“I CAN’T BELIEVE it’s almost over,” Carole said wistfully.

The bright sunshine sparkled through the early-summer leaves in the forest. The day, which had begun in the cool darkness, was now bright and hot, and it was almost time to stop for lunch. Max told the riders to dismount and walk their horses for the last half mile or so, to cool them down.

“Yeah, and to warm us up!” Stevie said.

They all laughed about that.

Carole sighed. Horses seemed to her to be a gift, a fabulous, wonderful, magical gift. What she wanted to do most in the world was to take care of horses. That was why she’d agreed to do extra chores for Max at the stable. Her father’s salary as a Marine Corps colonel could cover riding lessons and anything else she wanted (as long as she didn’t develop Veronica-like tastes). But she worked at the stable because that’s what she wanted to do, forever. It’s what she’d always wanted to do. Except right now, when she was having fun with the idea of running away with Delilah.

“You know, I think I could build a nice little lean- to near that bluff we passed this morning. Two lean-tos, one for me, one for Delilah. We’d live there, ride every day, and have a great view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. What do you think of that?” Carole asked.

“I think it’s time to get you back to civilization,” Stevie said matter-of-factly.

“I guess,” Carole said. “But it’s been wonderful, hasn’t it?”

“I could have done without the spill I took yesterday afternoon,” Lisa confided. “I’m going to have a bruise in a place I don’t want to mention!”

“It’s not so bad the second time you fall off, is it?” Stevie asked her. “I mean, you knew enough to climb right back onto Pepper, right?”

“Very carefully!” Lisa said, and they all giggled. “But I guess it’s better than the bee sting Adam got on his arm.”

“Those things happen on a camp-out,” Carole said. “But—”

“Oooooh! Look!” Stevie said, cutting her off. Carole turned to see a spectacular sight. The little creek that had been running gently near the trail, crossing it several times, suddenly joined another little creek from high up on the mountain. Together they tumbled down a dramatic rocky waterfall into a small natural pond.

“It’s beautiful!” Lisa said.

Carole stared for a moment, awestruck, then carefully walked Delilah down the incline. Of course, Max had known this was here. He had picked this spot for lunch, where the horses could drink and where the riders could swim!

It took only a few minutes to tie the horses to trees and to let them have a bit of water and some hay.

“Okay, girls, go change in the woods on the far side of the pond. The guys will stay on this side. Last one in is a rotten egg!” Max yelled.

The girls met the challenge. Even Veronica couldn’t wait to jump into the cool mountain water. Clothes were flung over every branch in the heat of the race for the water. The girls grabbed their bathing suits out of their backpacks and slid into them. Stevie found a path to the pond, and the sweat and grime of two days of riding quickly disappeared as The Saddle Club plunged with the other girls into the crystal-clear pond. Cuts, bumps, bruises, and bug bites were forgotten in the cool water.

“This is wonderful,” Lisa said. “Maybe even better than riding—” Carole shot her a mock dirty look. “Just joking,” she assured Carole. Carole smiled.

When they were completely refreshed, when the splash fights had subsided (the girls swore they’d won), and when hunger overcame the riders, they emerged from the pond to find that their picnic was ready for them.

Exhausted, and totally content, everybody sat down on the soft, mossy ground, and ate.

“Except for that awful spider and the gross bee bite you got, Adam, this has been a fun trip,” Veronica said.

Carole looked at her, more than a little surprised. Veronica wasn’t one for roughing it. She’d seemed to be having a hard time of it without her family gardeners, cooks, and chauffeurs to ease the way for her.

“Oh, I could just live like this, couldn’t you?” Carole asked her, suddenly feeling at one with everybody, even Veronica.

“Live like this?” Veronica asked, in genuine surprise. “Oh, no. I mean, I’ve had a good time and all, but I don’t even want to look at a horse for a week.”

“Mean that?” Carole asked. Veronica nodded. “Want me to exercise Cobalt for you this week?”

“If it means that much to you,” Veronica said. It irked Carole that Veronica had to turn it into a favor to Carole, but she was eager to take care of Cobalt.

“I’ll do it,” she said.

Veronica smiled sweetly. Then she stood up and brought out the saddlebags stuffed with candies that her mother had given her in the parking lot.

“I can’t drag these home,” she explained as she offered them to the riders. “Mother will never forgive me. Eat all you want.”

They were wonderful Italian hard candies, sweet and tart all at the same time. And, Carole was certain, as expensive as could be! What a strange girl Veronica was. Just then, Stevie and Lisa caught her eye. The three of them exchanged glances, all as confused by Veronica as ever.

No, Carole told herself. This day, this trip—they are too wonderful to be ruined by Veronica. Content once again, she slipped back into the chilly waters of the pond for one last swim; they’d soon be taking their final ride before they had to return to Pine Hollow.

THE WHOLE RIDE back in the van was quiet. Everyone was tired, but Carole knew it was more than that. The trip had been perfect. It was as if all of them wanted to go over every minute of it in their own minds while it was still fresh so they wouldn’t forget anything. Then, quiet as the ride had been, everybody began to shriek when they arrived back at Pine Hollow.

The driveway there was filled with cars and station wagons, waiting for the kids. Everybody wanted to tell everything all at once. Mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters wanted to know all the details, and the riders wanted to share.

Backpacks and bedrolls were unloaded and loaded, switched around, emptied, dumped. Bug bites were displayed.

“You mean you actually camped out in the woods for two nights?” Stevie’s younger brother, Michael, demanded. He was a scout, and of the opinion that camping was for boys, not girls.

Stevie glared at him. “Yessss,” she hissed. But she hugged him anyway. She’d missed him a little. And she’d missed her twin, Alex, and her older brother, Chad. Her mother and father greeted her warmly as well. While she put her things in the back of the station wagon, she was happy to see that the Atwoods were smothering Lisa with welcoming hugs, too.

Carole, she knew, had planned to help Max unload the horses. Her father would come for her later.

Happy, tired, sweaty, dirty, sore, and thrilled, the riders climbed into the waiting cars, ready to go home, but wishing that the camp-out had never ended.

WHEN THE FINAL car door slammed, and the last station wagon pulled out of the drive, Carole, Max, and Red turned to the task of unloading the horses from the trailers.

Carole put Delilah in her stall and then returned for Cobalt. He followed her down the ramp without any difficulty. There was something wonderfully familiar about the clumping of his hooves on the wide wooden boards of the stable’s floor. Like the riders, the horses—especially Cobalt—seemed happy to be home. Contentedly, he walked into his stall. But then he turned around right away to look out the window. Carole knew just how he felt.

“Don’t worry, boy,” she said to him, patting his neck gently. “We’ll go back there. One day, you and I will go back to the mountains. We’ll climb the hills and canter through the valleys. We’ll splash in the ponds and the waterfall. We’ll ride together.”

And someday they would, she was sure. Until then, at least they could ride in the ring every day this week. It wasn’t everything, but it was something.

Carole sighed and then slid the door closed on Cobalt’s stall. It was time to go home.