Hoof Beat (13 page)

“I think we smell worse than fresh paint,” Stevie remarked, waving her hands in the air as they left the Scent Shop.

“I’m beginning to think the smell of paint is wonderful,”
Carole said. “After all, that was what gave Lisa the clue about where your wallet was.”

“Okay, I love it, too. What’s next?” Stevie glanced around the mall, looking for inspiration. “Look, over there!” She pointed to a makeup counter where they were offering free samples. “Trudy can show you how to do outrageous makeup on your eyes, right, Trudy?”

“Sure,” she agreed. “But I don’t know if they’ll learn the butterflies as quickly as you did.”

Lisa would never have imagined herself with eye shadow shaped like a butterfly, but when Trudy was done, she rather liked the effect. It was certainly different! “The new me?” she asked her friends, batting her eyelashes at them. They laughed and she did, too. “Well, anyway, I think I like my butterflies at least as much as Carole’s rainbows!”

Lisa glanced at Carole and grinned. “Uh-oh, what’s Stevie up to now?”

Stevie was intently staring into the countertop mirror as she drew a heart on her cheek with a red lip pencil. “Ta da!” she announced, spinning around from the counter.

“Cool,” Trudy said with approval.

“I knew you’d like it. So, what’s next?” Stevie asked. “I think that’s my favorite question today.”

“Well, you’ve done a good job of answering it,” Lisa said. “I don’t think I’ve ever had more fun without spending any money at the mall.”

“So then it’s time to spend. Here’s the oldies record store,” Carole said, leading her friends inside.

It always took Carole a long time to choose. Lisa and Stevie knew better than to help. This was too important to rush or to interfere with. Carole really wanted to be left alone on this job.

Stevie was eager to have more adventures, and Lisa and Trudy were willing to explore. They decided to leave Carole alone and come back to pick her up a half hour later. Carole was so intent on her mission that she barely acknowledged Stevie’s suggestion.

“You know what I want to do?” Stevie said. “Remember the silver dollar you found?”

“Yeah,” Lisa said, still feeling a little sheepish over their discovery of the Pine Hollow “thief.”

“I want to find the place where they’re selling raffle tickets for that library fund-raiser and I want to buy a raffle ticket. That’s how I want to spend that dollar. I just have the feeling it’s a lucky one.”

“Okay,” Lisa and Trudy agreed. The tickets were being sold at the small branch library in the mall. The girls had to pass seventeen tempting shops to get there. Since they only had a half hour, they didn’t stop at any of them. Stevie felt very proud of that.

“Just one chocolate-covered pretzel?” Trudy begged as they passed Sweet Nothings.

“Maybe on the way back,” Stevie graciously conceded. “We’ve got a mission to accomplish.”

Lisa elbowed Trudy and grinned. “When Stevie’s got a mission, that’s when you’ve got to watch out!”

Stevie just stuck out her tongue and led the way up the escalator.

But when they got to the library branch, the usual card table for raffle ticket sales was gone.

“It must be over,” Lisa said.

“No way—not until they have my silver dollar,” Stevie said. “I’m going inside to ask.”

Lisa and Trudy followed her inside.

Stevie loved the library. It was cool inside with subdued lights, nothing glaring or distracting. The whole place smelled of paper and bindings. It was filled with books that told wonderful stories and adventures of faraway places. Normally, she headed right for the animal-story section when she walked into the library, but not today. Today, she had another mission. The librarian was at the check-out desk.

“The raffle,” Stevie said. “Is it too late?”

“Oh, I’m afraid so,” the woman said. “We had the drawing last week. We’re still trying to notify the prize winners. We’ll take donations anytime, of course, but there aren’t any more tickets.”

Stevie pulled out her silver dollar. A silver dollar was a little special. Some people kept them as good-luck charms, she knew, but money in any form wasn’t something Stevie could keep around for very long! Since a silver dollar
was
special, it needed to be used for something special. Even though she couldn’t buy a raffle ticket, she had wanted the library to have the money. She decided to give it to them.

“Here, then,” Stevie said. “You can have this.”

“Why, thank you!” the librarian said, surprised and pleased. “And then next year, you come earlier and you can get some raffle tickets. Maybe you’ll be as lucky as our grand prize winner.”

