Carole (8 page)

Stevie fished the bag out of her pocket again. “Help yourself,” she said. Stevie is nothing if not generous. Even after all the “bad guys” had helped themselves, she still had plenty of candy left, and she stuck it back in her pocket.

“This is great,” said a performer named Sam as he sucked
on one piece of candy and stuck a second piece into the pocket of his costume. “Rock candy is my favorite.”

“Mine too,” Stevie told him. “I guess that must be why we’re paired up together, huh?” Sam was the one who was supposed to kidnap Stevie during the show.

Pretty soon it was showtime. I think my friends and I were a little nervous, but we were looking forward to the show, too. The five of us huddled in the doorway of a jewelry store near the bank. At exactly three o’clock, we stepped out and started strolling down the street, trying to look as natural as we could in our old-fashioned costumes. I glanced over and saw that the bad guys’ horses were lined up at the hitching post in front of the bank.

As we neared the bank, the sounds of gunshots came from within, and a curious crowd began to gather nearby. A moment later the bank’s doors burst open and the five desperadoes backed out, holding large sacks of money and firing their six-shooters into the bank. My friends and I did as Chuck had taught us, throwing up our hands and shrieking in terror. Chuck—or, rather, Outlaw Buck McClanahan—whirled around.

“Looky here, boys!” he called loudly to his comrades. “I think we found us some hostages!” He grabbed Kate by the shoulder, and then I sort of lost track of the others as Cassie grabbed me by the arm and started to drag me toward the horses. Just as we’d practiced, I went only a few steps, wriggling and screaming, before giving one final cry and pretending to faint dead away.

My eyes were closed, but I could still hear the others
shrieking and yelling and carrying on. After a moment or two, when I figured nobody was looking at me anymore, I cracked one eye open a little. I didn’t want to miss the whole show!

I was just in time to see Lisa’s dramatic escape. She wriggled her way out of her captor’s grasp and dashed down the sidewalk, almost tripping over my limp arm on the way. She ran past the jail and made her escape into the sheriff’s office just beyond, shrieking all the while.

At almost the same time, Christine was wrestling the gun away from the outlaw who had grabbed her. When she got it away from him and pointed it at his head, the crowd cheered excitedly. Christine really hammed it up, making the robber put his hands behind his head and then jabbing the gun at his back as she prodded him toward the jail. The onlookers cheered again as the two of them disappeared inside.

But I was only half watching at that point. I’d caught a glimpse of something going on farther down the street, where our horses were tied. Berry, Chocolate, Spot, and Arrow were just standing there where we’d left them, looking fairly relaxed and unimpressed with all the shouting and gunfire. But Stewball was another story. He had his head up and his ears were pricked toward us.

I was a little worried about him. I hoped the strange noises weren’t spooking him. But I was kind of surprised, too. Stewball was a hardworking, sensible cutting horse who normally didn’t spook easily.

As I watched, he seemed to get even more agitated. He stamped his feet and snorted loudly, still staring toward us.
Or, rather, toward
Stevie
. She was still struggling with Sam, her “captor,” and letting out piercing screams.

I guess it was all too much for Stewball. Suddenly he whinnied and reared, snapping the lead rope holding him to the hitching post. He reared again and then, realizing he was free, he galloped straight toward Stevie and Sam! He stopped in front of them and reared once more, neighing and squealing and pawing the air with his front hooves.

The rest happened pretty fast. I guess Stevie and Sam were both startled, and I think the rest of the actors were, too. For a second I was tempted to get up and hurry over to help calm Stewball before someone got hurt, especially since just about everyone else was standing and staring at the horse in surprise.

But Stevie acted fast. As she told us later, she figured that if Stewball was so determined to become a part of the performance, she was going to let him, even though it meant deviating a bit from the script.

She wriggled out of Sam’s grip. The minute she was free, Stewball stopped snorting and stood perfectly still. Sam, meanwhile, turned to run in the opposite direction. Stevie quickly tightened the girth on Stewball’s saddle, hitched up her skirt, and leaped aboard. Without any direction from her (or so she claims, anyway), Stewball took off after Sam. The crowd went wild. Everyone continued to cheer and holler as Stevie and Stewball chased Sam down the street. Sam searched desperately for someplace to hide, but every time he veered toward the sidewalk, Stewball was there before him, herding him as well as he would any stubborn calf.

