Yankee Swap (9 page)

“The point of this exercise is to get your horses accustomed to jumping anything you ask them to,” Max said. “We certainly don’t want to scare them, but they need to trust you and do what you say. There’s no way of telling what sorts of things you could run across out on the trail—or in a show ring, for that matter.”

Lisa knew that was true. She had watched a horse show on TV a couple of weeks earlier and had been surprised at some of the jumps. There had been one shaped like a giant serpent, and one that looked like a tiny castle. Even many of the more normal-shaped fences were painted in wild colors and patterns. Max’s jumps weren’t that elaborate, but she knew they would serve the same purpose: to test the willingness of the horses to jump anything their riders wanted them to jump.

Most of the horses in the ring, including Chip and Barq, were experienced school horses. They wouldn’t have any trouble at all with the new obstacles—they were used to dealing with all sorts of unusual situations. But when Lisa glanced over at her friends, she saw that Stevie and Carole were listening intently. Belle and Starlight were much younger and greener than most of the Pine Hollow horses, and it would be interesting to see how they would handle this challenge.

“All right, Veronica,” Max said. “You’re up first. Pace the course, then go through it at a slow canter.”

As Veronica began pacing off the distances between the jumps, Merrill leaned over to talk to Lisa.

“Guess what Max told me right before class,” she whispered
excitedly. “He and my parents have already settled on a price for Barq. That means he’ll be able to ship him soon—he’ll probably be in Maine in only a couple of weeks. Isn’t that great?”

“Uh-huh,” Lisa lied with a gulp. There was no time to lose if The Saddle Club was going to talk Merrill out of her plan. “Um, let’s talk about it later, okay? You know Max hates it when people talk during class.”

“Y
OU
WERE
SUCH
a good boy,” Carole said, giving Starlight a kiss on his soft nose as she finished his grooming. “You didn’t let those scary fences stop you at all, did you?” She pulled a few pieces of carrot out of her pocket and fed them to him one by one.

Starlight deserved the treat. He had done very well. Even though Carole had felt him tensing up at each strange obstacle for the first few rounds, he had obeyed her commands and jumped them anyway. That was a tribute to Carole’s careful training, as well as to Starlight’s character.

Polly Giacomin hadn’t fared so well. Her horse Romeo had refused several fences the first time around. With a little help from Max and a lot of patience, Polly had finally managed to get the gelding around the course, but it hadn’t been easy.

“Hi, are you almost ready?” Stevie asked, interrupting Carole’s thoughts. She leaned on the half door of Starlight’s stall. “Lisa and Merrill are just finishing up. Mrs. Atwood will be here soon.” Lisa’s mother had agreed to drive the girls to the mall for dinner and shopping. So far, Merrill was the only one who had bought a gift for the Yankee Swap.

“I’m ready,” Carole said, giving Starlight one final kiss before letting herself out of the stall. “How’s Belle?”

“Perfect,” Stevie said happily. “She was great today.”

“She sure was,” Carole said sincerely. Belle had had even less trouble with Max’s strange obstacles than Starlight had. If anything, she had almost seemed to be amused by them. Carole shook her head in wonder, thinking again how well matched Stevie and her horse were.

That made Carole think about Merrill and Barq. It would really be a shame if Merrill never got to experience the kind of partnership Stevie had with Belle and Carole had with Starlight. Merrill saw Barq as a wonderful, spirited, obedient horse, but Carole knew that he was that way with almost every rider who climbed on his back. She didn’t think he responded any better or any worse to Merrill than he did to the half dozen or so students at Pine Hollow who rode him, including Lisa, Betsy, and Lorraine. Barq was a terrific school horse, but that didn’t mean he was the best horse for Merrill to own.

“Oh, there you two are,” Lisa said, walking up with Merrill. “My mom just got here. Let’s go—I’m starving.”

“We’re right behind you,” Stevie replied, heading for the door. “There’s a large everything-on-it pizza at that mall calling our names.”

“Everything-but-green-peppers,” Carole corrected, hoping a little food would help them figure out how to convince Merrill to leave Barq at Pine Hollow where he belonged.

