Mary and Jody in the Movies (4 page)

“Just get them on the rail, and let’s pick up a trot,” Twister commanded.

The girls turned the ponies easily toward the rail and trotted off smoothly, with Lady following Gypsy in the easy rhythm
that they were both accustomed to. Mary and Jody started off in a sitting trot and then began rising and sitting to the cadence
of the ponies’ movements as Willie had shown them on the few occasions he had taken time out from farm work. They trotted
on the rail several times around and then changed direction at Twister’s request.

“This ring is so nice!” Mary exclaimed over her shoulder to Jody. “I feel like we’re floating on this sand and rubber!”

“I know! Do you think we’ll get to keep the ring when the movie’s finished?”

“Well, I don’t think they’ll go to the trouble to rip it up!” Mary laughed.

“OK, girls, less talkin’, more ridin’,” Twister said, trying to sound stern. “Now let’s come down to a walk, and we’ll try
a canter.”

“Oh, this is the fun part,” Mary said under her breath.

“OK, now, canter!” Twister called out, and the girls only had to nudge gently with their heels to encourage Lady and Gypsy
into a nice slow canter, twice around the ring, changing direction once.

“All right, that’s enough for now,” Twister said, waving the girls to a halt in the center of the ring. Twister stood with
Willie in front of Gypsy and rubbed his hand up and down on her muzzle. “Will and me’ll talk it over, and we’ll let you know
tomorrow if you passed or not.”

“Tomorrow! But, Willie, can’t you just tell us now?” Mary pleaded. “We won’t be able to sleep tonight wondering if we made
it or not!”

“You can wait ’til tomorrow,” Willie replied nonchalantly, “and I betcha a dollar you won’t have any trouble sleepin’ tonight.”

Mary and Jody knew it wouldn’t do any good to argue, so they sighed and led Gypsy and Lady out of the ring and down to Lucky
Foot Stable, where they quickly untacked, groomed, and turned them out in the big pasture. They gave Star a carrot they had
saved from the food table and made sure he had plenty of hay and water in his paddock. Then they climbed on their bikes and,
waving goodbye, pedaled in opposite directions toward their homes.

And Willie’s prediction turned out to be true. The second their heads hit the pillows that night they were asleep, completely
worn out from all the excitement of the day.

6

Willie’s Request

THE SCENE THE next morning at the McMurray dairy farm looked much the same as it had the day before—crew members bustling
about, some lined up at the breakfast buffet, others winding up cables, still others unloading more metal boxes from the big
white trucks in the machinery yard. Mary and Jody arrived early once more in anticipation of learning whether they passed
the previous day’s riding test. After feeding Star in his paddock and promising to come back later and groom him, they made
their way up to the farmhouse to find Twister and Willie.

“Mare, what if we didn’t make it?” Jody said, biting her fingernails. “What will we do if we just have to watch other people
ride? And…” she continued, as a terrible thought came to her, “what if the ponies made it, but we didn’t? Then we’ll have
to watch other people ride our ponies!”

“Jody, will you stop it? Of course we made it,” Mary said confidently. “Willie said the girl in the movie teaches lessons
for beginners. We’re at least good enough for that. It’s not like we have to jump or anything. And nobody could ride Gypsy
and Lady as well as we can. So stop worrying! And stop biting your fingernails!”

Jody obediently removed her fingers from her mouth, clasped her hands behind her back, and bravely squared her shoulders for
the remainder of the walk to the farmhouse. But the second she saw Twister emerging from the corner of the food truck, her
anxiety returned, along with her nervous habit.

“Mornin’, ladies,” Twister said, approaching them nonchalantly with a foil-wrapped sandwich in his hand. “Now what could be
makin’ you bite your fingernails like that, Jody?”

“Nothing, Twister, nothing at all,” Mary replied, grabbing Jody’s hand from her mouth and linking arms with her so that she
couldn’t resume the habit. “Jody always bites her fingernails. It’s just something she likes to do.”

“Oh, I see,” Twister nodded. “Well, I’m fixin’ to sit down and eat my breakfast. Wanna join me? Plenty of food up there.”

Jody thought she would bust any minute if Twister didn’t tell them if they had passed the riding test, but Mary was not about
to let Twister think for a moment that they were the least bit anxious.

“Sure, we’ll join you, Twister. Go ahead and sit down, and we’ll get our plates.”

While Mary and Jody made their way to the food line, Twister turned away quickly so they couldn’t see the ornery grin that
was spreading across his face. Jody took her place in line behind Mary and grabbed an empty plate from the pile at the end
of the table before she spoke.

