Horseshoe (12 page)

Stevie looked offended. “My crazy schemes always work—at least, most of the time.”

“The best part,” Lisa said, “was getting Veronica to actually buy Jessica her dog. I never even
imagined
that.”

“All I told Jessica was to come see me at the CARL booth,” said Stevie. “I figured I could find some way to talk her mother into adopting a pet for her. But when I saw Veronica at exactly the right time—”

“Perfect,” Carole said with satisfaction. “I would have been very happy if Veronica had made a donation to CARL, the way we planned. I’m thrilled that
she made her donation to Jessica instead. But can you believe she had that much money? Twenty-eight dollars, plus what she gave us for fortunes!”

“In this case, I’m glad of it,” said Lisa. “Jessica can use the rest to buy something for Buddy. I saw them getting into their car right before we left the fairgrounds. Do you know what Jessica said to me? She came running over, all breathless, and she said, ‘You were right, Lisa! I do have a new best friend!’ ” Lisa grinned. “That really made me feel good.”

“I’m so glad we could do something to help her,” Carole said. “That alone was worth all of our work.”

“Any one part of it was worth all of our work, in my opinion,” Stevie said. “Just seeing Veronica diAngelo walk around in designer jeans she destroyed herself made it completely worthwhile to me.” Stevie finished the rest of her sundae. “The Veronica/Michael triumph. What a wonderful day.”

They sat in quiet satisfaction for a moment, but suddenly Lisa looked sad. “It’s not a perfect day though,” she told her friends. “I saw Judy Barker after the drill too. She told me that Doc Tock had stopped by the van. Sal, the horse at CARL, died this morning. They did everything they could to save him, but he was just too sick.” Lisa sighed. She knew the memory
of poor, neglected Sal was one she would never forget.

Carole patted her arm sympathetically. “It’s worse for you because you met Sal,” she said, “but I feel awful when a horse dies too.”

“We all do,” said Stevie. “Especially when it’s for such a stupid reason. But, Lisa, you said all along that Sal might die. And all of us know that CARL can’t do everything.”

“But they can help,” Lisa said. “I know that, and I know it’s important. I’m really glad we worked so hard for CARL today too. When we help them, it’s like we’re helping animals like Sal.”

“Today we did the best we could,” Carole said. “At least we know that.”

“This,” said Lisa, “was one of the best Saddle Club projects of all.”

They sat contented for a few minutes. “You know,” Stevie was saying, “I could almost eat another sundae,” when Lisa sat up and pointed out the window.

“Look at that!”

Stevie and Carole looked. Across the shopping mall, Michael Grant was walking into the audio store, Sights ’n’ Sounds. He had his hands stuck in his pockets and he looked annoyed.

Veronica was following right on his heels. She was
wearing the same torn jeans and shirt she had on before, but now she’d added a scuzzy pair of plastic shower sandals to her ensemble.

“She looks
awful
!” Carole said.

“That’s something to celebrate,” commented Lisa.

Stevie raised her water glass. “Here’s to the
new
Veronica!”

B
ONNIE
B
RYANT
is the author of many books for young readers, including novelizations of movie hits such as
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles®
and
Honey
,
I Blew Up the Kid
, written 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 lives in Greenwich Village with her two sons.