Carole looked at Lisa. “Did you follow that?” she asked.
Lisa nodded. “But wait, there’s more.”
“And the other thing that could happen is that we will discover the whereabouts of the three horses and Veronica and we’ll manage it in a way that nobody will ever know that we knew that something was wrong.”
“I like that one better,” Carole said. “We get to be heroines.” Thoughts of photographs in newspapers, awards, and rewards floated through her mind. She was about to share those thoughts with her friends when they were interrupted.
“Ready to order?” the waitress asked. The girls nodded.
Lisa ordered first. “I’ll have a dish of chocolate mint chip,” she said. The waitress nodded and jotted down the order.
“I’ll have a small hot fudge on vanilla,” Carole said. The waitress wrote that down, too.
All eyes turned to Stevie, whose eyes seemed to be glued to something behind Carole and Lisa.
“Vanilla,” Stevie said.
Everybody was surprised, but the most surprised appeared to be Stevie. The waitress disappeared before Stevie could say anything else.
“What’s the matter?” Lisa asked. She’d never known Stevie to order plain vanilla before.
“Yeah, what is it?” Carole asked.
“Veronica,” Stevie said numbly.
“Just because Veronica is missing you’re changing the way you eat?” Carole asked.
“No, not because she’s missing,” Stevie said, still apparently staring off into space. “Because she isn’t.” Then Carole and Lisa turned around and looked where Stevie had been looking. There, sauntering into TD’s, was none other than Veronica diAngelo.
“No ropes, no gag,” Stevie said.
“There isn’t even a tough guy behind her holding a gun,” Lisa observed.
“No apparent bruising,” Carole added.
“She’s wearing her hair a little differently,” Lisa said. “She doesn’t usually pull it up and away from her face like that.”
“There must be a reason,” Carole said.
“But it probably doesn’t have to do with kidnappers,” Stevie concluded.
Veronica continued her sauntering, right over to The Saddle Club’s table. “Well, hello,” she greeted them all too sweetly. “Are you all done showing off for today?” She glared at Stevie, still unable to forgive her for the turn on the forehand she’d performed for the judges yesterday.
“Well, yes,” Stevie replied just as sweetly, and just as insincerely. “And are you all done with your furious tantrums—or have you given up on them now that Mumsy and Daddykins are out of town and can’t hear them?”
A puzzled look crossed Veronica’s face. “How did you know that?” she asked.
Carole thought that was a tricky question. They couldn’t reveal that they’d called Veronica because there would have been no reasonable excuse for them to have done so. Veronica would smell a rat for sure. Carole was concerned that Stevie was skating pretty close to the edge of trouble. But Stevie had the answer.
“We know everything,” she said simply. “We even know that your housekeeper was worried about you when you left the house this morning and didn’t say where you were going.”
That was the distraction Veronica needed. “Oh, that busybody!” she declared. Even from Veronica that seemed extreme, Carole thought. After all, the housekeeper was supposed to be in charge of Veronica while her parents were away. “She must have called Pine Hollow to see if I was there—as if I would be after my horse messed up so badly yesterday. Well, it serves her right if she was worried. All I did was leave the house early to do a little shopping.”
Then, she turned on her heel and strode away. While The Saddle Club watched, Veronica glanced around TD’s looking to see if any of her clique were there. They were not. She then spurned the hostess’s offer of a menu and stormed out of the place.
“Shopping?” Stevie said. “That girl has an infinite capacity to amaze me.”
“Now I understand the new hairdo,” Lisa said.
“You do?” Carole asked.
“Sure, see, her mother has a charge account at the jewelry store here at the shopping center. I don’t know where else she was today, but while Mumsy and Daddykins are away, the little mouse was playing—among the jewels. Did you notice her new earrings?”
“I must confess that I never notice anything about Veronica except how much I dislike her,” Stevie said. “And every time I have to talk to her, I just get all wound up in trying to be snootier than she is. Anyway, no, I didn’t notice her earrings.”
“I did,” Carole said. “They were garnets, weren’t they?”
“Yes,” Lisa said.
“And I suspect she didn’t buy garnets because they reminded her of her beautiful horse. I suspect she bought them because she thought the color of the stones would match the color of the horse.”
“Now, that’s what I call accessorizing!” Stevie joked.
“I bet it’s what Veronica calls accessorizing, too,” Carole said. “Only, in her case, she’s not joking about it.”
“Chocolate mint chip?” the waitress asked.
“That’s me,” Lisa told her.
“Hot fudge—” she put the dish in front of Carole—“and the plain vanilla,” she said, slipping that dish in front of Stevie.
Stevie looked at it, puzzled. “You forgot something, didn’t you?” she asked.
“That’s what you ordered,” the woman said patiently.
“I know I did,” Stevie said. “But I also wanted a scoop of pistachio and some of the blueberry topping and if you could put some pineapple topping on the vanilla …”
Stevie stopped talking because the woman was running away. She shook her head. “Funny place, this. They never want to give you what you really want.” Then she picked up her spoon and began eating plain vanilla.
CAROLE, LISA, AND Stevie stood at the entrance to the ring and stared in disbelief.
