Horse Tale (8 page)

“I
CAN
’
T BELIEVE
the camp-out is tomorrow,” Carole exclaimed as she opened the door to the bunkhouse. Kate followed her inside. “Whoever said ‘Time flies when you’re having fun’ was definitely right.”

“You’re not kidding,” Kate said. “My biggest question right now is how we’re going to have everything ready in time for the auction. I can’t believe it’s only three days away. My mom has been like a madwoman in the kitchen.”

“Well, if that apple pie we had for dessert tonight was any indication, I’d say it will be worth it,” Carole said. She flopped down on her bunk. “I ate so much I’ll be full for three days.”

“You’d better not be. Otherwise you won’t be able to eat s’mores at the campfire tomorrow night,” Kate teased.

“It’s a good thing Stevie isn’t here to hear me say this, but
even the thought of s’mores doesn’t tempt me right now,” Carole said. Stevie had remained behind at the main house to telephone her parents and work out the details for shipping Stewball to Pine Hollow.

“Speaking of Stevie, I’ve been wanting to talk to you and Lisa alone,” Kate began.

Carole rolled over onto her stomach and looked at Kate. Kate looked serious. “Well, since Lisa’s not here, you’ll have to settle for just me,” she said. “Talk.”

Kate took a deep breath. “I don’t think Stevie should buy Stewball.”

“What?” Carole sat up and stared at her friend. “Why not?”

“I just don’t think they’re a good match,” Kate replied.

“Not a good match!” Carole sputtered. “What are you talking about? They’re the perfect match. That’s why she always rides him when we come out here, remember? Anyway, your father obviously disagrees with you, since he’s the one who agreed to sell him to Stevie. Don’t you think he knows what he’s doing?”

At that moment Lisa entered the bunkhouse. “What’s going on?” she asked when she saw the agitated look on Carole’s face.

“Kate doesn’t think Stevie and Stewball are a good match,” Carole exclaimed. “She doesn’t think she should buy him. Can you believe it? I mean, I know Stevie has been driving us all a little crazy by talking about Stewball all the
time, but that’s only natural. They’re perfect for each other. Don’t you think?”

Lisa sat down on the bunk next to Carole. “I’m not sure,” she replied quietly.

Carole’s jaw dropped. “What do you mean, you’re not sure? What is everyone around here thinking?”

“If you’ll give me a minute, I’ll tell you what I’m thinking,” Kate replied. “You didn’t let me finish what I was trying to say.”

Carole’s mouth snapped shut and she nodded. “Sorry. Go ahead.”

“When I said Stevie and Stewball weren’t a good match, I wasn’t talking about their personalities,” Kate said. “I know they get along great. Stewball is a wonderful, responsive horse, and Stevie is a terrific rider. But the fact is, Stevie’s interests and talents are in English riding. And Stewball just isn’t an English riding horse.”

Carole shrugged. As much as she normally respected Kate’s opinion on anything having to do with horses, she remained unconvinced. “He’ll learn. They’ve got a good relationship, and that’s one of the most important things.”

“True,” Kate said. “But it’s not the
only
important thing.”

“You’ve said yourself that there’s really not that much difference between Western and English riding,” Lisa pointed out.

“That’s true too, up to a point,” Kate said. “There isn’t anything Stewball couldn’t learn and do pretty well for Stevie. The problem is that he’ll be a pretty good English
horse instead of an outstanding Western horse. That just seems like a waste to me.”

“I don’t know,” Carole said. “I still think the most important thing is for Stevie to have a horse that makes her happy. Stewball makes her happy. She makes him happy. And that’s the way it should be.”

Kate paced the small room. Then she stopped and turned to face Carole and Lisa. “I didn’t want to go into this, because you know how I feel about competition,” she began.

“What?” Carole asked curiously. She and Lisa both knew that the reason Kate had dropped out of the horse-show circuit was because she didn’t like the way the competition had made her forget what was fun about riding. Carole couldn’t imagine what those feelings could have to do with Stevie and Stewball.

