Lucky Charm (12 page)

“Don’t worry, we’ll continue to help you until we’re a hundred percent certain you can do it on your own,” Claudia reassured both of them. Claudia was Katani’s kind of girl. She had a take-charge attitude; she expected that people would rise to the challenge, but she gave them a ton of support to do it. Katani admired the cute little instructor very much. She was going to record some of Claudia’s motivational techniques in her notebook at home. Maybe she could use them for her own fashion and advice empire someday.

Katani curried Penelope all by herself today. Although Claudia did most of the hoof-picking thing, she gave Katani her first lesson. She instructed her to pick up Penelope’s hoof. “You stand like this and tap on her leg. She likes to have her hoofs picked, so she’s more than willing to pick up her foot for you. You just gotta be careful that when she puts her hoof down she doesn’t put it down on
your
foot. I’ve had that happen more often than care to remember. Believe me—it’s not pleasant!” Penelope was her usual polite self. Claudia told Katani that Penelope and Wilbur were her two favorite horses. They were gentle and friendly and liked people—the perfect horses for beginning riders.

Katani couldn’t wait to get in the saddle. She remembered to swing her leg slowly over Penelope and to pat her on the neck. Once she was settled comfortably on Penelope’s back, Claudia gave her the go-ahead to head to the ring. Katani gave Penelope a gentle kick and off they went, Kelley following close behind her on Wilbur. Claudia led Wilbur herself, however. Samantha and Catherine ran on the ground alongside Kelley. The huge smile on Kelley’s face told Katani that her sister was enjoying the experience too. At one point, Kelley
forgot herself and, dropping her reins, threw up her hands in the air and yelled, “
Wilbur loves me!
” Claudia had to stop Wilbur and gently encourage Kelley to collect herself, which to Katani’s surprise, she did readily. Katani was impressed. Maybe this hippotherapy would really help her sister.

Katani couldn’t remember a time when Kelley was happier. At school, Kelley was having an easier time concentrating with her special tutors. Even at home, she seemed more relaxed, handling the bright colors and music better than before. Katani suspected that the riding lessons were the reason for these changes.

Katani reached down and gave Penelope another pat before she encouraged her to trot on. Maybe there was a little magic in riding. Katani always felt in charge—that was her nature—but she wasn’t always relaxed. Around Penelope, she felt both in charge and relaxed. This was definitely a new and pleasurable experience for her.

When the sisters’ lesson was over, Claudia told Samantha and Catherine to take Kelley back to the stable. “I want a few minutes to go over some things with Katani,” she explained. Claudia proceeded to give Katani a few new pointers on the proper techniques for
posting
—moving up and down in the saddle to match the rhythm of the horse’s trot. Katani soaked up the advice like a sponge and rode around the ring a few times using her new technique.

“Great job, Katani,” Claudia clapped. “I’m really impressed. I hope your parents will think about getting you some private lessons. You have real talent,” she said as Katani dismounted Penelope.

Katani felt like she might burst with pride. For the first
time in her life, she was good at something “athletic.” Until last week she had never thought of horseback riding as an actual sport. But the day after Katani’s first lesson, every muscle in her body was aching. There was pain in muscles she didn’t even know she had. She concluded that if this wasn’t athletic, then she didn’t know what
was
. She pulled a carrot out of her pants pocket and gave it to Penelope. She thought her animal friend needed a reward too.

When Grandma Ruby came back to pick up the girls, Claudia filled her in on their lesson. “And this one,” she said, nodding toward Katani, “should be encouraged to take more lessons. She is catching on quickly.”

Mrs. Fields asked Katani to take her sister to the car. Kelley was tired after her lesson and Mrs. Fields wanted everything to stay on a positive note. “I found a lovely bakery in Weston Center and bought a couple of cookies for you girls.”

Kelley jumped up and twirled around. “Love those cookies,” she exclaimed. Even Claudia laughed.
Kelley is just so darn funny sometimes,
Katani thought as she smiled at her sister.

As the sisters headed back to Big Blue, Claudia turned to face Mrs. Fields. The petite instructor straightened her shoulders and said, “Unfortunately, I have some disappointing news to report. I’m afraid the sessions will have to end at the end of next month. We lost a major funding source and that impacts our deadline to begin repairs to the stable. Unless we find additional funds between now and then, I think we might be out of business.”

“Oh, my,” Grandma Ruby exclaimed with dismay.

“Our volunteers have been hoping that a financial angel
will swoop down and save the stable at the last minute,” Claudia added.

From the car, Katani strained her ears to hear what Claudia was saying.

