Yankee Swap (6 page)

“It goes that way all down the line,” Lisa explained. “The third person can keep the gift she gets or trade—I mean
swap
—with either of the people who went before. And so on.”

Carole nodded. “I think I get it,” she said. “I guess the fun part is seeing who ends up with the gifts that were actually intended for them after all that swapping, right?”

“Right,” Stevie confirmed. “It can really be a lot of fun.”

“Let’s do it!” Lisa declared. “It’s completely perfect. It lets us celebrate Merrill’s birthday
and
Joe’s, without really putting either of them in the spotlight.”

Stevie laughed. “Joe might be a little disappointed by that,” she said. “He
likes
being in the spotlight.”

“He’ll get over it,” Carole replied. “And anyway, we’ll still have the cake for them. But this way, since Merrill will know about the swap ahead of time, she won’t be embarrassed by any major surprises.”

Lisa’s expression sobered. “I just hope Merrill makes it through the clinic so she’ll be at the party,” she said.

“Don’t worry,” Carole said reassuringly. “She will. The Saddle Club is going to make sure of that, remember?”

M
ERRILL
ARRIVED
AT
the stable a short time later. The Saddle Club quickly filled her in on their plan.

“A Yankee Swap?” Merrill repeated. “Why do they call it that?”

Stevie shrugged. “I never thought about it,” she said. “But now that you mention it, I guess it’s even more appropriate. A Yankee is someone from up north, right? And that’s where you’re from now.”

“Isn’t it sometimes used in a derogatory way, though?” Lisa commented.

“Translation please,” Stevie said. “What does ‘derogatory’ mean?”

“It means negative, or something like that,” Lisa explained. “I’ve heard the word ‘Yankee’ used as a put-down.”

“Well, if that’s the case, I like Stevie’s definition better,” Carole said. “No matter how some people may use it, I think saying someone’s a Yankee can just be a way of describing where they live.”

“And if you’re using it that way, it’s fine with me,” Merrill said. “I love Maine, so I don’t mind if someone calls me a Yankee.”

“Good,” Stevie said. “That’s settled. So the Yankee Swap is on, right?”

Merrill hesitated. “I’m still not sure about having a birthday party with a bunch of kids I hardly know,” she said.

“Don’t worry,” Stevie replied. “The others will barely even notice the Swap is for you, because this way everyone gets a present. It’s more like a birthday party for everyone.”

“Well … when you put it that way, it does kind of sound like fun,” Merrill said. She smiled tentatively. “Count me in, I guess.”

“C
OME
ON
,
IT
’
S
almost time for class to start,” Carole said a few minutes later. “Max said Merrill could ride a different horse today. Let’s go ask him which one is available.”

“While we’re at it, we can tell him our idea for the Yankee Swap,” Stevie added. “I’m sure he’ll love it.”

The four girls found Max in the hallway. “Hello, girls,” he greeted them. “All ready for the clinic today?”

“That’s what we wanted to talk to you about,” Stevie said. “You said that Merrill could try a different horse today, remember?”

Max nodded and looked at Merrill. “Didn’t you like Patch, Merrill?”

Merrill shrugged, not meeting his eye. “I don’t think we hit
it off that well. You saw how much trouble I was having yesterday.”

“And do you think that was because of Patch?” Max asked.

“Well, no …” Merrill’s face turned red.

Carole could see that the other girl was becoming flustered, so she stepped forward. “It was actually my idea that she try a different horse, Max,” she said. “Merrill had such a bad day yesterday that I thought it might help if she had a fresh start. It’s not that she’s blaming Patch for anything, but we just thought a different horse might give her a different perspective on things.” The explanation sounded a little weak even to Carole, but Max looked thoughtful.

“All right, then,” Max said. “Why don’t you try Chippewa today, Merrill. He’s not being used by anyone else in the class, and he’s a good steady jumper. These girls can show you to his stall.”

“Thanks, Max,” Lisa said gratefully.

