Carole (9 page)

“You’re kidding!” Lisa exclaimed, which was pretty much what we were all thinking, I guess.

“I talked to my dad last night,” Stevie said. “Stewball’s coming home to Pine Hollow.”

“That’s wonderful!” Lisa exclaimed. “Isn’t that wonderful, Carole? Stewball’s going to live at Pine Hollow!”

It was all such a shock that I wasn’t sure what to say. “It
is
wonderful,” I agreed cautiously. “You’re sure your parents really agreed to this, Stevie?”

But John had a different question for Stevie. “What’s a dude like you going to do with a cutting horse like Stewball out East?” he asked bluntly.

For a second Stevie looked taken aback. Then she put her hands on her hips and glared at John. “For your information, John Brightstar, Stewball is a very smart horse. He very well may be the smartest horse you or I have ever met. In fact, he’s a whole lot smarter than some wranglers I could mention. That means he’s more than capable of learning anything anyone tries to teach him. I’m sure he’ll make a great English riding horse.”

John shrugged and turned to fiddle with Chocolate’s stirrups. “That’s probably true,” he said calmly. “I just wonder whether he’ll like it.”

“Of course he will,” Stevie replied. “He’ll love it. And I
know he’ll especially love being with me, just like I’ll love being with him.”

John still didn’t quite seem convinced, but Lisa and I were happy to see Stevie so happy. She’s been wanting her own horse for a long time—just before we came out here, she was getting all grumpy because Polly Giacomin got her own horse, and she hasn’t been riding as long as Stevie has.

Anyway, we spent a lot of the rest of today talking about Stewball—or, to be more exact, listening to Stevie talk about Stewball. When she’s really excited about something, it can be hard to shut her up. So we mostly didn’t even try.

I spent a little time thinking about the steps Stevie would need to follow to retrain Stewball to be an English horse, since I figured she would need some help. It seemed like a pretty interesting challenge, and I was sure it would keep Stevie really busy for a while, maybe even busier than training Starlight keeps me. Sometimes it’s harder to teach a horse how to change something he already knows how to do (like switching from neck-reining to English-style aids) than it is to just teach him a brand-new skill.

Anyway, Lisa disappeared after dinner, and Stevie was off talking to Frank Devine about the arrangements for shipping Stewball or something, so I was in our bunkhouse alone (rereading that silly story Stevie wrote in here, actually), when Kate came in, looking serious.

“I’ve been wanting to talk to you and Lisa alone,” she said.

I rolled over on my stomach and looked at her. “Well, since Lisa’s not here, you’ll have to settle for just me,” I said. “Talk.”

Kate took a deep breath. “I don’t think Stevie should buy Stewball.”

“What?” That made me sit up straight. “Why not?”

“I just don’t think they’re a good match,” Kate replied.

“Not a good match!” I practically sputtered. “What are you talking about? They’re the perfect match. That’s why she always rides him when we come out here, remember? Anyway, your father obviously thinks otherwise, since he’s the one who agreed to sell him to Stevie. Don’t you think he knows what he’s doing?”

At that moment Lisa walked in. “What’s going on?” she asked, obviously noticing that I was kind of upset.

“Kate doesn’t think Stevie and Stewball are a good match!” I exclaimed. “She doesn’t think Stevie should buy him. Can you believe it? I mean, I know Stevie has been driving us a little crazy by talking about Stewball all the time, but that’s only natural. They’re perfect for each other. Don’t you think?”

Lisa sat down on the bunk beside me. “I’m not sure,” she replied quietly.

My jaw dropped. “What do you mean, you’re not sure? What is everyone around here thinking?”

Kate explained. “When I said Stevie and Stewball weren’t a good match, I wasn’t talking about their personalities,” she said. “But the fact is, Stevie’s interests and talents are in English riding. And Stewball just isn’t an English riding horse.”

I wasn’t totally convinced by that. I mean, normally I respect Kate’s opinions when it comes to horses. But I was sure Stewball could be retrained, and I said so.

Kate nodded. “There isn’t anything Stewball couldn’t learn and do pretty well,” she agreed. “The problem is that he’ll be a pretty good English horse instead of an outstanding Western horse. That just seems like a waste to me.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I still think the most important thing is for Stevie to have a horse that makes her happy.”

