Show Judge

by Bonnie Bryant

  Stevie suddenly had a brainstorm. She rushed over to the booth where Lisa and Carole were sitting.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be at the bus stop?” asked Carole, looking up.

  “Yes, but I’ve got a great idea and I need you two to help me carry it out.” She took out a pen and grabbed a napkin. “I need you to order a pizza for me from Pizza Joe’s in the mall.”

  “What do you want on it?”

  Stevie looked back toward the ice cream counter and grinned, handing the pen and napkin to her friend. “Write this down.”

  When Stevie finished dictating the order she literally bolted for the door, leaving her two friends shaking their heads in wonder.

  Carole studied the paper in her hand. “Her brothers are not going to believe this.”

  “I can hardly believe it myself,” said Lisa.

  Carole went off to make the call moments before the waitress arrived with their sundaes. “You know, your friend has quite a sense of humor.”

  Lisa knew she was referring to Stevie and not Carole. “Oh, you don’t know the half of it,” she said, looking toward the phones with a smile.

  While Carole was placing Stevie’s order, Lisa took a taste of frosty mint and chocolate and thought over the best way to express what she was feeling about the day’s events.

  “That’s done,” Carole said, slipping into the booth. “I’d love to see the look on her brothers’ faces when that pizza arrives!” She snatched up her spoon and started on her sundae. “Yum. I think I really earned this today.”

  “You did work hard,” Lisa said. “I think we were all doing our best.”

  “I’m sure of that, but you wouldn’t believe some of the things I saw and heard going on at the stable!”

  “It must be hard trying to keep up with so many riders,” Lisa sympathized.

  “Oh, believe me, it is.”

  “Maybe some of the mistakes you thought you saw or heard were because you arrived mid-lesson,” Lisa suggested gently. “Maybe if you had heard the entire conversation …” She trailed off, unsure how to proceed.

  Carole looked up from her sundae. “Are you worried about that thing with feeding Outlaw?”

  Lisa was relieved. Perhaps this was going to be okay after all. “As a matter of fact, yes, I did want to talk to you about that.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Lisa.” Carole reached across the table and patted her hand. “I know you’re still pretty new to riding, and I don’t mind going the extra mile to make sure you keep Jasmine on the right track.”

  Lisa was dumbfounded. That wasn’t what she had meant at all! Annoyed, she stabbed resentfully at her ice cream. Carole wasn’t being fair. She had been doing fine with Jasmine, telling her everything she needed to know about feeding her pony properly. Just because Carole had come along in the middle of what they were doing was no reason for her to assume Lisa had forgotten some important detail. Carole had made her look bad in front of her Pony Partner, and now Lisa was concerned that Jasmine might lose confidence in her if it happened again.

  “Look, Carole—” she began.

  “Well, well, look who’s here,” a voice broke in. Turning, Lisa saw Veronica diAngelo and Betsy Cavanaugh approaching their table. “Tweedledum and Tweedledumber. The only one missing from this little tea party is the Mad Hatter.”

  The two girls slid into a seat right behind Lisa and Carole. “What are you going to order, Veronica?” Betsy asked in a loud voice. “The blue ribbon surprise?”

  “No, Betsy,” replied Veronica. “Unlike some people, I don’t see a blue ribbon in my future—or yours either, for that matter.”

  Carole got to her feet and went over to the other girls’ booth. “I might as well tell you right up front. You’re absolutely right. You two will not be getting any blue ribbons from me.”

  Lisa was alarmed. How could Carole say something like that right out in the open? It made her look completely biased!

  “On the other hand,” Carole continued, “if you do a good job, your Pony Partners might!”

  “Oh, Carole,” Veronica smirked. “You don’t have to say that simply because we’re in public. Everyone at Pine Hollow knows where you stand.”

  “Veronica made sure of it,” added Betsy, casually looking at her menu. “Just so none of those little kids would get their hopes up too high.”

  “Everybody is going to get a fair chance,” Carole said, a little pleading creeping into her voice. “I mean that.”

