Yankee Swap (11 page)

“There, that’s settled,” Carole said, once Lisa had paid for
the squeaky rubber mouse she had picked out. “The only one left to buy for is Veronica.”

“Let’s not and say we did,” Stevie muttered. “I still have no idea what to get her.”

“Well, let’s start at her favorite store,” Lisa suggested. “Isn’t she always bragging about shopping at Maxwell’s?” Maxwell’s was a small, exclusive boutique.

As the girls headed toward it, Stevie was still grumbling. “I’d much rather try to figure out ways to make Veronica miserable than what gifts to buy her to make her happy,” she said.

“Well, there’s no way around it,” Carole said. “You’ve got to get her something, or the Yankee Swap won’t work. So concentrate on that and worry about revenge later.”

Suddenly Stevie stopped short. “I’ve got it!” she exclaimed triumphantly.

“What?” asked Lisa. “A gift for Veronica?”

“Yup,” Stevie said smugly. “But it’s a surprise.”

“Hey, no fair,” Carole protested.

“Yeah, you already know what we’re getting for our people,” said Lisa. “You’ve got to tell us what you’re getting Veronica.”

Stevie shook her head. “It will be better if it’s a surprise to everyone,” she said. She gave her friends a pleading look. “Come on, guys. Please?”

Carole and Lisa sighed. “Oh, all right,” Lisa said grumpily. “If you’re going to be that way about it.”

“Let’s go find Merrill,” Carole added. “We’re obviously not needed here.”

“Thanks, guys,” Stevie called after her friends as they stalked away. She grinned. She could tell they were a little annoyed, but she was sure they’d get over it—especially when they saw her handiwork on Saturday. Whistling softly to herself, Stevie continued down the mall toward Maxwell’s.

“A
LL
THIS
JUMPING
has been exciting, but I must admit, it will be nice to go on a plain old trail ride for a change,” Merrill said to Lisa. It was Friday afternoon, and the girls had just arrived at Pine Hollow.

“I know what you mean,” Lisa said, hoisting Prancer’s saddle off its rack. “I can’t wait to ride Prancer again. I feel like it’s been a year instead of just a week.”

They headed out into the aisle and parted ways to go tack up their horses. On her way to Prancer’s stall, Lisa passed Carole coming out of Starlight’s stall.

“Oh, there you are,” Carole exclaimed. “We thought you’d never get here. Where’s Merrill?”

“Tacking up her dream horse,” said Lisa grimly. “I hope this plan works.”

“You’re not having doubts now, are you?” Carole asked.

“A few,” Lisa admitted. “Isn’t it possible we could make things worse instead of better?”

Carole shrugged. “I guess it’s a risk,” she said. “But what choice do we have?”

“You sound like Stevie,” Lisa said with a small smile.

“Well, this is her plan,” Carole said. “Don’t worry, Lisa. Would Max let us do this if he thought it was a bad idea?”

“I guess not,” Lisa said. “How much did you tell him, anyway?”

Carole paused. “Just that we were going to take Merrill on a trail ride and, um, encourage her to try out some other horses,” she admitted, biting her lip. It wasn’t quite the whole truth, and she didn’t like lying to Max, even by omission. “He didn’t seem worried at all.”

“That’s all right,” Lisa said. “I guess I can do enough worrying for all of us.”

Carole nodded. “Me too. I’ll see you out front in a few minutes.”

Lisa went into Prancer’s stall and greeted the pretty Thoroughbred mare fondly. “I’ve missed you, girl,” she whispered, some of her tension melting away as Prancer nuzzled her. “Come on. We’re going on a trail ride.”

When Lisa led Prancer out to the stable yard, Carole and Merrill were already waiting with their horses. “Where’s Stevie?” asked Lisa.

“She’s out back helping our, uh, guests unload their horses,” Carole replied.

Merrill looked surprised. “Guests? What do you mean?”

“Oh, didn’t Lisa mention it to you?” Carole asked, pretending to be surprised. “Stevie hasn’t seen her boyfriend Phil in a couple of weeks, so she invited him to ride with us today. His friend A.J. is here, too.”

“Oh.” Merrill looked a little nervous. “I didn’t realize boys would be riding with us.”