“We’re actually going to have to jump all of those, in order?” Lisa said.
Carole nodded. While they watched, Max, Mrs. Reg, Donald, and Red O’Malley set up the jumps for the junior stadium event. There were eight jumps, but that included eleven obstacles because one of the jumps was a double jump and another was a triple.
“I’ll never make it,” Lisa said.
“Yes, you will,” Stevie told her. “Think of it as something you’ll do for the glory of The Saddle Club.”
Lisa gave her a wry look. “No, I’ll think of it as something I do to keep myself from being humiliated.”
“This from somebody—the only somebody—who had a perfect score on the cross-country course?” Stevie teased.
“Well, you know, it’s not so much that the jumps are high, or even that they’re difficult, but the course is so complicated.”
Stevie smiled. “And she’s the A-student in the group, isn’t she?” she asked Carole.
Carole barely heard her. Carole was watching the process in the arena with every ounce of her attention. “Look, all the jumps are numbered and as soon as they’re set up, we can go walk the course. That should help us remember the order.”
“All we have to do is get over them in order, right?” Lisa asked.
“Not quite,” Carole said. “See, usually with this kind of event, that’s all there is to it, as long as you do it within a time limit. But here at Pine Hollow, the rules are made by Max and he expects more of his junior riders. He wants us to do it in good form, too. We have to keep our horses at an even pace and we have to jump properly. We’ll get penalty points if we make stylistic errors, like letting our arms flap or trotting on the wrong diagonal.”
“Max sure expects a lot from us, doesn’t he?” Stevie said.
“Yes,” Carole agreed. “That’s why he’s such a good teacher.”
This was the morning of the final day of Pine Hollow’s three-day event, and the jumping was the last competition for the junior riders. The ad
ult competition would be after lunch and then the ribbons would be awarded and all the competitors would ride in the closing-ceremony parade. It was a big day for The Saddle Club in more than one sense. It was also the last day they’d given themselves to find the missing horses. That was important; they all knew that. But first things came first and what came first today was the jumping competition.
“All right, now. It’s time to walk the course,” Max announced.
Those were the words Carole had been waiting to hear. She took one of the maps that Mrs. Reg was handing out to the riders and studied it first. The course was complicated, zigzagging back and forth along the full length of the field, but as Carole studied it, she began to see the logic of the layout. The whole course was designed to test all of the skills Max had had his students working on since the first day they’d each been in a saddle. This wasn’t so much a competition against other riders as it was a test of each individual rider’s skills. She folded the map, put it in her pocket, and began to study the real thing.
According to the schedule, Max allowed the riders to spend fifteen minutes studying the course. Carole used all of it. She walked the route several times, measuring the distances between the jumps with strides so she’d have an idea of how many strides Starlight would need to take. That way, she could also plan how far in front of each jump he would take off. She made a mental note of all the landmarks to help her remember everything.
Before Carole could believe it, the whistle blew. It was time to mount up and warm Starlight up, too. She’d drawn number six for this event, so at least she would have the advantage of watching five other riders, including Stevie, go through the course before it was her turn. She intended to make good use of that advantage.
“Hello, Carole, are you there?” It was Stevie. She was standing next to Carole, waving her hand in front of Carole’s face to get her attention. Carole blinked.
“Oh,” she said. “I’m sorry. I’ve just been concentrating.”
“That’s obvious,” Stevie told her. “Did you learn anything?”
“I learned a zillion things, made notes to myself about exactly where I want to begin all the jumps, where I need to change leads, how fast I think Starlight should be going with each approach, and how many strides he’ll need to take between each of the jumps.”
“Wow,” Stevie said, genuinely impressed.
“But the trouble is that I don’t think I’ll remember any of it.”
“You’ll do fine,” Stevie said. “I’ve watched Starlight jump enough to know that this is his event.”
“I hope so,” Carole said.
“Well, let’s go tighten our horses’ girths and get this over with.” Together, they entered the stable.
Lisa was there, giving Pepper a final brushing, and dusting some sawdust off his rump.
“I don’t know about this one, guys,” Lisa said.
“No problem,” Stevie said. “At least not for us. This is going to be Carole’s event. The best we can do is the best we can do. Carole and Starlight are going to take it, cold. See, now the pressure’s off. Feel better?”
Lisa laughed. “You know I do,” she said. “You always have that effect on me.”
The girls finished the final grooming and tacking process and met in the hallway. Then they examined one anothers’ horses to be sure their tack was spotless and their horses’ coats were shiny. They had all done their work. It was time to warm up the horses and get ready for the competition.
Stevie was second. Lisa and Carole stood by the edge of the ring and crossed their fingers for her. Topside had once belonged to a championship rider and he had been in competition all of his adult life. He knew what he was doing. So did Stevie. Unfortunately, so did Max. The jump course was a tricky one that tested the rider and the horse. Stevie was good, but a few of the jump combinations were better than she was.
“It’s the triple that will get the riders,” Carole said. “See, it’s not that they are high jumps. They aren’t. It’s that they are close together and your horse has to be completely balanced and cantering rhythmically before he can take off again. Max hasn’t left us much space between those jumps for recovery.”
