Horse Guest (6 page)

Sure enough, Grandma Lake was nodding. “That sounds like fun,” she said. “Which museums do you want to see? How about the National Air and Space Museum? Is that one still your favorite?”

It was, but Stevie quickly shook her head. The Air and Space Museum! That had to be the most exciting one of all. Stevie shuddered at the thought of what stimulating stories of space travel and thrilling tales of early flight might do to her grandmother’s heart rate.
Grandma Lake probably thinks a young whippersnapper like me can only appreciate an exciting museum like that
, Stevie thought.
But something quieter would be much better
.

She tried to think of the quietest, most boring museum
of the bunch. “Actually,” she said, stirring her peas with her fork, “I’ve been wanting to visit the National Gallery of Art. Could we go there instead?”

Grandma Lake looked surprised, but she nodded. “Sure, Stevie. If that’s where you really want to go.”

“Oh, I do,” Stevie assured her. “I really do.”
There
, she thought with relief.
A bunch of pictures should be just the thing. Grandma will love it
.

Stevie’s mother was staring at her suspiciously. She had dragged Stevie through the National Gallery of Art a couple of years ago, and Stevie had complained the entire time about how dull it was. But Mrs. Lake didn’t comment on her daughter’s sudden interest in art. “That sounds like a nice plan,” she said, passing Grandma Lake the bowl of peas. “We can all go on Monday if you like.”

Grandma Lake took the bowl and helped herself to a second serving. “So, Stevie,” she said, “your parents tell me you’ve been spending more time than ever at that stable of yours lately. But you’ve hardly said a word about it. I want to hear all about it.”

Stevie gulped. How could she possibly make Pine Hollow sound unexciting? “Like I said before, there’s not much to tell,” she said. “Not much happens there. You know, we ride, we take lessons—pretty boring, really.”

There was a small, strangled sound from Alex at that, but Stevie was pretty sure her grandmother hadn’t heard it. After all, didn’t they say that your hearing was the first thing to go?

“You’re being unusually subdued on this topic, Stevie,” her father said. “Did something happen at the stable today to upset you? You didn’t get into a fight with your friends, did you?”

“Oh, no, no,” Stevie said quickly. “It was just an average day.” She couldn’t believe her father’s comment. Didn’t he understand that she was only trying to save his own mother from unnecessary stress? “Um, we had a Horse Wise meeting today—that’s our Pony Club,” she told her grandmother. “Today we just rode in the indoor ring and practiced a few different things. It wasn’t very interesting.”

“Oh, but it must be so much fun to ride every day,” Grandma Lake said. “And having your very own horse must be so exciting!”

“Not really,” Stevie said, trying to sound sincere. “When you get right down to it, it’s not much different than having a cat. Or, um, a goldfish or something.”

Grandma Lake looked skeptical, but Stevie just smiled at her serenely. All three of Stevie’s brothers were steadily shoveling food into their mouths. Stevie guessed that they were trying to keep themselves busy so that they wouldn’t be tempted to make any jokes at her expense—or Pine Hollow’s.

“Well, I think it would be more interesting than that,” Grandma Lake said after a brief silence. “I hope I’ll get a chance to meet your horse while I’m here, Stevie.”

“I’m sure that can be arranged,” Mrs. Lake said. “Stevie
loves showing people around Pine Hollow. Don’t you, Stevie?”

“Oh, no. I’ve outgrown that, Mom,” Stevie said earnestly. “I realized how dull it must be for people. Grandma would be bored silly.”

Grandma Lake shook her head. “No, I wouldn’t,” she assured Stevie. “I’d love a tour. Which day is good for you?”

“You have a riding lesson on Tuesday, don’t you, Stevie?” Mr. Lake said, looking up from his food. “How about if we bring your grandmother by then?”

“That sounds wonderful!” Grandma Lake exclaimed before Stevie could protest. “Tuesday it is.”

“Um, are you sure?” Stevie asked. “I mean, it will probably be pretty boring. I think Max is going to spend the first half of the lesson just talking to us about bits or something dull like that.”

