Back in the Saddle

by Bonnie Bryant

  “All right, Miss Lake,” Miss Fenton said. “You might as well sit down. Now, would anyone who actually took the time to do the homework like to read their budget?”

  As hands shot up here and there throughout the auditorium, Stevie sank down in her seat, relieved to be out of the spotlight. To take her mind off her almost irresistible urge to leap onto Spike and choke him until he begged for mercy, she turned her thoughts to her article. She’d spent a lot of time the night before sketching out a rough outline. But she hadn’t really started writing yet; she wanted to get all the material she could before she put the words on paper. Of course, she didn’t have much time—Theresa needed a full draft of the article by Thursday afternoon at the latest if Stevie wanted to have a shot at being included in that Friday’s issue.

  Now I see where Deborah’s coming from when she moans and groans about her tight deadlines, Stevie thought, picturing all the times Max’s wife had wandered through Pine Hollow with bleary eyes and a messy ponytail after a late night of work. I guess it’s just one of the things you have to get used to when you’re a journalist.

  That thought cheered her up a little bit. She liked the feeling of doing something important, like bringing information to her fellow students no matter what the cost in sleep and sweat.

  Okay, so maybe describing this ridiculous project isn’t exactly headline news, she thought. But it’s a start. Once Theresa sees what I can do, she’s sure to give me better assignments.

  Glancing at the stage, she noticed that a portly middle-aged man had joined Miss Fenton. Stevie tuned in just in time to hear the headmistress introduce the stranger as Mr. Howe from the Fine Family Foundation.

  “Hello, students,” Mr. Howe said, stepping forward. He was holding a cardboard box, which he set on the podium as Miss Fenton moved back. “It’s wonderful to be here, to have the opportunity to talk to you fine young people today.…”

  Stevie let her thoughts drift away again as Mr. Howe droned on. Once again, she tried to figure out ways she could make her article even better. She wanted it to be the best she could do—and not just to impress Theresa, either.

  I can’t believe I never thought of joining the school paper before this, Stevie thought. It just seems so right for me. Like it’s something I was meant to do. She smiled as she remembered how great it had felt to open up last Friday’s Washington Reporter and see her name there, in black and white, at the beginning of Deborah’s article. Maybe it’s because I always spent so much time at the stable. Of course, if I hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t have noticed the problems at that retirement farm, and Deborah might have missed the story, and I might never have realized how cool being a reporter really was.…

  She shook her head, realizing she was wasting time. Valuable time. Time she could be spending coming up with cool opening lines for her article.

  I should start with something catchy, she told herself, tapping her fingers on the arm of her seat. Maybe a famous quote, like that one about how if you get married in haste, you regret it at your leisure. Or however it goes. Who said that, anyway? She had no idea, though she’d heard her parents use the quote once or twice about one of Stevie’s older cousins. Or maybe that’s too negative. I could just start with a quote from one of my subjects. I could start with Zach saying, “I would never marry someone like her,” and then take it from there. Or maybe—

  Stevie blinked, suddenly distracted from her thoughts by the motion of a couple farther down her row getting out of their seats and walking to the front of the room. “What’s going on?” she hissed to Callie.

  Callie glanced at her in surprise. “What do you mean? Weren’t you paying attention?”

  Stevie grinned sheepishly in response. “Not exactly,” she admitted.

  Callie rolled her eyes. “That guy Howe brought along something he calls life lessons cards. Sounds pretty lame, but each couple has to go up there and pick one out of the box. Whatever it says is what happens next in their imaginary marriage, and they have to figure out how to deal with it.”

  “Oh.” Stevie glanced curiously at the front of the room. The first couple was just reading their card.

  “Well?” Miss Fenton asked with a smile. “What does it say, you two?”

  The wife, a girl from Stevie’s English lit class named Roberta, cleared her throat. “‘Your landlord raises your rent by ten percent,’” she read. She glanced at her husband and shrugged. “That doesn’t sound too bad.”

  Mr. Howe nodded. “Who’s next?” he asked, turning to Miss Fenton.

