Dream Horse (2 page)

“Everything about her is valuable except her personality,” Stevie had once remarked. “I wouldn’t give you a nickel for that.”

Veronica was snobbish, petty, and manipulative. She was pretty and vain and thrived on admiration. She never considered anybody else’s feelings, either. It was typical that she’d barged in without considering that her presence might distract Stevie and her horse.

Lisa glanced at Veronica. The other girl was fiddling
with an expensive-looking camera. Lisa had taken a number of photography classes at school. Some of her pictures had even been published in the local newspaper. She knew a lot about photography, and she’d never known that Veronica had the slightest interest in it.

Stevie drew Belle to a halt. She was annoyed with herself because she’d allowed Veronica to distract her. She didn’t want to give Veronica the satisfaction of knowing that. She put one hand on her hip and looked at the interloper.

“What are you doing with the camera?” she asked. It was a simple question, but Veronica took it as a challenge.

“This isn’t just any camera,” Veronica said with a sniff. “It’s a highly technical piece of photographic equipment. It automatically adjusts itself to the perfect lens opening and focal distance to maximize results.”

“Ah, so you can read, too,” Stevie said. “I bet that’s just what it says in the brochure. Now, tell me, what is it you’re planning to maximize results on?”

Lisa and Carole snickered. Stevie was as good at getting under Veronica’s skin as Veronica was at getting under Stevie’s.

“Actually, I intend to maximize results all the way to Rome, Italy. Perhaps you haven’t read about the photographic contest that the mall photography shop, Photo
World, is running. First prize for the junior winner is a two-week trip to Rome. I’m already picking out my wardrobe. I think I’ll take the—”

“Gee, can I help you with this?” Stevie asked, suddenly eager. “It would be great to have you out of here for two whole weeks! Look, I’ll pose for you. I’ll be a model. Anything to be sure that you maximize your results.”

“Don’t bother,” said Veronica. “In the first place, I don’t need your help. In the second place, the contest rules require that the picture be of somebody doing something that requires skill. You looking like a dummy doesn’t take any skill.”

Lisa and Carole cringed. Stevie’s remark had been mean but mildly funny. Veronica’s was simply cruel. If Stevie felt challenged to get even with her, it was likely to be big trouble. Carole was about to suggest that Stevie get back to her jump practice, but Stevie turned Belle and trotted off without the suggestion. There were times when all three of them knew that the only way to deal with Veronica was to ignore her totally.

Stevie circled the ring again and this time kept her focus on the jump. She didn’t notice Veronica walking away. She didn’t even see her friends perched on the fence. All she saw was the jump, and the only thing on her mind was getting over it in perfect form.

“Great!” Lisa said when Belle landed smoothly.

“You’re getting it,” Carole agreed.

Stevie grinned and rode over to the fence to talk with Lisa and Carole.

“Your hands were much better this time,” Carole said. “And it sure makes a difference when you look straight ahead. Now, I think it’ll help if you try to remember to keep the lower half of your arm in a straight line with the reins. In other words, no bends from your elbow to the horse’s mouth—”

“What’s up, girls?” The three girls looked over and saw Deborah Hale Regnery. Deborah was Max’s wife, and they liked her very much, though sometimes they wondered how Max could love somebody who knew so little about horses. Deborah was an investigative reporter for a big daily newspaper in Washington, D.C. She and Max had met while she was doing a story on horse stables near the city, and it was love at first sight. In spite of some “help” from The Saddle Club, Deborah and Max had managed to get engaged and married. Now Deborah was learning as much about horses as she could.

“Hi, Deborah,” they greeted her.

“Come to watch some fine jumping?” Stevie teased.

“Partly,” Deborah said. “I saw the three of you out here, and I thought it was a chance to ask you some questions.”

“Sure,” said Carole. “What can we do for you?”

“Well, my editor got a tip that there’s a shady horse dealer in Rock Ridge—you know where that is?”

“It’s west of here,” Stevie said. “Near the mountains, right?”

