Dude Ranch (4 page)

He returned with a saddle for her. That was a little bit more of a challenge. For one thing, it weighed at least twice as much as the English saddles she was used to. For another, it had a lot more parts and the adjustments were different.

When Stevie struggled just to lift the saddle onto Stewball’s back, Eli gave her a withering look, took the saddle from her, and finished the job. He also adjusted the stirrups for her. Then he handed her the reins and walked away.

Stevie had the feeling he didn’t walk very far, though. She was sure he was just standing a few feet off, waiting to watch her mount. She slid her left foot into the stirrup, lifted herself straight up as Max had taught her, swung her right foot over Stewball’s rear, and lowered herself into the saddle, finding the right stirrup with her right foot.

There
, she thought to herself. Let
him smirk at that
. But when she turned around, Eli was totally engrossed in helping another of the ranch’s guests tack up his horse.

“Come on, girls. Time to hit the trail!” Kate and the others had finished tacking up and were mounted and ready to go. She led the way to the corral’s gate. Eli unlatched the gate for them and then clicked it shut behind them. They were ready for their first Western trail ride.

At first, they walked the horses slowly to warm them up and to get accustomed to the differences between Western and English style.

“This really isn’t very different at all,” Lisa remarked. “I mean, they’re just horses and we’re just riders, right?”

“That’s pretty much the way it goes,” Kate said, smiling. “I knew you’d get the hang of it right away. There
are
differences, of course. Like you only hold the reins with one hand. And your stirrups are hung lower so you have more control if you’ve got a steer on a rope attached to your saddle horn. The horses don’t canter, they lope, but it’s really the same thing—”

“And we don’t post?” Lisa asked.

“Actually, if you want to post, you can,” Kate said. “But since the stirrups are long, you won’t rise high. You shouldn’t need to anyway. Wait until you feel Chocolate’s trot. It’s smooth as a milk shake.”

The thing that seemed the most different to Stevie wasn’t the saddle or the horse, but the
place
. “I’m not
used to trails like this,” she said, pointing to the hills and mountains in front of them.

“Now, that does take some getting used to,” Kate agreed. “Our nearest neighbor is about five miles. It’s not like that in Virginia, is it?”

“Not at all,” Stevie agreed. “But I think I could get to like it.” She relaxed in her saddle and enjoyed the ride. Lisa was right. Western riding was just riding, and that was good enough for her.

B
Y THE TIME
the girls got to the town of Two Mile Creek that afternoon, the trail ride was a pleasant memory. Lunch was an even pleasanter one. They couldn’t believe how hungry they’d been and how they’d scoffed up the chili that Phyllis had cooked.

“Hope you’re not too full for some ice cream,” Kate said. “We’ve got a wonderful little shop here in town. It specializes in sundaes. But of course, if you had too much at lunch—”

“Let’s try it,” Carole said eagerly. “After all, if we can’t finish the sundaes, we can always get doggie bags.”

“Out here, we call them dogie bags,” Kate said, pronouncing the
o
as in owe. “In case you didn’t know it, a dogie is a motherless calf.”

“I have the funny feeling we won’t have any leftovers,
anyway,” Carole said, and they all agreed that was true.

Two Mile Creek looked a little like a town in a Western movie, Stevie thought, looking down the main street. Although the street was paved and there were no horses hitched to railings, the wooden sidewalks were covered like porches and she was very glad for the shade on the hot summer afternoon. There were a few stores specializing in Western souvenirs, but there were also the usual kinds that would be found in any downtown: three shoe stores, a jewelry store, a fast-food hamburger place, a video-rental store, a drug-store, a convenience store, and, best of all, an ice cream parlor. The girls ran the errands for Kate’s mother as quickly as possible and then headed for the ice cream parlor.

It was decorated like an old-fashioned sweetshop. It was nothing like the girls’ favorite hangout back home, TD’s. Instead of booths, there was a long marble counter where the girls sat. Behind it was a vast selection of drink and sundae flavors. Unfortunately, there was also a very large mirror on the wall; Stevie was afraid that if she made a pig of herself, she’d have to watch herself eat every bite. She just ordered a dish of vanilla ice cream.

The girls relaxed over their treats and eagerly chatted about their ride that morning.

“See, I told you you’d like Western riding,” Kate said. “After all,
I
do. The thing to remember about it is that nothing’s there just for show. Western riding is all business. New riders sometimes think that saddle horn is just to hold onto. But that’s not true at all. Wait until we have our roundup later this week. You won’t be doing much roping, but you’ll see Eli do some and you’ll see what a pommel is
really
for.”

“That’ll be neat,” Lisa said eagerly. “Will we sleep out, too?”

“Yup. Under the stars, just like in the movies.”

“What days will that be?” Stevie asked.

“Oh, I think the roundup will be Wednesday and Thursday. Why? You got a date?”

Saturday was Stevie’s birthday. She really didn’t think she’d want to be on a trail on her birthday. But she wasn’t sure exactly
what
she wanted. “No, I was just wondering,” she said.

Carole glanced at Stevie. She could tell something was on her friend’s mind, and she thought she knew what it was. “Isn’t your birthday coming up soon?” she asked.

“Yeah, it’s on Saturday,” Stevie answered nonchalantly.