Stevie sailed smoothly over the first three jumps. She grinned as she passed her friends. Carole had the feeling Stevie wanted to wave, but of course she couldn’t do that. That was definitely not good form. Then she approached the triple combination. Topside was in top form. Stevie had him take off at just the right moment and he recovered almost instantly for the second part of it. Again, no problem. The third jump was as good as the first two. Carole and Lisa automatically began applauding and they weren’t alone. Everyone in the audience did, too.
“She seems so relaxed,” Lisa said.
“Too relaxed,” Carole said. “If she’s not careful, she’s going to—”
And then Stevie got into trouble. She let Topside take a slow curve approach to the next jump and instead of aiming straight at it, they came at an angle. Stevie misjudged her distance and Topside took off too close to the jump. Topside’s hoof caught the top bar on the way over, knocking it to the ground.
“That’s five faults,” Carole said.
“But so far, those are her only faults,” Lisa reminded her.
Carole knew that was true, but she also could tell that Stevie had gotten rattled. She was distracted and it cost her. She got too close to the next jump before signaling Topside for the takeoff and he refused the jump. Stevie knew what to do. She circled around and brought him back through the approach. This time, they went right over it, but the refusal cost another ten faults.
Stevie had learned her lesson about concentration. From there until the end of the competition, she and Topside worked together as if they’d been born together. It was a great finish. It had been a great start, too. It was only the middle that worried Carole.
“You were great!” Lisa said, greeting her back at the fence.
“I wasn’t, but thanks anyway,” Stevie told her.
Carole gave her a hug. “You were great part of the time,” she said truthfully. “You took that triple like a pro and your finale was really grand.”
“And the middle wasn’t so hot,” Stevie said, evaluating herself honestly.
“But you recovered and that’s really important. It may not get you a blue ribbon, but it certainly does get you respect.”
Stevie dismounted and gave Topside the pat that he deserved. “I don’t want a blue ribbon on this anyway. It’s yours to win,” she told Carole. “Good luck.”
“Thanks,” Carole said.
“I’m going to cool down Topside and put him in his stall. I’ll be back in time for your turn, okay?” Stevie asked. Carole and Lisa nodded and then turned their attention to the next competitor.
“Look at her hands,” Carole said. “They’re all over the place. She’s never going to—” The first jump was down.
Stevie walked Topside back to his stall. She wasn’t thrilled with her performance, but she was proud of the fact that she’d pulled herself back together after a few mistakes. Sometimes that was hard to do. Riding a great horse like Topside made it easier. As she walked, she told him all the wonderful things she’d do for him when she had time. Her promises included carrots and two-hour showers. He followed her willingly.
The stable was quite deserted. Everybody was watching the jumping. So, Stevie was more than a little surprised to hear somebody talking agitatedly. She halted Topside and listened.
There was a phone in the stable. It was only supposed to be used for emergencies, but a lot of people defined emergencies for their own convenience. From the tone of voice Stevie heard from around the corner, this person had definitely defined his problem as an emergency. He was speaking in a nervous whisper that made it impossible to identify the voice. There was no mistaking the urgency of the tone, though.
“Of course I’ve got to have the money! And I’ve got to have it now …”
Stevie didn’t want to ba
rge in on that. Whoever was talking on the phone obviously had a problem and probably didn’t want anybody else to know about it.
“Look, I’ve done what I had to do … I’ve been busting my gut getting everything—”
Topside whinnied. Since all of the other horses were out, waiting to compete, the person on the phone knew somebody was near and apparently didn’t like the idea.
“Look, I can’t talk now,” he said, and then Stevie heard the phone being cradled.
Stevie was embarrassed to have overheard what she had overheard. She was also dying of curiosity. Anybody who was that desperate for cash could do anything. Was it possible that there was a horsenapper lurking around the corner?
Stevie clucked her tongue to get Topside walking again. They rounded the corner, and although Stevie could see clear to the end of the hallway, there wasn’t a sign of anybody. The telephone talker had disappeared altogether.
Topside went into his stall willingly. Stevie loosened his girth and brought him a bucket of water and some fresh hay. She cross-tied him.
“See you later, boy,” she said. She fastened the door to his stall behind her.
Then, as she headed back toward the ring, Donald went whizzing past her, carrying clean tack. He nodded a quick greeting. It occurred to her that he might have seen something—or someone.
“Oh, Donald,” she said. “Did you see somebody here just a few minutes ago?”
He paused and looked at her thoughtfully. “Nope,” he said. “The place has been deserted since the junior jumping began.” Then he disappeared as quickly as he’d appeared.
Stevie shrugged. It wasn’t surprising, really, that Donald hadn’t seen the person who’d been talking on the phone. He was always dashing one place or another and didn’t ever seem to see anything!
Stevie looked at the phone as she passed it again, almost hoping that it would tell her something. All it told her, though, was that one of the hundreds of people who’d been tromping through the stable had been careless, for there was a gum wrapper dropped on a bale of hay.
Horsenapped! Page 6