Finally Sam reached the other horses. He ran over to Spot and tried to mount him, not realizing that Kate had loosened the girth. The big Western saddle slipped sideways under Sam’s weight and dumped him back on the ground. Spot looked around as if wondering what on earth was going on, which the crowd absolutely loved.

Even from my limited view, I could tell that Stevie was having a ball. As Sam cowered behind Spot, she ripped off her bonnet and waved it above her head as if it were a cowboy hat. “Get ’im, Stewball!” she cried.

Finally Sam made a break for the little stand of trees just beyond the hitching post. He shinned up one of the trees and perched on one of the lower branches. That didn’t faze Stewball one bit. He raced up to the tree and started rearing against the trunk as if trying to follow Sam up there.

Luckily Stevie managed to stay in the saddle. I could tell she was trying to get her horse under control, but she wasn’t having much luck. Stewball definitely has a mind of his own!

I guess it’s a good thing Stevie’s mind is just as wacky as that horse’s, because she finally figured out what to do. She told Sam to give Stewball the extra piece of rock candy he still had in his pocket. And what do you know? As soon as he did, Stewball calmed down right away!

The crowd had been laughing hysterically through the last part of Stewball’s performance, and when he crunched on the candy they burst into wild applause. Stewball turned to see what all the noise was about, bobbing his head slightly as he did. I guess it looked like he was taking a bow, because everyone laughed and clapped even harder.

So that was The Saddle Club’s first and only appearance as victims in the Wild West show. After it was all over, Chuck politely (sort of) and firmly (very) asked us
not
to repeat our performance.

Still, we were feeling pretty pleased with ourselves as we headed back to the gym to turn in our costumes. “Stewball was pretty great, wasn’t he?” Stevie said. “I always suspected he was the smartest horse I’d ever met, and now I know it for a fact. What other horse would have come galloping to my rescue that way?”

For the rest of our time in town that day, people kept coming up to Stevie and congratulating her and Stewball. She loved every minute of it, of course. “He really is the most wonderful horse in the world,” she told one group of people. “I’d be happy if I never rode another horse in my life besides Stewball.”

That made me raise an eyebrow in surprise. It sort of sounded like she meant it. Of course, anyone would think Stewball was pretty wonderful after what happened today, so I’m sure she was just excited.

Whew!
I just realized I’ve been writing for a long time. It’s getting late, and my eyelids are starting to feel like they have lead weights attached to them. Besides, I really shouldn’t be filling up this journal with silly stuff like the Wild West show. I mean, I only brought it along in the first place in case talking to Kate gave me any ideas about my career, or in case I wanted to make some notes about Western riding or anything like that.

So maybe I
should
write a few words about the differences
between English and Western riding. I mean, it’s always an interesting learning experience to switch to Western after not doing it for a while. It makes me think about riding more consciously because I have to remember to do stuff like neck-reining. Here are a few of the other big differences that come to mind right away:

English: gaits are walk, trot, canter

Western: gaits are walk, jog, lope

English: shorter stirrup length

Western: longer stirrups—always feels weird at first!

English: smaller saddle

Western: big, deep-seated saddle with horn in front

English: bits are usually …

HEH HEH HEH! THIS JOURNAL HAS NOW BEEN HIJACKED!!!!
HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!!!!!!!

I, Stevie Lake the Magnificent, am here to rescue this journal from terminal boredom. Also from terminal drool, since I just woke up and saw that Carole was using it for a pillow. I guess she was so bored by all the dull stuff she was writing about English vs. Western riding that she fell asleep right in the middle of writing it.

I mean, give me a break. Drool aside, most girls’ diaries would be full of juicy stuff about boys, or at least complaints about idiotic brothers or something normal like that. But when I glanced at the open page of this, it was all loping versus cantering! That’s Carole for you. But I’m going to do her
a favor, for her own good. I’m going to show her what a
real
diary is supposed to be like!

