Horse Care (15 page)

Stevie nodded. “And she thinks Pine Hollow is a pretty wonderful place, right?”

“Right,” Lisa said. “I don’t think she’ll be dragging me off to ride at any more strange stables.” For the first few days after Lisa’s fall, Mrs. Atwood had tried to convince Lisa to give up riding entirely. Lisa hadn’t paid her any attention. Instead, she had patiently explained over and over again that all riders fall off sometimes, and that accidents could happen to anyone. She had also been careful to tell her mother why she wouldn’t have ended up in such dire circumstances if she had been riding at Pine Hollow. The riders there knew better than to ride
alone out on the trail, and besides that, she would have had The Saddle Club looking out for her.

Lisa smiled at that thought. The Saddle Club
had
looked out for her. They’d just had to go a little farther than usual to do it. And they’d had someone else helping them.

“What?” Stevie demanded, noticing Lisa’s expression as the girls entered the locker room. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh, nothing,” Lisa replied. “I was just thinking about how Tiny took care of me out there. Now it’s my turn to take care of her, by visiting her and showing her how much I appreciate what she did.”

Stevie nodded and grabbed her backpack out of her cubby. “That’s why Carole and I should come along with you on this visit. It sounds a lot like a Saddle Club project.”

Lisa’s eyes widened. “You know, it does,” she said slowly. “In fact, now that I think about it, it almost feels like Tiny is a member of The Saddle Club. I mean, she fits the rules, right? You could say she’s horse-crazy, I guess. But more importantly, she helped me out when I needed it.”

Carole and Stevie exchanged glaces. Then they both started to smile. “You know, you’re right,” Carole said, quickly pulling on her sneakers and stuffing her boots into her cubby. “When you put it that way, maybe The Saddle Club has a lot more members than just the three
of us, and Phil and Emily and Kate and all the other out-of-town members. Human members, I mean.”

By now, Stevie had broken into a full-fledged grin. “Absolutely,” she said. “The Saddle Club has lots more members—really important members. In fact, the club couldn’t exist without them! Members like Tiny and Belle and Starlight and Prancer—”

“And Barq and Samson and Topside and Patch and Diablo,” Carole added. “And Calypso and her baby.”

Lisa linked her arms through those of her two best friends as they all left the locker room. “And don’t forget Chocolate and Berry and Stewball and Geronimo and Moonglow and Teddy and Jasper and Monkeyshines and Maverick and Eve …”

As she paused for breath, her friends added more names. Lisa knew that their extended membership list was just getting started. And she thought that that was absolutely, positively,
horstupendously
wonderful!

Bonnie Bryant is the author of nearly a hundred books about horses, including The Saddle Club series, Saddle Club Super Editions, and the Pony Tails series. 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.