CAROLE COULDN’T BELIEVE it, but getting everything unloaded at the start of the trail was almost as much trouble as getting it loaded.
Delilah was unusually docile coming off the trailer, but it turned out that Barq hated getting off as much as he hated getting on. Red O’Malley got a nasty kick on his shin. He grimaced, but said it was okay. Carole thought it would be swollen and black-and-blue for a long time. Horses were big animals, and strong. If you were going to spend a lot of time with them, you had to be prepared to get hurt some of the time. Red didn’t complain; he knew that, too.
Finally, the horses were unloaded, and the camping and picnic gear was loaded onto a van that would meet them at the rendezvous for lunch and then the overnight campsite.
“I hope the truck doesn’t get lost,” Carole joked with Lisa and Stevie.
When their horses were all off the van, the riders each fetched tack and began saddling.
“I always hate tacking up—especially when Comanche’s in a bad mood,” Stevie said. “But Comanche’s standing still today. I think he’s as eager to get going as I am!”
“I think you’re right,” Lisa said. “Look at Pepper. He’s so busy sniffing the fresh mountain air that he didn’t even notice when I tightened the girth!” Pepper had a way of taking in a big breath of air when his rider drew the girth tight. Then, after it had been fastened, he’d let out his breath and his saddle would be nice and loose, the way he liked it. From his rider’s point of view, though, it was dangerous. Lisa always had to tighten the girth twice. This time, though, it wasn’t necessary.
“Mount up!” Max called, and the trail ride really began.
MAX HAD TOLD the riders that their first day would be relatively easy. They would ride for an hour or so to their picnic lunch rendezvous. Then, after lunch, they would be going uphill most of the way to a meadow about halfway up the mountain. They were supposed to reach the meadow by midafternoon. The horses would spend the night in the meadow, and the campsite was just uphill from it.
Lisa couldn’t believe how lucky she was. Just a month ago, she’d never ridden anything more exciting than a pony in a zoo. Now, here she was on a warm, sparkling day, riding through a beautiful mountain forest just bursting with late-spring flowers. They rode single file on the narrow path, shaded by majestic oak trees. For the first half mile, the way was lined with mountain laurel, covered with pink and white blossoms. Lisa picked a small flower and tucked it behind her ear. It made her feel exotic.
“Can you believe this place?” Stevie asked from behind her.
“No, I can’t,” Lisa said. “It makes me feel like I’m in a dream, or maybe a fairy tale. I sort of expect to see a little gingerbread cottage around the next bend.”
Just then the trail widened in a hemlock grove. The warm sunshine seemed to bake the trees and the carpet of pine needles. There was a wonderful forest smell all around them.
“Doesn’t it smell like Christmas?” Carole called back to her friends. She inhaled deeply, thinking how great the fresh evergreen scent was.
While the trail was wide, Max had the group trot and then canter, one at a time. Pepper was ready. He was frisky and full of excitement. Lisa thought maybe he was as excited as she was. She’d never known him so eager to respond to her signals. When she sat in the trot and then nudged him behind his girth with her left leg, he responded immediately, springing into a wonderful rocking canter. It had never felt so good. It had never been so much fun. She tucked her head down behind Pepper’s to avoid some low-slung hemlock branches. As she reined him back down to a walk where the path narrowed again, she sighed contentedly.
“Did you like that?” Stevie asked.
“It was wonderful,” she replied truthfully. She couldn’t stop grinning, and she felt that in his own way Pepper was grinning, too.
“I’M SO HUNGRY, I could eat a—” Stevie paused. “Elephant,” she said, giggling.
Lisa groaned at Stevie’s joke. “I think I’ll make do with the peanut butter sandwiches I saw Mrs. Reg making this morning,” she said, referring to Max’s mother who was well-loved by the girls.
“We’ll eat soon enough,” Carole told her friends. “But we’d better see to the horses first.”
Lisa and Stevie obediently followed Carole to the area where the horses were tied up.
The three girls took their heavy-duty buckets to the creek and scooped the fresh, cool water for their horses.
“Not too much,” Carole warned Lisa.
“That’s right, you never want to give a hot horse a lot of water to drink at once,” Stevie explained. “They can get terrible stomach cramps that way. Same thing can happen to people, you know.”
“Yeah, I know,” Lisa said. “After ballet class they only let us have sips of water, especially on hot days.” Considering how heavy the bucket could be when it was full, Lisa was relieved she only had to fill it a quarter full. Pepper was glad for the water and nuzzled her neck when she brought the bucket. When he’d had a few sips, she gave him a handful of hay from the bale the van had brought. Pepper seemed totally content. Lisa and Stevie returned to the picnic area, promising to save a spot for Carole.
