Eugenia frowned, but she didn’t say anything. Stevie took that to mean she was satisfied with her solution. She was still cutting open tea bags when Carole and Lisa entered.
“Here we are,” Lisa announced. “What do you want us to do?”
“Well, first of all, take off those filthy boots,” Eugenia said, pointing to Carole’s feet. Carole had wiped them on the mat before coming inside, but a few pieces of straw still clung to the sides.
“Aunt Genie, I think we can handle things from here,” Deborah said tactfully, taking a pile of plates from the old woman and setting them on the counter. “Why don’t you run down and see how Max and Red are getting along? Red must have finished mowing the lawn by now. They’ll want you to advise them on where to place the table.”
Stevie tried to hide a grin as she snipped the end off another bag. She had the funniest feeling that the last thing Max and Red wanted was to have Eugenia directing them.
“What do you mean, we?” Eugenia said. “You shouldn’t be helping these girls at all, Deborah. They are getting paid for this, you know.”
“I know,” Deborah said. “But I don’t mind. Besides, they need me here to show them where everything is in the kitchen.”
“Hmmph,” Eugenia replied. But she allowed Deborah to guide her to the door.
When she was gone, Carole let out a sigh of relief. She grabbed a paper towel and carefully wiped off her boots. “All right, tell me what to do,” she said.
Under Deborah’s direction, The Saddle Club put together cucumber and butter sandwiches, arranged the scones and other pastries on trays, and set several kettles of water on the stove, ready for boiling.
“Don’t forget, once this is done we still have to get Honeybee ready for her grand entrance,” Carole reminded her friends.
Lisa nodded. “We’ll do it after we carry everything down and arrange the table,” she said. She turned to Deborah. “You don’t think she’ll want to show her to her friends right away, do you?”
“No way,” Deborah replied with a smile. “If I know Aunt Genie, she’ll want a dramatic entrance. I’m sure she’ll wait until they’re all settled and a few cups of tea have been had.”
“Good,” Stevie said. She picked up a plate full of sandwiches in one hand and a pile of napkins in the other. “I guess I’m ready to make the first trip down there.”
Deborah picked up a folded tablecloth and tucked it under Stevie’s arm. “There. Now you’re ready.”
While Carole and Deborah finished the last of the preparations in the kitchen, Stevie and Lisa started carrying things to the shady spot behind the stable, where Max and Red had set up a folding table and chairs. As soon as the girls appeared Red made his escape, saying something about a horse needing to be exercised. But when Max tried to sidle away after him, Eugenia called him back sharply.
As Stevie spread the cheerful flowered tablecloth over the table, she heard Eugenia scolding Max. “That horrible big machine is sitting there in plain view,” she said irritably. She pointed over to a nearby spot of lawn where the riding mower was standing. “What sort of scenic background is that for a tea party, I ask you?”
Max shrugged. “Sorry, Aunt Eugenia. We just finished the lawn. You wanted it mowed right before the party, remember?”
“I know what I wanted, young man,” she snapped. “And I know what I didn’t want, too. I didn’t want a large ugly vehicle parked where my friends could see it.”
“Don’t worry,” Max said quietly. “I’ll go move it right now.”
“I’ll do it, Max,” Stevie offered. Her parents had the same kind of mower, so Stevie knew how to drive it.
“Thanks, Stevie,” Max said gratefully. “But don’t bother to put it back in the shed. Red needs to use it again later. Just drive it around the side of the barn where it will be out of sight.” He hurried off to follow Eugenia’s next order.
Stevie was frowning as she climbed aboard the mower and started the engine. She hated seeing Max acting so meek and mild. As much as she sometimes complained about his strictness, the truth was she liked the fact that he always seemed confident and in control. It was different when he got flustered after he first met Deborah. That was understandable—he was falling in love. But now he was acting completely ridiculous around Eugenia, and Stevie had no idea why. She just hoped it would stop when the old lady left. It would be nice to have the real Max back again.