Her mother and father exchanged glances. Stevie could tell that they were on the verge of demanding to know what was going on, but she guessed they didn’t want to make a scene in front of Grandma Lake. For obvious reasons.

“All right, Stevie,” Mrs. Lake said evenly. “If the first half of the lesson is going to be so dull, we’ll show up for the second half. Maybe we can all go out for an early dinner in town afterward.”

“That sounds perfect,” Grandma Lake agreed, and Mr. Lake nodded.

Stevie smiled weakly as her grandmother turned to beam at her. How was she going to find a way around this?

T
HE NEXT DAY
, Mrs. Atwood dropped Lisa and Britt off at Hedgerow Farms’ main gate. “Have a nice time, girls,” Mrs. Atwood said. “I’ll be back to pick you up after I finish my shopping.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Lisa said. “Come on, Britt. Let’s go.”

Lisa smiled with anticipation. Now that Britt was here, she was sure to fall in love with Applesauce just as Lisa had imagined. Stevie had called the night before to tell her about Romeo’s half brother, but she wasn’t worried about that, or about Coconut, either. Applesauce was the one for Britt. Lisa just knew it.

The two girls walked up the gracefully curving driveway toward the brand-new stable building. The air was crisp but not too cold, and only a few clouds drifted across the grayish blue winter sky.

“It’s a nice day,” Britt offered timidly.

“It sure is,” Lisa said. “Especially for January.” Normally she wouldn’t be excited to be talking about the weather, but the fact that Britt was making conversation at all was a big step for her. Lisa wanted to encourage that.

When they reached the stable yard, they found Elaine, Hedgerow’s manager, watching as one of her stable hands longed a horse in a small paddock. Elaine had broken her
leg before Christmas, and it was still in a cast. Lisa and Britt joined the woman by the paddock fence.

“Hi there, girls,” Elaine said, leaning on her crutches. Lisa had called the day before to tell her they were coming. Elaine turned to Britt with a friendly smile. “You must be the new girl I’ve heard so much about.”

Britt blushed. “I’m Britt,” she said softly. “Nice to meet you.”

Elaine nodded good-naturedly, then turned to Lisa. “So how’s Magoo doing? Judy calls every day or two to give me an update, but I haven’t heard from her today.”

“He’s fine,” Lisa said. “More or less, anyway.” She and Carole had met at Pine Hollow that morning to deal with their patient. He had given up on the bandages after Stevie’s latest hot-sauce application, but he had managed to get a large piece of straw into his eye, which was red and watery when the girls had arrived. They were pretty sure they had caught it before it turned into full-fledged conjunctivitis, but they had called Judy to let her know what had happened, just in case.

Lisa filled Elaine in on the whole story. The woman shook her head ruefully. “That Magoo,” she said with a little laugh. “He really is an equine hypochondriac, isn’t he? He loves to be fussed over. I just hope he recovers pretty soon. I was trying to sell him before the accident, and I’ve already had a couple of calls from potential buyers who want to check him out when he’s better.”

Lisa nodded politely. She hoped Magoo got better soon, too—mostly because he was so much extra work for The Saddle Club. But right now she was more interested in Britt. They didn’t have much time before Mrs. Atwood returned, and Lisa wanted to make sure that Britt had plenty of time to get to know Applesauce.

“Do you mind if we go inside and say hello?” she said. “We miss all your horses already. Right, Britt?”

Britt nodded and followed Lisa obediently into the stable building.

Lisa didn’t want to be too obvious about her intentions, so she and Britt stopped at a few stalls before they reached Applesauce’s. Britt seemed honestly delighted to see each and every horse again, though her only comment was invariably “What a nice horse.”

Lisa was sure she would have more to say about Applesauce. But when the Appaloosa nuzzled Britt’s palm looking for treats, Britt just smiled. “What a nice horse,” she said, patting Applesauce on the neck.

“She really is nice, isn’t she?” Lisa said encouragingly. “I think she might be my favorite of all the Hedgerow horses. She’s so calm, and sweet, and smart, and nice …”

Britt nodded agreeably, but she didn’t say anything.