Dear Diary, This is Carole Hanson writing. I’m at the Bar None Ranch with my wonderful, almost supernaturally incredible friends. Yesterday we went out riding on the range. I was feeling kind of blue because I missed my hunky boyfriend, Cam, so much. I couldn’t stop dreaming about grabbing him in a big hug and smooching him and stuff.

So imagine my surprise when I saw a lone rider cantering—oops, I mean
loping
—across the desert toward me and my friends.

“Who is that handsome fellow?” my friend Lisa asked, shading her eyes with her hand.

I felt my heart begin to flutter wildly, for I recognized my one true love, the man of my dreams. “Oh, be still my heart!” I intoned. “It’s Cam! But what is he doing here?”

Cam brought his horse to a stop just in time to answer my question. “Carole, my darling!” he exclaimed, leaping out of the saddle and rushing to my horse’s side. “I missed you so much, light of my life! I couldn’t take another breath without seeing you again. So I rode all the way across the country from Virginia to be with you.”

“Oh, Cam!” I said lovingly. I dismounted and put my arms around him.

But before our quivering lips could meet, there was an evil shout from the horizon. Three riders wearing hideous monster masks galloped toward us in a cloud of dust. “Oh no!” my friend Kate cried. “Who are those masked men?”

“Heh heh heh!” the tallest of the hideous threesome yelled. He had an obnoxious, whiny voice and a soccer T-shirt. “Stand and deliver, ladies! We are here to rob you!”

“You can’t do that!” Cam said gallantly. “I won’t let you!”

“Oh yeah?” snarled the middle-sized varmint, a weaselly-looking fellow. He grabbed a rope from his saddle and lassoed Cam before he could make a move. “What are you going to do about it, lover boy?”

“Stop it! Stop it!” I cried, horrified at the thought that my poochy baby Cam might get hurt by the three bad guys, especially since I had just recognized them as my long-lost evil brothers Chap, Alfred, and Miguel. And the most frightening realization of all?

They weren’t wearing masks!

Those were their real faces!!!!!

I knew I had to help Cam if I could. After all, he was just trying to protect me. I did the only thing I could do. I turned to my wonderfully talented friend Stevie. “Help him, Stevie!” I yelled in a panic. “Use your skills as a black belt kung fu master to save us all from these horrible beasts!”

“Your wish is my command,” Stevie agreed, leaping out of the saddle. “I am always ready to fight for the cause of good against evil. And my trusty steed, Stewball, can help. He’s a black belt master, too.”

“Really?” said the smallest of the three bandits, sticking his thumb in his mouth and sucking it like a baby. “I didn’t know horses could do martial arts.”

“He’s a very special horse,” Stevie said as she proceeded to …

Well, I guess Stevie thinks she’s pretty amusing. I woke up this morning to find her scribbling away in here, cackling at her own wit the whole time. Give me a break. It’s a good thing I woke up when I did and yanked this journal away from her, before she went crazy and filled up the whole thing with her silly story! I’ll definitely have to remember that I can
never
let Cam see this journal!

Anyway, this morning we went on a ride through the desert. It was really nice to just get out there and ride, especially since we were so busy with the Wild West show yesterday. At breakfast and during the ride, Stevie was acting all mysterious, kind of quiet and smiley, but she wouldn’t tell us why. She said she did have something on her mind, but she wanted to wait until the time was right.

We were back at the barn after the ride, and John Brightstar was helping us untack the horses, when Stevie finally came out with it. I guess Lisa and John were chatting about the horse auction, and Stevie overheard them as she was leading Stewball toward the corral gate.

“Hey, John,” she called loudly. “I thought I’d better tell you that one of the horses you’ll be cutting out for the auction is good old Stewball, here.”

Kate and I couldn’t help hearing that. “What are you saying about Stewball?” Kate asked Stevie. “I don’t think my parents are planning to sell him.”

“Oh, yes they are,” Stevie replied. She looked around at
all of us and grinned. “I wanted to wait to tell you all the big news when Stewball could be with me to hear it.” She slapped the horse fondly on the neck.
“I’m
buying Stewball. Kate, your dad agreed to it. He’s arranging to have him shipped to Virginia right after the auction.”