Stable Hearts (10 page)

“Uh, Lisa, no offense—”

Carole cut in. “It’s not exactly Stevie’s style.”

Lisa looked at the sweater again. “Guess not. No. It’s not even really my style, but it looks sort of valentiney.”

“I don’t feel valentiney,” Stevie declared.

“That’s the problem,” Carole said. “None of us does. Stevie, I have an idea. You wear the sweater I was going to wear—the one Aunt Jessie gave me. It’s navy, so it’ll go with your turtleneck.”

“It’ll go with my mood, too,” said Stevie. “I feel blue. It’s just not
right
to be separated from your boyfriend on Valentine’s Day.” She buttoned the clean jeans. “Thanks for the clothes, though.”

Lisa felt a twinge of exasperation. “You know, Stevie, you don’t have to be separated from Phil,” she said.

Carole twisted her ponytail and pinned it against her head. “Poor Dime,” she said whimsically. “Maybe that’s his problem. Do you suppose he has a girlfriend that he doesn’t want to be apart from?”

Lisa turned around and stared at Carole. “That’s it!” she said.

“W
HAT
’
S IT
?” Carole asked.

“The problem with Dime! You’ve solved it!” Lisa was so excited that she grabbed Carole’s hands and started swinging her around the room.

“How did I solve it?” Carole looked confused. “All I said was do you think he has a girlfriend. I was
joking
.”

“But what if he does have one? What if it’s Penny? It
is
Penny—that makes perfect sense!” Lisa sat down and started pulling on her paddock boots. “Come on, hurry! We’ve got to get to Pine Hollow.”

Stevie sat down beside Lisa and slowly pulled on her cowboy boots. Carole remained standing,
her hands on her hips and a perplexed look on her face. “You really think that’s it?” she asked. “I mean, I know horses form friendships—”

“And you know that sometimes those friendships can be very important to them. Dime just got moved into his new stall last week. Before that he lived next to Penny for—how long, Stevie?” asked Lisa. Stevie had ridden at Pine Hollow the longest.

Stevie shook her head, but she was starting to look excited. “I don’t know,” she said. “Years and years. Ever since I can remember.”

“His being lonesome for her would explain everything,” Lisa said. “He’s not eating because he’s sad. He’s pinning his ears back and trying to bite us whenever we put him in his stall, because he wants to go back to his old stall. He’s acting so atrocious in lessons—and at that games practice—because he gets so excited whenever he sees Penny again.”

“Penny’s been acting a little weird, too, come to think of it,” Carole said. “Remember how bad she was at Cross County? She’s not as upset as Dime, though. I don’t know, Lisa. I think what you’re saying makes sense, I just never would have
guessed that Dime had any special feelings for Penny.”

“He’s just a shaggy little lesson pony,” Stevie said. “He doesn’t seem like the romantic type.”

“Oh, come on,” Lisa protested. “Why should Dime’s appearance have anything to do with his feelings?”

Carole grinned and grabbed her coat. “It shouldn’t. After all, I wouldn’t have guessed Mrs. Reg was the romantic type either, until I saw her react to what Mr. Stowe said. Poor Dime! I hope you’re right, Lisa. We can cure him so easily.”

“I know I’m right,” Lisa replied.

Stevie grabbed her coat, too. “Let’s go!”

L
ISA
’
S MOTHER DROVE
past the hay barn and dropped them off at the main stable. A single light shone through a window of the hay barn, but the rest of Pine Hollow was dark and quiet; everyone had left to get ready for the party. Lisa flipped the stable’s aisle lights on. Most of the horses were eating their dinners, and they looked up, still chewing contentedly, as The Saddle Club rushed past their stalls.

“I’ll get Romeo,” Stevie said. The gelding had been put in Dime’s old stall, next to Penny. Stevie quickly put his halter on. “I’ll get Romeo’s dinner,” Lisa offered. She grabbed his grain bucket and took it out into the aisle.

“Don’t forget his water bucket,” Stevie said. “Maybe I could hold him out here while you fix up the stall?” Romeo was already plunging his nose into his grain bucket, which Lisa had set on the aisle floor. “Romeo’s not going anywhere until he’s finished his oats.”

