Summer Rider

by Bonnie Bryant

  “Are you okay?” Carole’s concerned voice broke into Lisa’s thoughts.

  Lisa saw that both Carole and Stevie were staring at her. “Of course I’m okay,” she said, forcing herself to laugh a little. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  Stevie shrugged. “For one thing, you haven’t been listening to a word we’ve said. And you’ve barely touched your food.”

  Lisa picked up her fork and quickly shoveled some salad into her mouth. “I’m fine,” she said through a mouthful of lettuce. “I was just thinking about what we learned in class this morning.” Her friends seemed satisfied, and soon Stevie returned to her new favorite topic of conversation.

  “The more I think about it, the more strange things I remember,” she said. “There’s the car, of course. And the mysterious figure in the woods. And have you noticed that Barry is late for things all the time now?” She nodded toward the door, where the camp director was just entering.

  “That proves it,” Carole said sarcastically. “After all, there’s no good reason why a man who’s in charge of running a camp with fifty riders and a stable full of horses should ever be too busy to show up for lunch on time.”

  Stevie ignored the sarcasm. “Plus, he’s made some pretty odd comments lately …”

  Lisa’s attention drifted back to her own thoughts. Carole might think Barry was the busiest guy around, but Lisa was sure that his schedule had nothing on her own. She poked her fork at her salad, feeling her stomach knot as she thought about everything she had to do before the end of camp. In addition to working her way through her reading list, she would have to spend a lot of time with Major practicing for the big show. There was a lot to do, and for a second Lisa wasn’t sure she was going to be able to do it all. It was just too much. Then she remembered Piper.

  Piper Sullivan had been Lisa’s cabin mate for the first week and a half of camp. She was a tall, thin, pretty girl a couple years older than Lisa. Besides being a fantastic rider, Piper was a top student at an exclusive school and an accomplished dancer. And she made it all seem effortless, as though being perfect came naturally to her. More than anything, Lisa wanted to be exactly like that. She had always tried to do her best in everything she did. That was why she got straight As in school and why she had progressed so fast in her riding.

  But lately everything Lisa had worked so hard for seemed in danger of slipping away. For the first time, she had received a less-than-perfect mark on her report card—a B+ in math. And these days it seemed she was always being reminded that as far as she had come in her riding, she still wasn’t as good as Carole and Stevie. It was true that they had both been riding years longer than Lisa, but that didn’t make it any easier to hear how good they were. Even worse, people usually went on to say how much Lisa was improving—implying that she still had a long way to go before she could hope to catch up to her friends. She had never been second-best at anything in her life, and she didn’t particularly like the feeling now.

  Piper never had to worry about things like that. What’s more, she had seemed to understand Lisa’s need to succeed, because she had the same need herself. Knowing that, and seeing how perfect Piper was, had been an inspiration to Lisa. She wished Piper were there now. But Piper had disappeared the week before without a word of explanation. All Barry would say was that she had been called away for personal reasons.

  By this time, the conversation at the table had turned to the upcoming show. Lisa heard the words blue ribbon and started to listen.

  Todd was grinning at Stevie. “Well?” he said expectantly. “What do you think? Will Phil win the blue ribbon in dressage, or will I?”

  “Yeah, come on, Stevie,” Phil urged. “Who’s your pick, me or Todd?”

  Stevie just shrugged and took a bite of her tuna salad sandwich. Dressage was her favorite event, and she and Belle were good at it. Phil and Todd knew that, and they knew she wanted that blue ribbon. They were just trying to get her goat, and Stevie wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction. “I don’t know about that,” she said calmly once she had chewed and swallowed. “What I’m wondering is who’s going to win the show-jumping event.”

  Carole’s eyes lit up. “Me too,” she said eagerly. “I still can’t believe we’re actually going to have the chance to be in it.” In show jumping, the competitors had to jump a course of fences within a set amount of time. Unlike hunter jumpers, show jumpers didn’t have to show perfect form or an even stride to score well. All they had to do was clear the fences any way they could. Nobody at the table had ever competed in a show-jumping event before, and everyone was sure it would be the highlight of the show.

