Lucky Charm (7 page)

Kidnapped! That had never occurred to Charlotte. She assumed that, like the pets that were stranded in hurricane areas, Marty was lost out there along the creek or the Charles River. Lost and homeless. But…
kidnapped
! She snuck a look at Avery. Her tearstained face pained Charlotte.

Dillon jumped in. “Hey, I saw that on some TV show…dogs were missing all over this neighborhood, and…”

“I doubt that’s the case here, Dillon,” Ms. Rodriguez interrupted before Dillon could reveal any more disturbing details. “Charlotte, do you have any fliers?”

Charlotte nodded.

“Perhaps we all could take a few posters and help distribute them around all the neighborhoods. Why don’t you get them out, Charlotte, and anyone who would like to help can take a few,” Ms. Rodriguez suggested.

Charlotte pulled the stack of fliers from her book bag and handed them to Ms. R.

“Why don’t I leave them on my desk?” she asked.

At the end of the class, the BSG waited as their classmates all came up and grabbed a few fliers. Even Anna and Joline, the famous Queens of Mean, took some. Maeve exchanged surprised glances with Charlotte.

“Maybe they’re not as bad as we think they are,” Maeve said as Charlotte gathered the remaining fliers and left the classroom.

“Maybe they have a sweet side we don’t know about,” Isabel said.

Katani looked at her like she was crazy. “Yeah right! And God doesn’t make little green apples and it don’t rain in Indianapolis in the summertime.”

“What?” Charlotte asked.

“It’s a song,” Maeve said. “An old song…good one.”

“What I mean is, those two were probably showing off for Ms. R. You know how they like to pretend they’re sweet in front of the teachers. I bet they’ve wadded them up and thrown them away already,” Katani said.

“No, Katani,” Isabel spoke up. “I think you’re wrong. They both like Marty. I ran into them into the park once and they were really nice to him. Joline even said he was ‘adorable.’”

Katani wasn’t so sure. She would believe it when she saw a flier in Brookline Village where they both lived.

Avery’s Blog

Why Robbie Flores should be Rookie of the Year

- Highest batting average

- Highest number of RBIs

- Highest slugging percentage

- More than 20 stolen bases

Marty’s still missing. Almost 48 hours gone. Where is he?

C
harlotte was alarmed when she arrived home with Maeve to find her father’s bike on the front porch. He wasn’t supposed to be back from school until after six on Mondays. Was there something…

“Dad?” she called up the stairs as soon as she pushed through the big wooden front door of the yellow Victorian. “Are you home, Dad?”

“In here, Char,” he called down from the kitchen.

Charlotte pounded up the stairs. Her father was bustling about in the kitchen. “Hello girls,” he said as he stirred a pot of fragrant soup.

“What’s going on, Dad? Why are you here so early?”

“It’s Monday. I cancelled my office hours today. I thought…where are the rest of the BSG?” He looked over at Maeve.

“Katani had to help her sister and Isabel and Avery had basketball practice. So Maeve came with me. She said she didn’t want me to come home alone to an empty, Marty-less house,” Charlotte sighed.

“Ah, that’s nice of you, Maeve. Well, don’t leave her standing in the foyer, Charlotte.” Mr. Ramsey beckoned for Maeve to come in.

“How about some popcorn and chocolate milk, ladies?”

“Yes, please,” both girls nodded. “Popcorn is a favorite in the Kaplan-Taylor home, Mr. Ramsey,” added Maeve as she sat down at the kitchen table.

“Well, Maeve, I don’t think my popcorn will stand up to your dad’s, but for an afternoon snack it will have to do,” laughed Mr. Ramsey. Everyone knew that the Brookline Movie House—the theater that Maeve’s parents owned—had the best popcorn in town.

“Dad…”

“Charlotte…”

Both Charlotte and her father spoke at the same time.

“You first, Dad,” Charlotte said as she grabbed a handful of warm, buttery popcorn.

“Listen, I thought we could spend some time this afternoon visiting animal hospitals and shelters. While I was waiting for you to get here, Charlotte, I looked up all the clinics and marked them on the map. If someone found Marty, they might have taken him to one of these places.”

Charlotte got up and hugged her dad. It was so great of him to come home from work to help them search for Marty.

“Mr. Ramsey,” Maeve interjected. “That is a brilliant plan. Don’t you think so, Charlotte?”

“Not only do I think it’s brilliant, but I think we should get going right away. And Dad…”

Her father looked at his daughter with a reassuring smile.
He knew how important finding Marty was to Charlotte.

“Can we stop at the Copy Cafe first and get more copies? Oh…and before we leave I need to check the website,” Charlotte said.

“I already checked, sweetheart.”

“And…?” Charlotte asked a twinge of hopefulness in her voice.

Mr. Ramsey shook his head. “Nothing.”

Charlotte choked back a sob. She couldn’t cry now. They had work to do.

Maeve looked pensive. “Mr. Ramsey…Perhaps we could drive by the park first. Maybe Marty returned to the last place he saw us,” she suggested.

Charlotte doubted that this was possible, but she was touched by Maeve’s concern.

