“PSST! WAKE UP!” Lisa whispered, shaking the sleeping Carole from her dreams.

“Whassa matter?” Carole said. She could barely see Lisa in the darkness.

“It’s almost dawn!” Lisa said excitedly. “Let’s see if there are any deer in the paddock with the horses.” Carole was completely awake instantly.

Stevie rubbed her eyes drowsily. “Is it really morning?” she asked.

“Not really,” Lisa told her. “But it’s time to get up anyway. We’re having a Saddle Club meeting down by the paddock.”

The three girls crept out of their tent, still wearing their warm nightclothes. They didn’t want to take the time to get dressed—not just then, anyway.

They tiptoed on bare feet through the campsite, down the gentle slope to the paddock where the horses spent the night. It was still almost completely dark—the velvet sky was studded with stars. The nearly full moon hung near the horizon and looked as if it were almost resting on a mountaintop. In the east were the first streaks of dawn.

“Oh!” Stevie said, settling herself on a rock near the paddock. “It’s beautiful!” She scrunched her knees up to her chest for warmth. Carole sat beside her, Lisa on the other side. Stevie took in a deep breath of the fresh, chilly air. “I can’t believe I slept through this yesterday,” she said, gazing at the mountains to the east.

The girls sat in a contented silence, listening only to the sounds of the night. The horses, asleep on their feet, were quiet. Here and there, a few crickets chirped. From the edge of the nearby creek, they could hear the call of a bullfrog. The silence was broken by the first whinny from the paddock. In seconds all the horses were awake. By the light of the moon and the stars, the girls watched the horses begin to munch on the sweet grass.

“No deer this morning,” Lisa said sadly.

“You never know,” Carole said. Suddenly, they all heard a rustling in the forest. Then, so close they could almost touch him, a deer emerged from behind the cover of a hemlock tree. Stevie gasped. Startled, the deer fled, but in a moment, he returned. This time he wasn’t alone. The two deer skirted the rock where the girls sat, giving it a wide berth. Then, in unison, they jumped the fence of the paddock, joining the horses at the sweet grass.

The girls were motionless and silent. While they watched in awe, three more deer leaped into the field. The deer eyed the horses with some suspicion, but apparently sensed no harm. Each of the animals munched hungrily, as if it were the most natural thing in the world for horses and deer to breakfast together on a mountainside.

“It’s beautiful!” Carole whispered to her friends. They nodded. Lisa was about to speak, but just then there was another rustle of leaves nearby. The girls turned to watch the newcomer.

But it wasn’t just one newcomer. It was a doe and her baby! The fawn was so little! His head only reached to the top of his mother’s legs. His own little legs were long and spindly, with knobby knees—just like a foal’s. The doe led her baby to the edge of the field and nibbled the grass under the fence. Her baby nursed while she ate.

The next visitor was smaller—and less welcome. It was a skunk, meandering through the woods with his snout to the ground, sniffing as he went.

“Hey!” Carole exclaimed, pointing to the black-and-white intruder. The three girls pulled their legs up onto the rock to keep out of the skunk’s way. The skunk barely seemed to notice them, though. He waddled toward the field and, seeing nothing of interest to his stomach, he waddled away, sniffing everything in his path.

“You know, that one’s almost cute,” Stevie said to her friends.

“Almost,” Lisa agreed. “But don’t get him angry!”

“Look!” Carole said, pointing to the eastern horizon. The first of the sun’s rays were now over the top of the mountain. A breeze stirred the morning air, bringing the sun’s warmth. The horses lifted their heads toward the light. The deer, sensing change, stood alert. The doe fled suddenly, followed by her leggy fawn. And then all the other deer followed, abandoning the sweet grass for the safety of the mountain forest, springing over the fence.

“Did it really happen?” Stevie asked when the deer were gone.

“Yes, it really did,” Carole assured her. She stood up and walked toward the paddock fence. She whistled. All the horses looked at her. Cobalt broke from the pack, trotting over for his morning greeting. Lisa and Stevie joined her, and a few of the other horses came over, looking for oats.

“Not yet, guys,” Carole said. “Not time for breakfast yet. First we have to—Yipes!”

“What is it?” Stevie asked.

“We’ve got to get back to camp and put some clothes on before Max and the boys see us in our pajamas!”

In a split second, the girls headed back to their tent. They arrived, puffing and breathless, just an instant before they heard Max’s voice call out “Morning time! Everybody up! Time for breakfast! No dawdling today!”

Quickly, Lisa, Stevie, and Carole shed their nightclothes and slipped back into their riding clothes.

“That was the best Saddle Club meeting we ever had!” Lisa said excitedly.

“I wish they could all be like that,” Stevie agreed.

“So do I,” Carole said. “Gee, remember how beautiful it was when the deer—”

“Stevie!” Max barked. “Your turn to get water for us. Lisa! I need some more kindling! Carole! You’re on oats today!”

He almost broke the mood, but not quite. “I remember,” Stevie assured Carole. “I’ll always remember.”

“Yeah, forever,” Lisa said. And that was how they all felt.