Rosie plunged the sponge into the bucket of sudsy water and sighed. “It sure is hard to keep Scamper clean.”
The girls were bathing the horses in preparation for taking them to the county fair.
“You’re lucky—Kezzie only has that narrow stripe on her face. Scamper’s patches and stockings always look dingy. He seems to like being dirty.”
“I’ll help you in a minute.” Carrie ran a comb through Kezzie’s wet mane. “I’m kind of nervous about the show. I’ve never been in a real horse show before—only the Egg and Spoon race we had a few weeks ago at Cousin’s Camp. And I wasn’t very good at that.”
Rosie paused with her hand on Scamper’s neck. Soapy water from the sponge dripped down her arm. “You’ll do fine. Kezzie’s been shown so many times, she’s an old pro at it. This will be my first show with Scamper, so I’m kind of nervous too.”
Carrie frowned. “I wish my mom, I mean Mrs. Judy, could come to watch me, but she gets tired so easily, she doesn’t think she’ll be able to make it, and Mr. Ross has to work.”
Rosie felt sad for her friend. She couldn’t imagine not having any family there when she showed Scamper. “I’m sorry, Carrie. My dad will record the show. Your parents can watch that. And Mom, Aunt Julie, and her kids will be there to cheer for both of us.”
“It’s okay.” Carrie wiped the wet comb off on her jeans and dropped it into the tack bucket. “Where do you need help with this dirty boy?”
After the two scrubbed Scamper until his white patches sparkled, Grandma inspected their work. “Those are certainly two prize-winning horses!”
“I hope so.” Rosie walked around, examining her horse one last time. Scamper had to look his best for the fair. She had already picked out a spot for the trophy she hoped to win— right beside one her mom had won with Ebony.
Grandma waved the girls toward the horse trailer that was parked by the barn. “Let’s get them loaded and over to the fairgrounds. They’re supposed to be in their stalls before seven tonight.”
Rosie looked at the truck and trailer—overflowing with tack boxes, a wheelbarrow, hay bales, buckets, grain, saddle racks, pitchforks, and more—everything she and Carrie needed to ride and care for the horses during fair week. She hoped they hadn’t forgotten anything.
Scamper hopped into the trailer after Kezzie, then she and Carrie climbed into the back seat of the truck. They were on their way!
Fifteen minutes later, they pulled through the gates at the entrance to the fairgrounds. Butterflies began to flit around in Rosie’s stomach. She enjoyed the fair, but she wasn’t sure how Scamper would react to all the commotion.
Grandma slowed to a stop, rolled down her window, and handed the horses’ health papers to the livestock inspector. He glanced over them, handed them back, and waved them on without saying a word. Grandma drove slowly on the narrow gravel road that wound around the fairgrounds and found a space to park near the horse arena.
When she jumped out of the truck, it seemed that Rosie had entered another world. Everyone on the fairgrounds was busy doing something or rushing somewhere. People continued to pour in, driving all sorts of vehicles—from rattle- trap rusty pickups to gleaming duallies with shiny aluminum trailers—bringing in livestock of every kind: tiny bantam chickens to huge draft horses.
Rosie smiled at the clamor of animal voices—mooing, crowing, gobbling, oinking, and whinnying. It sounded like the animals were as excited about the fair as she was.
Carnival workers were still assembling the Ferris wheel. It looked funny without its top half. The midway rides didn’t appeal much to Rosie. Although she didn’t like to admit it, many of them scared her, especially the ones that flipped people upside down. And the ones that weren’t scary, sometimes upset her stomach. It was more fun to ride Scamper.
One thing did have the power to lure her from the livestock area of the fairgrounds—the food on the midway. She liked it all, but barbecued, shredded-chicken sandwiches were her favorite. She sniffed and smiled. It was starting to smell like dinnertime.
Carrie poked Rosie in the side. “What do we do now?”
Rosie jumped and turned her attention back to their truck and trailer. “Oh, yeah. Let’s get the horses into their stalls.”
The girls unloaded and led Scamper and Kezzie into adjoining stalls in a big blue-and-white tent similar to the ones used for circuses. There were three horse barns on the grounds, but there were so many entries that the additional horses would be housed in the rented tent. Rosie would have rather been in a barn, but the tent would have to do.
