. Skye moved s
lowly toward Mabel, lead rope in hand. “Hi, girl,” he began, reciting his lines. “Are you ready to show them what you can do?”
“Cut!” The director’s voice roared over the set. “Try it again. The horse was looking the other way.”
“You really need to get her attention, Skye,” George called. “She’s not one of your little fans that you can just flutter your eyelashes at.”
Skye backed up to his mark, ready to try again.
“Okay, folks. Scene fifty-six. Take two,” called the director. “Action!”
Again Skye stepped forward, holding the lead. “Hi, girl,” he said. “Are you ready to show them what you can do?”
This time Mabel looked at him with soulful brown eyes, but when he moved to clip the lead on her halter, she slapped her ears back and bared her teeth.
“Cut!” the director snapped again.
“Ransom, you’re coming at her too hard. She’s going to bite you every time!” yelled George.
The Saddle Club looked at each other. Skye had done nothing that would make Mabel bite. In fact, he had clipped a lead rope on Mabel exactly the same way just the day before. Something weird was going on.
They turned their attention back to the set, where take three was about to begin. Everything went well, except the director yelled “Cut!” when Mabel tossed her head at the very moment Skye snapped her lead on.
Take four was cut when Mabel gave a loud snort just as Skye was delivering his lines.
On take five, Mabel kicked the stall, and by the time the director yelled “Cut!” on take six, everybody on the set was a nervous wreck.
“I don’t know what’s the matter with you people!” the director screamed at Skye and the rest of the crew. “This is the simplest scene in the movie. Boy greets horse, boy clips a lead line on her, boy saddles her up. If he’s going to ride her to victory the next day, that should not be a problem!”
Skye began to say something when the director turned to George.
“What’s your advice here, George? You’re in charge of these creatures.”
“Take a break,” said George, shooting a look of disgust at Skye. “The horse needs to calm down. Ransom’s upset her too much to go on.”
“Take a break?” The director looked at George in disbelief. “Do you know how much it costs per day to film a movie?”
George shrugged. “I warned you and the producers. This is what happens when you put inexperienced actors together with high-strung horses.”
“Okay, okay.” The director shook his head. “I guess you’re right. Take ten, everybody! And come back ready to do this in one take!”
Suddenly everybody disappeared. Cameramen, sound people, assistants, and set decorators all scurried back to their trailers. Skye threw his lead line down on the ground and stalked off to a far corner of the stable.
“Come on,” said Lisa. “Let’s go talk to Skye. He looks like he could use some friends.”
“Good idea.” Carole bounded out of her chair. She was halfway across the set when she looked back at Stevie, who hadn’t moved.
“Aren’t you coming, Stevie?” she called.
“You go ahead,” said Stevie. “I’ll catch up with you guys later.”
“Okay.” Carole glanced once at Stevie, then she hurried over to an empty stall far away from Mabel, where Lisa was talking to Skye.
“I may not be a genius when it comes to horses,” he was saying, angrily kicking a bale of hay. “But I do know a little bit about them. And I know that none of this is my fault!”
“That’s absolutely right, Skye,” said Carole. “None of this is your fault. Everybody has done everything they can to make that poor animal crazy!”
“That’s true,” said Lisa. “First George jerks her around, then they parade all those horses in front of her. No horse should be treated that way, especially when it’s expected to be calm for a camera!”
“I know.” Skye’s face reddened with helpless anger. “But what can I do about it? How am I going to get through this film?”
“I don’t know,” said Lisa, giving a big sigh. “But I promise, we’ll come up with something!”
Just then a whistle blew. The director was ready to start filming again.
“Here we go again,” Skye said dejectedly, walking back to his mark by Mabel’s stall. “Wish me luck.”
Carole and Lisa gave him a thumbs-up, then returned to their seats beside Stevie.
“What happened to you?” Lisa asked as she sat down, noticing an impish grin on Stevie’s face. “Skye really needed to talk.”
“Oh, I figured you guys could cheer him up,” Stevie replied mysteriously. “I worked my magic in other ways.”
“Huh?” Carole frowned and started to ask Stevie what she meant, but another thunderous Quiet! from Shev made them all sit still and pay attention to the filming, which was about to begin.
“Okay, everybody,” the director called. “Scene fifty-six. Take seven. Action!”
Skye moved forward, just as he had on the previous six takes. “Hi, girl,” he said. “Are you ready to show them what you can do?”
