Hayride (2 page)

“Carole!” Colonel Hanson cried. He got out of the car and rushed to her side.

“I’m fine, Dad,” Carole said automatically, not wanting to worry her father. To prove it to herself, she jumped back to her feet. She felt her ankle smart as soon as she stood up. It would probably be okay in about five minutes.

“Are you all right?” her father asked anxiously, helping her to steady herself on her feet. “That was a nasty fall.”

For a split second Carole thought about telling her father how much it hurt. Her ankle was throbbing already. But the consequences made her change her mind instantly. She wouldn’t get to ride Starlight, or hang out at Pine Hollow, or see Stevie and Lisa, or tell them her birthday plans. She gritted her teeth. No silly fall was going to keep her inside on a gorgeous day like this.

“Really, Dad, I’m fine,” she assured her father. She brushed the dirt off her clothes briskly. “Now for heaven’s sake,
don’t
worry. Get to your game. See you at four-thirty.”

“We-ell—all right,” Colonel Hanson said uncertainly. “I’ll have to trust you. But if you feel one ounce of pain anywhere, you call me, and I’ll be right back for you.”

“I promise, Dad—I won’t ride if it hurts.”

After a final reassurance that Carole was all right, Colonel Hanson got back into the station wagon and
headed down the driveway. Carole waved and then started in to the barn. As she walked, she noticed that it hurt to put weight on the twisted ankle—the left one. She resolved to put it out of her mind, at least until they had ridden.

When Carole entered the barn, she spotted Stevie and Lisa emerging from the tack room, laden with saddles, bridles, and hard hats.

“Hey, you guys!” Carole called to them, hurrying over to tell them her news. Or at least she tried to hurry—her ankle forced her to limp.

Lisa and Stevie turned and waved. Both of their faces fell when they saw Carole limping.

“Are you okay?” Lisa asked.

Carole shrugged off the question. “Okay? I’m great! And I can’t wait to hit the trail.”

“If I know my symptoms of lameness, Carole, you’re off in the left hind,” Stevie said. “And if I know you, you should probably be at home with that foot up on ice, but you didn’t want to miss a day at Pine Hollow for a silly little injury. Right?”

“I just tripped and fell getting out of the car,” Carole said. “It’s really—”

“We know—it’s
nothing
,” Stevie interrupted her. “Which means you’re planning to ignore it, whatever it is.”

“Stevie’s right—you should probably be at home resting,” Lisa chimed in.

“You guys sound like my father!” Carole said. “I’m here to ride. Is anyone coming?”

Lisa and Stevie looked at each other. “Yes,” they said in unison, and laughed.

“Great,” Carole said, “because I’ve got something to tell you that will require
lots
of discussion.”

“What’s it about?” Stevie asked.

“My birthday party—I have the greatest idea for it.”

“What?” Stevie prompted.

“Stevie!” Lisa exclaimed. “Let’s get going! We’ll talk about it after Topside and Barq are ready.”

“Fine, but I might die of anticipation while tacking up.”

“Meet me at Starlight’s stall in five minutes,” Carole told them. The girls agreed and went to get ready.

After saddling Topside and Barq, Lisa and Stevie grabbed Starlight’s bridle and saddle from the tack room and rushed over to join Carole at Starlight’s stall. Starlight was standing quietly as Carole gave his coat a final swipe with a rag. His reddish-brown coat and black mane and tail gleamed in the morning sunlight.

Mocking a tragic actress, Stevie put her hand on her forehead and wailed, “Put an end to my agony, Carole—what’s the idea?”

Carole grinned at her friend’s theatrics. “A hayride.
I’m going to have a hayride birthday party,” she announced.

Judging by Lisa’s broad smile and Stevie’s whoop of joy, Carole could tell that the rest of The Saddle Club was just as excited as she was.

“L
ET
’
S SEE
,
BESIDES
The Saddle Club—including honorary members Phil and A.J., of course—we’ll invite everyone our age who rides at Pine Hollow and then maybe a chosen few from your school—oh, and Cam, I mean, he goes without saying—you did say it was going to be coed, didn’t you?” Stevie asked.