“That’s it. The town is named after the craggy mountain ridge that seems to hang over the area,” said Deborah. “Anyway, a man named Mickey Denver has been selling horses for years, and he seems to have built up a reputation for less-than-honest dealings.”

“That makes me furious,” said Carole. “A few bad apples and everybody thinks all horse traders are crooks.”

“Like used-car dealers,” Lisa suggested.

“Exactly,” said Deborah. “The world is full of honest people, but, as Carole said, a few dishonest ones can ruin it for everybody.”

“So, what does your editor want you to do?” Stevie asked.

“He wants me to find out if it’s true that the man’s a crook,” said Deborah. “But the trouble is, I don’t know any more about buying horses than I do about riding them.”

“Well, you’re learning how to ride them,” Lisa reminded her.

“That’s what I mean,” Deborah said. “Yesterday when
Max was working with me, he pointed out six things I was doing wrong all at once.”

“Only six?” Lisa asked. “My record was eight.”

Deborah laughed. “And he keeps telling me what a fast learner you are! Anyway, my editor wants me to go buy a horse from this man. But I really don’t know what to look for, and I know if I ask Max, he’ll tell me a zillion things and I’ll never remember them all. How do you know if you’re being bamboozled? I mean, Carole and Stevie, you both have your own horses. What told you these were the right ones for you?”

“Easy,” Stevie said. “Love at first sight.”

“Ditto,” said Carole.

“That isn’t helpful,” Lisa told her friends. “You two love
any
horse at first sight.”

“True,” Stevie confessed. “But I was right about Belle, wasn’t I?” And then, to prove her point, she turned Belle around with a flourish and began cantering toward the jump.

Everything felt right this time. Stevie kept a straight line from her elbow to Belle’s mouth and sank her weight into her heels. She’d show Deborah exactly how it was done. The jump was near. Stevie rose in the saddle, leaning forward and giving Belle some rein. In a split second, she’d signal the horse to jump.

“Yoo-hoo! Stevie! Look at me!”

On the other side of the jump, right outside the ring, stood Veronica, expensive camera to her eye. She waved, calling Stevie’s attention.

Stevie’s head snapped up. Her balance became skewed. There was a flash. Belle shied. Her hindquarters stopped. Her forelegs flailed wildly. Stevie, totally unprepared for the sudden halt, flew off, soaring gracefully over the jump while Belle remained on the other side. Then there was silence.

Carole gasped. Lisa screamed. They both jumped off the fence. Deborah ran toward Stevie. In a second, Carole had Belle’s reins. Lisa and Deborah knelt over Stevie.

Their friend lay motionless on her back with her eyes closed, arms and legs splayed.

“Stevie!” Lisa called.

“Is she okay?” Carole asked, leading Belle over.

Deborah held Stevie’s hand and felt her wrist for a pulse. The girls watched in horrified silence. Deborah nodded. She could feel the pulse. But so much else could be wrong!

The moment felt like an eternity. Then Stevie’s eyes fluttered open. Deborah made her lie still and asked Stevie to move her arms, legs, hands, and feet one by one. She seemed okay.

Lisa and Carole breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank God you had on a hard hat,” said Carole.

“I think I should call a doctor,” Deborah said.

“No, I’m okay, really,” Stevie said, pushing herself to a sitting position.

“Here, I’ll help you up,” Lisa offered. Stevie took her hand.

“Boy, I can’t believe Veronica would be so incredibly stupid as to cause an accident like this!” Lisa snapped. “Every time I think she’s reached the limit, she finds another limit to reach!”

A genuine look of puzzlement crossed Stevie’s face. “Veronica? What’s she got to do with this? How could a nice girl like Veronica cause something like this to happen?”

Lisa and Carole looked at one another.

“Call a doctor,” said Lisa.

“No, call an ambulance,” said Carole.

“I already did,” said Deborah, tucking her cellular telephone back into her pocket.

“L
OOK
,
HERE IT IS
,” Lisa said, flipping open her mother’s family medical encyclopedia.
Concussion
. That was the word the emergency medical technicians had used as they’d put Stevie into the ambulance at Pine Hollow.