  Veronica gave her a sly glance. “Don’t worry about it, Carole, we know exactly what you mean.” She winked at her friend. “Don’t we, Betsy?”

  Lisa could see that Carole was on the verge of tears. She desperately wished Stevie were there to handle Veronica, but she wasn’t, so it was up to her. “Why Veronica,” she said, peering over the back of her booth, “what a beautiful job you’ve done on your nail polish. I sure hope May Grover appreciated all the hard work you put into that today.”

  Much to Lisa’s satisfaction, Veronica looked peeved. Lisa turned to her friend. “Carole, now that we’re all clear on where we stand, don’t you think we should finish up our sundaes and be on our way?”

  “You’re right,” Carole said gratefully. “I still have a lot of work to do.”

  With that they sat down and determinedly ignored Veronica and Betsy for the rest of their snack.

  STEVIE AND ALEX hustled from the bus stop to Pizza Joe’s. When they got there they saw Michael and Chad standing by the doors at the front entrance, looking irritated. Stevie steeled herself. “I know, I know, don’t say it,” she said, hoping to cut off the inevitable recriminations before they began. “We’re late.”

  “It’s all her fault,” Alex said accusingly.

  “We could’ve grown old and died waiting on you,” Chad growled, scowling at her.

  Stevie was unable to resist. “Ah, I knew there was a reason I wasn’t hurrying.”

  “I’m hungry,” whined Michael.

  “So what else is new?” asked Alex.

  Chad put his arm around his little brother. “Michael’s right. If were gonna eat and still have time to look for a present for Mom and Dad, we’ve gotta get moving. It does actually take time to cook a pizza.” He led the way inside.

  “Don’t worry about it, guys,” Stevie said, bringing up the rear. “I have it all taken care of.”

  At those words her brothers stopped so abruptly that she ran right into Alex’s back. All three of them turned to look at her. “Stevie, what have you done?” Alex said, squinting at her suspiciously.

  She batted her eyes innocently. “Why, nothing terrible. Unless you call ordering ahead so that we wouldn’t have to wait some kind of crime.”

  Her brothers all groaned with dismay.

  “My treat,” she added graciously.

  The hostess returned to her post. “How many, please?”

  “Four to sit down,” Chad answered. “Probably one to eat.” He glared at his sister.

  As they were being seated, the woman offered menus.

  “Oh, we won’t be needing those,” Stevie said, waving them away. “I called in an order.”

  “Your server will check on that for you.” She left.

  “Stevie, how could you do this?” demanded Chad.

  “What?” Stevie asked with wide-eyed innocence.

  “You ordered one of your bizarre combinations, didn’t you?” he accused.

  “Oh no!” wailed Michael. “I’m really, really hungry.”

  “Don’t worry, Michael, you’re gonna love this,” she assured him.

  Alex, elbows on the table and head in his hands, moaned. “What toppings did you put on it?”

  “Stevie, this isn’t funny,” Chad reprimanded her. “It’s one thing to play a practical joke, but the rest of us are actually hungry.”

  “Look,” she said. “I simply preordered a pizza so that we could get on with looking for Mom and Dad’s present. We are here to talk about Mom and Dad’s anniversary gift
, right?”

  The boys all nodded.

  “Then let’s get on with it! Any suggestions?”

  “How about some smelly bath soaps?” Michael offered.

  “That’s nice, Mike,” agreed Alex. “But try to think bigger. How about a party? Like one of those This Is Your Life kind of things?”

  “Not a bad idea,” said Chad.

  Stevie shook her head. “I don’t think we have enough time left to get all their old friends together. You know, like Dad’s best man, Mom’s maid of honor? What about a weekend at one of those exclusive spas?”

  “Don’t be stupid, Stevie,” scoffed Chad. “Do you know how much those things cost?”

  Stevie was annoyed by his superior attitude. “No, as a matter of fact, I don’t. Do you?”

  Chad had to admit he didn’t. “But I bet it’s a lot more than we have.”

  “Perfume?” suggested Michael.

  “That’s okay for Mom,” Alex told him, clearly getting frustrated, “but we need something for the both of them! Get it?”