“How can you be so calm? Why don’t we just ask Twister if we made it?” she whispered fiercely in Mary’s ear.

“Well, maybe Twister wants to wait until Willie gets here to tell us,” Mary whispered back. “And I think he just might be
testing us to see if we can stay calm under pressure. Appearing in the movies puts you under a lot of pressure, you know,”
she continued knowingly.

Jody sighed and silently filled her plate, stopping only to throw Finnegan a scrap of bacon. She picked up a glass of juice
and followed Mary to the table where Twister sat joking with other members of the movie crew.

“Come on and sit down here,Mary,” Twister invited, pulling out the chair next to him. “And Jody, there’s an empty chair across
from Mary.”

“Thanks, Twister,” Mary said nonchalantly as she and Jody took their seats. Jody took a forkful of scrambled eggs in her mouth
and glanced up at Twister, hoping to read his face for a clue to their futures, but Twister was concentrating very hard on
finishing his own egg and biscuit. No one spoke until one of the crew members stood with his empty plate in hand.

“So, I hear you girls are going to be riding for us,” he said cheerily. “Congratulations! We’ll see you in the ring.” And
he turned and was gone.

Jody’s mouth was already open, a second forkful of eggs about to enter, when the meaning of the man’s comment sank in. She
dropped her fork and looked again at Twister, who sat back and nodded at her with a huge grin on his face.

“I knew it! I knew it!” Mary shrieked. The other crew members at the table chuckled as they stood with their empty plates,
each of them congratulating the girls as they left the table to go back to work in the farmhouse.

“Twister, why didn’t you tell us yourself?” Mary gasped. “We were dying to know the whole time!”

“So much for being calm under pressure,” Jody mumbled to herself.

“Well, I guess I didn’t get the chance, since old loudmouth told you first,” Twister said, pretending to be upset. “But anyhow,
now you know. And you need to get done with your breakfast and meet Will down at the stable. He’s got somethin’ to ask you
about.”

Without another word, Mary and Jody grabbed their half-full plates and sprang from the table, heading for the trash can at
the end of the buffet. But Finnegan intercepted them and begged so heartily that they gave the rest of their food to him.

“I swear that dog has gained ten pounds since the movie people got here,” Mary muttered as they trotted toward Lucky Foot
Stable. “He doesn’t even go down to the barn to help round up the cows anymore.”

“I wonder what Willie wants to ask us about,” Jody said warily. “Do you think he’s mad about something?”

“I don’t know what it would be! But we’ll soon see! Hey, that rhymed,” Mary chuckled.

When the girls entered the cool stillness of the little white stable, Colonel Sanders was perched on the top board of Lady’s
stall. Star hung his head inside the stable from the door to the paddock, nickering to them as if to say, “Hey, what about
that grooming you promised me?” But Willie was nowhere to be seen.

“Well, I guessWillie came and went, or maybe he’s not here yet,” Mary observed. “Maybe he’ll be here by the time we finish
taking care of Star.”

Almost at the same instant the words crossed Mary’s lips, Willie appeared in the doorway of Lucky Foot Stable, tugging on
his earlobe as he always did when thinking about something.

“Willie! You’ll never guess what! We passed the riding test!” Jody blurted even before Willie had a chance to enter the stable.

“Oh, you did, didja?” Willie smiled. “Who woulda guessed it?”

“Jody, of course Willie already knew we passed,” Mary said. “He probably had a say in the whole thing.”

Willie took a hard brush from Jody’s grasp

and began grooming one side of Star while

Jody worked on the other side.

Without a word, Willie walked over to Star and scratched him on the special spot behind his ear. In response, Star rubbed
his head up and down, up and down Willie’s arm. The girls waited expectantly for Willie to speak, but still he said nothing.
It was Mary who finally broke the silence.

“Um, Willie, Twister said you wanted to talk to us about something…”

“…Did we do something wrong?” Jody finished. Still Willie said nothing, and the girls knew they would just have to wait until
Willie was ready to say whatever it was he had to say.

“This colt needs a good brushin’,” Willie finally said, hooking a lead rope to Star’s halter. Willie opened the Dutch door
and led Star in from the paddock, putting him on crossties in the aisle. Jody went to her tack trunk and silently gathered
up her hoof pick and brushes while Mary sat on a bale of hay, softly whistling a tune to herself.

Willie took a hard brush from Jody’s grasp and began grooming one side of Star while Jody worked on the other side. Willie
didn’t speak until he had almost reached Star’s hindquarters. Then he stopped and rested the brush on Star’s back.