  “I know the answer to your question, Stevie,” Todd said with a glance at Phil. “Barry will have to award two blue ribbons—one for me and one for Phil.”

  Carole laughed. “You know that’s impossible,” she said. “There’s no such thing as a tie in show jumping.” That was because all ties in the first round were broken by a jump-off, with a shorter course of jumps and a much shorter time limit. If more than one rider had a clean round in the jump-off, the winner was the one with the fastest time.

  Todd just shrugged. “It will be the first time ever,” he declared. “We’ll end up with the exact same time in the jump-off, and all the rest of you will have to eat our dust.”

  Stevie and Carole laughed, but Lisa didn’t join in. She knew Todd was just being silly, but his words still bothered her. Taking a deep breath, she asked herself, What would Piper do? She wouldn’t pay any attention to Todd’s bragging, that was for sure. She would just work that much harder until she could prove everyone wrong.

  Lisa smiled a little at the thought. Just because Piper wasn’t there in person anymore didn’t mean she couldn’t still be Lisa’s inspiration. Lisa would start by working even harder to fit everything she had to do into her days, even if it meant occasionally giving up something frivolous, like going on trail rides with her friends. From now on, discipline was going to be her watchword. It would be good for her. It would make her strong, just like Piper. Instead of gossiping and giggling with her friends, she would spend more time reading. Instead of wasting time on arts and crafts and trail rides, she would work harder to get herself and Major into shape for the show. Maybe she would even start jogging. Piper had jogged every day, and she had mentioned once that the exercise cleared her mind and helped her concentrate. Lisa had always hated jogging, but that was just because she hadn’t taken it seriously enough before.

  For a moment she felt exhilarated by her new goals, but then she started to feel a little sad. It would be much more fun if Piper were around to share it all with. Lisa wished she knew what had happened to her friend. But Barry wouldn’t tell her anything, though she had asked him over and over. She had tried to phone Piper’s house at least once a day since the older girl’s disappearance, but nobody ever answered. Still, she would keep trying. That was another vow she had made to herself. She wouldn’t rest until she knew why Piper had left.

  Meanwhile, Stevie was watching Barry, who had taken a seat with Betty, one of the senior riding instructors. The two of them were deep in conversation, and their faces were serious.

  “Don’t you guys think Barry looks a little pale today?” Stevie commented.

  Carole glanced at the camp director. “Actually, he does look a little pale,” she said. “I hope he’s not coming down with something.”

  Stevie finished the last bite of her sandwich and pushed her plate away. “Well, whatever he’s coming down with,” she commented darkly, “I have the funniest feeling he caught it from those guys in the car.”

  “Give it up, Stevie,” Todd said.

  Stevie was still staring at Barry and Betty. “I wish I could read lips,” she said. “I’d love to know what they’re talking about. They’re sitting kind of close to the trash cans—maybe if I got up and just kind of strolled casually past—”

  “Forget it,” Carole interrupted. She crumpled her napkin and dropped it on her empty plate. �
��Whatever they’re talking about, it’s none of your business.”

  “It’s my business if Barry is being blackmailed or something,” Stevie argued. “After all, he’s our friend. If he’s in trouble, we ought to try to help.” She paused, squinting again at Barry’s mouth. She still couldn’t make out a single word. “The more I think about it, the more the blackmailing theory makes sense.”

  “How do you figure that?” Phil asked skeptically.

  “It’s just a hunch right now,” Stevie admitted. “But it’s a strong hunch. And I’m sure I can prove it if I keep my eyes open for more clues.”

  Carole had heard enough. It was time to leave before Stevie’s imagination ran away with her completely. “Come on, let’s get going.” She turned to Lisa and saw that her plate was still half full. “Are you almost finished? We don’t want to be late for our next class.”

  Lisa nodded. Her stomach was still too clenched up to eat, but she didn’t want her friends to know that. They would only worry about her, and she was fine. She just had a lot to do. “I’m ready when you are,” she said. “I think they put something new in the tuna salad. I didn’t really like it.”