“Who’s that?” Stevie asked. “Someone from Willow Creek?”

“No, she doesn’t live around here. I think she was just visiting. Somebody by the name of Trudy Sanders. We haven’t been able to get ahold of her yet, but—”

“Did you say Trudy Sanders?” Stevie asked.

The librarian checked on a piece of paper on her desk. “Trudy Sanders, that’s right,” she said.

Stevie could feel the excitement rising in her. “And what did she win?” she asked.

“Oh, the grand prize is two weeks at Moose Hill Riding Camp. We need to find her soon. The camp starts in a week!”

“You’ve found her!” Stevie announced.

Excitedly, she signaled Lisa and Trudy to come to the counter and learn the good news. Stevie was too excited to speak.

Stevie and Lisa couldn’t believe what incredible good luck Trudy had. They all shrieked with joy and hugged each other, jumping up and down. Usually, the librarians would make them leave for making such a ruckus, but since Trudy was the library’s grand prize winner, they watched the girls with pleased smiles.

As soon as they’d gotten all the paperwork and the
certificate for the camp, the girls dashed out of the library and ran all the way to the record store. They found Carole just finishing up at the check-out counter.

It took only a few minutes to share Trudy’s good news with Carole, but it took longer to convince her that it was true.

“This calls for a Saddle Club meeting to celebrate!” Lisa announced. “And I’ve gotten enough money from
The Gazette
to buy everybody a sundae!”

The four girls found an ice-cream shop that had exotic enough flavors to suit Stevie’s weird taste. They found an empty booth and sat down.

“Hey, now that you’re going to riding camp, you can be in The Saddle Club,” Stevie said to Trudy while the waiter took their orders.

Trudy fiddled with her yellow parrot earrings. Then when the waiter had left to get them water, she said, “Look, I’d love to be in your club, but …” She paused, then looked across at Stevie. “I know you guys love horses. I’m sure they’re great and they sure are pretty to look at, but they’re just not my thing. Riding on the trail was okay. But riding along the river with Topside freaking out wasn’t exactly a dream come true.”

“But you were great. Lisa said so,” Carole reminded her. “You just had an unusually bad experience. If you put your mind to it, you’ll be a good rider.”

“That’s just the thing,” Trudy explained. “I don’t
want to put my mind to it. I really like you guys. And I’m glad we got to be friends. I’d like to visit again and I want you to come see me when you’re in the city. But horseback riding? I’d rather wear plaid pants and turtlenecks!”

Stevie grinned. “You’re going to have an awful time at Moose Hill then,” she said.

“Oh, I would, if I were going, that’s for sure,” Trudy said. “But I’m not going.”

“You’re not?” all three Saddle Club girls said in a single voice.

“Of course not. Get real.” The three friends laughed. “I want you to go in my place, Stevie. It’s just a little thank-you for a really great visit with you.”

All three girls turned to Stevie, who couldn’t speak because her jaw had dropped.

When she could finally move and talk once again, Stevie did three things. First, she shrieked. Second, she hugged Trudy. And third, she had a proposal for Lisa.

“When we finish our sundaes, if you have any money left over, let’s go back to the library and trade your dollar for the lucky silver dollar I gave them. I have the funny feeling we’re going to need it to find a way for you and Carole to come to Moose Hill, too. I just can’t see myself riding for two weeks without you two!”

Lisa and Carole agreed. The more The Saddle Club
stuck together, the more impossible it seemed that they could ever be apart.

“Here’s to The Saddle Club at Moose Hill,” Trudy announced, lifting her water glass in a toast.

The Saddle Club raised their glasses, too. “And here’s a toast to our one nonriding, nonhorse-crazy, but definitely very cool member,” Carole said, welcoming Trudy into their group.

Trudy grinned happily at her three new friends. She was as happy to be a part of their club as they were to have her.

“There’s just one requirement,” Trudy said to Stevie.

“Anything!” Stevie shouted.

“You’ve got to send me a postcard from camp. I want to hear about
everything
!”

Bonnie Bryant is the author of nearly a hundred books about horses, including the Saddle Club series, the Saddle Club Super Editions, and the Pony Tales series.