Deborah had been allowed to ride with Stevie to the hospital. Lisa and Carole had to stay behind. They’d used the time well. First, they’d untacked Belle, groomed her, and put her back in her stall. Then they’d hurried over to Lisa’s house, where they knew they would get word on their friend. Waiting for phone calls was hard. Lisa had suggested doing some research. “Not that we
don’t trust the doctors,” she had said. “But we know Stevie better than they do.”

Carole had agreed. It had only taken them a few minutes to locate the encyclopedia and look up
concussion
.

“It says here a concussion results from impact to the head,” Lisa read, her finger running down the column of fine print.

“Check,” Carole said. “She definitely had an impact to her head.”

“There’s usually a headache,” Lisa read.

“Check,” said Carole, recalling how Stevie’s hand had flown up to massage her sore head when she awoke.

“And sometimes loss of consciousness and memory,” Lisa concluded.

“Double check,” said Carole. “I can’t believe she didn’t remember Veronica’s part in the accident.”

“Even if she didn’t remember it, how weird was it that she called Veronica ‘a nice girl’? I mean, that isn’t memory loss—it’s a change of personality!”

“Does it say anything about that?” Carole asked.

Lisa finished scanning the entry in the encyclopedia. “Not a word,” she said. She closed the book and was returning it to the bookshelf when the phone rang.

Carole answered it. “It’s Chad,” she said to Lisa. Chad was Stevie’s older brother. Carole turned her attention
back to the phone. “It’s definitely a concussion,” Carole reported. “Doctor says it isn’t too serious. She’ll stay overnight in the hospital to be on the safe side.”

“Can we visit?” Lisa asked. Carole relayed the question.

“Sure,” Chad said. “But the doctor doesn’t want anyone to stay too long. She’s supposed to get rest.”

“Okay,” Carole agreed. “That makes sense. Is there anything she needs, anything we can do for her?”

“As a matter of fact, there is,” Chad said. “She wanted me to ask you to call Phil and let him know. I told her I’d be glad to call him. For some reason, I don’t think she trusted me to do it.”

“Do you think that might have something to do with the time you told Phil the family couldn’t wait until the two of them got married so you could have Stevie’s room?” Carole asked.

“It was just a suggestion,” Chad protested.

“As I recall, Stevie didn’t think it showed good judgment,” Carole reminded him. Stevie’s actual reaction had been somewhat stronger than that. She’d talked seriously to her parents about putting Chad up for adoption.

“Yeah, right. But anyway, can you guys call Phil?”

“Glad to,” said Carole. “And thanks for letting us know she’s okay.”

A few minutes later, Lisa had Phil on the telephone and told him what had happened.

“I’ll get to the hospital in about an hour,” he said, after asking his mother if she could drive him. “I’ll meet you there, in front of the place, okay?”

“Well, sure, but is this a good time for you to go over?” Lisa asked.

“Absolutely,” said Phil. “I’ve been working with Teddy, and he’s in a foul mood. To tell you the truth, I’m glad for an excuse to stop and give us both a rest. It’s almost like what happened to Stevie, in fact. I was out on the jump course, and one of my sister’s cats ran out in front of Teddy and spooked him. He shied sideways, and I just flew off him. I landed on my rear with my feet sticking straight out in front of me. I felt so dumb! So, Teddy’s spooked, and I’m sore on my saddle seat. Too bad I can’t stand up in the car on the way to the hospital! Anyway, I’ll see you there in one hour. Bye.”

“Bye,” Lisa said. She hung up the phone. One hour would give Carole and Lisa just enough time to put together a goody basket for Stevie. There was work to do.

An hour later, Lisa’s mother dropped the girls off in front of the hospital at almost exactly the same moment
that Mrs. Marsten let Phil out of their car. Lisa was carrying a bag for Stevie. Phil had a bag in his hand, too.

“What did you bring her?” Lisa asked.

“Oh, it’s just funny stuff,” said Phil, almost embarrassed. “You know, Stevie-like things.”