“But wait,” Stevie said as Max started to turn away. “We have one more question for you. It has to do with the party on Saturday.” She outlined the plan for the Yankee Swap.

By the time she finished, Max was smiling. “That sounds like a great plan,” he said. “On one condition.”

“What’s that?” Stevie asked.

“The condition is that Red, Mother, and I get to be a part of it,” Max said, his eyes twinkling. “This sounds like too much fun to waste entirely on you kids.”

“Really?” Stevie asked, grinning. “You want to be in on the Swap, too?”

“Absolutely,” Max declared. “I’m only sorry that Deborah
is away on assignment all week and will have to miss out.” Deborah was Max’s wife. She was a newspaper reporter and sometimes had to travel to cover stories. “Stevie, I take it you’ll be in charge of this thing?”

“Of course,” Stevie said. She glanced around at her friends. “If that’s okay with you guys, that is.”

The other three girls exchanged glances. “We wouldn’t have it any other way,” Carole answered for all of them.

“Good,” Max said. “Then, Stevie, why don’t you see if you can get those name slips made up before class today. You can borrow some paper from my mother. After all, we want to give people enough time to shop.” He glanced at his watch. “I’ll see you all in the ring in twenty minutes.”

“Yikes,” Stevie said as Max walked away. “Twenty minutes! How am I supposed to get those name slips done
and
tack up Belle in twenty measly minutes?”

“With a little help from The Saddle Club, of course,” Carole spoke up. “Go ahead and do the name slips. If Lisa will help Merrill with Chip, I’ll saddle up Belle for you.”

“Thanks a million, you guys,” Stevie said, throwing her friends a grateful look as she dashed away toward Mrs. Reg’s office.

F
IFTEEN
MINUTES
LATER
Stevie had finished the name slips and dumped them into a hard hat. Some of the names were a little messy, but she figured people could read them if they tried. Clutching the hatful of names under one arm, she hurried toward Belle’s stall. On the way she passed the stall where Rusty, the horse Joe Novick was riding, was stabled. Joe was
standing in front of the stall talking with Veronica diAngelo. Or rather
he
was talking and
she
was giggling hysterically, tossing her hair around and fluttering her eyelashes outrageously.

Stevie rolled her eyes. Obviously The Saddle Club had been right about Veronica’s crush on Joe. She only hoped he had more sense than to fall for a snob like her.

Just then Joe said something that Stevie didn’t hear, but that Veronica apparently thought was the funniest thing anyone had ever said. She let out a loud whoop of laughter, clutching her stomach with one hand and grabbing Joe’s arm with the other.

“Oh, Joe!” she shrieked. “You are just
too
funny!”

Stevie groaned and rolled her eyes again. “If that’s Veronica’s idea of maturity, she can keep it,” she muttered. She had never acted that way around Phil, and she never would—no matter how
mature
she got.

She reached Belle’s stall and found that Carole had been as good as her word. Belle was almost ready to go. In a matter of minutes, Stevie, Carole, Lisa, and Merrill were in the outdoor ring warming up with the rest of the class—except for one person.

“Is everyone here?” Max asked after a moment, looking around. He frowned. “Where’s Veronica?”

“Here I am, Max,” Veronica announced, walking into the ring with Danny trailing along behind her. “Sorry I’m late, but it’s not my fault. I
told
Red I needed him to saddle up Danny for me, but he was too slow. I finally had to do it myself.”

Max sighed. He had learned long ago that it didn’t matter how often he yelled at Veronica about doing her own share of the chores; she still insisted on treating Red as though he were her personal groom. “Well, now that you have decided to join us, we can get started,” he said drily. “Everybody dismount. I have an announcement about the party on Saturday.” He told everyone about the Yankee Swap. “It’s a way to help celebrate Joe’s and Merrill’s birthday, and also a way to reward ourselves for the work we’ve done. We’ll draw names today—everyone should get a gift for the person he or she picks. Make it something fun, don’t spend more than ten dollars, and, whatever you do, don’t put the person’s name on it.” He gestured to Stevie.

