“So, Carole, you’re the big winner today, hmm?” said Mrs. Reg.
Carole looked up, not sure she’d heard right. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“Both of your students performed extremely well—Andrea and Starlight,” said Mrs. Reg. “I’d say that makes you a winner twice over.”
Carole flushed at the praise. She smoothed her fingers over the ribbon in her pocket. Red had given it to her and insisted she keep it. It was funny, Carole thought: A week ago, a second place had seemed like the end of the world. Today it seemed like a wonderful beginning.
“I guess Briarwood is cursed for me!” Lisa declared. She and Stevie burst into the tack room, laughing and talking. “Last year I took Prancer before we were ready. This year we were too ready! I just can’t win.”
“Well, then it’s blessed for Carole,” Stevie said. “Last year she met Cam, and this year she made her debut as a top instructor.” Cam was a boy whom Carole had dated, off and on, until he moved away.
Carole missed him, but right now she didn’t feel like thinking about anything at all sad. “Hey, did I mention that I even tried to drink black coffee?” she asked.
“And did you swear?” Lisa asked.
“And chain-smoke cigarettes?” Stevie prompted.
Mrs. Reg looked appalled. “My Max doesn’t do any of that,” she said in a shocked voice.
“Oh yes I do, Mother,” said Max, joining them.
“Max!”
Max grinned. “I drink black coffee,” he said.
“How do you do it, Max?” Carole asked. “I thought it was disgusting!”
Max leaned toward her confidentially. “Trade secret. I guess that means you’d better stick to riding for a while, Carole, despite your early success as an instructor.”
“Enough of this chitchat,” said Mrs. Reg. “I’ve got spaghetti and meatballs on the stove. Max, your wife is making garlic bread, and Red just went to buy a case of soda. We have enough food to feed an army. You girls are invited for dinner.”
Stevie whooped louder than if she’d just won a blue ribbon. Carole and Lisa were more reserved but incredibly pleased all the same. It was a rare, rare treat for the Regnerys to invite them to stay for dinner, and they’d get to see Maxine, Deborah and Max’s new baby.
Putting their arms around one another, The Saddle Club followed Mrs. Reg and Max out of the tack room. On the way in, Stevie started to make up a song, and Lisa tried to stop her. Stevie had a terrible voice, but now that she had something to sing about, nothing was going to stop her. Carole just laughed. It was a perfect ending to a perfect day. She hoped that someday Andrea Barry would be as lucky as she was.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BONNIE BRYANT is the author of more than a hundred books about horses, including The Saddle Club series, Saddle Club Super Editions, the Pony Tails series, and Pine Hollow, which follows the Saddle Club girls into their teens. She has also written novels and movie novelizations under her married name, B. B. Hiller.
Ms. Bryant began writing The Saddle Club in 1986. Although she had done some riding before that, she intensified her studies then and found herself learning right along with her characters Stevie, Carole, and Lisa. She claims that they are all much better riders than she is.
Ms. Bryant was born and raised in New York City. She still lives there, in Greenwich Village, with her two sons.
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