“M
MM
,
THIS
HITS
the spot,” Stevie said, taking another big bite of her gooey slice of everything-but-green-peppers pizza. The four girls were seated in a comfortable booth in the pizza parlor at the mall. A waiter had just brought over their custom-made pie, fresh from the oven, and the girls were digging in with gusto.

“You’re not kidding,” Merrill agreed. “All this riding certainly helps you work up an appetite.”

“Speaking of riding,” Lisa said, wiping a spot of grease from her chin with her napkin, “we kind of wanted to talk to you about something. About Barq, I mean.”

“Oh!” Merrill exclaimed. “Did you tell Stevie and Carole about it?” She turned to them. “My parents and Max have already agreed on a price.”

“That’s exactly what we want to talk to you about,” Stevie said. “Are you really sure about what you’re doing? About buying Barq, that is?”

“Definitely,” Merrill replied. “He’s perfect.”

“No horse is
perfect
,” Carole said.

“Not even Starlight?” Merrill teased.

Carole smiled. “Well, probably not. He just sometimes seems like it to me.”

“It’s the same thing with me and Barq,” Merrill said, reaching for another slice of pizza. “You know?”

“Still, don’t you think you should think about this a little more?” Stevie persisted.

“Why?” Merrill said. “What would be the point? I already know he’s the most wonderful horse in the world.”

“Well …” Stevie glanced at Carole for help. After all, she had come up with the most logical-sounding reasons.

“Well, don’t take this the wrong way, Merrill,” Carole said, trying to think of the most tactful way to say what she wanted to say. “It’s just that we’re not sure this is the best thing for you or for Barq. You see, you think he’s the most wonderful horse in the world right now. But you haven’t ridden that many other horses yet. If you limit yourself to Barq now, you may miss out on some other horse who’s even better for you.”

Merrill was already shaking her head. “I don’t think so,” she said. “You guys were the ones who told me I’d be able to tell when I found the right horse, right? And you were right. I can do things on Barq that I never thought I’d be able to do. He’s the right horse for me, I know it.”

“But you don’t even know if you can’t do those things on another horse,” Lisa protested. “Not unless you try.”

“I have tried,” Merrill said. “I tried on Patch and Chip. Neither one made me feel the way I feel on Barq.”

“Listen, Merrill,” Carole began slowly. “If you think you can only do well when you’re riding Barq, that’s not good. You have to know you can trust your own abilities on any horse. Otherwise you’ll never be able to advance as a rider.”

“I don’t really care,” Merrill said with a shrug. “I’m not planning to try out for the Olympic Equestrian Team or anything. I have a nice time riding Barq. That’s the most important thing to me.”

Carole was stumped. It was clear that Merrill would be missing out if she thought Barq was the only horse she could ride well. But how could she make her see that? She glanced over at Lisa, who was looking glum. Carole suspected that Lisa was thinking more about how much she would miss Barq than about how to help Merrill, and Carole couldn’t blame her. They would all miss Barq. He was an important part of Pine Hollow.

Just then Stevie finished off the last of her pizza and leaned back with a satisfied sigh. “I’m stuffed,” she said, licking some tomato sauce off her fingers.

Carole ignored her. “Merrill,” she began again earnestly, “I really think you ought to think about this more carefully. It’s a big decision to make so quickly.”

“I have thought about it,” Merrill said. She pulled a pen out of her jacket pocket and started doodling on her paper place
mat. “I’ve thought about it a lot. Barq is wonderful in every way. He’s smart, and well-trained, and I like him.”

“But you might like another horse more,” Lisa said.

“And you don’t want to end up like Veronica diAngelo and Danny, do you?” Carole added.

“What do you mean?” Merrill looked surprised. “Veronica’s horse is the best jumper in the whole class. He does everything she asks him to, and more.”

Carole nodded. “But does she look like she’s having fun riding him?” she asked. “Think about it. As beautifully behaved as Danny is, do you think Veronica really enjoys riding him as much as I like riding Starlight, or Stevie likes riding Belle?” Carole knew the answer to that. Veronica had chosen Danny on the basis of his price and bloodlines, not his personality, and it showed.