When Stevie finished parking the mower and returned to the party scene, her frown grew deeper. Veronica had turned up from somewhere and was leaning against the apple tree, watching the proceedings. “Having fun, Stevie?” she sang out when she spotted her.
“Get lost,” Stevie said. “And do me another favor, okay? Try not to get found.”
“Very amusing,” Veronica said. “But do you really have time to stand around being witty right now? It looks like you have a lot to do.” She smirked. “Don’t mind me. I’ll just watch.”
Max looked over at that moment and saw the two girls. “Stevie,” he called. “Can you come here, please? I need some help clearing these branches away.”
Stevie turned and saw that he was picking up twigs from under the tree. She guessed that Eugenia didn’t want her guests to have to look at those, either. “Coming, Max.”
“Yes, hurry along, Stevie,” Veronica said loudly. “Work, work, work.”
Max heard her. He stood up and frowned. “Veronica, what are you doing here?” he asked sharply.
“Nothing, Max,” Veronica said innocently. “I was just looking for a shady spot to relax in for a few minutes.”
“Well, find another one,” Max said. “We’re busy here. Unless you want to help, make yourself scarce.”
Veronica looked annoyed. “It’s a free country,” she protested. “I’m just standing here.”
“And you’re certainly free to stand—somewhere else,” Max said in his best no-nonsense tone.
Veronica didn’t protest further. She slunk away, giving Stevie a dirty look as she went.
“LISA, AUNT EUGENIA wants to light some citronella candles to keep the bugs away,” Max said. “I think there are some in the garden shed. Would you mind checking?”
“No problem, Max,” Lisa replied. It was almost time for Eugenia’s friends to arrive. The table was set up, the tea was ready to be brewed, the food looked delicious. In fact, Lisa had to admit that everything looked lovely—just the way Eugenia had wanted it.
She hurried around the corner of the stable to the garden shed. To her surprise, she found Veronica there, hovering just in front of the shed door. “What are you doing here?” Lisa blurted out. Stevie had told her Veronica had left Pine Hollow after Max had yelled at her earlier. Why was she still hanging around?
“Nothing,” Veronica replied quickly. “What’s it to you, anyway?”
Lisa just shrugged and walked past her. Opening the shed door, she paused to let her eyes adjust to the dim light. Then she scooped up Mr. Munch and stuck him back in his cage. A small twig was lying on the floor nearby, and she jammed it through the latch on his door. It wedged there tightly, aided by the remnants of Stevie’s gum. “There, maybe that will hold you, you rascally lizard,” she told him. She looked around. Luckily the citronella candles were in plain sight on a shelf. She grabbed them and left. Halfway back to rejoin the others, she paused. Had she latched the shed door? Figuring it was better safe than sorry, she went back to check. The door was shut and latched tightly. Lisa nodded in satisfaction and raced back to the party site.
SOON ALL THAT was left to do was wait for the guests to arrive. That was all that was left for Eugenia to do, that is. The Saddle Club still had to primp and prepare Honeybee for her appearance at the party. They raced to her stall to get started.
“I have an idea,” Stevie said. “Since it takes six times as long to groom her when she’s always nipping at us, why don’t we try doing it outside? That way she can nip at some grass or something instead.”
“Great idea,�
� Carole said. “We’ll do it in the back paddock. That’s out of sight of the party scene, but it’s close enough so it’ll be easy to bring her over when they’re ready for her.”
Working fast, the girls hustled Honeybee out to the paddock and got started. Stevie’s plan worked perfectly. The old mare was so distracted by all the good things to eat around her that she paid no attention to the girls as they picked out her feet, gave her a brisk grooming, and started braiding her mane and combing out her tail.
They were almost finished when they heard Max’s frantic voice calling them from somewhere inside. “I’ll go see what he wants,” Carole offered.
She hurried inside and found not only Max, but Luke and Mick as well. She gasped. “What are you doing here?” she asked, trying not to sound as nervous as she felt. “I thought the horses weren’t supposed to go home until tomorrow.”
“They’re not,” Luke said, giving her a nasty smile. “But I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to stop by and see how they’re doing. You know, a little surprise inspection.”