“Stevie is a fine English rider and she’s getting better all the time,” Kate said. “She’s probably capable of going on to win plenty of ribbons. It’s possible she could even make a career for herself if she wants to, especially in dressage.”

Carole and Lisa nodded. Even though Stevie was impulsive and rather scatterbrained most of the time, the riding sport she was best at was dressage, which required precision and perfect concentration from both horse and rider.

“But that’s not going to happen on Stewball,” Kate continued. “He’ll never be good enough to help Stevie compete at a high level in dressage. He’s a terrific horse, but he just won’t be. He’ll hold her back every time. And that’s not fair to either of them.”

Carole thought about that for a moment before replying. She had to admit that Kate had a point. It took an exceptional horse to compete in the dressage ring. The horse had to be well trained, first of all, but it also had to have the right kind of temperament and conformation. Topside, the horse Stevie usually rode at Pine Hollow, fit all those requirements. Stewball, Carole realized now, didn’t. She couldn’t imagine the compact, stocky skewbald in a show ring with a bunch of tall, elegant Thoroughbreds like Topside.

She glanced up at Kate. “I guess you may be right,” she admitted quietly. “Sorry I snapped at you without letting you explain.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kate said, waving away her apology. “The important thing is figuring out how to convince Stevie.”

Lisa nodded. She had realized, belatedly, that John had been trying to tell her exactly the same thing Kate was telling them now. She also realized that they both might very well be right—and if that was true, then she definitely owed John an apology. “That’s not going to be easy. You know how she is when her mind is made up. We’ll have to be careful about how to approach her.”

“I take it you agree, then?” Kate asked.

“I was half-convinced before I came in here,” Lisa admitted. Before her friends had a chance to ask her what that meant, she offered a suggestion. “There’s only one way to do it. We have to make Stevie think it’s
her
idea.”

“Definitely,” Carole agreed. “But how?”

“Maybe the wilderness camp-out will be a good time,” Kate said.

“Agreed,” Carole said. “But what should we do?”

“Well, I—”

Whatever Kate had been about to say was interrupted by Stevie’s arrival. Stevie came rushing into the bunkhouse, letting the door slam shut behind her. She was practically bouncing with excitement, and the words rushed out of her mouth so fast that the others had trouble following them.

“I talked to my parents,” Stevie gushed. “They’re such wonderful parents, did I ever mention that? Well they are. I mean I know I complain about them sometimes, but really, how many parents would buy their daughter her very own horse? Not that I don’t deserve it or anything, I mean I’ve wanted one for ages and they did buy Chad that mountain bike which was really expensive, and Alex has his own computer and a really great stereo, but still, it’s great that they just agreed to it without me even begging much at all. I think they really understood when I explained how special Stewball is and what a great opportunity it is to be able to buy him. I think Max did too—did I tell you I spoke to Max?—and I think he’s excited to meet him, although of course with Max it’s hard to tell.…”

Stevie chattered on excitedly while she started to change into her nightclothes. When she stuck her head into the bathroom to look for her hairbrush, Kate leaned over toward the others.

“Let’s meet before breakfast to figure out a plan,” she whispered.

Lisa and Carole nodded. Then they all settled back for another long conversation about Stewball. Only this time their hearts weren’t really in it. Plan or no plan, they couldn’t imagine how they were going to be able to get Stevie to change her mind about buying Stewball—without breaking her heart.

T
HE FOLLOWING MORNING
after breakfast the girls headed toward the barn to pick up their saddles and bridles and the other equipment they would need for the camp-out. Lisa looked around as she and her friends saddled up their horses, hoping John would come out to help, but for once he was nowhere to be found. His father, Walter, was helping them instead.

“Where’s John this morning?” Lisa asked him in what she hoped was a casual voice.