  Stevie jumped to her younger brother’s defense. “Don’t snap at him. He’s just trying to help.”

  “What about a barbecue?”

  “We have barbecues all the time.”

  “Besides, that’s not very romantic.”

  “I haven’t heard you come up with anything brilliant.”

  “I’m doing my best!”

  The discussion was quickly turning into a fight. Luckily, the waitress appeared, carrying a pizza tray. “This must be the Lake party,” she said.

  “That’s us,” Stevie said, relieved by the interruption. “How did you know?”

  “Oh, the person who called in your order said to look for four young people having a big argument.”

  Stevie almost laughed aloud. Carole sometimes had a surprising sense of humor.

  “One Stevie Lake special?” the server asked cheerfully.

  “Oh great,” muttered Alex. “Shall we leave you alone, Your Highness, so that you can eat your concoction in peace?”

  “Let me guess,” Chad said to the waitress. “Anchovies, pineapple, pepperoni, spinach, olives, onions, green pepper, and tuna fish.”

  “As a matter of fact, yes,” she replied with a smile, “but you forgot the extra jalapeños.”

  Her three brothers glared at Stevie, who wouldn’t meet their eyes.

  “Of course, that’s only one quarter of the pizza,” continued the waitress. “The other three are all different. So, who gets the plain cheese?” She looked around the table expectantly.

  “Plain cheese?” Michael echoed with wonder. “Me, me, me!”

  “I should have known that. I’ve got a boy your age at home.” She smiled as she served it. “Pepperoni and green pepper?”

  “That’s for him.” Stevie pointed to her twin. “The pepperoni, sausage, and mushrooms goes to my right.” She gestured toward Chad. “And I think that leaves me with the works.” Since her brothers appeared speechless, Stevie also handled who got which of the four different drinks.

  “Let me know if you need any refills,” the waitress said, moving away.

  Michael took a sip of his drink. “Lemonade,” he said delightedly. “Cheese pizza and lemonade. My favorite!”

  “You ordered this before we even got here?” Alex asked, staring with wonder at his root beer.

  “I thought it might get us all off on the right foot,” Stevie answered.

  Alex took a huge bite of his pizza. “Very cool, sis. Thanks.”

  Chad looked at his own meal, and then at Stevie. “You know, as a sister you’re not always a total disaster.”

  “Thanks, Chad, same to you.” She relished the rare moment of warmth with her siblings even more than her first bite of pizza. “Okay!” she said, talking with her mouth full. “Let’s hit the stores after this. Things are going so well, maybe we’ll get lucky and find something for Mom and Dad.”

  For once the Lake kids were in full agreement.

  LISA AND CAROLE stayed only long enough at TD’s to establish that they were not being driven out by Veronica and Betsy. Nevertheless, they were both relieved when they were outside again.

  “You want me to walk you to the bus?” offered Lisa.

  Carole started to say yes but suddenly realized she wasn’t carrying her clipboard and judging papers. “Oh no!” she cried in dismay.

  “What is it?” Lisa asked.

  “My papers! I must have left them in my cubby, and it’s not locked! I don’t know how I could have been so careless.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Nobody will bother them,” said Lisa.

  “I need to work on them tonight. I’ll have to go back.”

  “Do you want me to go with you?” Lisa asked.

  “No thanks. I can take care of it. See you tomorrow,” said Carole.

  She ran all the way back to Pine Hollow, arriving in the locker room anxious and out of breath. It was with great relief that she spotted her clipboard and folder on one of the benches, but as she reached out to retrieve them it suddenly occurred to her that they weren’t where she had left them. She had put them in her cubby. With growing concern she quickly thumbed through the papers. Something was wrong. She was almost certain that someone had been going through them. Why would someone do such a thing? Carole wondered. An even better question was: Who would do such a thing?

  STEVIE ARRIVED AT Pine Hollow on Sunday morning, running behind schedule as usual. She spotted Carole standing in the stable yard, clipboard in hand. Even though there was no official class scheduled, young riders were hustling here and there, trying to get in as much training time as possible. Stevie hurried over, attempting to retuck her shirt as she went. “Hi, Carole. Have you seen Corey around?”