She overheard Claudia talking about how the necessary repairs to bring the stable up to health department codes would come to thousands of dollars. If the money didn’t come, and come soon, High Hopes would be forced to stop lessons and move the horses to another facility. Katani knew that the other facility was simply too far away. These lessons had quickly become an unexpected gift to Katani and Kelley. She hoped she wouldn’t have to give them up, but how in the world could she find that kind of money to save the stable?

I
sabel! Wake up,” Aunt Lourdes called from the door. “You have a phone call.”

Aunt Lourdes’s stern look told Isabel that this was more than just a phone call.

“Who is it?” Isabel asked.

“It’s a man!” Aunt Lourdes handed Isabel a robe, as if the man were actually standing in the living room right now. “Why would a man call a twelve-year-old girl? And at this hour? You are not in trouble at school, are you?” Aunt Lourdes asked. She looked crossly at Isabel as if it were her fault.

Then a light bulb clicked in Isabel’s sleepy brain. “Oh, no, Auntie. It’s okay. This is probably the man who said he found Marty. Remember I told you about him?”

“You just don’t hand out your phone number to anyone, and I don’t care if he is a Red Sox player.”

Isabel held up one finger. She needed to take this phone call, and pronto. “I will explain everything as soon as I’m done. I promise,” she whispered.

“It is not right. A man talking to a child. You may take the call, but I will be listening on the extension downstairs.”

Isabel understood. She took the phone and gave her aunt a thumbs-up sign.

“Hola?”
she said and proceeded to talk with the man in fluent Spanish.

“Isabel?”

“
Sí.
Are you the man who found our dog? Marty?”

“Yes. Yes. Let me explain about the dog.”

Isabel remembered Charlotte’s plan about figuring out whether or not this guy was telling the truth. “Wait. First I need to know how you got my friend’s phone number.”

“What?”

“Well, the phone number isn’t listed anywhere. Not on the signs. Not on the website,” Isabel said. She hoped her aunt was listening so she would know that they had been careful about handing out their phone number.

“Oh,
sí
! The number was on the tag of the pink thing in his mouth.”

“Happy Lucky Thingy?”

“You call it what?”

“Happy Lucky Thingy.”

The man on the other end began to laugh. “Happy Lucky Thingy? That is a very good good-luck name.”

Isabel laughed, too. She couldn’t disagree. Happy Lucky Thingy belonged to Avery when she was a baby. She knew it was the only thing Avery had when she arrived in the United States from Korea. Isabel knew how precious it was to Avery. She also knew how precious Marty was to Avery, considering she had given him her special toy to slobber all over.

“So now do you want to talk about the little pooch?” the man asked. That was when reality set in for Isabel. The little pooch was Marty! This was the real deal. It wasn’t some mean kid hoax like the stuffed animal on the Dumpster. But she was definitely not expecting the next thing he had to say.

“My name is Robbie Flores.”

Isabel coughed. “Excuse me?” Though she had only moved to Boston a short time ago, she had heard that name often enough to immediately recognize it. Her knees began to shake. This person, this man on the phone, was claiming to be Robbie Flores, the Red Sox rookie that everyone at school was so excited about! She could not believe it. Avery was right. Marty was with the Red Sox. Wait ’til Avery found out which player. Aunt Lourdes gasped on the other end. Robbie Flores was an icon in Boston.

She figured he understood why she was so shocked because she could hear him laugh again. “
Sí
. Robbie Flores,” he repeated. “I promise you this is true.”

“Robbie Flores? As in, the baseball player Robbie Flores?”

“
Sí
.”

“And
you
have our dog?”

“
Sí
. That is what I’m trying to tell you,
señorita
!” Robbie said. Then he explained how he found Marty in the parking lot near the festival with no leash or collar on Saturday. He decided that it was unsafe for such a little dog to be running around. Afraid for the puppy’s safety, he put the little guy in the car. “Your little dog was very polite and friendly.”

Robbie was on his way to the ballpark, but he planned on bringing the dog to the shelter as soon as he got up the next
day. So the dog was in the dugout with him for the entire game. Then, for the first time in weeks, he came out of his slump. “It was gone. Like it never happened, and I play my best game.” Isabel thought that Robbie Flores sounded like a really super
chico
.

Isabel instantly remembered the picture from the newspaper. Avery had been sure that that was Happy Lucky in the picture. Avery had been right!

“When I went four for four against Yankee ace, I began to think little dog had something to do with it. I name him Lucky Charm, and he bring me luck, I’m sure of it. So you understand how important for me to keep him,” Mr. Flores told her.