“We’re goin’ to need a couple of good horses to use for a ridin’ test,” he said.

Mary stopped whistling, and Jody stopped brushing, waiting for Willie’s next words.

“So we want to ask you if we can use Lady and Gypsy on Saturday for some other girls and boys to come in and ride. We need
a few more riders for the ridin’ lesson scene in the movie, so the casting director put out a call for young actors who can
ride. Now, lots of times they say they can ride, and they really can’t, so we have to watch them just like we did you to see
if they’re tellin’ the truth. We’d like to use Lady and Gypsy because they’re nice, quiet ponies, and we don’t want anybody
gettin’ hurt in the test.”

Willie resumed brushing. Mary and Jody looked at each other, perplexed.

“So, other kids will be riding our ponies?” Jody squeaked.

“That’s the general idea,” Willie replied. “Now, it’ll just be once or twice around the ring. By that time, we can tell if
they can ride or not. We’re not lookin’ for expert riders, but they have to have a decent seat and be able to steer the ponies
around the ring without fallin’ off.”

Willie picked up a tail comb and gently worked the tangles out of Star’s black-and-white tail until it hung straight and shining.
Still Mary and Jody didn’t know what to say. The idea of other people riding Lady and Gypsy! It was almost beyond their imagination!

“Well, why don’t you think about it and tell me or Twister what you decide,” Willie said, carefully laying the comb in the
top shelf of Jody’s tack trunk. He patted Star on the rump and headed for the back doors of Lucky Foot Stable. Just before
setting foot outside, he turned.

“The producers said they’d be willin’ to pay you somethin’ for the use of the ponies,” he said. Then he was gone.

7

Test Part Two

THE RIDE TO Lucky Foot Stable on Saturday morning was filled with apprehension for Mary and Jody. Even though they were in
separate cars, coming from opposite ends of the road, their thoughts were the same, both wondering if they were doing the
right thing.

After Willie had asked their permission to use the ponies for the riding test, Mary and Jody had talked it over. First they
had adamantly decided against it. Then they thought that maybe they should do it because Willie asked them to (and he never
asked for favors). Finally they reasoned that the money they would earn would help pay for the breeding fee to save Star,meaning
Willie wouldn’t have to pay for all of it himself. Still, they couldn’t fully make up their minds until they went home and
talked it over with their parents.

Jody spoke to her father and Mary to her mother, and then the two adults spoke on the phone, and eventually they all came
to the same conclusion: Willie needed help, and the girls should do anything they could to help him!

Jody’s father and Mary’s mother offered to be there for the day since it was a Saturday and neither had to work. They agreed
to meet at Lucky Foot Stable at eight o’clock in the morning, an hour before the riding test was to begin. As so often happened
when Mary and Jody rode their bikes to the farm, the two cars pulled into the farm lane at almost the same time and then parked
side by side outside the back doors of the stable.

Mary and Jody somberly stepped out of their respective cars and then silently walked together into the little barn.

“Good morning, Frank,” Mary’s mother said, emerging from the car with a smile for Jody’s father. “Looks like we have two nervous
girls here today.”

“Mornin’, Katherine. You’re right about that. Jody could hardly sleep last night worrying about it. I tried to convince her
that everything will be fine. Willie’s here to run the test, and he obviously knows what he’s doing.”

A moment later Mary and Jody appeared from the stable, lead ropes in hand, and turned toward the big pasture where Lady and
Gypsy grazed peacefully, unsuspecting of the momentous day ahead.

“May we come along?” Mary’s mother asked quietly.

“Sure,” Mary shrugged. The two adults shared a glance and fell in step behind the despondent girls. Finally, Jody’s father
broke the silence.

“Now, look, guys, there’s no use moping around,” he said. “You’ve made up your minds, and you’re doing the right thing. Willie
asked just this one favor, and he’s certainly done plenty for you. He’ll make sure the ponies are fine. Just think, it might
be fun watching the others ride.”

“Fun? Dad, please,” Jody said grumpily. “Lady and Gypsy won’t know what to do with other people riding them. They’re only
used to us.”

“Oh, is that so? Do you think that no one ever rode them before you did? Now I know that you two ride them the very best,
but I think they’ll be OK for the others. After all, you’ve trained them to accept any challenge, right?”

“And don’t forget how well Lady did at her very first horse show,” Mary’s mother added. “Nothing seems to bother her. And
Gypsy will do just as well, I’m sure.”