Carole’s mind reeled. The polo ponies were certainly not ready for inspection right now. They hadn’t been groomed, they were restless due to lack of exercise, and most of their stalls hadn’t even been cleaned. She slumped down dejectedly. There was no way out this time. They would have to tell the men the truth. But she didn’t want to do it alone. “Wait here for a minute,” she said. “I’ll go get Stevie and Lisa.”
WHEN CAROLE TOLD the others the bad news, Lisa looked almost as panicky as Carole felt. But Stevie just looked thoughtful.
“How long would it take you two to get the ponies up to snuff for their inspection?” Stevie asked.
“Too long,” Carole said. “Face it, Stevie, Luke’s here and ready right now. Even five minutes is too long.”
“Not necessarily,” Stevie said. “There’s nothing we can do about exercising them, but if you guys can get them spiffed up a little—their stalls, too—in the next ten minutes, I might be able to delay them.”
Lisa shook her head. “You’re crazy, Stevie,” she said. “We can’t do it in ten minutes.”
“And there’s no way you could stall them that long, anyway,” Carole added. “Luke looked pretty determined.”
“Make it fifteen, then,” Stevie said. She started inside, then paused and turned around. “What are you waiting for? The special Stevie Lake stable tour is pretty fascinating, but there’s no time to lose. You’d better get to work.” She hurried into the stable.
Carole glanced at Lisa. Lisa shrugged, looking hopeful. “What have we got to lose?” she said.
“You mean besides Max’s trust, Pine Hollow’s reputation, and our careers as horse-sitters?” Carole said. “Come on. I’ll start with Nighthawk. You can take Tempest and go from there.” They raced inside.
Stevie strolled up to Max and the two grooms. “There you are, Stevie,” Max said, looking a little irritated. “Where’s Carole?”
“Oh, she and Lisa had to take care of some things for the tea party,” Stevie lied casually. “She sent me here to take care of the inspection.”
“Good,” Luke said. “Then let’s get started.”
“I was thinking,” Stevie mused. She paused.
“Yes?” Max prompted her.
“Oh, sorry,” Stevie said. “I was thinking. Anyway, I was thinking that this might be a perfect time to give our visitors a tour of the stable. You know, show them how Pine Hollow really works.”
“Really,” Max said, looking amused. Stevie wondered if he guessed why she was stalling. No matter how distracted he was today by Eugenia’s party, Max was sure to have noticed that the polo ponies weren’t looking their best at the moment. “Well, I have no problem with that. Carry on, Stevie.” With that, he walked away.
“A tour?” Luke said, looking decidedly less than interested in the whole idea. “We really don’t have time—”
“Nonsense,” Mick interrupted cheerfully. “I’d love to take a look around.”
“Forget it, Mick,” Luke said. “Let’s just check on the horses and get out of here.”
“Well, if you say so, Luke,” Mick said, looking dubious. “But I’m sure the boss will want to hear all about the place where we took his horses.”
Luke paused, seeming to weigh the options. “Maybe you’re right,” he said finally. “I guess a tour wouldn’t be a bad idea. A short one.”
“Great,” said Stevie, trying to hide her relief. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Carole dart across a nearby aisle and duck into one of the stalls. “This way,” she said, leading the men in the opposite direction. “We’ll start with the student locker room.”
“What?” Luke said grumpily. “Who cares about that?”
“It sounds great, Stevie,” Mick said. “Very interesting.”
Stevie nodded. “Oh, yes. I can’t wait to show you each student’s cubby.”
* * *
TEN MINUTES LATER Stevie had shown the grooms everything there was to see in the locker room, the bathrooms, the entryway, and Mrs. Reg’s office.
“Let’s pick up the pace here, all right?” Luke said wearily as Stevie peeked out into the tack room to make sure the coast was clear.
She paid no attention to Luke’s comment. Red had just come into the tack room and grabbed a spare grooming bucket. He grinned at Stevie and gave her a thumbs-up sign before darting out again. Stevie’s eyes widened. Red must be helping them! Maybe they actually had a chance.