  Just then Stevie grabbed Carole’s arm. “Check it out,” she whispered. “Barry is leaving already. What do you think that means?”

  Carole rolled her eyes. “It probably means he didn’t like the tuna salad either,” she said. “Anyway, he’s not really leaving. See? He’s just standing by the door.”

  It was true. Barry had paused by the doorway and was slowly scanning the room. He didn’t seem to be looking for anything or anyone in particular. It was more as if he was just making sure everything was in order.

  “Very mysterious,” Stevie commented.

  Carole sighed. “Come on,” she said, standing up. “Let’s go.”

  The girls said good-bye to Phil and Todd and headed for the door. As they passed Barry, Stevie paused. She was dying to find out if her blackmail theory was correct. In books and movies, detectives were always getting people to confess with well-timed, probing questions. Maybe she could do the same thing to get Barry to reveal his troubles.

  Ignoring Carole’s disapproving look, Stevie walked over to Barry. “Hi,” she said, trying to sound casual. “Looking for anything in particular? A little extra money to pay off some debts, for instance?”

  Even Stevie couldn’t have predicted Barry’s reaction. “Wh-What?” he stammered. “I mean, uh, no! Not at all—nothing’s wrong. Why don’t you leave me alone?”

  Before the surprised girls could say a word, Barry whirled and raced out the door.

  FOR A MOMENT nobody moved. Stevie recovered first. “Come on,” she said. Obviously her comment had touched a nerve—she had to find out more. “We’ve got to follow him.” Without waiting for an answer, she took off after Barry.

  “Oh no,” Carole said. “We have to stop her before she does something stupid.” She ran out of the mess hall after Stevie.

  Lisa followed. She hadn’t paid much attention to Stevie’s ramblings about Barry and the men in the suits, but now even she had to admit that something strange seemed to be going on. Unlike Stevie, however, she wasn’t sure they should be getting involved in it—at least not until they knew what it was.

  Outside, they found Stevie looking around frantically. “He must have really been moving,” she said. “There’s no sign of him. Which way do you think he went?”

  “I don’t know,” Carole said. “Maybe we should just give up and—”

  “There!” Stevie interrupted. She pointed at a clump of bushes at the edge of the woods. Several branches were waving gently back and forth, even though there wasn’t a hint of a breeze. “He must have gone in there.”

  “But there’s no trail or anything,” Lisa pointed out.

  Stevie didn’t bother to reply. She just pushed her way into the underbrush. Her friends sighed, exchanged resigned glances, and followed.

  Carole and Lisa caught up to Stevie a few yards into the woods. She was peering at the ground. “It looks like there’s a rough trail here, one a deer or something might use,” she said without looking up. “Barry must have known it was here. He’s been spending every summer here for so long that he probably knows these woods like the back of his hand. But we’ll catch him.” She plowed forward, and Carole and Lisa had to duck quickly to avoid being slapped by branches.

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Carole asked, looking around nervously for poison ivy. Before lunch, she had exchanged her riding boots for sneakers with no socks, and her bare ankles felt vulnerable. “If Barry is trying this hard to get away from us, I think that’s a pretty good sign that he doesn’t feel like chatting right now.”

  “That’s exactly why we have to catch him,” Stevie said as she dove under a large branch that was blocking the trail.

  That didn’t sound very logical to Carole, but she kept quiet. Maybe if she and Lisa just went along and kept their mouths shut, Barry would get away and Stevie would give up the chase before they were all late for class. But she knew Stevie too well to hold out much hope.

  “Look!” Stevie cried, pointing down at the narrow trail ahead of her. Carole and Lisa saw a footprint in the dirt.

  “That looks like a sneaker print,” Lisa said. “Was Barry wearing sneakers?”

  Stevie shrugged. “I didn’t notice,” she said. “He must have been.”

  Suddenly the girls heard a loud popping sound from somewhere ahead of them. “What was that?” Carole asked.