Mabel looked at him adoringly, her big eyes calm, her ears pricked and happy. Everyone on the set held their breath as Skye clipped the lead on her halter and led her out of the stall. Obedient as any horse at Pine Hollow, she didn’t balk as the camera followed them to the paddock, and she stood absolutely still while Skye tacked her up. The Saddle Club kept their fingers crossed as he adjusted the saddle on her back and secured the stirrup leathers.
“Cut!” the director crowed. Everyone held their breath. Then, when he said, “And print!” everyone clapped with relief. Take seven was a success!
The director turned to the crew and smiled. “Nice work, everybody. And thanks especially to you, George. You really knew when to let that horse have a break.”
George grinned at Shev as the crew moved on to shoot the next scene. The Saddle Club hurried over to Skye.
“Skye,” said Lisa, “that was great!”
“Let’s go back to my trailer,” said Skye. “We can talk.”
They all followed him to his trailer without saying a word. After they’d flopped down on his comfortable couch, Skye shut the door and turned to face them.
“Okay, Stevie,” said Skye. “You stayed on the set during the break. Tell me: What on earth did George Gamble do to calm that horse down?”
“Yes, Stevie,” agreed Carole. “That’s a good question. What did he do?”
“Who said George did anything?” Stevie looked at them with a sly smile. “The last I saw of George, he was heading for the caterer’s trailer.”
Lisa, Carole, and Skye stared at Stevie. “So what happened?”
“Well, I just went up to Mabel and had a little talk with her.”
“A little talk made Mabel see the light of day?” Lisa looked doubtful.
“Well, maybe the little piece of apple I gave her,” Stevie admitted.
“A little piece of apple?” Carole frowned.
“Well, maybe it was the little piece of tranquilizer I put inside the little piece of apple,” Stevie confessed. “That might have had something to do with it.”
“Tranquilizer?” Carole’s brown eyes grew wide. “Stevie Lake, where did you get a horse tranquilizer?”
“Remember those pills Veronica gave me for Danny? Well, I put them in my backpack way back in Virginia. I found them again when I pulled out my water bottle at the Pony Club competition this afternoon.” Stevie grinned. “I thought that if ever there was a time for some unauthorized drugging of a racehorse, this was it!”
“Oh, Stevie, I love you!” Skye rushed across the room and gave Stevie a gigantic hug. “Even if everybody on the set thinks I’m a jerk and George is a genius, I don’t care. Thanks to you, I’m a much better actor, and I’m one scene closer to finishing this move!”
“Great!” Stevie returned Skye’s hug, then she dug in her backpack on the floor. “Why don’t you take the rest of t
he pills? If things get really bad again, you can give Mabel a little piece of one to calm her down. You’ll have far more use for them with her than Veronica ever will with Danny.”
“Could I?” Skye looked at the small bottle of green pills in his hand as if they were solid gold. “These will be great for the rest of our one-on-one scenes, but I don’t know that they’ll help for the big race scene. I can’t ride her if she’s drugged. She’ll lose to the slowest of the other horses!”
Lisa frowned. “What are you going to do, then?”
“I don’t know.” Skye shook his head.
“I do,” said Stevie. “Let’s just rewrite the movie. We could have George be the evil trainer who bets against his racehorse and then drugs her so she’ll lose the race!”
“Oh, Stevie!” Carole laughed and threw one of Skye’s pillows at Stevie. Lisa joined in. Suddenly they were both pummeling her unmercifully.
“Wait, guys!” Laughing, Skye held up his hand. “I cannot allow you to treat my new best friend Stevie Lake in such an undignified manner. She saved my job, at least for today, and she’s helped The Saddle Club live up to its reputation!”
Giggling, Lisa and Carole started throwing pillows at Skye. Soon everybody was on the floor in the middle of a raucous pillow fight. They didn’t stop until they heard a sharp rap at the door.
“Five minutes, Mr. Ransom,” called a voice. “Scene forty-five.”
“Oh, wow,” Skye sighed, sitting in the middle of the floor. “Guess I’ve got to go back to work. Do you guys want to stay longer, or should Stephan drive you back to the hotel?”
“I think we’d better get back,” said Lisa. “Max and Deborah might wonder where we are.”
“Is there any chance you could come watch us tomorrow at the rally?” asked Carole. “Stevie and Lisa are supposed to compete.”
“Yeah,” said Stevie. “You could come cheer us on.”
“I’d love to,” Skye replied sadly. “But I can’t. Tomorrow we’re supposed to shoot the big race scene.” He sighed again. “Believe me, I’d much rather come and watch you ride than try to ride Mabel, but duty calls.”
“We understand,” said Lisa. “Good luck, though.”
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