Kate paced the small room for a minute. Then she turned to look at Lisa and me. “I didn’t want to go into this, because you know how I feel about competition,” she began.

I was all ears. Kate doesn’t talk much about her past on the horse show circuit, so naturally I was curious about what she was going to say. I couldn’t imagine what her feelings about competition could possibly have to do with Stevie and Stewball.

“Stevie is a fine English rider, and she’s getting better all the time,” Kate said. “She’s probably capable of going on to win plenty of ribbons. It’s possible she could even make a career for herself if she wants to, especially in dressage. But that’s not going to happen on Stewball. He’ll never be good enough to help Stevie compete at a high level in dressage. He’s a terrific horse, but he just won’t be championship material. He’ll hold her back every time. And that’s not fair to either of them.”

That really made me think. I was starting to see that Kate might have a point.

I’ve been thinking about it ever since. Kate and Lisa and I agreed that we have to try to convince Stevie to think twice about what she’s doing. (By the way, it turns out that John Brightstar had just been telling Lisa the same sorts of things that Kate was saying.)

So I’m sitting here again after everyone else is sound asleep, still thinking. Maybe I should come up with a list of pros and cons. That’s probably what someone logical like Lisa would do. It’s worth a try.

PRO: Their personalities are a perfect match.

CON: Stewball’s personality also makes him a perfect Western cutting horse (even though Stevie’s personality somehow works just as well for an English rider, which doesn’t really make sense on a list like this, I guess).

PRO: Stevie is ready to have a horse of her own, and her parents agreed to buy Stewball for her over the phone, which is practically a miracle, and Frank Devine thinks it’s okay, too.

CON: Stevie can talk anyone into just about anything, and maybe in this case that includes herself. If you know what I mean. Maybe she’s not thinking clearly because she’s so crazy about Stewball.

PRO: Stevie really, really loves Stewball. And isn’t that the most important thing?

CON: Maybe it isn’t the most important thing. Maybe if she
really
loves him, she should love him just the way he is instead of trying to change him, even if it means they can’t be together all the time.

Oh, forget it! This doesn’t seem to be working out too well. I think lists of pros and cons are supposed to be a lot less
complicated than that one. Besides, I’m not sure a list like that is going to convince Stevie to change her mind (if anything can). It might work for Lisa, since she usually makes important decisions based mostly on logic, because that’s how she is. Stevie, on the other hand, usually goes with impulse or emotion—she’s really not the logical type.

It kind of reminds me of my parents. Talk about opposites attracting—Dad has always been pretty logical and sensible, like Lisa, while Mom was always more impulsive and emotional, like Stevie. And what about me? I’m not really sure. Maybe a little of both.

Talking about all this decision-making stuff just keeps reminding me of the big decision I’m trying to make about my career. I think maybe that decision has to combine both types of decision making. I have to be logical about it, so I’ll know what I’m getting into, but I also have to make sure that whatever I come up with is something that feels right to me emotionally as well.

I just hope I inherited enough from both my parents to be able to do it!

Well, so much for our big plans to talk Stevie out of buying Stewball. Thanks to us, she’s more convinced than ever that he’s the horse for her! We tried to show her what the problem was by setting up a sort of fake English horse show
in the desert. We figured maybe that would help Stevie see how wrong it would be to make him try to change.

Unfortunately, we forgot to let Stewball in on the plan. He actually did pretty well, at least compared to the other horses, which just reinforced Stevie’s belief that he can do anything she asks him to do. So now she’s happier than ever with her decision, and the auction is tomorrow. Yikes! I’m not sure what else we can do except try to be supportive. And I’ll still help Stevie with retraining Stewball, of course. After all, what are friends for? Even if I’m sure now that she’s doing the wrong thing …

Okay, I’ve got to stop thinking about that. Let’s see, what else happened these past couple of days? For one thing, I helped Kate’s mother, Phyllis, make cookies and lemonade today for the auction. Even though it didn’t have anything to do with horses, I still had a really nice time. It sort of reminded me, a little bit, of how Mom and I used to help Dad make his special-recipe cookies when I was little. I miss those days a lot, but it was nice to think about them while I was helping Phyllis.

Oh well, it’s getting late. I’d better put this away and get some sleep. I’ll need plenty of rest if I’m going to be ready for tomorrow.