“Don’t worry,” Lisa advised. “They’re not really like boys. They’re just Phil and A.J.” Lisa had forgotten how nervous Merrill could be around boys. She hoped it wouldn’t interfere with the plan.

“Hi, everyone,” Phil said, coming around the corner of the building at that moment. He was leading his horse, Teddy, a handsome bay gelding.

“Everybody ready to ride?” added A.J., who was right behind Phil. A.J., a good-natured red-haired boy, was leading his pretty gray mare, Crystal.

Carole and Lisa greeted the boys and introduced Merrill. A moment later Stevie appeared with Belle in tow. “What are we waiting for?” she demanded immediately. “Let’s hit the trail!” She sounded confident, but Carole noticed that Stevie kept her hand on the good-luck horseshoe hanging in the doorway a few seconds longer than she usually did. Carole didn’t blame her. They were going to need all the luck they could get.

They rode out of the stable yard with Stevie in the lead. She headed across the pasture just beyond the outdoor ring. A few jumps were set up in the middle of it.

“Hey, look at that,” Stevie called back to the others, pulling Belle to a halt. “That must be the course for our last class
tomorrow. Max said something about doing some cross-country jumping.”

“Must be,” Lisa said, nodding.

“Well, let’s head for the woods,” Stevie said.

“Sounds good. We’ll follow you,” Carole agreed quickly.

“Hey, that gives me a terrific idea!” Stevie exclaimed. “If you really want to follow me, how about a game of follow the leader?”

“Great idea!” Phil said loudly.

“You mean on horseback?” Merrill asked dubiously.

Lisa nodded enthusiastically. “We play it all the time,” she lied. “It’s lots of fun. Actually it’s more like ‘Stevie says’ than follow the leader—she calls out orders as we ride and we have to do whatever she tells us to.”

Merrill still looked a little uncertain about the whole idea, but before she could say another word Stevie yelled out her first order. “All right, everyone: Trot single file behind me.”

With that, she rode through an intricate series of figure eights. The others followed, occasionally becoming confused when they crossed paths and got in each other’s way, but laughing all the time.

“Now for a more challenging move,” Stevie announced. “Everybody walk. No stirrups!”

For a few more minutes, Stevie led everyone through different moves and gaits. She even led them over a couple of the jumps. Then she brought Belle to a stop and slid off her back.

“Now it’s time for some real fun,” she said. “Dismount and form a circle.” In a matter of seconds, the riders had their horses arranged in a slightly lopsided circle. “Everyone switch
horses with the person to their right!” She glanced over at Merrill, who was to her left. “That means Belle is all yours for this round, Merrill.”

Merrill looked decidedly nervous. “I don’t know about this—”

But before she could finish her protest, Phil had stepped over and grabbed Barq’s reins from her. “He’s all mine now,” he said with a grin, swinging up into the saddle.

Merrill bit her lip and opened her mouth as if to say something. Then she snapped it shut again and stepped over to Belle. Giving the mare a slightly nervous pat, she put one foot in the stirrup and mounted.

As she reached for Starlight’s reins, Lisa whispered to Carole, “I think it’s lucky that Merrill is kind of intimidated by strange boys. My guess is she didn’t want to argue with Phil about making the switch.”

Once everyone was mounted on their new horses, Stevie urged Crystal into a trot. “Pay attention,” she called. “It’s time to have some fun!”

Carole, who was now riding Teddy, kept a close eye on Merrill as the group followed Stevie through another set of paces. The other girl’s shoulders looked a little tense for the first few minutes, but then she seemed to relax as Belle pranced her way through the moves. Carole breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t wanted to think about what would have happened if Merrill had flatly refused to go along with this. She hoped things would continue to go smoothly.

“Okay, pay attention,” Stevie said, turning Crystal around to face the others, who quickly formed another circle. “It’s
time for another switch. This time trade horses with the person directly across from you.”

“That’s you and me, Merrill,” Lisa called, sliding off Starlight’s back and leading him over to Belle. “Have fun with Starlight. He’s a dreamboat.”

Before Merrill could say a word, Lisa snatched Belle’s reins and quickly mounted. Merrill was left staring up at Starlight, who stared back down at her calmly. With a sigh, she swung into his saddle.