She turned back to the visitors. “Next you’ll see our wonderful tack room,” she announced. She led them into the cluttered room. “Over here you’ll see the saddle I usually use when I ride my horse, Belle,” she proclaimed. “And right over there is one of the pitchforks I use to clean out her stall. To the left are some bridles—that one there is snaffle, and right next to it is a double bridle with a curb bit—”
“We know all about that stuff,” Luke said, cutting her off. “We do this for a living, you know,” He glanced at his watch. “Are we almost finished?”
“Not quite,” Stevie said. She patted the top of a trunk. “I haven’t even shown you yet where we keep our spare bits.”
After another five minutes Stevie’s tour had moved on to the outdoor ring. “This is where we hold a lot of our riding classes,” she explained. “Max teaches all sorts of people here. There’s my class, which is the intermediate class. Then there’s a kids’ beginner class, and one for adults. He also offers private lessons, and sometimes special training sessions and clinics and things.”
“Let me guess,” Luke put in nastily. “Is this his senior citizen class arriving now?”
Stevie turned and saw that a large blue car had just stopped at the head of the driveway. She had been so busy thinking of new things to tell the grooms that she hadn’t even heard it pull in. As she watched, Eugenia and Deborah appeared and hurried forward to greet the three elderly women who emerged.
“Oh, isn’t this nice,” Stevie said brightly. “The ladies have arrived for their tea party. Let me introduce you.” She dragged the reluctant men over and carefully orchestrated the introductions. Deborah and Eugenia seemed a little confused that Stevie was bringing two total strangers over to meet them, but the other ladies were so impressed to hear about the polo ponies that even Eugenia didn’t seem to mind.
“All right,” Stevie announced to the grooms when the women had disappeared around the side of the building. “Back inside. I just realized I forgot to show you the supply closet where we keep the lightbulbs.”
TEN MORE MINUTES passed before Luke finally lost his temper. “That’s enough,” he exclaimed as Stevie was demonstrating how the faucet on the hose hookup worked. “I couldn’t care less which faucet Elvis used when he visited. We’ve wasted enough time. I want to see the horses. Now!”
“Oh, of course,” Stevie said. “First you can see my Belle, then I can show you Prancer—she’s a retired racehorse, you know—and then—”
“Not those horses
, you fool,” Luke said through clenched teeth. “My horses.”
“I’d like to take a look at Prancer …,” Mick began, but at the angry look from Luke his voice trailed off. He shrugged at Stevie helplessly. “Maybe some other time.”
Stevie realized that Mick had been trying to help her stall all along. She gave him a grateful smile. “That’s okay,” she said. “I guess we can go see your horses now.” She thought fast. During the tour, she had caught a glimpse of Lisa hurrying away from Tempest’s stall. So he was probably ready for his inspection. They would start there.
It was touch and go, but they pulled it off. Carole and Lisa had just finished combing out the last horse’s mane and tail when Stevie and the grooms arrived at the stall. Luckily, Luke didn’t notice a thing. Now that so much time had passed he seemed more eager to get going than to check the horses. He just gave them each a cursory glance, not even seeming to notice how restless they were from lack of exercise.
“Well, I guess that’s that,” he said curtly, closing the door of the final horse’s stall. “Everything looks okay here. We’d better get going.” He gave Stevie a sidelong glance. “Unless you have any more fascinating rakes or anything to show us, that is.”
Stevie smiled angelically. “Nope,” she said. “You saw it all.” She stood in the driveway and waved as the two men pulled away in their truck. Then she raced back inside.
“Are they gone?” Carole asked, intercepting her in the aisle.
“Yup,” Stevie confirmed.
“Whew!” Carole exclaimed, collapsing in a heap on the floor. “That was too close for comfort. There’s no way we could have done it if Red hadn’t helped.”
“We really owe him one,” Stevie said. “And I think we owe Mick one, too. I seriously doubt Luke would have gone along with the tour idea if he hadn’t helped convince him.”
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