Starlight Christmas (9 page)

“I guess so,” Stevie agreed. “Look, Max told me the things were stowed in the closet in Mrs. Reg’s office. Why don’t you get what you can and we’ll work on this
until Phil and A.J. arrive. Then, when they get here, we’ll handle Miss diAngelo and her flunkies.”

Lisa agreed that that was a sensible plan. She turned hurriedly to get to Mrs. Reg’s office and found herself bumping right into none other than Veronica diAngelo.

“What’s the big rush?” Veronica asked.

Sometimes Lisa had time to be civil to Veronica. Sometimes she didn’t. This was one of the “didn’t” times.

“None of your business,” Lisa said, and brushed past her on her way to Mrs. Reg’s office.

Veronica checked the sleeve of her blouse as if to see if Lisa had left any dirt on it. Stevie gritted her teeth and ignored the incredibly rude gesture. She needed information from Veronica.

“You’re here early for the Starlight Ride, aren’t you?” she asked Veronica, trying to keep her voice pleasant.

“Not exactly,” Veronica said. “I just came by to see that Garnet’s Christmas present had arrived—her new stable blanket. She’s wearing it now. Would you like to see it?”

Stevie said she would. Veronica led her to Garnet’s stall. The mare was wearing a fashionably tailored blue-and-green blanket with Veronica’s initials monogrammed at the flank.

“Nice,” Stevie said. “I like the colors.”

“They match my new riding outfit,” Veronica explained. Stevie expected as much.

Stevie felt sorry for Garnet. It must be terrible to be a
pure-blooded Arabian mare reduced to serving as a fashion accent for Veronica diAngelo. Stevie wished there were some way to make it up to the horse. While she thought about it, she idly polished the brass plaque by Garnet’s stall. All the stable horses had their names on the outsides of their stalls on plastic plaques. The private owners usually used brass ones that showed both the horse’s name and the owner’s. Garnet’s read:

“Are you wearing your new outfit tonight?” Stevie asked.

“Of course,” Veronica said. “The car’s going to pick me up in a few minutes to take me home so I can dress. You’re going to change too, aren’t you?” Her tone implied that Stevie needed to.

Stevie wasn’t going to give Veronica the satisfaction of answering that question. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the clothes she had on. They were comfortable and warm—even if they didn’t match anything.

“I think Lisa needs some help,” she said. “I’ll see you later!” She waved good-bye, but what she was thinking was
Good riddance!

“T
HEY
’
RE HERE
!” S
TEVIE
said to Lisa. Lisa knew she meant Phil and A.J. Stevie had turned over a brand-new water bucket to stand on so she could see out the window when she heard the car pull into the driveway at Pine Hollow.

“Why don’t you go get them?” Lisa suggested. She shouldn’t have bothered. Stevie was already out the door of the stall.

Lisa finished up the work that was left, spreading the fresh straw evenly and putting the water bucket back where it belonged. It was hard to think of a stall as being sparkling clean, but as far as it was possible, this one was just that. Lisa was pleased with the work she and Stevie had done. It was exactly right.

Lisa straightened out a wrinkle in the clean horse
blanket and hung it over the top of the door, covering the horse’s nameplate. She returned all the work tools to the tack and supply rooms, slid the screwdriver back into Max’s toolbox, and followed her ears to where Stevie was giving A.J. and Phil the grand tour. Their horses needed to be unloaded, but that could wait until shortly before the Starlight Ride.

Stevie was about to introduce the boys to the stable’s youngest tenant, a colt named Samson, when the foursome heard the distinct sounds of the enemy approaching. They all dashed into Samson’s stall and, much to the colt’s amazement, hid in the corner behind him.

“I don’t like this, do you?” a voice whispered. It was Diana.

“No, but Veronica says we have to do it. It won’t be so bad. Besides, I’d just as soon not have those girls on the ride with us anyway, wouldn’t you?” Elaine whispered back.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Diana said.