“Riders up,” Stevie yelled. “Follow me.”

After a few minutes of simple moves, Stevie glanced back over her shoulder. “Okay, now spread out,” she ordered. “We’re going to jump.” She urged Teddy into a slow canter and headed for the first fence.

Lisa glanced at Merrill, whose face had turned white. She knew that this was the true test. Would Merrill refuse to jump on a strange horse? Worse yet, what would happen if she tried to jump and did badly?

Lisa held her breath as Carole jumped the fence after Stevie. It was Merrill’s turn. For a moment, Merrill looked indecisive, and Lisa was sure she was going to refuse to make the jump. But, luckily, Starlight’s youth and equine nature—to say nothing of his love of jumping—took over. Without any urging from his rider, he broke into a canter and headed for the fence. Merrill didn’t encourage him, but she didn’t try to stop him, either, and before Lisa knew it, Starlight had cleared the fence easily. Lisa felt like cheering. She took her turn over the fence and trotted over to join Merrill, who still looked a little anxious. “Hey, you looked great going over that
fence,” Lisa said encouragingly. “I guess all the work we’ve been doing in the jumping clinic is really paying off.”

“I guess,” Merrill replied. “But I hope Stevie doesn’t make us jump anymore.”

Lisa bit her lip. Apparently Merrill wasn’t won over to the joys of jumping on other horses yet. “How do you like Starlight?” she asked.

Merrill looked surprised, as if the question hadn’t even occurred to her. “Oh!” she said. “Actually, he’s great. His gaits are really smooth.”

“Okay, everyone, pay attention!” Stevie called at that moment. “Time to swap again!”

This time, Merrill ended up riding Crystal, A.J.’s gray mare. Stevie didn’t wait as long before leading the group to the jumps. And this time Merrill looked less nervous about jumping. Crystal, who was very well trained, cleared every fence like a pro.

At the next switch, Merrill got Teddy. This time, when Stevie headed for the jumps, Merrill seemed almost relaxed. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying riding Teddy a lot. Stevie noticed and made this round a long one.

“All right,” Stevie called at last. All the riders halted and waited for her next order. “How about one more switch? Everyone move one horse to the left.”

Merrill dismounted reluctantly and handed Teddy’s reins to Carole. Then she looked left, and Lisa saw her gulp. The horse standing there was Prancer. All the rider-switching had gotten the high-strung Thoroughbred rather excited, and she was stamping one foreleg and tossing her head restlessly.

Stevie noticed, too, and she glanced at Carole anxiously. Carole watched Merrill and Prancer carefully as Merrill took the reins and patted the mare on the neck, trying to calm her down. Then Carole took a deep breath and nodded briefly.

“Everyone in the saddle,” Stevie said. If Carole thought Merrill could handle Prancer in her high-strung state, that was good enough for Stevie. She knew Carole wouldn’t willingly put a horse or rider in danger. “Let’s go.”

Merrill mounted along with the others and quickly brought Prancer under control, although the mare still looked a bit skittish. Stevie led the riders along on the flat for quite a while this time, keeping an eye on Merrill. Finally, when she felt she had stalled long enough, she led the group toward the jumps again. She took Starlight over the first two fences, then turned him in a wide arc and pulled up so she could watch the others go over. Carole was first on Crystal; then A.J., Phil, and Lisa each jumped.

Then it was Merrill’s turn. She signaled to Prancer and the mare cantered toward the first fence, moving a little faster than she should have. Merrill leaned forward into jumping position as Prancer closed in on the fence.

Stevie held her breath. She could tell that Prancer was moving too fast—there was no way she could make a smooth jump this way. The Thoroughbred seemed to know it, too. Her gait became choppy, and she came almost to a stop just in front of the fence, nearly unseating her rider. Merrill grasped at Prancer’s mane as the mare took off from an awkward standstill, her heels clipping the top rail as she hopped over the fence and landed heavily—but safely—on the other side.

“Oh, no,” Lisa whispered, her hands twisting in Barq’s mane as she watched from behind. The plan had been going so well, but this was sure to spook Merrill badly. They would be lucky if Merrill would ever jump again on Barq, let alone on any other horse.