At that point Mary and Jody were busy opening the gate, so they had an excuse not to answer. The adults watched in silence
as the girls headed across the field to catch the two ponies. Suddenly, a voice came from behind them.

“How’re they doin’?”

“Willie!” Jody’s father turned and shook the hand that Willie offered. “The question is, how are
you
doing? Does all this movie business agree with you?”

“Well, I guess as much as it ever did,” Willie replied. “I just hope this ridin’ test ain’t causing too much ruckus with those
two.”

“Don’t worry, Willie. They’re happy to do it. They just don’t know it yet,” Mary’s mother chuckled.

“Well, it won’t take too long. We should know pretty quick who can ride and who can’t.We want to get started in ’bout a half
hour. In the meantime, if you come up to the house with me, I’ll introduce you to the director and some of the other people
who’ll be workin’ with your daughters.”

Just as Willie finished making this offer, Mary and Jody appeared at the gate with ponies in hand.

“Hi, Willie,” Jody said half-heartedly.

“Mornin’,” Willie nodded. “Glad to see you two bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this mornin’. Now while you girls get the ponies
groomed, I’m goin’ to take your parents up to meet Mr. Gordon and some of the others.”

“OK,” Mary replied listlessly, opening the gate and leading Gypsy through. Jody and Lady followed without a word.

“Oh,” Willie said suddenly. “One more thing. You don’t have to tack the ponies up.”

“Don’t tack them up? Why not, Willie?” Jody asked.

“Well,” Willie said, scratching the side of his head, “go ahead and put themin their stalls and then follow me up to the house.
I have somethin’ to show you.”

Mary and Jody looked at each other quizzically as they entered Lucky Foot Stable. Once they had the ponies safely in their
stalls, they fell in line behind Willie and their parents, following them silently toward the farmhouse. When Willie reached
the first of the white trucks parked near the house, he stopped and turned to the girls.

“Now listen. In the movie, the main character is going to be teaching Western lessons. You girls have English saddles, so
we can’t use them for the riding test.”

“Western lessons? But Willie, we’ve only ridden English since we got our saddles!” Jody exclaimed. “And we rode English in
our riding test!”

“Neither one of you will have any trouble ridin’ Western after ridin’ bareback most of the time. Western is more like bareback
than English, anyway. You’ll see.”

“But we don’t have Western saddles!” Mary said, perplexed.

“Oh, yes we do,” Willie said. Turning to the truck, he took hold of the bottom of the accordion door and shoved upward. The
door slid up easily, revealing a cavernous interior. Curious, the girls moved closer and peered inside. Then they gasped in
unison.

Lined up on the right side of the interior wall were a row of evenly placed metal saddle racks. On the racks were five brand
new Western saddles, complete with bridles hanging beneath on little hooks. Above each saddle hung a square Western saddle
pad, each of a different pattern and color. Mary and Jody gazed open-mouthed at the spectacle until Willie chuckled and turned
to their parents.

“We didn’t have these in time for the girls’ ridin’ test. The production company just bought ’em this mornin.’ Must be nice
to have enough money to spend on somethin’ like this.”

“Well, girls, what do you think?” Mr. Stafford asked with a smile.

“Dad, they’re beautiful!” Jody exclaimed, almost forgetting to be upset about other people riding her pony. “Willie, you’ll
have to teach us how to put them on. The girths are different from the English saddles.”

“First off, it’s called a cinch, not a girth, and that’s just what I’m about to do,” Willie said, stepping up into the truck
and pulling a saddle and bridle from the rack. “Mr. Stafford, if you’ll handle another one of these, we’ll take ’em down to
the barn and put ’em on.”

“But, Willie, will the ponies mind them?” Mary asked worriedly. “They’re not used to them, and how do you know they’ll fit?”

“Don’t you worry. Western saddles are a lot easier to fit than English, and the ponies will get used to them in no time. I
wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve worn them before sometime in their lives. Now let’s quit yackin’ and get down to the barn.
Time’s a’wasting, and the ridin’ test will be startin’ before you know it.”

Exactly one half-hour later, Mary and Jody stood at the gate of the new outdoor ring with Lady and Gypsy groomed and tacked
up, looking very smart in their new Western saddles. Mary’s mother and Jody’s father sat on folding chairs outside the ring,
chatting as they waited for the test to begin. The girls looked to the right and left, expecting to see a group of would-be
riders lined up expectantly, but there was no one in sight.

“I wonder where everybody is?” Jody asked, scratching Lady on the forehead. “Willie said the test is supposed to start at
nine o’clock.”