“Good idea.” Lisa grabbed a pitchfork and hastily tidied the stall. Red had already cleaned it thoroughly that afternoon, so she didn’t have much to do.

Meanwhile, Carole had gone straight to Dime. She slid the stall door open, and the little pony pinned his ears back at her. His grain sat untouched in his bucket. “You poor darling,” Carole crooned. At her sympathetic tone Dime relaxed slightly, and Carole gently slid his halter on. “Don’t worry. We’re taking you home.”

She led him down the aisle. Dime lagged behind her, then suddenly seemed to notice where they were heading. His ears came forward. His eyes brightened. He began to walk with a jaunty
swing to his step. By the time Carole got to Romeo, little Dime was almost trotting.

“Look at him!” Lisa exalted. Dime looked
happy
.

Penny thrust her head over her door and whinnied at Dime. Dime whinnied back, a long, high-pitched squeal. Romeo, bored now that his grain was gone, thrust his nose at Stevie to see if she had more.

“I’ll get Dime’s buckets!” Lisa rushed back to his stall. Stevie followed her more slowly, leading Romeo. Carole brought Dime to the door of his old stall. She unclipped the lead rope, and Dime rushed in. He sniffed all four corners. Carole gently shut the stall door. Dime came up to it and leaned over until his nose just touched Penny’s. The ponies nickered to each other.

Lisa and Stevie came back carrying Dime’s feed and water buckets. They stopped next to Carole. All three girls watched appreciatively as the two ponies nuzzled each other contentedly. Finally Dime turned away. He sniffed the grain in his bucket, then began to eat.

Carole found that tears had come to her eyes. “You poor pony,” she whispered. “We’re so sorry we took you away from your sweetheart.”

“We won’t do it again,” Lisa promised.

“Do what again?” asked Max. The girls turned. Max had just come into the stable, and he was obviously dressed for the dance. He wore clean blue jeans, a red Shaker sweater over a red flannel shirt, and a pair of jazzy cowboy boots. His hair was still damp from a shower. “I saw the lights in the stable, and I wondered if something was wrong,” he said.

“Something was wrong, but we fixed it,” Lisa said. The Saddle Club explained how Carole’s joke had made them realize what Dime’s problem was.

“He and Penny are really attached to one another,” Stevie said. “He just couldn’t stand to be away from her.” As Stevie said this, Dime left his grain bucket, stuck his head over his door, and touched noses briefly with Penny. Then he resumed eating.

“A pony kiss!” said Lisa.

Max shook his head, but he was smiling. “You girls are right; you must be,” he said. “I can’t believe I never thought of it myself. You know, lots of times when horses get really attached to one another, they act obnoxious about it—they want to be ridden side by side, or they have fits when
one is ridden and the other stays in the stable. Dime and Penny are so sweet all the time that I never recognized they were friends.” He ruffled Dime’s shaggy mane. “I’m sorry, buddy. We were only trying to give you a nicer stall. We won’t do it again.”

“Do you think he’ll be entirely better now?” asked Carole. “We were so worried about him.”

“We’ll let Judy finish those blood tests to be sure,” Max replied. “But I think we can safely assume that he’ll be fine.” He checked his watch. “Hey, it’s time to start this dance, and lots of cars were pulling up when I ducked in here. You all don’t want to miss the first dance, do you?”

Lisa grabbed Stevie’s arm. “It’s your song, remember?”

Stevie looked confused. “My song?”

“ ‘Just As Long As We’re Together.’ ”

“Oh. Phil’s and my song.”

“That’s right,” Lisa said. “You don’t want to miss it, do you?”

Stevie shook her head. “I don’t want to miss him,” she said.

“What?” asked Lisa.

“Nothing.” Stevie found herself wondering whether she wouldn’t rather be in some smelly
cafeteria—with Phil—after all. Still, that would be against her principles—wouldn’t it?
Look how happy Dime is
, she thought.
He could have had a nicer stall, but all he wanted was to stay close to Penny
.

“Stevie, are you coming?” asked Carole.

“Sure.” She had made her choice. It was too late now.

T
HE
S
ADDLE
C
LUB
followed Max across the driveway. A dozen cars were parked outside the hay barn. Light spilled from all the windows and from the door whenever it opened to let another person inside. They could hear people talking and laughing.