The girls passed Samson’s stall on their way to the locker area where they would be putting their coats.

“Not a second to spare,” Stevie said. “You boys go distract the girls while Lisa and I get to work.”

Phil and A.J. looked at each other and shrugged. They didn’t have a better plan.

“See you later,” Phil said. He and A.J. followed Elaine and Diana to the locker area.

“The grays first,” Stevie said. She headed for Pepper’s stall while Lisa went to get Chippewa. It only took a
minute. The horses gave them no trouble. They willingly accepted the lead ropes and obediently swapped stalls. In fact, Chippewa looked quite natural in Pepper’s stall. Pepper seemed a little confused, but Lisa gave him a carrot to appease him. He munched contentedly.

Topside and Bluegrass seemed to nod greetings as they passed each other in the hallway. Bluegrass sniffed at the hay Topside had been munching. Then, satisfied that it was all right, he began munching himself.

It had taken them a while to figure out what to do about Barq. He didn’t look like Garnet, so they couldn’t make a switch. In the end, they decided to swap Barq with a pregnant mare of similar coloring. She was far enough along that Max didn’t want her ridden anymore, but she wasn’t so gigantic that Elaine and Diana would notice her size. An evening in the paddock wouldn’t do her any harm. Lisa and Stevie swapped their stalls and the job was complete.

The girls met in the hallway outside the locker room and stopped to exchange high and low fives before they entered. It gave them time to hear a little of what was going on.

“Oh, I bet you’re a really good rider,” A.J. was saying. Stevie thought there was enough sugar in his voice to turn somebody’s stomach, but Elaine didn’t seem to mind.

“Oh, no,” she cooed. “I’m just trying to learn. I’m not very good at all yet.”

“But you will be. I just know it,” Phil gushed. “You, too, Diana.”

“Me?” Diana said as if she wanted him to reassure her.

He did. “Oh, yes. You’ve got a wonderful build for riding. Strong arms, long legs …”

Stevie rolled her eyes. This was more than she had counted on. She had to put a stop to this before it made her sick!

“Oh, hi, girls!” Stevie said, entering the locker room. “Merry Christmas to you!” Lisa thought Stevie sounded even more insincere than the boys had, but Elaine and Diana didn’t appear to notice. “I’m glad you all have met because we’ll be together on the Starlight Ride. Isn’t it going to be the most exciting thing?”

Elaine and Diana agreed that it was going to be. Lisa sensed that they were a little uncomfortable, which didn’t surprise her. They were about to play a horrible trick on her and Stevie and Carole, and here they were pretending to be nice and friendly. Since she and Stevie were right there, it also meant the trick was going to have to be played under their noses. Lisa decided to make it easier on the girls.

“Why don’t we go check on your horses, guys?” Lisa suggested. “It’s going to take us about fifteen minutes to off-load them from the trailer, isn’t it? Maybe we should do that
now.
”

Stevie and the boys immediately understood what she
was up to. “Great idea,” Stevie said. “The trailer’s out in front of the stable, isn’t it? It’s probably not a good idea to leave the horses so far away and completely out of sight of most of the stable. Let’s go get them now. We can turn them out in the little paddock off the riding ring that’s on the side of the stable.”

Lisa almost laughed. Stevie was being anything but subtle. She was doing everything she could to assure Elaine and Diana that they were going to be far away when the girls pulled their little prank.

“See you later!” Stevie said, waving to Elaine and Diana. The boys waved, too. The four of them left Elaine and Diana to their tricks.

Teddy and Crystal were accustomed to trailers. They were off and safely turned out in the little paddock in less than three minutes. That gave the foursome time to stand on tiptoe and spy on Elaine and Diana through the windows of the stable.

“There goes Chip!” Stevie said as Diana led her own mount through the stable to the large paddock on the far side. The four of them could hear the horse’s playful canter on the hard ground of the paddock as he frolicked to the far side of the hillock.