There was a long pause as if he was waiting for her to reply, but she didn’t know what to say. She had been ready for another prank—not for this. Robbie Flores was a whole other story.

“Can you repeat that last part?” she said. Her throat suddenly felt dry.

“He has brought me luck. I want to—no, I really need to keep him.”

Isabel sighed. “I’m sorry, Mr. Flores, but you
can’t
keep him. Marty is our pet. We don’t want to give him away.”

“Don’t worry,
señorita
. I will pay for the dog.”

“How much?” Isabel heard her aunt ask on the extension.

“I have given much thought to this. Lucky Charm is very important to me. I need this dog. I will pay ten thousand dollars to keep Lucky Charm.”

“Ten THOUSAND dollars?” Aunt Lourdes was shocked.

Isabel couldn’t believe her ears. She had assumed that when the man on the answering machine had said “a hundred times as much” to keep Marty, he was just exaggerating to show how much he liked the dog.

“Yes. Ten thousand dollars. I have the check in my hand. I just need to know who to make it out to. I will send it in the mail right away.”

Isabel’s heart was racing. “No!” she cried. “I’m sorry, Mr. Flores, but the dog is not mine and I don’t think he’s for sale. I’ll talk to my friends if you want, but that’s the best I can do.”

“Okay. Would you tell them that the Red Sox are depending on Lucky Charm?” Robbie Flores asked.

“I will,” she promised.

“Wait, I have an idea! How about you and your friend come to the game this afternoon and I can pay you in person? I’ll leave a ticket for you and your friend to pick up.”

“Actually…there are five of us.” Isabel bit her lip. Another gasp from Aunt Lourdes.

“Okay, five tickets. Tickets—not important. What is important is Lucky Charm. He is such a good little dude.”

Aunt Lourdes slammed down the phone and Isabel heard her shuffling about. She was coming up the stairs. Isabel pinched herself in disbelief. Was this guy for real?

“Okay, Mr. Flores. We’ll try to come today,”

“No, no, no!” her aunt said, appearing in the doorway. “You five girls are
not
going to meet some crazy person by yourselves, and I can’t go with you today. I have to work at the hospital.”

“
Sí
. I understand, Auntie. But I think it’s really Robbie
Flores. Maybe Mr. Ramsey could go.” Isabel said. She spoke into the phone again and explained, “My aunt won’t let me go without adult supervision.”

“Then I’ll get you six tickets,” Robbie Flores agreed. “After the game, meet me by the Clubhouse entrance by Gate A. I’ll tell Joe that you’re coming to meet me, he’ll be at the door.” And before she could say another word, Mr. Flores hung up.

“This is ridiculous!” Aunt Lourdes looked troubled. “Ten thousand dollars for a dog? Because he thinks it is a lucky charm? He is
loco
. A mad man. I do not approve of this meeting,” Aunt Lourdes said. “Not one little bit.”

“But Auntie, we get free baseball tickets for today’s game! And if Mr. Ramsey comes with us, we’ll be totally fine. Besides, he’ll be able to help us make the right decision,” Isabel said.

“If it is true, you would be fools not to take the money. You say that Marty belongs to all of you? Then that’s two thousand dollars apiece. Just imagine how helpful two thousand dollars would be…” Her aunt’s voice trailed off, but Isabel knew exactly what she was getting at—Isabel’s mother’s multiple sclerosis. Isabel and her mother and sister had moved from Michigan to Boston, where her Aunt Lourdes lived, since Boston had exceptional hospitals. With all of her mother’s medical bills, two thousand dollars would be very helpful indeed.

Isabel had always thought of Marty as Charlotte’s dog because he lived with Charlotte. But they were always saying how Marty belonged to everyone. If that was true, then perhaps her aunt was right. Two thousand dollars for each of
them. Not only would that help with the medical bills, but it could pay for lots of airline tickets. Then perhaps her father could visit them for both Thanksgiving
and
Christmas. But Marty was so loved, especially by Charlotte and Avery. This was going to be one
horrible decision
; Isabel could feel it in her bones.

With a heavy heart, Isabel rushed to the computer to IM the other BSG. What would they think of all of this? She knew they would all be excited about going to a Red Sox game, but Robbie Flores’s plea to keep Marty was going to create a terrible dilemma.

Isabel was glad no one had asked anything about the $10,000 reward. She didn’t want to put a damper on the idea that they could get Marty back.

Avery’s Blog

Top five things to take to a baseball game:

P.S. Dudes, Marty’s been hiding out with a Red Sox player who shall remain nameless…how cool is that.