Merrill shook her head, looking stubborn. “That doesn’t have anything to do with me and Barq,” she said firmly. “Barq is the one I want, and that’s that.”

Carole sighed. She could tell that the discussion was closed, at least for now. But that didn’t mean she was giving up—and she knew her friends wouldn’t, either.

“Speaking of Veronica,” Stevie said darkly, “I can’t believe I still haven’t thought of a way to get back at her for that sugar trick of hers. I swore I’d get revenge, but what with the jumping clinic and everything, I haven’t had time to come up with a plan.”

She frowned, thinking how unlucky she was to have ended up with Veronica’s name for the Yankee Swap. She hated the
thought of spending her hard-earned money on a gift for the snobby girl.

“Especially since she already owns everything in the mall,” Stevie muttered.

“What did you say, Stevie?” Lisa asked, watching idly as Merrill sketched a picture of Barq on her place mat.

“Nothing,” Stevie said. “I was just thinking about Veronica.” There was no way she wanted to get something that Veronica would like—even if she could afford to without a platinum credit card. Suddenly Stevie sat up straight. She had just come up with an idea for revenge. “Hey, Merrill, can I borrow your pen?”

“Sure,” Merrill said, passing it over.

Stevie’s friends watched as she grabbed a clean place mat from a nearby table and began writing furiously.

“What are you doing?” Carole asked.

“Getting back at Veronica,” Stevie announced with a grin, holding up the place mat for her friends to see. She had made it into a sign that read:

ATTENTION ALL STORE OWNERS
!
BEWARE OF A CUSTOMER NAMED VERONICA DIANGELO
.
DO NOT ACCEPT HER CREDIT CARD IF SHE TRIES TO BUY SOMETHING WITH IT
.
HER CREDIT IS NO GOOD
.
TAKE HER CARD AND CUT IT UP IMMEDIATELY
,
NO MATTER WHAT SHE SAYS
!!

Carole looked perplexed. “What are you doing? Veronica’s credit isn’t bad.”

“I know,” Stevie said. “But can’t you just see the look on
her face when some salesclerk cuts up her precious credit card?” She grinned. “Now, that’s what I call revenge!”

“Um, Stevie,” Lisa said. “I’m not sure, but I think what you’re doing might be illegal or something. Even if it’s not, you could get in an awful lot of trouble.”

“Don’t be silly,” Stevie said with a wave of her hand. “What’s illegal about hanging up a sign? Besides, I disguised my handwriting. No one will ever know it was me.”

“Where are you planning to hang it, exactly?” Carole asked.

“On the mall directory,” Stevie replied. “That way everyone will be sure to see it. Now hurry up and finish eating. I can’t wait to hang it up.”

She waited impatiently while her friends finished their pizza. Then she led the way out of the restaurant and down the mall to the courtyard near the entrance, where the main directory was located.

“Okay, you guys stand guard while I hang it up,” Stevie said. Then she paused. “Wait a second—how am I going to hang it? We don’t have any tape …” She glanced around, then suddenly lunged for a nearby garbage can. A large wad of sticky pink gum was stuck to the rim. Stevie began picking at it with her fingernails. “Ah-ha! This will do the trick.”

“Stevie!” Lisa cried in horror. “Don’t touch that! That’s disgusting!”

But Stevie ignored her. She pulled a chunk of the gum free and stuck it to the back of her sign. Then she wiped her hand on her jeans and looked around again. Only a few people were sitting or walking nearby, and none of them was paying any
attention to the girls. “Okay, the coast looks clear. Keep a lookout and warn me if anyone’s coming.”

With that, she darted toward the directory, a large plastic-shielded map of the mall. Reaching up as far as she could, she pressed down firmly on the paper above the wad of gum, attaching it to the smooth surface.

“There,” she said, hurrying back to join her friends. “Mission accomplished!”

“Not so fast, young lady,” boomed a deep voice from behind her.