“Good idea, Maeve. Let’s get going,” Charlotte said, heading toward the door.

Charlotte was happy that both her father and Maeve were there to help her look for Marty, but it was Monday afternoon. Marty had already been missing for forty-eight hours. Charlotte was beginning to lose hope.

Maeve must have read the worry on Charlotte’s face. “Don’t worry, Char,” she said, squeezing her friend’s hand. “We’ll never stop looking for Marty!”

Hip, Hippo-ray!

Katani sat next to Kelley in the middle seat of Big Blue, her grandmother’s old boat-size blue car, and stared out the window. Normally, Katani loved to go for a ride in Big Blue. Usually it meant a trip to the mall or a day trip to Cape Cod.
Ruby Fields loved to take her granddaughters on little adventures. She said it was “good for the soul.”

Today was different, however. They were going out to Weston to the High Hopes Therapeutic Riding Stable. Weston was a half-hour away from their home in Brookline. That meant in addition to the riding lessons, Katani had to spend an hour in the car with her sister instead of hanging out with her friends, or more importantly, looking for Marty.

Katani was really worried about Charlotte. Char was so angry with Avery and her role in Marty’s disappearance that Katani was afraid it might impact their friendship. It was so unlike the normally sensitive Charlotte to get that mad, or even be mad at all.
Perhaps
, wondered Katani as she stared out the window,
it was easier to be angry than feel sad that Marty might be lost forever
.

As they got closer to the stables, they entered a semi-wooded suburban area of Boston that Katani had never been to before. It was lovely, but she wouldn’t let herself admire the beautiful trees or the graceful colonial homes. She didn’t want to go horseback riding—and that was that.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Fields was explaining in a calm voice to Kelley what lay ahead. “You girls are so lucky. I’ve never ridden a horse,” her grandmother said. “But I always wanted to. When I was your age, I had friends who rode. Oh, the stories they told. Riding on trails through the woods and going to horse shows.”

Kelley clapped her hands, “Ha! I will ride a horse today.”

Mrs. Fields looked fondly at both of her granddaughters.

Katani refused to respond and instead turned to stare out
the window. She wasn’t ready to admit how the lush green trees and stone walls appealed to her finely tuned sense of style.

When they got closer, Grandma Ruby passed the directions to Katani. Grandma Ruby was famous for getting lost, and Katani didn’t feel like driving around for an extra hour or two.

Katani was relieved when she saw a small sign that read
High Hopes
. She shouted, “There it is, Grandma! Turn here.”

Grandma Ruby rolled onto a country road that was surrounded by big maple trees. On the corner was a big old shingle-style house that looked like it was once a hotel. Just past the house was a small riding stable. As they pulled in, Kelley began to bounce up and down. There were horses in the paddock. Curious, they stuck their heads over the fence to stare at Big Blue. Katani put her fingers to her mouth to keep from smiling. She figured the horses had never seen anything like Big Blue before.

Katani had imagined a huge pasture, white fences, and lots of thoroughbred horses running around. What she saw instead was a small brown weathered barn that looked like it might blow over in the next strong wind. There was a fence, but it was brown, not white. And there wasn’t an endless pasture area, just a ring with a clump of grass in the middle. The recent rain had left the area muddy, and the ruts in the driveway were filled with water.
Not the stuff of TV
, Katani thought.

“We’re here!” Grandma Ruby sang out. “Come on, girls.”

“Ooooo!” Kelley said when she opened the door. She pinched her nose closed with her fingers.

Kelley was right. It was smelly. Katani promised herself that she would take a half-hour shower when she got home. Okay, maybe an hour.

“Look Katani. Horses!” Kelley yelled, and pointed to two horses in the tiny ring. Two more horses were tied up to the side of the barn. “Just like on the carousel. I want to ride a pink-and-lavender one. Do they have a pink-and-lavender one?”

“These are real horses,” Mrs. Fields explained to Kelley. “Horses are brown, and black, and white, and gray. Some even have spots.”

Suddenly, one of the horses in the ring let out a big snort and stamped his foot on the ground. Kelley jumped about a foot in the air and grabbed hold of her sister. Katani felt like jumping too. Those horses were
big
!

Mrs. Fields led her reluctant granddaughters to the fence. Something had spooked the horses and they began a slow trot around the ring, their manes flying behind them in the wind. The horse with a white splotch on its forehead held its tail high. Katani had to admit that he looked beautiful and proud. She leaned her head over the fence to get a closer look

“Oooh,” Kelley exclaimed as the horses moved closer. Suddenly, the one with a splotch on its forehead stopped and reached its head over the rails. Kelley jumped back. Unafraid, Grandma Ruby stuck her flat palm out and let the horse nuzzle her.

“You are one lucky girl, Kelley. You’re going to learn to ride!” Kelley looked at her grandmother with a comical face that seemed to say, “I’m not too sure about this.”

“This is a great opportunity for you, too, Katani. Not
everyone gets a chance to do this type of thing.”

Katani knew better than to roll her eyes in front of her grandmother, but she didn’t smile either.

Yeah
, Katani thought.
I hope I don’t ruin my jeans
.