She stepped forward. “Okay, everyone come pick a name. If you pick yourself, just throw it back. And don’t tell anyone who you’ve got.”

The other students hurried up to choose names. Max took one for himself and two to give to Red and Mrs. Reg later.

Carole pulled out a slip of paper and squinted at the name scribbled there. After a moment, she realized it was Joe Novick. “Hmm,” she said. Joe could be difficult to buy for—she really didn’t know that much about him. This could take some thought.

Meanwhile, Lisa had managed to decipher Stevie’s scrawled handwriting and discovered that she had chosen Simon Atherton. She let out a groan. Simon had once had a crush on Lisa, and she didn’t want to do anything to start that up again.

When everyone else had chosen a name from the hat, Stevie glanced inside at the slip that was left. “I guess this
one’s mine,” she said. She picked it up and unfolded it, and her heart sank. She had gotten Veronica diAngelo! For a moment she couldn’t help wondering if other people had picked her and then thrown her name back in—after all, a couple of people had claimed to have picked their own names and pulled a second slip. There was no way of knowing if they were telling the truth. Still, however it had happened, Stevie was stuck with her choice now. “Whose idea was this Yankee Swap, anyway?” she muttered grumpily. Luckily, no one heard her.

“Quiet down, everyone,” Max said after a moment. “You can plan your shopping later. Right now it’s time to warm up and then do some more jumping. We’ll be working over a slightly more challenging course today, as you can see.”

He gestured at the half dozen jumps of various sizes that had been set up. “I want us to start off by going over how to walk a course.”

Most of the students already knew how important it was for a rider to walk through a course before riding it. It gave the rider a chance to figure out the best way for his or her horse to approach the jumps—and how many strides of what length that meant taking between fences. It made it less likely that either horse or rider would be surprised in the middle of a round.

After each student had paced off the course several times, Max ordered them to remount. “Okay, now we’ll try it,” he said. “Lorraine, why don’t you go first.”

Lorraine nodded and sent Diablo toward the first obstacle. The big bay cleared it handsomely. “Lorraine’s an awfully
good jumper,” Carole commented to Merrill and Lisa as they watched. “It’s really her best talent. See her confidence? Even Diablo trusts her.”

It was true. Lorraine and Diablo finished the course as well as they had started it.

“Stevie, you’re next,” Max said.

Stevie urged Belle forward. “Come on, girl,” she said to the mare, loudly enough for her friends to hear. “Let’s have some fun!”

And they did. Belle practically romped through the course, seeming almost to smile after each fence. If Lorraine and Diablo had been strong and serious performers, Stevie and Belle were accomplished and entertaining.

“What a pair,” Lisa commented with a smile. “That’s what we were talking about the other day, Merrill—finding a horse that’s perfectly suited to you, like Belle and Stevie.”

“I see,” Merrill said. She smiled as she watched Stevie and Belle take the last fence, but Lisa thought she saw worry in Merrill’s eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Lisa asked quietly.

Merrill turned to look at her, and Lisa saw that she hadn’t been mistaken. Merrill was clearly very nervous, though Lisa couldn’t quite understand why. She thought that seeing Lorraine and Stevie go over the course with no trouble would give Merrill more confidence, not less.

“It’s just that everyone is doing so well,” Merrill replied. “I’m afraid I’m going to mess up again.”

Carole had overheard, and she leaned over from her position
on Starlight’s back. “Don’t you like Chip?” she asked anxiously.

“I like him fine,” Merrill replied, giving the horse a pat. “I’m sure I could ride him all day on the trail with no trouble at all. But I’m not so sure I can jump on him—or on any other horse, for that matter. I’m afraid I’m just no good at it at all.”

Carole and Lisa exchanged worried glances. This was bad news. If Merrill was feeling this nervous, her horse was sure to pick up on it.

“Just try to relax, Merrill,” Carole advised, not knowing what else to say. “Pretend nobody is watching you. Just do the best you can. That’s all Max expects, and it’s all you should expect from yourself, too.”