  “It sounded like someone stepping on a branch,” Stevie said eagerly. “We must be catching up to him. Come on!”

  The woods grew thicker and more difficult to navigate as they continued down the narrow trail. At times, Lisa wasn’t sure there was a trail there at all—or if there was, it must have been made by a creature no bigger than a rabbit. Stevie didn’t seem to notice.

  Suddenly Stevie stopped short and held up her hand. “Listen,” she whispered.

  Carole and Lisa listened. They didn’t hear anything except insects and songbirds and the rustle of the forest going about its business. “What are we listening for?” Carole whispered at last.

  “I heard voices,” Stevie said, looking puzzled. “Could Barry have arranged to meet someone out here?”

  “Not unless he’s meeting a chipmunk,” Carole said, brushing a spider off her arm with a shudder. “No sane person would come in here without a really good reason.”

  The girls heard a brief but unmistakable laugh coming from a few dozen yards ahead. Lisa’s eyes widened. “There really is someone there,” she whispered.

  “Of course there is,” Stevie replied. She began creeping forward at a crouch, ducking under the largest of the branches that surrounded them.

  “That didn’t really sound like Barry,” Carole murmured to Lisa as they followed. “Besides, he didn’t seem to be in a laughing mood when we last saw him, did he?”

  Lisa shook her head. “I hope he’s okay,” she said. “I mean, what are we going to do if we find him sitting in a clearing talking to himself and laughing at his own jokes?”

  Carole gulped. She was sure Stevie hadn’t thought about that.

  “We’re almost there,” Stevie hissed at them over her shoulder. “Be quiet—we don’t want him to hear us and get away again.”

  Carole wasn’t so sure about that, but she did her best to move as silently as she could.

  A moment later Stevie spied a flash of blue ahead of her. “We’ve got him,” she breathed triumphantly. She burst through the last few feet of underbrush, emerging in a small clearing. Several boulders were scattered across the mossy ground, and a pair of figures was seated on one of the largest of the rocks, locked in an embrace. At Stevie’s sudden appearance, the two gasped, parted, and leaped to their feet.

  To Stevie’s dismay, neither of the figures was Barry. She recognized the girl as a camper named Melissa. The boy was one of Phil’s cabin mates, though Stevie couldn’t remember his name at the
moment. “Oh—uh—hi,” she said as the two campers stared at her in astonishment.

  A second later Carole and Lisa emerged behind Stevie, brushing brambles and leaves from their shirts. They were just as surprised as Stevie at the sight before them.

  “What are you doing here!” the boy demanded. His expression wavered somewhere between annoyance and embarrassment. Melissa just looked embarrassed.

  Stevie thought fast. “Um, we were just taking a walk,” she said. “We didn’t realize anyone else was out here.” The excuse sounded lame, even to her. She did her best to smile nonchalantly.

  The boy frowned. “Yeah, uh, so were we,” he said. He grabbed Melissa’s hand. “Come on, we don’t want to be late for class.” A moment later they were gone.

  “Well, now I guess we know who made that trail,” Carole said as The Saddle Club listened to the couple crashing away through the woods.

  Lisa smiled. “And it wasn’t a chipmunk,” she said. “Or a deer.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Carole replied. “You could say it was a couple of dears. That’s D-E-A-R-S.”

  Lisa laughed, but Stevie didn’t look amused. “I can’t believe we wasted all that time chasing a couple of secret smoochers,” she muttered. “Meanwhile, Barry could be anywhere.”

  Carole glanced at her watch. “That’s true, but there’s only one place we’re supposed to be right now,” she said. “That’s tacking up back at the stable. Afternoon classes start in twenty minutes.”

  “Uh-oh,” Lisa said. “We’d better hurry.” She had a flat class next, and she didn’t want to miss a second of it.

  As the three girls began making their way back down the tiny, twisting trail, Stevie’s mood brightened a little. “He can run, but he can’t hide for long,” she commented. “Barry, that is. Meanwhile, that little scene we just interrupted gave me a great idea, Lisa. Why don’t you and Todd go for a walk in the woods after dinner?”