  The headmistress called another pair of names, and Stevie watched for the next few minutes as several other couples went up to the front and read their cards aloud. One card stated that the family’s home was destroyed in a fire. Another pair had to deal with an elderly parent moving in with them. A third got the same raised-rent card as the first couple.

  “I guess there are some repeats,” Stevie commented to Callie.

  Callie nodded, but before she could respond, Miss Fenton called her name. “Uh-oh,” Callie whispered to Stevie as she got up. “The moment of truth.” Together with Corey, who had been sitting on her other side, she hurried to the front and picked a card.

  Stevie watched curiously as Corey looked at the card over Callie’s shoulder. “‘Wife is transferred from her job in a small town to a higher-paying job in a large city,’” Corey read aloud. He glanced at Callie and smiled. “Congratulations, honey. Does this mean you’re going to support me now?”

  Callie chuckled. “We’ll see,” she said.

  Miss Fenton shooed them offstage, then called Alex and Iris to the front. “This should be good,” Stevie whispered as Callie returned to her seat. “I hope Alex’s card says his house and car got blown away by a tornado.”

  Alex looked startled as he read his card. He glanced at Iris. “Wow,” he said. “It says here we’re expecting twins!”

  Stevie laughed out loud. “Way to go!” she called out. “I’m going to be an aunt!”

  Miss Fenton gave her a sour look. “That’s enough, Miss Lake,” she said. “Your turn will come soon enough.” She pointed to Veronica and Zach. “Miss diAngelo and Mr. Lincoln. Come forward please and draw a card.”

  Veronica didn’t look very happy about having to walk onstage with Zach beside her. She looked even more unhappy when she snatched the card that Zach pulled out of Mr. Howe’s box and read it out loud. “‘Husband is laid off from his high-paying job,’” she read.

  Stevie hooted with laughter. Most of the rest of the class giggled, too. Veronica’s expensive tastes were practically legendary.

  Veronica frowned, clearly not as amused as everyone else. “Whatever,” she said icily, heading for her seat. “It’s not like this little game really means anything, anyway.”

  “Wait up, dear!” Zach called loudly. “Can I borrow fifty bucks?”

  Stevie was still grinning about that a few minutes later when George Wheeler and Sue Berry picked their card. It stated that George had just been diagnosed with a serious illness that would prevent him from working and require round-the-clock home care.

  “Bummer for them,” Stevie said sympathetically as the couple walked down off the stage and headed back toward their seats.

  “Yeah,” Callie replied in a tight voice. “Major bummer.”

  Stevie glanced at her in surprise. But before she could comment on Callie’s bitter tone, Miss Fenton called her name.

  Spike stood up. “Come on,” he said. “I’ve got a good feeling about this, honey. I bet it’s going to say we won the lottery.”

  Stevie rolled her eyes and followed him to the stage. When Mr. Howe held out his box, she reached inside and grabbed the first card her fingers touched. Pulling it out, she scanned it quickly. Wife is diagnosed with a serious illness, she read. For a second she thought she’d pulled the same card as George and Iris, except that the wife was sick instead of the husband. Then she read the second line. Her disease is treatable, but only if she moves to a fara
way state to be near a specialist clinic.

  “What’s it say?” Spike asked, nudging her in the shoulder and leaning over to get a look.

  Stevie read the card out loud. “Looks like we’re moving,” she commented.

  “Looks like you’re moving,” Spike corrected.

  “All right, all right,” Miss Fenton admonished before Stevie could respond. “That’s enough, Mr. Anderson. You’ll have plenty of time to discuss what you’re going to do when we break into our family groups in just a few minutes.”

  Stevie gritted her teeth as the two of them took their seats again. Spike was wearing on her last nerve. Why did she have to get stuck with such a goof? Zach Lincoln was starting to look like an ideal husband by comparison.

  When everyone had chosen a card, Miss Fenton instructed them to break into couples and start working out what they were going to do to handle their life changes. “And don’t waste any time,” she added. “I’ll expect each couple to turn in a two-page essay tomorrow describing your plans. You might want to get started on that now.”