“Maybe they’re not coming after all,” Mary said hopefully. But just as the words escaped her mouth, she spotted Willie coming
around the corner of the farmhouse, followed by Twister. Falling in behind Twister, in single file, marched the group of young
actors. Jody drew in her breath at the sight of them, and Mary patted Gypsy nervously on the shoulder as they drew near. Willie
was tugging on his earlobe, but when he was close enough for the girls to see, he winked at them ever so slightly.

“All right, troops,” Twister said, turning to address the group. “Let me introduce you to the people who have made your ridin’
test possible today. This is Mary and her pony Gypsy, and this here is Jody and Lady. They are allowin’ you to ride their
ponies today out of the goodness of their hearts. So let’s line up along the rail, and I’ll go over the rules.”

With that, the group spread themselves out along the ring fence, allowing Mary and Jody to get a good look at them. Mary counted
heads silently down the line to the twelfth and final rider and then gasped in astonishment.

It was Annie Mooney! Mary cut her eyes to Jody, whose mouth was open in shock, having seen Annie at the same instant. Annie,
paying no attention whatsoever to Mary and Jody, was concentrating on Twister’s speech. So the girls had no choice but to
do the same.

“Now, we’re goin’ to have you go in two at a time,” Twister was saying in his best voice of authority. “We’ll give you a hand
mounting up, and then we’ll just have you do one or two turns around the ring at a walk, jog, and lope. Make sure all your
helmets are fastened right good before you mount up. We might have some of you do a pattern in the ring to show that you can
stop and turn. I don’t want to see anybody doin’ anything dangerous, or you’ll be asked to dismount. Any questions?”

Mary and Jody looked from one face to another, noticing that several of the riders seemed even more nervous about riding the
ponies than the girls were about having their ponies ridden. The next comment, coming from Willie, showed that he observed
the same.

“Now look, if any of you don’t want to go through with this, speak up now,” he said kindly. “Your parents are waitin’ at the
farmhouse for you. If you’re afraid, or don’t feel comfortable ridin’, just say so, and you can leave now, no questions asked.We
don’t want nobody gettin’ hurt.”

At that, one of the girls in the middle of the group raised her hand and burst into tears.

“I don’t want to ride,” she wailed. “My mom made me come!”

Twister immediately strode over to the girl and patted her on the back. “It’s all right, sweetheart,” he said. “It’s brave
of you to speak up. Now, is there anybody else? Last chance.”

The first boy in line looked at his feet and shook his head vehemently. Twister took the hand of the crying girl in his and
went to the boy, putting his arm around him, and without another word the three turned and walked toward the farmhouse together.

Willie said nothing for a moment, waiting to see if there were more dissenting members of the group. Seeing none, he opened
the gate and addressed the first two riders in line, two girls who looked fairly confident in their jeans and Western shirts.

“Come on in, and let’s have you each stand by whichever pony you choose. I want to see you tighten the cinch first and then
mount up. You can use the mounting block if you need to.”

“I don’t need it,” the first girl in line sniffed as she took the reins from Jody’s grasp. “I mount up all the time by myself.”
She placed the reins over Lady’s head and hastily put her left foot into the stirrup to swing herself up. But the instant
her full weight landed in the stirrup, the saddle slipped onto Lady’s side, and the girl landed on her rump in the sand and
rubber of the ring. After raising his hand to quell the snickers from the group along the rail, Willie reached down and helped
the red-faced girl from the ground.

“That’s why I said to tighten the cinch first,” Willie said, making a point to speak to the group rather than directly to
the girl, saving her further embarrassment.

“It’s OK, Lad,” Jody whispered to Lady. She adjusted the saddle to where it belonged on Lady’s back and stood aside while
the girl silently hooked the stirrup over the saddle horn and raised the cinch. Lady simply turned her head and looked at
the saddle as if to say, “Now, stay put.”

Twister returned to the ring, and once the two girls were seated firmly in the saddles, he instructed them to walk along the
rail. Gypsy and Lady walked on as though everything was perfectly normal, causing Mary and Jody to feel a little twinge of
jealousy. After all, they expected the ponies to act up just a little with different riders on their backs, not to mention
different saddles.

But as the riding test continued with Twister and Willie putting each pair of riders through their paces, the girls had to
admit that the ponies were just fine no matter who rode them, even when it was obvious that about half of the “riders” had
no clue what they were doing. When it came down to the last few in line, Mary leaned over and whispered to Jody.