“He’s with the herd, checking out the horses that’ll be sold at the auction,” Walter replied.

“Oh.” Lisa was disappointed. She had hoped to have a chance to talk with John and apologize for her behavior the night before. But it looked as though that would have to wait until after the camp-out. She sighed and decided to try
to put the whole incident out of her head. Instead she thought about the plan she, Carole, and Kate had come up with earlier that morning. She just hoped it would work.

“Come on, lazybones, let’s get a move on!” Kate shouted playfully to Lisa. “We’ve got a lot of ground to cover today.”

“Coming!” Lisa quickly finished getting ready. The others were already mounted and waiting outside the corral.

When Lisa had joined them, they started off across the desert to Christine’s house. There they found Christine waiting on her horse, Arrow. Her dog, Dude, was with her.

When Stevie spotted the dog, she dismounted and hurried to greet him. “Dude!” she cried happily as the young dog leaped toward her and covered her face with affectionate kisses.

“He remembers you,” Christine commented.

“Of course he does,” Stevie said matter-of-factly. “I’m sure he also remembers that I’m the one who introduced you two.” Stevie had been the one who had matched Dude with Christine after Christine’s old dog had died. Stevie knew that Christine had appreciated her bringing them together—and she strongly suspected that Dude felt the same way.

They set off, with Christine in the lead and Dude frisking along beside them. As they rode, Stevie found herself thinking how absolutely perfect everything was. Not only was she having a fantastic vacation with her very best friends, but she was going to have the greatest horse in the world when she got home. She leaned forward to give Stewball a pat on the neck. Then she looked around at the gorgeous desert
scenery surrounding her on all sides, and sighed in contentment.

“It doesn’t get any better than this, boy,” she told Stewball happily.

T
HEY ARRIVED AT
the campsite early in the evening. Christine had led them there by what she called the “scenic route,” and it had certainly been scenic. The trail had taken them across the desert, then along the edge of a deep canyon with a river roaring in the bottom of it. They had followed the canyon as it made its way toward the foothills of the mountains; then they had veered off across a pinedotted hillside to reach a trail that led them between two steep foothills and into the valley where the campsite was located. Every inch of the trail was breathtaking. But as soon as they saw the campsite, the girls were convinced that it was the most scenic spot yet.

“This is terrific!” Carole exclaimed as she dismounted.

“Definitely,” Stevie, Lisa, and Kate added in one voice.

Christine smiled. “I knew you’d think so,” she said.

The campsite was in a wide, shallow arroyo that meandered through the valley. The arroyo had obviously been dry for a long time, but a clear, fast-moving stream tumbled along not far away. The valley itself was grassy and sprinkled with colorful wildflowers. On previous trips Christine’s family had built a stone fire pit in the arroyo, and a temporary corral fenced with rocks and logs on the grassy plain nearby. As the valley sloped gently up to meet the surrounding hills.
the grass and flowers were replaced by a deep forest. And beyond the hills the rugged peaks of the Rocky Mountains were visible to the west.

After admiring the spectacular scenery for several more minutes, the girls unsaddled the horses and turned them loose in the corral. Then Christine demonstrated how to set up the tents they had borrowed from her parents. Dude frisked around the girls as they worked, trying to be helpful. They managed to get everything done in spite of him.

“Now what should we do?” Stevie asked when the campsite was set up. “There are a couple more hours until dark.”

“I have an idea,” Kate volunteered quickly. “Why don’t we have an English riding demonstration? Christine was asking me just the other day what English riding is all about.”

“What? I mean, oh yeah,” Christine said. “That would be cool.”

“Oh, yes!” Carole chirped. “It will be
so
much fun!”

“Definitely!” Lisa added enthusiastically.

Stevie shrugged. “Okay, that sounds like fun, I guess.” She glanced at Stewball and grinned. “Actually, it will be terrific. This will be my first chance to see how Stewball takes to English riding. I know he’ll be a natural!”