  “Ugh,” Stevie mumbled as she turned to face Spike. “More homework?”

  Spike shrugged and leaned over to dig through his duffel bag. “Who cares?” he said. “It’s not like this is a real class or anything.”

  “I know,” Stevie said. “But we still have to do the assignment.”

  “Why?” Spike sat up, a wrestling magazine in his hand. Leaning back, he propped one high-topped foot on the back of the seat in front of him, nearly kicking Lorraine Olsen in the head. “I say we just chill and deal with it tomorrow.”

  Stevie frowned. “Come on, get serious,” she said. “We’re supposed to be talking about our life cards, not hanging out. So what do you want to do about this disease clinic thing?”

  “That’s easy.” Spike flipped open his magazine. “You’re the one who’s sick. So you can move off to wherever you want and get treated. That doesn’t mean I have to go.”

  “Yes it does,” Stevie argued, knocking the magazine out of his hands. “We’re married, remember? We’re supposed to be in this together.”

  Spike looked mildly irritated as he reached down to retrieve his magazine. “No way,” he said. “I’m not changing my life.”

  Stevie sighed, irritated as usual by Spike’s attitude. Their grades for this project might not count, but that didn’t mean that Stevie wanted them to end up with the worst performance in the junior class, newspaper article or no newspaper article. But what could she do if her partner wouldn’t even pretend to cooperate? As she’d said, they were in this together.

  “Whatever,” she muttered. “Obviously, talking to you is a huge waste of time, as usual.”

  She glanced at her watch. There were still fifteen minutes left in the class period. Time enough to do a little more footwork for her story.

  Glancing over at Callie and Corey, who were bent over their project notebook talking earnestly, she decided they could wait. I’ll catch Callie at Pine Hollow later, she thought. Maybe she’ll come along on our trail ride, and I can interview her then. She glanced toward Veronica and Zach a few rows away and grinned. Meanwhile, I might as well talk to the star-crossed lovers over there while they can’t get away from each other—or from me.

  Shoving Spike’s leg off the seat back, she pushed her way past him without bothering to explain where she was going. When she reached the aisle, she hurried toward Veronica and Zach. Plenty of other people were standing up and wandering around, so she was pretty sure that Miss Fenton wouldn’t even notice that she wasn’t with her partner.

  Veronica and Zach were seated at the end of their row. When Stevie reached them, they didn’t even notice for a moment—mostly because Veronica was busy yelling at her husband.

  “… and if you’d just let me pick the card instead of grabbing for it like a child, we wouldn’t have this problem!” she exclaimed in an exasperated tone. “It’s ridiculous, really. I would never marry someone who couldn’t even hold down a job.”

  “True,” Zach replied sourly. “Because any man that’s idiot enough to marry you isn’t going to want to spend any time at home. He’ll take any job he can just to get out of the house.”

  This is great, Stevie thought gleefully. They’re the perfect opposite of Callie and Corey. This article is practically going to write itself!

  Just then Veronica glanced up and spotted her. “Oh, great,” she snapped. “It’s Stevie Lake, roving reporter. What do you want now?”

  “Oh, I just stopped by to see how you two are doing,” Stevie said cheerfully. “Bummer about the job thing, Zach.”

  Zach snorted. “Get lost, Stevie,” he said bluntly. “It’s bad enough that I have to deal with one crazy woman. I can’t handle two.”

  “You couldn’t handle an inflatable doll, you loser,” Veronica told him sharply. Whirling around to glare at Stevie, she added, “But he’s right about one thing. You need to get lost. Now!”

  Veronica’s voice was getting pretty loud and shrill. Stevie could see other students starting to glance their way curiously. Fearing that all the commotion would attract Miss Fenton’s attention, she held up her hands and pretended to give in. “Whatever. I’m going.” Giving them an appeasing smile, she ambled away.

  But she didn’t go far. There was an empty seat in the row behind the mismatched couple, just one down from Zach. Stevie waited until Veronica and Zach were distracted by their own arguments, then ducked past the couple in the first two seats and crouched low in the empty seat. Pulling out her notebook and pen, she prepared to take notes.