Carole watched Delilah drinking and patted the golden horse’s neck softly. Delilah’s mood seemed changed. The horse was enjoying herself, but she was more reserved than usual. She’d been happy to follow Carole’s directions, but somehow the usual fight in her seemed faded. Carole supposed she should have been happy with that change, but any mood change in a horse could signal trouble. She made a mental note to talk with Max about it.
When Delilah was munching on her hay, Carole knew it was time for her PBJ and fruit punch. She was hungry and ready for them. She returned to the picnic site, grabbed two sandwiches, some carrot sticks, and a mug of juice, and looked around for Lisa and Stevie. They had just sat down under a big old hickory tree, which was surrounded by soft green ferns.
“Having a good time?” Betsy Cavanaugh asked Carole as she passed. Betsy was sitting with Veronica and the rest of her fan club.
“Oh, it’s wonderful,” Betsy said.
Carole smiled in acknowledgment and began to walk on. But something made her look back at Veronica, who was sitting on a rock with an empty plate and mug at her side. She had her boots off and was completely relaxed.
If Veronica was already finished with her lunch, that could only mean that she hadn’t done anything about Cobalt. Carole knew that, once again, Veronica had just assumed that somebody would do her work for her. And once again, she was right. She doesn’t deserve that horse, Carole told herself, taking her plate over to the hickory tree.
“Keep the ants out of my lunch for a few minutes, will you?” she asked her friends.
“Sure,” Lisa agreed, tucking a napkin over the sandwiches.
Carole returned to the horse area. It only took a few minutes to give Cobalt some water and hay. She knew she should have made Veronica do it herself, but Carole got tremendous pleasure from everything she did with this majestic horse. She patted his sleek neck after she fed him, and he nickered with pleasure.
When she was sure he was properly fed and watered, she returned for her own lunch.
MIRACULOUSLY, THEY ARRIVED at their meadowside campsite a full half hour ahead of schedule.
“Can you believe this?” Stevie asked Carole. “We’re actually early!”
“Yeah, it’s great,” Carole agreed. “The horses all practically pranced through the last couple of miles of trails. I guess they’re glad for the chance for a good run.”
“You mean they’re having as much fun as we are!” Stevie teased.
Max told the boys and girls to tie up their horses outside the paddock where the horses would be penned for the night and to keep the saddles on them.
“The horses should cool down a bit and relax while we set up the campsite. Then, when we’re all finished with that, I want to play some horse games. Is that okay with you all?” he asked.
He didn’t have to ask twice! Carole knew that horse games were some of the most fun of all.
“ALL RIGHT,” MAX told his riders a half hour later. “We’re going to play a game called Around the World. There are two teams, five each, and each member is assigned a number, one to five. We make a large circle in no particular order. I’ll call out a number and a pace, for example, ‘Number Ones, trot.’ Then, the two ‘Number One’ riders will trot around the circle to their right, and whoever gets back to their original position first wins a point for the team. If you break gait—either faster or slower—or go back to the wrong spot, the other rider in your pair wins a point and a point is deducted from your team’s total.”
“Oh, boy, this is going to be fun. I hope we get the boys on our team,” Stevie said. “I certainly don’t want Veronica and her shadows!” She’d seen Veronica play games before and she knew she was an incredibly bad sport.
“I have the funny feeling it’s not going to work that way,” Carole warned her. Much to Stevie’s dismay, The Saddle Club was broken up. She and Carole were on one team, with Meg, Lorraine, and Red. Lisa was teamed up with Veronica, Joe, Betsy, and Adam Levine, one of Max’s newer students. Stevie saw Lisa grimace when Max announced the teams. But she could tell that Max was trying to match skill levels on the teams.
Soon the numbers were assigned and they all formed a circle. Max and his horse, Diablo, stood in the center of the ring as Max hollered out numbers and gaits. Stevie waited anxiously for her number—three—to be called. And then it was.
“Number Threes, canter!” Max cried.
Stevie was surprised to find herself competing with Lisa. The teams had kept their number assignments secret. Lisa was such a new rider that Stevie was sure she would beat her. But Lisa pulled Pepper out of the circle and turned him to the right very quickly. He broke into a canter, and before Stevie had circled the ring, Lisa and Pepper were breathlessly pulling back into their spot.