Carole and Lisa dissolved into giggles. It was just like Stevie to plunge in and start inviting people to another person’s party. With anyone else Carole might have minded. But Stevie was so enthusiastic—and besides, all the people she was naming were people that Carole herself had been planning to invite.

Carole managed to stop laughing and answer Stevie’s question. “I didn’t say, but, yes, it is going to be a boy-girl
party. We’re going to have dancing, too. So I hope there’ll be even numbers of each. I want to kind of pair everyone off.”

“That might be hard,” Lisa said as the three girls began tacking up Starlight. “So many more girls ride at Pine Hollow than guys.”

“And the guys that do—” Carole began.

“Exactly,” Stevie said. Lisa nodded. Without her saying it, both Lisa and Stevie knew what Carole meant: It was an agreed fact among the three of them that Max’s horses were a lot better looking than most of his male students.

“Well, if I get desperate, I can always ask your brothers, Stevie,” Carole teased.

Stevie groaned. Having her three brothers at a party where Phil and she would be together was one of her worst nightmares. Phil Marsten was Stevie’s boyfriend. He rode, too, and belonged to Cross County Pony Club. The Saddle Club belonged to Horse Wise. Stevie often saw Phil at mounted and unmounted meetings. But going to a party with him—not to mention the hayride after—would be very special. There was no way she wanted her brothers there to tease, bother, and generally humiliate her beyond belief.

“Just kidding,” Carole assured her. “I’d never ruin a romantic evening like that.”

Starlight, who was now fully saddled and bridled, nuzzled Carole inquisitively.

“You’re right, boy. What are we doing keeping you inside when you’re all ready to go?” Carole said. “Let’s mount up and get riding.” The girls decided to reconvene at the good-luck horseshoe. Touching the horseshoe before riding was a Pine Hollow tradition. No rider who had touched it had ever been seriously injured.

Stevie and Lisa went to get Topside and Barq from their stalls. On their way back out they passed by Starlight’s stall again. It was now empty, but in the one next to it, an impatient mare was pawing the floor and pacing back and forth.

“Hey, Garnet, easy does it, girl,” Stevie said to the Arabian mare. A dark chestnut face peered hopefully over the door.

“How can she leave her in that stall all day?” Lisa asked. She knew that Garnet’s restless movement was a sign of boredom, often exhibited by horses who spent too much time cooped up indoors.

“I guess she couldn’t get one of her underlings to exercise her today,” Stevie remarked. They each gave Garnet a quick pat.

The “she” that Lisa and Stevie were referring to was Garnet’s owner, Veronica diAngelo. She was the one girl at Pine Hollow whom The Saddle Club had given up on liking. Although she rode—and rode fairly well—she
usually did it more for appearances than for love of the sport. In fact, she often bribed, hired, or “allowed” other girls to exercise the mare when she couldn’t find the time. She liked being able to tell people she met, especially boys, how much her parents had spent buying Garnet for her. And the diAngelos liked having pictures in their living room of their daughter riding, as all the “best families” in town did.

“Speaking of Veronica, do you think Carole’s going to invite
her
to the hayride?” Lisa asked as they led Topside and Barq out to the horseshoe.

“I forgot about her,” Stevie said with distaste.

“I guess she should probably come—it’s too mean to leave one person out.”

“I guess even I have to agree with that,” Stevie said.

“Agree with what?” Carole called. She was already mounted and walking Starlight in a businesslike manner. She wanted to teach him that even trail rides required good behavior.

“We were just talking about whether you were really going to invite
everyone
our age from Pine Hollow,” Lisa said.

“Oh, you mean, is Veronica invited?” Carole guessed.

Stevie and Lisa nodded, laughing.

“Yeah, I thought about that, and I decided I just can’t invite everyone
but
Veronica.”

“That’s what we think, too,” Lisa said.

“Yeah,” Stevie echoed. “Anyway, look on the bright side. If you invite her, you don’t have to worry about entertainment. She’ll put on a horror show all her own.”

Carole grinned. “I’ll tell Dad to stop worrying. Who needs a clown or a magician when you’ve got Veronica?”

Lisa and Stevie checked their girths and mounted, and the three girls turned their horses toward the woods. In front Carole set the pace, starting off at a brisk walk.