They spread shavings for bedding and gave the horses hay and water. “That stall on the corner is a tack stall.” Rosie pointed to her right. “We’ll share it with the kids who have horses next to us. Let’s get our saddles from the truck and put them in there.”
They returned a few minutes later, each carrying a saddle on her hip.
“Outta my way!” A tall, thin teenage boy darted into the tack stall ahead of them and placed his saddle right where Rosie had planned to put hers.
“That’s my spot,” he warned her.
“Um, hi, Billy.” Rosie remembered him from the previous year’s fair. She motioned to Carrie. “We can put our stuff in the other corner.”
Carrie followed Rosie back toward the truck to unload more equipment. “Who was that? He sure was grumpy.”
“Billy King.” Rosie rolled her eyes. “He’s a good rider but not the friendliest person in the world. He won the Pony Pleasure class last year on Bandit. I’ll have to beat him if Scamper and I are going to win our trophy.”
“At least you and I won’t compete against each other, since Kezzie shows in the Easy-Gaited class.”
“Maybe we’ll both take home trophies this year.” Rosie handed Carrie a bridle and a pair of boots.
Carrie shrugged. “I just hope I get through the class without messing up. I don’t want Grandma to be disappointed after she’s spent so much time teaching me.”
“Grandma won’t be disappointed. She always says it’s not about winning. It’s about doing your best.”
“I’ll try to remember that.”
Rosie searched through the truck one last time to see whether there was anything else that needed to go into the tack stall.
When they entered the tent, Rosie looked around for Billy, but he was already gone.
Carrie dropped her boots and riding helmet in the tack stall and looped Kezzie’s bridle over the saddle horn. “Now what?”
“Let’s look around at the animals, then we’ll come back and ride.” Rosie led Carrie on a tour of the grounds. The fair wasn’t officially open yet, so the only people that were there were other exhibitors. The girls avoided the amusement rides and wandered through the sheep and cattle barns on the opposite side of the fairgrounds, stopping to talk to a few friends who had brought animals to the fair. By the time they returned, several riders were already practicing in the arena. The girls saddled up and led their horses out to join them.
“You’ll have it easy.” Rosie opened the gate, and they entered the arena. “Kezzie’s been here before, so she won’t even blink at the rides.”
Rosie closed the gate behind them and mounted Scamper. “This is all new to him. Most people don’t have a Ferris wheel on their farms to practice near—not even Grandma.”
“That’s an idea.” Carrie smiled. “We could put it right beside the barn.”
Rosie watched to see how Scamper would react to the other horses in the arena. His head was higher than usual, but he was listening for Rosie’s signals. She looked over at Carrie. “What did you say? Put what?”
“The Ferris wheel! We can put it right beside Grandma’s barn!”
Rosie shook her head. “You’re crazy. Why don’t you suggest that to her when we’re done? At least the rides don’t start running until tomorrow. Scamper doesn’t even notice them now, but when they’re moving and their lights are flashing, he’ll probably think an awful monster is after him.”
“We have a whole day before the show,” Carrie said. “Maybe if you ride him enough, he’ll realize the Ferris wheel monster won’t hurt him!”
When Rosie saw her parents walk up to the arena gate, she trotted Scamper over to them. “Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad.”
Eric put a foot on the bottom board of the fence and leaned forward placing both arms over the top rail. “How’s our boy behaving?”
“Good so far. But I’m kind of worried about the carnival rides starting tomorrow.”
Eric rubbed Scamper’s forehead between his eyes. “You’ll be brave. Won’t you, buddy?”
“I could ride him first tomorrow,” Kristy offered.
Rosie knew her mom was a better rider, but this was something she wanted to do herself. He was her horse after all. “Thanks, Mom, but I want to try it.”
“Okay. Hurry up and finish your ride so we can go home,” Kristy said. “We’ll have to be back here bright and early tomorrow morning.”
Rosie patted her stomach. “What about dinner? I think some of the concession stands are already open. It certainly smells like it.”
“We’ll grab a quick peanut butter sandwich when we get home.”
“Aw, Mom. I was thinking about something more healthy and nourishing.”
“Like one of your favorite shredded-chicken sandwiches?”
Rosie grinned and nodded. She could taste the tangy barbecued chicken already.
“Tomorrow,” Kristy promised.