“Bingo!” Lisa announced, peering through another window to see Bluegrass joining Chip in the large field. Finally, Elaine turned out the pregnant mare.

“You mean to tell me that those two can’t tell the difference between a pregnant mare and a gelding?” A.J.
asked, still not quite believing that their plan was succeeding.

“That’s right,” Stevie said. “I knew they would be too embarrassed to check. Actually, I’m not sure it would occur to them. Anybody dumb enough to believe all that disgusting sweet talk from you boys …”

“ ‘Disgusting sweet talk’?” A.J. said, pretending his feelings were hurt. “Why, we were just being sincere!”

“Hmmmmph,” Stevie snorted. “So, if you’re so sincere, tell me your brilliant idea about Garnet. Just exactly how are we going to ruin Veronica’s Starlight Ride?”

Phil’s eyes danced. “Come on, we’ll show you,” he said, turning to go back into the stable. He and A.J. stopped at the trailer to get their horses’ tack and the other riding equipment they would need. “This is A.J.’s brilliant idea, but it depends a little bit on Garnet. Can we meet her?”

“Sure,” Lisa said. “I’ll take you to her now.”

As they entered the stable, Elaine and Diana greeted them, full of talk about how they’d both forgotten something at home and had to run, but hoped they’d be back in time for the ride. Everybody said good-bye. The boys waved
very
nicely. Stevie glared at Phil. He laughed, and finally, so did she.

Garnet was standing contentedly in her stall, sporting her new Christmas blanket.

“I have to admit that it’s a pretty blanket,” Lisa said. “Just Veronica’s colors.”

“And the horse is a perfect color for our plan,” A.J. announced, clearly pleased.

With that, he set down his bucket of grooming gear, reached into it, and pulled out a can of shaving cream.

“This is a mare, not a stallion,” Stevie said. “I don’t think she needs a shave.”

“It is now six forty-five,” A.J. said, checking his watch. “The Starlight Ride begins at seven-thirty, meaning that any rider with sense will be here by seven o’clock to be completely ready by seven-thirty, right?”

Stevie and Lisa nodded.

“Okay, then. We will take some of this completely harmless shaving cream, and before you know it, Garnet will be in a terrible lather!”

“Oh!” Lisa said, understanding at last.

“You
are
wicked!” Stevie said in total admiration. “Totally, wonderfully wicked!”

While the girls stood lookout, the two boys sneaked into Garnet’s stall. The sweet-natured horse seemed to appreciate the attention she was getting. The boys talked to her, patted her forehead, and rubbed shaving cream all over her chest and belly.

Within a matter of seconds, Garnet was transformed from a contented, healthy horse to a lathered-up horse. It looked absolutely genuine.

It isn’t unusual for horses to build up a lather of sweat. Most horses get lathered to some degree, and many horses get lathered with only a small amount of exercise.
But a horse who gets lathered up the way Garnet appeared to be, just standing in her stall with a good blanket on, was almost certainly quite sick—unless, of course, it was just shaving cream.

“Perfect!” Stevie announced. “Now let’s get out of here!”

Stevie and Lisa showed the boys where they could get dressed and leave their things. While the boys were changing, the girls checked their own tack, polishing here and there to make sure everything looked perfect.

“This may be the most wonderful night of my life,” Stevie said.

“Just one thing missing,” Lisa reminded her.

Stevie’s face clouded. “I hope that old foal gets born safely so Carole gets here. I don’t want her to miss the ride. I don’t want her to miss out on all the fun we’re having. I sure don’t want to carry the torch for her. That’s her job.”

“Well, even if she misses the ride, we do know one thing,” Lisa began. “And that is that—”

“
Aaaaaaahhhhhhhrgh!
” Veronica diAngelo’s scream echoed through the hallways of Pine Hollow Stables, startling all the horses and astounding all the people—or almost all the people, anyway.