  “A little late, aren’t you?” Carole said, scribbling something in her notebook.

  Stevie felt a twinge of resentment as she watched Carole write. “A little,” she admitted reluctantly, “but the good news is I think we’ve figured out a present for my parents.”

  Carole looked up. “Excellent. What did you decide on?”

  Before she could answer, Stevie spotted Corey coming out of the stable, looking a little forlorn. “We’ll talk later,” she said, rushing off to help Corey before Carole could make any more notes.

  Corey’s face flooded with relief. “Stevie! I thought maybe I got the time wrong.”

  Stevie felt a little guilty. “No, it’s my fault,” she apologized. “How’s Samurai coming?”

  “I think he’s ready to be saddled, but I wanted you to check to make sure I groomed him right first.”

  “Let’s go look him over,” Stevie said, cheerfully putting an arm around her charge. “Then I think we’ll start with some ground work in the indoor ring.”

  It was almost an hour later before Stevie felt she could leave Corey to practice on her own. She spotted Lisa and Carole over by the outdoor ring and hurried to join them. “Good news, guys.”

  “I hear you’ve solved your problem,” Lisa said. “What did you and your brothers decide on?”

  “And how did you all ever manage to agree on anything?” Carole teased.

  “I think the pizza did the trick,” Stevie said, grinning.

  “I’m sure they never saw that coming,” laughed Lisa.

  “Anyway, after we ate we were wandering around the mall when Michael started complaining about having to get dressed up for all the pictures Mom and Dad would want to take that day, and that did it!” Stevie snapped her fingers. “We’re going to buy them a camera. A digital camera!”

  “Oh, wow! I’ve seen those things demonstrated at the store,” cooed Lisa. “They’re amazing.”

  “The way your parents love to document every moment of your lives, I’m surprised they haven’t bought one for themselves before now,” Carole said, nodding approvingly. “Congratulations, Stevie. It really is the perfect present.”

  “I didn’t realize you and your brothers had that kind of money saved up,�
�� Lisa said.

  Stevie shrugged. “Apparently they’re not that expensive.”

  Lisa looked surprised. “You don’t think three hundred dollars is expensive?”

  Stevie was puzzled. “Who said anything about three hundred dollars? Chad said it would be around eighty.”

  Carole put her hand on Stevie’s shoulder. “I think he meant apiece. Eighty from each of you would come to around three hundred dollars.”

  Stevie went pale, then red. “Where does he think I’m going to get that kind of money? He may have that kind of cash, but Alex, Michael, and I sure don’t!” she fumed.

  “What are you going to do?” Lisa asked sympathetically.

  “I’m going to the office to make a phone call,” she answered grimly.

  “Mrs. Reg won’t let you use that phone, Stevie. It’s only for emergencies.”

  “This is an emergency!” Stevie declared, striding away.

  LISA’S EYES WERE drawn back to the ring, where Jasmine was working over four cavalletti set at their lowest level. The idea was for the rider to adjust the length of her horse’s stride so that it would arrive three clear paces in front of the first pole. After that, the horse was to step, with one foot only, between each pole. The pair had negotiated the course fairly easily at a walk, but the posting trot was giving them trouble. Outlaw knocked one of the poles down with his back foot, then, turning to see what had happened behind him, he practically stepped on top of the next one. Not helping matters was the fact that Jasmine was completely off balance in the saddle and pulling too hard on the reins in an attempt to regain control of the situation.

  “I’d better go talk to her,” Lisa said, climbing through the fence.

  “That sounds like a good idea,” Carole agreed. Interested in hearing what kind of advice Lisa was going to give, she tagged along.

  Jasmine was close to tears with frustration. “Lisa, it’s hopeless. I can’t make him do it.”

  Outlaw was also looking unhappy. Lisa put a soothing hand on his neck. “You’re not adjusting his stride correctly before he reaches the three-out position. You two have to work together.”