The horse continued to paw the ground and snort. Katani wondered what that horse wanted.

“I want to go home now,” Kelley said. “I don’t want to ride real horses. I want to ride on the carousel.”

Before Grandma Ruby could respond, a young woman walked over. She had short, curly blonde hair and big, friendly, blue eyes. She was wearing jeans, a bulky sweater, a vest, and some kind of mud boots. Katani thought she looked like an ad in a magazine.

“You must be Mrs. Summers,” the woman said, offering her hand to Grandma Ruby.

“No, I’m Kelley’s grandmother, Mrs. Fields,” Grandma Ruby said, taking the woman’s hand and shaking it.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Claudia McClelland. You must be Katani. And YOU must be Kelley. You girls can call me Claudia. So, have either of you ever been on a horse before?”

This woman is all business,
thought Katani, who shook her head no. She knew she was supposed to be the brave one, but she didn’t feel particularly brave at the moment.

“I rode a horse once. It was pink and lavender. It was pretty…so pretty,” Kelley enthused.

“It was on a carousel,” Katani interrupted. She didn’t want Kelley to go off on a tangent about pretty pink-and-lavender horses.

Claudia nodded like she knew all about the episode last Saturday. She reached up and patted the horse’s head.

“Well, I see you met Sadie here,” she said as Sadie nuzzled her hair. Katani made a face. There was no way she wanted some hungry horse sticking its face in her hair! Claudia gently pushed Sadie’s head away. “Let’s head to the stable. I have some horses to introduce you to.”

Katani slowly followed Claudia to the side of the stable where the two horses were tied up. Katani thought the brown, shiny leather saddles were beautiful.

“Katani, you’re nice and tall,” Claudia observed.

If she says anything about basketball I’m going to scream
, Katani thought. Everyone she met assumed she played basketball, just like her sister Patrice. But the truth was, Katani wasn’t very good at basketball, or even that interested in sports. She was always the kind of girl who stood in the back hoping that the ball wouldn’t come to her.

But Claudia didn’t say a word about basketball.

“Your long legs will go well with Penelope here,” Claudia said, patting the rump of a tall brown horse. “And I’ve got a special little guy for you, Kelley. His name is Wilbur. Would you like to come over and say hello?”

“Wilbur. Wilbur. Wilbur,” Kelley chanted as she approached the little gray horse with the big soft eyes.

Claudia laughed. She knew that repeating Wilbur’s name was a good sign. Tentatively, Kelley reached up and touched Wilbur’s soft nose. He let out a soft
whoosh
. Kelley turned. “He’s talking to me.”

Mrs. Fields smiled. “Perhaps he is, sweetheart.”

“We’re going to start by grooming the horses,” Claudia said, grabbing a box of brushes.

“Grooming?” Katani asked.

“Yes. First, we’re going to curry their coats.” Claudia slipped a brush over her hand.

“Curry? Isn’t that a spice?” Katani asked.

“Yes, but this is a different kind of curry,” Claudia explained, handing Katani an oval brush about the size of her hand. It had a wide band on the back and Katani slipped her hand inside.

“Are you left-or right-handed?” Claudia asked Kelley.

Kelley pulled away.

“She’s left-handed,” Katani said. She held up her hand to show Kelley how the curry fit over her hand.

“Before we ride the horses, we brush them all over,” Claudia said.

“Why?” Katani asked.

“It’s relaxing for us, but especially the horses. Also, it gets rid of any dirt or grit from the paddock. Besides, it doesn’t feel good if the horse has grit or dirt between the saddle and their skin. It could rub ’em raw when we are riding.”

Katani didn’t want poor Penelope to have raw skin because she hadn’t done a good enough job of grooming.

“Don’t worry, Katani. Penelope here knows you’ll treat her just right. Why don’t you start brushing her neck?”

As soon as Katani touched Penelope’s neck, the horse shivered. It was freaky. Katani wanted to pull back her hand. She wanted to run from the stable and climb back into Big Blue and lock the door, but she was supposed to be setting a good example for Kelley. So, she put her hand back on the horse’s neck and softly stroked it with the curry brush. The horse turned its head and its huge, bowling ball eye rolled sideways to see what her new friend was doing.

Katani took a step back.

“It’s not going to bite me, right?” she asked softly, under her breath, hoping that Kelley couldn’t hear her.

She did. “Bite. Bite. Bite away little horsie,” Kelley repeated in a sing-song voice.

“No!” Claudia assured her. “Penelope here is a real lady.” Claudia reached over and gave the horse another pat. “She’s just getting used to you, just like you’re getting used to her,” Claudia said. Katani stepped forward and began patting Penelope’s neck. “Okay, girl, you’re going to be my friend.”

Claudia showed Kelley how to make long, strong strokes and told her to always brush the hair in the same direction. Claudia had Kelley come up and stand next to her. Together they brushed Wilbur, who stood perfectly still like the little gentleman that he was. When Kelley was finished, she threw her hands around the horse’s neck and laid her head down on him. “Wilbur, Wilbur, Wilbur,” she sighed.