  Veronica was supplying plenty of material. “… and I don’t know what there is to discuss here, anyway,” she was saying to Zach. “There’s just one solution. You have to go out and get another job.”

  “I don’t know,” Zach said. “I’m not sure that will be so easy. I don’t want to take just any job, you know. There’s no way I’m going to sacrifice my creative talents just to keep you in designer jeans.”

  “Oh, please.” Veronica let out an inelegant snort. “It’s not like this is real life, you know. It’s just a stupid two-page essay. We’re going to say that you searched the want ads and went on interviews until you found a new job that paid as well as the old one. Got it?”

  “Uh-uh.” Zach shook his head stubbornly. “I don’t like that plan. Maybe I want to take some time off and find my true calling. I think you should go out and get a job at McDonalds so you can help support me for a change.”

  “What?” Veronica shrieked, sounding so incensed that Stevie couldn’t quite smother her laughter.

  She regretted that a second later when both of her subjects whirled around. “What are you doing back there?” Veronica shrieked. “You’d better get out of my face, Stevie Lake! Otherwise you’re really going to be sorry!”

  Stevie was about to respond when she spotted Miss Fenton heading their way, a stern look on her face. “Okay, okay,” she said quickly, standing up and tucking her notebook away again. “I’m going.”

  Callie was hardly aware of the commotion a few rows away. She was busy jotting down notes for the essay she and Corey were already beginning to write together. It hadn’t been too difficult to settle on a plan to handle their life card. Corey had quickly insisted that the best way to deal with Callie’s big promotion would be for him to start looking for a job in the new city.

  “It will be an adventure,” he insisted. “I’ve always wanted to live in the big city. And it’s not like we’re stuck there forever. If we decide to move back to our small town later, at least we’ll probably have enough money to buy a nice house there. With the big raise you’re getting, we can put a lot more money into savings.”

  “Sounds good,” Callie agreed, quickly scribbling down most of what Corey had just said. It was going to sound terrific in their essay. “Thanks for being so understanding. I’m starting realize just why I fell in love with you in the first place.” She grinned.

  Corey chuckled. “I know, I k
now. I’m a heck of a guy.”

  Callie smiled. She was really starting to enjoy the marriage project. Corey made the whole charade, which could have been totally lame, seem like a lot of fun.

  As Corey took the notebook to read over what she’d written, Callie sat up straight to stretch out her neck and back. She was a little stiff from all the riding she’d been doing for the past couple of days. When she glanced forward to check out the clock over the stage, she noticed George. He was swiveled around in his seat two rows ahead, staring at her over the empty seats between them with a slight frown on his face.

  Callie raised one eyebrow. “What’s wrong, George?” she asked.

  George looked embarrassed that she’d caught him staring. “Nothing,” he said quickly. “Um, but I heard what, uh, he said.” He nodded toward Corey, who glanced up curiously. “You might not be able to save that much more,” he continued, his voice rather hostile. “Your cost of living will probably be a lot higher in the city than it was in the country. Didn’t you think of that?”

  Corey shrugged. “Actually, I hadn’t. But it’s a good point. Thanks, man.” He tossed George a salute and bent down to make a note.

  Just then George’s wife spoke to him, and he turned away. Callie was relieved. “Sorry about that,” she told Corey. “George can be a little, um, well …” She wasn’t quite sure how to explain.

  Corey raised one hand to stop her. “No need to apologize,” he said gallantly. “A man has to expect other guys to try to move in when he’s married to a wonderful woman like you, darling.”

  Callie laughed, relaxing immediately. “Well, I can’t argue with that,” she joked back. “But I’m sure plenty of girls would love to be in my shoes, too, my studly hubby.”

  “True, true.” Corey grinned. Then he gestured at their notebook. “Anyway, I think we’ve pretty much got an outline sketched out here for our essay. How about if we get together at lunch today and write it up? Then neither of us will have to worry about it tonight.”