Carole knew from the way she’d responded that
that
was what was on Stevie’s mind. Carole had something up
her sleeve for Saturday, but she didn’t want Stevie to know about it. She just said, “Oh,” noncommittally.

Stevie returned her attention to her vanilla ice cream until her whole bowl was empty. So was everybody else’s.

Kate glanced at her watch and then at the door. As she did, there was a very loud bang.

Lisa jumped in her seat. “What was
that
?” she asked.

“Let’s go see!” Carole said, standing up from the counter. The girls paid for their ice cream and dashed to the door. There had been three more loud bangs just while they were paying.

Stevie could barely believe what she saw when she stepped out onto Two Mile Creek’s main street. A crowd of people was gathered around just watching as a disaster was unfolding in front of them!

They were right across the street from the bank. Three cowpokes were backing out of the bank, holding large sacks of money.

“Don’t nobody try to follow us!” one of them hollered, brandishing his gun at the crowd. “Ain’t gonna spend my life behind bars!”

Three horses were hitched in front of the bank. As the men backed away from the doorway, they unhitched their horses and began to mount. Another shot rang out across the street. This one was louder
and turned out to be the report of a rifle. It came from the roof across the street. One of the horses jumped. The rider spun around, dropping to the ground and rolling in the dirt. He aimed his six-shooter at the source of the rifle shot and got off two rounds.

There was a loud shriek of pain. “You’ll never get away with this!” the man cried from the roof. Then, as the girls watched, he dropped and rolled off the roof, clutching his side in pain.

The crowd went “Ooooh!”

“Let’s get out of here, boys!” one of the robbers said to the others. The three leapt onto their horses and turned to leave town at a gallop. But before they could go, the sheriff and a posse arrived on the far end of the street, completely blocking the way.

The lawmen began shooting at the robbers in an impressive show of strength. It was clear they were shooting to warn, not to kill. The robbers heeded the warning. Before any of the bullets found their mark, the robbers tossed their guns into the street and raised their hands.

The crowd went “Aaaaah!”

“Okay, McClanahan,” the sheriff said fiercely. “The game is over. You and your boys have stolen your last payroll. And you’ll swing for the murder of Marshall Ellsworth, and for my deputy there.” He pointed to where the man had fallen off the roof.

The sheriff neared the robbers and was about to put handcuffs on them when McClanahan reached into his boot and brought out a pistol. “I said you wasn’t gonna take me alive and I meant it!”

Then another shot rang out, this time from the roof of the bank. McClanahan dropped down off his horse.

The crowd went “Yaaaaay!” Stevie was just about to get really angry at all these people standing around just
watching
all this bloodshed when she realized suddenly what was going on. It wasn’t real at all! It was a show for the tourists—the
dudes
—and she’d been taken in completely. She wouldn’t let Eli know about that!

The remaining bank robbers began to flee, but the sheriff and his deputies shot them both before they reached the edge of town.

The bank president met the sheriff in the middle of the street, took the heavily laden bags containing the “payroll” from him, and thanked him.

“Sheriff Bradford, seems to me the town’s payroll’s been a lot safer since you took over!”

“I’m just doing my job, Mr. Vandermeer,” the sheriff said humbly. “And the job is law and order!”

The two men shook hands. The audience burst into applause, including all the members of The Saddle Club.

“That was terrific!” Lisa said. “It was so realistic, I
almost
believed it at first.”

“Me, too,” Carole said.

Stevie remained silent.

“Everybody does the first time they see it,” Kate said.

“How did the guy roll off the porch?” Carole asked.

“There’s a stack of mattresses,” Kate said. “Come on, I’ll show you.” Lisa and Carole followed her behind the scenes of the cowboy drama.

But Stevie was distracted by the arrival of a dog. It was a big and beautiful German shepherd. The dog sniffed at Stevie’s hand and then waited patiently. Stevie got the signal. She patted him on the head, and scratched behind his soft ears. His tail wagged joyfully. He sat while she patted him some more. He was wearing tags and she wanted to see if they said what his name was, but before she could read them, there was a loud whistle. The dog’s ears perked up. He stood up, turned abruptly, and ran off in the direction of the whistle. Stevie completely lost him in the crowd and couldn’t even see who his owner was. She shrugged to herself. It was probably somebody who would think she was just a
dude
, anyway.

She ran after her friends to see the mattresses where the “deputy” had landed. When she got there, she found that Carole and Lisa were having their pictures taken with the man who’d played the deputy. He was
standing between them grinning proudly. Stevie joined in on the photograph session.

Why not?
she thought, smiling to herself. After all, she
was
a dude.

S
TEWBALL GALLOPED ALONG
the Pine Hollow cross-country trail. The German shepherd kept pace with the galloping horse. Stevie held a lariat in her right hand and her reins in her left. She swung the lariat up over her head where it formed a perfect circle. At just the right minute, she tossed it over the bank robber’s head and yanked it tight, pinning his arms to his body. His six-shooter clattered to the ground. She waited for applause. There was none. All she heard was a whistle. The dog ran off.

Stevie sat up in bed. There was a gray darkness in the room. Her bedside clock said it was 4:45.

As she sat there, staring at the blue numbers, her very odd dream came back to her. Of course, it was just her mind piecing together the experiences she’d
had in the last few days. They had been an unusual few days, to say the least. But why had she awakened?