Stevie laughed and waved at Lisa. She’d been so cocksure of herself that she hadn’t even tried too hard. Lisa had won, fair and square, and she’d deserved to win. This time.
When the first game ended, Stevie’s team, the Blues, had won, in spite of her own carelessness. In the second game, it seemed that the Reds had learned their lesson and tried much harder. The final score was close—three to two—but the Reds were victors.
“Final match!” Max announced. “Losers will collect kindling for the fire!”
It was just like Max to assign jobs by horsemanship. Usually Stevie wouldn’t mind doing something like collecting kindling, but she certainly didn’t want to do it if it meant that somebody had beat her at something! She glanced around at her teammates. As usual, Carole’s calm, assured face revealed nothing. But Carole was matched against Adam Levine and she was eight times the rider he was. She had beat him twice. Everybody knew she’d beat him a third time.
Stevie saw the looks of determination on the faces of Meg, Lorraine, and Red. She was pretty sure they’d win.
“Number Fours, trot!” Max called to start off the final game. Lorraine and Betsy took off. It wasn’t even close. Lorraine’s horse didn’t want to trot at all. Betsy won easily. The Reds were ahead, one to nothing.
“Number Fives, walk!” Max announced.
Red and Joe took off at a stately walk. Joe was an okay rider, but Red was better. He knew how to urge his horse, Harry, into an extended walk. Harry and Red won easily.
When Carole and Adam had to trot, it was the same story. Carole knew how to get Delilah to lengthen her strides so that, with each beat, she covered more ground. Adam got Tecumseh to a nice collected trot, but it wasn’t enough and Carole won easily.
“Number Twos, canter!” Veronica and Meg were off in an instant, but not before Stevie saw the bratty look on Veronica’s face. Veronica had never been particularly competitive, but Stevie suspected she’d rather do almost anything than collect twigs. And she did. While Veronica was behind Max’s back, she urged Cobalt from a canter to a gallop, which was a much faster gait. Veronica would win easily. Stevie saw Meg glance across the circle. The open-mouthed look on Meg’s face revealed that she’d seen Veronica break her gait. But then Meg’s mouth closed into a thin line of determination. Stevie knew that if Meg tattled on Veronica, she’d be banned from Veronica’s circle of friends forever. That was not a price Meg would be willing to pay.
For her own part, Stevie wasn’t interested in tattling. If Max hadn’t seen the gallop, well, Stevie and the Blues would take their chances. The score was tied.
Before Max called the final pair, Stevie had a moment to wonder who else had seen what Veronica had done. Maybe someone would say something after the game.
“Number Threes, trot!” Stevie and Lisa turned their horses out of the circle. Stevie nudged Comanche with her heels and he broke into a good extended trot. But when Stevie glanced across the circle it was clear that Pepper, still inspired by the great outdoors, was trotting very quickly and was beating Comanche. Stevie wanted to win—really wanted to win. She urged Comanche ahead and he responded with a longer stride, but Stevie wasn’t at all sure it would be enough.
Every competitor knows that it’s usually an awful mistake to look at your competition in a race, but Stevie kept watching Lisa. She was doing really well and Stevie couldn’t help being a little proud of her. After all, who had helped her since she’d started riding!
While Stevie stole peeks at Lisa and Pepper, she saw, to her astonishment, that Lisa was pulling in on Pepper’s reins. It wasn’t easy to see, but she definitely moved them toward her hips. In an instant, Pepper drew to a walk. He broke his gait! That automatically meant victory for the Blues! Stevie completed her circle, pulled Comanche back into her place in the circle, and waited for Lisa to finish her round.
As Stevie watched, she expected to see embarrassment on Lisa’s face. After all, breaking from a trot to a walk was really baby stuff. Lisa was better than that. But when Stevie looked at Lisa’s face, what she saw instead was a sly smile, and then she understood.
Lisa had seen Veronica’s stunt. If she’d tattled, it might have ruined the whole camp-out. So she’d done the only thing that would guarantee the right outcome of the game. She’d thrown it. She had intentionally pulled Pepper into a walk. Everybody would believe it was just a mistake since that was the kind of thing that happened to new riders.
Stevie was proud of the way Lisa had handled the situation. She wondered if she’d have had the guts to do the same thing.
“How could you do that?” Veronica wailed at Lisa.
“I dunno,” Lisa said dumbly.
“Well, you’re not going to be on my team again! Ever!” Veronica declared.
“Fine by me,” Lisa said.
Stevie grinned over at Carole.