Max opened the door. “Ohhh!” The Saddle Club gasped in unison. The barn was bathed in soft, rosy light. In the center, hanging from the main rafter, a glittering mirror ball slowly revolved. Rose-colored spotlights, nestled among the streamers in the corners, shone directly on the mirror ball, so that the entire barn shimmered with moving pink light.

“It’s beautiful!” gasped Carole.

“It’s Mr. Stowe’s surprise,” Stevie said, realizing that it must be. “Wow. He was right. This is the
most romantic atmosphere I’ve ever seen.” She swallowed hard. What good was atmosphere when you were alone?

Max tapped her on the shoulder to move her through the doorway. “Let’s start the show,” he said. He strode across the room and flicked the button on the stereo. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “Happy Valentine’s Day!” He flicked another button, and the music began.

As soon as the first strains sounded, people began to choose partners, while others melted to the sides of the room. Lisa looked around avidly, wanting to see who was there. Adam led a blushing Betsy (Was she blushing, or had her mother let her wear makeup?) into the center of the floor. Several of the adult riders paired off, and May, Jasmine, Corey, and their old friend Joey Dutton started what looked like a game of ring-around-a-rosy. And there was Simon—Lisa caught her breath. He was so handsome! He had his arm around a black-haired girl whose back was to them. Lisa sighed. So Veronica had won after all.

“Excuse me,” said a rude voice behind her. “You’re blocking the door. I know you might not be planning on dancing tonight, Lisa, but I’d like to be able to get to the dance floor. So move.”

Lisa gaped. It was Veronica! So who was the girl with Simon? On the dance floor Simon gently swung her around, and Lisa could see it was no one she recognized. Simon had probably brought someone from his own school.

“Look, Stevie,” Lisa said, nudging her friend. “Veronica didn’t get her hooks into him after all! The pink breeches weren’t enough!”

“As if any color breeches would be enough to camouflage Veronica,” Carole said. “Eew.”

Stevie didn’t say anything. Lisa glanced at her worriedly. Usually Stevie wouldn’t miss a chance to insult Veronica.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Sure,” Stevie said. On the stereo, the song hit its chorus: “Just as long, just as long, just as long as we’re to-ge-e-e-ther …” Stevie sighed.

“Well, maybe we should get some chips—ohmigosh! Look!” Carole pointed across the crowd. “I never thought—I never guessed—oh, no!”

Lisa and Stevie looked where she pointed. Across the room, Mr. Stowe was leading a blushing Mrs. Reg onto the dance floor. He stopped for a moment, holding her hand, and then he pulled a small rose out of the pocket of his sports coat
and gently pinned it to her lapel. Then he picked up her hands again and swung her into a slow dance.

“It’s a romance,” Lisa said, thunderstruck. “Right under our eyes. Like Dime and Penny—and we never even noticed!”

Mrs. Reg looked up at Mr. Stowe with sparkling eyes. Mr. Stowe smiled down at her happily. The signs were unmistakable.

“I knew it! I knew Mrs. Reg liked Mr. Stowe!” Carole exclaimed. “But I didn’t know he liked her, too. This explains everything! He wasn’t interested in riding nearly as much as he was interested in Mrs. Reg. He was riding so he could be around her.”

“And he wasn’t bothering her,” Lisa said. “She liked it.”

Carole clapped her hand over her mouth. “We spent so much time trying to keep him away from her! We could have wrecked everything!”

“We were awful,” Stevie said with heartfelt vehemence. “We interfered with them every time they had a chance to be alone. Remember? We even made Mr. Stowe clean stalls instead of going on a trail ride with Mrs. Reg!”

“We meant well,” Lisa said. She felt mortified.
“The problem is, they’re like Dime and Penny. We never thought of them as being romantic, so we didn’t see their friendship even when it was right in front of us.”

They watched Mr. Stowe twirl Mrs. Reg around. They watched Mrs. Reg laugh.

“He’s a good dancer,” said Carole. “He’s much more graceful than when he rides.”

“He’s not all that old, really,” Lisa said. “He’s not any older than Mrs. Reg. We’re just used to thinking of Mrs. Reg as young, because she acts young.”