“What about you, Britt?” Lisa prompted. “If you had to pick your favorite horse in this entire stable, which would it be?” She realized she wasn’t being exactly subtle, but
she couldn’t help it. Britt just wasn’t responding the way she was supposed to.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Britt said. She paused and ran her fingers through Applesauce’s mane. “I love all of them equally, I guess.” She gave Applesauce a final pat, then moved on to the next stall.

Lisa sighed and followed. She was disappointed that her plan wasn’t working so far. But she had to admit one thing: Britt seemed just as horse-crazy as the members of The Saddle Club. She obviously adored every horse she met, and they all adored her right back. It was as true here as it was at Pine Hollow.

It’s just too bad she’s so shy that she hasn’t made many
human
friends yet
, Lisa thought.

Suddenly she stopped in the middle of the aisle. Britt was already greeting the next horse, so she didn’t notice. Lisa’s face slowly spread into a wide grin. She had just had an idea for another very interesting Saddle Club project.…

“S
TEVIE
?” L
ISA SAID
a few hours later, pressing the phone to her ear. She was still excited about her idea. Her friends had both been out all day—Stevie with her grandmother and Carole with her father. But Stevie had finally picked up the phone.

“Oh, hi, Lisa,” Stevie said, sounding distracted. “Listen, I can’t really talk right now. Grandma is alone with
Michael, and I’m afraid he’ll forget our plan and start showing her his superhero comic book collection or something. Besides, I promised I’d let her teach me to play bridge.”

Lisa groaned. “Ugh. How boring.” Her parents had taught her the card game already, and she hated it. She couldn’t imagine Stevie sitting down to a bridge game. “But hold on just a second, okay? I promise I’ll make this quick. I want to tell you and Carole at the same time. It’s important.”

Stevie hesitated for a second, then agreed. “Hold on,” she said. “I’ll get her.” Stevie’s phone was the only one with three-way calling.

Lisa waited while Stevie put her on hold to dial Carole’s number. A moment later all three girls were on the line together. “What’s your big news, Lisa?” Carole asked. “Don’t tell me Britt actually chose Applesauce!”

“No way,” Stevie protested. “She can’t! She hasn’t even met Romeo’s brother yet.”

“No, no,” Lisa said hastily. “That’s not what my news is about—although it does have something to do with Britt. It’s an idea for a new Saddle Club project.”

“What is it?” Carole asked expectantly.

Lisa took a deep breath. She had no idea how her friends would react to her idea. But there was only one way to find out.

“What would you think,” she said, “of considering Britt for membership in The Saddle Club?”

“H
OW DOES HE
do it?” Lisa asked, exasperated. “How does he manage to have some new problem every single day?”

She and Carole were in Magoo’s stall. It was Monday, so the two girls were on their own while Stevie visited the Smithsonian with her family. Today Magoo’s bandages were still intact. He had eaten all of his food. And his eye seemed to be all right. But he had been coughing since the girls had arrived that day, and Red O’Malley, the head stable hand, had stopped by to tell them that Magoo had been coughing frequently since the night before.

Carole sighed. “I guess he caught a cold,” she said. Even though she was sure that Red had already done so, she felt the gelding’s esophagus area carefully to make
sure that a food blockage wasn’t causing the cough. But from the look of the horse, Carole was pretty sure that the cause was a mild upper-respiratory infection. “Red said Judy promised to stop by and check on him to make sure that’s all it is.”

“Did I hear someone mention my name?” Judy asked cheerfully from outside the stall.

Carole and Lisa greeted the vet and stepped aside to give her room. Judy quickly checked over Magoo’s injuries, complimenting the girls on their nursing.

“We won’t lie to you,” Lisa said. “It hasn’t been easy. Elaine called him an equine hypochondriac, and I think she’s right.”

Judy laughed heartily at that. She continued her examination, then finally stepped back and reached for her battered vet bag, which she had left in the aisle. “He’s got a slight cold,” she said. “I don’t think it’s too serious.” She dug through the bag and came up with a container of medicine, which she handed to Carole. “Just keep him warm and put this into a hot bran mash for him. The dosage is on the label. He should be fine in a day or two.”