When they got to the trail entrance, they saw another horse and rider coming in the opposite direction.

“Looks like someone’s been out trail riding alone. Max wouldn’t like that,” Stevie said. Everyone at Pine Hollow knew that it was dangerous to go off by yourself: If you fell, there was no one to get help. “Can you see who it is?” she asked.

“It’s Patch, but I don’t know who’s riding him,” replied Carole. Patch was a quiet school horse whom many of the beginners, including Lisa, had started on. Carole politely halted Starlight as the rider approached, and Lisa and Stevie followed suit.

“Oh,” Lisa said with a groan. “That’s Simon Atherton. No wonder he’s out riding alone. He just started at Pine Hollow. I’m sure he doesn’t know any better.”

“How do you know him?” Carole asked.

“He’s in my class at school.” Both Lisa and Carole went to the regional public school, but Lisa was a grade
ahead. Stevie attended a local private school, Fenton Hall.

Simon grinned as he trotted up to them. “Gosh, Lisa, it’s great to see you out here,” he said.

“Hello, Simon,” Lisa replied flatly. “These are my friends, Carole Hanson and Stephanie—Stevie for short—Lake.” She gestured at her friends.

“Gosh, it’s great to meet you both,” said Simon, still grinning from ear to ear.

Lisa said abruptly, “I guess we’d better keep going. The horses don’t seem to like standing here.”

Carole and Stevie exchanged grins. It was true Barq, Starlight, and Topside were moving around impatiently, but Lisa knew as well as anyone that it was up to-the rider to control her horse at all times and never be controlled. Obviously, Lisa wasn’t interested in lingering to chat with Simon.

“Okay, Lisa,” Simon said. He nodded in Carole and Stevie’s direction. “Nice to meet you. Have a great ride.”

“We will. Thanks,” Lisa said.

As they started off, Simon called over his shoulder, “See you bright and early, first-period math tomorrow, right?”

“Right!” Lisa yelled. Then she muttered under her breath, “Thanks for reminding me.”

Stevie and Carole giggled softly.

“Not your type, huh, Lisa?” Stevie commented to her friend.

Lisa just groaned again.

At that moment they reached a grassy stretch, and Carole urged Starlight into a trot.

They trotted for several minutes until they came to a stream that had to be navigated at a walk. Starlight put up a fuss about crossing it. He was only four years old and could still be silly about some things. He dug his hoof in at the water, but Carole steadied him with her firm seat and hands and made him step into it. After the first step, he was fine. “Good boy,” Carole told him several times, patting his neck. It was just as important to praise a young horse as it was to correct his faults, and Starlight seemed to remember praise much better than punishment.

Topside and Barq walked right through the stream, barely even noticing it. They were both old hands—Topside an ex-show horse and Barq an experienced school horse.

When they reached the other side, Carole stayed at a walk so that talk of the party could continue.

“Okay, so who’ve we got as definites?” Carole asked.

Stevie was eager to reply. “The way I see it, it’s the three of us, plus Veronica, Betsy Cavanaugh—she’s really gotten nicer since she’s been going out with James Spencer—Helen Sanderson, and both Megs—Meg Roberts
and Meg Durham from Pine Hollow. Plus maybe Adam Levine—he’s not that cute, but he likes Meg Roberts. I mean Meg Durham. And then from school—”

“No,” Lisa interrupted. “You mean he likes Meg Roberts. I saw them holding hands at the mall.”

“Really?” Carole asked. “Because I heard from Helen’s twin brother Tom—the one that used to ride Comanche till he quit—that Meg Roberts told Meg Durham that she—Meg Durham—could have Adam Levine if she wanted because she—Meg Roberts—had met A.J. at a Pony Club meeting and she liked him better.”

“Oh, no!” Stevie shook her head. “That’s not what happened at all. John O’Brien is in Tom’s class, and I heard him tell Adam that Tom was just saying that Meg Roberts liked A.J. because he heard A.J. liked her, and Tom wanted to help get them together, so that Tom could ask Meg
Durham
out himself, but of course John has a huge crush on Helen, and Tom keeps getting in the way whenever Adam goes to see Helen, so since Adam is mad at Tom, you can’t trust what he says about Meg.”